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the present invention is directed to a process for producing chlorine or bromine from the respective hydrogen halide in a reaction system wherein a stoichiometric excess of active nitrogen is maintained within the system with respect to the hydrogen halide introduced to the system . the active nitrogen exists as nitrogen compounds where the nitrogen compounds have a valence of from 2 to 5 . the nitrogen compounds are inorganic oxygen - containing compounds of nitrogen and may exist within the reaction system as nitrogen monoxide , nitrogen dioxide , nitrogen trioxide , nitric acid , nitrous acid , nitrosylsulfuric acid , nitrosyl - halide and while the overall chemistry can be represented by these compounds , it is well known that other molecular and ionic species exist , both in vapor and liquid states . while other active nitrogen compounds are known to be important and are not completely defined herein , such compounds as n 2 o 3 , n 2 o 4 and no 2 cl and certain complexes may exist in the vapor as intermediates . it is to be understood , that for the description of the process of the present invention these other active nitrogen compounds are not considered as part of the major reactions which represent the process of the present invention . to describe the present invention in a simplified manner , not taking into account all the possible or actual reactions and reactants in the countercurrent flow of the gas phase with the liquid phase , the active nitrogen compounds are converted in the regenerating zone , in the lower portion of the reaction system , from a valence of 2 or 3 to a valence of 4 or 5 such that a stoichiometric amount of the higher valence nitrogen compounds are present in the reaction zone . in oversimplified terms , the active nitrogen exists as the nitrosylsulfuric acid in the liquid phase in the lower portion of the reaction system and is stripped as gaseous nitrogen monoxide and nitrogen dioxide . as the gases rise in the reaction system , the nitrogen monoxide is oxidized to the higher valence state and expressed herein simply as nitrogen dioxide . the nitrogen dioxide reacts stoichiometrically with the hydrogen halide or nitrosyl - halide in a reaction zone to produce the desired halogen in the gaseous phase . liquid phase reactions may also occur in the reaction system , but characteristic of the present invention is the gaseous recycle of the active nitrogen compounds as described . referring to fig2 which is a schematic diagram of a flow arrangement of the basic or simplest embodiment of the process of the present invention , basically the reaction system may be a single tower or column 10 . into the top of tower 10 by line 11 is introduced sulfuric acid . introduced by line 12 countercurrently to the sulfuric acid is the hydrogen halide , preferably hydrogen chloride . within the tower 10 is a stoichiometric excess of active nitrogen and as pointed out hereinabove the process of the present invention is characterized by the stoichiometric reaction in the gas phase of nitrogen dioxide with the hydrogen halide or nitrosyl - halide in the reaction zone 13 . steam may be introduced into the tower 10 at various points to control and maintain the temperature within the reaction system such as by line 14 . the active nitrogen is converted from a valence state of 4 or more to a lower valence state in reaction zone 13 and is regenerated to the higher valence state in regenerating zone 15 . basically , regenerating zone 15 comprises a stripping zone 16 wherein the active nitrogen , predominately nitrosylsulfuric acid , is stripped from the liquid phase as a mixture of nitrogen dioxide and nitrogen monoxide by the introduction of steam by line 17 . the nitrogen monoxide is oxidized to the higher valence state by the introduction of oxygen by line 18 in the oxidizing zone 19 , the introduction of oxygen also aids in the stripping of the active nitrogen from the sulfuric acid liquid phase stream . after stripping essentially all of the active nitrogen from the liquid phase stream , the stream is removed by line 20 to a vacuum flashing vessel 21 where the water formed in the reaction system is removed overhead by line 22 and the concentrated sulfuric acid is removed by line 23 and pumped by pump 24 for reintroduction to the tower 10 by line 11 . a portion of the sulfuric acid is passed through a cooling means 25 and introducing at the very top of the tower 10 to provide a cooling and drying zone 26 for the exiting halogen gas which is removed by line 27 . in summary , the process embodies four steps which are employed in the conversion of the hydrogen halide to the respective gaseous chlorine or bromine : the stoichiometric reaction of no 2 with the hydrogen halide or nitrosyl - halide in a reaction zone 13 , the oxidization of no with oxygen to regenerate no 2 in a stripping zone 16 , and the reconcentration of the recycle acid before recycle of the sulfuric acid to the reaction system or tower 10 . the product of the process of the present invention is chlorine or bromine , however , it is preferred to utilize hydrogen chloride for the production of chlorine . after conversion , the chlorine or bromine gas can be dried and liquefied by standard procedures . to characterize the present invention more particularly , each of the zones of the reaction system will be described and the predominant reactions which occur set forth . according to the present invention , the primary reaction for the production of chlorine or bromine is the stoichiometric reaction of no 2 with the hydrogen halide or nitrosyl - halide to be converted , according to the following reactions : 2no . sub . 2 + 2hcl + 2h . sub . 2 so . sub . 4 → 2hnso . sub . 5 + cl . sub . 2 + 2h . sub . 2 o ( 7 ) 2no . sub . 2 + 2nocl + 4h . sub . 2 so . sub . 4 → 4hnso . sub . 5 + cl . sub . 2 + 2h . sub . 2 o ( 8 ) the use of the word &# 34 ; stoichiometric &# 34 ; is to indicate the direct reaction of the no 2 according to the equations given , as opposed to a catalytic oxidation , in which the no 2 is first used and then regenerated to be used again and again in the same zone of the process . the word &# 34 ; stoichiometric &# 34 ; is not meant to express , that for every mole of hydrogen halide or nitrosyl - halide only one mole of no 2 is entering the zone . to the contrary , excess no 2 is entering , which is partly absorbed in the sulfuric acid as such , according to the equations : these excesses of no 2 in the present invention further differentiate the process from the catalytic process . it should also be pointed out that it is preferred to leave a small amount of hydrogen halide unconverted . thus , in the reaction zone 13 , no 2 reacts with the hydrogen halide or nitrosyl - halide to produce the corresponding halide as a gas which flows upwardly countercurrently to the sulfuric acid introduced to the top of the reaction system . the nitrogen compounds are mainly converted to nitrosylsulfuric acid , which flows with the sulfuric acid stream downward . as discussed hereinafter , this nitrosylsulfuric acid is regenerated below the zone under discussion back to sulfuric acid in the liquid phase and nitrogen compounds in the gas phase . as shown in fig2 a portion of the sulfuric acid is cooled and introduced above the major portion to cool and dry the halogen gas before leaving the reaction system . referring to fig2 below the reaction zone 13 is a regenerating zone 15 in which the active nitrogen is stripped from the liquid stream and oxidized from a low valence state to a valence greater than 3 . the oxidation is preferably carried out within the single column or vessel ; however , a separate oxidation reactor may be employed . hence , the regenerating zone 15 comprises a stripping zone 16 and an oxidizing zone 19 . considering first the lowermost zone in fig2 active nitrogen is stripped from the sulfuric acid stream in the stripping zone 16 . the introduction of steam results in dilution of the sulfuric acid , while at the same time the temperature is increased . these changed conditions allow the stripping of no and no 2 , following the equation : between the stripping zone 16 and the reaction zone 13 is the oxidizing zone 19 wherein , the mixture of no and no 2 is partly oxidized with oxygen . this oxygen can be fed in pure form , or in its natural mixture with nitrogen as air or also as enriched air ; it is even possible , though not desirable , to feed the oxygen in the form of ozone . the reaction taking place is : the kinetics of this reaction have been studied by bodenstein and , therefore , the conversion of no and oxygen can be predicted accurately . especially when undiluted oxygen is used at several atmospheres pressure a practically complete conversion of oxygen can be attained , resulting in production of halogen gas at the top of the system , containing less than 1000 ppm oxygen . this may be accomplished by having a fraction greater than 20 % by volume of the nitrogen monoxide stripped passing to the reaction zone as nitrogen monoxide . in all cases sufficient oxygen must be added and sufficient reaction volume or time be allowed to convert a molar amount of no , equal to the molar amount of halogen to be produced by the system . in this way the desired conversion level can be achieved . preferably some hydrogen halide is left unconverted to prevent major amounts of nitryl - halide contaminating the halide product gas , according to the equation : most of the nitric acid , formed together with nitrosyl - sulfuric acid by absorption of no 2 in the reaction zone 13 according to equation ( 10 ), is stripped in this zone , according to the equation : the small amount of nitric acid remaining at the bottom of the oxidizing zone 19 is finally stripped out in the stripping zone 16 . it should be pointed out , that the heat , generated by reaction ( 12 ), can be used to effect more stripping according to reaction ( 11 ). this results in a less clear demarcation of the oxidizing and stripping zones , but with an advantage in utilities . a still lower utilities usage results from injection of oxygen below the steam injection . the oxygen then strips steam from the hot acid thus both cooling the acid stream and requiring a smaller steam addition to the gas stream . referring to fig3 the schematic drawing shows the use of an extra steam injection in the oxidizing zone . using the same reference numbers used with regard to fig2 the added steam is introduced by line 28 . this steam serves to influence the temperature gradient in the system , so as to allow more time for oxidation . the drawback of operating in the modes of fig2 and fig3 is the high temperature at the bottom of the system . this temperature is governed by the steam pressure relationship over sulfuric acid . assuming a 3 ata operation and an acid strength at the exit of about 74 %, a temperature of about 220 ° c . results . this not only increases the difficulties of finding appropriate materials of construction , but also and most importantly , increases the amount of steam , necessary to warm the acid stream up to the required temperature . except in the case , where such steam is readily available at little or no cost , use of such large amounts is an economic deterrent to the use of the process . the improved and preferred operation as indicated in fig4 allows as before high conversion of oxygen and operation in a one tower reaction system , but at low and , therefore , much more economically acceptable steam consumption . the important difference is found in the injection of the hydrogen halide feed stream at the bottom of the stripping zone . this has several consequences , all contributing more or less to the saving of steam : 1 . as an inert gas the hydrogen halide feed strips steam from the hot acid stream . the amount stripped diminishes the steam to be added . this effect of the hydrogen halide is similar to the effect of the oxygen , injected below the hydrogen halide inlet to remove the last amounts of hydrogen halide from the acid stream . 2 . similar to the stripping action of hydrogen halide in the catalytic form of the prior art process , hydrogen halide strips nitrosyl - halide from acid , containing nitrosylsulfuric acid , according to equation ( 1 ). the consequence of this is , that the nitrosylsulfuric acid level in the acid is built up , and also , that the sulfuric acid strength is decreasing , both expressed in relationship from the bottom , going up in the stripping zone . these two changes both facilitate stripping of no and no 2 at the bottom of the reaction system . 3 . a smaller effect is the warming up of the hydrogen halide , which cools down the acid stream at the very bottom of the system . this means , that the acid in the stripping section above this point is warmer . before , see fig2 this cooling of the acid stream took place in the top of the reaction system , thus , necessitating a compensating warm - up of the acid stream before the stripping . again , a similar , but still smaller change is the result of injection of the oxygen stream below the hydrogen halide injection . 4 . another effect of the use of hydrogen halide at the bottom of the system is the dilution of the gases at the point of stripping and at the point of oxidation . while this helps the stripping , the oxidation is slowed down to some degree and extra oxidation volume has to be provided . apart from the injection of hydrogen halide and oxygen at the bottom of the reaction system , fig4 also shows the injection of steam at several places to improve the control of the system , e . g . the thermal gradient within the reaction system can be maintained within desired limits . again using the same reference numerals as used in fig2 and fig3 to refer to the same structure , the additional structure or changes in structure are the introduction of hydrogen halide by line 29 at the bottom of the tower 10 and the introduction of the oxygen by line 18 below the point of hydrogen halide introduction . the regenerating zone 15 still has a stripping zone 16 and oxidizing zone 19 but these zones are not as well defined as in the simple embodiment . the addition of steam in this embodiment of fig4 may be lines 30 , 31 and / or 32 . to reduce the size of a single tower due to the volume necessary to obtain adequate oxidation volume , an embodiment such as shown in fig5 with an outside oxidizer 40 may be employed . in this embodiment the reaction system 10 is a series of vessels but otherwise is essentially the same structure as in fig2 the same reference numerals being used to indicate the same structure . not only may more time be taken using an outside oxidizer 40 at a given condition , but even some cooling can be applied to oxidize at somewhat lower temperature , benefiting from the better no -- o 2 -- no 2 equilibrium at lower temperatures . the final oxygen level in the halogen gas can thus be brought down to about 11 ppm . the different forms of the process of the present invention are characterized by the retainment of the active nitrogen within the reaction system in a stoichiometric excess over the amount of hydrogen halide converted in the system . the excess may be anywhere from 1 . 1 to 4 and preferably from 2 to 3 . 5 times the amount of hydrogen halide converted in the system . the active nitrogen may be introduced to the system initially as any one of the inorganic oxygen - containing compounds as set forth hereinabove . after start - up only small amounts of active nitrogen have to be added to compensate for the loss of trace amounts in liquid and gas streams , leaving the system , and through side reaction , predominately with impurities in the feed . the process according to the present invention is carried out under pressures which may vary from about atmospheric conditions to about 8 atmospheres pressure , preferably from about 1 to about 3 atmospheres pressure . the temperatures in the process differ in that at the top about ambient temperature follows from the use of the cold acid stream . the highest temperature in the process can be about 250 ° c ., but it is preferred to use process conditions , which allow maximum temperatures not higher than about 200 ° c . because of the conditions , which may be employed in the process of the present invention , this process has certain advantages both from the process and mechanical point of view . these advantages are : low pressures and temperatures reducing the severity of the corrosiveness of the fluids and gases handled . a single tower may be employed such as a brick - lined tower , thus not requiring expensive acid handling materials such as tantalum - lining . possibility to handle aqueous hydrogen halide streams as well as anhydrous feeds . the different aspects of the process and their advantages can be seen from the following examples : this example is operating at 3 ata on the mode , indicated in fig3 with the difference , that the oxygen is injected at the bottom of the reaction system . the acid recycle is 800 , 000 lbs ./ hr of 80 wt % sulfuric acid . most of this is recycled hot , directly from the flasher , at a temperature of about 130 ° c . the cold acid stream is about 95 , 000 lbs ./ hr and is injected at about 45 ° c . the total amount of steam used is 2 , 500 mph ( moles per hour ) of which 200 mph is injected at the top of the oxidation zone for control purposes ; the main amount is injected at the bottom of the reaction system above the oxygen injection . the oxygen gas stream contains 150 mph oxygen . it strips out of the hot acid stream at the very bottom of the system about 680 mph steam . the acid stream exits at about 202 ° c ., and its acid strength is then about 75 . 6 wt %. 615 mph hcl are injected above the oxidation zone . at the point of the highest steam - injection 0 . 1 mph hno 3 is injected to maintain catalyst inventory . the total of the active nitrogen compounds stripped is at its maximum about 1000 mph in the gas phase . at the end of the oxidation zone the composition is roughly 850 mph no 2 , 150 mph no , about 460 mph steam and traces of oxygen . the gas produced at the top of the reaction system contains 300 mph of chlorine , 15 mph of hydrogen chloride , about 0 . 15 mph o 2 ( about 500 ppm by weight of chloride produced ), and not more than traces of active nitrogen compounds . the maximum acid temperature is 220 ° c . this example is operated in the mode , indicated by fig4 . only two steam streams are used . the acid recycle is about 800 , 000 lbs ./ hr of 81 wt % acid . most of this is recycled hot at about 135 ° c . the cold sulfuric acid is 95 , 000 lbs ./ hr and is injected at about 45 ° c . the total amount of steam used is 1 , 900 mph , of which 200 mph is injectd at the top of the oxidation zone . at the outlet at the bottom the acid stream is at about 192 ° c . here 150 mph oxygen are being injected . above the oxygen contacting zone , in which only about 80 mph steam are being stripped , 200 mph hcl are being injected . this causes stripping not only of steam , but also of nocl , no and no 2 . at the top of this zone the composition of the gas is approximately 450 mph steam , 109 mph nocl , 51 mph hcl , 20 mph cl 2 , 33 mph no , 53 mph no 2 and 134 mph o 2 . the temperature at this point , which is the hottest point in column , is about 208 ° c . also at this point , 1700 mph steam is injected . this causes more stripping of no and no 2 , followed by oxidation of no . when the oxygen content is down to about 0 . 1 mph , the rest of the steam is injected , soon followed by the rest of the hcl ( 420 mph ). the product gas at the top of the reaction system , after cooling by the cold acid stream , contains 300 mph chlorine , 20 mph hcl , 0 . 1 mph o 2 , and not more than traces of active nitrogen compounds .	2
the present invention is directed to a generally polyhedrally shaped bulk amorphous metal component . as used herein , the term polyhedron refers to a three - dimensional solid having a plurality of faces or exterior surfaces . this includes , but is not limited to , rectangles , squares , prisms , and shapes including an arcuate surface . referring to the drawings , there is shown in fig1 a a bulk amorphous metal magnetic component 10 having a three - dimensional generally rectangular shape . the magnetic component 10 is comprised of a plurality of substantially similarly shaped layers of amorphous metal strip material 20 that are laminated together and annealed . the magnetic component depicted in fig1 b has a three - dimensional generally trapezoidal shape and is comprised of a plurality of layers of amorphous metal strip material 20 that are each substantially the same size and shape and that are laminated together and annealed . the magnetic component depicted in fig1 c includes two oppositely disposed arcuate surfaces 12 . the component 10 is constructed of a plurality substantially similarly shaped layers of amorphous metal strip material 20 that are laminated together and annealed . in a preferred embodiment , a three - dimensional magnetic component 10 constructed in accordance with the present invention will have a core - loss of less than or approximately equal to 1 watt - per - kilogram of amorphous metal material when operated at a frequency of approximately 60 hz and at a flux density of approximately 1 . 4 tesla ( t ), and a magnetic component 10 constructed in accordance with the present invention will have a core - loss of less than or approximately equal to 70 watt - per - kilogram of amorphous metal material when operated at a frequency of approximately 20 , 000 hz and at a flux density of approximately 0 . 30 t . the bulk amorphous metal magnetic component 10 of the present invention is a generally three - dimensional polyhedron , and may be generally rectangular , trapezoidal , square , or prism - shaped . alternatively , and as depicted in fig1 c , the component 10 may have at least one arcuate surface 12 . in a preferred embodiment , two arcuate surfaces 12 are provided and disposed opposite each other . the present invention also provides a method of constructing a bulk amorphous metal component . as shown in fig2 a roll 30 of amorphous metal strip material is cut into a plurality of strips 20 having the same shape and size using cutting blades 40 . the strips 20 are stacked to form a bar 50 of stacked amorphous metal strip material . the bar 50 is annealed , impregnated with an epoxy resin and cured . the bar 50 can be cut along the lines 52 depicted in fig3 to produce a plurality of generally three - dimensional parts having a generally rectangular , trapezoidal , square , or other polyhedral shape . alternatively , the component 10 may include at least one arcuate surface 12 , as shown in fig1 c . in a second embodiment of the method of the present invention , shown in fig4 and 5 , a bulk amorphous metal magnetic component 10 is formed by winding a single amorphous metal strip 22 or a group of amorphous metal strips 22 around a generally rectangular mandrel 60 to form a generally rectangular wound core 70 . the height of the short sides 74 of the core 70 is preferably approximately equal to the desired length of the finished bulk amorphous metal magnetic component 10 . the core 70 is annealed , impregnated with an epoxy resin and cured . two components 10 may be formed by cutting the short sides 74 , leaving the radiused corners 76 connected to the long sides 78 . additional magnetic components 10 may be formed by removing the radiused corners 76 from the long sides 78 , and cutting the long sides 78 at a plurality of locations , indicated by the dashed lines 72 . in the example illustrated in fig5 the bulk amorphous metal component 10 has a generally three - dimensional rectangular shape , although other three - dimensional shapes are contemplated by the present invention such as , for example , trapezoids and squares . construction of bulk amorphous metal magnetic components in accordance with the present invention is especially suited for tiles for poleface magnets used in high performance mri systems , in television and video systems , and in electron and ion beam systems . magnetic component manufacturing is simplified and manufacturing time is reduced . stresses otherwise encountered during the construction of bulk amorphous metal components are minimized . magnetic performance of the finished components is optimized . the bulk amorphous metal magnetic component 10 of the present invention can be manufactured using numerous amorphous metal alloys . generally stated , the alloys suitable for use in the component 10 construction of the present invention are defined by the formula : m 70 - 85 y 5 - 20 z 0 - 20 , subscripts in atom percent , where “ m ” is at least one of fe , ni and co , “ y ” is at least one of b , c and p , and “ z ” is at least one of si , al and ge ; with the proviso that ( i ) up to ten ( 10 ) atom percent of component “ m ” can be replaced with at least one of the metallic species ti , v , cr , mn , cu , zr , nb , mo , ta and w , and ( ii ) up to ten ( 10 ) atom percent of components ( y + z ) can be replaced by at least one of the non - metallic species in , sn , sb and pb . highest induction values at low cost are achieved for alloys wherein “ m ” is iron , “ y ” is boron and “ z ” is silicon . for this reason , amorphous metal strip composed of iron - boron - silicon alloys defined essentially by the formula fe 80 b 11 si 9 is preferred . this strip is sold by alliedsignal inc . under the trade designation metlas ® alloy 2605sa - 1 . the bulk amorphous metal magnetic component 10 of the present invention can be cut from bars 50 of stacked amorphous metal strip or from cores 70 of wound amorphous metal strip using numerous cutting technologies . the component 10 may be cut from the bar 50 or core 70 using a cutting blade or wheel . alternately , the component 10 may be cut by electro - discharge machining or with a water jet . bulk amorphous magnetic components will magnetize and demagnetize more efficiently than components made from other iron - base magnetic metals . when used as a pole magnet , the bulk amorphous metal component will generate less heat than a comparable component made from another iron - base magnetic metal when the two components are magnetized at identical induction and frequency . the bulk amorphous metal component can therefore be designed to operate 1 ) at a lower operating temperature ; 2 ) at higher induction to achieve reduced size and weight ; or , 3 ) at higher frequency to achieve reduced size and weight , or to achieve superior signal resolution , when compared to magnetic components made from other iron - base magnetic metals . the following examples are provided to more completely describe the present invention . the specific techniques , conditions , materials , proportions and reported data set forth to illustrate the principles and practice of the invention are exemplary and should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention . fe 80 b 11 si 9 amorphous metal ribbon , approximately 60 mm wide and 0 . 022 mm thick , was wrapped around a rectangular mandrel or bobbin having dimensions of approximately 25 mm by 90 mm . approximately 800 wraps of amorphous metal ribbon were wound around the mandrel or bobbin producing a rectangular core form having inner dimensions of approximately 25 mm by 90 mm and a build thickness of approximately 20 mm . the core / bobbin assembly was annealed in a nitrogen atmosphere . the anneal consisted of : 1 ) heating the assembly up to 365 ° c . ; 2 ) holding the temperature at approximately 365 ° c . for approximately 2 hours ; and , 3 ) cooling the assembly to ambient temperature . the rectangular , wound , amorphous metal core was removed from the core / bobbin assembly . the core was vacuum impregnated with an epoxy resin solution . the bobbin was replaced , and the rebuilt , impregnated core / bobbin assembly was cured at 120 ° c . for approximately 4 . 5 hours . when fully cured , the core was again removed from the core / bobbin assembly . the resulting rectangular , wound , epoxy bonded , amorphous metal core weighed approximately 2100 g . a rectangular prism 60 mm long by 40 mm wide by 20 mm thick ( approximately 800 layers ) was cut from the epoxy bonded amorphous metal core with a 1 . 5 mm thick cutting blade . the cut surfaces of the rectangular prism and the remaining section of the core were etched in a nitric acid / water solution and cleaned in an ammonium hydroxide / water solution . the remaining section of the core was etched in a nitric acid / water solution and cleaned in an ammonium hydroxide / water solution . the rectangular prism and the remaining section of the core were then reassembled into a full , cut core form . primary and secondary electrical windings were fixed to the remaining section of the core . the cut core form was electrically tested at 60 hz , 1 , 000 hz , 5 , 000 hz and 20 , 000 hz and compared to catalogue values for other ferromagnetic materials in similar test configurations ( national - arnold magnetics , 17030 muskrat avenue , adelanto , calif . 92301 ( 1995 )). the results are compiled below in tables 1 , 2 , 3 and 4 . fe 80 b 11 si 9 amorphous metal ribbon , approximately 48 mm wide and 0 . 022 mm thick , was cut into lengths of approximately 300 mm . approximately 3 , 800 layers of the cut amorphous metal ribbon were stacked to form a bar approximately 48 mm wide and 300 mm long , with a build thickness of approximately 96 mm . the bar was annealed in a nitrogen atmosphere . the anneal consisted of : 1 ) heating the bar up to 365 ° c . ; 2 ) holding the temperature at approximately 365 ° c . for approximately 2 hours ; and , 3 ) cooling the bar to ambient temperature . the bar was vacuum impregnated with an epoxy resin solution and cured at 120 ° c . for approximately 4 . 5 hours . the resulting stacked , epoxy bonded , amorphous metal bar weighed approximately 9000 g . a trapezoidal prism was cut from the stacked , epoxy bonded amorphous metal bar with a 1 . 5 mm thick cutting blade . the trapezoid - shaped face of the prism had bases of 52 and 62 mm and height of 48 mm . the trapezoidal prism was 96 mm ( 3 , 800 layers ) thick . the cut surfaces of the trapezoidal prism and the remaining section of the core were etched in a nitric acid / water solution and cleaned in an ammonium hydroxide / water solution . fe 81 b 11 si 9 amorphous metal ribbon , approximately 50 mm wide and 0 . 022 mm thick , was cut into lengths of approximately 300 mm . approximately 3 , 800 layers of the cut amorphous metal ribbon were stacked to form a bar approximately 50 mm wide and 300 mm long , with a build thickness of approximately 96 mm . the bar was annealed in a nitrogen atmosphere . the anneal consisted of : 1 ) heating the bar up to 365 ° c . ; 2 ) holding the temperature at approximately 365 ° c . for approximately 2 hours ; and , 3 ) cooling the bar to ambient temperature . the bar was vacuum impregnated with an epoxy resin solution and cured at 120 ° c . for approximately 4 . 5 hours . the resulting stacked , epoxy bonded , amorphous metal bar weighed approximately 9200 g . the stacked , epoxy bonded , amorphous metal bar was cut using electro - discharge machining to form a three - dimensional , arc - shaped block . the outer diameter of the block was approximately 96 mm . the inner diameter of the block was approximately 13 mm . the arc length was approximately 90 °. the block thickness was approximately 96 mm . fe 81 b 11 si 9 amorphous metal ribbon , approximately 20 mm wide and 0 . 022 mm thick , was wrapped around a circular mandrel or bobbin having an outer diameter of approximately 19 mm . approximately 1 , 200 wraps of amorphous metal ribbon were wound around the mandrel or bobbin producing a circular core form having an inner diameter of approximately 19 mm and an outer diameter of approximately 48 mm . the core had a build thickness of approximately 29 mm . the core was annealed in a nitrogen atmosphere . the anneal consisted of : 1 ) heating the bar up to 365 ° c . ; 2 ) holding the temperature at approximately 365 ° c . for approximately 2 hours ; and , 3 ) cooling the bar to ambient temperature . the core was vacuum impregnated with an epoxy resin solution and cured at 120 ° c . for approximately 4 . 5 hours . the resulting wound , epoxy bonded , amorphous metal core weighed approximately 71 g . the wound , epoxy bonded , amorphous metal core was cut using a water jet to form a semi - circular , three dimensional shaped object . the semi - circular object had an inner diameter of approximately 19 mm , an outer diameter of approximately 48 mm , and a thickness of approximately 20 mm . the cut surfaces of the pologonal , bulk amorphous metal components with arc - shaped cross sections were etched in a nitric acid / water solution and cleaned in an ammonium hydroxide / water solution . 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 .	7
a batch auction cycle of the present invention is comprised of three sequential periods : an order acceptance period , a price discovery period , and an order execution period . during the order acceptance period , the system accepts orders from qualified participants . the definition of a qualified participant will vary as is known in the art depending on how the system is implemented , as well as on the types of financial instruments traded and the country in which it is operated . this definition will often depend on whether the system is implemented as a facility of an established market or exchange . in this case , who are deemed qualified participants will likely be defined or limited by the exchange &# 39 ; s rules . each order submitted essentially represents the bounds , as defined by the order - submitting trader , within which a purchase / sale of a particular security is desired . all orders generally are comprised of a trade “ side ” ( buy or sell ), a security identifier ( such as the name or symbol of the security ), and a quantity . in embodiments of the present invention , a variety of order types can be used by traders to more thoroughly describe the conditions under which they desire to trade . a first order type is an “ unpriced order .” the submission of an unpriced order to the system identifies a desire by the submitter to participate in the auction at whatever price is discovered ( if any ) during the later price discovery period . an unpriced order for a given auction cycle is fully specified by the above three basic elements : a security identifier , an order quantity , and a trade side . optionally , a maximum ( minimum ) acceptable transaction price can be specified in an unpriced buy ( sell ) order (“ i will not sell for less than $ 100 . 00 per share ”). this price , however , will not influence the price discovery algorithm as it is described below with respect to the price discovery period . another order type which can be submitted to the system is the “ priced order .” priced orders are fully specified by four elements : security identifier , order quantity , trade side ( i . e . buy or sell ) and a desired price . this desired price represents an offer by the trader ( e . g ., “ i will sell x shares for $ 100 . 00 per share ”), and is used during the price discovery period , described in detail below , to determine the price at which the auction will take place . at the user &# 39 ; s option , any unexecuted shares ( due to a mismatch in buy and sell orders ) of a priced order after the order execution period can be automatically forwarded to another (“ secondary ”) destination at the end of the auction cycle . while not all destinations will necessarily be supported , the user will be able to choose among supported destinations . where practical , support for unique order attributes of a particular secondary destination , such as “ reserve quantity ,” or “ pegging ”, etc ., will be provided . in preferred embodiments of the present invention , the supplied price stated in priced orders may be supplied in terms of the quoted market for the underlying security , such as equal to the bid , offer , or the mid - point of the bid - offer spread . alternatively , the supplied price can be made dependent upon fluctuations in the known market indicators ( futures price movement ) and indices ( the s & amp ; p 500 ) occurring between the time the order is submitted and the time the auction begins . a third type of order which may be submitted according to embodiments of the present invention is the “ cross order .” a cross order is similar to an unpriced order in that it contains quantity and trade side terms , but is distinguished in that two sides ( both buy and sell ) of a transaction are submitted to the system as a unit to be crossed at the discovered price . such an order type is essentially a tool to allow large blocks of shares of a particular stock to quickly be traded between two traders at a market determined price ( the discovered price ). the opposing sides of a cross order cannot be broken up . if no price is discovered by the execution of priced orders within that particular auction cycle , cross orders will have the option of being returned unexecuted , being held over for the next auction cycle , or being crossed at a reference price that will be computed as part of the auction process . a suitable algorithm for determining both a discovered price and a reference price is described in detail below . as described above , the amount of transparency present during a batch auction cycle for trading securities is of major concern . a balance must be struck regarding the extent of information regarding other traders &# 39 ; orders which should be supplied during the order acceptance period to each trader participating in the particular auction cycle . if each potential trader has full access to information detailing the buy and sell orders of other traders , known as the “ limit order book ,” an incentive is placed upon traders to try and affect discovered price to their liking by altering their order parameters . the extent of such practice , known as gaming , within the auction system can lead to perceived unreliability . the system of the present invention provides partial transparency during the order acceptance period of the auction cycle . specifically , two pieces of information are disseminated continuously in the first of two stages comprising the order acceptance period : an “ indicated price ” and a “ net order imbalance .” as each new order is received , the indicated price and net order imbalance is recalculated and disseminated to qualified participants . the indicated price is defined as the price at which an auction would occur if it were to take place at that moment , and is calculated according to the price discovery algorithm detailed below . the net order imbalance is the excess supply or demand in the financial instrument being auctioned ( i . e . 1500 surplus shares bid ). if there are no intersecting orders ( i . e ., no possible trades ), then “ n / a ” will be disseminated for the net surplus . at a minimum this information will be made available to some or all qualified participants . preferably , this information will be made available via market data services and other real - time information providers . at any time during the first stage of the order acceptance period , any qualified participant may cancel or modify any order they have previously placed during that particular auction cycle . however , the ability to modify or cancel orders , especially when combined with transparency , provide incentives for traders to participate in gaming . to limit this gaming incentive , the present invention employs an order acceptance algorithm . according to this algorithm , qualified participants who have submitted an order will not be allowed to cancel , reduce the quantity of , or make the price less aggressive than previously placed orders within a specified time window ( the “ order entry cut - off window ”) prior to the beginning of the price discovery period . ( modified orders seeking to increase quantity or make the price more aggressive are treated like a new order having the attributes of the order as modified .) this window just prior to the beginning of the price discovery period constitutes the second stage of the order acceptance period . new orders will not be accepted automatically during this stage as they were in the first stage . such second stage orders will be accepted only to the extent that they offset a published net order imbalance . thus , buy ( sell ) orders for a given security will only be accepted if there is an excess supply ( demand ). furthermore , the size of any such new second stage order may not exceed the then - current size of the net order imbalance . with respect to new second stage priced orders , the order price must be at least as aggressive ( greater than or equal to for bids , less than or equal to for offers ) as the then - current indicated price in order to be accepted . referring to fig2 , an exemplary order acceptance algorithm , preferably performed by a computerized system using software , according to one embodiment of the present invention receives an order request 100 and first makes a determination at 101 as to whether the order request constitutes a new order 101 a or a modification 101 b . the system screens the new order at 102 and makes a determination as to whether it was submitted during the first or second stage of the order receiving period . if the new order was received during the first stage 102 a , then this order automatically gets entered into the limit order book 103 . if the new order was received during the second stage 102 b , the system then screens the order at 104 and 106 to determine if it would offset a current net order imbalance , and if the price is at least as aggressive as the current indicated price . if the new order satisfies both criteria , then the new order still would be entered into the order book 103 as shown by paths 104 a and 106 a in the figure . if the new order fails to meet either of these criteria 104 and 106 , the order is rejected as late and not entered into the limit order book 105 as shown by paths 104 b and 106 b . in the event that the order request received at 100 is found not to be a new order at 101 , but instead a modification or cancellation 101 b of an order already in the order book , a different set of anti - gaming rules apply . if at 107 the system finds that the modification or cancellation order was received in the first stage 107 a of the order receiving period , then the modification or cancellation order would be used to appropriately update the limit order book 108 . if at 107 the system finds that the modification or cancellation order request was received in the second stage 107 b of the order receiving period , then the system determines whether the request cancels a previous order 109 , reduces the quantity of a previous order 110 , or makes the price of a previous order less aggressive 111 . if the request does any of these three things , then the request is not permitted to update the order book 105 as seen by paths 109 a , 110 a , and 111 a . as shown by paths 109 b , 110 b , and 111 b , requests seeking to modify orders to increase quantity or make the price more aggressive only modify the limit order book 108 if , as with new orders received in the second stage , the request would offset 112 a a net order imbalance 112 . after the time window has elapsed and the second stage has ended , no order requests are accepted . the auction itself begins with the commencement of the price discovery period whereby buy and sell orders for each security are crossed at a discovered price . this discovered price is individually calculated for each auction cycle by the price discovery algorithm described in detail below and depicted by fig3 , and represents a market optimal price at which to execute submitted orders . in the event of extreme market conditions , the pre - auction period of auction cycles of the present invention can be extended by successive pre - defined time intervals ( e . g . five minutes ). this time interval will be applied only to the first stage of order taking , and will in essence push back the window wherein the second stage occurs and push back the time at which the batch auction actually occurs . preferably , rules will be established for automatic extensions on the basis of order imbalance and movements in certain broad market indexes ( as defined and permitted by stock exchange rules and regulations , if any ). a human operator in charge of monitoring the system also will have discretionary ability to invoke an extension . the price discovery algorithm employed during the price discovery period of auction cycles in embodiments of the present invention uses the information contained in priced orders in the limit order book for each auction cycle to calculate , based upon relative supply and demand , a discovered price . this is the price at which all trades of a given security will occur for that particular auction cycle . preferably , the operation of the price discovery algorithm is automated , such as by software running on a computerized network . as depicted by fig3 , a price discovery algorithm according to the present invention first operates by examining the limit order book 200 to identify a price 201 for a given security at which the volume of shares traded will be maximized . in the event that a single security price 202 , a “ discrete ” price , is identified which will cause a maximum amount of shares ( from priced orders ) to be executed , then that discrete price is identified as the discovered price 203 . buyer a enters a priced order offering to buy 10 , 000 shares for ½ . buyer b enters a priced order offering to buy 10 , 000 shares for ⅜ . seller x enters a priced order offering to sell 10 , 000 shares for ⅜ . seller y enters a priced order offering to sell 10 , 000 shares for ⅜ . at a price of ½ , only a is willing to buy , thus only 10 , 000 shares would be executed . at a price of ⅜ , 20 , 000 shares would be executed as both a and b are willing to buy 10 , 000 apiece while x and y are willing to sell 10 , 000 apiece . since there is a single volume maximizing price , the discovered price equals ⅜ . the volume of unpriced orders will be included in the cumulative supply and demand of volume . for example , if there are 50 , 000 units of unpriced buy orders and 25 , 000 units of unpriced sell orders , these shares will be added to volume of priced buy and sell orders , respectively , at each price . if unpriced orders meet priced orders that do not intersect , these unpriced orders will cross at the volume - maximizing price with the corresponding priced orders . in the event that there are only unpriced buy and sell orders , the unpriced orders will trade at a predefined reference price . buyer a enters a priced order offering to buy 10 , 000 shares at a price of 50 . 00 , and an unpriced order offering to buy 50 , 000 shares at the determined price . buyer b enters a priced order offering to buy 5 , 000 shares at a price of 50 . 10 . seller x enters a priced order offering to sell 20 , 000 shares at a price of 50 . 30 , and an unpriced order offering to sell 25 , 000 shares . seller y enters a priced order offering to sell 15 , 000 shares at a price of 50 . 20 . between a , b , x , and y there are unpriced and non - intersecting priced buy and sell orders on for the particular auction cycle . at a price of 50 . 00 , buyer a would be willing to buy a total of 60 , 000 shares and buyer b would be willing to buy a total of 5 , 000 shares . thus , aggregate demand at a price of 50 . 00 is 65 , 000 shares . at this price , neither of seller x &# 39 ; s or seller y &# 39 ; s priced orders would be executed . thus , aggregate supply would equal the total number of unpriced order shares , 25 , 000 . at a price 50 . 10 , buyer b is willing to buy a total of 5 , 000 shares , buyer a is willing to buy a total of 50 , 000 shares ( this number being the number of unpriced shares ordered by buyer a ). for this price , again neither seller x nor seller y are willing to buy any priced shares . therefore , aggregate supply is 25 , 000 shares . at a price of 50 . 20 , aggregate demand equals 50 , 000 shares ( this being the number of shares represented by unpriced buys ), and aggregate supply is 40 , 000 shares ( this being the number of shares available for sale at a price of 50 . 20 plus the number of unpriced shares offered ). at the price of 50 . 30 , aggregate demand equals 50 , 000 and aggregate supply equals 60 , 000 . taking the smaller of aggregate demand and aggregate supply at each of the above prices , we will find the total number of shares which will transact at that particular price . thus , at a price of 50 . 00 , 25 , 000 shares would be transacted , at 50 . 10 , 25 , 000 shares would be transacted , at 50 . 20 , 40 , 000 shares , and at 50 . 30 , 50 , 000 shares . therefore , the maximum amount of shares will transact at a share maximizing price of 50 . 30 wherein 50 , 000 shares will be executed . often , a discrete price cannot be identified . in these circumstances , the price discovery algorithm used in embodiments of the present invention will identify a range of prices 204 that will cause a maximum amount of shares to be executed . along this range of prices , the amount of shares traded would be constant . in instances where a discrete price cannot be identified , the price discovery algorithm uses the relative amounts of bids ( offers to buy ) and offers ( offers to sell ) to determine which price along the range of volume maximizing prices will be discovered . the price discovery algorithm according to embodiments of the present invention in circumstances where no discrete price is identified first makes a determination 205 as to whether the bid shares are substantially equal to the offered shares . this can be done , for example , by mathematically computing an imbalance ratio (“ r ”) defined as r =  b - o  l equation ⁢ ⁢ 1 wherein “ b ” is defined as the number of shares bid to buy at the highest price within the volume maximizing range , “ o ” is the number of shares offered to sell at the lowest price within the volume maximizing range , and l equals the lesser of o or b . this imbalance ratio is then compared to a predefined standard (“ s ”) for the given security . next , the price discovery algorithm compares the imbalance ratio r to the standard s 206 . if the imbalance ratio is less than the appropriate standard 207 , the discovered price is identified as the mid - point price within the share volume maximizing range of prices 208 . this represents a determination that the net order imbalance is not large enough to significantly impact price . same facts as example 1 , except that x and y only wish to sell 5 , 000 shares apiece for ⅜ . the standard “ s ” for the particular stock in question is 0 . 25 ( representing a belief that a 25 % excess of supply over demand , or vice versa , would constitute a large enough net order imbalance to significantly impact price ). using equation 1 , b is 10 , 000 , o is 10 , 000 , and l is 10 , 000 , thus r is calculated to equal 0 . 00 ( i . e ., no net order imbalance ). since r is less than s , the net order imbalance is deemed to not significantly impact price . given that x and y will sell 5 , 000 shares apiece ( 10 , 000 total ) whether the price is ½ or ⅜ ( there is no single volume maximizing price ) and that r is less than s , the discovered price will be the mid - point of the volume maximizing range ( ⅜ to ½ ). thus , the price is 7 / 16 . if the imbalance ratio is greater than the appropriate standard 209 , the imbalance of supply and demand of the particular stock within the volume maximizing range is considered to have become large enough to impact price . where the number of bids is found to significantly outnumber the number of offers 210 ( b & gt ; o ), the market price is considered demand driven 211 and results in a discovered price equal to the highest price within the share maximizing range . conversely , where offers significantly outweigh the number of bids ( o & gt ; b ), the market price is supply driven 213 and results in a discovered price equal to the lowest price within the share maximizing range 214 . the same facts as in example 3 , except that a third buyer , buyer c , submits a priced order to buy 10 , 000 shares at ½ . using equation 1 , b is 20 , 000 , o is 10 , 000 , and l is 10 , 000 , thus r is calculated to equal 0 . 50 . since r is greater than or equal to s ( in this instance s = 0 . 25 ), the net order imbalance is deemed to significantly impact price . this net order imbalance creates a demand driven price , thus the discovered price is set to the highest price within the volume maximizing range , namely ½ . in alternative embodiments of the present invention , more than one standard may be used . in addition to the standard s which , if exceeded , denotes order imbalances which are large enough to warrant completely tipping the price to either the highest or lowest price within a range , a lower preliminary standard s ′ can be used to measure when a predetermined partial tipping of price should be employed . thus , if b & gt ; o , and s & gt ; r & gt ; s ′, the price would not be demand driven , but only demand pressured . in situations where price is demand or supply pressured , the discovered price would be offset somewhere between the midpoint and the appropriate endpoint of the price maximizing range . buyer d enters a priced order offering to buy 75 , 000 shares of stock iou for 50 . 35 . seller z enters a priced order offering to buy 50 , 000 shares of stock iou for 49 . 95 . stock iou has a standard , s , set within the auction system equal to 0 . 60 , and a preliminary standard , s ′, set within the auction system equal to 0 . 40 . for this example , at any price within the range of 49 . 95 through 50 . 35 , 50 , 000 shares of iou will be exchanged . using equation 1 , the imbalance ratio , r , is calculated to be 0 . 50 , which is less than s , but larger than s ′. thus the price is considered to be demand pressured , but not demand driven . thus , the determined price will be selected from a price somewhere between the demand driven price , 50 . 35 , and the mid - point of the bid - offer spread , 50 . 15 . a suitable price , for example , could be 50 . 25 , the mid - point of the range of demand pressured price range . as will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art , the standard ( s ) with which to compare the imbalance ratio to can vary from security to security and upon prevailing market conditions . when embodiments of the present invention are performed electronically , the standard can be linked to market indicators ( security beta and volatility , for example ) preferably provided continuously by an independent electronic wire service . further , the value of the standard for a single security can be dependent upon whether there is a demand driven ( b & gt ;& gt ; o ) or supply driven ( o & gt ;& gt ; b ) imbalance . for those auctions where no price is discovered , such as in the case where there are no priced orders which intersect which define a share maximizing price , a default price , termed the reference price (“ p r ”), that is derived from a combination of the orders currently in the order book and continuous market quotes will be computed and disseminated at the end of the auction cycle . this reference price in turn , as described above , will be used to execute cross orders and unpriced orders . details of the reference price calculation will depend on the specific implementation of the system . in preferred embodiments of the invention , the reference price calculation algorithm will be performed by software running on one or more computers and will vary depending upon whether the particular auction cycle is being conducted as a closing , an opening , or as a normal periodic auction in conjunction with continuous trading on a continuous trading market . for a batch auction cycle occurring at the close of trading or during trading , the order acceptance period occurs while the continuous market is open . thus , an accurate measure of an optimal price , assuming no volume maximizing price is identified by the price determination algorithm employed , may be identified as being the mid - point of the of the most recently published unqualified complete quotation ( quotation having a valid bid , bid size , valid offer , and offer size ) reported by the continuous market prior to the beginning of the price discovery period . for a batch auction occurring at the opening of the continuous trading market , the order acceptance period occurs while the continuous trading market is closed . thus , quotes from trading in the continuous market cannot be used to set the reference price . thus , in situations where there are only priced offers and no priced bids , and the highest bid is higher than the most recently published unqualified trade price (“ mrputp ”), as obtained from a consolidated tape system or other real time quote service , the reference price is set equal to the highest bid price . where there are no priced offers , and the lowest offer is lower than the mrputp , the reference price is set equal to the lowest offer price . in all other scenarios with opening auction cycles , such as when there are no priced orders within the system , the reference price is defined as the mrputp . after a discovered price is identified by the price discovery algorithm , the price discovery period ends and the final part of the auction cycle , the order execution period , begins . during this final period , the volume maximizing amount of shares which are executed at the discovered price are fairly allocated among “ qualifying ” orders . qualifying orders include all unpriced orders as well as priced orders that are at least as aggressive ( bid orders having a price greater than or equal to the discovered price , and offer orders having a price less than the discovered price ) as the discovered price . during the order execution period , each qualifying order will receive a pro - rata allocation of the available liquidity , i . e , the shares of the given security which will be traded during that particular auction cycle . given the facts according to example 3 , the full 10 , 000 shares sold by x and y at 7 / 16 is allocated to a because the discovered price is higher than the price entered by b . thus , a is the only buyer willing to pay the discovered price . given the facts according to example 4 , the 10 , 000 shares sold by x and y at ½ is allocated pro - rata to each buyer willing to meet that discovered price . buyers a and c are both willing to buy up to 10 , 000 shares apiece at a price of ½ , thus the shares are allocated equally between them . thus , a and c are each allocated 5 , 000 shares at ½ . after the trades are allocated among qualifying orders , each trader is notified of the results of their order , including whether a trade did or did not occur , whether their order was a qualifying order , the price at which trades occurred ( if applicable ), and the quantity traded shares allocated to him ( if applicable ). optionally , in embodiments of the present invention , other information can be provided to the trader post auction including the net order imbalance and total number of shares executed . when qualifying orders were electronically submitted , trader notification of auction results can be performed electronically as well . a batch auction system in preferred embodiments of the present invention is connected to one or more ecns such that non - executed shares can be automatically sent to outside sources for execution . thus , participants who had submitted priced orders having less aggressive prices than the discovered price , or having a net order imbalance , could attempt to have their desired trades executed outside the batch auction . in an alternative embodiment of the present invention as depicted by fig5 , one or more designated intermediaries will be responsible for filling all eligible orders that would otherwise be unfilled , at the auction price . thus , no unmatched orders would be generated . all unpriced orders as well as priced orders that are at least as aggressive as the discovered price will be filled in their entirety . in return for fulfilling this obligation , the intermediaries receive the benefit of viewing the entire limit order book for each security for which they are the designated intermediary during the auction process . in embodiments of the present invention which employ an intermediary , the designated market maker will have discretion to extend the auction . as with specialists on the nyse and tse , the intermediary will be subject to pre - defined market or exchange guidelines and will be subject to sanctions in the event that an inappropriate extension is made . as will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art , the present system can be modified in a variety of manners to provide additional functional features . by way of example , the permissible order types may be modified , or new order types introduced in alternative embodiments of the present invention . such a new order type could be in the form of a “ contingent order ” which represents a desire by the trader to “ only buy security a if i can sell security b and the price ratio of a : b is less than x .” also by way of example , order types may be modified to allow the specification of portfolio dollar constraints . such constraints would permit a series of orders for different securities to be linked as a portfolio , and only permit orders in that portfolio to be executed to the extent that maximum levels ( in value terms ) of net buying and selling are not exceeded . the invention being thus described , it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the same may be varied in many ways without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention . any and all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the following claims .	6
in the following detailed description of exemplary embodiments of the invention , reference is made to the accompanying drawings . the detailed description and the drawings illustrate specific exemplary embodiments by which the invention may be practiced . other embodiments may be utilized , and other changes may be made , without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention . the following detailed description is therefore not to be taken in a limiting sense , and the scope of the present invention is defined by the stated claims . a transition adaptor 2 is shown in fig1 a , designed to facilitate connecting secondary component modules such as pumping component modules , 3 - way pumping component modules , zone control component modules , and variable speed pumping component modules to preassembled intermediate component modules or primary loop component modules and or primary or secondary piping for hydronic heating systems . [ 0032 ] fig1 a shows a typical preassembled mechanical module 1 , in this case used in an intermediate position between a boiler , not shown , and the secondary component modules . the mechanical module may have any of the usual components ( such as pumps , fill valve , expansion tank , air separator , isolation valves , check valves etc .). the mechanical module may be built to internally or externally include the transition adaptor 2 or may be built to accept the transition adaptor with specialized fittings as in one embodiment as shown at the transition fitting 6 . if the transition adaptor 2 is integral to the preassembled hydronic mechanical module 1 and in an enclosure for the mechanical module , access to the secondary component module connectors 5 can be through holes of sufficient size made in the wall of the enclosure . the transition adaptor may be built as a stand alone part as shown in fig1 a to be connected to the mechanical module with normal attachment methods such as unions or sweat fittings or with a specialized fitting connector as shown in one embodiment in fig1 c and fig3 . to maintain hydraulic separation , the branches off the main pipe that lead to the secondary components should be closely spaced together , limited only by needs for securing connections and securing the assembly to a mounting wall or other surface . the spacing should be no more than 4 pipe diameters , center to center . in one embodiment , the transition adaptor is made of 1 { fraction ( 1 / 2 )} inch diameter pipe , which sets a maximum distance of 6 inches . two inches is a minimum distance for functioning of necessary fittings . four inches is preferred for the embodiment made of 1 { fraction ( 1 / 2 )} inch diameter pipe . the transition adaptor secondary component module connectors 5 will provide a connection system compatible with systematically connecting secondary component modules such as pumping component modules , 3 way pumping component modules , zone control component modules , and variable speed pumping component modules . such a connection system is shown in one embodiment in fig2 b with a flanged insert 9 brazed into the secondary component module connectors 5 , which accepts a nipple with external “ o ” rings 8 , which connects a secondary component module such as a pair of supply and return pipes 13 as shown in fig2 a . the flanges 9 may be retained with pins or with clips 10 as shown in fig2 a , clamps , screws or other means . the transition adaptor secondary component module connectors 5 may have an internal restriction or orifice 4 to improve hydraulic separation when used in primary / secondary piping systems . another use for a transition adaptor is shown in fig8 where two transition adapters are used with an intermediate module . in this case the intermediate module contains a pump that functions as an injection pump . fig9 shows another system where there are also two transition adapters , one forming a primary loop between a boiler and an intermediate component module , in this case using three - way mixing , and a second transition adapter forming a loop connecting to secondary component modules that pump to zones . [ 0036 ] fig4 shows a supply - return connector with a main return pipe 16 , a main supply pipe 14 , a branch return inlet pipe 15 in fluid communication with the main return pipe 16 and going either around or through the main supply pipe 14 . the branch pipe is severable at a connector 17 with a fitting , specialized or conventional . other embodiments of the supply - return connector could have multiple return branch pipes through or around the main supply pipe or the configuration could be reversed with a branch supply pipe or pipes through or around the main return pipe . another embodiment of the supply - return connector could combine the two approaches . modular secondary components may be attached at the branch connectors 17 , normally pumps valves etc . secondary module assemblies may be connected to the supply - return connector at that the branch inlet and outlet 17 with a fitting . alternatively , the secondary component modules may include an integral supply - return connector as shown in fig5 a and 5 b where the 3 way component module 19 , variable speed pumping component module 20 , and pumping component module 21 each include a supply - return connector . a secondary component module may also include a transition adaptor 2 . each secondary component module with an integral supply - return connector 19 , 20 and 21 could have supply or return pipes going through or around the main supply or main return pipes . a systematic assembly of these components is shown in fig6 a , showing the orderly benefits of using the transition adaptor with a preassembled mechanical module and secondary component modules since the possibility for poor piping practice and installer error is almost completely eliminated and installation time is vastly reduced . since correct hydraulic separation is provided by the transition adaptor and component modules can be preassembled at the factory with the correct components , correct installation practice is almost completely assured . the transition adaptor and secondary component modules provide for the first time an integrated system for using preassembled mechanical modules and all the secondary distribution components . fig6 a shows the supply pipe sending hot fluid away from boiler 25 and the return pipe sending fluid back to the boiler 24 . [ 0039 ] fig6 b provides a key of symbols . the transition adaptor may be attached to a preassembled mechanical module at different points in the system than in the embodiments shown . when the transition adaptor is attached to the components normally in a preassembled mechanical module , whether or not those components are preassembled , the benefits of correct piping practice , hydraulic separation and ease of attaching primary , intermediate and secondary component modules provide the same benefits as when the transition adaptor is attached to or integral in a preassembled hydronic mechanical module . many other embodiments of preassembled hydronic mechanical modules and the applicable transition adaptor are possible . for example such a preassembled hydronic mechanical module might eliminate the connections for an indirect water tank or add a heat exchanger . in each case , the transition adaptor might be located in a different configuration or be of a different shape size and length . end plugs 18 , shown in fig5 b , can be made compatible with plugging the transition adaptor if not utilized , or for terminating main supply and return pipes of any of the secondary component modules and supply and return pipes on the variable speed pumping component module . [ 0041 ] fig7 shows some different embodiments of the invention , showing in this embodiment a primary loop component module which contains or is connected to a transition adaptor 26 shown in this configuration also including isolation valves for the supply and return take off pipes . illustration 7 also shows a double pumping component module 28 and a zoning component module 29 that could be attached to any of the secondary component modules with a fitting method similar to those used in connecting the secondary component modules and / or the transition adaptor . one embodiment of such a system is shown in fig3 . secondary component modules could be made for any orientation and in combination of more than one unit . for example a pumping component module might have one , two , three , four or more pumps and return pipes as part of the module . this invention consists of organizing the hydronic system into independent parts with standard connections having a standard relationship between the supply and return components so that these independent parts can be used in any systematic combination . systematic spacing of component modules and use of a convenient systematic fitting system will enhance the ability to use preassembled mechanical module ( s ), transition adaptor ( s ) and the primary and secondary component modules together . the transition adapter can also provide a systematic and convenient transition to and from field installed piping that is attached to any of the modular primary , secondary or intermediate component modules . the fitting systems as shown for example in 12 , 10 and 11 could be male and female with an “ o ” ring insert on the male part instead of a nipple with “ o ” rings . since transition adapters and secondary component modules can be used in a system in different positions and orientations , numerous other embodiments are possible . fig8 shows a transition adapter being used on the primary boiler loop and on a loop with secondary component modules , each transition adapter providing the transition to a mechanical module with an injection pump . [ 0045 ] fig9 shows a transition adapter being used on a boiler primary loop with a 3 way mixing module between the boiler primary loop and an intermediate mechanical module . another transition adapter is shown completing the loop of the intermediate mechanical module and providing the transition to secondary component modules . a pumping component module is shown in fig9 in position on the boiler primary loop to provide connections to and pumping to an indirect water tank . [ 0046 ] fig1 shows component modules preassembled and mounted to strut supports or other conventional or nonconventional bracketing or supports . clamps 40 or other connecters may be used to mount the component modules and transition adaptors , and , when properly made and placed , may be used to also retain or help retain the modules in place to prevent the modules from separating at the fittings . in this sense they become part of the modular component fitting assembly and no other clamp is required . although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to certain preferred embodiments , other embodiments are possible . therefore , the spirit or scope of the appended claims should not be limited to the description of the embodiments contained herein . it is intended that the invention resides in the claims hereinafter appended .	8
applicant hereby incorporates u . s . pat . no . 5 , 246 , 581 , issued may 21 , 1993 and u . s . pat . no . 5 , 770 , 077 issued jun . 23 , 1998 , to sidney goldman as hereinbefore set forth at length . referring now to the figures , and in particular to fig1 , wherein there is shown , a prior art pressurized filter vessel 10 that includes a filter housing 12 and a filter basket 16 into which is inserted a inverted filter bag 18 , in a conventional manner . the open or top end 20 of the filter vessel 12 is provided with a sealing cover 42 having a handle 14 affixed thereon . a plurality of conventional clamping mechanisms 34 and 36 serve to hold the cover 42 thereon , in a conventional manner . the cover 42 is shown in the open position and is hingedly affixed to said filter housing 12 by a pivot pin 40 provided on an extending lip portion 44 disposed proximate the filter vessel opening 20 the handle 14 , disposed on the cover 20 , assists in raising the cover 20 to the open position . the inlet port 46 to the housing 12 , in the preferred embodiment , communicates with the aperture 38 provided in the cover 42 so that the input fluid to be filtered flows over the top of the filter bag 16 and the filter basket 18 when entering the filter vessel housing 12 . the outlet port 22 is provided proximate the lower or closed portion of the filter vessel housing 12 , preferably below the hollow solid bottom 19 of the filter basket 16 . an inlet control valve , not shown , is disposed in series with the filter vessel input port 46 and it is connected to the main fluid line , not shown , in which the unfiltered fluid flows . an outlet control valve , not shown , is disposed in series with the filter vessel output port 22 and it is connected to the main filtered fluid line 46 , not shown , in which the filtered fluid flows . the filter vessel housing 12 is maintained in an upright or vertical position by a base member 24 , which includes legs 26 , 28 , 30 , and 32 . referring now to fig2 , which is a perspective view of a prior art multi - layered heat laminated filter bag 18 , that may be fabricated from a plurality of different porosity filter materials 48 and affixed to a sealing ring portion 50 , which has been attached with heat welding techniques . disposed along the length and width of the bag 18 are a plurality of heat laminated junctures 54 that improve the strength of the laminated materials 48 and , which may vary in size and quantity depending upon the particulate to be captured ( filtered from the fluid ). referring now to fig3 , which is a cross - sectional view of a filter basket 16 showing its hollow solid bottom 19 and perforated vertical walls , that permit the filtered liquid to flow therethrough . the inverted filter 18 bag is adapted to be received into the filter basket 16 in a conventional manner ; referring now to fig4 , it can be seen that the construction of the filter basket 16 is different than that known in the prior art , since its bottom portion 19 , instead of being fabricated from perforated or screened material just as the vertical side walls ( circumference ), it is fabricated from a hollow solid hemispherical material ( no openings therein ). this type of construction will provide turbulence at the bottom portion of the filter bag 18 and filter basket 16 . the particulate being filtered out of the fluid will be caused to move up the vertical wall as the filtered fluid exits , via the openings ( apertures ) provided in the vertical wall of the basket 16 , since the fluid will takes the path of least resistance to exit the filter basket , thereby removing the strain on the bottom heat formed seams of the filter bag 18 . referring now to fig4 , which shows a side view in elevation of an inverted filter bag 18 , partially broken away to show the disposition of the seams 58 thereon facing inwardly . referring now to fig5 , in the alternative embodiment , it can be seen that the construction of the filter bag 18 is different than that known in the prior art , since its bottom portion 52 , instead of being fabricated from filter material just as the rest of the filter bag 18 , it is fabricated from the hollow hemispherical solid ( no openings therein ) member 52 affixed to the filter material 48 . alternatively , the hollow hemispherical solid material 52 may be inserted into the bottom of a conventional filter bag or basket in operation , the inverted filter bag 18 inserted into the filter basket 16 , which is placed into the filter vessel housing 12 and the cover 42 is closed and sealed by the cover clamping mechanisms 34 and 36 . hereinbefore has been disclosed an apparatus and method for improving the life and reliability of filter bags used in pressurized filter systems . it will be understood that various changes in the method detail , materials , arrangements of parts and operating conditions , which have been herein described and illustrated in order to explain the nature of the invention may be made by those skilled in the art within the principles and scope of the instant invention .	1
it will be readily understood that the components of the present invention , as generally described and illustrated in the drawings herein , could be arranged and designed in a wide variety of different configurations . thus , the following more detailed description of the embodiments of the system and method of the present invention , as represented in the drawings , is not intended to limit the scope of the invention , as claimed , but is merely representative of various embodiments of the invention . the illustrated embodiments of the invention will be best understood by reference to the drawings , wherein like parts are designated by like numerals throughout . referring to fig1 , an apparatus 10 or system 10 for implementing the present invention may include one or more nodes 12 ( e . g ., client 12 , computer 12 ). such nodes 12 may contain a processor 14 or cpu 14 . the cpu 14 may be operably connected to a memory device 16 . a memory device 16 may include one or more devices such as a hard drive 18 or other non - volatile storage device 18 , a read - only memory 20 ( rom 20 ), and a random access ( and usually volatile ) memory 22 ( ram 22 or operational memory 22 ). such components 14 , 16 , 18 , 20 , 22 may exist in a single node 12 or may exist in multiple nodes 12 remote from one another . in selected embodiments , the apparatus 10 may include an input device 24 for receiving inputs from a user or from another device . input devices 24 may include one or more physical embodiments . for example , a keyboard 26 may be used for interaction with the user , as may a mouse 28 or stylus pad 30 . a touch screen 32 , a telephone 34 , or simply a telecommunications line 34 , may be used for communication with other devices , with a user , or the like . similarly , a scanner 36 may be used to receive graphical inputs , which may or may not be translated to other formats . a hard drive 38 or other memory device 38 may be used as an input device whether resident within the particular node 12 or some other node 12 connected by a network 40 . in selected embodiments , a network card 42 ( interface card ) or port 44 may be provided within a node 12 to facilitate communication through such a network 40 . in certain embodiments , an output device 46 may be provided within a node 12 , or accessible within the apparatus 10 . output devices 46 may include one or more physical hardware units . for example , in general , a port 44 may be used to accept inputs into and send outputs from the node 12 . nevertheless , a monitor 48 may provide outputs to a user for feedback during a process , or for assisting two - way communication between the processor 14 and a user . a printer 50 , a hard drive 52 , or other device may be used for outputting information as output devices 46 . internally , a bus 54 , or plurality of buses 54 , may operably interconnect the processor 14 , memory devices 16 , input devices 24 , output devices 46 , network card 42 , and port 44 . the bus 54 may be thought of as a data carrier . as such , the bus 54 may be embodied in numerous configurations . wire , fiber optic line , wireless electromagnetic communications by visible light , infrared , and radio frequencies may likewise be implemented as appropriate for the bus 54 and the network 40 . in general , a network 40 to which a node 12 connects may , in turn , be connected through a router 56 to another network 58 . in general , nodes 12 may be on the same network 40 , adjoining networks ( i . e ., network 40 and neighboring network 58 ), or may be separated by multiple routers 56 and multiple networks as individual nodes 12 on an internetwork . the individual nodes 12 may have various communication capabilities . in certain embodiments , a minimum of logical capability may be available in any node 12 . for example , each node 12 may contain a processor 14 with more or less of the other components described hereinabove . a network 40 may include one or more servers 60 . servers 60 may be used to manage , store , communicate , transfer , access , update , and the like , any practical number of files , databases , or the like for other nodes 12 on a network 40 . typically , a server 60 may be accessed by all nodes 12 on a network 40 . nevertheless , other special functions , including communications , applications , directory services , and the like , may be implemented by an individual server 60 or multiple servers 60 . in general , a node 12 may need to communicate over a network 40 with a server 60 , a router 56 , or other nodes 12 . similarly , a node 12 may need to communicate over another neighboring network 58 in an internetwork connection with some remote node 12 . likewise , individual components may need to communicate data with one another . a communication link may exist , in general , between any pair of devices . referring to fig2 , a system 10 may host one or more executables . the system 70 may communicate with an application management system 74 by which developers create applications in the language , a domain specific language pertaining to the system 70 . the system 70 may rely on a data access system 76 managing data stores pertinent to the applications originating from the application management system 74 and pertinent to the participating applications 101 and their respective endpoints 103 . an account system may operate to verify authorizations and control access to data , applications , hardware , or all thereof . the system 10 , may include one or more processors connected to or over a network or the internet 58 . the system 10 may host , for example , a rule engine system 70 communicating with participating applications 101 through endpoints 103 . endpoints 103 are internet enabled and aware . participating applications may or may not be , but are connected to be monitored by their respective endpoints 103 . referring to fig3 , an apparatus 10 may host a kynetx ™ system 100 in which applications 101 may participate . one may refer to these applications 101 as such , as “ apps ” 101 or as kynetx ™ rule language files 107 or “ krl files ” 107 . herein , a participating application 101 is in a form that it qualifies as a krl file 107 . thus , such designations may be regarded as largely equivalent terms , since a participating application should typically be a krl file 107 in current embodiments of apparatus and methods in accordance with the invention . relaxing that requirement may be done but may lose many of the advantages of the system 70 in the process . typically , in a kynetx ™ rule engine system 70 or , simply , the rule engine system 70 , the components and functions operable for a kynetx ™ virtual appliance ( kva ) 72 to function are a kynetx ™ rule engine ( kre , or rule engine ) 105 , along with communications 108 between a kre 105 and a parser 109 , to parse kynetx ™ rule language files ( krl files ) 107 . krl may also be thought of as kynetx ™ rule language files 107 , characterized by the rules , protocols , formats and so forth of the kre 105 . a state machine 110 will typically be generated whenever a krl file 107 is invoked . communications 115 will travel between the rule engine 105 and application data 116 , while communications 117 travel between the rule engine 105 and user data 118 . meanwhile , communications 119 will pass between the rule engine 105 and the log files 120 , along with communications 121 between the log files 120 and the reporting system 122 . communications 123 also pass between the reporting system 122 and the warehouse 124 storing data . likewise , the typical components and functions operating for a kynetx ™ amazon master image ( kami ) 174 to function are a kre 105 , communications 108 between the kre 105 and a krl parser 109 , and the state machine 10 generated upon invocation of a krl 107 , or log file 107 . a participating application 101 may be , and typically is , any internet - connected application , device , module , or routine participating in the kynetx ™ system 70 through connection to an endpoint 103 . participating applications 101 can be commercial , off - the - shelf ( cots ) or custom - built applications 101 with integrated endpoints 103 . communication 102 between the participating application 101 and the endpoint 103 may be in native language for each 101 , 103 . for example , if the participating application 101 is a browser , then the communication is done through javascript . if the participating application 101 is a mail server , then the communication is smtp / imap ( simple mail transfer protocol / internet message access protocol ). for ip - based telephony systems , the communication may be sip ( session initiation protocol ), and so forth . the endpoint 103 is a program or application designed specifically as an intermediary for a specific type of participating application 101 . the endpoint 103 is executable to register itself with the kynetx ™ rules engine 105 and receives instructions that govern its behavior . the endpoint 103 also watches for “ salient ” events 104 occurring in or on the participating application 101 , and generates calls to the kynetx ™ rules engine 105 , passing events 104 to the kynetx ™ rules engine 105 to be evaluated thereby . the kre 105 functions in response to the kynetx ™ rule language ( krl ) as found in krl files 107 . the endpoint 103 receives directives 111 from the kynetx ™ rules engine 105 , which instruct it what to tell the participating application 101 in order to execute the instructions encountered in the krl applications encapsulated within the krl files 107 . the endpoint 103 also interacts with a controller 112 responsible to manage the user &# 39 ; s experience across multiple endpoints 103 with multiple participating applications 101 . endpoints 103 are typically attached to participating applications 101 either through user opt - in processes ( e . g ., downloads ) or through an initial system configuration . the endpoint 103 thus becomes the interface between the participating application 101 and the kynetx ™ rules engine 105 . events 104 are the occurrences ( events 104 ) occurring in or on the participating application 101 that the endpoint 103 identifies as being of particular significance to ( salient to ) the associated krl applications 107 . the endpoint 103 is responsible for observing salient events 104 and passing them on to the kynetx ™ rules engine 105 . the kynetx ™ rule engine 105 may be considered in many respects to be a central heart of the kynetx ™ system 70 . it is the component 105 that evaluates krl applications 107 encapsulated in krl files 107 , communicates 160 with endpoints 103 , communicates 161 with controllers 112 , and generates and stores data as application data 116 or “ app data ” 116 , user data 118 , and log files 120 . the kre 105 validates krl applications by invoking the krl parser 109 , and manages internal state machines 110 . it 105 is responsible to , interact with kpds 142 and pdx 143 to retrieve data for evaluation . the kre 105 is hosted in a server 12 , in the illustrated embodiment , an apache server 21 . many kynetx rule engines 105 may be operating within a single kynetx ™ system 70 . the number of kynetx ™ rule engines 105 is determined by the load placed on the system 70 . the kynetx ™ rule engine 105 specifically executes krl applications 107 , and understands krl natively . thus the kre 105 provides the facility that makes the abstractions in krl possible . it also connects to and utilizes data sources such as geo - ip mappings , census data , weather data , and sources for core krl functionality . the kynetx ™ rule engine operates memcached technology and manages caching for datasets and krl applications 107 . communication 106 between the kynetx ™ rule engine 105 and the krl files 107 relies on the kre 105 to connect to the rule repository 125 to retrieve or pull rules in at runtime . the kre 105 may use the application programming interface ( api ) 130 or other api provided by the rule repository 125 . the kynetx ™ rule engine 105 caches krl files 107 until the cache is reset by the rule repository when a new production version of a krl file is created . krl files 107 , as kynetx ™ rule language files 107 encapsulate executable code constituting kynetx - rule - language - based applications . these files 107 may be generated by developers using any number of different tools available and currently deployed to the kynetx ™ system 70 through the application management api 130 . communication 108 between the kynetx ™ rule engine 105 and the krl parser 109 occurs when the kre 105 is ready to evaluate a krl file 107 that it does not have cached . the kre 105 may have many krl files 107 readily available in one or more caches available to it at various levels of proximity . the krl parser 109 checks the validity of the krl files 107 , usually returning either a pass or fail designation . the kre 105 passes the entire krl file 107 to the parser 109 , which then parses the file 107 and returns a result back to the kre 105 , indicating whether the krl file 107 is correct . if malformed by content , context , syntax , or other detectable error , the kre 105 may identify the fact that the file 107 is non - functional or may additionally characterize the error or failing of the file 107 . state machines 110 are generated by the kre 105 whenever a krl file 107 is invoked . state machines 110 are actually user specific and track their associated user &# 39 ; s progress through out the application 107 as endpoints 103 pass salient events 104 back to the kre 105 . state machines 110 that have reached completion ( their pre - defined , completed state ) trigger further evaluation in the kre 105 of the krl file 107 . they also typically trigger evaluation of other conditions of interest to the user through the application 107 , and may be programmed to trigger one or more actions being transmitted , by directives 111 , back to the endpoint 103 . directives 111 are the instructions sent from the kre 105 to the endpoint 103 when a krl file 107 is evaluated and all conditions are met for an action to be executed . formats of directives 111 may typically be made specific to the type of endpoint 103 to which directed . likewise , directives 111 may be formatted in a default json structure . the controller 112 is a user - specific application that interacts with all of the endpoints 103 deployed in the behalf of a specific user . the controller 112 provides direction to the different endpoints 103 on action execution and data source management . the user can see all of the applications and endpoints 103 installed for that user . the controller 112 also communicates with the application marketplace module 152 , which may be shortened to marketplace 152 or application marketplace 152 , which will determine which applications a user has access to . communication 113 between the endpoint 103 and the controller 112 often involves the controller communicating parameters to the endpoints 103 , such as those indicating which applications are active for the user . meanwhile , communications 14 between the controller 112 and the marketplace 152 . the controller 112 communicates with the marketplace 152 to determine application ownership for individual users . likewise , communication 114 between the kre 105 and application data 116 involves the kre 105 generating data associated with each application at runtime . the kre 105 writes that data out to disk 18 , or some other memory device 16 on a server 21 . the application data 116 is specific to an individual krl file 126 or application , typically embedded therein . communication 117 between the kre 105 and the user data 118 results from the kre 105 generating data associated with each user at application runtime and writing that data out to disk 18 or a memory device associated with ( typically regarded as “ on ”) a server 21 , such as an apache server 21 . the user data 118 is specific to individual users for individual krl files 107 or applications . communication 119 between the kre 105 and the log files 120 , generated by the kre 105 to document the execution of krl files 107 by the kre 105 , are thereby written out to memory 16 , such as to disk 18 , on the server 21 . log files 120 contain records for each individual evaluation of a krl file 107 by the kre 105 , whether or not any action is taken by the application 107 embedded in the krl file 107 . communication 121 between the log files 120 and the reporting system 122 occurs because the reporting system has etl processes connecting to the log files on the server 21 hosting the kre 105 . these etl processes remove log files 120 for the kre 105 as they are processed thereby . the reporting system 122 is comprised of etl processes and applications that process log files and store the data in a warehouse 124 , actually a data warehouse 124 ( e . g ., a memory device 16 associated with a database engine ). the reporting system 122 can output data to other systems or generate reports for human consumption . communication 123 between the reporting system 122 and the warehouse 124 may result from the reporting system 122 connecting to the warehouse 124 using database access technologies to store , retrieve , and modify data stored in records in the warehouse 124 . the data warehouse 124 stores reporting data from the operation of the system 70 , centered around the kre 105 . a ruleset manager 125 , or rule repository application 125 ( shorthanded as repository 125 ) is responsible for managing krl files 107 submitted to the platform 70 or system 70 through the application management , application programming interface ( api ) 130 . thus , the repository 125 stores krl files 107 on disk as records 107 or files in memory 16 , and manages a database for application version data 128 control , updating , verification , or all thereof . storage 126 of krl files 107 occurs whenever the rule repository application 125 writes the krl files 107 out to disk 18 . the communication 127 between the rule repository application 125 and the version database 128 originates with the rule repository application 125 connecting to the version database 128 to store version information corresponding to krl files 107 . the version database 128 stores that version information for all the krl files 107 recognized by the system 70 . it reflects which version of a particular application is “ production ,” and which versions may exist that are not “ production ” qualified . the data in this database 128 corresponds to krl files 107 being managed by the rule repository application 125 . communication 129 between the krl parser 109 , the rule repository application 125 , and the application management api 130 provides these services , at specific points in their operation , an opportunity to validate the syntax of the kynetx ™ rule language ( krl ) contained in krl files 107 transiting through to other points in the system 70 . the parser 109 responds , indicating whether the krl syntax is correctly formed . meanwhile , the application management api 130 provides an interface for external applications to interact with the rule repository application 125 to create , store , and edit krl files 107 . the use of the application management api 130 is authorized using oauth 131 . applications using the application management api 130 must be authorized , through their account 137 with a consumer token generated using oauth token production 138 . the application builder 132 , or app builder 132 , is the application development tool provided by the kynetx ™ system 70 . users log in and obtain authorization of their use of appbuilder 132 using oauth 133 . users of appbuilder 132 must have a kynetx ™ account 137 and authorize the use of appbuilder 132 using oauth 133 . similarly , ruby gem 134 encapsulates the functionality offered by the app management api 130 in a way that simplifies for developers of krl management apps 135 the task of integrating connectivity to the kynetx ™ system 70 into any arbitrary , proprietary , development or management tool . the developer typically must provide an oauth consumer token for oauth 1331 to grant access to the app management api 130 for that developer &# 39 ; s krl management application 135 . a krl management app 135 ( using ruby gem ) is a proprietary application developed by a third party , independent from the system 70 , for the purpose of managing specific products , services , or applications deployed on the kynetx ™ platform 70 . krl management apps 136 ( using the app management api 130 ) apply in cases where developers of krl management apps 136 do not wish to use the ruby gem 130 . developers can invoke the app management api 130 directly in their krl management applications 136 . the application 136 serves basically the same purpose as the application 135 , but the method of access changes . the accounts application 137 allows users to create accounts , manage user information , and manage access to different resources . kynetx ™ provides a global accounts system 137 used across the kynetx ™ system 70 , relying on oauth token production 138 to generate oauth consumer tokens on behalf of users . these tokens are used in authorizing access to use system 70 components . the accounts application 139 stores account data in a relational or other database 139 . communication 140 between the kre 105 and various kynetx ™ sources ( kpds and pdx ), facilitates use by the kre 105 of data from various sources in the evaluation of krl files 107 . for data sets not integrated natively into krl other data services may allow the krl developer to use external data sources . the kre 105 and krl provide facilities to name data sources within a krl file 107 . sometimes those data sources will be fronted by a kynetx - provided service such as a kynetx ™ personal data store 142 ( kpds 142 ) or personal data exchange 143 ( pdx 143 ). this communication layer can use oauth to authorize the use of data . a layer 141 of authorization to access data elements may form an important part of the kynetx ™ data access layers . the system embodiment illustrated relies on an oauth module 141 , a user managed access ( uma ) module 141 or uma - like services to allow users to control the access of their data by kynetx ™ applications . such emerging technologies allow a user to control access by others to specific data elements related to that user . the kpds technology allows developers to connect to local data 145 and non - pdx data 149 . similarly , the pdx 143 lets people store data in pdss 142 controlled by themselves . a pdx provides the standards and protocols for the exchange of data in a pds 142 . communication 144 between a local data store 145 and a kpds 142 may rely on a relational or other database 145 for storing data that cannot be obtained from any other source . the kpds 142 may connect to the database 145 through normal rdbms ( relational database management system ) connectivity technologies . thus , the database 145 may be used by kpds 142 for storing local data . communication 146 between kpds 142 and data shims 147 may provide access to , and communications 148 with , non - standard or non - pdx data sources 149 . these shims 147 translate the source data api from its existing standard to rest ( representational state transfer ) a standard for web services . thus a shim 147 may be thought of as a custom program providing a translation layer between a data source 149 and rest . the communication 148 between shims 147 and data sources 149 is accomplished using the native technology implemented in the non - pdx data source 149 itself . in these cases of non - pdx data 149 the kynetx ™ system 70 or platform 70 benefits from accepting data from as many sources 149 as possible . data non - conformal to rest or pdx standards can thus still be used in kynetx ™ applications 107 . communication 150 between kynetx ™ pdx facilities and pdx data sources 151 typically takes place using pdx standards , including oauth 141 and uma 141 or technical equivalents 141 . pdx data 151 may be contained in pdss across the internet . an application marketplace module 152 provides a location and manner whereby developers can sell and distribute their applications configured to work with the kynetx ™ system 70 . communication 153 between the marketplace module 152 and application meta data 154 refers to communication 153 with a data store 154 storing data about applications available . this data may be accessed through standard rdbms access technologies . the marketplace module 154 may store application meta data 145 in a standard database 154 for display to application shoppers accessing the marketplace module 152 . communication 155 between the accounts module 137 and account data 139 may rely on standard rdbms access technology . similarly , communication 156 between the ruby gem 134 and the application management api 130 may implements native application management api 130 calls over https ( hypertext transfer protocol secure ). oauth 133 , meanwhile , may authorize the krl management applications 135 to manage applications . communication 157 between the krl management application 136 and the management application api 130 may rely on https and use native application management api 130 calls , as authorized using oauth 131 . similarly , communication 158 between the appbuilder module 132 and the application management api 130 may occur over https using native application management api 130 calls authorized using oauth . communication 159 between the application management api 130 and the rule repository application 125 typically occurs using system - level access and native rule repository application 125 function calls . at the opposite side of the system 70 , communication 160 between an endpoint 103 and the kre 105 obtains salience data for installed participating applications 101 using kre 105 apis . also , communication 161 between the controller 112 and the kre 105 allow the controller to identify the endpoints 101 associated with the installed applications for a user . thus , krl allows a developer to define every aspect of a krl application 107 embedded in a krl file 107 . a properly formed krl file 107 defines salience data for endpoints corresponding to participating applications 101 , what events 104 it cares about . the krl file defines code structures ( e . g ., global code blocks , accessible from any krl file 107 ) and contains individual rules , selected based on event criteria defined for each specific rule . each specific rule contains a prelude block wherein a developer can place code snippets to be implemented in accordance with that rule , or in other words , defining conditions that are evaluated to determine whether action is to be taken . there exists a hierarchy for a kynetx ™ rule to “ fire ,” trigger , or take action . an api call occurs . a dispatch block defines in broad terms what is salient for a participating application 101 , as per a developer &# 39 ; s decisions as to what matters . kynetx ™ benefits from the largest set of salient events 104 possible to be defined and trackable . these events 104 depend on what a participating application 101 needs . typical will events such as the occurrence of a web page view identification , a location on a page , conditions of the participating applications or hardware , and so forth . for example , a person ( user ) having a computer or phone turned on , being online , looking at a page of interest , or the like may be a salient event , significant to a participating application 101 . it is possible that the participating application 101 is not actively passing data but is simply being monitored . for example , the participating application 101 may have or may be software , but may instead simply be hardware with detectable conditions detectable and reportable by the endpoint 103 . even a mechanical device 101 may be interfaced with a processor enabled endpoint device 103 to monitor it . a participating application 101 may thus be a “ dumb ” device such as a mechanical linkage fitted with a cpu - enabled endpoint 103 monitoring conditions thereof , or a lawn sprinkler relay having a voltage , current , or activity detectable by an endpoint 103 associated therewith . such a participating application 101 is not only not internet connectable or aware , but may have no processing capability at all . nevertheless , the system 70 , via the endpoint 103 that is processor based and internet connected , may read or otherwise detect conditions and assert actions controlling that participating application . thus the above characteristics and events may be detected , controlled or both , through the endpoint 103 . therefore , such control may be asserted based on events 104 such as weather data , time , periodicity , humidity , or anything else pertinent to operation of that participating application 101 . in another example , a participating application 101 may be a very sophisticated cell phone or personal digital assistant having internet access . salient events 104 may include internet page visits by the user who owns the participating application . salient events may also be the user &# 39 ; s physical location , such as latitude and longitude , along with data about the location of a brick and mortar business location who hosted the web pages previously accessed by that user . such data may be read from computer data , user volunteered data relating to user desires , and from the mobile device , active , on , and corresponding to the participating application 101 associated with a user having some of the foregoing data applicable thereto . in this latter example , a store , restaurant , movie theater , or like establishment may broadcast to a user a message , email , call , or like communication , upon the user coming within a certain proximity of that establishment . the communication may notify that user of the availability of something the user was recently searching for or reading about on a desktop , laptop , cell phone , or other computing device on the internet . the communication may provide coupons , discounts , sale information , establishment name , directions , even an aisle number and price for the item of interest . all this may be with the permission or request of the user , provided previously . thus , a commercial marketplace becomes even more fluid , and a person may rely on the kre computer system 70 to watch for deals on goods and services at or below a desired price , in or around a certain geography , reported when they become available under the right conditions . in general , the end point 101 knows what is salient for its participating application 101 , as told to it by the kre 105 . the participating application 101 simply reports data to the endpoint 103 or is monitored by the end point 103 , which collects whatever data the endpoint is programmed and connected to collect . the end point 103 then passes on the salient data to the kre 105 as described above . conditions are more likely to be value related . these may be scientific data values , geographic values , commercial values , proximity values , any detectable state or condition values , demographic values , industrial or process values , and so forth . a select statement ( salient t / f ) may rely on a state machine used to track input of salience data . for example , a rule may instruct to select when a = x , b = y , c # w , d # v , or some condition , before a condition , after a condition , between two conditions , and including another condition , and so forth . if the conditions exists , then some response may be reported , selected , or the like . conditions are typically true or false ( t / f ). an list of conditions may be relied upon , like check data and operate as per values , logic , and so forth . thus , detection of facts , data , or the like related to external events like weather , detection of personal conditions of a user such as location , health , status , inputs , etc ., detection of conditions of a participating application such as on , off , hot , dry , up , down , moving , stopped , location , etc ., or any or all of the above , may inform the decision by the kre 105 to trigger an instruction activating a functionality of the participating application 101 ( e . g ., car , sprinkler , linkage , iphone ™, radio , printer , computer , signal , light , etc .). the way select statements deal with salience from endpoints communicating with participating applications 101 is unique . the fact that one can define in a block of code the salience of events occurring at the participating application 101 , and detected by the endpoint 103 provides unique capability to upgrade legacy devices ( participating applications 101 ) virtually independently of any previous capacity or complete lack of capacity to communicate or process information . likewise , automated control based on virtually any parameter organic to the device 101 , the owner thereof , the desires of the owner , the weather or external factors , etc . may be used to control the device 101 . within a krl file 107 , a block of code called the dispatch block is a filter above the select statement . thus , the kre may know that a user cares about target . com . the krl file application 107 will operate on target . com . so , within each layer , the select statement gets more specific , conditions are more specific . the parser 109 is a syntax checker . the state of the state engine is set by the conditions required . once the conditions achieve a completed state , the kre 105 permits instructions 102 to go to end point 103 to control or otherwise communicate with the participating application 101 . in operation , the rule engine 105 may rely on “ select statements ” contained within each rule within a krl file 107 . these define the criteria that must be met in order for the contents of the rule to be evaluated further , or “ selected .” criteria may be established by a developer to be anything cognizable by a computer such as a word , a value , a string , a recognizable image , or the like . however , criteria may typically be set to be at the top of a decision hierarchy to determine whether to invoke evaluations , rather than to contribute information to them . note that conditions , explained below are typically lower and more detailed in the decision hierarchy of the system 70 . the rule engine 105 may also use a prelude block , a block of code that resides within an individual rule in a krl file 107 . this prelude block is used to define code elements that will be used in the rest of the rule . conditions are statements within the rule that are evaluated after the rule has been selected . conditions may include evaluations of external data sources 76 , either native to the platform and to krl , or non - native and accessed through the data access system . conditions may be created from anything identifiable , such as values of parameters , text , words , images or other identifiable and communicable information . for example , weather data such as moisture , temperature , and wind may be monitored and reported , as may light and darkness to make a difference in some decision . conditions of machines , facts , data , locations , people , positions , and so forth may be detectable and communicated as conditions . actions are taken after a rule is selected and all of the conditions evaluated are met or true . then the rule engine 105 encapsulates instructions in a directive ( e . g ., instruction , data , or both ) sent back to the endpoint 103 in the form actions . actions may be communicated , for example , by data ( e . g ., executable instructions , parameters , other data structures , etc .) corresponding to actions to be taken by the endpoint . these actions typically may involve asserting some type of control over the participating application 101 corresponding to the endpoint 103 . callbacks are data structures built into the actions to report information back to the rule engine 105 , based on the action by the end point , participating application , user operating or responsible for the participating application , or the like . for example , certain actions may be taken by a device or by a user after receiving resulting data or functionality reflecting operation of the participating application . thus , callbacks provide feedback from the rule engine and endpoint . in a typical process , an endpoint 103 observes the occurrence of a salient event relating to a participating application 101 . the endpoint 103 generates a request to the rule engine 105 , comprised of the identifier for a corresponding krl file needed , as well as the salient data and any other information pertinent to that particular endpoint 103 type . the endpoint 103 sends the request to the rule engine 105 over the internet . after the rule engine 105 receives the request , it pulls the krl file 107 either from a cached location or from the rule management application system 74 . the rule engine 105 sends the krl file 107 to the krl parser 109 to ensure that it is properly formed . the krl parser 109 parses the krl file 107 and returns a true or false result to the rule engine 105 . true means the krl file 107 has proper syntax , is properly formed , and a false return means it is not . the rule engine 105 next sets up a state machine 110 for each rule contained in the krl file 107 , using the information contained in the krl file 107 in the select statement . the rule engine 105 creates a server session with state storage for the particular participating application 101 involved , with the particular user , associated therewith , or both . the rule engine 105 evaluates the request from the endpoint 103 and compares the steps defined in the state machine 110 to the data sent from the endpoint 103 . if a criterion or a plurality of criteria defined by the state machine 110 are met by the data sent from the end point 103 , then the rule engine 105 writes out the new state for the user and endpoint 103 in the server session that was created , as discussed above . once all criteria for a state machine 110 for a particular rule are met , the rule engine 105 continues with the evaluation of the rest of the rule . the rule engine 105 evaluates the conditions defined in the rule and accesses any data required . once all of the conditions have evaluated to true then the rule engine 105 generates a directive 111 with the actions specified for the participating application 101 . the rule engine 105 transmits the directive 111 back to the endpoint 103 , which takes appropriate action , in accordance therewith , to pass the action instructions back to the participating application 101 in the native protocol of the participating application 101 , whatever that may be . there need be no inherent limits on the protocol , so long as an endpoint 103 is configured physically to monitor and operate the participating application 101 . the participating application 101 receives or otherwise consumes the instructions and effects the defined behavior or functionality corresponding thereto . a physical actuation of a component may occur , information may pass , a switch may be triggered , or any other of a nearly endless varieties of action may occur . this is because the endpoint 103 is configured to interact in the specific way ( protocol ) required by the participating application 101 . a user may react to the defined behavior . if a user takes an action that has an attached callback , then the endpoint 103 transmits the callback back to the rule engine 105 . typically , each time the rule engine 105 transmits directives 111 to the endpoint 103 , the rule engine 105 records in a log file 120 all pertinent information about those workings and transactions . the application management system 74 in the kynetx ™ system 70 or platform 70 provides a variety of unique functions . the application management system 74 provides an abstract mechanism or a level of abstraction , one could even call it a level of indirection , for developers of systems that use the kynetx ™ platform 70 to manage krl files 107 . initially , the application management system 74 , through its components provides two mechanism for file management , direct api 130 access and a ruby gem 134 . a client application can invoke either of these methods to write out new krl files 107 or manage existing files 107 . one result of this functionality is the capability for third parties to develop applications that use the kynetx ™ platform 70 while maintaining a level of abstraction for their own users . the present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from its spirit or essential characteristics . the described embodiments are to be considered in all respects only as illustrative , and not restrictive . the scope of the invention is , therefore , indicated by the appended claims , rather than by the foregoing description . all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are to be embraced within their scope .	6
the fig4 diagram is in three parts . a first part a 1 relates to the input signals , a second part a 2 relates to the sigma - delta analog - to - digital converter itself , and a third part a 3 relates to a control system . the first part a 1 has a zero value input 15 used during a calibration phase and an input 16 receiving the analog signal to be digitized by the sigma - delta analog - to - digital converter . a switch 17 connects either to the input 15 or to the input 16 . in the second part a 2 , a signal from the input 15 or 16 reaches the positive input 18 a of an adder 19 . a noise - shaping filter 20 recovers the output signal of the adder 19 . the signal 21 leaving the noise - shaping filter 20 is fed to the input of a quantizer 22 with three quantizing levels : − 1 , 0 and 1 . the quantizer 22 generates a digital signal 23 which , during a normal operation phase , is fed to the input of a corrector module 27 via a switch 26 . the output signal of the corrector module 27 is then passed through a digital filter 28 in order to undersample it . undersampling reverts to a frequency in the vicinity of the nyquist frequency . the digital signal 23 also passes through a feedback loop 25 including a digital - to - analog converter 24 whose output signal is fed to the negative input 18 b of the adder 19 . the third part a 3 is a control device including an accumulator 29 , a counter 30 and a second counter 31 , all three of which are connected to a random access memory module 32 connected to a digital processor module 33 . the digital processor module 33 performs calculations and generates data signals 35 that are sent to the corrector module 27 of the sigma - delta analog - to - digital converter and control signals 34 that are sent to the quantizer 22 and the switches 17 and 26 . in normal operation , the digital - to - analog converter 24 receives three different digital values ( for example in the form of pairs of bits 01 , 00 and 10 coding the values − 1 , 0 and 1 ), and converts them into three analog values , which should ideally be − 1 , 0 and 1 . the three analog points do not usually correspond ideally to the values − 1 , 0 and 1 . for example , the analog point leaving the digital - to - analog converter whose ideal value is 0 can be corrected . the correction of the 0 point is independent of the zero value at the input 15 . it is possible to correct the + 1 and − 1 points with the zero value still present at the input 15 . during the first calibration phase the switch 17 is switched to the zero value input 15 and the switch 26 is switched to an input 36 common to the accumulator 29 , the counter 30 and the second counter 31 . the quantizer 22 operates in a three - level quantizing mode . the counter 31 then counts the number n 0 of 0 points ( points to be corrected ) contained in the digital signal 23 passing from the input 36 to the counter 31 . the count continues until the number n 0 reaches a predetermined value . to facilitate subsequent calculations the predetermined value is a power of two . it is equal to 2 18 , for example , i . e . to 262 144 . the accumulator 29 calculates the sum s 1 of the values of the output signal of the quantizer 22 . the sum s 1 is stored in the random access memory 32 , together with the number n 1 of points generated by the quantizer 22 and counted by the second counter 30 . the value 2 18 is chosen so that it is sufficiently large for the values stored in memory to be accurate . the second calibration phase consists of converting the sigma - delta analog - to - digital converter with three quantizing levels into a sigma - delta analog - to - digital converter with two quantizing levels . for this it suffices to convert the three - level quantizer 22 into a two - level quantizer . the two levels are the − 1 and + 1 points . the switch 17 is still switched to the input 15 and the switch 26 is still switched to the input 36 . during this phase the sigma - delta analog - to - digital converter is operated with zero at the input during n 1 samples . the accumulator 29 also calculates the sum s 2 of the n 1 output samples . a zero point correction value is finally calculated from the equation : the division is simple to effect in the digital processor module 33 because a power of two has been chosen for the value of n 0 . the value c is then saved in the memory 32 , which has three compartments in which it saves the number n 1 , the sum s 1 and the value c . once these two calibration phases have been completed , the phase of normal operation of the sigma - delta analog - to - digital converter with three quantizing levels begins . the switch 17 is switched to the input 16 , the switch 26 is switched to the corrector module 27 , and the quantizer 22 operates with three quantizing levels − 1 , 0 and + 1 . the analog signal to be digitized is fed to the input 16 and leaves the quantizer 22 in the form of a digital signal 23 which is modified by the corrector module 27 and then digitally filtered by the module 28 . the corrector module 27 executes an algorithm that can be summarized as in the table below : thus if the digital value 0 is present at the output of the quantizer 22 , it is replaced by its correction value c at the output of the corrector module 27 . fig5 shows the three - level quantizer 22 made up of two comparators 37 and 38 and a digital processor module 39 . the comparator 37 has two inputs , a first of which receives the signal 21 from the noise - shaping filter 20 and the second of which is maintained at a fixed voltage v equal to a positive quantizing threshold voltage . the comparator 38 also has two inputs , the first of which also receives the signal 21 , and the second input of the comparator 32 is maintained at a voltage equal to − v . the output of the comparator 37 and that of the comparator 38 enter the digital processor module 39 generating the digital output signal 23 . if the value of the input signal 21 is greater than v , the digital signal 23 takes the value + 1 . if the value of the input signal 21 is less than − v , the signal 23 takes the value − 1 . if the value of the input signal 21 is between − v and v , the signal 23 is equivalent to 0 . the digital processor module 39 is governed by the following algorithm , in which s 37 is the output of the comparator 37 , and s 38 is the output of the comparator 38 : + 1 = s 37 0 = s 37 _ - s 38  to convert the three - level quantizer 22 into a two - level quantizer the values v and − v at the second inputs of the comparators 37 and 38 are replaced by a null value and the algorithm of the digital processor module 39 is modified so that , when the value of the input signal 21 is positive , the signal 23 is equivalent to + 1 and , when the value of the input signal 21 is negative , the signal 23 is equivalent to − 1 . to this end , the algorithm of the digital processor module 39 is as follows : + 1 = s 37  in fact , only the comparator 37 is used , the comparator 38 being rendered “ invisible ”. the non - linearity of the sigma - delta analog - to - digital converter described above can be compensated by carrying out a calibration phase without modifying the structure of the sigma - delta analog - to - digital converter . fig6 a and 6 b show the conversion of the five - level quantizer into a three - level quantizer . the e axis represents the input signal 7 and the s axis represents the output signal 9 . fig6 a shows the transfer function of a five - level quantizer (− 1 ; − 0 . 5 ; 0 ; 0 . 5 ; 1 ). for example , any input signal having a value between two positive values v 1 and v 2 delimiting a range of values on the e axis is converted into a digital signal of value equal to 0 . 5 on the s axis . to correct the zero level by converting the quantizer to three levels , the intermediate levels (− 0 . 5 and 0 . 5 ) are eliminated , as shown in fig5 b . the remaining three levels are therefore (− 1 ; 0 ; 1 ). for example , in a simulation for a signal to be converted of maximum amplitude and no correction in accordance with the invention , a sigma - delta analog - to - digital converter with three quantizing levels sampled at a frequency of 2 048 khz had a signal / noise ratio of 46 db . the results obtained after applying the first calibration phase with n 0 = 262 144 were as follows : n 1 = 372 522 and s 1 =− 6 408 . executing the second calibration phase yielded a sum s 2 =− 3 116 and a 0 point correction value c such that : c =( s 2 − s 1 )/ n 0 = 3 292 / 262 144 a signal / noise ratio of 105 db was then obtained in normal operation for a signal to be converted of maximum amplitude and with correction in accordance with the invention . the method described above performs a calibration phase using a three - level quantizer and then a two - level quantizer but retains the general structure of the sigma - delta analog - to - digital converter . the calibration phase is effected simply by controlling the various switches .	7
with general reference to the figures and with special reference now to fig1 a plurality of client systems 10 , depicted as cl 1 , cl 2 , . . . , cl 10 symbolizes a respective number of mobile or fixedly installed desktop computers in a wide area network , interconnected via a lan / wan intranet including wire connections and wireless connections . client system 105 ( cl 5 ) is hereby assumed as a notebook computer belonging to a person traveling around within the wan geographic region , assumed to be quite large , for instance a country such as germany . said client systems are assumed to be backed up in more or less regular time intervals . for this purpose , a set of backup servers 12 , 125 , 128 ( denoted as s 1 , s 2 , s 103 and s 4 ) is provided within the intranet . the backup servers are connected to two similarly structured data pools 14 , 16 , into which the backup data is stored . for this purpose , high bandwidth connections exist between each of the servers and each of the data pools . as the network connections between the system elements are large in number , they are not depicted in the drawing , in order to increase clarity thereof . also , the number of clients and servers used in this illustrative example is willingly held small , in order to increase clarity of the drawing . in this scenario all servers may access all data of all client systems . a particular server system 125 ( denoted as s 103 ) is depicted to be associated permanently with a subset of said client systems , which are client systems 105 , 107 , 108 and 109 . such preferred association is provided to give a simple , fixed initial contact address for those client systems . this preferred server 125 is a home server for those client systems , because it is assumed that the client systems are located geographically very close to said server s 103 . this association may , however , be modified and replaced dynamically by another one , if ever required , which might be the case when for example a client very often connects from another location , which is connected to a server located in turn much nearer than its actual home server . then the nearer server is dynamically chosen as a current home server , and the former home server is a subordinated server , as it is the remaining rest of servers . according to the present invention the usual behavior of said clients 10 ( cl 1 , . . . cl 10 , cl 105 , . . . cl 109 ) is stored in a centralized client database 18 , which may be accessed by all of said backup servers s 1 , . . . s 5 . according to this inventive embodiment and with additional reference to the top part in fig4 a typical client profile stored therein comprises a client id , all server ids including a home server id , an attribute describing the geographic location of a client , a favorite time span , during which the client system is connected online into the network , and in which a backup of data generated locally at the client may be considered as useful , because for example , the major part of freshly processed files are closed and ready for backup . further , the client profile comprises the amount of data ( kilobyte , megabyte ), which describes the usual amount of backup data , backed up within a given history time span , further , a maximum data transfer rate ( speed ), which may be provided by the client and which may represent a bottleneck for an intended network data transfer , and a minimum speed , which is considered to be required for performing a reasonable backup of data from the client to anyone of the depicted server systems . further , an online / offline flag may be optionally provided therein , as well . a table - like illustration of this client profile is given at the top portion of fig4 to which reference is thus made . thus , for example , the client id may comprise a unique name and a tcp - ip address , the home server id may be similar a nature , the geographic location may be a character string denoting a city , favorite time may be stored as between 4 and 6 p . m ., the amount of transfer data may be denoted as 20 megabytes , the maximum local speed which is available at the client may be 56 kilobits per second , the minimum speed required may be 10 kilobits per second . thus , a home server is provided with an activity schedule in order to satisfy the backup needs of its home clients , which may be implemented in the form of a table , as well . an entry of this table may comprise a client id accompanied with a preferred backup initialization time . with further reference to fig2 an inventive embodiment of the control flow of the inventive concept will be described in more detail below . in the left column of fig2 the client activities are depicted , in the right hand column the server activities are depicted . in a first step 200 client 105 is assumed to issue a request for backup to its home server 125 , which receives this request in step 205 . optionally , such request may only be issued , if a preceding bandwidth test done by client 105 yields , that the bandwidth between client 105 and server 125 is higher than a predetermined threshold level , as e . g . 40 kilobit per second , as client 5 is assumed to be a notebook having only a modem device with a maximum local speed of 56k , this is a reasonable value . client 5 is assumed to be on travel during the major part of this time . this is symbolized with the curved arc in fig1 . client 105 is assumed now to be geographically very close to server 128 and concurrently very far away from its original home server 125 . according to the present inventive embodiment the backup is preferably done in an optimized way , which reflects the possibility of using the very close server system 128 for backup purposes instead of using the original home server 125 , in particular , when the bandwidth from the client to the close server system 128 is significantly better than that to home server 125 , and if server 128 has a respective free capacity for servicing the intended backup request . in a next step 210 the contacted home server 125 first accesses the client database 18 and reads from the respective entry 410 preferably the information given for the intended backup job , as are : amount of bytes , favorite time , maximum modem speed limited by the client facilities , and the status field , saying if the client is still online or offline . this information is referred to herein as “ job or service description ”. further , server 125 accesses database 18 , which also holds server status information , in order to compare the server information given there and find out , which server would be the best for servicing the client request . thus , in a block 230 , a so - called inter - server communication is initialized by home server 125 , in order to determine the best server for doing the backup job , i . e . service , requested by said client 105 . details of this determination process are given in fig3 to which reference should now be made . in a first step 220 it is checked , if the current time is within the range defined as favorite time and stored in the client entry of said database 18 . if this is the case , in step 232 , the currently available bandwidths are measured by test messages between client 105 and each of the backup servers 12 . for this technical task , prior art technology may of course be used . as the client is provided with any of the relevant server ids , it may autonomously perform this bandwidth measurement . then , the results of these measurements are transferred to the home server in the form of a ranked list specifying the server having the best bandwidth as the particular backup server . it may now be assumed , that the bandwidth for server s 1 , having reference sign 128 is currently the best - connected server . this is expressed in fig1 by the circle around client 105 and server s 1 in the top right area of the drawing . then , said home server , to which the measurement result list was transferred , processes this list , beginning with the best server , i . e . server s 1 : in step 233 , the server s 1 218 is contacted and asked , if there is a work slot available , during which the intended backup may be done , or not . preferably , some time window is enclosed in this asking , specifying a time range between now and a predetermined latest time , during which the job should be performed in order to be ranked best . in this example , said time range may be assumed to be between 4 : 30 and 5 : 30 p . m . in case , a work slot is available at the best server , a request for backup is filed in the respective queue thereof , whereby said best - suited server is selected for providing the backup service , step 236 . otherwise , see the no - branch of the respective decision 234 it is branched back to step 233 in order to repeat the foregoing asking procedure specifying the same job description at the next server , ranked as second best server . this procedure is repeated until a server is found . if no server is found to service the backup request , the home server is selected preferably as a default server . as soon as decision 234 is done , this is reported to client 105 and to the selected server 128 . such order confirmation preferably includes the estimated time range , during which said client system 105 should necessarily be hold online in order to perform the backup process . with reference back to fig2 in a next step 240 client system 105 is contacted from the best server , selected in step 236 , as described above . this is preferably done according to prior art queue management at the best server . in case , client 105 is switched online , the backup process may begin . thus , see the yes - branch of decision 245 , the connection between client 105 and server 128 is established , and client 105 sends the data to be backed up over the network to the selected best server 128 , step 255 . said server 128 receives the data , see step 260 , and buffers it , in order to forward it preferably asynchronously to its preferred data pool 14 or 16 , see back to fig1 as known from prior art . when all data is received from client 105 , the connection is closed , and the backup server 128 deletes client 105 from its queue , step 265 . in case a client is not available in the checking step 245 , fig2 an automatic backup of a different client may be performed prematurely relative to a normal , prescheduled backup start time , in order to avoid later server load or network load peaks , in case a plurality of backup jobs would coincide at a later point in time , see step 299 . with reference to fig4 additional information is given specifying a server profile as already referred to above , a data pool profile , and a backup job profile , which are maintained in said database 18 with open access for all backup servers . a server profile comprises a server id , a plurality of ids , each associated with a client , relative to which a respective server is considered as a home server , a geographical location field , a field specifying a plurality of data transfer rates achievable between the server and a respective data pool , 14 or 16 , a field storing the current usage of a server , which tells if and how much capacity is free at a server for doing some backup job , and an activity schedule , as mentioned already further above , comprising a list prescheduled jobs including each a client id and a preferred job initialization time . thus , in case the current usage field shows a percentage around 100 %, it may be derived that it is better to contact a different server having may be a lower value of current usage in above step 240 . also , the activity schedule list enables for determining if there is a working slot available in decision 234 for doing a backup job specified in a given job description , i . e . amounts of bytes to be transferred , and measured bandwidth . with further reference to fig4 a data pool profile comprises generally a data pool id , a list of — optionally home — server ids , a geographic location , a maximum number of theoretically feasible , parallel accesses to respective parallel backup media devices , and the current number of free , parallel access possibilities . thus , in case if said last number of free accesses is zero , there is no free capacity for performing a backup process . further , with reference to the bottom part of fig4 a typical backup job profile comprises a job id , a respective client id , saying from which client the data is taken , a data pool id , saying at which data pool 14 , 16 data is resident , a content info field describing a logical description of the backup process , possibly specifying absolute path names of a file system , etc ., the amount of transferred data , the amount of backed up data , if ever a difference may exist , etc ., further a time stamp associated with the backup process , and further information describing the nature of the backup process , for instance if the backup is a total backup or an incremental backup including or excluding open files , etc . for this section of technology , one may refer to prior art , as well . as reveals from the above description the present invention provides an improved method system for the backup of data , which includes location independent backup of data from either mobile or stationary computers , which covers wide regions and which regards network as well as server activities . in particular , dynamically changing load peaks either in server machines or network loads can be treated quite flexibly , and pure data transfer rates accompanied with long backup times may often be avoided according to the invention . a further preferred embodiment of the present invention comprises the printing of data , which is generated by above clients 10 , 105 , see back to fig1 at one or more of a plurality of server systems 12 , 125 , 128 , which are arranged as printer servers in a local area network , or in a publicly available network . in this second embodiment a client - initiated print request will be serviced in a way , which is improved by the present invention . said print request , which is basically comparable to a backup request , as far as network and device loads are concerned , comprises firstly the usual content and control data , which are used in prior art network printing technology , primarily the address of the desired printer . furthermore , the print request comprises specifically some information specifying the degree of necessity that a print job is done at the desired printer . for instance this degree may be implemented in a 4 - value scale : 0 = forcedly one printer , possibly taking in account some service provision time delay , 1 = desired by the user , but not forcedly limited to the desired printer , 2 = free choice within a given subset of available printers , where a subset may be formed of the plurality of printers available within one single building , for example , of course , other scales disclosing various different values and attributes may be useful in this regard , a decision which depends of the respective business environment . this may preferably include the provision for situations , in which a user wishes to issue a print job , which is targeted and thus dedicated to a different person , located elsewhere in the network , who is intended to pick up the printout of the print job . selection of paper type ( ecological , representative , formal letter , photo - sensitive surface , . . . ), urgent / not urgent , maximum of user - accepted service response time , possibly , overnight job accepted , etc . further , the inter - server communication is used in this embodiment for determining the best suited printer device for the request . the client - specific history information in this print job embodiment may for instance tell something about the usual printing practices issued by a user . this information may advantageously be evaluated in order to concentrate the printouts originating from a given time span ( e . g ., 2 hours ) at one single location , or at a few locations , which are located near to each other , in order to avoid too much waste of time necessary otherwise to collect the printout , after the jobs have completed . the client profile , the server profile , and the printer profile are adapted specifically in order to reflect the specific properties of the printing embodiment . the printer device itself corresponds to the data pool in the preceding embodiment . for instance , the pool speed in fig4 of the data pool profile can be replaced by the printing speed of a printer device , e . g ., 10 pages per minute . as a printer is usually a device , which processes jobs serially one after the other , the current queue length ( number of pages ) should be incorporated in the printer profile . further , the spool data , sent via network , corresponds to the data to be backed up in the preceding embodiment . further , no attention needs to be provided to a restore process , which is not comprised in the printing analogue discussed here , as the printing is a one - way affair , except the sending back of error or delay messages . the present invention can be realized in hardware , software , or a combination of hardware and software . a printing or backup / restore tool according to the present invention can be realized in a centralized fashion in one computer system , or in a distributed fashion , where different elements are spread across several interconnected computer systems . any kind of computer system or other apparatus adapted for carrying out the methods described herein is suited . a typical combination of hardware and software could be a general purpose computer system with a computer program that , when being loaded and executed , controls the computer system such that it carries out the methods described herein . the present invention can also be embedded in a computer program product , which comprises all the features enabling the implementation of the methods described herein , and which — when loaded in a computer system — is able to carry out these methods . computer program means or computer program in the present context mean any expression , in any language , code or notation , of a set of instructions intended to cause a system having an information processing capability to perform a particular function either directly or after either or both of the following	7
in fig1 and 2 are shown a pair of identical blades 10 and 10 &# 39 ;, formed and positioned in accordance with the prior art , and so labeled , for cutting partially through one of more layers of coating material on a filamentary member , and then severing the material by movement of the engaged blades relative to and axially of the member . blade 10 is formed with side edges 14 and 16 parallel to one another and perpendicular to outer edge 18 , and an inner edge configured as an essentially v - shaped notch 20 . likewise , blade 10 &# 39 ; includes parallel side edges 14 &# 39 ; and 16 &# 39 ;, perpendicular outer edge 18 &# 39 ; and v - shaped notch 20 &# 39 ; at its inner edge . each of blades 10 and 10 &# 39 ; includes a pair of openings 22 , 24 and 22 &# 39 ;, 24 &# 39 ; adjacent outer edges 18 , 18 &# 39 ;, respectively , for passage of screws mounting the blades upon conventional moveable support means . the thickness of blades 10 and 10 &# 39 ; is adequate to provide the degree of rigidity necessary for the intended application of the blades . as previously indicated and discussed in more detail hereinafter , the blades are mounted and moved in a cooperative manner to make radial cuts in a layer of insulating material , or the like , on a filamentary member such as an electrical conductor . the cuts made by the blades , due to the linear and circular configurations of the blade cutting edges and the conductor , respectively , pass partially but not completely through the insulation . severing is completed by relative movement of the blades and the conductor , e . g ., by moving the blades in unison axially of the insulated conductor in a direction away from a position where the insulated conductor is securely clamped . thus , the blades must be rigid enough to withstand the forces imposed thereon as severing of the insulation is completed by movement of the blades axially of the insulated conductor . this will be a function not only of the material and dimensions of the blades , but also the tensile strength and cross - sectional area of the insulation or other coating material to be severed and its adherence to the conductor or other underlying layer . the sharp cutting edges are provided in the usual manner along the inner edges of each of blades 10 and 10 &# 39 ; i . e ., in v - shaped notches 20 and 20 &# 39 ;. a planar bevel surface meets one of the opposite , planar blade surfaces at an acute angle , providing the sharp cutting edge , and the other at an obtuse angle . in the prior art arrangement of fig1 and 2a , bevel surface 23 meets opposite , planar surfaces 25 and 26 of blade 10 at acute and obtuse angles , respectively , forming sharp cutting edge 28 along both sides of notch 20 . likewise , cutting edge 28 &# 39 ; is formed at the juncture of bevel surface 23 &# 39 ; and planar surface 25 &# 39 ; of blade 10 &# 39 ;, the bevel surface meeting planar surface 26 &# 39 ; at an obtuse angle . blades 10 and 10 &# 39 ; are mounted on any conventional support structure ( not shown ) with bevels 23 and 23 &# 39 ; facing in opposite directions . it will be noted that this is accomplished with two identically formed blades , with one blade turned over , placing surfaces 25 and 25 &# 39 ; in overlapping contact and notches 20 , 20 &# 39 ; in opposing relation . cutting edges 28 , 28 &# 39 ; are thus in essentially the same plane when blades 10 , 10 &# 39 ; are in overlapping relation with surfaces 25 , 25 &# 39 ; in sliding engagement . as shown in fig2 and 2a , blades 10 , 10 &# 39 ; have been moved to bring the two sides of each of cutting edges 28 , 28 &# 39 ; into closely spaced relation to conductor 30 , passing partially through insulation 32 . for greater clarity of the features under consideration , the size of conductor 30 and insulation 32 relative to blades 10 and 10 &# 39 ; has been exaggerated as compared to typical wires operated upon by such blades . as blades 10 , 10 &# 39 ; are moved in unison in the direction of arrow 33 ( fig2 ) to complete severing of the insulation , the severing force is applied to the portion of the insulation to be stripped ( the upper portion in fig2 ) by planar surface 25 and bevel surface 23 &# 39 ;. if severing and stripping were effected by moving the conductor in an axial direction opposite to arrow 33 while maintaining the blades stationary , the force would still be applied by the same surfaces 25 and 23 &# 39 ;. in any case , with blades formed and positioned as dictated by the prior art severing forces are applied to the insulation with one of the force - applying surfaces normal to the direction of relative blade and conductor movement , and the other at an acute angle . thus , as the blades are moved in the direction of arrow 33 , a component of the force applied to insulation 32 will be in the direction of arrow 35 ( normal to bevel surface 23 &# 39 ;), thereby urging conductor 30 in the direction of cutting edge 28 . turning now to the illustrated embodiments of the present invention , in fig3 and 4 are shown a pair of blades 34 and 36 which are formed and arranged to have bevels facing in the same direction when the blades are placed in front - to - rear surface contact with the cutting edges opposed . blade 34 includes side edges 38 and 40 , parallel to one another and perpendicular to outer edge 42 , with v - shaped notch 44 on the inner edge . likewise , blade 36 has side edges 46 and 48 , outer edge 50 and v - shaped notch 52 . both blades have a pair of openings 54 and 56 for mounting purposes . as with some blades of the prior art , blades 34 and 36 include portions of reduced thickness adjacent their inner edges . this configuration is sometimes used in blades intended for relatively heavy duty applications , i . e ., when the layers to be severed by the blades are relatively thick and / or of high tensile strength . thus , in addition to opposite , planar , parallel surfaces 58 and 60 , blade 34 has intermediate planar surface 62 , and blade 36 , in addition to planar surfaces 64 and 66 , has intermediate planar surface 68 . intermediate planar surfaces 62 and 68 are , of course , parallel to outer surfaces 58 and 60 , and 64 and 66 , respectively . bevel surface 70 meets planar , parallel surfaces 58 and 62 at acute and obtuse angles , respectively , forming sharp cutting edge 72 along v - shaped notch 44 of blade 34 . bevel surface 74 is formed along notch 52 of blade 36 to meet surface 68 at an acute angle and surface 66 at an obtuse angle , providing cutting edge 76 . blades 34 and 36 are supported with notches 44 and 52 , and thus cutting edges 72 and 76 , opposing one another , and with surfaces 58 and 66 in the same plane ; thus , portions of surfaces 58 and 66 are in sliding engagement as the blades are reciprocally moved in the directions of arrows 78 , in the course of the cutting operation . after blades 34 and 36 are moved to bring portions of cutting edges 72 and 76 into close proximity to conductor 80 , thereby passing partially through insulation layer 82 , as shown in fig4 the blades are moved in unison in the direction of arrow 84 . the insulated conductor is clamped firmly on the side of the blades opposite the direction of blade movement , thereby completing severing of the insulating layer at the position of the cuts . the severing force applied to the portion of insulation to be stripped by the blades is by planar surfaces 58 and 68 , i . e ., the portions of the blades adjoining the cutting edges which face in the direction of severing movement of the blades , both of which are at the same angle ( 90 °) to the axis of conductor 80 . in the embodiment of fig5 overlapping blades 86 and 88 have bevel surfaces 90 and 92 , respectively , adjoining the cutting edges . insulating layer 94 , after being partially cut , is severed by movement of blades 86 and 88 in unison in the direction of arrow 96 . the severing force is thus applied to the portion of insulating layer 94 to be stripped by bevel surfaces 90 and 92 which both face in the direction of blade movement ( i . e ., to the axis of conductor 97 ) and are disposed at equal angles ( e . g ., 45 °) thereto . blades 98 and 98 &# 39 ; of the fig6 embodiment have cutting edges formed by the juncture of bevels on both sides , whereby the two blades may be identical . bevel surfaces 102 and 104 extend from a common juncture at the cutting edge to opposite , parallel surfaces 106 and 108 , respectively , of blade 98 . likewise , bevels 102 &# 39 ; and 104 &# 39 ; meet one another to form a sharp cutting edge , and adjoin parallel surfaces 106 &# 39 ; and 108 &# 39 ; respectively , at obtuse angles in blade 98 &# 39 ;. thus , regardless of the direction of relative movement of the blades and conductor to sever partially cut insulation 110 , the surfaces which apply the severing force are disposed at the same angle with respect to the axis of the conductor . means for clamping or otherwise restraining axial movement of the insulated conductor , as well as means for mounting and moving the blades are well known in many forms in the prior art . for purposes of the present invention , any conventional clamping means and support and movement means for overlapping blades may be used , whereby such elements are shown entirely diagrammatically in fig7 and 8 . insulated conductor 112 is inserted axially between spaced clamping jaws 114 and blades 116 , as shown in fig7 . jaws 114 are then moved toward one another , in the directions indicated by arrows 120 in fig7 to firmly engage the insulated conductor therebetween , as shown in fig8 . blade support means 122 , upon which blades 116 are fixedly mounted , are moved in the directions of arrows 118 , to the position of fig8 wherein the blade cutting edges make partial radial cuts through the insulating layer and are in close proximity to the conductor . the depth of cut is controlled by any of a number of well - known means . the blade supports and engaged blades are then moved in the direction of arrow 124 to complete the severing of the insulation and strip the severed slug fully or partially from the end portion of the conductor . it should be noted , as previously suggested , that rather than clamping the conductor and moving the blades in a direction away from the clamping means , i . e ., toward the portion of insulation to be fully or partially stripped , the conductor may be moved axially in the opposite direction , i . e ., away from the portion to be stripped . in either case , the forces applied by the blades to the portion to be stripped as such portion is severed from the remainder of the insulation are at equal angles to the direction of relative blade / conductor movement , i . e ., to the axis of the conductor . experimental data indicates that the best and most consistent performance is achieved when the blade surfaces which apply the severing force to the insulation are at equal , acute angles to the axis of the conductor , as in fig5 which represents the preferred embodiment . making the planar surface portions immediately adjacent the cutting edges of the blades which apply the axial severing and stripping force to the slug of insulation at equal angles to the axis of relative blade / conductor movement in overlapping blades means , of course , that the cutting edges of the two blades are moved radially of the conductor in parallel planes which are axially spaced with respect to the conductor .	7
organoclays are well known in the art as exemplified by the aforementioned patents to hauser , jordan , kuritzkef , oswald et al , finlayson , and finlayson et al , the entire disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference . in this invention , the term &# 34 ; organoclay &# 34 ; refers to various clay types , e . g . smectites , that have organo ammonium ions substituted for cations between the clay layers . the term &# 34 ; organo ammonium ion substituted &# 34 ; refers to a substituted ammonium ion in which one or more hydrogen atoms are replaced by an organic group . the organoclays are essentially solid compounds that have an inorganic and an organic phase . the preferred clay substrates for use in this invention are the smectite type clays , particularly the smectite type clays which have a cation exchange capacity of at least 75 millequivalents per 100 grams of clay . useful clays for such purposes include the naturally occuring wyoming variety of swelling bentonite and similar clays , and hectorite , which is a swelling magnesium - lithium silicate clay . the clays , are preferably converted to the sodium form if they are not already in this form . this can be effected , by a cation exchange reaction with a soluble sodium compound . these methods are well - known in the art . smectite - type clays prepared synthetically can also be utilized , such as montomorillonite , bentonite , beidelite , hectorite , saponite , and stevensite . the organoclays useful in this invention include those set forth in u . s . pat . no . 2 , 531 , 427 to hauser . these organoclays are modified clays which exhibit in organic liquids , some of those characteristics which untreated clays exhibit in water . for example , they will swell in many organic liquids and will form stable gells and colloidal dispersions . generally , the quaternary ammonium salt substituted onto the clay has organic groups attached to the clay which will range from aliphatic hydrocarbon of from 1 to 24 carbons to aromatic organic molecules , such as benzyl groups that could have a host of groups substituted on the benzyl ring . the number of benzyl versus straight chain hydrocarbons substituted on the ammonium ion can vary from 3 to 0 ( i . e . dimethyl dioctododecyl 0 : 2 , methyl benzyl dioctododecyl 1 : 2 , dibenzyl dioctobenzyl 1 : 1 , tribenzyl octadecyl 3 : 1 , methyl dibenzyl octodecyl 2 : 1 ). the amount of alkyl ammonium salt substituted on the clay can vary between 0 . 5 % to 50 %. in particular the preferred organoclay used in this invention comprises one or more of the following quaternary ammonium cation modified montmorillonite clays : ## str1 ## wherein r 1 is an alkyl group having at least 10 carbon atoms and up to , for example , 24 carbon atoms , and preferably having a chain length of from 12 to 18 carbon atoms ; r 2 is hydrogen , benzyl or an alkyl group of at least 10 carbon atoms and up to , for example , 24 carbon atoms , and preferably from 12 to 18 carbon atoms ; and r 3 and r 4 are each hydrogen or lower alkyl groups , viz ., they contain carbon chains of from 1 to 4 atoms , and preferably are methyl groups . other organoclays utilizable in the invention include benzyl organoclays such as dimethyl benzyl ( hydrogenated tallow ) ammonium bentonite ; methyl benzyl di ( hydrogenated tallow ) ammonium bentonite ; and more generally quaternary ammonium cation modified montmorillonite clays represented by the formula : ## str2 ## wherein r 1 is ch 3 or c 6 h 5 ch 2 ; r 2 is c 6 h 5 ch 2 ; and r 3 and r 4 are alkyl groups containing long chain alkyl radicals having 14 to 22 carbon atoms , and most preferably wherein 20 % to 35 % of said long chain alkyl radicals contain 16 carbon atoms and 60 % to 75 % of said long chain alkyl radicals contin 18 carbon atoms . the montmorillonite clays which may be so modified are the principal constituents of bentonite rock , and have the chemical compositions and characteristics described , for example , in berry and mason , &# 34 ; mineralogy &# 34 ;, 1959 , pp . 508 - 509 . modified montmorillonite clays of this type ( i . e . organoclays ) are commercially available from southern clay products , inc ., gonzales , tex . under such trade designations as claytone 34 and 40 , and are available from nl industries , inc ., new york , n . y . under such trade designations as bentone 27 , 34 , and 38 . the preferred organoclays utilized in this invention , are the higher dialkyl dimethyl ammonium organoclays such as dimethyl di ( hydrogenated tallow ) ammonium bentonite ; the benzyl ammonium organoclays , such as dimethyl benzyl ( hydrogenated tallow ) ammonium bentonite ; and ethylhydroxy ammonium organoclays such as methyl bis ( 2 - hydroxyethyl ) octodecyl ammonium bentonite . the aqueous compositions treated in this invention contain an amount of organic contaminant . typical organic contaminants are the chlorinated organic compounds , e . g ., ddt , bdd , dde , 2 , 4 - dichlorophenol , tetrachloroethylene , and polychlorobiphenyl contaminants and other organics such as benzene , toluene , methylene chloride , chloroform , 1 , 2 dichloroethane , 1 , 1 , 1 - trichloroethane , trichloroethylene , tetrachloroethylene , 2 - nitrophenol , pentachlorophenol , dimethy phthalate , lindane , arochlor1254 , ethyl benzene , hcp , parathion , dichlorobenzene , hexachlorocyclopentadiene , ethylparathion , 2 , 4 - dinitrotoluene , naphtalene , pyrene , oils , humic acid and other toxic substance precursors , dibromochlororpropane ( dbcp ), and organics chelated with metals , the latter mentioned chelated metal is a metal that has formed a complex with an organic molecule . these complexes are quite inert to normal chemical reactions . the invention is further illustrated by the following examples , which are to be considered only exemplary of the invention and not delimitive thereof : laboratory tests were conducted treating gasoline - contaminated water with organoclays and granulated activated carbon ( gac ). the contaminated water was obtained by saturating tap water with gasoline pumped from a groundwater / gasoline lens in a western u . s . location . equilibration resulted in water with a toc ( total organic content ) of approximately 50 ppm ; its gas chromatograph is seen in fig1 . the chromatographic analysis indicates that approximately 70 - 80 % of the organics present are composed of benzene , toluene , xylene , and ethylbenzene . the remaining 20 % to 30 % are unidentified higher molecular weight species . testing of the contaminated water samples of example i was conducted in three parts : ( 1 ) organoclay treatment alone ; ( 2 ) gac alone ; and ( 3 ) organoclay followed by gac . the organoclay utilized in this and the remaining examples with a dimethyl di ( hydrogenated tallow ) ammonium bentonite . in each test , five ( 5 ) grams of material ( organoclay or gac ) was diluted with forty - five ( 45 ) grams of inert material in order that breakthrough could be reached in a reasonable amount of time . the test material was packed into columns 3 / 4 in . diameter and 10 in . length . the columns were operated at a flow of 0 . 25 gmp / ft . breakthrough curves for each experiment are given in fig2 . by &# 34 ; breakthrough &# 34 ; is meant the percentage of organics in the influent which are detected in the effluent , so that e . g . 100 % breakthrough means that the concentration of organics in the effluent is the same as in the influent . the breakthrough curve for the organoclay when used alone is characterized by rapid breakthrough of benzene ( solubility 1800 ppm ) followed by toluene ( sol . 700 ppm ) and xylene ( sol . 200 ppm ). however , the curve never reaches 100 % breakthrough , leveling at approximately 80 %. this effect is due to the organoclay &# 39 ; s high affinity and capacity for the higher molecular weight ( less soluble ) fractions of the gasoline . the breakthrough curve for gac used alone is also seen in fig2 . this curve shows a fairly rapid breakthrough that crosses the organoclay line and reaches 100 % quickly . in fact the gac rapidly loses its effectiveness in the presence of higher molecular weight materials , especially oils . finally , the combination , organoclay followed by gac , is seen to yield a breakthrough curve that could not be derived from the summation of the other two individual curves . the combination of organoclay and gac yields substantially superior results compared to either material used alone . the effluent resulting from treatment with the organoclay followed by gac was analyzed by gas chromatograph to provide the curve of fig3 . benzene , along with toluene , account for 85 % of the breakthrough . this positive synergistic combination is believed to be a function of the organoclay &# 39 ; s ability to prevent &# 34 ; blinding &# 34 ; of the gac by the higher molecular weight components of the gasoline and any emulsified gasoline . tests were conducted in this example on a waste water that contained 200 ppm oil and grease and 200 ppm toluene . the experiments were conducted in three ways : ( 1 ) organoclays alone ; ( 2 ) activated carbon alone ; and ( 3 ) organoclay followed by activated carbon . each column contained 5 grams of the organoclay or activated carbon ( fs - 300 product of calgon ) diluted with 45 grams of anthracite . the columns were 10 &# 34 ; by 3 / 4 &# 34 ; diameter and were operated at a flow rate of 0 . 25 gpm / ft 2 . the breakthrough curves for the three experiments can be seen in fig4 . it can be seen that both the carbon and organoclay breakthrough rapidly on the toluene ( carbon at ≃ 3 liters and organoclay at ≃ 4 liters ). the operation in tandem has not reached breakthrough at over 13 liters . the cost savings are substantial when compared to carbon alone since organoclays hold about twice their weight in oil . this means that in the tandem operation the carbon will be changed every 3 . 5 times for each change of organoclay . with carbon alone 17 changes of carbon would be required to treat the equivalent amount of water . at approximate current costs this would give a treatment cost of 0 . 6 ¢/ gal . for the organoclay / activated carbon tandem operation and a 1 . 1 ¢/ gal . cost for carbon alone . further , this does not reflect the savings in labor associated with bed change out and transportation for regenerating carbon -- which further substantially increases the cost of the carbon system . while the present invention has been particularly set forth in terms of specific embodiments thereof , it will be understood in view of the instant disclosure , that numerous variations upon the invention are now enabled to those skilled in the art , which variations yet reside within the scope of the present teaching . accordingly , the invention is to be broadly construed , and limited only by the scope and spirit of the claims now appended hereto .	8
before proceeding with the various types of the preferred embodiment , the principle of the correction circuit according to the present invention will now be described . only a gradient magnetic field perpendicular to the slice is used as the gradient magnetic field g z superposed on a static magnetic field h 0 . an echo signal is detected and fourier - transformed . a peak value of the resultant projection signal is detected to detect a deviation δω from the nuclear magnetic resonant frequency . the deviation δω is multipled by 1 / γ to calculate a static field deviation δh 0 in accordance with equation ( 2 ): the calculated static field deviation δh 0 is fed back to a static field power supply , thereby adjusting the field strength of the static magnetic field h 0 and correcting the resonant conditions . this control technique is so - called &# 34 ; magnetic field locked loop &# 34 ; ( referred to as &# 34 ; mfll &# 34 ; control hereinafter ). the basic circuit configuration ( i . e ., a correction circuit 100 ) will be described with reference to fig2 to perform &# 34 ; mfll &# 34 ; control associated with the present invention . the general nmr apparatus is operated in the following manner to obtain a predetermined echo signal . in particular , a static field h 0 is applied to the patient in the normal manner . only a gradient field perpendicular to the slice of the patient is applied to the patient for a predetermined time in a direction perpendicular to the slice . for example , when the longitudinal axis of the patient is aligned with the z - axis of the x - y - z coordinate system , the gradient field along the direction ( x - y direction ) perpendicular to the slice becomes g z . in other words , only the gradient field g z is applied to the patient at predetermined moments for a predetermined time such that the gradient field g z is superposed on the field h 0 . in association with these application timings , 90 ° and 180 ° exciting pulses are selectively applied to the slice . for example , these exciting pulses are applied to the slice in conjunction with the fields h 0 and g z in accordance with a 90 ° pulse - τ - 180 ° pulse ( τ : given time interval ) sequence . in this manner , the echo signal can be obtained from the slice . those waveforms and timings are essentially shown in fig5 and 7 . it should be noted that the second gradient magnetic field g xy is not used to correct the static magnetic field h 0 in the &# 34 ; mfll &# 34 ; control . this echo signal is detected by a signal detector 51 to obtain phase components of the echo signal . these phase components are converted by an a / d converter 52 to obtain a digital echo signal . the digital echo signal is then fourier - transformed by a fourier transform device 53 , thereby obtaining projection data signal ( see fig3 ) of the detected echo signal . a maximum peak value of the projection data signal is detected by a max . peak detector 54 . this peak value is supplied to a δω detector 55 which then detects a frequency shift δω with respect to the nuclear magnetic resonant frequency ω 0 . as is apparent from fig3 this projection data signal has a small dc - component peak near the 0 point of the coordinate system and a magnitude along the axis plotting the frequency ω is small because the gradient field along the slice direction is not applied . when the frequency shift δω is multiplied by 1 / γ to obtain the deviation on static field &# 34 ; δh 0 &# 34 ; by means of a multiplier 56 in accordance with equation ( 2 ). thus obtained deviation on static field &# 34 ; δh 0 &# 34 ; is converted by a d / a converter 57 to an analogue value . a dc excitation current from the power supply for static field to the static field coil assembly is adjusted such that the deviation &# 34 ; δh 0 &# 34 ; becomes zero . in other words , a control loop is formed between the correction circuit 10 and the associated circuit elements such as the h 0 power supply so as to correct the field h 0 . it should be noted that the d / a converter 57 may be omitted from the correction circuit shown in fig2 if the h 0 power supply is controllable in a digital control signal . fig4 shows an nmr diagnostic apparatus 200 using the correction circuit 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention . the configuration of the apparatus 200 shown in fig4 is as follows . reference numerals 4a and 4b denote air coil assemblies for applying the uniform static magnetic field h 0 to the patient p ; 5 , a first gradient field coil assembly for generating first gradient magnetic fields g z and / or g z along the direction ( z - axis since the slice is defined as the x - y plane ) perpendicular to the slice s ; 6 , a second gradient field coil assembly for generating second gradient magnetic fields g xy and / or - g xy along the slice ( the respective directions in the x - y plane ); 7 , an rf coil assembly for transmitter / receiver ; 8 , a phase detector of a quadrature phase detection method for detecting the in - phase component ( real part ) and 90 ° phase component ( imaginary part ) of the echo signal with respect to the reference signal ; 9 , a transmitter for generating 90 ° and 180 ° exciting pulses consisting of rf pulses of an angular frequency ω and transmitting them through the rf coil assembly 7 ; 10 , an a / d ( analogue - to - digital ) converter for converting to a digital signal the echo signal which is detected by the phase detector 8 ; 11 , an adder for adding echo signal data generated from the a / d converter 10 by a predetermined number of times so as to obtain a means value of the sum ; and 12 , a high - speed fourier transform device for fourier - transforming the resultant echo signal data from the adder 11 . reference numeral 13 denotes a power supply for static magnetic field in order to excite the air coil assemblies 4a and 4b so as to generate the static magnetic field h 0 ; and 14 , a static field control circuit for controlling the power supply 13 in accordance with the data generated from the high - speed fourier transform device 12 when the mfll control is performed . reference numeral 15 denotes an image reconstruction devide for performing image reconstruction processing in accordance with an output of the high - speed fourier transform device 12 when the mfll control is not performed ; 16 , a display device for displaying an image obtained by the image reconstruction device ; and 17 , a timing control system for controlling operation timings of the components described above . it should be noted that the correction circuit 100 comprises a part surrounded by a dotted line , and that the field h 0 is continuously applied to the slice until the echo signal acquisition is performed . the operation of the apparatus having the configuration described above will now be described . normal nmr imaging will be described with reference to the timing chart in fig5 . in this case , the air coil assemblies 4a and 4b are energized by the h 0 power supply 13 to apply the uniform static magnetic field h 0 to the patient p . the first gradient magnetic field + g z having the gradient with respect to the direction ( z direction ) perpendicular to the slice ( located within the x - y plane ) is superposed by the first gradient field coil assembly 5 on the uniform static magnetic field h 0 . at the same time , the 90 ° exciting pulse is applied from the transmitter 9 to the patient p in the field through the rf coil assembly 7 . after the first gradient magnetic field + g z and the 90 ° exciting pulse are applied , the second gradient magnetic field + g xy is superposed by the gradient field coil assembly 6 on the static magnetic field h 0 along the direction ( x - y plane ) parallel to the slice s . after the application of the second gradient magnetic field g xy , the 180 ° exciting pulse is applied from the transmitter 9 to the patient p through the rf coil assembly 7 . the 180 ° exciting pulse is applied to the patient when a time periods τ1 has elapsed after the application of the 90 ° exciting pulse . in addition , the first gradient magnetic field + g z is superposed by the gradient field coil assembly 5 to the static magnetic field h 0 for a predetermined time period . after the application of the first gradient magnetic field g z , while the second gradient magnetic field g xy is superposed by the second gradient field coil assembly 6 on the static magnetic field h 0 for a predetermined time period , the echo signal is received from the patient p through the rf coil assembly 7 when the time period τ1 has elapsed after the application of the 180 ° exciting pulse . the echo signal received by the rf coil assembly 7 is phase - detected by the phase detector 8 . the detected signal is converted by the a / d converter 10 to a digital signal . the digital signal is supplied to the adder 11 . the above operation is repeated to obtain a sum of the echo signal data , and a mean value is obtained from the sum . it should be noted that the mean value of the sum is obtained to improve the s / n ratio . the mean echo signal data is fourier - transformed by the high - speed fourier transform device 12 , thereby obtaining the projection data signal shown in fig3 . other projection data signals are then obtained by changing the gradient directions of the second gradient magnetic field g xy , and image reconstruction is performed by the image reconstruction device 15 . the resultant tomographic image is then displayed on a display device 16 . the mfll control employed in the apparatus shown in fig4 will be described with reference to fig6 . as previously mentioned in association with fig2 when mfll control is performed , a pulse sequence is adopted which excludes the application of the second gradient magnetic field g xy by means of the second gradient field coil assembly 6 from the pulse sequence employed in normal nmr imaging , thereby obtaining the echo signal . in particular , in the apparatus 200 shown in fig4 the uniform static magnetic field h 0 is applied to the patient p by means of the air coil assemblies 4a and 4b . as is shown in the pulse sequence in fig7 the first gradient magnetic field g z is superposed by the first gradient coil assembly 5 on the uniform static magnetic field h 0 along the direction perpendicular to the desired slice for a predetermined time period . at the same time , the 90 ° exciting pulse is applied by the rf coil assembly 7 to the patient p within the fields h 0 and g z . subsequently , the 180 ° exciting pulse is applied by the rf coil assembly 7 to the patient p without applying the second gradient magnetic field g xy thereto . in addition , the first gradient magnetic field g z is superposed by the first gradient field coil assembly 5 again on the static magnetic field h 0 for a predetermined time period . the echo signal is received by the rf coil assembly 7 from the patient p when a predetermined time interval has elapsed . in the same manner as normal nmr imaging , the receiving echo signal is phase - detected by the phase detector 8 , and the detected signal is then converted by the a / d converter 10 to a digital signal . the digital signal is then supplied to the adder 11 . the above operation is repeated , and the mean data signal is then obtained from the sum . the mean echo data signal is fourier - transformed by the high - speed fourier transform device 12 , thereby obtaining the projection data signal shown in fig3 . this projection data signal is supplied to the control circuit 14 ( see fig6 ) for static field which is not used in normal nmr imaging . the control circuit 14 detects the maximum peak value of the projection data signal . a deviation δω in angular frequency ( see fig3 ) is calculated in accordance with the detected peak value . the static field deviation δh 0 is calculated in accordance with equation ( 2 ), thereby controlling the h 0 power supply 13 . referring to fig6 there is provided a max . peak detector 54 for detecting the maximum peak value of the projection data signal generated by the fft 12 . there is also provided the δω detector ( δω dtc ) 55 for detecting the frequency deviation δω from the nuclear magnetic resonant frequency ω plotted along the abscissa . a multiplier ( 1 / γ mlt ) 56 is provided to multiply the deviation δω obtained from the δωdetector 55 by 1 / γ in accordance with equation ( 2 ) so as to calculate a static field deviation δh . a d / a ( digital - to - analogue ) converter 57 is provided to convert to an analogue signal the static field deviation δh as the correction value calculated by the multiplier 56 . the analogue signal from the d / a converter 57 is supplied to an operational amplifier 60 of the h 0 power supply 13 , so that the static magnetic field h 0 is corrected to eliminate the frequency deviation δω . in other words , a static field current i derived from an output voltage ve from the d / a converter 57 and a shunt resistor r is supplied to the first gradient coil assemblies 4a and 4b so as to perform correction . when the static magnetic field h 0 and so on are deviated due to a drift to the like and the anglar frequency deviation δω occurs , the mfll control is performed to optimally correct the static magnetic field h 0 within a short period of time . in addition , special external devices , e . g ., probe head coil need not be added for correction . fig8 is a flow chart for showing the sequence of the mfll control described above . the mfll control operation will be described with reference to the flow chart . the echo signal is obtained under the prescribed conditions and is processed by the circuits shown in fig4 to 6 , thereby obtaining the projection data signal . in addition , the static field shift δω is calculated . the desired static magnetic field correction value δh 0 is derived from the static field shift δω . the resultant value δh 0 is added to a previous correction value h 0n , so that an updated correction value h 0n + 1 is obtained . this correction value h 0n + 1 is supplied to the h 0 power supply 13 . the exciting current i for static magnetic field generation is changed as described in association with fig6 thereby changing the field strength of the static field h 0 . after this correction , the echo signal is received again to perform signal processing in the same manner as described above , and the shift δω is obtained again . if the shift δω is not zero , mfll control is started to change the field strength of the static field h 0 . the above operation is repeated such that the shift δω = 0 is established . this control operation is performed at a high speed , so that the correction of h . sub . can be quickly completed , and optimal resonant conditions can be maintained . while the invention has been described in terms of certain preferred embodiments , and exemplified with respect thereto , those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that various modifications , changes , omissions and substitutions may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention . in the above embodiment , the pulse sequence of 90 ° pulse - 180 ° pulse is used . however , a pulse sequence of 180 ° pulse - 90 ° pulse - 180 ° pulse can be used in place of the 90 ° pulse - 180 ° pulse sequence to obtain the prescribed echo signals . it is essential that the 180 ° pulse is finally applied to the patient to obtain the echo signal . the positive and negative components (+ g z and - g z ) of the first field gradient field g z may be sequentially applied to the slice of the patient p . furthermore , some or all of the adder 11 , the high - speed fourier transform device 12 , the static field control circuit 14 and the timing control system 17 shown in fig4 may be replaced with a microcomputer , and the functions of the components shown in fig4 can be performed by software . in this case , the microcomputer constituting the image reconstruction device 15 can be commonly used as the microcomputer described above . in this manner , the new configuration is the same as that in normal nmr imaging from the software point of view . in the above embodiments , the longitudinal axis of the object is defined to be parallel to the z - axis of the x - y - z coordinate system . the magnetic field g z is used as the first gradient magnetic field to obtain the echo signal for the mfll control . in other words , only the first gradient magnetic field needs to produce the echo signal for the mfll control . however , the present invention is not limited to this arrangement . for example , when the longitudinal axis is defined to be parallel to another axis of the x - y - z coordinate system , the first gradient field apparently corresponds to g x or g y .	6
embodiments of the present invention provide a method and system for aligning and laying out a drawing element with respect to an object in a computer aided design ( cad ) drawing . fig3 is a flowchart illustrating a process 300 for aligning a drawing element in a cad drawing , according to one embodiment of the present invention . persons skilled in the art will understand that any system configured to perform the steps of method 300 , in any order , is within the scope of the present invention . at step 305 , a cad application program implementing one embodiment of the present invention receives a user - selected drawing element . examples of a drawing element include , without limitation , an electrical device , a light fixture , or a receptacle ( e . g ., an electric socket , a telephone jack , or a network port ). this drawing element can be a new element to be added in a cad drawing or an existing element to be manipulated in the cad drawing . at step 315 , the system receives a user - designated insertion point to place the drawing element . the insertion point can be a point on an object , such as , without limitation , a point on a line , an arc , a wall , or a ceiling grid . at step 325 , the system automatically ( i . e ., without any further intervention from the user ) places the drawing element at the insertion point at an intended alignment angle , which is measured relative to the object containing the insertion point . in one implementation , before the actual placement of the drawing element , the system has obtained the following information : ( 1 ) the identity of the user - selected drawing element , ( 2 ) the location of the drawing element , ( 3 ) the user - designated insertion point , and ( 4 ) the intended alignment angle . note , the system may accept a user - specified angle or may be configured with a predetermined value , such as a right angle . fig4 is a schematic diagram illustrating the attachment and alignment of a drawing element 410 to a wall 420 in a viewing area 400 of a cad drawing , according to one embodiment of the present invention . as shown , wall 420 includes a straight section 420 - 1 and a curved section 420 - 2 . in conjunction with fig3 , suppose a user selects the drawing element 410 in step 305 and , in step 315 , designates a point c on the curved section 420 - 2 of the wall 420 as the insertion point . suppose further that the intended alignment angle is predetermined to be ninety ( 90 ) degrees . when the user directs the drawing element 410 towards the point c by moving the cross sign shown in fig4 , in one implementation , the object nearest the cross sign is identified . here , the nearest object is the curved section 420 - 2 . without any input from the user , a tangent line 430 is calculated based on the designated insertion point c and the identified curved section 420 - 2 . with the tangent line 430 , the drawing element 410 then precisely snaps to the point c at the intended right angle . the user neither needs to manually calculate an angle to further adjust the drawing element 410 by nor needs to rely on visual inspection to manually rotate the drawing element 410 to achieve the intended alignment . it should be noted that the drawing element 410 may be a copy of an existing drawing element in the cad drawing . in other words , the steps described above apply not only to a newly added drawing element to a cad drawing but also to one or more copies or instances of an existing drawing element . fig5 is a block diagram of a system 500 configured for performing the method steps described above , according to one embodiment of the invention . the components illustrated in the system 500 may include computer software applications executing on existing computer systems , e . g ., desktop computers , server computers , laptop computers , tablet computers , and the like . the software applications described herein , however , are not limited to any particular computing system and may be adapted to take advantage of new computing systems as they become available . additionally , the components illustrated in the system 500 may be implemented as software applications that execute on a single computer system or on distributed systems communicating over computer networks such as local area networks or wide area networks , such as the internet . for example , a graphical user interface ( gui ) 510 may include a software program executing on a client computer system at one physical location and communicating with a cad application 505 executing at another physical location . also , in one embodiment , the programming instructions of the cad application 505 and the gui 510 may be stored on computer readable media such as a cd - rom , dvd - rom , flash memory module , or other tangible storage media . as shown , the system 500 includes , without limitation , the cad application 505 , the gui 510 , a cad drawing 520 , user input devices 530 , and a display device 515 . the cad application 505 is configured to allow a user to compose or select a cad drawing 520 via the gui interface 510 . accordingly , the cad application 505 and the gui interface 510 may include programmed routines or instructions enabling the user to create , edit , load , and save the cad drawing 520 . in one embodiment , the autodesk ® inventor ™ application program ( and associated utilities ) may be used . those skilled in the art will recognize , however , that the components shown in fig5 are simplified to highlight aspects of the present invention and that a typical cad application and a gui interface may include additional tools and features . the cad drawing 520 includes a drawing element 522 and an object 524 . some examples of the drawing element 522 and the object 524 are discussed throughout this disclosure . in one embodiment , the gui 510 includes a drawing element selector 512 , an alignment tool 513 , and a layout tool 514 . the drawing element selector 512 of the gui 510 allows a user of the cad application 505 to select the drawing element 522 to add , move , or copy in the cad drawing 520 . the alignment tool 513 allows the user to specify certain parameters for carrying out the automatic alignment , according to one embodiment of the present invention . for example , suppose the drawing element 522 is selected to be attached to the object 524 in the cad drawing 520 . the alignment tool 513 provides an input interface for the user to designate an intended alignment angle between the selected drawing element 522 and the object 524 . in addition , the alignment tool 513 also allows the user to either turn on or turn off the automatic alignment feature associated with the selected drawing element 522 . the layout tool 514 also provides an input interface for the user to specify a layout rule . for instance , the layout rule may include , without limitation , a number of drawing elements to populate the space , and the distance between any two drawing elements . the user defines the rules in the interface and then selects a point in the drawing . item ( s ) are then placed in the cad drawing based on the layout rule . similar to the alignment tool 513 , the layout tool 514 also allows the user to either enable or disable applying the layout rule to a designated group of drawing elements . additionally , the layout tool 514 supports various “ group ” functions , allowing a user of the cad application 505 to select and manipulate a group of drawing elements at the same time . it should be apparent to a person with ordinary skills in the art to recognize that the aforementioned components in the gui 510 can be combined or reorganized in a variety of ways . fig6 is a flowchart illustrating a method 600 for laying out drawing elements in a cad drawing , according to one embodiment of the present invention . although described in conjunction with the system 500 shown in fig5 , persons skilled in the art will understand that any system configured to perform the steps of method 600 , in any order , is within the scope of the present invention . at step 605 , the system 500 receives the selected drawing element at step 605 . for example , a user may interact with gui 512 and drawing element selector 512 . at step 615 , the system 500 receives a layout rule , which may include a number of different parameters such as , without limitation , a starting point to place the drawing element , or a number of instances of the drawing element to place in a designated space , or a maximum permissible distance between any two drawing elements according to an applicable building standard or building code . for example , in the u . s ., the national electrical code ( nec ) may be used . at step 625 , system 500 receives the designated space and then populates the instances of the selected drawing element along the perimeter of the designated space at a step 635 . in one implementation , the drawing elements are spaced evenly along the perimeter . more specifically , the system 500 first calculates the length of the perimeter and then divides the length evenly among the number of drawing elements to be positioned . in another implementation , the user specifies a particular distance for any two drawing elements in the layout rule , and this specified distance is used to place the drawing elements , according to the distance specified by the user . to illustrate , fig7 a is a viewing area 700 of a cad drawing illustrating the layout of multiple drawing elements , according to one embodiment of the invention . here , suppose a user of the system 500 selects to add drawing elements representing a light fixture 711 in the viewing area 700 . suppose the user also designates a starting point to insert the light fixture 711 at a point e 1 and specifies eight ( 8 ) light fixtures in a layout rule . after the system 500 receives the designated space to populate the light fixtures , which in this case is a wall 720 within the viewing area 700 , the system 500 calculates the perimeter of the wall 720 , taking into consideration of the two straight sections and the two curved sections . as the user directs the selected light fixture 711 towards the e 1 point , the system 500 causes the light fixture 711 to snap to the e 1 point and also place the other seven light fixtures , 712 , 713 , 714 , 715 , 716 , 717 and 718 , along the perimeter of the wall 720 equidistantly at the points e 2 , e 3 , e 4 , e 5 , e 6 , e 7 and e 8 , respectively , from one another . in this example , the distance between any two light fixtures to equal the length of the perimeter divided by 8 and is denoted as d 7 . even for the two light fixtures that attach to the two different sections of the wall 720 , such as the light fixtures 712 and 713 or the light fixtures e 6 and e 7 , the distance between the two pairs , the sum of d 71 and d 72 or the sum of d 73 and d 74 , still equals d 7 . alternatively , the user may specify the length of d 7 in the layout rule , and instead of calculating d 7 based on the length of the perimeter of the wall 720 , the system 500 lays out the light fixtures based on the specified length . in one implementation , the system 500 also proactively verifies whether any layout violates a requirement imposed by any standardized code tracked by the system ( e . g ., building regulations for new construction ). for instance , if d 7 exceeds the maximum permissible distance , then the system 500 suspends the layout operation and alerts the user of the violation , so the user can modify the layout rule accordingly . it should be apparent to person ordinarily skilled in the art to implement this verification mechanism at various points of the process 600 without exceeding the scope of the present invention . for example , the verification may take place at the step 615 after the user specifies certain parameters in the layout rule , such as the length between any two drawing elements . so , if the specified values violate the applicable building code or regulation , then the user is prompted to enter new values . in another implementation , the verification may take place at the step 635 as the system 500 attempts to populate the drawing elements . moreover , in addition to the rule - based approach of laying out the drawing elements , the system 500 also automatically align the drawing elements as discussed in the process 300 above . fig7 b is the viewing area 700 illustrating the alignment of the laid out drawing elements shown in fig7 a , according to one embodiment of the present invention . again , it is worth noting that the alignment of the eight fixtures does not involve any manual adjustments by the user . as mentioned above , the layout tool 514 in the gui 510 may support one or more grouping functions . for example , during the initial placement of items , the user may receive a preview based on the rule values and can then change them in the rule if they do not like the preview . after the user selects an initial insertion point , all items are placed in the drawing and then may thereafter be manually edited one - by - one . further , in one embodiment the placed items may be group - selectable . so , if the user intends to move , copy , or otherwise manipulate a number of drawing elements at once , these grouping functions allow the user to select two or more items and perform the same operation to multiple drawing elements at the same time . for example , if the user wants to move the light fixtures 712 , 713 , and 714 shown in fig7 b in a group to another viewing area with a new object , these light fixtures will automatically be placed at a distance d 7 from each another and will be automatically aligned to the perimeter of the new object . on the other hand , if the user selects the light fixtures 713 , 714 , and 715 shown in fig7 b and wants to modify the distances among them in a group , then the user only needs to modify one distance , for example , distance between the light fixtures 713 and 714 . the modification automatically applies to the distance between the light fixtures 714 and 715 . while the foregoing is directed to embodiments of the present invention , other and further embodiments of the invention may be devised without departing from the basic scope thereof , and the scope thereof is determined by the claims that follow .	6
the present invention relates to manufacturing processes for forming a medical device such as tube stock or piece of tubing , a wire , or to provide a coating on a tube for subsequent use as an intravascular stent , a guide wire , a ring marker , defibrillator lead tips , catheters and delivery systems . while virtually any medical device that is implanted or used in the body will benefit from the present invention , the invention as applied to stents is described herein as only an example and is not meant to be limiting . thus , tube stock or wires made or coated by the process of the present invention might be used for stents , guide wires , catheters , markers , lead tips , and the like . stents are well known in the art and can have many different types of patterns and configurations . the following description of an intravascular stent as shown in fig1 – 5a , is a typical stent pattern made from stainless steel tubing . other patterns are well known in the art and the foregoing description of a stent and delivery system is by way of example , and is not meant to be limiting . referring now to the drawings , and particularly fig1 thereof , there is shown a stent 10 mounted onto a delivery catheter 11 . the stent is a high precision patterned tubular device that typically includes a number of radially expandable cylindrical elements or rings 12 disposed generally coaxially and interconnected by links 13 disposed between adjacent rings . the delivery catheter has an expandable portion or balloon 14 for expanding the stent within an artery 15 . the typical delivery catheter 11 onto which the stent 10 is mounted is similar in operation to a conventional balloon dilatation catheter for angioplasty procedures . portions of the proximal end of such catheters can be made of metal tubing or metal wire . the balloon 14 may be formed of suitable materials such as polyethylene , polyethylene terephthalate , polyvinyl chloride , nylon and ionomers such as surlyn ® manufactured by the polymer products division of the du pont company . other polymers may also be used . in order for the stent to remain in place on the balloon during delivery to the site of the damage within the artery 15 , the stent is compressed onto the balloon . the delivery of the stent 10 is accomplished in the following manner . the stent is first mounted onto the inflatable balloon 14 on the distal extremity of the delivery catheter 11 . the catheter - stent assembly is introduced within the patient &# 39 ; s vasculature in a conventional seldinger technique through a guiding catheter ( not shown ). a guide wire 18 is disposed across the damaged arterial section and then the catheter / stent assembly is advanced over the guide wire within the artery until the stent is directly within the target site . as stated , guide wires also will benefit from the processes of the present invention . the balloon of the catheter is expanded , expanding the stent against the artery , which is illustrated in fig2 . while not shown in the drawing , the artery is preferably expanded slightly by the expansion of the stent to seat or otherwise fix the stent to prevent movement . in some circumstances , during the treatment of stenotic portions of an artery , the artery may have to be expanded considerably in order to facilitate passage of blood or other fluid therethrough . the stent 10 serves to hold open the artery 15 after the balloon 14 is deflated and the catheter 11 is withdrawn , as illustrated by fig3 . due to the formation of the stent from an elongated tubular member , the undulating component of the rings 12 of the stent is relatively flat in transverse cross - section , so that when the stent is expanded , the rings are pressed into the wall of the artery and , as a result , do not interfere with the blood flow through the artery . furthermore , the closely spaced rings at regular intervals provide uniform support for the wall of the artery and , consequently , are well adapted to hold open the artery , as illustrated in fig2 and 3 . fig4 is an enlarged perspective view of the stent 10 shown in fig1 with one end of the stent shown in an exploded view to illustrate in greater detail the placement of links 13 between adjacent radially expandable rings . in the embodiment shown in fig4 , the stent has three links between adjacent radially expandable rings that are approximately 120 ° apart . each pair of links on one side of a ring are circumferentially offset 60 ° from the pair on the other side of the ring . the alternation of the links results in a stent which is longitudinally flexible in essentially all directions . as best observed in fig4 and 5 , the rings 12 are in the form of a serpentine pattern 30 . as previously mentioned , each ring is connected by links 13 . the serpentine pattern is made up of a plurality of u - shaped members 31 , w - shaped members 32 , and y - shaped members 33 , each having a different radius so that expansion forces are more evenly distributed over the various members . other stent patterns can be formed by utilizing the processes of the present invention and the embodiment illustrated in fig1 – 5 are by way of example and are not intended to be limiting . the aforedescribed illustrative stent 10 and similar stent structures can be made in many ways . the preferred method of making the disclosed stent in this invention is through a process utilizing thermal spray processing . for use in coronary arteries , the stent diameter is very small , so the tubing from which it is made must necessarily also have a small diameter . typically , the stent has an outer diameter on the order of about 0 . 030 to 0 . 060 inch in the unexpanded condition , equivalent to the tubing from which the stent is made , and can be expanded to an outer diameter of 0 . 10 inch or more . the wall thickness of the tubing is about 0 . 0020 to 0 . 010 inch . as with the foregoing stent dimensions , all of the medical devices that can be formed utilizing the present invention can vary substantially in size and shape so that the disclosed dimensions and shapes are representative examples only and are not meant to be limiting . in its most basic form , the process of manufacturing tube stock or a coating in this invention consists of first selecting a thermal spray processing apparatus from the group consisting cold spray , combustion , hvof , arc , and plasma . material selected from the group consisting of metals , alloys , polymers , ceramics , and cermets is then thermally spray formed onto either a mandrel to form tube stock or a stent to form a coating . finally , the tube stock or coated stent is removed for further processing . thermal spray deposits are generally composed of cohesively bonded splats as shown in fig6 and 7 resulting from the impact , spreading , and rapid solidification of a high flux of particles with deformed shapes . the physical properties and behavior of the deposit depend on many factors including the cohesive strength among the splats , the size and morphology of the porosity , and the occurrence of cracks and defects and on the ultrafine - grained microstructure within the splats themselves . the cold spray method offers a means for expanding the operational window for coating and forming stents to permit a variety of materials to be deposited with much lower thermal exposure than encountered in the traditional processes . the method exploits properties of gas dynamics which permit supersonic gas streams and attendant particle velocities to be obtained . the method additionally permits a high degree of spatial control by virtue of the gas nozzle characteristics and generally short standoff distances which can be employed . this results in a uniform structure of the coating or tube stock with the substantially preserved formation of the powder material without phase transformations and hardening , i . e ., the coatings applied do not crack , their corrosion resistance , microhardness , and cohesion and adhesion strength are enhanced . the process includes producing a coating having an average grain size of between 1 and 64 microns and providing a thin walled structure having a wall thickness of about eight or more grains . while the grain size for thin walled structures ( such as stents ) has been referred to herein as about eight or more grains , the number of grains does vary depending on wall thickness . thus , for very thin walled structures the wall thickness may be between four and eight grains , but for most ( but not all ) stent applications it is desirable to have at least eight or more grains comprising the wall thickness . typical values for tensile adhesion of the cold spray coatings are in the range of 30 – 801 mpa ( 4 . 4 – 11 . 6 ksi ), with porosities in the range of 1 – 10 volume percent , deposit thicknesses ranging from 10 microns to 10 millimeters , deposition rates in the range of 0 . 010 to about 0 . 080 m 3 per hour , and deposition efficiencies in the range of 50 – 80 %. several considerations are the dependency of porosity on the ambient spray environment , powder characteristics ( i . e ., particle size and size distribution ), and thermal - spray parameters ( e . g ., powder level , gas - flow features , and spray distance ). the spray environment will have a significant influence on , for example , oxidation of metals , leading to greater porosity . one embodiment utilizes cold spray thermal processing to manufacture the tube stock and apply coatings as shown in fig8 . in this process , particles of a powder of at least one first material are selected from the group including metals , metal alloys , or polymers and mechanical mixture of a metal and an alloy . the preferred particle size ranges from about 1 to 64 microns . the powder is fed through the powder feeder and then introduced into a gas selected from the group of nitrogen ( n 2 ), oxygen ( o 2 ), air , helium ( he ), argon ( ar ), xenon ( xe ), or carbon dioxide ( co 2 ). the gas also passes through the heater . both the gas and particles are then fed into the supersonic nozzle with an inlet temperature between about 380 to 420 ° celsius . the corresponding inlet velocity ranges from about 300 to about 1 , 200 m / sec and the inlet pressure is preferred to be between 1 . 5 to 2 . 5 mpa . the nozzle is then directed against a mandrel which is placed 8 to 10 mm away . the mandrel is thereafter coated with the particles to form the tube stock or coating desired . finally , the tube stock or coated stent is removed from the mandrel after it is formed . the combustion wire thermal spray process shown in fig9 is basically the spraying of molten particles onto a mandrel to produce tube stock or a coating . the wire is propelled and melted into the flame ( oxy - acetylene flame most common ) and atomized by the compressed air to form a fine spray . when the spray contacts the prepared surface , the fine molten droplets rapidly solidify forming tube stock or a coating . this process , carried out correctly , is called a “ cold process ” ( relative to the substrate material being coated ) as the substrate temperature can be kept low during processing thus avoiding damage , metallurgical changes and distortion to the substrate material . the combustion powder thermal spray process shown in fig1 is also basically the spraying of molten material onto a surface to provide tube stock or a coating . here though , powder is propelled and melted into the flame ( oxy - acetylene or hydrogen most common ) to form a fine spray . when the spray contacts the prepared surface , the fine molten droplets rapidly solidify forming tube stock or a coating . this process , carried out correctly , is also called a “ cold process ” ( relative to the substrate material being coated ) as the substrate temperature can be kept low during processing thus avoiding damage , metallurgical changes and distortion to the substrate material . in combustion wire spray processing there is a wide range of materials that can be easily processed into powder form giving a larger choice of coatings . the process is only limited by materials with higher melting temperatures than the flame can provide or if the material decomposes on heating . in the arc spray process shown in fig1 , a pair of electrically conductive wires are melted by means of an electric arc created between the two . the molten material is atomized by the compressed air and propelled towards the substrate surface . the impacting molten particles on the substrate rapidly solidify to form tube stock or a coating . this process , carried out correctly , is called a “ cold process ” ( relative to the substrate material being coated ) as the substrate temperature can be kept low during processing thus avoiding damage , metallurgical changes and distortion to the substrate material . the hvof ( high velocity oxygen fuel ) thermal spray process shown in fig1 is similar to the combustion powder spray process except that hvof has been developed to produce extremely high spray velocities . there are a number of hvof guns which use different methods to achieve high velocity spraying . the method shown is basically a high pressure water cooled combustion chamber and long nozzle . fuel ( kerosene , acetylene , propylene and hydrogen ) and oxygen are fed into the chamber where combustion produces a hot high pressure flame which is forced down a nozzle thereby increasing its velocity . the powder may be fed axially into the combustion chamber under high pressure or fed through the side of laval type nozzle where the pressure is lower . another method ( not shown here ) uses a simpler system of a high pressure combustion nozzle and air cap . fuel gas ( propane , propylene or hydrogen ) and oxygen are supplied at high pressure , combustion occurs outside the nozzle but within an air cap supplied with compressed air . the compressed air pinches and accelerates the flame and acts as a coolant for the gun . powder is fed at high pressure axially from the center of the nozzle . the gas and particle velocity exiting an hvof gun can be in excess of 2500 feet per second . the velocity of the metallic particles causes friction through kinetic energy when the particles make contact with a substrate . this high energy can aid in the melting and adhesion of the particles to the substrate . further , the gas temperature is usually very high , ranging from 2500 ° to 4500 ° f . the plasma spray process shown in fig1 is basically the spraying of molten or heat softened material onto a surface to provide tube stock or a coating . powdered material is directed through the powder injection and into the high temperature plasma flame , where it is rapidly heated and accelerated to a high velocity . the hot material impacts on the substrate surface and rapidly cools forming tube stock or a coating . this process is called a “ cold process ” ( relative to the substrate material being coated ) as the substrate temperature can be kept low during processing to avoid damage , metallurgical changes and distortion to the substrate material . the plasma gun described above comprises a copper anode and tungsten cathode , both of which are water cooled . plasma gas ( argon , nitrogen , hydrogen , helium ) flows around the cathode and through the anode which is shaped as a constricting nozzle . the plasma is initiated by a high voltage discharge which causes localized ionization and a conductive path for a dc arc to form between cathode and anode . the resistance heating from the arc causes the gas to reach extreme temperatures , dissociate and ionize to form a plasma . the plasma exits the anode nozzle as a free or neutral plasma flame ( plasma which does not carry electric current ). when the plasma is stabilized and ready for spraying , the electric arc extends down the nozzle , instead of shorting out to the nearest edge of the anode nozzle . this stretching of the arc is due to a thermal pinch effect . due to the tremendous heat , the plasma gun components must be constantly cooled with water to prevent the gun from melting down . water is sent to the gun through the same lines as electrical power . small temperature changes in the cooling water may affect the ability to produce high quality plasma coatings . therefore , a water chiller can be used to help produce high quality tube stock and coatings . cold gas around the surface of the water cooled anode nozzle being electrically non - conductive constricts the plasma arc , raising its temperature and velocity . powder is fed into the plasma flame most commonly via an external powder port mounted near the anode nozzle exit . the powder is so rapidly heated and accelerated that spray distances can be in the order of 25 to 150 mm . typically , plasma begins generation at 10 , 000 ° f . most plasma guns run between 15 , 000 ° f . and 30 , 000 ° f . internally . the detonation gun shown in fig1 basically consists of a long water cooled barrel with inlet valves for gases and powder . oxygen and fuel ( acetylene most common ) are fed into the barrel along with a charge of powder . a spark from the spark plug is used to ignite the gas mixture and the resulting detonation heats and accelerates the powder to supersonic velocity down the barrel . a pulse of nitrogen is used to purge the barrel after each detonation . this process is repeated many times a second . the high kinetic energy of the hot powder particles on impact with the substrate result in a build up of a very dense and strong coating . there are many possible variations on the above mentioned processes for forming tube stock or coating . because the tube stock and coatings sought to be manufactured here are cylindrical , each of the above mentioned processes should incorporate either a moving thermal spray gun or a moving mandrel or substrate , or both , in order to uniformly disperse the material onto the mandrel to form tube stock or onto a stent to form a coating . this process is preferably accomplished through the use of a precision cnc machine . for removal of the tube stock after it is formed , it may be beneficial to either melt or shrink the mandrel &# 39 ; s diameter to ease removal of the tube stock . for example , the mandrel can be formed of metal that shrinks in diameter when cooled , while at the same time heating the tube stock so that it expands radially outwardly . the mandrel can then be easily removed from the tube stock . also , the mandrel and tube stock may both be heated and the difference in expansion rates causing separation between the two . the mandrel can also be removed from the tube stock by a process called cross - rolling . the tube stock , with the mandrel inside , is run through a series of crossed rollers that will flex the tube stock and impart a separation between the tube and the mandrel , which is then easily removed . alternatively , the mandrel could be lubricated so as to provide a low friction surface from which to slide the off tube stock . before the tube stock is removed from the mandrel one possibility for post processing , includes mechanically processing or swaging the tube stock in order to develop desired mechanical properties for subsequent use as a stent . after the tube stock is removed from the mandrel other post processing includes exerting high mechanical pressures onto the stent in order to develop the desired mechanical properties and tempering and hardening with a traveling ring furnace . for correct sizing , the outer diameter and / or the inner diameter of the tube stock can be machined to size after being removed from the mandrel . the tube stock can also be reamed to size if desired . the tube stock can also be ground or drawn to final size . as mentioned above , the invention also includes the process of coating a stent . the process includes thermally spray - forming material onto a stent pattern ( see fig1 – 5 ) to form the coating where the type of thermal spray processing is selected from the group of cold spray , combustion , hvof , arc , and plasma . the material forming the coating is selected from the group of metals , metal alloys , polymers , ceramics , and cermets . as should be clear , other medical devices such as guide wires , lead tips , catheters , and markers also can be coated . one modification after the coating is applied can include varying the radial thickness of the coating around the stent . in this process , the radial thickness can either be varied around the diameter or along the length of the stent . further , the materials used to coat the stent can be varied . in one instance metallic alloys can be sprayed onto the stent while in others ceramics , polymers and composites can be sprayed on as coatings . in one embodiment it may be desirable to spray a metallic coating onto the stent , heat the coating , and grow the grains after the coating is applied to the stent . in all instances , it may be possible to mechanically process or swage , anneal , heat treat , or cross link process the stent with the coating thereon in order to develop desired mechanical properties . additional post processing steps to reach the desired mechanical properties can include processing the stent in a traveling ring furnace where the material is melted and re - solidified as the ring travels down the length of the stent and processing the stent under high mechanical pressure in a vacuum to sinter grains of the stent together . to finish the coated stent to desired dimensions , the outer diameter of the stent can be post processed through centerless grinding or drawing to reduce the coating thickness . the inner diameter can be bored to improve both dimensions and surface roughness . after thermal spray processing , it may be preferred to cut the tubing in the desired pattern by means of a machine - controlled laser as illustrated schematically in fig1 . a machine - controlled laser cutting system is generally depicted as disclosed in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 780 , 807 , which is commonly owned and commonly assigned to advanced cardiovascular systems , inc ., santa clara , calif ., and which is incorporated herein by reference . the tubing 21 is placed in a rotatable collet fixture 22 of a machine - controlled apparatus 23 for positioning the tubing relative to the laser 24 . according to machine - encoded instructions the tubing is rotated and moved longitudinally relative to the laser , which is also machine - controlled . the laser selectively removes the material from the tubing by ablation and a pattern is cut into the tube . the tube is therefore cut into the discrete pattern of the finished stent . while several particular forms of the invention have been illustrated and described , it will also be apparent that various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention .	8
as shown in fig3 a , a first step of the method according to the present invention includes forming in a single - crystal silicon substrate 1 implanted regions 21 , 22 , 23 , then performing a minimum anneal for restructuring the silicon and elimination of defects . an anneal at 850 ° c . for 20 minutes will , for example , be performed . after this , an epitaxial layer 2 is formed by a low - temperature epitaxy , for example over a thickness from 1 . 5 to 2 μm . during this epitaxy , which is currently performed at a temperature on the order of 900 ° c ., the atoms implanted in regions 21 , 22 , 23 , do not diffuse for practical purposes . at a next step , illustrated in fig3 b , narrow trenches 25 which surround implanted regions 21 , 22 , 23 , are formed . the trenches will have the minimum width allowed by the manufacturing technology , for example currently on the order of 0 . 3 μm and will be distant from the limits of regions 21 , 22 , 23 by a guard distance sufficient to be sure that , despite possible manufacturing defects , the trenches do not cut the diffusion limits of regions 21 , 22 , 23 at this stage of the process . as an example , a guard distance of 0 . 2 μm will be provided between the estimated limits of the diffused regions and the trench edges . only at a subsequent step illustrated in fig3 c is a high - temperature anneal performed , for example at 1100 ° c . for 20 minutes , to ensure an activation and a diffusion of implanted areas 21 , 22 , 23 intended for forming buried layers 31 , 32 , 33 and for simultaneously passivating the trench flanks . the trenches are dug sufficiently deep so that the lower limits of layers 31 , 32 , 33 do not reach down under the bottom of the trenches . the lateral guard distance between the limits of trenches 25 and the borders of implanted areas 21 , 22 , 23 being generally much smaller than the extension of the normal lateral diffusion of implanted areas 21 , 22 , 23 , the structure can have reduced dimensions as compared to what is illustrated in fig1 . on the other hand , as concerns the narrowest buried layers , for example areas 31 and 33 , according to an advantage of the present invention , an increased dopant concentration is obtained in these areas after diffusion , due to the fact that the dopants diffuse little by lateral diffusion . another advantage of providing trenches formed to limit the lateral extension of implanted dopants is that , given that the trench flanks are in contact with very heavily - doped areas , it is not necessary to provide specific channel stop implantations / diffusions as are often implemented at the bottom of trenches . finally , as compared to the case where a first quite extensive diffusion step is performed before epitaxy , after which a second diffusion step is carried out after epitaxy , the doping front of the upper side according to the present invention is more rounded , which is more favorable to avoid latch - up phenomena when mos - type transistors are formed in the epitaxial layer . in structures of bipolar type in which the buried layer is intended to correspond to a collector , it will be however , attempted to increase the steepness of the diffusion fronts , for which purpose a deep collector implantation of same type as the buried layer implantation is preferably performed after epitaxy . purposefully , no specific conductivity type has been indicated for the substrate and the epitaxial layer . in many cases , the substrate is lightly p - type doped and the epitaxial layer is of type n , possibly adjusted or inverted as needed . as an example , buried layer 32 is of type n + and buried layers 31 and 33 are of type p + . however , any other doping configuration of the various layers may be adopted according to needs . similarly , the substrate will not necessarily be a homogeneous substrate , but possibly a lightly - doped layer formed on a more heavily doped layer of the same type or of the opposite conductivity type . the substrate may also correspond to an epitaxial layer formed on a substrate of the same conductivity type or of a distinct conductivity type . [ 0035 ] fig4 a to 4 c illustrate an alternative of the present invention . as described previously , the process starts from a substrate 1 in which implantations 21 , 22 , and 23 have been formed . however , this time , an implantation 24 corresponding to dopant atoms of the opposite conductivity type has been formed under implantation 22 . for example , implantations 21 and 23 will be of type n , implantation 22 of type p and implantation 24 of type n . the dopants corresponding to implantation 24 are more deeply implanted than the dopants corresponding to implantation 22 and / or have a high diffusion speed . preferably , as shown , layer 24 is annealed and diffused before implantations 21 , 22 , 23 . all of this is topped with an epitaxial layer 2 . at the step of fig4 b , as at the step of fig3 b , trenches 25 separating the various implanted areas are formed , after which an activation anneal of the buried layers is carried out at the step of fig4 c . trenches 25 are chosen to be sufficiently deep to block any lateral extension of diffused regions 31 , 32 , and 33 resulting from implanted regions 21 , 22 , 23 . however , the extension of the diffused area coming from implantation 24 passes under adjacent trenches 25 and joins buried layers 31 and 33 . this enables , if a p - type well is formed in the epitaxial layer portion located above buried layer 32 , obtaining a junction insulation of the p well , topping the p + layer , with respect to substrate 1 . the reverse voltage biasing of this junction is performed via buried layers 31 and 33 . this configuration spares a significant surface area since the lateral extension is limited by the trenches . of course , the present invention is likely to have various alterations , modifications , and improvements which will readily occur to those skilled in the art . in particular , while all the buried layer diffusion anneals have been described as being performed immediately after the formation of the epitaxial layer , it may be provided to perform a partial anneal at this time , followed by one or several complementary anneals corresponding to the anneals of other subsequently - formed areas of the structure . further , although this has not been described in detail , an insulation of the trench walls and a filling of these trenches will be conventionally performed . the insulation may , for example , be performed by thermal oxidation , possibly at the same time as the dopant redistributing anneals , and the trenches may be completely filled up by the deposition of an insulating or conductive substance , for example silicon oxide or polysilicon . such alterations , modifications , and improvements are intended to be part of this disclosure , and are intended to be within the spirit and the scope of the present invention . accordingly , the foregoing description is by way of example only and is not intended to be limiting . the present invention is limited only as defined in the following claims and the equivalents thereto .	7
a preferred embodiment of the invention is discussed in detail below . while specific implementations are discussed , it should be understood that this is done for illustration purposes only . a person skilled in the relevant art will recognize that other components and configurations may be used without parting from the spirit and scope of the invention . in many production , retail , healthcare , hospital , manufacturing or other environments , workers do not have access to a computer and e - mail , and at scheduled times go to a break room for a break . the present invention is directed to a system , method and computer program product that enables multiple users to access a single shared computer to send , receive and store e - mail messages . the system can be used continually in real - time working environment . in one embodiment of the invention , the multiple user , shared single computer e - mail system permits these multiple users to view the computer and through a user interface identify whether new e - mail has arrived for any of the users . in one embodiment , the users can use a touchscreen to identify themselves to the system and the system can then require entry of a password to authenticate the user . alternatively , a conventional display monitor can be used for output of status information and a mouse or other pointing device or keyboard or other device can be used for input . in another embodiment , the system can through its user interface identify a priority level of newly received e - mail , to prioritize which of the multiple users should gain access to the shared computer first . in one embodiment , the priority level can be identified by , e . g ., providing a colored representation as to the urgency of the e - mail , such as , e . g ., a colored or blinking name or button , or alphanumeric or other indication of priority such as , e . g ., a ranked list . in an embodiment of the invention , the user with the highest priority could then access the shared e - mail system first . the user with the highest priority e - mail message can then select to open his or her e - mail . in one embodiment of the invention , a user can select to open the user &# 39 ; s name by , e . g ., using a mouse , key or highlighting a name or button with a cursor . in an embodiment , the user can then be prompted to provide authentication information such as , e . g ., a password and / or company badge , to gain access to that user &# 39 ; s personal e - mail environment . in one embodiment of the invention , a user &# 39 ; s personal e - mail environment can include , e . g ., an inbox , an outbox , and at least one user definable file folder into which received messages can be stored . in an embodiment of the invention , the system can store messages in file folders named by sender of the message or can permit the user to provide another name for the folder such as “ personal .” in one embodiment of the invention , the file folders can include different security features such as , e . g ., passwords for access to the specific file folder . an encryption feature can be used to encrypt and decrypt the contents of e - mail messages to prevent unauthorized access to the contents of a message . in one embodiment , a public key can be automatically sent with an email . the public key can be included at the top of an email in one embodiment . advantageously , to exchange public keys , two users can send emails to one another . in one embodiment of the invention , a first group including a first subset of all users can use a first single shared computer and a second group including a second subset of all users can use a second single shared computer . in another embodiment of the invention , a banner can be included onscreen to display advertising or other relevant information to users of the shared e - mail system . advantageously , the banner can be used , e . g ., to display advertising information which can be used , e . g ., to offer the e - mail system for free or a discount to businesses . the shared e - mail system can include other useful features such as , e . g ., a dictionary for spellcheck , a thesaurus , a grammar checker , multiple standard replies , or standard reply lists ( such as , e . g ., an informal reply , a business or formal reply ), address book for selecting recipients , special text viewing ( e . g ., permitting viewing html or text ), smart names ( e . g ., permitting entry of letters of a name causing , e . g ., lookup of one or more addressbook entries having those letters , a list of names , or the addressbook interface itself by a function key combination ), user selectable function keys ( e . g ., permitting a user to assign particular functions to key combinations such as , e . g ., alt - k to bring up the address book ), a memo feature ( i . e ., enabling preparing brief memos to oneself ). in another embodiment of the invention , a user can access the user &# 39 ; s e - mail environment from the internet &# 39 ; s world wide web . in one embodiment , storage of the user &# 39 ; s e - mail environment is mirrored to a server on the world wide web and is kept in synchrony . in one embodiment , a user from the web interface can send , receive , store in folders , move and delete messages . in one embodiment of the invention , the e - mail system can use a version of the standard pop3 mail application modified for the specific features of the shared e - mail system . the present invention can also include human resource features . for example , in one embodiment of the invention , a user can clock in and clock out via the system to provide an automated timeclock . another human resource feature can permit tracking user statistics by capturing user data via the system including , e . g ., the number of employees , the number of hourly employees , the number of female and males workers , hours worked , whether someone is in or out . another human resource feature of the present invention includes provision of a company wide e - mail for use in , e . g ., notifying all employees of events , company policy and other announcements . the present invention , in one embodiment , can require each employee to acknowledge that they have read an e - mail ( e . g ., regarding a company policy ) and the system can automatically compile a single record regarding all employees indicating which employees opened the e - mail and which did not . a report referred to as a read receipt report can be generated that can track which recipients have accessed a sent file . in one embodiment , the date and time of access can be tracked also . in one embodiment the report can be continually updated . the present invention provides several other features applicable to general e - mail systems . for example , the present invention can include an e - mail system having a function that automatically removes greater - than (“& gt ;”) signs that other e - mail systems could have embedded into forwarded e - mails . another e - mail feature includes in the window interface that presents the contents of an open e - mail , a graphical display indicating a hierarchy of forwarded e - mails and attachments . advantageously , the graphical display enables forwarding of only an included forwarded e - mail or attachment . another embodiment of the present invention can filter e - mail obtained from a list of internet locations ( e . g ., addresses or domain names ), which can be maintained by an administrator ( i . e ., in one embodiment of the invention for a single user version , the administrator can be the user ). in one embodiment of the invention , the filter can refuse acceptance of e - mails from those designated locations by maintaining a so - called “ no spam ” list . the filter can be used to block other e - mail based on criteria set by the administrator , such as , e . g ., limiting the size of an e - mail or attachments . in one embodiment of the invention , incoming e - mail can be queued and can be forwarded to the recipient e - mail user , only at a particular time ( such as , e . g ., break time , lunch time , or after hours ). advantageously , this feature can prevent employees from sneaking off at non - break times to check e - mail . in another embodiment of the invention , access to a user &# 39 ; s e - mail box can be restricted to only particular times of the day , avoiding employee temptation to check e - mail . in another embodiment of the invention , sending of a message can be delayed to a given time by inputting a send date and time upon creation of the e - mail . advantageously , the delayed send e - mail feature can enable earlier entry of e - mail birthday greetings to be sent on an employee &# 39 ; s birthday . in another embodiment of the invention , a feature can be provided to store e - mail in a folder which can default to be titled by the sender &# 39 ; s e - mail userid ( i . e ., also commonly referred to as username , screenname , or e - mail address ). the user can be permitted to modify the folder name such as , e . g ., to replace it with the sender &# 39 ; s company name , or department name , or other designation for the folder such as , e . g ., “ personal ,” or “ confidential .” in another embodiment of the invention , the system can automatically timeout and close a user &# 39 ; s e - mail if no action has been made for a selectable period of time , to prevent unauthorized access to the user &# 39 ; s e - mail environment . [ 0078 ] fig1 a illustrates a block diagram of e - mail system environment 100 including an exemplary distributed client / server computer e - mail system . e - mail system environment 100 includes a sending user 102 . sending user 102 sends an e - mail message to a receiving user 104 . sending user 102 creates the e - mail on a client computer 106 . client computer 106 transmits the e - mail from sending user 102 to receiving user 104 on a client computer 110 . an e - mail message may be created via mail client 116 of client computer 106 and may be sent via interaction with a mail server 118 on a server 112 over a communications network 114 . an e - mail 200 , described further below with reference to fig2 in being sent from its source , i . e ., sending user 102 , can travel over communications network 114 , and can pass through other computers ( i . e ., not shown ) enroute to its final destination , client computer 110 for receipt by receiving user 104 . in one embodiment of the invention , communications network 114 includes an intranet . in another embodiment , communications network 114 includes the global internet . it would be apparent to a person having ordinary skill in the art that the features of the present invention can be used in alternative e - mail system environments and architectures . [ 0079 ] fig1 b depicts an exemplary computer environment 120 for client computer 106 . it would be apparent to a person having skill in the art that environment 120 could also depict client computer 110 and server 112 . environment 120 includes hardware 122 , operating system 124 and application programs 126 , 128 and 130 . operating system 124 provides a uniform interface of application programming interfaces ( apis ) to applications 126 , 128 and 130 for access to hardware 122 . an exemplary application 126 is an e - mail application program , mail program 132 . mail program 132 is an example of mail client 116 and mail server 118 . alternatively , a mail program 134 can be included as part of operating system 124 to provide e - mail functionality to applications 126 , 128 and 130 . referring back to fig1 a , mail client 116 can include an authentication input module which can accept a password from user 102 to validate that user 102 is authorized to access the e - mail account of user 102 . authentication input module 108 can interact with an authentication server module 136 of mail server 118 to determine whether user 102 is authorized to access the personal e - mail box of user 102 . after authenticating user 102 , authentication server module 136 can provide user 102 access via a storage module 138 to the mailbox of user 102 of e - mail storage 140 . [ 0081 ] fig2 illustrates an example of a conventional e - mail 200 . e - mail 200 includes various data components . example data components included in e - mail 200 , are creation information 202 , a body 204 , address information 206 , and a subject 208 . in an example embodiment , creation information 202 can include , e . g ., the date and time e - mail 200 was sent from sending user 102 to receiving user 104 . the body 204 of e - mail 200 can include , e . g ., a text portion 210 and embedded objects 212 . embedded objects 212 can include , e . g ., attachments 214 . other embedded objects 216 can include , e . g ., bit map images , graphics objects , executable programs , compressed text and applets . embedded objects 216 can also include a forwarded e - mail 200 . address information 206 can include the e - mail address of sending user 102 and receiving user 104 of e - mail 200 . attachments 214 can also include other embedded objects 212 . subject 208 can include a brief description of the contents of e - mail 200 . it would be apparent to persons skilled in the art that e - mail 200 can include a subset of the listed components . [ 0083 ] fig3 illustrates an example embodiment of an implementation of the present invention , including e - mail system 300 . e - mail system 300 can include a computer 302 in communication with users 304 , 306 and 308 . computer 302 includes a multi - user mail system 310 . in a preferred embodiment , multi - user mail system 310 is a point clear e - mail system available from point clear . net , inc . a wholly owned subsidiary of xante corporation of mobile , ala ., u . s . a . email system 310 can include , in one embodiment , a prioritization module 312 , an authentication module 314 , a storage module 316 , an e - mail storage module 318 , an in queue 326 and an out queue 328 . since multi - user mail system 310 runs on a single computer 302 , only one of users 304 , 306 and 308 can access computer 302 at one time . access to computer 302 can be prioritized using prioritization module 312 . prioritization module 312 can indicate which of users 304 , 306 and 308 should have priority to access computer 302 and multi - user mail system 310 . in one embodiment , the urgency of e - mail messages can be indicated as a form of priority . for example , e - mails from a particular e - mail address could trigger a higher priority , such as , e . g ., an e - mail from the ceo of a company . other indications of priority could include , receipt of an e - mail message , versus having no new messages . informally , a supervisor could have a higher priority than a line worker who , in turn , could have higher priority than a part - time worker . if the highest priority user is user 304 then user 304 can proceed to authenticate using authentication module 314 by , e . g ., entering a password , to access a storage environment 320 . assuming the proper authentication information is provided , then storage module 316 can provide user 304 access to storage environment 320 of e - mail storage 318 via storage module 316 . when user 304 sends an e - mail to another user , the e - mail can be routed via an out queue 328 to its final destination . when user 304 receives an e - mail message from another user , the e - mail can be queued at in queue 326 . in one embodiment , in queue 326 and out queue 324 can be used to delay sending or receipt and for filtering operations . the present invention enables status of multiple users &# 39 ; e - mail accounts to be monitored and accessed from a single computer where each user is identified on a name screen . see fig5 below depicting diagram 500 of an exemplary embodiment of a multi - user interface of the present invention . the exemplary embodiment of fig5 depicts a graphical user interface ( guji ) application , applet , or browser interface to the multi - user email system of the present invention . an exemplary implementation embodiment of the multi - user email system of the present invention is the pointclear ™ system available from pointclear . net , inc ., a wholly owned subsidiary of xante corporation of mobile , ala ., u . s . a . in one embodiment , the single shared computer multiple e - mail system supports greater than 7 users and up to 64 users on the single computer . in another exemplary embodiment , 4 columns of 16 users can be displayed using the multi - user interface of the multi - user email system of the present invention as shown in diagram 500 . in one embodiment , a system administration tool can be used to configure each e - mail account at a company . in one embodiment , the name screen is the default screen for the multiple e - mail account system listing e - mail accounts by user name associated with the computer . in one embodiment , a time clock feature is included providing an electronic time clock . for example , a system administrator can identify time clock employees , in one embodiment , and can setup specific features that need to be logged such as , e . g ., log - in , log - out , overtime , human resource reporting and supervisor warnings . in another embodiment , if an e - mail environment window is left open and is idle for a specified time then the individual &# 39 ; s e - mail window logs out of the system . log out can be based on , e . g ., passage of a time duration or other criteria . this feature prevents unauthorized access to an account by public viewing after a user leaves the system computer without logging out . in one embodiment , the system of the present invention can be provided for a discount such as , e . g ., free , if users are willing to watch advertising . free evaluation use could also be provided . with a free evaluation use , a date is identified after which use is disabled . after completion of particular criteria , access can be re - enabled preserving all file folders . in one embodiment , an advertising banner can be included and can be placed in a fixed location . advertising , in one embodiment , can be provided from in another embodiment , an address book importer can be provided to import address listings from other application programs . in one embodiment of the invention , attachments of all types can be accessible for adding to an e - mail , saving from an e - mail , deleting from an e - mail , executing from the e - mail , and forwarding as an e - mail . an e - mail can also be forwarded as an attachment . where an e - mail has several attachments , a user can select from multiple attachments by highlighting selected attachments for forwarding and the selected attachments only can be forwarded , in one embodiment . in one embodiment , a spam eliminator can maintain a dynamic list of e - mail addresses that can be identified as sources from which e - mail is not accepted . the spam eliminator is a filter which can be based on e - mail address , domain name , or other identifier . in another embodiment , the address book can include groups of e - mail users . in another embodiment , e - mail folder security can be provided restricting access to stored folders to only users entering authentication criteria such as , e . g ., a password associated with that folder . in another embodiment , messages can be marked as urgent , ( also referred to as hot , or hot mail ), or can be identified as a priority level by inclusion in their body or otherwise of identifying priority information . in one embodiment , receipt of an urgent e - mail can initiate an urgency signal such as , e . g ., a visual , graphical , or audio indication . diagram 500 of fig5 for example , depicts new mail via an envelope icon 512 , 508 . urgency of the emails waiting a review by the multiple users can be indicated by , e . g ., color coding such as , e . g ., red 506 for the highest urgency , yellow 510 for intermediate urgency and white 502 for the lowest priority . alternatively , other colors can be used . alternatively an audio , visual , iconic , numeric , alpha numeric , or other indication of priority can be provided . also , a higher priority can trigger , e . g ., an audio alarm , or a wireless alertor page . no new mail 504 can be indicated on the multi - user interface as well . in another embodiment of the present invention , inclusion of specific words or phrases in an e - mail , or subject portion , for example , can be recognized by consulting a library of words and phrases , and prior to receiving the e - mail containing the words or phrases , the e - mail can be rejected . an automatic response can be initiated to the sender of the message indicating what has happened , or even warning the sender of consequences of sending such e - mail . in another embodiment of the invention , delayed message delivery can permit identification of a delivery date and time for delivery of the e - mail message . in another embodiment of the present invention , an e - mail account can be set up to auto forward any received e - mails to another e - mail address . in another , an autoreceipt feature can be enabled by a sender of an e - mail to verify that a receiver has , e . g ., accessed , received , or opened e - mail . in an exemplary embodiment , a read receipt report can be displayed such as , e . g ., the read receipt report as shown in fig7 is described further below . in another embodiment of the present invention , an encryption feature can enable entry of a personal encryption key between sender and receiver to control access to an e - mail . multiple algorithms can be supported for encryption . advantageously , in one embodiment , as new algorithms are developed , legacy algorithms can continue to be supported . users of earlier revisions of the e - mail system set up with a first algorithm , can continue to use the first algorithm even when the program defaults to , e . g ., a tenth algorithm . in one exemplary embodiment , a user &# 39 ; s public key can be automatically generated by the present invention . in one embodiment , a public key can be automatically embedded in an email message that is being sent . the reader is referred to fig8 a , 8b , and 8 c for examples of a conventional public key infrastructure , exchange of public keys according to the present invention , and an email indicating a public key embedded at the top of the email shown when viewing the source code according to the present invention , respectively . advantageously a user need not go through a complicated set up process as is conventionally required . in an embodiment of the invention , when composing an e - mail and filling in the destination address field , for example , a list of names can be parsed as potential e - mail recipients based on the keys depressed by the sender of the e - mail . the more characters that are typed , in one embodiment , the narrower the selection of names . pressing a key combination can list all possible candidates for the keys pressed , from which the user can select . in an embodiment of the invention , a key or key combination can be defined by a user to perform tasks . using this feature , a user can set desired actions for , e . g ., function keys , and alternate and control key combinations . in an embodiment of the invention , a user can insert a voicemail into an e - mail while composing the e - mail . in an embodiment of the invention , a user can insert an audio / video recording into an e - mail . in an embodiment of the invention , personal reminder memos can be created in the e - mail user environment . in another embodiment , when an e - mail is received , the sender of the e - mail , automatically , or through prompting , can be added to the address book . in another embodiment , the carbon copy list can similarly be added to the address book . in another embodiment of the invention , where an e - mail includes inserted greater than signs (“& gt ;”), a feature can be included that deletes any greater than symbols from the beginning of a string . this character is often added by an e - mail system when forwarding an e - mail message . the “& gt ;” is a default character in many e - mail systems , but can be eliminated or changed to another character in some systems . thus , in another embodiment , the character to be removed can be designated . [ 0114 ] fig6 depicts a user interface illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a personal filing system 600 of the present invention . the personal filing system 600 can include a user &# 39 ; s e - mail environment including a file cabinet 602 . the file cabinet 602 is a folder identified as a location to create personal nested sub - folders into which a user can organize incoming and outgoing e - mail . the user , in one embodiment , can set the properties for sending and receiving e - mail related to the file cabinet . for example , all e - mails sent by a sending user can be automatically stored in a personal folder in the sending user &# 39 ; s personal file cabinet 600 . in an exemplary embodiment , the email stored in a file folder named by the recipient &# 39 ; s e - mail address or user name . in an exemplary embodiment , a read receipts continually updateable file can be stored in an assigned folder . a user can also modify the folder into which the e - mail can be stored upon sending . similarly , for an email received from a sender at a recipient , the e - mail can be stored automatically into an assigned folder such as , e . g ., a folder that can be set by the sending user &# 39 ; s e - mail address or user name . in an exemplary embodiment , upon receiving an email , a recipient by selection of a single button can cause the email to be automatically stored in the assigned personal folder . in an embodiment of the invention , a user &# 39 ; s e - mail configuration can be mirrored on a server that can be accessible from a web browser , or a remote version of the mail system . this interface can give a user access to the user &# 39 ; s address book and all the user &# 39 ; s folders as if the user were sitting in front of the multi - user shared e - mail system computer . the user that is sending and receiving e - mail , can also be viewed , by the recipients of the e - mail , as being at the recipient &# 39 ; s desks . the present invention is computer platform independent . client computer 106 in a preferred embodiment is a personal computer ( pc ) system running an operating system such as windows mac / os , or a version of unix . however , the invention is not limited to these platforms . instead , the invention can be implemented on any appropriate computer system running any appropriate operating system , such as , for example , solaris , irix , linux , hpux , osf , windows , windows nt , os / 2 , mac / os . in one embodiment , the present invention is implemented on a computer system operating as discussed herein . in another embodiment , the present invention can be implemented on hardware such as a handheld device , such as , e . g ., a two - way pager , a cellular phone , a digital phone , a watch , a wireless device , a laptop , notebook or sub - notebook computer , and other computer type device such as , e . g ., a micro - computer , a mini - computer and a mainframe computer . [ 0117 ] fig4 depicts an exemplary client computer 106 computer system . other components of the invention , such as client computer 110 , computer 302 , and / or server computer 112 , could also be implemented using a computer such as that shown in fig4 . the computer system 106 can include one or more processors , such as processor 402 . the processor 402 can be coupled to a communication bus 404 . client computer 106 can also include a main memory 406 , preferably random access memory ( ram ), and a secondary memory 408 . the secondary memory 408 can include , for example , a hard disk drive 410 and / or a removable storage device 412 , representing a floppy diskette drive , a magnetic tape drive , a compact disk drive , etc . the removable storage device 412 can read from and / or write to a removable storage unit 414 in a well known manner . removable storage unit 414 , can also be referred to as a program storage device or a computer program product , represents a floppy disk , magnetic tape , compact disk , etc . the removable storage unit 414 can include a computer usable storage medium having stored therein computer software and / or data , such as an object &# 39 ; s methods and data . client computer 106 can also include an input device such as , e . g ., a mouse 416 or other pointing device such as a digitizer , and a keyboard 418 or other data entry device . client computer 106 can also include an output device such as display 418 , which in one embodiment can be a touch enabled monitor . client computer 106 can also include , e . g ., a network interface card 422 and / or a modem 424 which can be used to access network 114 . computer programs ( also called computer control logic ), including object oriented computer programs , can be stored in main memory 416 and / or the secondary memory 418 and / or removable storage units 414 , also called computer program products . such computer programs , when executed , enable the computer system 106 to perform the features of the present invention as discussed herein . in particular , the computer programs , when executed , enable the processor 402 to perform the features of the present invention . accordingly , such computer programs represent controllers of the computer system 106 . in another embodiment , the invention can be directed to a computer program product comprising a computer readable medium having control logic ( computer software ) stored therein . the control logic , when executed by the processor 402 , can cause the processor 402 to perform the functions of the invention as described herein . in yet another embodiment , the invention can be implemented primarily in hardware using , for example , one or more state machines . implementation of these state machines so as to perform the functions described herein will be apparent to persons skilled in the relevant arts . [ 0125 ] fig5 depicts an exemplary embodiment of multi - user graphical user interface ( gui ) 500 including an indication of status of a plurality of different user email accounts . the gui illustrated is a personal computer based software application program . the gui could just have easily been a workstation application , a unix application , a java applet , or an internet or world wide web (“ www ” or web ) browser based homepage , or applet gui . in an exemplary embodiment , an indication of priority can be included . for example , a prioritization indication can be provided to indicate which email account should have priority . in one embodiment , a visual indication can be used . in another , an audio indication can be provided . in one embodiment , a color scheme can be used , as shown , including white record 502 , 504 , with lowest priority . an icon 508 , 512 , or no icon 504 can be used to indicate whether new mail has been received for one of the multi - user accounts . to provide prioritization , a yellow colored indication 510 , 512 can stress a medium priority message . in the exemplary embodiment , a higher priority message 506 , 508 can be stressed by coloring them red . a low priority message can be colored white . selection of a user account by touching a touch screen , or selecting with a mouse or other input device such as , e . g ., a keyboard , remote control , or cursor keys , can cause the email account environment to be opened , assuming the user can provide authentication such as , e . g ., a password , a biometric , or other identification information . [ 0126 ] fig6 depicts an exemplary embodiment of a personal file system 600 . personal file system 600 can include a plurality of personal folders 602 - 640 for storing sent and received emails . fig6 depicts a user interface illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a personal filing system 600 of the present invention . the personal filing system 600 can include a user &# 39 ; s e - mail environment including a file cabinet 602 . the file cabinet 602 is a folder identified as a location to create personal nested sub - folders into which a user can organize incoming and outgoing e - mail . the user , in one embodiment , can set the properties for sending and receiving e - mail related to the file cabinet . for example , all e - mails sent by a sending user can be automatically stored in a personal folder in the sending user &# 39 ; s personal file cabinet 600 . in an exemplary embodiment , the email stored in a file folder named by the recipient &# 39 ; s e - mail address or user name . in an exemplary embodiment , a read receipts continually updateable file can be stored in an assigned folder . a user can also modify the folder into which the e - mail can be stored upon sending . similarly , for an email received from a sender at a recipient , the e - mail can be stored automatically into an assigned folder such as , e . g ., a folder that can be set by the sending user &# 39 ; s e - mail address or user name . in an exemplary embodiment , upon receiving an email , a recipient by selection of a single button can cause the email to be automatically stored in the assigned personal folder . [ 0127 ] fig7 depicts an exemplary embodiment of an assigned read receipt folder &# 39 ; s read receipt report 700 . read receipt report 700 can include names 706 , and e - mail addresses 708 of recipients of the email . upon access of the email by recipients , the read receipt report 700 can be automatically updated to include , e . g ., a date and time 712 of the access , and type of access 710 . the read receipt report 700 , can provide various types of information in a record 702 . if the email has not been accessed yet , then a blank record 704 can be provided . [ 0128 ] fig8 a depicts a conventional public key infrastructure ( pki ) 800 indicating an exemplary configuration of a user 1 802 in communication with a public / private key provider 804 . public / private key 804 can provide information from user 2 806 to provide communication between users 802 , 806 . a conventional process 800 as shown in fig8 a can begin with step 808 . in step 808 , user 1 802 sets up an account with an encryption public / private key provider 804 . from step 808 , process 800 can continue with step 810 . in step 810 , user 2 806 sets up an account with the encryption public / private key provider 804 . suppose user 1 802 desires to send an encrypted message to user 2 806 . from step 810 , process 800 continues with step 812 . in step 812 , user 1 802 must learn the public key of user 2 806 by communicating with the public / private key provider 804 , must search for user 2 806 , and must add the key information to the email address book of user 1 802 relating to user 2 806 . suppose user 2 806 also desires to send an encrypted message to user 1 802 . process 800 continues with step 814 . in step 814 , user 2 806 also must learn the public key of user 1 802 by communicating with the public / private key provider 804 , must search for user 1 802 and must add the key information to the email address book of user 2 806 , relating to user 1 802 . from step 814 , process 800 can continue with step 816 . in step 816 , user 1 802 and user 2 806 can finally send encrypted messages to each other . an example of a conventional system implementing the system of fig8 a is that of microsoft outlook express , available from microsoft corporation of redmond , wash ., u . s . a . such conventional systems are cumbersome to operate and require extensive user customization as already detailed , unlike the present invention . for example , the microsoft outlook express help index describes a difficult process by which the public / private key encryption features can be setup in outlook . the following excerpt is demonstrative of the difficulty of such conventional solutions as shown in fig8 a : as more people send confidential information by e - mail , it is increasingly important to be sure that documents sent in e - mail are not forged , and to be certain that messages you send cannot be intercepted and read by anyone other than your intended recipient . by using “ digital ids ” with outlook express , you can prove your identity in electronic transactions in a way similar to showing your driver &# 39 ; s license when you cash a check . you can also use your digital id to encrypt messages , keeping them private . digital ids incorporate the s / mime specification for secure electronic mail . a digital id is composed of a “ public key ,” a “ private key ,” and a “ digital signature .” when you digitally sign your messages , you are adding your digital signature and public key to the message . the combination of a digital signature and public key is called a “ certificate .” recipients can use your digital signature to verify your identity and use your public key to send you encrypted mail that only you can read by using your private key . in order to send encrypted messages , your address book must contain digital ids for the recipients . that way , you can their public keys to encrypt the messages . when a recipient gets an encrypted message , their private key is used to decrypt the message for reading . before you can start sending digitally signed messages , you must obtain a digital id and set up your mail account to use it . if you are sending encrypted messages , your address book must contain a digital id for each recipient . when you apply for a digital id at a certification authority &# 39 ; s web site , they verify your identity before issuing an id . there are different classes of digital ids , each certifying to a different level of trustworthiness . for more information , use the help at the certification authority &# 39 ; s web site . in order to obtain someone else &# 39 ; s digital id , you can request they send you digitally signed mail , or you can search the digital id database on a certification authority &# 39 ; s web site . you can also search internet directory services that list digital ids along with other properties . with “ revocation checking ,” you can verify the validity of a digitally signed message . when you make such a check , outlook express requests information on the digital id from the appropriate certification authority . the certification authority sends back information on the status of the digital id , including whether the id has been revoked . certification authorities keep track of certificates that have been revoked due to loss or termination . [ 0150 ] fig8 b depicts an exemplary embodiment of an improved configuration method that configures a secure public / private key configuration method 818 . user 1 802 can send in step 824 a message to user 2 822 . in step 826 , user 2 822 can send an email to user 1 820 . since , according to the present invention , a user 820 , 822 can automatically have a public key be embedded in the email , the exchange shown can automatically provide public keys to the recipients of the messages . using the present invention , two users interested in exchanging public keys can perform the following steps : 1 . both sender and receiver can be using pointclear on their respective systems or computer ( s ); 2 . user1 802 can send a message to user2 822 ; and 3 . user2 822 can send a message to user1 802 . in an exemplary implementation embodiment , the above listed steps can be performed using the pointclear e - mail program of pointclear . net , inc ., a wholly - owned subsidiary of xante corporation of mobile , ala ., u . s . a . [ 0156 ] fig8 c shows an exemplary embodiment of a view 828 of an email which can illustrate a public key that has been embedded for ease of providing the public key of one user to another user , for use in communicating via , e . g ., an encrypted communication , according to the present invention . the view 828 is shown in a view revealing the source code of the email . referring briefly to fig3 in an exemplary embodiment of the present invention , a user 304 - 308 of a first email system may wish to exchange e - mail with a user 102 of a second email system , where user 102 is not on the first email system of user 304 - 308 . if the first email system provides certain proprietary features , such as , e . g ., encryption , receipt notification , etc ., then conventionally the recipient user 102 on the second email system may not be able to access the email created by the sending user 304 - 308 of the first email system . also , conventionally , users 102 and users 304 - 308 may not be able to take advantage of the proprietary features of the first email system when user 102 is not running on the first email system . in an exemplary embodiment of the present invention , a reader - responder module can be used by the user 102 of the second email system , in order to allow the user 102 to read and respond to an email sent from user 304 - 308 of the first email system , taking advantage of the proprietary features of the first email system . in an exemplary implementation embodiment , the reader - responder module can be a pointclear reader - responder available from pointclear . net , inc ., a wholly owned subsidiary of the xante corporation of mobile , ala ., u . s . a . in an exemplary embodiment , the user 304 - 308 can send a copy of the reader - responder module to the user 102 . in one exemplary embodiment , the user 304 - 308 can sent the key of the user 304 - 308 along with the reader - responder module to the user 102 . the user 102 can then install the reader - responder module on the workstation of user 102 . the user 102 can send the key of user 102 as illustrated in fig9 to the user 304 - 308 to enable the user 304 - 308 to send an email taking advantage of the proprietary functions . alternatively , the user 102 can download the reader - responder module , e . g ., from a network or other computer system . subsequently , the user 304 - 308 can send the key of user 304 - 308 to the user 102 . user 102 can then send the key of the user 102 to user 304 - 308 as illustrated in fig9 below . [ 0163 ] fig9 depicts an exemplary embodiment of a graphical user interface 900 illustrating set - up of a reader - responder module of the present invention . specifically , the reader - responder module can be used to send a key from user 102 to the user 304 - 308 in order to enable the user 304 - 308 to send an e - mail taking advantage of proprietary features of a first e - mail system ( i . e ., the email system of user 304 - 308 ), to the user 102 who is not on the first email system . the reader is again referred to fig8 c which can now be used to illustrate an exemplary embodiment of a view 828 of an email in which a public key has been embedded for ease of providing the public key of the user 102 to the user 304 - 306 of the first email system , for use in communicating via , e . g ., an encrypted communication , according to the present invention . the view 828 as illustrated , is shown in a view revealing the source code of the email . it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that alternative views of the e - mail can be provided , and can also be provided as a default view . once the reader - responder module is set up , then the user 102 can receive email from users 304 - 308 of the first email system that take advantage of proprietary features of the first email system . if user 102 wishes to respond to user 304 - 308 then the user 102 can use the reader - responder module to create an e - mail as shown in fig1 . in an exemplary embodiment , if the user 102 desires to send a carbon - copy to other users 304 - 308 , then the user 102 can look them up in an address book as illustrated in fig1 , as described further below with reference to fig1 . if the other users 304 - 308 are not listed in the address book , the users 304 - 308 can be added to the address book . in an exemplary embodiment , the user 102 can have the users 304 - 308 send the user 102 an email providing user 102 the keys of other users 304 - 308 , to support encryption . in an exemplary embodiment , if user 102 desires to send an email to a user 104 who is not on the first email system of users 304 - 308 , then the user 102 will not be permitted to do so without first obtaining a license to the full featured version of the first email system . once user 102 becomes a licensed user of the first e - mail system , then the user 102 can be permitted to send a copy of the reader - responder module to other users 104 which are not licensed users of the first email system . advantageously , the ability to send a copy of a reader - responder module to non - licensed users can be an effective viral marketing approach to create interest in and to encourage licensure of the full - featured version of the first email system . [ 0168 ] fig1 depicts an exemplary embodiment of a graphical user interface 1000 illustrating an address book of an exemplary reader - responder module of the present invention . specifically , the address book can be populated with users 304 - 308 to which an e - mail can be sent for the user 102 of the reader - responder module , which is not on the first email system of users 304 - 308 . the user 102 although licensed to use the reader - responder module , is not a licensed user of the first email system of users 304 - 308 . initially ( assuming the user 102 has already received and installed a copy of the reader - responder module on the workstation of user 102 , and has received the key of user 304 - 308 ), the only recipients listed in the address book of user 102 , to which user 102 can send an email using the reader - responder software , is the user 304 - 306 who has sent user 102 the key of user 304 - 308 . if other users 304 - 308 send the keys of the other users 304 - 308 to the user 102 , then the names of the other users 304 - 308 can also appear on the recipients list of the address book of user 102 . it is important to note , however , that in the exemplary embodiment , the user 102 can not send emails using the reader - responder module to users 104 which are not users of the first email system of user 304 - 308 . thus , the user 102 will not be able to add users 104 to the address book of user 102 if the users 104 are not licensed users of the first e - mail system of user 304 - 308 . if the user 102 becomes a licensed user of the first e - mail system of user 304 - 308 , e . g ., by paying a transaction fee , then the user 102 has in fact become a user 304 - 308 and will then be able to send email to any other user 304 - 308 and can also send copies of the reader - responder module to other users 104 which are not users of the first email system of user 304 - 308 . [ 0172 ] fig1 depicts an exemplary embodiment of a graphical user interface illustrating an email creation window of an exemplary embodiment of the reader - responder module of the present invention . as shown , the email creation window of the exemplary embodiment can include various icons such as , e . g ., a send icon that can be used to send the email ; a print icon that can be used to print the email ; cut / copy / paste icons that can be used as conventionally known to cut , copy or paste data from or into the email ; a cut “& gt ;” icon that can be used to eliminate embedded indentation characters ; an attach file icon that can be used to add an attachment to the email ; a recipients icon that can be used to open the reader address book as described above with reference to fig1 ; a spell check icon that can be used to spell check the e - mail message contents ; a priority icon that can be used to identify the priority of the email ; and a send key icon that can be used to embed a sending user &# 39 ; s key to the email for sending along to the receiving user . other conventional fields such as addressee , subject and body fields can be provided as well as other functions in pull - down menus and other useful functionality as will be apparent to those skilled in the relevant art . [ 0173 ] fig1 depicts an exemplary embodiment of a flow diagram 1200 illustrating how users could use a reader - responder module according to the present invention to exchange e - mail . flow diagram 1200 of fig1 can begin with step 1202 and can continue immediately with step 1204 . in step 1204 , in an exemplary embodiment , user 304 can license an e - mail client application having proprietary features . in an exemplary embodiment , the e - mail client application can include a proprietary encryption feature . however it is important to note that alternative proprietary features could be provided according to the technique of the present invention . in an exemplary implementation embodiment the e - mail client application can be pointclear client software , available from pointclear communications , at pointclear . net of mobile , ala ., u . s . a . including a 128 bit public / private key encryption system . from step 1204 , flow diagram 1200 can continue with step 1206 . in step 1206 , in an exemplary embodiment , user 304 can desire to exchange email with user 102 , who is on a different email system . specifically , in an exemplary embodiment , user 304 can desire to exchange encrypted e - mail with the user 102 . from step 1206 , flow diagram 1200 can continue with step 1208 . in step 1208 , in an exemplary embodiment , user 102 can have a different e - mail software system than user 304 . for example , if user 304 uses an e - mail software application system available from pointclear . net , and user 102 instead uses an e - mail software application system available from , e . g ., microsoft , novell , lotus , or any other software developer , then only a subset of features of the pointclear . net e - mail software application system might be available to the users . for example , perhaps only text - based email would be supported , because of lack of support for certain proprietary features . from step 1208 , flow diagram 1200 can continue with step 1210 . in step 1210 , in an exemplary embodiment , user 304 can request that user 102 download reader / responder module application software . for example , the software can be pointclear reader / responder module application software from www . pointclear . net / reader . in an exemplary embodiment , the software download can be free of charge . product features of the pointclear reader / responder module application software can provide a subset of a full - featured licensed version of a pointclear client application software . from step 1210 , flow diagram 1200 can continue with step 1212 . in step 1212 , in an exemplary embodiment , user 102 can download and install reader / responder module application e - mail software or system . from step 1212 , flow diagram 1200 can continue with step 1214 . in step 1214 , in an exemplary embodiment , user 102 can use a “ send key ” program that can be included , e . g ., as a function of the reader / responder module application . in an exemplary embodiment , the send key function can be used to automatically send an unencrypted public key to user 304 . from step 1214 , flow diagram 1200 can continue with step 1216 . in step 1216 , in an exemplary embodiment , user 304 can receive an email from user 102 with an embedded public key and can respond as the reader / responder can automatically encrypt the e - mail message using the public key of user 102 . from step 1216 , flow diagram 1200 can continue with step 1218 . in step 1218 , in an exemplary embodiment , user 102 can receive a message from user 304 into the email software of user 102 ( i . e ., microsoft , lotus , novell , etc .). in an exemplary embodiment , the email can include a file named encryptedmessage . xmf . from step 1218 , flow diagram 1200 can continue with step 1220 . in step 1220 , in an exemplary embodiment , user 102 can open the file that can automatically execute the reader / responder module application . the reader / responder module application according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention can view an encrypted message using a private key of user 102 to decrypt the email message . from step 1220 , flow diagram 1200 can continue with step 1222 . in step 1222 , in an exemplary embodiment , the reader / responder module application can automatically save user 304 into an address book database along with a public key of user 304 . from step 1222 , flow diagram 1200 can continue with step 1224 . in step 1224 , in an exemplary embodiment , user 102 can then respond to the message . in an exemplary embodiment , user 102 can alternatively create a new secure encrypted e - mail message that can be sent to user 304 or any other licensed user of the email software client application to which user 102 has already sent a key , and from which user 102 has already received a response . from step 1224 , flow diagram 1200 can continue immediately with step 1226 , where flow diagram 1200 can end . while various embodiments of the present invention have been described above , it should be understood that they have been presented by way of example only , and not limitation . thus , the breadth and scope of the present invention should not be limited by any of the above - described exemplary embodiments , but should be defined only in accordance with the following claims and their equivalents .	7
fig1 is a schematic illustration of a variable coupling device according to one embodiment of the invention . referring to fig1 , a coupler 100 has a first transmission line 110 and a second transmission line 120 . the first transmission line 110 includes a first terminal 112 that can receive an incoming signal ( not shown ) or provide an output signal . the first transmission line 110 also includes a first branch 111 and second branch 113 . the first branch 111 ends in a second terminal 114 while the second branch 113 ends in a third terminal 116 . both the second terminal 113 and third terminal 116 can receive an incoming signal or transmit an output signal . the second transmission line 120 has a fourth terminal 122 and a fifth terminal 124 each of which may receive an incoming signal or transmit an output signal , depending on the application of the coupler 100 and can be positioned in close proximity to the first transmission line 110 such that second transmission line 120 is inductively engaged to the first transmission line 110 . although not specifically shown in the exemplary embodiment of fig1 , the second transmission line 120 can be inductively coupled to the first branch 111 or second branch 113 . to provide the desired inductive affect , the proximity of the first and the second terminals can be in the range of 5 to 40 mil ( 0 . 13 to 1 mm ) with a dielectric constant ( er ) of 3 . 5 and thickness of 20 mil ( 0 . 5 mm ) at frequencies up to 8 ghz in 1d circuits . thus , if a terminal of the second transmission line 120 receives an incoming signal , a portion of the power from the incoming signal inductively engages first transmission line 110 to thereby alter the power signal output of the first transmission line 110 . the coupler may be positioned on a dielectric substrate or other suitable medium and comprised of conductive or semi - conductive materials . further , the coupler may function over a broad range of frequencies and is suitable for use in various technologies employing microstrip techniques including but not limited to microwave communications , millimeter wave communications , point - to - point and point - to - multipoint wireless communications , satellite communications , and fixed and mobile radar systems . each of the first and second terminals can be constructed of conductive or semi - conductive material such as those used in conventional couplers . for example , any microstrip ( planar ) media , such as microwave monolithic integrated circuitry ( mmic ) can be used to implement the embodiment of fig1 . in such an embodiment , the parallel transmission lines spacing 121 can range from approximately 5 to 40 mil ( 0 . 13 to 1 mm ) with a dielectric constant ( εr ) of 3 . 5 and thickness of 20 mil ( 0 . 5 mm ) at frequencies up to 8 ghz in 1d circuits . in 2d circuits , the frequencies may extend up to 100 ghz . a key feature of the disclosed invention is the compact size of the variable coupler . compact designs are particularly important when considering semiconductor die fabrication , particularly when gallium arsenide ( gaas ) is used as a substrate . for example , the length and impedance of the first branch 111 and second branch 113 may be determined by a divider ( or sum ) ratio with the length and impedance of the first terminal 112 . the impedance of the transmission line 120 may match the impedance of the coupled branch . in this example , the impedance of the transmission line 120 may match the impedance of the first branch 111 . when used as a variable power divider , the coupling device 100 can be positioned to receive an incoming signal at the first terminal 112 and provide outputs at each of the second terminal 114 and third terminal 116 . to provide a variable power output , the second transmission line 120 can be placed in electromagnetic proximity of one of the first branch 111 or the second branch 113 . in the embodiment of fig1 , the second transmission line 120 is positioned adjacent to the first branch 111 . if power is supplied to the second transmission line 120 via the fourth terminal 122 , electromagnetic inductance will be formed in the second transmission line 120 . the inductance will affect the current flowing through the first branch 111 so as to increase or decrease the signal power output at the second terminal 114 . a desired signal output at each of the second and third terminals can be obtained by varying the power supplied to the second transmission line 120 , adjusting the proximity ( or length ) of the second transmission line 120 and the first branch 111 or both . while not specifically shown in fig1 , the fifth terminal 124 can be terminated to a proper load . when used as a power combiner , each of the second terminal 114 and third terminal 116 receives an input signal . the input signals can be uniform or can have different signal powers . that is , the input signal to each of the second terminal 114 and third terminal 116 may have the same or different frequencies . in a conventional wilkinson combiner , the input signals to each of the second and third terminals are combined to form an output signal from the first terminal 112 . an obvious draw back is that the conventional coupler provides a linear combination of the input signal . in contrast , according to one embodiment of the invention an input signal can be provided to the fifth terminal 124 to inductively control the signal flow through the first branch 111 ( that is , the inductive coupling between the first branch 111 and second transmission line 120 can actively increase / decrease the power magnitude supplied to the first terminal 112 ). as with the variable power divider embodiment described above , the output signal power from the first terminal 112 can be adjusted by adjusting the proximity and / or length of the second transmission line 120 and first branch 111 . fig2 a schematically represents a frequency coupler according to one embodiment of the invention . as shown in fig2 a , the variable frequency divider 200 includes a first transmission line 210 having a first terminal 212 that receives an incoming signal 211 of frequency f 1 . the first terminal 212 can be represented as having an equivalent characteristic impedance 213 with a value of z 213 . the first terminal 212 divides to a first branch 218 and second branch 219 which terminate in a second terminal 214 and third terminal 216 , respectively . a second transmission line 220 includes a fourth terminal 222 that receives an incoming signal 221 of frequency f 2 . in the exemplary embodiment of fig2 a , the fourth terminal 222 is represented as having an equivalent characteristic impedance z 223 . the proximate positioning of the first terminal 212 and fourth terminal 222 allows for electromagnetic influence among z 213 and z 223 . consequently , the output at each of the second and third terminals ( 214 , 216 , respectively ) can be adjusted by controlling signal frequency f 2 . fig2 b schematically represents a frequency combiner according to one embodiment of the invention . the variable frequency combiner 250 has similar elements as that represented in fig2 a . therefore , similar elements will maintain like reference numbers . the variable frequency combiner 250 comprises a first transmission line 210 and a second transmission line 220 . the first transmission line 210 is defined by an output terminal 212 , a first branch 218 and a second branch 219 . the first branch 218 is shown with an impedance 251 ( z 251 ) and receives an incoming signal 253 . similarly , the second branch 219 is shown with an impedance 255 ( z 255 ) receiving an incoming signal 257 . the second transmission line 220 is positioned proximally to the first branch 218 and comprises an impedance 259 ( z 259 ) and a fourth terminal 222 and receives an incoming signal 261 . each of the incoming signals 253 , 255 and 261 may be signals of different frequency and power . each of the incoming signals , 253 , 255 and 261 may be generated by a signal generator ( not shown ). proximity of the second transmission line 220 to the first branch 218 of the first transmission line 210 enables electromagnetic coupling between the impedance 259 of the second transmission line 220 and the impedance 251 of the first branch 218 . depending on the respective values of z 251 and z 259 , the electromagnetic coupling will affect the signal being transmitted through the second terminal 214 and the second transmission line 220 . consequently , the signal output from an output terminal can be more than a linear combination of the incoming signals 253 and 257 . the inventive embodiment of fig1 , 2 a and 2 b can be represented as an equivalent circuit satisfying the following relationships : [ s ] = [ [ s ] w [ s ] c [ s ] ct [ s ] t ] , [ r ] o = [ r o1 0 0 0 0 0 r o2 0 0 0 0 0 r o3 0 0 0 0 0 r o4 0 0 0 0 0 r o5 ] where [ s ] w is 3 × 3 , [ s ] c is 2 × 3 , [ s ] ct is 3 × 2 , [ s ] l is 2 × 2 a the [ s ] depends upon a wilkinson , balanced / unbalanced coupler arm that should be matched with an associated wilkinson arm , termination matrix and frequency . an exemplary approximate normalized matrix with termination may be represented by the following relationship : although in the exemplary embodiments of fig2 a and 2 b , the characteristic impedances are positioned in the represented location , it shall be understood by those of skill in the art that such placements are only exemplary and do not limit the principles of the invention disclosed herein . moreover , the respective impedances are provided to illustrate an equivalent circuit function of the variable coupler , as known to those of skill in the art . fig3 shows a variable frequency coupler 300 according to another embodiment of the invention . depending on how it is configured , the variable frequency coupler 300 can be used as a signal divider or a combiner . the coupler of fig3 can be considered as a conceptual extension of the exemplary coupler of fig1 in that the device of fig3 enables additional signal manipulation by providing a third transmission line for electromagnetically affecting the second branch of the first transmission line . referring to fig3 , a first transmission line 310 is defined by a first terminal 312 , second terminal 314 and third terminal 316 interconnected through a first branch 311 and a second branch 313 . if the coupler 300 is used as a variable power divider , the first terminal 312 is used an input and the second terminal 314 and third terminal 316 are used as outputs . conversely , if the coupler 300 is used as a variable power combiner , the first terminal 312 is used an output and the second terminal 314 and third terminal 316 are used an inputs . for use as a variable power divider , the first terminal 312 can receive an input signal . when used as a variable combiner , the second terminal 314 and third terminal 316 can receive signals having the same or different frequencies . a second transmission line 320 and third transmission line 330 can be positioned in proximity of the first branch 311 and second branch 313 , respectively . referring to the second transmission line 320 , either of the fourth terminal 322 or fifth terminal 324 can receive an input signal . while not specifically shown in fig3 , the fourth terminal 322 or fifth terminal 324 can be terminated to a proper load . similarly , the third transmission line 330 can be adapted to have either of a sixth terminal 332 or seventh terminal 334 receive an input signal . while not specifically shown in fig3 , the sixth terminal 332 or seventh terminal 334 may be coupled to proper loads or sources . for example , if used as a power divider , variable frequency coupler 300 can be positioned to receive an incoming signal at the first terminal 312 and provide subsequent outputs at each of the second terminal 314 and third terminal 316 . to provide variable output at each of the second terminal 314 and third terminal 316 , the second transmission line 320 and third transmission line 330 can be positioned in electromagnetic proximity to the first branch 311 and the second branch 313 , respectively . if power is supplied to the second transmission line 320 via the fourth terminal 322 or fifth terminal 324 , electromagnetic inductance will be formed in the second transmission line 320 . the inductance will affect the current flowing through the first branch 311 so as to increase or decrease the signal power output at the second terminal 314 . similarly , if power is supplied to the third transmission line 330 via the sixth terminal 322 or seventh terminal 332 , electromagnetic inductance will be formed in the third transmission line 330 . the inductance will affect the current flowing through the second branch 313 so as to increase or decrease the signal power output at the third terminal 316 . each of the transmission lines can be charged with an input signal of similar or different magnitude . the current flow direction can be optionally consistent with that of the first transmission line 310 . thus , the terminals in the second transmission line 320 and third transmission line 330 can be coupled to a signal specifically calculated to induce the desired electromagnetic coupling on the respective first branch 311 and second branch 313 . placement of the second and third transmission lines 320 and 330 in proximity to the first transmission line 310 can be in a range of 5 to 40 mil ( 0 . 13 to 1 mm ) with a dielectric constant ( εr ) of 3 . 5 and thickness of 20 mil ( 0 . 5 mm ) at frequencies up to 8 ghz in 1d circuits . fig4 a schematically represents a frequency coupler of another embodiment of the invention . as shown in fig4 a , the variable frequency divider 400 includes a first transmission line 410 having a first terminal 412 receiving an incoming signal 411 of frequency f 1 . the first terminal 412 can be represented as having an equivalent characteristic impedance 413 with an impedance value of z 413 . the first terminal 415 divides to a first branch 418 and second branch 419 which terminate in a second terminal 414 and third terminal 416 , respectively . a second transmission line 420 includes a fourth terminal 422 receiving an incoming signal 421 of frequency f 2 . a third transmission line 430 includes a sixth terminal 432 receiving an incoming signal 431 of frequency f 3 . in the exemplary embodiment of fig4 a , the fourth terminal 422 is represented as having an equivalent characteristic impedance z 423 and the sixth terminal 432 is represented as having an equivalent characteristic impedance z 433 . the length and proximate positioning of the first branch 418 and second transmission line 420 allow for electromagnetic influence among z 413 and z 423 . the length and proximate positioning of the second branch 419 and third transmission line 430 allow for electromagnetic influence among z 413 and z 433 . consequently , the output at each of the second and third terminals ( 414 , 416 , respectively ) can be adjusted by controlling signal frequency f 2 or signal frequency f 3 or both . fig4 b schematically represents a frequency combiner according to yet another embodiment of the invention . the variable frequency combiner 450 has similar elements as that represented in fig4 a . therefore , similar elements will maintain like reference numbers . the variable frequency combiner 450 comprises a first transmission line 410 , second transmission line 420 and third transmission line 430 . the first transmission line 410 is defined by an output terminal 412 , a first branch 418 and a second branch 419 . the first branch 418 is shown with an impedance 451 ( z 451 ) and receives an incoming signal 453 . similarly , the second branch 419 is shown with an impedance 455 ( z 455 ) receiving an incoming signal 457 . the second transmission line 420 is positioned proximally to the first branch 418 and comprises an impedance 459 ( z 459 ) and a fifth terminal 424 receiving an incoming signal 461 . the third transmission line 430 is positioned proximally to the second branch 419 and comprises an impedance 463 ( z 463 ) and a seventh terminal 434 receiving an incoming signal 465 . each of the incoming signals 453 , 457 , 461 and 465 may optionally be signals of different frequency and power . proximity of the second transmission line 420 to the first branch 418 enables electromagnetic coupling between the impedance 459 of the second transmission line 420 and the impedance 451 of the first branch 418 . proximity of the third transmission line 430 to the second branch 419 enables electromagnetic coupling between the impedance 463 of the third transmission line 430 and the impedance 455 of the second branch 419 . depending on the respective values of z 451 , z 455 , z 459 and z 463 , the electromagnetic coupling will affect the power of the signal being transmitted through the first terminal 412 and the first transmission line 410 . consequently , the signal output from an output terminal can be more than a linear combination of the incoming signals 453 , 457 , 461 and 465 . the inventive embodiments of fig3 , 4 a and 4 b can be represented as an equivalent circuit satisfying the following relationships : [ s ] = [ [ s ] w [ s ] c1 [ s ] c2 [ s ] ct1 [ s ] t1 [ s ] [ s ] ct2 [ s ] [ s ] t2 ] , [ r ] o = [ r o1 r o2 r o3 r o4 r o5 r o6 r o7 ] where [ s ] w is 3 × 3 , [ s ] ci is 2 × 3 , [ s ] cti is 3 × 2 , [ s ] li is 2 × 2 and [ r ] o is a termination matrix . the [ s ] depends upon a wilkinson , balanced / unbalanced coupler arm that should be matched with an associated wilkinson arm , termination matrix and frequency . an exemplary approximate normalized matrix with termination may be represented by the following relationship : although in the exemplary embodiments of fig4 a and 4 b , the characteristic impedances are positioned in the represented location , it shall be understood by those of skill in the art that such placements are only exemplary and do not limit the principles of the invention disclosed herein . moreover , the respective impedances are provided to illustrate an equivalent circuit function of the variable coupler , as known to those of skill in the art . the variable frequency coupler of the present disclosure may be used for many different frequencies , i . e ., 500 mhz to 8 ghz in 1d circuits and up to 60 ghz in 2d circuits , and many different waveforms and modulations . further , the variable frequency coupler is suitable for use in microwave communications , millimeter wave communications , point - to - point and point - to - multipoint wireless communications and satellite communications as well as fixed and mobile radar systems as a modulated or non - modulated signal . the adaptive output control provided by the present disclosure also allows for versatility in a multiple frequency system with differing coupling values that are determined based on coupler geometrical structure and materials . a device according to the principles of the invention can be used , for example , to receive radio frequency , microwave frequency as well as high power and high frequency applications and optical and laser applications . while preferred embodiments of the present inventive apparatus and method have been described , it is to be understood that the embodiments described are illustrative only and that the scope of the embodiments of the present inventive apparatus and method is to be defined solely by the appended claims when accorded a full range of equivalence , many variations and modifications naturally occurring to those of skill in the art from a perusal thereof .	7
in the following description of the various embodiments , reference is made to the accompanying drawings , which form a part hereof , and in which is shown by way of illustration various embodiments in which the invention may be practiced . it is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and structural and functional modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention . fig1 illustrates an exemplary communication network through which various inventive principles may be practiced . a number of computers and devices including mobile communication devices 105 and 110 , personal digital assistant ( pda ) 120 , personal computer ( pc ) 115 , service provider 125 and content provider 130 may communicate with one another and with other devices through network 100 . network 100 may include wired and wireless connections and network elements , and connections over the network may include permanent or temporary connections . communication through network 100 is not limited to the illustrated devices and may include additional devices such as a home video storage system , a portable audio / video player , a digital camera / camcorder , a positioning device such as a gps ( global positioning system ) device or satellite , a mobile television , a set - top box ( stb ), a digital video recorder , remote control devices and any combination thereof . although shown as a single network in fig1 for simplicity , network 100 may include multiple networks that are interlinked so as to provide intemetworked communications . such networks may include one or more private or public packet - switched networks ( e . g ., the internet ), one or more private or public circuit - switched networks ( e . g ., a public switched telephone network ), a cellular network configured to facilitate communications to and from mobile communication devices 105 and 110 ( e . g ., through use of base stations , mobile switching centers , etc . ), a short or medium range wireless communication connection ( e . g ., bluetooth ®, ultra wideband ( uwb ), infrared , wibree , wireless local area network ( wlan ) according to one or more versions institute of electrical and electronics engineers standard no . 802 . 11 ), or a high - speed wireless data network such as evolution - data optimized ( ev - do ) networks , universal mobile telecommunications system ( umts ) networks , long term evolution ( lte ) networks or enhanced data rates for gsm evolution ( edge ) networks . devices 105 - 120 may use various communication protocols such as internet protocol ( ip ), transmission control protocol ( tcp ), simple mail transfer protocol ( smtp ) among others known in the art . various messaging services such as short messaging service ( sms ) may also be included . devices 105 - 120 may be configured to interact with each other or other devices , such as content server 130 or service provider 125 . in one example , mobile device 110 may include client software 165 that is configured to coordinate the transmission and reception of information to and from content provider / server 130 . in one arrangement , client software 165 may include application or server specific protocols for requesting and receiving content from content server 130 . for example , client software 165 may comprise a web browser or mobile variants thereof and content provider / server 130 may comprise a web server . billing services ( not shown ) may also be included to charge access or data fees for services rendered . in one arrangement where service provider 125 provides cellular network access ( e . g ., a wireless service provider ), client software 165 may include instructions for access and communication through the cellular network . client software 165 may be stored in computer - readable memory 160 such as read only or random access memory in device 110 and may include instructions that cause one or more components ( e . g ., processor 155 , a transceiver , and a display ) of device 110 to perform various functions and methods including those described herein . fig2 illustrates a computing device such as mobile device 212 that may be used in network 100 of fig1 . mobile device 212 may include a controller 225 connected to a user interface control 230 , display 236 and other elements as illustrated . controller 225 may include one or more processors 228 and memory 234 storing software 240 . mobile device 212 may also include a battery 250 , speaker 252 and antenna 254 . user interface control 230 may include controllers or adapters configured to receive input from or provide output to a keypad , touch screen , voice interface ( e . g . via microphone 256 ), function keys , joystick , data glove , mouse and the like . computer executable instructions and data used by processor 228 and other components of mobile device 212 may be stored in a storage facility such as memory 234 . memory 234 may comprise any type or combination of read only memory ( rom ) modules or random access memory ( ram ) modules , including both volatile and nonvolatile memory such as disks . software 240 may be stored within memory 234 to provide instructions to processor 228 such that when the instructions are executed , processor 228 , mobile device 212 and / or other components of mobile device 212 are caused to perform various functions or methods such as those described herein . software may include both applications and operating system software , and may include code segments , instructions , applets , pre - compiled code , compiled code , computer programs , program modules , engines , program logic , and combinations thereof . computer executable instructions and data may further be stored on computer readable media including eeprom , flash memory or other memory technology , cd - rom , dvd or other optical disk storage , magnetic cassettes , magnetic tape , magnetic storage and the like . it should be understood that any of the method steps , procedures or functions described herein may be implemented using one or more processors in combination with executable instructions that cause the processors and other components to perform the method steps , procedures or functions . as used herein , the terms “ processor ” and “ computer ” whether used alone or in combination with executable instructions stored in a memory or other computer - readable storage medium should be understood to encompass any of various types of well - known computing structures including but not limited to one or more microprocessors , special - purpose computer chips , field - programmable gate arrays ( fpgas ), controllers , application - specific integrated circuits ( asics ), combinations of hardware / firmware , or other special or general - purpose processing circuitry . mobile device 212 or its various components may be configured to receive , decode and process various types of transmissions including digital broadband broadcast transmissions that are based , for example , on the digital video broadcast ( dvb ) standard , such as dvb - h , dvb - h +, or dvb - mhp , through a specific broadcast transceiver 241 . other digital transmission formats may alternatively be used to deliver content and information of availability of supplemental services . additionally or alternatively , mobile device 212 may be configured to receive , decode and process transmissions through fm / am radio transceiver 242 , wireless local area network ( wlan ) transceiver 243 , and telecommunications transceiver 244 . transceivers 241 , 242 , 243 and 244 may , alternatively , include individual transmitter and receiver components . although the above description of fig2 generally relates to a mobile device , other devices or systems may include the same or similar components and perform the same or similar functions and methods . for example , a stationary computer such as pc 115 ( fig1 ) may include the components described above and may be configured to perform the same or similar functions as mobile device 212 and its components . in web - based systems , e . g ., data communications over the internet , client - server communications usually follow a request - response pattern where , in response to the client sending an http request to the server , the server sends a response back to the client . the response typically includes data requested by the client . during each request - response cycle , a mobile client needs to establish a tcp connection within its wireless communications network , and then communicate the request / response messages using the tcp connection . each cycle can take several exchanges of messages , or “ round trips ,” between the client and the server , and the http request header often takes several hundred ( e . g ., 600 ) bytes , even if the application payload only has a few bytes of data . hence communication latency can be high and link utilization may be low . the mobility of a device aggravates the problems of http and web communication because radio technologies such as wi - fi and 3g have high communication latencies and low bit rates . newer wireless data communication technologies present similar problems . the uplink and downlink speeds are typically asymmetric , with the uplink being slower and more energy - consuming . after every transmission , the wireless interface may be left in a high power consumption state , and transits into a low power state only after a predefined period of inactivity . each communication costs cpu cycles , memory , and battery power . if a mobile client has multiple components that need to communicate with a server , the wireless interface is kept busy , the battery drains fast , and the mobile device may become less responsive . in view of the above , aspects of the invention are directed to improved techniques for client - server interaction using mobile devices when power is a limited resource , i . e ., the phone is not plugged in to a power source , but is instead using battery power . the inventive techniques may also be used to conserve power consumption even when the device or apparatus is plugged in , to help with better utilization of network bandwidth by conserving the number of bytes sent , and to better utilize a mobile device &# 39 ; s cpu by reducing processing cycles used in communications . to illustrate various aspects of the invention , the following illustrative scenario is used . with reference back to fig1 , devices 110 , 120 may be executing client software 165 that provides collaboration services , e . g ., a shared whiteboard that all users can draw on , as well as a chat service . with further reference to fig3 , client software 165 may be referred to as collaboration client 301 . fig3 illustrates a logical data flow diagram between each collaboration client and its applicable servers . with the collaboration client 301 , each collaboration service 303 , 305 may act as a unique client , in communication with a unique server for that service . for example , the chat feature may be provided in each collaboration client 301 by a chat client software module 303 executing on collaboration client 301 in communication with a chat server software module 317 executing on a collaboration server 313 , e . g ., a logical server executing on server 130 ( fig1 ). similarly , the whiteboard feature may be provided in each collaboration client 301 by a whiteboard client software module 305 executing on collaboration client 301 in communication with a whiteboard server software module 319 executing on collaboration server 313 , e . g ., a logical server executing on server 130 ( fig1 ) distinct from the logical server providing chat features . additional collaboration services may also be provided , but only two are referenced herein for illustrative purposes . each of the chat and whiteboard components has its own user interface on the client side , sometimes provided within a single web page in a browser window . other user interfaces may alternatively be used . in addition to having unique servers , each component may also have its own database storing data corresponding to the service / feature provided by that component . the application servers 317 , 319 may be invoked by a web server 311 , e . g ., using apache , when requests are received from the clients 303 , 305 . the clients 303 , 305 typically poll their respective servers 317 , 319 according to a schedule , e . g ., every 5 seconds , to retrieve updates available on the server . according to an aspect of the invention , broker stub 307 and broker skeleton 315 may be used to multiplex and combine server requests into a single message , thereby conserving resources in the mobile client . the broker stub 307 may be coded in ajax ( asynchronous javascript and xml ) to provide services that communicate with a server in the background . the broker stub 307 may provide apis ( application programming interfaces ) through which the client components may send xmlhttprequests ( xhr ) requests to server 313 such that multiple requests can be aggregated and sent as one , and the polling intervals may be dynamically adapted depending on the availability of updates , network conditions , and server workload . thus , in the example illustrated in fig3 , and with further reference to fig4 , a user in step 401 may browse on his or her mobile phone to access a web - based collaboration service , through which mobile clients 110 , 120 communicate with each other via server 313 across a wireless network ( e . g ., a high - latency network ). throughout the process , broker modules 307 , 315 mediate the client - server communication to make the communications more efficient . the broker may include the client side module ( stub 307 ) and the server side module ( skeleton 315 ). stub 307 may reside in the same web page as the collaboration client components such as chat 303 and whiteboard 305 and provides apis for them to communicate with the server 313 . stub 307 may alternatively be independent from client components . in step 403 , a user using a collaboration client 301 activates chat and whiteboard services within the collaboration service . in step 405 , each client requests an update from its respective server . each request may be referred to as a server request message or a component request message . in step 407 , broker stub 307 intercepts the multiple server request messages , and in step 409 , stub 307 may multiplex requests from those components into one broker request message and send the multiplexed broker request message to broker skeleton 315 . in step 411 , skeleton 315 intercepts the multiplexed broker request message sent from the stub 307 and demultiplexes the request . in step 413 the skeleton sends or dispatches the demultiplexed requests ( the individual component request messages ) to their respective original component servers 317 , 319 . in step 415 one or more component servers 317 , 319 generate a response back to their respective component clients 303 , 305 . in step 417 broker skeleton 315 intercepts the responses , referred to individually as a server response message or component response message . in step 419 broker skeleton 315 multiplexes the response messages and sends a multiplexed broker response message back to broker stub 307 . in step 421 broker stub 307 receives the multiplexed broker response message and demultiplexes the message back into individual component response messages . in step 423 broker stub 307 dispatches or forwards the individual response messagess to their corresponding client components 303 , 305 . according to another aspect of the invention , the broker system ( e . g ., broker skeleton 315 and broker stub 307 ) may perform adaptive polling . in one embodiment , the stub might not send a periodic polling request until a last connection for that request has completed ( or the request has timed out , based on a predefined value ), resulting in slowing down a polling task if its interval is too frequent for current network conditions or server workload . the broker stub may also adapt ( slow down or speed up ) the polling interval of a periodic request according to the availability of updates . the availability of updates may be application - specific insofar as a client component needs to provide feedback to the stub by indicating availability of data via stub apis . in one illustrative embodiment , yahoo ! connection manager ( ycm ) may be used for cross platform apis for programming xhr . the main interface may be asyncrequest ( method , url , callback , data ), which sends an asynchronous request to a server . among the four arguments , method is an http method such as get and post ; url is the address of the target web server ; callback is the object for handling the server response ; data holds the data to be sent in a post request . the callback object may provide the following three members : success is the function called to process the server response that is returned successfully ; failure is the function to handle a problematic response , e . g ., communication failure or server error ; argument is any object containing data for the success and failure handlers to process the server response . the apis may leverage ycm for underlying xhr communications by distinguishing the following four types of xhr tasks : one - time polling to query the server , e . g ., to load shared data when a component is initialized , periodic polling to periodically query the server for new updates to some shared data , one - time updating to notify the server of local state changes to some shared data , and periodic updating to periodically send updates of some shared data to the server . every task may define a unique id , a method to get its url , and a callback object . an updating task additionally defines a method to get the data to be sent . a periodic task also may define an interval to specify the frequency at which the request is sent . in some embodiments , periodic updating may be used , e . g ., when web service apis support input sources such as mic , camera , and gps , which may generate periodic updates . one - time polling and updating tasks may be sent in specific components by calling ajax broker methods , send_polling ( task ) and send_updating ( task ), respectively , where object task is defined as above . a periodic polling task is sent by the broker stub after the component registers it by calling ajax broker method register_polling ( task ). according to an aspect of the invention , the broker stub 307 may administer periodic polling requests by multiplexing requests and adapting the request intervals . in an embodiment , the broker system might only multiplex periodic polling requests while sending one - time polling and updating requests as individual messages . multiplexing requests inevitably comes with more runtime overhead . because one - time requests are usually triggered by user interaction with component uis , the user often expects to see some ui feedback within a short time . hence the system may send a one - time request immediately as soon as the interaction occurs so that the request can reach the server and get a response back with minimum delay . on the other hand , periodic polling tasks may be background activities used to pull remote updates and more tolerant of delays . hence the system might only multiplex periodic polling tasks . in the broker stub 307 , a meta system timer regularly sends out periodic requests . preferably , the timer interval ( denoted by system parameter meta - interval ) should be the greatest common divisor ( gcd ) of the intervals of all periodic requests . in practice , a value such as 1 , 000 ms ( or any other value ) may be used . periodic polling tasks may be registered in an internal queue , polling_tasks . each task t may use parameter t . interval to denote its interval , parameter t . last_time to denote the last time it was sent ( by itself or multiplexed ), and parameter t . connection to denote the connection by which it was sent . the meta timer may scan polling tasks for every task t that satisfies the following two conditions simultaneously : ( 1 ) now — t . last_time & gt ;= t . interval , where now is current time , and ( 2 ) t . connection is not in progress . a connection is in progress if the request has been sent but not completed either as a success or a failure . urls of those qualified tasks are sent in one request to the broker skeleton via the ycm asyncrequest method . meanwhile , their last_time parameters are set to current time now at which they are sent . the meta timer may have its own callback object for handling responses from the server . the argument parameter of its callback object tracks which polling tasks have been multiplexed and sent . when a multiplexed response is received from the skeleton , the meta timer &# 39 ; s response handler parses the message , finds responses to individual polling tasks , and dispatches them to their response handlers , which in turn parse the data and reflect the responses on their component uis . multiplexing as described herein saves on number of bytes sent and power consumption . however , it may take longer time for an individual task to receive a response from the server than when not multiplexed . even though a slightly larger multiplexing payload might not increase the transmission time much , it takes the server longer to process multiple requests than one . as a result , one - time requests might not be multiplexed , as explained above . because a polling request , multiplexed or not , may still waste resources if there is no update on the server , another embodiment of the invention may use an alternative form of adaptive polling . the second condition in multiplexing , i . e ., the one by which the meta timer decides whether a connection is in progress , already demonstrates some adaptive behavior . after a request is initiated , the resources are not released until a response is received or a time out event happens . the response may be delayed for many reasons . for example , the web browser has reached the maximum number of allowed active connections established between this client and the server ; the network is congested ; or the server is saturated , to name a few . under those circumstances , deferring the request to the next round may be beneficial to the performance of the system as a whole . additionally , the stub may provide a method for a component to provide a positive or negative feedback to the stub upon receipt of a server response : polling_feedback ( id , new_data ), where id is the id of the registered periodic polling task and new_data indicates availability of updates in the response . a positive feedback asks the stub to speed up the polling task by decreasing its interval , and a negative feedback asks the stub to slow down the task by increasing its interval . how fast to speed up or slow down , however , may depend on an adaptive method chosen for the task . that is , each periodic polling task may have a parameter , adaptive_method , that indicates to the stub how to adapt its interval when a feedback is given . an adaptive method may use two parameters including min_interval and max_interval that define the range within which the interval of a task may be adapted . a periodic polling task may start with an initial interval and the interval is adapted over time . by default , a hybrid adaptive method may be used , in which the interval is set to min_interval upon a positive feedback and decreased by a constant or variable amount ( meta_interval ) upon receipt of negative feedback . in one illustrative embodiment , the hybrid method may use a binary speedup , which is the most aggressive , and a linear slowdown , which is the most conservative . in this manner , as soon as one update is received , multiple polling requests may be sent in a row , expecting that several new updates are likely to follow in response to the first one in a collaborative system . the min_interval parameter may take the same value as meta_interval , which is the highest frequency at which the stub sends periodic requests . the meta_interval may be dependent on the average round - trip communication time between the client and the server . for simplicity , however , in a cellular network environment , one embodiment may set the meta_interval at 1 , 000 ms . the max_interval parameter , however , preferably reflects users &# 39 ; tolerable feedthrough delay , e . g ., the time it takes for an update made by one user to reach another user . different types of collaboration tasks , ranging from realtime to non - realtime tasks , may have different tolerable feedthrough delays . for supporting near - realtime collaboration , for example , the default component - level max_interval may be 10 , 000 ms . thus , the system may provide set_max_interval ( b ) methods that allow the user to specify lowest polling frequencies at the stub level ( applying to all components ) and at the component level ( only applying to that component ). the effective max_interval of each component is then the minimum of these two bounds when its polling interval is adapted . adaptive polling thereby also eases the problem of providing an “ optimal ” interval for a periodic polling task , because the user only needs to specify a range instead of a specific value . if a component is less tolerant of feedthrough delays , one can specify a smaller maximum , e . g ., 3 , 000 ms . in the above illustrative example , upon receipt of a multiplexed request from the broker stub 307 , the broker skeleton 315 parses the request and extracts the original polling requests . then the requests are served and responses multiplexed to send back to the stub in one message . to serve those requests , the broker skeleton might either forward their urls to their original component servers , or make function calls to the server functions directly . either way , those operations can be executed synchronously in serial or asynchronously in parallel . hence in total there are four possible execution strategies , namely , call - serial ( function calls in serial ), call - async ( calls in parallel ), url - serial ( forwarding urls in serial ), and url - async ( forwarding urls in parallel ). based on the above , one illustrative system might include policies and parameters that affect performance , as illustrated in table 1 . by default , the meta interval may be set to 1 , 000 ms ; the stub - level max interval may be 10 , 000 ms ; the multiplexing and adaptive parameters may be set to “ true ”; the adaptive_method of all periodic polling tasks may be defaulted to the above - explained “ hybrid ” method with polling interval ranging between 1 , 000 ms and 10 , 000 ms . the server exec mode may be defaulted to “ call - serial ”. various modifications and alternatives may optionally be made to the broker system described above . according to an aspect of the invention , the broker may perform an alternative form of adaptive polling based on user behavior . more specifically , the polling intervals may be dynamically adapted based on user behavior while using the client device . for example , in the collaboration example described above , a mobile device &# 39 ; s screen is often so small that not all components can be displayed at the same time or they cannot be displayed with equal size . thus , when a component becomes invisible or less obvious to the user , the polling interval of that component may be adapted so that component polls its corresponding server less frequently . conversely , when a component becomes visible or draws more attention from the user , that component &# 39 ; s polling interval may be adapted so that it polls more frequently . adaptive polling based on user behavior may be performed either by the component client itself or by a client proxy , e . g ., broker system 307 , 315 . thus , adaptation of polling intervals may be based on user behavior , e . g ., making a component more visible or less visible . for example , when the user resizes a user interface ( ui ) of a component client , or modifies the visibility or other visual / audio attributes of the ui , the polling interval of that component may be automatically adjusted accordingly . with reference to fig5 , another aspect of the invention , using a server guard may eliminate blind periodic polling . there may be a “ guard ” service on the server side , between the web server and the component server ( s ). the server guard may be the same as or different from broker skeleton 315 . in step 501 , a component client registers its url with the server guard , distinguishing an invariant part and a variant part of the url . for example , in url “ http :// web . address . com / server_name ? a = 1 & amp ; b = 2 ”, the invariant part is “ http :// web . address . com / server_name ” and the variant part is “ a = 1 & amp ; b = 2 ”. the invariant part typically points to the component server , while the variant part may include any query parameters . each client component may send a registration message to the server guard , providing the invariant and variant url information . steps 503 and 505 may occur simultaneously or at least in parallel to each other . stated another way , neither of steps 503 and 505 are dependent on each other occurring before the other step can occur . in step 503 , the server guard determines whether there have been any updates to the data provided by each server . this can achieve in several ways , e . g ., by the server guard periodically polling the servers for new data , or by the servers proactively notifying the server guard of any new data . in step 505 the broker stub 307 is concurrently or in parallel sending periodic “ heartbeat ” messages to the server guard , in order to find out which servers have new or updated data . the heartbeat requests preferably do not include any specific polling request , but rather include a simple query to find out which servers have updated data or have new data for its corresponding component client . in step 507 the server guard responds to the broker stub , providing an indication of which servers have posted new / updated data . in step 509 the broker stub sends a message to those client components for which there is new / updated data , indicating the availability of the new / updated data . finally , in step 511 , any component client that has been informed regarding the availability of new data sends a polling request to its respective server to obtain the new data , using the variant parameters specific to that component client . in cases where there is no variant portion of the query , e . g ., the same query is posed on the database all the time , then the server guard may optionally retrieve the data from the database and provide the data with the response to the heartbeat message when there is an update for the corresponding component client , thereby expediting the update process for that component client . according to an embodiment of the invention using the server guard described above , the server guard may create and use a small database table , which optionally may be resident in the main memory of the server guard for fast access . subsequently , when any updating request from a component client x 1 potentially changes the response to the polling request from a component client x 2 , the small table is updated to indicate the availability of updates . for example , a first user using mobile terminal 110 ( fig1 ) and running chat client x 1 , might be communicating with a second user using mobile terminal 120 and running chat client x 2 . the first user typing in some text in the chat client will result in an update being posted for chat client x 2 so that the second user can view the chat text input by the first user . thus , when a heartbeat comes from the client proxy corresponding to the second user &# 39 ; s component client x 2 , the server guard indicates availability of updates in its response to the heartbeat request . if x 2 &# 39 ; s url has no variant parameters , the updates may be retrieved by the server guard executing the chat client &# 39 ; s registered url and piggy - backing the response on the response to the heartbeat . otherwise the server guard responds to x 2 &# 39 ; s heartbeat request by instructing component client x 2 to poll its respective server using its full url ( with invariant and variant portions ). according to an illustrative embodiment , the database table may include the following two fields : ( component_id , last_update_timestamp ). then , when an update is made to the component database ( or anywhere that may affect the response to component x 2 &# 39 ; s polling request ), the entry for component x 2 is updated with the server time ( say t 1 ) at which the update occurs . the heartbeat message from x 2 &# 39 ; s client proxy carries a timestamp ( say t 2 ) which is the timestamp of the most recent update that x 2 has received . when receiving the heartbeat , the guard compares t 1 and t 2 , and if t 1 & gt ; t 2 then an indication regarding the availability of updates is piggy - backed on the response to the heartbeat . the client proxy ( broker stub ) in turn instructs x 2 to send a polling request . on the other hand , if there is no variant part in the query , the new data is directly retrieved by the server guard and piggybacked in its response to the heartbeat message . aspects of the invention as described above reduce the number of polling requests and the total of number of bytes sent from a mobile client to its corresponding server . in addition , aspects of the invention described above conserve client device cpu processing , memory , bit rates , and battery life . aspects of the invention also reduce the server workload , and improve the performance of a variety of mobile internet services . although the subject matter has been described in language specific to structural features and / or methodological acts , it is to be understood that the subject matter defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above . rather , the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims .	7
referring now to fig1 , a schematic illustration of one embodiment of the apparatus 2 of the present disclosure will now be described . the apparatus 2 includes a cylinder 4 that has a rod 6 partially disposed therein . the cylinder 4 may be referred to as a motion translator 4 . as noted in fig1 , the output 8 is shown ( one - way ), wherein the output is the angular rotation around the rod 6 and the input 10 ( bi - directional ) is the reciprocating linear motion along the axis 12 as will be described later in the description . a force generator 13 ( such as a hydraulic piston ) may be connected to the rod 6 for providing a bi - directional linear force input to the system . fig2 is a partial sectional view of some of the components of the apparatus 2 illustrated in fig1 . fig2 depicts the rod 6 concentrically disposed within unidirectional bearings therein . it should be noted that like numbers refer to like components in the various drawings . the sectional view of fig2 depicts the internal bearing 14 and the internal bearing 16 , wherein the bearings 14 , 16 are unidirectional so that the bearings 14 , 16 only rotate in a single direction , which is in the clockwise direction of the output arrows 8 . the bearings 14 and 16 are commercially available from ringspann under the name internal freewheels zz . referring now to fig3 , an enlarged view of the area “ 3 ” seen in fig2 will now be described . fig3 depicts the bearing rb 16 along with the unidirectional arrow 18 which depicts the clockwise rotation of the bearing 16 . the bearing 16 is concentrically disposed within the cylinder 4 ( not seen in this view ), and the rod 6 is concentrically disposed within the bearing rb 16 , as previously disclosed . fig3 also depicts the path 20 , wherein the path 20 is a groove on the surface of the rod 6 . the path 20 , in one embodiment , is a predetermined curved groove as will be further explained later in the description . the bearing 16 will have a protuberance 22 , sometimes referred to as a notch , formed thereon , and the protuberance 22 will engage the path 20 so that an input 10 , which consist of a linear motion , will create an output 8 that is an angular motion , as will be more fully described later in the description . the rotational angular movement per cycle is determined by the motion program seen generally in fig2 and 3 . the motion program includes the bearing 14 , the bearing 16 , the rod 6 , the cylinder 4 , the path 20 and the protuberance 22 . as noted earlier , the unidirectional bearings 14 , 16 are placed such that both bearings 14 , 16 provide the same unidirectional rotation to the rod 6 . fig4 a is a cross - sectional view of the apparatus 2 taken along line 4 - 4 of fig1 . the bearing 14 is shown along with the bearing 16 disposed within an inner portion of the cylinder 4 . the bearing 14 will be attached to the rod 6 with means for attachment 24 , wherein the attachment means may be by welding the inner portion of the bearing 14 to the outer portion of the rod 6 . also , the outer portion of the bearing 14 will be slidably attached to the inner portion of the cylinder 4 with slidably attachment means 26 a , 26 b , wherein the slidably attachment means 26 a and 26 b may be a spline member or a tongue - in - groove member , for instance . with respect to the bearing 16 , the bearing 16 will be attached to the cylinder 4 with means for attachment 28 , wherein the attachment means may be by welding the inner portion of the cylinder 4 to the outer portion of the bearing 16 . also , the inner portion of the bearing 16 will be slidably attached to the outer portion of the rod 6 with slidably attachment means 30 a and 30 b , wherein the slidably attachment means 30 a , 30 b may be , for instance , a spline member or a tongue - in - groove member . the slidably attachment means 30 a , 30 b allows for straight and parallel displacement along the rod and cylinder axis 12 . as noted earlier , the bearing 14 and 16 are unidirectional . fig4 a also depicts the direction of bearing rotation , wherein the “ dot ” within the circle 32 represents the bearing rotation in the direction of coming out of the drawing and the “ x ” in the circle 34 represents the bearing rotation in the direction going into the drawing . fig4 a also shows the paths , seen generally at 36 a and 36 b , wherein the pair of paths 36 a , 36 b are placed onto the outer surface of the rod 6 at approximately 180 ° phase to each other . the paths 36 a , 36 b may also be referred to as grooves 36 a and 36 b . it should be noted that the apparatus 2 is operable with a single path , such as path 36 a only . the radius “ r ” of the rod 6 is also seen in fig4 a . as per the teachings of this disclosure , the path 36 a , 36 b contain predetermined curves , wherein the paths 36 a , 36 b will enable incremental angular movement according to the motion program ( which is also referred to as the motion assembly ). additionally , fig4 a depicts the cross - sectional view of the bearings 14 , 16 . for instance , bearing 14 has an inner cylindrical member 37 a , an outer cylindrical member 37 b , ball bearings 37 c in between , and means for allowing only unidirectional bearing rotation , as well understood by those of ordinary skill in the art . fig4 b is a cross - sectional view of a second embodiment of one of the disclosed embodiments of the apparatus 2 taken along line 4 - 4 of fig1 . with the embodiment of fig4 b , the bearings 14 , 16 are welded to the inner portion of the cylinder 4 . the rod 6 is slidably attached to the inner portion of the bearing 14 with slide mechanisms sm1 , sm2 for linear movement . the rod 6 is slidably attached to the inner portion of the bearing 16 for movement in accordance with the motion program , which is also referred to as the motion assembly , which includes the paths p1 , p2 . it should be noted that redundancies of similar components previously discussed , such as the bearings , attachment means , the slide mechanism grooves and notches will not be repeated in detail with the description of fig4 b , 4 c and 4 d . fig4 c is a cross - sectional view of a third embodiment of one of the disclosed embodiments of the apparatus 2 taken along line 4 - 4 of fig1 . with this embodiment , the bearing 14 is attached ( i . e . welded ) to the inner portion of the cylinder 4 and the inner portion of the bearing 14 is slidably attached with a slide mechanism sm1 , sm2 to the rod 6 for linear movement . the inner portion of the bearing 16 is welded to the rod 6 and the outer portion of the bearing 16 is slidably attached to the inner part of the cylinder 4 with the motion assembly i . e . the paths p1 , p2 are on the inner portion of the cylinder , and male notches are on the outer portion of bearing 16 as previously described . referring now to fig4 d , a cross - sectional view of a fourth embodiment of the present disclosure will now be described . with this embodiment , the bearing 14 is welded to the rod 6 and the bearing 14 is slidably attached to the inner portion of the cylinder 4 for linear movement . the bearing 16 is welded to the rod 6 and the bearing 16 is slidably attached to the inner portion of the cylinder 4 , wherein the outer portion of the bearing 16 is slidably attached for movement in accordance with the motion assembly i . e . the paths p1 , p2 are on the inner portion of the cylinder , and male notches are on the outer portion of bearing 16 as previously described . referring now to fig5 , a schematic illustration of the apparatus 2 seen in fig1 with the angle of rotation will now be described . more specifically , the rod 6 is disposed within the cylinder 4 . the radius “ r ” of the rod 6 is shown , and the angle theta 40 is shown , wherein in one embodiment the angle theta 40 is between slightly above zero ( 0 ) degrees to about ten ( 10 ) degrees . fig5 also shows the displacement “ d ” of the rod 6 , wherein the displacement “ d ” represents the amount of linear movement of the rod 6 in a half - cycle . fig6 a is a graph of the displacement “ d ” and the angle of rotation theta . hence , theta 1 is the angle of rotation during a first half cycle . an entire cycle consist of the angle rising to theta 1 ( until the first half cycle for theta 1 is reached ) then the displacement again reverts back to zero ( for the second half cycle ). fig6 a then shows that the angle incrementally increases to theta 2 for the start of another cycle , wherein the theta 2 corresponds to the displacement d . referring now to fig6 b , a graph of the theta angle of rotation and the time cycle of the system is illustrated . more specifically , the time t ½ represents a half cycle and t1 represents a full cycle . hence , the angle of rotation increases during the first half cycle to theta 1 , while the angle theta 1 remains constant ( i . e . unchanged ) during the second half cycle . fig6 c is a graph of the displacement “ d ” of the rod 6 for one complete cycle of time for the system herein disclosed . therefore , the displacement “ d ” rises during the first half cycle to “ d ”, and during the second half cycle , the displacement “ d ” decreases back to zero by the end of a complete cycle . with collective reference to fig1 - 6 , the operation of the apparatus 2 will now be described . the movement of the rod 6 from left to right on the linear axial movement is called “ forward ” movement for the purpose of this description . this forward movement includes the displacement from the far most right to the far most left on fig2 . therefore , “ backward ” displacement will be the exact opposite of the movement from the far most left to the far most right of the rod 6 . with reference to the forward movement , as the rod 6 linearly moves through the first unidirectional bearing 16 , the male notch 22 on the bearing 16 will move within the path 20 . since the bearings 14 and 16 are unidirectional , when the path asserts the force on the notch 22 , the component of the force that will try to move the bearings 14 , 16 opposite to the uni - direction will be met with the resisting force from the bearing 14 , 16 to the path 20 . the remaining component of the force that is parallel to the cylinder 4 displacement the bearing will assert back the reaction forces and cancelled . thus the resulting force will act on the cylinder 4 as a torque to turn the cylinder 4 . the component of the force that follows in the direction of bearing rotation , the force will spent on turning the bearings 14 , 16 . for the case of the fig3 , the component of the force will torque the cylinder 4 to turn in the direction shown by the arrow in the diagram . the rotational direction show by the diagram is “ clockwise ” for the convention of this document . referring specifically to the embodiment of fig4 a , the clockwise motion will be explained note that the bearing 16 is welded to the inner portion of the cylinder 4 at the outer portion of the bearing 16 whereas the bearing 14 is welded to the rod 6 at the inner bearing 14 . in addition , the outer portion of the bearing 14 is designed to be able to slide along an inner portion of the cylinder 4 in conjunction with the linear displacement of the rod 6 but no angular motion of the bearing 14 with respect to the cylinder 4 is allowed . therefore , the clockwise motion of the rod 6 will turn the inside bearing of bearing 14 and the whole bearing 14 will slide linearly along with the rod 6 . when the rod 6 reaches the most left position , the angular motion of the rod 6 also stops . this is the end of a half cycle . the other half occurs during the backward movement . with reference to the backward movement , as the rod 6 moves back from the most left position of the displacement , the path 20 on the rod 6 asserts a force ( action ) on the bearing 16 to turn clockwise . this is in the direction of the rotation for the bearing 16 ; the bearing 16 will turn but not the rod 6 . the turning of the bearing 16 , in the entire system , presents the least amount of force required in the return process . the rod 6 is tightly held by the bearing 14 system in place so that the rod 6 itself will not turn counterclockwise . this second bearing ensures that it is the bearing 14 turning clockwise even though there is force on the rod 6 to turn counterclockwise ( reaction ). the bearing 14 ensures that during the last half cycle , the rod 6 will maintain the same position in the angular position . in the design of systems , designers find it necessary to control angular motion of members including tubular members . an application of the present disclosure includes a rod rotator that is installed inside a hydraulic pump that turns the rod string continuously in one direction while traveling up and down the well bore to reduce the wearing . an aspect of one embodiment of the present disclosure is the apparatus and method translates a linear and reciprocating motion in the axial direction of the cylinder 4 into a unique unidirectional angular rotational motion of the same cylinder 4 around an axis 10 , as seen in fig1 . the linear motion is reciprocating along a set distance . another aspect of one embodiment is that each reciprocating motion completes with the design upper limits and lower limits of the distance that the cylinder travels in the axial direction . the angular rotation is around the axis 10 of the rod 6 . in one preferred embodiment , the angular rotation is limited to between 1 degree and 10 degrees per cycle of linear motion . yet another aspect of the present embodiments is the simplicity of the mechanical translation . yet another aspect of the disclosure is that the detailed motion program in the first cycle of theta is completely controlled by the path program designed on the surface of the rod 6 . this is controlled by the machining quality of the time and mathematical definitions of relationships between theta and the displacement “ d ”. although the present invention has been described in considerable detail with reference to certain preferred versions thereof , other versions are possible . therefore , the spirit and scope of the appended claims should not be limited to the description of the preferred versions contained herein .	8
in accordance with the optical proximity correction technique of the present invention , non - resolvable phase - edges are utilized as sub - resolution assist features . prior to the present invention , phase - edges have typically been used to print very small features using a highly coherent exposure wavelength . this is possible because theoretically , a 180 ° phase - edge will provide an aerial image that has an i min ( i . e ., minimum light intensity ) equal to zero and an infinite contrast when the phase - edge is illuminated with highly coherent light . this very strong dark image contrast only occurs when the illumination is highly coherent and it allows for overexposing the wafer to print very small dark features . as the illumination becomes less coherent , as in the case of increasing sigma ( σ ) with conventional illumination , the contrast of the phase - edge aerial image is reduced and i min increases so that it is no longer zero . the foregoing is illustrated in fig1 . as shown therein , for each increase in σ , the value of i min increases . however , it is noted that for each of the five examples set forth in fig1 , the phase - edge is printed on the wafer as the value of i min is below the printing threshold ( which is process dependent ) defined by the dotted horizontal line illustrated in fig1 . it is also noted that the location of the phase - edge is 800 nm as defined by the horizontal axis of fig1 . referring to fig2 , it is shown that when off - axis illumination is utilized to illuminate the 180 ° phase - edge , the contrast is further reduced and i min continues to increase . however , the image contrast degradation of a single phase - edge caused by strong off - axis illumination may not be sufficient to assure the phase - edge will not print . as shown in fig2 , for each of the off - axis illumination conditions , the phase - edge is still printed on the wafer as the value of i min remains below the printing threshold defined by the dotted horizontal line illustrated in fig2 . it has been discovered that the contrast can be further reduced ( i . e ., i min further increased ) by placing two phase - edges in close proximity to one another . fig3 illustrates the aerial image intensity of two phase - edges that are 200 nm apart when illuminated with conventional illumination and with off - axis quasar illumination ( which corresponds to quadrapole illumination ). the two phase - edges are located at approximately 650 nm and 850 nm as defined by the horizontal axis of fig3 . as shown , the conventional illumination results in two high contrast dark images at each of the phase - edges , which results in the printing of the two phase - edges ( i . e ., i min is below the printing threshold ). however , when utilizing quasar illumination , the result is a very low contrast image and a high i min at each of the phase - edge locations . as shown , in fig3 , each of the off - axis quasar illuminations results in an i min which is above the printing threshold . thus , the phase - edges do not print on the wafer . it is noted that the distance between the phase - edges ( which in the current example is 200 nm ) necessary to obtain the foregoing results is process dependent in that it varies in accordance with , for example , the wavelength ( λ ), the numerical aperture ( na ) and the illumination technique utilized by the imaging system . the optimum separation for a given set of processing conditions is readily determined by empirical methods . it is noted , however , that as a general rule , when the phase - edges are separated by greater than approximately 0 . 42 λ / na , the image of the phase - edge is so greatly degraded that typically the phase - edges will no longer print . the inventors further discovered that a similar effect ( i . e ., a resulting low contrast image and increased i min ) occurs when a single phase - edge is brought into proximity to a chrome feature edge . in other words , by placing the phase - edge a predetermined distance away from the edge of a chrome feature and utilizing strong off - axis illumination , it is possible to prevent the phase - edge from printing on the wafer . fig4 contains a set of aerial images illustrating the variations of i min resulting from various placements of a phase - edge relative to a feature edge for a given set of processing conditions . referring to fig4 , the edge of the chrome feature is located at approximately 1000 nm as defined by the horizontal axis of fig4 . as shown in fig4 , when the phase - edge is positioned 800 nm , 600 nm , 400 nm or 300 nm from the feature edge , the phase - edge is printed on the wafer , as each of the corresponding values of i min is below the print threshold ( defined by the dotted line in fig4 ). however , when the phase - edge is positioned 200 nm , 175 nm or 150 nm from the feature edge , the phase - edge does not print , as the corresponding values of i min are above the print threshold . specifically , i min reaches its maximum value ( above the 6 . 0 printing threshold used in this example ) when the phase - edge is between 220 nm and 180 nm away from the chrome feature edge . it is noted that as the distance between the phase - edge and the chrome feature edge continues to decrease , i min begins to decrease again such that at 150 nm , i min equals the printing threshold of 6 . 0 . at a distance of 125 nm , i min is well below the printing threshold and as a result , the phase - edge prints on the wafer . it is again noted that the distance between the phase - edge and the edge of the chrome feature necessary to prevent the phase - edge from printing on the wafer is process dependent in that it varies in accordance with , for example , the wavelength ( λ ), the numerical aperture ( na ) and the illumination technique utilized by the imaging system . another method of controlling the printability of a phase - edge ( i . e ., change the resulting aerial image ) is to use a phase - shift other than 180 °. it is noted that a phase - edge results in the generation of a strong dark image because of the total destructive interference that occurs when light on either side of the phase - edge is shifted by 180 °. however , if the phase of the light were shifted by 90 ° instead of 180 °, the intensity of the resulting image would decrease ( i . e ., i min would increase ) due to the fact that there would only be partial destructive interference . as such , by varying the amount of the phase - shift , it is possible to increase the i min value associated with a given phase - edge such that the phase - edge is non - resolvable ( i . e ., i min greater than the printing threshold ). thus , by controlling the resulting aerial image of a phase - edge with the foregoing methods , it is possible to make a phase - edge sub - resolution under a wide range of imaging conditions . as a result , as explained in more detail below , the sub - resolution phase - edge can be utilized as an optical proximity correction feature . one of the major objectives of correcting for optical proximity effects is achieving a sufficient “ overlapping process window ” for a given feature size through pitch . in other words , features having the same cd should be reproduced in the same manner on the wafer regardless of pitch between given features . prior to the present invention , the utilization of sub - resolution scattering bars has been a means of addressing this problem of cd targeting through pitch . there are essentially two main elements affecting this through pitch cd variation . the first is the exposure dose to achieve the nominal cd at best focus which can be corrected for by simply biasing the feature . the second much more complex behavior that effects the through pitch cd performance is the behavior of the cd as the focus and exposure changes . this second element can be controlled by the addition of scattering bars . fig5 illustrates the need for optical proximity correction techniques . more specifically , fig5 illustrates the simulated results of a focus / exposure matrix for an isolated line having a target cd of 130 nm using 0 . 80 na and 0 . 85 / 0 . 55 / 30 quasar illumination . the simulation was conducted without utilizing any optical proximity correction techniques . it can be seen from the focus behavior that the resulting image is far from an iso - focal condition and that the depth of focus ( dof ) is small ( approximately 200 nm ). this lack of dof causes the isolated line to be a limiting factor in the through pitch overlapping process window . as such , it is clearly desirable to increase the dof associated with the isolated line so as to increase the overall process window . as stated above , prior to the present invention , this has been accomplished by utilizing sub - resolution features such as scattering bars . indeed , by adding properly placed sub - resolution scattering bars , the dof associated with the isolated line is increased substantially and the overlapping process window is greatly increased . however , in accordance with the present invention , sub - resolution phase - edges are utilized as the optical proximity correction features as opposed to sub - resolution scattering bars . the sub - resolution phase - edges provide significant advantages over known opc features , such as scattering bars . for example , each phase - edge is essentially dimension - less in that there is no width dimension ( or cd ) associated with the phase - edge . as such , the use of the phase - edge eliminates the need to be able to create an exceedingly small feature ( i . e ., scattering bar ) on the mask . moreover , because the phase - edges are dimension - less , they can be readily placed between features regardless of the pitch between the features . fig6 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of how phase - edges can be utilized as optical proximity correction features . referring to fig6 , in the given example , two phase - edges are created on each side of an isolated chrome line 12 . more specifically , on the left side of the chrome line 12 , a first phase - edge 14 is created at a distance of 140 nm from the left edge of the chrome line 12 and a second phase - edge 16 is created at a distance of 340 nm from the left edge of the chrome line . similarly , on the right side of the chrome line 12 , a first phase - edge 18 is created at a distance of 140 nm from the right edge of the chrome line 12 and a second phase - edge 20 is created at a distance of 340 nm from the right edge of the chrome line . it is again noted that the optimal placement of the phase - edges relative to one another and to the feature to achieve the desired correction is process dependent . indeed , as with scattering bars , optimal placement of phase - edges can be readily determined by empirical methods . fig7 illustrates the improvement obtained by utilizing the phase - edges depicted in fig6 as opc features for the 130 nm line . the processing conditions utilized in the simulation are the same as those utilized in the simulation depicted in fig5 . referring to fig7 , it is shown that the inclusion of the phase - edges results in a significant improvement in the depth of focus for the 130 nm line . as shown , the depth of focus becomes approximately 600 nm as opposed to the approximately 200 nm depth of focus obtained in the simulation depicted in fig5 . as noted above , the position of the sub - resolution phase - edges relative to the feature and each other will have an effect on the imaging of the isolated 130 nm feature . fig8 shows the simulation results of the same 130 nm isolated line when the phase - edges are placed 160 nm and 360 nm away from the chrome line edge . as shown , utilizing this placement of the phase - edges , the dose to target is approximately 33 mj and the through focus behavior has been over corrected beyond the ideal iso - focal behavior . thus , such a placement is not optimal . the phase - edges illustrated in fig6 can be manufactured utilizing various processing methods . for example , by utilizing a single chrome feature , two phase - edges can be generated in the mask design . more specifically , the process steps would include forming a chrome feature having a width equal to the desired separation of the two phase - edges on a quartz substrate . next , utilizing the chrome feature as a shield , the quartz substrate is etched to a depth necessary to create the desired phase difference between the etched portion of the substrate and the unetched portion of the substrate . then , the chrome feature ( i . e ., shield ) is removed and the result is the generation of two phase - edges , which are spaced apart by a distance equal to the width of the chrome feature . of course , the chrome feature utilized to form the phase - edges can be positioned as necessary relative to the feature to be printed . in the event only a single phase - edge is desired , this can be accomplished by extending one side of chrome shield until it contacts the adjacent feature to be printed . in this instance , a single phase - edge will be formed at the location of the opposite edge of the chrome shield ( i . e ., the edge of the shield that does not contact the feature to be printed ). as another example of the benefits of the present invention , it is shown how the use of a single phase - edge opc feature can be utilized in place of chromeless scattering bars . as is known , chromeless phase - shift mask ( clm ) technology is showing promise as an option for imaging features as small as λ / 5 . clm takes advantage of a high contrast dark image that is formed when two phase - edges come into close proximity to each other , for example , in the range of 120 nm to 50 nm for a wavelength of 248 nm . while this image enhancement is beneficial as a means to increase the resolution of an imaging system , it also increases the printability of features that are intended to be sub - resolution . as a result , for chromeless scattering bars not to print , the scattering bars must be very small ( i . e ., less than 50 nm ) or the scattering bars must be half - toned in a manner to result in an effective size of less than 50 nm . however , it is exceedingly difficult to manufacture scattering bars having a width of less than 50 nm . as a result of the present invention , there is no need to manufacture scattering bars having such widths . as noted above , in accordance with the present invention , a pair of phase - edges can be placed where previously a half - toned chromeless scatter bar would be formed . in the manner described above , the phase - edges are separated from each other and from the phase - edge of the primary feature in such a manner that they do not print under the given imaging conditions . thus , by utilizing such phase - edges as opc features , there is no need to generate scattering bars have such small width dimensions . fig9 compares the printability of a 50 nm chromeless scattering bar , a 40 nm chromeless scattering bar , and a single phase - edge when placed adjacent a 100nm 5 bar pattern . referring to fig9 , the 5 bars ( i . e ., features to be printed ) are placed at approximately 1000 nm , 1300 nm , 160 nm , 1900 nm and 2200 nm as defined by the horizontal axis of fig9 . as shown from this simulation , both the 40 nm chromeless scattering bar and the 50 nm chromeless scattering bar will print on the wafer , as both have an i min value that falls below the print threshold . however , the single phase - edge maintains an i min value which exceeds the print threshold and therefore does not print on the wafer . indeed , it has been determined that under the conditions utilized in the simulation depicted in fig9 , in order to obtain a chromeless scattering bar which does not print , the scattering bar must be approximately 35 nm wide ( 140 nm at 4 ×), which is beyond current photomask manufacturing capabilities . thus , the present invention allows for the placement and use of a sub - resolution opc feature under imaging conditions that would have previously resulted in the printing of the opc features utilizing prior art techniques . another benefit of using a phase - edge as a sub - resolution assist feature is that it is possible to place a phase - edge in a space that is not wide enough to accommodate a conventional scattering bar . fig1 illustrates this concept of placing a phase - edge in between fairly dense features . referring to fig1 , the chrome features 22 to be printed on the wafer have a pitch of 400 nm , which is too small to allow placement of a scattering bar between the features . however , it is possible to place phase - edges 24 between each feature 22 . indeed , it desirable to place phase - edges between the features because strong proximity effects are present and the phase - edges can correct these proximity effects . fig1 shows the results of a focus / exposure simulation on a 100 nm chrome line pattern at a 400 nm pitch when a single phase - edge is placed between the chrome lines as shown in fig1 . as can be seen from the plots in fig1 , the resulting 100 nm chrome lines exhibit a substantially iso - focal condition and a significant depth of focus ( approximately 600 nm ). clearly , such performance results would not be possible if the phase - edges were omitted . the phase - edges 24 disposed between the chrome features 22 illustrated in fig1 can be manufactured in substantially the same manner as described above with reference to fig6 . for example , first , chrome is deposited over the top surface of the quartz substrate . next , the chrome is removed from the portions of the substrate to be etched , and then the quartz substrate is etched to a depth necessary to create the desired phase difference between the etched portion of the substrate and the unetched portion of the substrate . next , the chrome features 22 are protected and remaining chrome on the surface of the quartz substrate is removed . the result is the structure depicted in fig1 , in which phase - edges 24 are created between chrome features 22 . of course , any other method of forming the phase - edges 24 in between the chrome features 22 can also be utilized . fig1 illustrates an example of the placement of a single phase - edge between chromeless features . in this example , the 100 nm lines are formed with both 180 ° phase lines surrounded by 0 ° phase fields and 0 ° phase lines surrounded by 180 ° phase fields . the sub - resolution phase - edge forms the transition between the 0 ° phase field region and the 180 ° phase field region . the use of the sub - resolution phase - edge provides addition capabilities to control the through focus behavior of lines at varying pitches so as to be able to increase the through pitch overlapping process window . more specifically , referring to fig1 , in accordance with the present invention , it is possible to place a phase - edge 32 between two chromeless features , one being a trench 34 and one being a mesa 36 . both the trench feature 34 and the mesa feature 36 will print . the phase - edge 34 does not print , but does function as an optical proximity correction feature . it is further noted that as a result of using phase - edges as sub - resolution features , two effects are created which effect the aerial image formation . the primary effect is the placement of a dark feature in a position that changes the effective pattern density , thereby changing the imaging behavior of isolated or near isolated lines to that of semi - dense lines . this effect was utilized to change the through focus behavior in the manner described above . the second effect is the phase - shifting that occurs in areas between the sub - resolution phase - edges . it is this effect that allows for phase patterns to be exploited to obtain additional advantages . for example , by properly placing multiple phase - edges around an isolated line , the phase - shifting regions can be formed in a manner that generates behavior that can be characterized as an inverse bessel image ( i . e ., a dark line with a theoretical infinite depth of focus ). this is similar to printing a phase - edge with coherent light , except that in this case , strong off - axis illumination is used . fig1 illustrates an isolated chrome line 41 surrounded by four phase - edges 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 on either side of the line 41 . the phase - edges are placed in a manner so as to place the iso - focal point at the target cd feature size . to accomplish this , the phase - edges are not placed a uniform distance apart . as shown in fig1 , the spacing between sub - resolution phase - edges increases as the distance from the center chrome feature 41 increases . as was illustrated previously , the placement of phase - edges alters the through focus imaging behavior of a chrome line . in this example , the phase - edges are placed 150 nm , 350 nm , 620 nm , and 920 nm away from the edge of the chrome line . this method works equally well when the chrome feature is replaced with a chromeless phase - shift structure 51 ( clm ) with similar sub - resolution phase - edge placements as is shown in fig1 . fig1 shows the simulation results of an isolated 100 nm clm inverse bessel line and how by properly placing the phase - edges to form the inverse bessel behavior with the particular illumination conditions , the iso - focal point can be controlled in a manner that places it at the target cd value . as shown , the result is a significant increase in the depth of focus . fem simulations were run with a chrome primary feature at target cd sizes of 80 nm , 50 nm , and 35 nm with the inverse bessel phase - edge design . in all cases , as shown in fig1 , 18 and 20 , the location iso - focal point was able to be placed near the particular target cd . fig1 and 19 show the ed ( exposure / dose ) latitude plots indicating that the depth of focus for the 80 nm and the 50 nm isolated lines , exposed with 0 . 80 na krf imaging system and 0 . 85 / 0 . 55 / 30 quasar illumination , had a dof of 900 nm and 675 nm , respectively , at an exposure tolerance of 10 %. the improved dof evident from the foregoing figures can be attributed to the impact sub - resolution assist features have on the diffraction pattern created by the exposure energy passing though an object at the image plan . fig2 a and 21b illustrate the effect sub - resolution assist features have on the diffraction pattern . in the case of an isolated line , virtually all of the exposure energy is in the zero diffraction order ( see , fig2 a ). by properly placing the sub - resolution phase - edges , the energy is diverted from the zero order to the higher diffraction orders in a manner that causes increased dof ( see , fig2 b ). while placing sub - resolution features at any location near a feature will cause exposure energy to be directed to the higher diffraction orders , as noted above , proper placement to achieve the dof improvement is dependent upon the exposure wavelength , the illumination conditions , and the numerical aperture of the imaging system . the ability to utilize phase - edges that do not print as an optical proximity correction feature allows for entirely new categories of correction methods . as an example , phase - edges extending out from the corners of opaque features can be used to improve corner rounding imaging in the same way serifs are currently used . altering the distance between the main feature and a sub - resolution phase - edge along a feature can have a similar effect as what is currently achieved by placing jogs in the edges of the geometry . as an example of the versatility of using sub - resolution phase - edges , fig2 shows how line end shortening can be corrected for by placing a phase - edge 62 perpendicular to the line 61 whose end shortening is to be corrected . the phase - edge will not print in regions where it is between lines because the imaging conditions and distance to another phase - edge cause it to be sub - resolution . however , when the phase - edge is near the end of a line , the end of that line is pulled to the phase - edge because of the interaction between the phase - edge of the end of the line and the phase - edge of the correction feature . as such , very fine line end control can be achieved . in another variation , the sub - resolution phase - edge does not need to be a straight line but can contain sub - resolution jogging . further , as noted above , it is also possible to use phase - edges having shifts other than 180 ° such as 60 °, 90 °, or 120 °. fig2 schematically depicts a lithographic projection apparatus suitable for use with a mask designed with the aid of the current invention . the apparatus comprises : a radiation system ex , il , for supplying a projection beam pb of radiation . in this particular case , the radiation system also comprises a radiation source la ; a first object table ( mask table ) mt provided with a mask holder for holding a mask ma ( e . g . a reticle ), and connected to first positioning means for accurately positioning the mask with respect to item pl ; a second object table ( substrate table ) wt provided with a substrate holder for holding a substrate w ( e . g . a resist - coated silicon wafer ), and connected to second positioning means for accurately positioning the substrate with respect to item pl ; a projection system (“ lens ”) pl ( e . g . a refractive , catoptric or catadioptric optical system ) for imaging an irradiated portion of the mask ma onto a target portion c ( e . g . comprising one or more dies ) of the substrate w . as depicted herein , the apparatus is of a transmissive type ( i . e . has a transmissive mask ). however , in general , it may also be of a reflective type , for example ( with a reflective mask ). alternatively , the apparatus may employ another kind of patterning means as an alternative to the use of a mask ; examples include a programmable mirror array or lcd matrix . the source la ( e . g . a mercury lamp or excimer laser ) produces a beam of radiation . this beam is fed into an illumination system ( illuminator ) il , either directly or after having traversed conditioning means , such as a beam expander ex , for example . the illuminator il may comprise adjusting means am for setting the outer and / or inner radial extent ( commonly referred to as σ - outer and σ - inner , respectively ) of the intensity distribution in the beam . in addition , it will generally comprise various other components , such as an integrator in and a condenser co . in this way , the beam pb impinging on the mask ma has a desired uniformity and intensity distribution in its cross - section . it should be noted with regard to fig2 that the source la may be within the housing of the lithographic projection apparatus ( as is often the case when the source la is a mercury lamp , for example ), but that it may also be remote from the lithographic projection apparatus , the radiation beam that it produces being led into the apparatus ( e . g . with the aid of suitable directing mirrors ); this latter scenario is often the case when the source la is an excimer laser ( e . g . based on krf , arf or f 2 lasing ). the current invention encompasses both of these scenarios . the beam pb subsequently intercepts the mask ma , which is held on a mask table mt . having traversed the mask ma , the beam pb passes through the lens pl , which focuses the beam pb onto a target portion c of the substrate w . with the aid of the second positioning means ( and interferometric measuring means if ), the substrate table wt can be moved accurately , e . g . so as to position different target portions c in the path of the beam pb . similarly , the first positioning means can be used to accurately position the mask ma with respect to the path of the beam pb , e . g . after mechanical retrieval of the mask ma from a mask library , or during a scan . in general , movement of the object tables mt , wt will be realized with the aid of a long - stroke module ( coarse positioning ) and a short - stroke module ( fine positioning ), which are not explicitly depicted in fig2 . however , in the case of a wafer stepper ( as opposed to a step - and - scan tool ) the mask table mt may just be connected to a short stroke actuator , or may be fixed . in step mode , the mask table mt is kept essentially stationary , and an entire mask image is projected in one go ( i . e . a single “ flash ”) onto a target portion c . the substrate table wt is then shifted in the x and / or y directions so that a different target portion c can be irradiated by the beam pb ; in scan mode , essentially the same scenario applies , except that a given target portion c is not exposed in a single “ flash ”. instead , the mask table mt is movable in a given direction ( the so - called “ scan direction ”, e . g . the y direction ) with a speed v , so that the projection beam pb is caused to scan over a mask image ; concurrently , the substrate table wt is simultaneously moved in the same or opposite direction at a speed v = mv , in which m is the magnification of the lens pl ( typically , m = ¼ or ⅕ ). in this manner , a relatively large target portion c can be exposed , without having to compromise on resolution . although certain specific embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed , it is noted that the present invention may be embodied in other forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof . the present embodiments are therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive , the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims , and all changes that come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are therefore intended to be embraced therein .	6
for further illustrating the invention , experiments detailing a method of assembling multi - fragment dna molecule and applications thereof are described below . it should be noted that the following examples are intended to describe and not to limit the invention . 1 ) an acceptor vector pbwa adopts a pbr322 replicon and has kanamycin resistance . the restriction enzyme at an odd number site ( firstly accepted ) is bsmbi . as shown in fig1 , a sequence of a multiple cloning site is seq id no : 4 represented by in which , gagacg and cgtctc are a reverse recognition sequence and a forward recognition sequence , respectively , and “ taga ” and “ gtcg ” are sticky ends produced by cleavage of bsmbi , respectively . mcs is a multiple cloning site , kanar is kanamycin resistance gene , ori is originated from a replication origin of the plasmid pbr322 and adapted to replicate in escherichia coli cells , and bom is originated from a basis of mobility of the plasmid pbr322 . 2 ) a first donor vector pbwd ( a ) contains an ampicillin resistance gene , and a map and a multiple cloning site thereof are illustrated in fig2 . a sequence of the multiple cloning site is seq id no : 5 represented by in which , cgtctc and gagacg are the forward recognition sequence and the reverse recognition sequence of bsmbi , respectively . gagacc and ggtctc are a reverse recognition sequence and a forward recognition sequence of bsai , respectively . gaagagc and gctcttc are a reverse recognition sequence and a forward recognition sequence of sapi , respectively . mcs is the multiple cloning site , amp r represents the ampicillin resistance gene , ori is originated from the replication origin of the plasmid pbr322 and adapted to replicate in escherichia coli cells , and bom is originated from the basis of mobility of the plasmid pbr322 . “ n ” represents arbitrary bases , and “. . . ” represents abbreviated arbitrary bases . 3 ) a second donor vector pbwd ( b ) contains a spectinomycin resistance gene , and a map and a multiple cloning site of the second donor vector pbwd ( b ) were illustrated in fig3 . a sequence of the multiple cloning site is seq id no : 6 represented by in which , cgtctc and gagacg are the forward recognition sequence and the reverse recognition sequence of bsmbi , respectively . gagacc and ggtctc are the reverse recognition sequence and the forward recognition sequence of bsai , respectively . gaagagc and gctcttc are the reverse recognition sequence and the forward recognition sequence of sapi , respectively . mcs represents the multiple cloning site , and sp r represents the spectinomycin resistance gene . ori is originated from the replication origin of the plasmid pbr322 and adapted to replicate in escherichia coli cells . bom is originated from the basis of mobility of the plasmid pbr322 . “ n ” represents arbitrary bases , and “. . . ” represents abbreviated arbitrary bases . first step , a target gene is cloned into the first donor vector pbwd ( a ). five genes are adopted in this example . gene1 is amplified using a forward primer “ gene1 +” and a reverse primer “ gene1 −” of gene1 . “ catggagtcaaagattcaaatag ” and “ agcggatggcctaaaaaaaaaac ” are sequences of the forward primer and the reverse primer of gene1 , respectively . full sequences of the gene1 + and gene1 − are as follows : a new sequence obtained from gene amplification by the above primers is as follows : the amplified new sequence and the mcs sequence are cleaved by bsai ( restriction sites of restriction enzymes are underscored ) and sticky ends thereof after the cleavage are completely complementary at sites indicated by boxes . the pcr product of gene1 after digested by the bsai and the vector backbone digested by the bsai are connected by a t4 dna ligase to generate pbwd ( a )- gene1 , a sequence structure of which is as follows : pbwd ( a )- gene3 and pbwd ( a )- gene5 are also generated by the same way , and sequence structures thereof are as follows : similar to the gene1 , gene3 , genes , gene2 and gene4 are amplified by adding different primer joints during amplification of the target genes ( the forward primer joint is the amplified gene ( gene2 or gene4 ) and the second donor vector pbwd ( b ) are then cleaved by bsai , and the sticky ends of the amplified gene and the second donor vector are completely complementary at sites indicated by boxes and then lignated by the t4 dna ligase to generate pbwd ( b )- gene2 or pbwd ( b )- gene4 . the sequence structure of pbwd ( b )- gene2 and pbwd ( b )- gene4 are listed as follows : second step : target genes on pbwd ( a )- gene1 , pbwd ( a )- gene3 , pbwd ( a )- gene5 and the second donor vector pbwd ( b ) are assembled to the acceptor vector pbwa . the sequence of the multiple cloning site of the acceptor vector pbwa is as follows : the pbwa and the pbwd ( a )- gene1 are digested by bsmbi , and sticky ends thereof after the cleavage are completely complementary at sites indicated by boxes . since the produced sticky ends are completely complementary , the backbone of the acceptor vector pbwa and the fragment of gene1 are then ligated together by the t4 dna ligase , and a newly produced sequence is named pbwa - 1 . the pbwa - 1 and the pbwd ( b )- gene2 are digested by sapi , and sticky ends thereof after the cleavage are completely complementary at sites indicated by boxes . since the produced sticky ends are completely complementary , the backbone of the acceptor vector pbwa - 1 and the fragment of gene2 are then ligated together by the t4 dna ligase , and a newly produced sequence is named pbwa - 2 . the pbwa - 2 and the pbwd ( a )- gene3 are digested by bsmbi , since produced sticky ends are completely complementary , the backbone of the acceptor vector pbwa - 2 and the fragment of gene3 are then ligated by the t4 dna ligase , and a newly produced sequence is named pbwa - 3 . the pbwa - 3 and the pbwd ( b )- gene4 are digested by sapi , since produced sticky ends are completely complementary , the backbone of the acceptor vector pbwa - 3 and the fragment of gene4 are then ligated by the t4 dna ligase , and a newly produced sequence is named pbwa - 4 . the pbwa - 4 and the pbwd ( a )- gene5 are digested by bsmbi , and sticky ends thereof after the cleavage are completely complementary at sites indicated by boxes . since the produced sticky ends are completely complementary , the backbone of the acceptor vector pbwa - 4 and the fragment of genes are then ligated by the t4 dna ligase , and a newly produced sequence is named pbwa - 5 . the operations are repeated likewise so as to assemble five or more genes to the acceptor vector . gene synthesis of cos9 . gene cos9 is an important mediated gene in the recently invented dnai and originated from prokaryotes . thus , the codon optimization is required in eukaryotes so as to realize a relative good expression of the cos9 , and the gene synthesis is necessitated . a total length of the sequence of cos9 is 4147 bp , and a synthetic sequence ( seq id no : 1 ) is as follows : the synthesis strategy is as follows : cos9 is synthesized by dividing the gene into six fragments ( the divided position is indicated by boxes in the above sequence ), and each fragment containing between 600 and 700 bp . each fragment is synthesized by asymmetric pcr method because the asymmetric pcr can only synthesize a dna sequence containing less than 1000 bp . the six synthetic fragments are then cloned to pbwd ( a ) and pbwd ( b ) and are named as follows : pbwd ( a )- cos91 , pbwd ( a )- cos93 , pbwd ( a )- cos95 , pbwd ( b )- cos92 , pbwd ( b )- cos94 , pbwd ( b )- cos96 . first step : the six fragments synthesized by the asymmetric pcr are cloned into the first donor vector pbwd ( a ) and the second donor vector pbwd ( b ) and are correctly sequenced . sticky ends after cleavage are completely complementary at positions indicated by the boxes . second step : assembly of the dna fragments . the sticky ends after the cleavage are completely complementary at positions indicated by boxes . pbwa and pbwd ( a )- cos91 are digested by bsmbi . because produced sticky ends are completely complementary , the backbone of pbwa and the fragment cos91 are then ligated together by the t4 dna ligase to generate pbwa - cos9 ( 1 ). pbwa - cos9 ( 1 ) and pbwd ( b )- cos92 are digested by sapi . because produced sticky ends are completely complementary , the backbone of pbwa - cos9 ( 1 ) and the fragment cos92 are then ligated together by the t4 dna ligase to generate pbwa - cos9 ( 2 ). pbwa - cos9 ( 2 ) and pbwd ( a )- cos93 are digested by bsmbi . because produced sticky ends are completely complementary , the backbone of pbwa - cos9 ( 2 ) and the fragment cos93 are then ligated together by the t4 dna ligase to produce pbwa - cos9 ( 3 ). pbwa - cos9 ( 3 ) and pbwd ( b )- cos94 are digested by sapi . because produced sticky ends are completely complementary , the backbone of pbwa - cos9 ( 3 ) and the fragment cos94 are then ligated together by the t4 dna ligase to form pbwa - cos9 ( 4 ). pbwa - cos9 ( 4 ) and pbwd ( a )- cos95 are digested by bsmbi . because produced sticky ends are completely complementary , the backbone of pbwa - cos9 ( 4 ) and the fragment cos95 are then ligated together by the t4 dna ligase to form pbwa - cos9 ( 5 ). pbwa - cos9 ( 5 ) and pbwd ( b )- cos96 are digested by sapi . because produced sticky ends are completely complementary , the backbone of pbwa - cos9 ( 5 ) and the fragment cos96 are then ligated together by the t4 dna ligase to form pbwa - cos9 ( 6 ). thus , the six fragments are seamlessly linked into an integral dna fragment . the long fragment dna can be cloned by the method similarly to the long sequence synthesis method . the long sequence is firstly divided into small sequences which are then cloned and sequenced and finally seamlessly assembled into the long sequence by the bio - walk system . unless otherwise indicated , the numerical ranges involved in the invention include the end values . while particular embodiments of the invention have been shown and described , it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that changes and modifications may be made without departing from the invention in its broader aspects , and therefore , the aim in the appended claims is to cover all such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention .	2
other features of this invention will become apparent in the course of the following description of exemplary embodiments which are given for illustration of the invention and are not intended to be limiting thereof . fig1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a first embodiment of an interrupt controller of the present invention . in the embodiment shown in the drawing , when a further edge trigger is generated on an interrupt request signal while the interrupt controller is in the interrupt generation state , a flag is set . this flag state is then read out from a program , and an interrupt request signal generation state is recognized . in fig1 an interrupt controller 1 includes an interrupt control circuit 3 provided with an interrupt control register 2 , and a channel selector 4 . the interrupt control register 2 for inputting and outputting data which assigns the actions of the interrupt controller 1 to an external device is provided . the interrupt control register 2 includes eight registers corresponding respectively to eight interrupt request signals ir0 to ir7 which are assigned to the interrupt controller 1 from an external device . these eight interrupt registers are assigned through address bus signals a1 , a2 , and a3 . data which is stored in the interrupt control register 2 is organized in fields as shown in fig2 . in fig2 an interrupt vector ( intv ) field is provided for storing an interrupt vector for outputting by the interrupt controller 1 during an interrupt acknowledge cycle . an intl field is provided for storing an interrupt level value for outputting by a processor when an interrupt request is received from an external device through an interrupt request signal irn . a trigger mode ( tm ) bit field is provided for storing data which is set when the interrupt request signal irn sets either an edge trigger or a level trigger . in the case where the tm bit field is , for example , &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ;, an edge trigger is set , and an interrupt is generated when the interrupt request signal irn changes from a low level to a high level . conversely , when the tm bit field is &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ;, the level trigger mode is set , and an interrupt is generated when the interrupt request signal irn is in the low level state . an interrupt enable ( ie ) bit field is provided for indicating either approval or rejection of the generation of an interrupt through the interrupt request signal irn . in the case where the ie bit field is &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ;, the interrupt controller 1 is an interrupt approval state , and an interrupt can be generated by the interrupt request signal irn . when the ie bit field is &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ;, the interrupt controller 1 is an interrupt rejection . in the level trigger mode , if the interrupt request signal irn is low level during the period when the ie bit is &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ;, the processor will not request an interrupt . on the other hand , if the ie bit is &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ; during the edge trigger mode , an input edge trigger is retained internally and the interrupt request to the processor is reserved until the ie bit next becomes &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ;. an automatic interrupt disable ( aid ) bit field is provided for controlling whether or not the ie bit is automatically set to &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ; when an interrupt request received through the interrupt request signal irn is accepted by the processor . if the interrupt acknowledge cycle is executed while the aid bit is &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ;, the ie bit automatically becomes &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ; and the interrupt controller 1 becomes the interrupt rejection state . this function is not used when the aid bit is &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ;. when an erroneous interrupt request signal irn is active , an error ( es ) bit is set to &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ;. specifically , in the edge trigger mode , when an edge trigger has already been generated in the interrupt request signal irn and an interrupt has been requested , if a next edge trigger is generated in this irn signal , &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ; is set in the es bit until the interrupt acknowledge cycle of that interrupt request is completed . in the interrupt control circuit 3 provided with this interrupt control register 2 , when the edge trigger or the level trigger is input to the interrupt control circuit 3 through the interrupt request signal irn , the interrupt controller enters the interrupt generation state internally in the interrupt control circuit 3 . in this state , if the ie bit of the interrupt control register 2 becomes &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ;, the interrupt level set in the intl field is output through a plurality of interrupt request priority signals irp0 to irp3 , and an interrupt is requested from the processor . subsequently , in the interrupt acknowledge cycle , when an interrupt acknowledge signal iack enters the low level , the interrupt controller outputs the interrupt vector set in the intv field of the interrupt control register 2 through a plurality of data bus signals d00 to d007 , by means of the processor 1 . then , the interrupt controller is released from the interrupt generation state at the same time . the channel selector 4 is a circuit for generating interrupt control register assignment signals for assigning a plurality of interrupt control registers # 0 to # 7 corresponding to each interrupt request signal . a chip select signal cs and address bus signals a1 to a3 are input from an external device when the interrupt control register 2 is accessed . the channel selector 4 has a configuration , for example , as shown in fig3 and the interrupt control registers # 0 to # 7 are assigned respectively through the address bus signals a1 to a3 , as shown in fig4 . next , the generation of the es bit field of the interrupt control register 2 will be explained with reference to the circuit diagram shown in fig5 . the explanation will be made for the case where the tm bit field is set to &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ;, in the edge trigger mode . a register f / f5 is provided for maintaining the interrupt generation state , and a flip - flop f / f6 is provided corresponding to the es bit field . the register f / f5 and the flip - flop f / f6 are initially set to &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ;. the interrupt request signal irn is input to the clock ck of the register f / f5 , and when an edge trigger is input to the interrupt request signal irn with the interrupt acknowledge signal iack at the high level , the register f / f5 is set to &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ; and the interrupt controller becomes the interrupt generation state . in addition , if the chip select signal csn is at the high level , the edge trigger of the interrupt request signal irn is input to the clock ck of the register f / f5 at the same time . at this time , if an output q of the register f / f5 is at the low level , the output q of the flip - flop f / f6 is fed back to an input d of the flip - flop f / f6 so that the content of the register f / f5 remains &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ;. the interrupt acknowledge signal iack is input to a clear terminal clr of the register f / f5 , and when the interrupt acknowledge signal iack is at the low level in the interrupt acknowledge cycle , the content of the register f / f5 are cleared to &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ;. in the configuration of this type , as shown in the interrupt operation timing chart of fig6 when an edge trigger is generated on the interrupt request signal irn , &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ; is set in the register f / f5 , and the output q also enters the high level . in this state , if &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ; is set in the ie bit field of the interrupt control register 2 , the value in the intl field is output as the interrupt request priority signals irp0 to 3 . subsequently , when the interrupt acknowledge signal iack enters the low level in the interrupt acknowledge cycle , register f / f5 is cleared to &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ; and the output q also enters the low level . as a result , the interrupt request priority signals irp0 to irp3 all become high level . the es bit field does not change from this action . next , the case where the es bit field changes will be explained . when an edge trigger is input to the interrupt request signal irn and the register f / f5 is set to &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ; the input d to the flip - flop f / f6 also becomes &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ;. in this state , when an edge trigger is once again input to the interrupt request signal irn , the value &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ; of the input d to the flip - flop f / f6 is latched so that the content of the flip - flop f / f6 become &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ;. specifically , in the interrupt generation state , when the next edge trigger is input , &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ; is set in the flip - flop f / f6 . next , the timing will be explained with reference to fig7 . now referring to fig7 when an edge trigger is generated in the interrupt request signal irn , the register f / f5 is set to &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ; and the output q also enters the high level . if the ie bit field of the interrupt control register 2 is &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ;, the value in the intl field is output as the interrupt request priority signals irp0 to irp3 . subsequently , when , prior to the start of the interrupt acknowledge cycle , the next edge trigger is generated in the interrupt request signal irn , the flip - flop f / f6 is set to &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ; and its output q also becomes high level . subsequently , when the interrupt acknowledge signal iack is switched to the low level , the register f / f5 is cleared to &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ; and the output q also enters the low level . as a result , the interrupt request priority signals irp0 to irp3 all become high level . at this time , the content of the flip - flop f / f6 does not change but are maintained at &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ;. in this way , when an edge trigger is input to the interrupt request signal irn and an interrupt is generated , the flip - flop f / f6 can indicate that the subsequent interrupt has been requested . the flip - flop f / f6 corresponds to the es bit field of the interrupt control register 2 and can be read and written by an external processor . in the case of a write operation , a write signal wr and the chip select signal cs enter the low level , and when the leading edge of a data strobe signal ds is input , the value of the data bus signal d00 is introduced as the contents of the flip - flop f / f6 . in the case of a read operation the write signal wr becomes high level and the value in the flip - flop f / f6 is output as the data bus signal d00 . by the provision of this type of es bit field ( f / f6 ), the fact that the processing of the interrupt from the edge trigger cannot be handled can be recognized by reading out the contents of the interrupt control register 2 of the interrupt controller 1 . therefore in such a case the error can be handled by the program . fig8 is a process flow diagram showing the processing of an interrupt when the interrupt controller 1 of the present invention is used . the process flow of the interrupt process shown in fig8 will now be described . first , the contents of the processor registers are saved ( step 100 ), after which the contents of the interrupt control register 2 are read out ( step 110 ) and the es bit field ( f / f6 ) is checked ( step 120 ). if the result of the check shows the contents of the es bit field ( f / f6 ) to be &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ;, this indicates that the interrupt processing by an edge trigger can be carried out and a normal interrupt processing is done ( step 130 ). on the other hand if the contents of the es bit field ( f / f6 ) are &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ;, the interrupt request by means of an edge trigger is generated several times , an because the processor is unable to process the all interrupt requests , and error interrupt process is performed ( step 140 ). in this way it is possible to select the interrupt process to suit the generation state of the interrupt request signal . furthermore , the present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above . for example , the embodiment could be modified so that the es bit field ( f / f6 ) is structured as a counter to count the number of times the edge trigger is input . a second embodiment of the present invention will now be explained . in the first embodiment the es bit field shows whether or not a second interrupt request occurred while the first interrupt request is generated . however , with only the es bit field it is not possible to know the number of interrupts which have been generated . with this second embodiment of the present invention , an edge count register n ( where n = 0 to 7 ) is provided which counts the number of interrupts generated . the configuration of the edge count register is illustrated in fig9 . the edge count register is comprised of four bits . read and write operations from external devices are possible , and , in such a case , either the interrupt control register or the edge count register is selected through the values of a plurality of address signals a1 to a4 as shown in fig1 . fig1 is a circuit diagram of the edge count register . here , an explanation will be given for the case of the edge trigger mode with the tm bit field = 1 . the f / f5 register is maintained in the same interrupt generation state shown in fig6 . a counter 7 is a four - bit counter corresponding to an error count ( ecnt ) field . initially , the register f / f5 is set to &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ; and the counter 7 is set to &# 34 ; 0000 &# 34 ;. the interrupt request signal irn is linked to the clock ck of the register f / f5 , and when an edge trigger is input to the interrupt request signal irn , the register f / f5 is set to &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ; and the processor enters the interrupt generation state . a leading edge in the clock ck of the counter 7 is generated when the register f / f5 is set to &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ;, and a leading edge is generated in the interrupt request signal or cs , wr , and ds change from the low level state to the high level state . in the latter case , because load enters the low level , the values of d12 , d13 , d14 , and d15 are set in the counter . in the former case , load is at the high level and the contents of the counter 7 are incremented by one . if the four bits of the counter are &# 34 ; 1111 &# 34 ;, when an edge trigger is input to ck the contents of the counter are changed to &# 34 ; 0000 &# 34 ;. accordingly , the counter counts from &# 34 ; 0000 &# 34 ; to &# 34 ; 1111 &# 34 ;. in the case where csn is at the low level and wr is at the high level , a plurality of outputs qd , qc , qb , qa is output to the counter 7 and these are respectively output as a plurality of data bus signals d12 , d13 , d14 , d15 . the action of the counter 7 will now be explained with reference to the timing chart of fig1 . with the register f / f5 at &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ; and in the state where interrupts are not generated , when a leading edge is generated in irn , the register f / f5 is set to &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ; and the interrupt controller enters the interrupt generation state . because the register f / f5 is &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ; during the input of the leading edge , the leading edge is not generated in the clock ck of the counter 7 . accordingly , the counter 7 remains unchanged at &# 34 ; 0000 &# 34 ;. with the register f / f5 at &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ;, in the interrupt generation state , when a leading edge is generated in the interrupt request signal , leading edge irn is generated in the clock ck of the counter 7 , and the value of the counter 7 is incremented by 1 at each leading edge . as can be clearly understood from the foregoing explanation , the provision of the counter 7 makes it possible to count the number of edge triggers newly generated during an interrupt generation state . as a result , if the value in the edge count register is read out by the interrupt processing program , it is possible to recognize the number of times that an edge trigger was generated before the interrupt was processed . therefore the interrupt processing can be changed to correspond to that number of times . in the present embodiment , the counter 7 has a four - bit structure and therefore can count from 0 to 15 only . however , it is possible to increase the number of bits and therefore increase the extent of the count ( the number of edge triggers generated ). as can be clearly understood from the foregoing explanation , in the present invention , the interrupt controller enters the interrupt generation state and , until that state is released , if the same interrupt request occurs this interrupt request can be detected . the result of the detection can therefore be referenced externally so that it is possible to recognize if the interrupt processing has not functioned normally , making it possible to process interrupts to accommodate such a case . as a result , because of this invention , the reliability of a system provided with an interrupt controller according to the invention can be improved .	6
the current invention can be used to analyse bosentan and / or its salts as an api or bosentan and / or its salts when formulated in a pharmaceutical composition . the pharmaceutical compositions that can be analysed by the current invention include solid and liquid compositions and optionally comprise one or more pharmaceutically acceptable carriers or excipients . solid form compositions include powders , tablets , pills , capsules , cachets , suppositories , and dispersible granules . liquid compositions include solutions or suspensions which can be administered by oral , injectable or infusion routes . the term “ bosentan ” as used herein throughout the description and claims refers to bosentan and / or any salt or solvate ( including hydrate ) thereof . the current invention is particularly useful for the analysis of bosentan free base . the terms “ impurities ” or “ related substances ” as used herein throughout the specification can mean either impurities formed in the manufacture of the api or the pharmaceutical composition and / or formed by degradation of the api or in the pharmaceutical composition on storage . as discussed above , the hplc methods reported in the prior art are not suitable for analysing bosentan , particularly with respect to the related substances formed in the synthesis of bosentan and / or its salts prepared by the process disclosed in wo 2009 / 004374 and its priority application in 1245 / mum / 2007 , both of which are hereby incorporated in their entirety by reference . however , a particularly preferred embodiment of the current invention solves this problem and efficiently detects and quantifies , in a single run , all impurities and intermediates formed in this particular synthetic process . the present invention is advantageous as the gradient method allows the elution of all polar to non - polar impurities . the present invention is particularly suitable for determining and quantifying the presence of one or more of compounds or impurities a - e in a sample . the terms “ impurity ” and “ compound ” insofar as they relate to compounds a - e are used interchangeably herein unless described otherwise . the current invention is also advantageous as the method is selective , sensitive , linear , precise , accurate and robust for the analysis of related substances in bosentan and / or its salts . in addition , the current invention is highly sensitive and allows detection and quantification of related substances in bosentan and / or its salts at levels much lower than acceptance limits specified by health authorities and in the ich guidelines . in addition , the method of the current invention can be used to easily detect and quantify all degradation impurities formed on storage of samples of bosentan . this was established by carrying out forced degradation studies as per ich q1a guidelines and validated as per ich q2a guidelines covering the parameters specificity , linearity and range , precision ( repeatability , reproducibility and intermediate precision ), accuracy , limit of detection ( lod ), limit of quantitation ( loq ), robustness and system suitability . the present inventors have developed a novel gradient hplc method to characterise five process impurities a - e by lc - ms and lc - ms / ms . said method is robust enough to be used in the analysis of the presence of other known related substances such as precursors in bosentan synthesis , particularly bosentan synthesised by the route described in wo 2009 / 004374 and its priority application in 1245 / mum / 2007 . due to large polarity differences between the impurities , precursors and bosentan , a gradient programming was considered to be most suitable by the inventors . the inventors of the present invention have further used lc - ms and lc - ms / ms techniques to characterise the structures of new process impurities a - e . in the working of the invention , the inventors of the present invention have found stationary phases comprising octadecylsilyl silica gel ( rp - 18 ) or octylsilyl silica gel ( rp - 8 ) to be most advantageous . a particularly preferred stationary phase comprises a waters xterra rp18 ( 250 mm × 4 . 6 mm ), 5μ , column . the method of the current invention preferably comprises a gradient programming so that the relative concentration of the liquids a and b are typically varied to a gradient between 100 % a : 0 % b to 0 % a : 100 % b over a period of 10 to 180 minutes . preferably , the gradient is between 100 % a : 0 % b to 0 % a : 100 % b over a period of 25 to 120 minutes , more preferably the gradient is between 100 % a : 0 % b to 0 % a : 100 % b over a period of 25 to 60 minutes , most preferably the gradient is between about 90 % a : 10 % b to 10 % a : 90 % b over about 40 minutes . the advantage of such a gradient method is that it allows the elution of all polar to non - polar impurities . the mobile phase used is preferably selected from combinations of one or more buffer ( s ) ( a ) and one or more organic solvent ( s ) ( b ). the buffer ( s ) is / are preferably selected from the group comprising an aqueous solution of a phosphate salt , an acetate salt , a formate salt or trifluoroacetic acid or mixtures thereof . the buffer can be present at a concentration of 0 . 001 to 0 . 1 m , preferably at a concentration of 0 . 001 to 0 . 05 m , more preferably at a concentration of 0 . 005 to 0 . 05 m . a particularly preferred mobile phase comprises a combination of ammonium acetate ( a ) and acetonitrile ( b ). in a particularly preferred embodiment according to the invention , there is further provided a gradient hplc method wherein the mobile phase comprises a gradient programming as follows : a particularly preferred gradient hplc method is also provided wherein the mobile phase comprises ammonium acetate as the buffer ( a ). in another particularly preferred embodiment , the mobile phase comprises acetonitrile as the organic solvent ( b ). the inventors have found that the gradient programming is particularly effective when the mobile phase comprises ammonium acetate ( a ) and acetonitrile ( b ). the buffer ( a ) may contain one or more additional solvent ( s ) which are organic solvents selected from methanol , acetonitrile , propanol or isopropanol or a mixture thereof . the additional solvent ( s ) in the buffer ( a ) may or may not be the same solvent as the organic solvent ( b ). the additional solvent in the buffer ( a ) is preferably acetonitrile . the ph of the buffer is selected to be between about 2 to 7 . typically , the method of the current invention is carried out at a column temperature between approximately 15 - 40 ° c . a further aspect of the invention provides an internal reference solution . the reference solution will comprise one or more of compounds a - e dissolved in an appropriate solvent . said reference solution may be used in determining the presence of any of compounds a - e as impurities in a sample being analysed using chromatographic techniques according to the invention . the method of said analysis will be apparent to the skilled person . a further aspect according to the invention provides a reference standard solution wherein a known amount of one or more of compounds a - e is dissolved in an appropriate solvent . said reference solution may be used in determining the presence and amount of any of compounds a - e as impurities in a sample being analysed using chromatographic techniques according to the invention . the method of said analysis will be apparent to the skilled person . the inventors have tested the methods of the current invention extensively to show that they are reproducible , accurate , precise and linear with respect to concentration and robustness . while the present invention has been described in terms of its specific embodiments , certain modifications and equivalents will be apparent to those skilled in the art and are intended to be included within the scope of the present invention . the present invention is illustrated but in no way limited by the following example . the five process impurities a - e in bosentan observed during hplc analysis were found to be above 0 . 1 % by area normalization and are required to be identified as per ich q3a guidelines . the method used for the said analysis is a gradient hplc method according to the invention . the experimental conditions used are as follows . samples a and b of bosentan were analysed for process impurities by lc - ms using the above hplc method . fig1 and 2 show the analytical hplc chromatograms of said samples respectively . the retention times ( rt ), relative retention times ( rrt ) and % area of each impurity by an area normalization method , molecular ions determined from the relevant mass spectra ( ms ) and fragments from the secondary mass spectra ( ms / ms ) for each impurity are summarised in tables 1 and 2 . table 2 hplc analysis of sample b ≈ rt impurity ( min ) ≈ rrt % area molecular ion fragment ions bosentan 26 . 44 1 . 00 92 . 13 552 . 5 ( m + h ) + 508 . 3 311 . 3 280 . 6 202 . 2 impurity a 20 . 41 0 . 77 0 . 32 488 . 4 ( m − h ) + 443 . 2 334 . 2 216 . 3 196 . 8 impurity b 22 . 11 0 . 84 0 . 23 426 . 2 ( m − h ) + 197 . 2 173 . 2 impurity c 25 . 64 0 . 97 0 . 11 not detected * not detected * impurity d 27 . 03 1 . 02 6 . 77 508 . 4 ( m + h ) + 311 . 2 280 . 4 202 . 2 impurity e 35 . 11 1 . 33 0 . 22 534 . 7 ( m + h ) + 307 . 3 * due to the nature of the molecule , the fragmentation was so extensive that none of the peaks were informative . hplc analysis of the samples showed impurities a - e could be detected during mass analysis . based on the molecular ions obtained in the mass spectra of the impurities and process conditions , the structures of impurities a - e were identified as depicted in fig3 . further , on the basis of fragmentation patterns reported in the literature for bosentan ( j . am . soc . mass spectrom ., vol . 10 ( 12 ), pages 1305 - 1314 , 1999 ), the structures of the impurities a , b , d and e were confirmed by the interpretation of the fragment ions observed in ms / ms spectra . the fragmentation pattern of the impurities a , b , d and e ate shown in fig4 to 7 respectively . in the case of impurity c , the molecular ion peak observed at m / z 594 . 3 ( m - h ) + by ms fragmented so much that during ms / ms studies none of the peaks were informative as to the nature of impurity c . thus , due to the absence of diagnostic fragments in the ms / ms spectra of impurity c , the structural confirmation could not be performed . impurity a : n -[ 6 -( 2 -( 2 - hydroxyethoxy ) ethoxy )- 5 - hydroxy - 2 -( pyrimidin - 2 - yl )- pyrimidin - 4 - yl ]- 4 - tert - butyl benzene sulphonamide . impurity b : n -[ 6 -( ethene - 1 - oxy )- 5 - hydroxy - 2 -( pyrimidin - 2 - yl )- pyrimidin - 4 - yl ]- 4 - tert - butyl benzene sulphonamide . impurity c : n -[ 6 -( 2 -( 2 - hydroxyethoxy ) ethoxy )- 5 -( 2 - methoxyphenoxy )- 2 -( pyrimidin - 2 - yl )- pyrimidin - 4 - yl ]- 4 - tert - butyl benzene sulphonamide . impurity d : n -[ 6 - hydroxy - 5 -( 2 - methoxyphenoxy )- 2 -( pyrimidin - 2 - yl )- pyrimidin - 4 - yl ]- 4 - tert - butyl benzene sulphonamide . impurity e : n -[ 6 -( ethene - 1 - oxy )- 5 -( 2 - methoxyphenoxy )- 2 -( pyrimidin - 2 - yl )- pyrimidin - 4 - yl ]- 4 - tert - butyl benzene sulphonamide . it will be understood that the present invention has been described above by way of example only . the examples are not intended to limit the scope of the invention . various modifications and embodiments can be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention , which is defined by the following claims only .	2
[ 0013 ] fig1 illustrates , in cross - section , a portion of an mt without its housing in accordance with the present invention . shown are an at least partly transparent light waveguide panel 2 ; a liquid crystal display ( lcd ) having a glass board 4 ; keyboard 6 ; electronic board 8 bearing light sources 10 , e . g ., leds ; a photodetector 12 and a source of light 14 . on the upper surface of panel 2 is mounted an acoustically responsive membrane 16 , affixed between a disc - shaped spacer 18 and a disc 20 . membrane 16 is mounted in alignment with the source of light 14 and photodetector 12 . a portion 22 of light waveguide panel 2 , between membrane 16 , source of light 14 and photodetector 12 , is configured to include a pyramidal cutout 24 surrounded by an annular , inclined surface 26 comprising lenses 28 , 30 located adjacent to the source of light 14 and phtodetector 12 , respectively . the pyramidal surface of cutout 24 is advantageously coated with an opaque material 32 or , alternatively an opaque partition ( not shown ) may be inserted into pyramidal cutout 24 so as to prevent light from passing into portion 22 between the light waveguide walls , allowing it to pass only through lenses 28 , 30 . pyramidal cutout 24 may advantageously form holes 34 in the light waveguide portion under membrane 16 , so as to form a vertical air passage between the space below the membrane 16 and the atmoshere , for obvious reasons . instead of holes 34 made in panel 2 , one or more horizontally directed holes or channels 36 may be made in spacer 18 and / or in portion 22 of the waveguide panel , as shown in fig3 . referring now to fig4 there is illustrated a modification of the light waveguide panel of fig1 in which the light waveguide portion 22 is made without lenses 28 , 30 . instead , the inclined surface 26 or surfaces 26 , 26 ′ are configured with an inclination angle calculated to direct light beams from the source of light 14 onto membrane 16 , and the reflected beams onto photodetector 12 . [ 0016 ] fig5 illustrates a further embodiment similar to that of fig4 however , having lenses 40 , 42 , respectively , affixed onto , or made integrally with , the source of light 14 and photodetector 12 . referring to fig6 and 7 , in this embodiment the source of light 14 and photodetector 12 are disposed in spaced - apart relationship . light reflected from the membrane 16 impinges on incline 44 , which , contrary to the previous embodiments , faces a direction opposite portion 22 so as to reflect the light along axis a of the panel to meet an additional inclined surface 46 reflecting the light in the direction of lens 36 of photodetector 12 . this configuration is useful in cases where stray radio frequency interference exists . in such cases , photodetector 12 should be placed adjacent to electronic processing circuits , while the other parts of the microphone , e . g . the light source 14 and membrane 16 , are of necessity located father away in consideration of the user &# 39 ; s mouth . in order to achieve improved reflection of light , a second , inclined surface 48 may be provided parallel to and in spaced - apart relationship from surface 46 , forming an air gap between the two inclined surfaces for improving light reflection . a yet further embodiment of the invention is illustrated in fig8 . accordingly , lenses 50 , 52 are formed on one surface of the panel portion 22 , while the inclined surfaces 54 , 56 are formed on its opposite surface . an opaque partiion 58 is placed between the light source 14 , photodetector 12 , the two lenses 50 , 52 and the two inclined surfaces 54 . 56 . [ 0019 ] fig9 depicts a modification of the embodiment of fig8 in which , instead of partition 58 , a pyramidal cutout 24 is made between lenses 50 , 52 , and the inclined surfaces 54 , 56 are much steeper . [ 0020 ] fig1 and 11 illustrate a still further embodiment of the invention , in which the membrane 16 of the optical microphone is partly affixed on a section of the lcd display board 4 , and a half - disk - shaped insert 60 is placed on keyboard 6 . as is known , lcds are usually made of glass , which is difficult and costly to work into a desired configuration . thus insert 60 is mounted adjacent to the glass plate of the lcd display board 4 , and the membrane attached to spacer 18 is afixed on both the display board 4 and insert 60 , the edges of which abut each other along line 62 of fig1 light directed onto and reflected from the membrane 16 passes through member 60 and the portion of display 4 located underneath the membrane . obviously , the arrangement of fig1 and 11 can be incorporated into anyone of the embodiments of the light waveguide panel shown in fig3 to 9 . [ 0021 ] fig1 illustrates a further embodment , similar to that of fig1 and 11 , except for the construction of the microphone &# 39 ; s membrane assembly . here , the microphone membrane comprises glass display lcd board 4 coated with a light - reflecting substance , such as thin aluminium or gold layer 64 covering a portion 66 of the glass . naturally , the sensitivity of this type of membrane is relatively low , and such a construction requires the use of a high - power light source , such as that of a laser . in the embodiment of fig1 , the spacer 18 , e . g ., as shown in fig1 is eliminated by the formation of a recess 68 in panel portion 22 below the membrane 16 , thereby effectively producing a raised annulus 70 acting as a spacer onto which membrane 16 is affixed . obviously and conversely , the panel portion 22 may be formed with raised portions for mounting the membrane 16 is spaced relationship to the surface of the panel beneath it . it will be evident to those skilled in the art that the invention is not limited to the details of the foregoing illustrated embodiments and that the present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential attributes thereof . the present embodiments are therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive , the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing discription , and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are therefore intended to be embraced therein .	8
with initial reference to fig1 a dishwasher constructed in accordance with the present invention as generally indicated at 2 . as shown , dishwasher 2 includes a tub 5 which is preferably injection molded of plastic so as to include integral bottom , side , rear and top walls 8 - 12 respectively . within the confines of walls 8 - 12 , tub 5 defines a washing chamber 14 within which soiled kitchenware is adapted to be placed upon shiftable upper and lower racks ( not shown ), with the kitchenware being cleaned during a washing operation in a manner widely known in the art . tub 5 has attached thereto a frontal frame 16 which pivotally supports a door 20 used to seal chamber 14 during a washing operation . in connection with the washing operation , door 20 is preferably provided with a detergent tray assembly 23 within which a is consumer can place liquid or particulate washing detergent for dispensing at predetermined portions of the washing operation . of course , dispensing detergent in this fashion is known in the art such that this arrangement is only being described for the sake of completeness . disposed within tub 5 and , more specifically , mounted within a central opening formed in bottom wall 8 of tub 5 , is a pump and filter assembly 30 . extending about a substantial portion of pump and filter assembly 30 , at a position raised above bottom wall 8 , is a heating element 44 . in a manner known in the art , heating element 44 preferably takes the form of a sheath , electric resistance - type heating element . in general , pump and filter assembly 30 is adapted to direct washing fluid to a lower wash arm 47 and an upper wash arm ( not shown ). dishwasher 2 has associated therewith a drain hose 85 including at least one corrugated or otherwise curved portion 89 that extends about an arcuate hanger 92 provided on an outside surface of side wall 10 . drain hose 85 is also preferably secured to tub 5 through various clips , such as that indicated at 94 . in any event , in this manner , an upper loop is maintained in drain hose 85 to assure proper drainage in a manner known in the art . actually , a detailed description of the exact structure and operation of pump and filter assembly 30 of dishwasher 2 does not form part of the present invention , but is rather set forth in pending u . s . application ser . no . 10 / 186 , 739 entitled “ dishwasher pump and filtration system ” filed jul . 2 , 2002 , incorporated herein by reference . instead , the present invention is directed to the inclusion of liquid containment structure , generally indicated at 95 , provided along each of side walls 9 and 10 for preventing the leakage of wash liquid from around dishwasher door 20 . more specifically , frontal frame 16 actually extends along an outwardly projecting front flange 100 formed integral with both side walls 9 , 10 and top wall 12 . a front surface 101 ( see fig2 and 3 ) leads to an in - turned wall portion 102 of side wall 9 which , in turn , leads to a flat wall strip 103 . wall strip 103 carries an elongated gasket or seal 105 , between in - turned wall portion 102 and an extension 108 of side wall 9 , against which door 20 seats in order to seal off washing chamber 14 during operation of dishwasher 2 . that is , seal 105 is caused to be compressed upon closing of door 20 to prevent washing liquid , whether water or a combination of water and detergent , from flowing outside of dishwasher 2 . fig2 and 3 best show the arrangement of front flange 100 and containment structure 95 . here it should be noted that seal 105 is only shown in part for the sake of clarity . as depicted , front flange 100 is formed with an outermost , forwardly projecting ridge or bead generally indicated at 110 which functions to re - direct any wash liquid leaking past seal 105 back into tub 5 . more specifically , bead 110 includes various segments , i . e ., a first , elongated and substantially vertically extending portion 125 leading to a downwardly and laterally inwardly extending portion 130 , followed by another vertically extending portion 135 , and terminating in a lowermost , inwardly angled portion 140 . with this arrangement , containment structure 95 is raised to a plane offset from a plane of front surface 101 , with bead portion 130 essentially defining a generally triangular - shaped plateau . at this point , it should be recognized that front flange 100 , through to and including bead portions 125 and 130 , has heretofore been utilized by the assignee of the present invention for the purpose of diverting any leakage past seal 105 back into tub 5 . however , in accordance with the present invention , front flange 100 has been modified from this prior arrangement and bead portions 135 and 140 have been effectively added . more particularly , front flange 100 in accordance with the invention has been provided with a cut - out 150 so as to define a reduced dimensional portion of front flange 100 along which bead portions 135 and 140 extend . the presence of cut - out 150 advantageously enables a compact hinge arrangement ( not shown ) for door 20 to be employed . as shown , second vertically extending portion 135 is spaced laterally inwardly of the first vertically extending portion 125 and is spaced from in - turned wall portion 102 by an elongated guide trough 160 . as indicated above , second vertically extending portion 125 leads to inwardly angled portion 140 which , in turn , tapers to a corner juncture 170 between guide trough 160 of front flange 100 and in - turned wall portion 102 of tub 5 . during operation of dishwasher 2 , any liquid leaking past seal 105 , whether from the spraying of washing liquid or , particularly , condensation , is initially directed down along first vertically extending portion 125 . the liquid is then directed laterally inwardly , due to the presence of bead portion 130 , to the point at which guide trough 160 starts . thereafter , the liquid is further directed within guide trough 160 along second vertically extending portion 135 . finally , if the liquid reaches the end of containment structure 95 , it comes upon lowermost angled portion 140 which smoothly transitions the liquid to flow back into tub 5 . therefore , with this arrangement , even if seal 105 becomes deformed by repeatedly being compressed upon the closing of door 20 , any resulting liquid flow along front flange 100 will be contained within tub 5 instead of leaking to the surrounding environment . although described with reference to a preferred embodiment of the invention , it should be readily understood that various changes and / or modifications can be made to the invention without departing from the spirit thereof . for instance , although seal 105 is typically mounted to tub 5 , seal 105 could actually be carried by door 20 , while seating against tub 5 . in addition , bead 110 is preferably formed integral with tub 5 , but could be constituted by one or more separate elements mounted to tub 5 to perform the liquid containment function . surprisingly , it has been found that containment structure 95 , in combination with the generally serpentine flow path from washing chamber 14 outwardly to front flange 100 , prevents leakage from washing chamber 14 of dishwasher 2 even when seal 105 is removed or severely damaged . in any case , the invention is only intended to be limited by the scope of the following claims .	0
the embodiments of the invention will be described below and the technical solutions of the invention will be further illustrated in connection with the accompanying figures . however , the present invention shall not be limited to these embodiments . as shown in fig1 , an expansion valve comprises a housing ( 10 ) with an inlet end ( 101 ) and an outlet end ( 102 ), a cylindrical valve body ( 1 ) with an inner cavity fixed inside the housing ( 10 ), on the side of the valve body ( 1 ) wall there are an inlet ( 11 ) and an outlet ( 12 ) connecting the inner cavity and housing ( 10 ), and a spacer sleeve ( 8 ) between the housing ( 10 ) and valve body ( 1 ) that separates the inlet ( 11 ) and outlet ( 12 ). in the inner cavity , there is a matched set of the first valve core ( 2 ) and the second valve core ( 3 ) sliding along its inside . a retaining ring ( 7 ) is fixed to the mid - section of the inner cavity between the two valve cores . at both ends of the inner cavity there are spring assemblies pressing the first valve core ( 2 ) and the second valve core ( 3 ) towards the retaining ring ( 7 ). a damping structure is provided between the first valve core ( 2 ) and the second valve core ( 3 ). specifically , as shown in fig1 through 5 , the retaining ring ( 7 ) comprises a guide bore ( 73 ), an annular cavity ( 74 ), a diversion hole ( 71 ) connecting the annular cavity ( 74 ) and the inlet ( 11 ), and a limiter groove ( 72 ) which can secure a press fit with the valve body ( 1 ). the damping structure comprises the front cylinder ( 21 ), the front throttle cone ( 22 ), the rear cylinder ( 23 ), the rear throttle cone ( 24 ), the guide cylinder ( 25 ) successively on the head of the first valve core ( 2 ), and the rear throttle cone bore ( 31 ), the rear cylinder bore ( 32 ), the relief groove ( 33 ), the front throttle cone bore ( 35 ) and the front cylinder bore ( 36 ) successively on the head of the second valve core ( 3 ) that match the corresponding structures on the first valve core ( 2 ). there is also a diversion port ( 37 ) connecting the front cylinder bore ( 36 ) and the outlet ( 12 ) on the second valve core ( 3 ). the spring assembly comprises a first spring seat ( 43 ), a first spring ( 41 ), a second spring seat ( 44 ) and a second spring ( 42 ), with one end of the first spring ( 41 ) abutting the first valve core ( 2 ) and the other end abutting the first spring seat ( 43 ), with one end of the second spring ( 42 ) abutting the second valve core ( 3 ) and the other end abutting the second spring seat ( 44 ). there is a limiting rod ( 51 ) each on the first spring seat ( 43 ) and the second spring seat ( 44 ) limiting the oscillation of the springs . with incorporation of the limiting rods ( 51 ), axial oscillation amplitudes of the first spring ( 41 ) and the second spring ( 42 ) are limited , ensuring that the first spring ( 41 ) and the second spring ( 42 ) are not overloaded , extending the springs &# 39 ; service life . the first spring seat ( 43 ) and the second spring seat ( 44 ) are respectively affixed to each end of the valve body ( 1 ), and on each end of the first spring seat ( 43 ) and the second spring seat ( 44 ), there is a small hole ( 52 ) venting to the housing ( 10 ). at each rear end of the first valve core ( 2 ) and the second valve core ( 3 ), there is a cylinder ( 103 ) and a damping ring groove ( 26 ) installed with a damping ring ( 6 ). one each filter assembly ( 9 ) is installed at the inlet end ( 101 ) and the outlet end ( 102 ) of the housing ( 10 ). the filter assembly ( 9 ) comprises a filter screen and a mounting racket affixed to the housing ( 10 ). the refrigerant enters the housing ( 10 ), passes through the filter assembly ( 9 ), and enters the present valve through either the controlled passage or the flowing passage . if the refrigerant enters the outlet end ( 102 ) on the second valve core ( 3 ) side of the valve : controlled passage : the refrigerant enters the valve at the outlet end ( 102 ) of the housing ( 10 ), passes through the filter assembly ( 9 ) at the outlet end ( 102 ), and the small holes ( 52 ) on the first spring seat ( 43 ) and the second spring seat ( 44 ), and then acts on the second valve core ( 3 ). since the pressure at outlet ( 12 ) is higher than that at inlet ( 11 ), the second valve core ( 3 ) will be squeezed . now , the refrigerant in the cavity enclosed by the first valve core ( 2 ), the valve body ( 1 ), the first spring seat ( 43 ) and the second spring seat ( 44 ) passes through the small holes ( 52 ) on the first spring seat ( 43 ) and the second spring seat ( 44 ), flows out of the valve body ( 1 ) and joins the flowing passage . when the second valve core ( 3 ) abuts the retaining ring ( 7 ), it ( 3 ) stops and releases the loads . flowing passage : since the inlet ( 11 ) and outlet ( 12 ) of the valve body ( 1 ) are separated by the spacer sleeve ( 8 ), the refrigerant can only enter the outlet ( 12 ) of the valve body ( 1 ), and the diversion port ( 37 ) of the second valve core ( 3 ), pass through the gap between the first valve core ( 2 ) and the second valve core ( 3 ), the annular cavity ( 74 ) of the retaining ring ( 7 ), flow out of the valve body ( 1 ) from the diversion hole ( 71 ) of the retaining ring ( 7 ) and the inlet ( 11 ) of the valve body ( 1 ), continue to pass through the gap between the valve body ( 1 ) and the housing ( 10 ), joining the controlled passage , and then enter the filter assembly ( 9 ) comprising the filter screen and the mounting racket at the inlet end ( 101 ), and eventually flow out of the present valve from the inlet end ( 101 ) of the housing ( 10 ). if the refrigerant enters the inlet end ( 101 ) on the first valve core ( 2 ) side of the valve : controlled passage : the refrigerant enters the small holes ( 52 ) on the first spring seat ( 43 ) and the second spring seat ( 44 ), and acts on the first valve core ( 2 ). since the pressure at the inlet ( 11 ) is higher than that at the outlet ( 12 ), the first valve core ( 2 ) will be squeezed towards the retaining ring ( 7 ). now , the refrigerant in the cavity enclosed by the second valve core ( 3 ), the valve body ( 1 ) and the first spring seat ( 43 ) and the second spring seat ( 44 ) passes through the small holes ( 52 ) on the first spring seat ( 43 ) and the second spring seat ( 44 ), flows out of the valve body ( 1 ) joining the flowing passage . when the first valve core ( 2 ) abuts the retaining ring ( 7 ), the first valve core ( 2 ) stops and releases the loads . flowing passage : since the inlet ( 11 ) and outlet ( 12 ) of the valve body ( 1 ) are separated by the spacer sleeve ( 8 ), the refrigerant can only enter the inlet ( 11 ) of the valve body ( 1 ). through the diversion hole ( 71 ) of the retaining ring ( 7 ), it enters the annular cavity ( 74 ) of the retaining ring ( 7 ), passes through the gap between the first valve core ( 2 ) and the second valve core ( 3 ), flows out of the valve body ( 1 ) from the diversion port ( 37 ) of valve coer ii ( 3 ) and the outlet ( 11 ) of the valve body ( 1 ), continues to pass through the gap between the valve body ( 1 ) and the housing ( 10 ), joining the controlled passage , enters the filter assembly ( 9 ) comprising the filter screen and the mounting racket at the inlet end ( 101 ), and eventually flows out of the present valve from the outlet end ( 102 ) of the housing ( 10 ) because a relatively closed cavity between the first valve core ( 2 ) and the second valve core ( 3 ), a relatively closed cavity between the retaining ring ( 7 ) and the first valve core ( 2 ), together with the relatively closed cavities enclosed by either the valve body ( 1 ), the first spring seat ( 43 ) and the first valve core ( 2 ) or the valve body ( 1 ), the second spring seat ( 44 ) and the second valve core ( 3 ) are designed along the trajectory of the valve cores , there are several damping mechanisms provided along the movements of the first valve core ( 2 ) or the second valve core ( 3 ). due to their presence , the movements of the first valve core ( 2 ) or the second valve core ( 3 ) are smoothly cushioned , which lightens impacts to both valve cores , reduces the wear as a result of the impact of the head of the first valve core ( 2 ) against the second valve core ( 3 ), and extends the service life of the expansion valve . the principle and structure of this embodiment are substantially similar to that of the first preferred embodiment . as shown in fig6 , the difference from the first preferred embodiment is that a flow path for small flow is added . its structure comprises a vent ( 34 ) on the second valve core ( 3 ), connecting the outside of the valve body ( 1 ) and the relief groove ( 33 ). capillary tubes are installed in the trough hole ( 34 ). the flow rate of the vent ( 34 ) can be changed by installing capillary tubes . the principle and structure of this embodiment are substantially similar to that of the second preferred embodiment . as shown in fig7 , the difference from the second preferred embodiment is in the flow path for small flow . its structure comprises a diversion slot ( 27 ) on the first valve core ( 2 ), connecting the relief groove ( 33 ) and the front cylinder bore ( 36 ). the principle and structure of this embodiment are substantially similar to that of the second preferred embodiment . as shown in fig8 , the difference from the second preferred embodiment is in the flow path for small flow . its structure comprises a vent ( 38 ) on the second valve core ( 3 ), connecting the relief groove ( 33 ) and the diversion port ( 37 ). the principle and structure of this embodiment are substantially similar to that of the second preferred embodiment . as shown in fig9 , the difference from the second preferred embodiment is in the flow path for small flow . its structure comprises a vent ( 39 ) on the first valve core ( 2 ), connecting the rear throttle cone bore ( 31 ) and the front cylinder bore ( 36 ). the principle and structure of this embodiment are substantially similar to that of the second preferred embodiment . as shown in fig1 , the difference from the second preferred embodiment is in the flow path for small flow . its structure comprises a there is a vent ( 40 ) axially passing throughout the first valve core ( 2 ). the refrigerant of small flow rate flows out of the valve body ( 1 ) from the small hole ( 52 ) on the spring seat ( 5 ), instead of from the outlet ( 12 ) of the valve body ( 1 ) the embodiments described herein serve only as exemplar illustration of the spirit of the invention . in the specifically described embodiments those skilled in the art of the present invention may be able to make various modifications , additions , or substitutions by similar mechanisms , without departing from the spirit of this invention or surpassing the scope as defined by the appended claims .	5
the preferred embodiments of the present invention is a compressed gas powered gun that simulates the recoil of a conventional firearm discharging a powder propelled projectile . referring to fig1 a preferred embodiment of the compressed gas powered gun 10 is illustrated . the illustrated embodiments of the compressed gas powered gun simulates an ar - 15 or m - 16 rifle . the rifle 10 includes an action portion 12 , a barrel 14 , and a stock portion 16 . the stock portion 16 includes a shoulder stock 18 and a pistol grip 20 . the action portion 12 includes an upper receiver portion 22 , to which the barrel 14 is secured , and a lower receiver portion 24 , to which the shoulder stock 18 and pistol grip 20 are secured . a trigger 26 is located just ahead of the pistol grip 20 within the lower receiver portion 24 . the lower receiver portion 24 also includes at least one compressed gas container 28 , and may include a pressure gauge 30 . the upper receiver portion 22 includes a sight mounting rail 32 on its top surface , upon which the electronic dot sight 34 is illustrated . any conventional sight may be substituted for the electronic dot sight 34 , including telescopic sights , or standard post front , aperture rear iron sights . referring to fig2 - 8 , 17 - 18 , and 22 , the trigger assembly 36 , bolts 38 , and valve assembly 40 are illustrated . the trigger 26 is pivotally secured within the lower receiver portion 24 at pivot 42 , and is biased towards its forward position by the trigger return spring 44 . the trigger 26 includes a finger - engaging portion 48 , and a selector - engaging portion 50 . the selector - engaging portion 50 is dimensioned and configured to abut a selector 46 when the trigger 26 is pulled rearward . the selector 46 is best illustrated in fig2 - 3 . the selector 46 includes an actuator 52 for permitting the shooter to rotate the selector 46 as explained below , and a trigger - engaging portion 54 . the trigger - engaging portion 54 includes a first surface 56 , corresponding to safe . a second surface 58 of the trigger - engaging portion 54 corresponds to semi - automatic fire . a third surface 60 of the trigger - engaging portion 54 corresponds to full automatic fire at a slow cyclic rate . this surface 60 is different from selectors used in firearms in that it is cut to a different geometry to be used as a cam stop for the trigger as opposed to a surface that controls disconnectors . it is therefore sufficiently different that it cannot be used in a firearm . lastly , the trigger - engaging portion 54 defines a channel 62 , corresponding to full automatic fire at a high cyclic rate . referring back to fig4 - 8 , the trigger 26 is pivotally secured to one end of a trigger bar 64 , with the other end of the trigger bar 64 secured to a sear trip 66 . the sear trip 66 includes a sear - engaging end 68 , having an upper radius surface 70 and a lower radius surface 72 . the sear 74 is pivotally secured within the lower housing 24 by the sliding pivot 76 . the sear 74 includes a front end 78 , dimensioned and configured to engage the sear trip 66 , and a back end 80 , dimensioned and configured to mate with a notch 82 defined within the bolt 38 . a spring 75 biases the sear rearward , and the front end 78 downward . the bolt 38 contains floating mass 39 , and includes a bolt key 83 , dimensioned and configured to secure an operating rod ( described below ). a spring - biased bolt driver is located directly behind the bolt 38 , as will also be explained below . the forward portion of the bolt preferably includes an o - ring 84 around its circumference . the valve assembly 40 includes a housing 86 , a forward valve 88 , a rear valve 90 , and a spring 92 between the forward valve 88 and rear valve 90 . the front valve 88 is stationary . the housing 86 reciprocates between a forward position and a rearward position , with the inward flange 94 bearing against the front o - ring 96 to close the front valve 88 when the housing 86 is in its rearward position , and with the forward position of the housing 86 corresponding to the front valve being opened . the rear valve 90 reciprocates within the housing 86 , with the rearward position of the valve 90 bringing the o - ring 98 against the housing &# 39 ; s rear flange 100 , thereby closing the rear valve . when the rear valve 90 moves forward relative to the housing 86 , the rear valve 90 is opened . compressed gas is supplied to the valve assembly 40 through the hose 102 , connected between the valve 40 and the compressed gas channels 104 within the lower receiver 24 . the compressed gas container 28 is secured to the compressed gas channels 104 , thereby supplying compressed gas through the channels 104 , hose 102 to the valve assembly 40 . the rear end of the housing 86 also includes an o - ring 106 . referring to fig9 - 14 and 16 - 17 , a preferred embodiment of a magazine assembly 108 is illustrated . a preferred magazine is a cylinder 110 , located immediately in front of the valve assembly 40 , and directly behind the barrel 14 . a cylinder is defined herein as a rotary magazine similar to that used in a revolver wherein a plurality of firing chambers are arranged around the circumference , and is not necessarily a perfect geometrical cylinder . cylinder 110 rotates about a central axis ( not shown , and well known in the art ) and has a plurality of chambers 112 , parallel to the central axis , and bored around the circumference . a preferred and suggested number of firing chambers 112 is six , although a different number may easily be used . the firing chambers 112 are each dimensioned and configured to receive one projectile , with the projectile positioned so that compressed air from the valve 88 will be positioned behind the projectile . the cylinder 110 also includes a plurality of flutes 114 around its circumference , with the flutes 114 located between the chambers 112 , and equal in number to the number of chambers 112 . a spring - biased bearing 116 preferably engages the flutes 114 to precisely align a chamber 112 of the cylinder 110 with the barrel 14 . the bearing 116 preferably has a radius larger than the radius of the flutes 114 , thereby facilitating more precise alignment . indexing of the cylinder 110 is controlled by movement of the bolt 38 . the bolt key 83 secures an operating rod 118 to the bolt 30 , so that as the bolt 38 reciprocates , the operating rod 118 will reciprocate with the bolt 38 . the operating rod 118 , shown in phantom for maximum clarity , defines an angled slot 120 along its bottom surface . a pawl assembly 122 is located directly behind the cylinder 110 . the pawl assembly 122 includes a pawl carrier 124 , having a spring - biased pawl 126 . the pawl carrier 124 includes a pin 128 , dimensioned and configured to fit within the angled slot 120 of the operating rod 118 . the pawl 126 includes a reloading tab 130 , and a cylinder - engaging end 132 having a pusher surface 134 and ramp surface 136 . the cylinder - engaging end 132 is biased into one of chambers 112 by the spring 138 . the magazine assembly 108 may also include a magazine tube 140 , aligned with one of the chambers 112 of the cylinder 110 . the magazine tube 140 is dimensioned and configured to contain a plurality of spherical projectiles . the magazine tube 140 includes a spring - biased follower 142 , and has a loading gate 144 at its forward end . in one preferred embodiment , the chamber 112 in the three o &# 39 ; clock position when viewed from the rear is aligned with the barrel 14 , and the chamber in the eleven o &# 39 ; clock position when viewed from the rear is aligned with the magazine tube 140 . additionally , in one preferred embodiment , the pawl 126 acts on the chambers in the eleven o &# 39 ; clock and one o &# 39 ; clock positions when viewed from the rear , as will be explained below . an alternative embodiment of a magazine assembly 108 is illustrated in fig1 . the cylinder 110 has been replaced by an elongated bar 146 , having a plurality of chambers 148 , indexing holes 150 , and flutes 152 along its bottom surface . at least one spring - biased bearing 116 engages a flute 152 to align the chambers 148 with the barrel 14 . a pair of slots 154 , 154 permit the rod 146 to be inserted into the rifle 10 by accommodating the pawl 126 . as will be seen below , indexing of the magazine 146 is very similar to the indexing of the cylinder 110 . referring to fig1 - 21 , the buffer system 158 is illustrated . a preferred buffer system 158 includes an air piston bolt driver 160 , a floating mass bolt driver 162 having a floating mass 164 therein , and a spring 166 disposed therebetween . the air piston bolt driver may preferably be made of two pieces , a forward portion 168 and rear portion 170 . the buffer system 158 is located directly behind the bolt 38 , and is housed within a buffer tube 172 within the shoulder stock 18 . depending on the length of the buffer tube 172 , the forward portion 168 of the air resistance bolt driver may either be attached or removed from the rear portion 170 of the air piston bolt driver 158 . referring to fig2 and 23 , an improved valve assembly 174 is illustrated . as before , this valve includes a housing 176 , a forward valve 178 , a rear valve 180 , and a spring therebetween 182 . the valve assembly 174 is a captive assembly , permitting easy disassembly and reassembly . the front valve 178 and rear valve 180 include mating male and female components 184 , 186 forming a telescoping spring guide . as before , moving the valve housing 176 forward with respect to the front valve 178 opens the front valve , and moving the rear valve 180 forward with respect to the housing 176 open the rear valve 180 . the spring 182 biases the rear valve 180 and housing 176 rearward , closing both valves . to use the rifle 10 , a gas cartridge 28 is first secured to the compressed gas channel 104 . at least one gas cartridge 28 must be used , and more than one may be used . if desired , a pressure gauge 30 may also be connected to the compressed gas channels 104 . the gas selected may be either compressed air , or any compressed gas commonly used for air guns . one example is carbon dioxide . next , projectiles are loaded into the magazine . if a rotary magazine or cylinder 110 is used , any projectile suitable for use in an air gun may be used , including spherical projectiles , conventional pellets , darts , etc . the cylinder 110 is loaded by first depressing the bearing 116 so that it does not block removal of the cylinder 110 , and then pushing forward on the reloading tab 130 , thereby retracting the pawls end 132 from the chamber . the cylinder 110 is now free to exit the rifle 10 . the projectiles are pushed into place through the front portion of the chambers , and secured with friction . after loading all six chambers , the cylinder 110 may be inserted back into place within the rifle 10 , after which the shooter re - engages the bearing 116 with the magazine flute 114 . if a tubular magazine is used , preferred projectiles include spherical projectiles . these may be loaded by first retracting the follower 142 using a finger tab secured to the follower ( not shown and well known in the art ), opening the loading gate 144 , and pouring spherical projectiles into the magazine tube . releasing the follower 102 will push the first spherical projectile into the chamber 112 aligned with the tubular magazine 140 . compressed air will be supplied from the compressed air container 28 , through the compressed air channels 104 and hose 102 to the center portion of the valve assembly 40 between the forward valve 88 and rear valve 90 . before firing , the trigger mechanism 36 , valve assembly 40 and bolt 38 are in the positions illustrated in fig4 . the bolts 38 , although biased forward by pressure from the spring 166 , is held in its rear position by the rear end 80 of the sear 74 engaging the notch 82 . pressure from the spring 75 holds the sear 74 in this position , forward pressure from the bolt 38 against the sear 74 pushes the sear towards its forwardmost position on the sliding pivots 76 . the trigger spring 44 holds the trigger 26 in its forwardmost position . the selector 46 may be rotated to the appropriate position , corresponding to safe , semi - automatic , or full automatic at a low or high cyclic rate . fig5 depicts the location of the parts when the trigger is pulled in semi - automatic mode . trigger 26 has been pulled rearward until the selector - engaging portion 50 engages the surface 58 of the selector 46 . the trigger bar 64 moves rearward , thereby pivoting the end 68 of the sear &# 39 ; s trip 66 upward so that the radiused surface 70 pushes the sear &# 39 ; s forward end 78 upward , thereby pivoting the sear &# 39 ; s back end 80 downward , releasing the bolt 38 to travel forward . during the forward travel of the bolt 38 , the operating rod 118 moves from the rearward position depicted in fig1 and 13 to the forward position depicted in fig9 and 14 . the pawl carrier 124 is thereby moved from its right side position of fig1 and 13 to its left side position of fig9 and 14 . the pawl &# 39 ; s end 132 is pushed out of the chamber 112 in the one o &# 39 ; clock position when viewed from the rear ( fig1 and 13 ) to the eleven o &# 39 ; clock position of fig9 and 14 , without rotating the cylinder 110 . when the bolt 38 reaches its forwardmost position , air pressure between the bolt 38 and valve housing 86 , enhanced by the o - rings 84 and 106 , causes the valve housing 86 to move forward , thereby opening the forward valve 88 . this releases compressed air to a position immediately behind the projectile in the chamber 112 aligned with the barrel 14 , thereby discharging the projectile . at the same time , the bolt 38 strikes the rear valve 90 , thereby moving the rear valve 90 forward to open the rear valve 90 , thereby releasing compressed air to the bolt 38 . the bolt 38 is thereby pushed to its rearward position as the pressure from the compressed air overcomes the bias of the spring 166 . at the same time , the operating rod 118 is pulled from its forward position of fig9 and 14 to its rearward position of fig1 and 13 . the pawl carrier 24 is thereby moved from its left most position to its right most position . as the pawl carrier 124 moves , the surface 134 of the pawl 126 engages the wall of a cylinder 112 , thereby pushing the cylinder 110 so that the next chamber 112 is aligned with the barrel 14 . the bearing 116 is briefly biased out of the flute 114 , engaging the next flute 114 once the appropriate 112 chamber is aligned with the barrel 14 . the above portion of the firing sequence , although based on semi - automatic fire , is identical for full automatic fire . the subsequent portion of the firing sequence changes depending on whether semi - automatic or full automatic fire is selected , and the rate of full automatic fire selected . [ 0066 ] fig6 depicts the location of the components after firing a shot in semi - automatic mode , with the trigger still depressed . the spring 75 has pulled the sear 74 to the rear , where the end 78 slips off the radiused surface 70 , permitting the sear to rotate so that the rear end 80 rotates upward . the bolt 38 is retracted to a position slightly behind the point where the notch 82 engages the sear 74 . as the bolt 38 returns forward under pressure from spring 166 , the notch 82 and sear 74 engage each other , thereby arresting forward travel of the bolt 38 . at this point , releasing the trigger 26 is necessary to fire another shot . [ 0067 ] fig7 depicts the position of the parts when the rifle 10 is discharged in full automatic mode at a slow rate of fire . in this mode of operation , the selector 46 is rotated so that the surface 60 engages the selector - engaging portion 50 of the trigger 26 . the trigger 26 is thereby permitted to move back farther than in semi - automatic mode . as before , gas pressure forces the bolt 38 back to a position slightly behind the point wherein it engages the sear 74 . the sear trip 66 is thereby rotated slightly higher , so that the lower radius 72 pushes upward on the front end 78 of the sear 74 . the sear is pulled towards its rear most position on the sliding pivot 76 by the spring 75 , and is thereby also pulled so that the rear end 80 of the sear 74 is rotated upward . as the bolt 38 returns forward under pressure from spring 166 , about { fraction ( 1 / 32 )} nd inch of the rear end 80 of the sear 74 catches the notch 82 of the bolt 38 . the floating mass 39 , which at this point will be located in the rear portion of the bolts 38 , has slowed the bolt 38 sufficiently so that it will momentarily catch on the sear 74 . when the bolt 38 engages the sear 74 , forward pressure applied to the sear 74 by the bolt 38 will cause the sear 74 to cam off the radiused surface 70 as it moves towards its forwardmost position on the sliding pivot 76 , rotating the sear 74 out of the path of the bolt 38 . the bolt 38 is then free to travel forward to discharge another shot . [ 0068 ] fig8 depicts the location of the parts if full automatic fire is selected . the selector 46 is rotated so that the selector - engaging portion 50 of the trigger 26 corresponds to the channel 62 within the selector 46 , permitting the trigger 26 to travel to its maximum rearward position . the sear trip 66 is thereby rotated to its maximum upward position , thereby rotating the sear 74 completely out of the way of the bolt 38 . when the bolt 38 travels rearward sufficiently for the spring 166 to overcome the air pressure from the valve 90 , there is nothing to impede the forward motion of the bolt . this results in a maximum cyclic rate . a typical cyclic rate for full automatic fire with the low cyclic rate is approximately 600 rounds per minute . a typical cyclic rate for a full automatic fire at a high cyclic rate is approximately 900 rounds per minute , approximately simulating the cyclic rate of an m - 16 rifle . upon reading the above description , it becomes obvious that a magazine 146 may be substituted for the cylinder 110 without changing the basic operation of the rifle 10 . as the bolt 38 travels forward , the pawl carrier 124 will move from right to left as before , indexing the pawl 126 from one indexing chamber 150 to the next indexing chamber 150 . as the bolt 38 travels rearward , the pawl carrier 124 will move from left to right as before , causing the pawl 126 to index the magazine 146 so that the next firing chamber 148 is aligned with the barrel 14 . as before , the bearings 116 will fit within the corresponding flutes 152 to align the chambers 148 precisely with the barrel 14 . the airgun 10 has two accuracy - enhancing features . the combination of the bearing 116 and smaller radius flutes 114 ensures that the chamber 112 of the cylinder 110 aligns with the barrel 14 so precisely that a forcing cone at the breech end of the barrel is not required . this provides a totally straight path for the projectile throughout the chamber 112 and barrel 14 . additionally , as compressed gas pressure from the container 28 decreases , the bolt 38 will push the valve 90 further inward as it strikes the valve 90 , thereby increasing the gas flow within the valve assembly 40 . this ensures that each projectile will have a substantially consistent velocity . therefore , the projectile will have a substantially consistent energy and trajectory . while a specific embodiment of the invention has been described in detail , it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various modifications and alternatives to those details could be developed in light of the overall teachings of the disclosure . accordingly , the particular arrangements disclosed are meant to be illustrative only and not limiting as to the scope of the invention which is to be given the full breadth of the appended claims and any and all equivalence thereof .	5
fig1 to 4 illustrate a biopsy marking apparatus 10 according to the invention , which is capable of the percutaneous placement of a radiopaque marker at the location of a tissue biopsy . the biopsy marking apparatus 10 comprises an introducer 12 and a radiopaque marker 14 ( fig2 ) contained within the introducer 12 . the introducer 12 includes a handle 16 having a hollow interior 18 . the handle 16 comprises a grip portion 20 from which extends a tapered nose portion 22 . the grip portion 20 defines a rear opening 24 that provides access to the hollow interior 18 . a pair of detents 26 are formed in the grip portion 20 near the rear opening 24 . channels 28 are formed on the interior surface of the grip portion 20 and extend from the rear opening 24 to the detents 26 . the nose portion 22 comprises a guide passage 30 extending from the tip of the nose portion 22 to the hollow interior 18 of the handle 16 . the guide passage 30 decreases in diameter inwardly from the tip of the nose portion to form a cannula seat 32 . alternatively , the diameter of the guide passage 30 may be substantially equal to or slightly smaller than the outer diameter of a cannula 34 , which in any case is press - fit within the cannula seat 32 . as is customary , the cannula is formed with a hollow interior 36 and a sharpened tip 38 . a stylet 40 comprising a shaft 42 and a base 44 is received within the hollow interior 18 of the handle 16 in a manner such that the shaft 42 extends through the guide passage 30 and into the cannula interior 36 and the stylet base lies within the hollow interior 18 . a plunger 50 comprises a cylindrical body 52 from which extend a pair of catches 54 at diametrically opposed positions . the cylindrical body 52 is sized so that it is slidably received within the rear opening 24 of the handle 16 , where it is so oriented with respect to the handle that the catches 54 are aligned with the guide channels 28 . it will be recognized that the foregoing construction provides a biopsy marking apparatus which may be preassembled as a unit and prepackaged , all under sterile conditions , thereby affording the practitioner substantially greater convenience and reliability . such a construction also permits use of a narrower cannula , which may be of 14 gauge or smaller . in operation , the introducer 12 begins in the ready condition shown in fig4 . in this condition , the stylet shaft is received within the cannula but does not extend to the cannula tip 38 , thereby forming a marker recess 46 within the cannula 34 , the radiopaque marker 14 is disposed within the marker recess 46 , and the plunger 50 is in a position relative to the handle 20 in which the catches are outside the handle ; that is , they are not received within the detents 26 . however , the plunger 50 is so oriented with respect to the handle that the catches 54 are aligned with the guide channels 28 . with the introducer in the ready condition , the cannula is positioned so that its tip is at or near the location of a tissue mass where a biopsy has been taken . preferably , the cannula tip is positioned by using imaging systems . the cannula tip 38 can be designed for enhanced visibility using common imaging systems , such as cat scan , ultrasonography and mammography . suitable cannula tips are disclosed in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 490 , 521 , issued feb . 13 , 1996 to r . e . davis and g . l . mclellan , which is incorporated by reference . ultrasound enhancement technology is also disclosed in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 401 , 124 , issued aug . 30 , 1983 to j . f . guess , d . r . dietz , and c . f . hottinger ; and u . s . pat . no . 4 , 582 , 061 , issued apr . 15 , 1986 to f . j . fry . once the cannula is positioned at the desired location , the plunger 50 is moved from its first or ready condition as illustrated in fig1 to 4 to a second or discharged condition in which the catches 54 are received within the detents 26 to lock the plunger 50 in the discharged condition and the stylet shaft extends beyond the cannula tip 38 . the catches 50 and detents combine to function as a latch for locking the plunger in the discharged condition . as the plunger 50 is moved from the ready condition to the discharged condition , the plunger 50 drives the stylet base 44 forward to advance the stylet shaft 42 within the cannula interior 36 . as the stylet shaft 42 is advanced , the radiopaque marker 14 is ejected from the marker recess 46 through the cannula tip 38 and into the tissue at the biopsy location . it is preferred that the stylet shaft 42 be sized in a manner such that when the plunger 50 is in the discharged condition the stylet shaft 42 extends beyond the cannula tip 38 to ensure the complete ejection of the radiopaque marker 14 from the marker recess 46 . the extension of the stylet shaft 42 beyond the cannula tip 38 also prevents the radiopaque marker 14 from being drawn back into the marker recess upon the removal of the introducer 12 from the tissue mass , which can occur as the tissue mass collapses and is drawn towards and into the cannula by the resilient nature of the tissue mass and the creation of a vacuum by the cannula as it is withdrawn from the tissue . the rate at which the plunger 50 is moved from the ready condition to the discharged condition is preferably manually controlled by the user to control the rate at which the marker 14 is ejected into the tissue mass . manual control of the ejection rate of the radiopaque marker provides the user with the ability to adjust the position of the cannula tip as the marker is being ejected and thereby permits additional control of the final location of the marker within the tissue mass . in other words , “ on - the - fly ” adjustment of the cannula tip during positioning of the marker 14 enables a more accurate placement of the marker . the biopsy marking apparatus 12 may be placed in a safety condition ( not shown ) before packaging or use by rotationally orienting the plunger 50 with respect to the handle 16 so that the catches 54 are out of alignment with the guide channels 28 , whereby the plunger cannot be depressed or advanced within the handle . it will be apparent that the marking apparatus can be placed in the ready condition previously described simply by rotating the plunger relative to the handle until the catches 54 are aligned with the guide channels 28 . it will also be apparent that the biopsy marking apparatus 10 may incorporate or be fitted with any one of several known trigger devices , some of them spring - loaded , for advancement of the plunger 50 . such a trigger device is disclosed , for example , in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 125 , 413 , issued jun . 30 , 1992 to g . w . baran . it should be noted that as a variation of the foregoing procedure the cannula employed during the biopsy procedure might be left in place with its tip remaining at the site of the lesion . the introducer 12 of the present invention would then be directed to the site through the biopsy cannula or , alternatively , the marker 14 of the present invention would be introduced to the biopsy cannula and ejected from its tip into the tissue mass by fitting the biopsy cannula to the introducer 12 in place of the cannula 34 . the radiopaque marker 14 used in combination with the introducer 12 to mark the location of the tissue biopsy should not only be readily visible using contemporary imaging techniques but it should not migrate within the tissue from the position in which it is initially placed . fig6 to 15 disclose various embodiments of radiopaque markers 14 that are highly visible using contemporary imaging techniques and are resistant to migration in the tissue . fig6 illustrates a first embodiment 60 of a radiopaque marker comprising a coil spring 62 from which extend radiopaque fibers 64 . the coil spring 62 is preferably made from platinum or any other material not rejected by the body . the coil spring 62 is wound to effectively form a hollow interior comprising one or more air pockets , which are highly visible using contemporary ultrasound imaging techniques . the radiopaque fibers 64 are preferably made from dacron , which is also highly visible using current imaging techniques . the radiopaque marker 60 is highly visible using any of the commonly employed contemporary imagining techniques because of the combination of reflective surfaces formed by the coils , the hollow interior and the air pockets of the coil spring 62 , as well as the radiopaque fibers 64 . the coil spring 62 is pre - shaped prior to being loaded into the marker recess 46 so that it tends to form a circular shape as shown in fig6 after it is ejected from the marker recess 46 . the circular shape tends to resist migration within the tissue . fig7 illustrates a second embodiment 70 of a radiopaque marker having a star - burst configuration comprising a core 72 with multiple fingers 74 extending from the core . fig8 illustrates a third embodiment 80 of a radiopaque marker that is similar to the star - burst marker 70 in that it comprises a core 82 from which extend three fingers 84 . each of the fingers includes radiopaque fibers 86 , which are preferably made from dacron or a similar material . fig9 illustrates a fourth embodiment 90 of a radiopaque marker having a generally y - shaped configuration comprising an arm 92 from which extend diverging fingers 94 . the arm and fingers 92 , 94 are preferably made from a suitable resilient metal such that the fingers can be compressed towards each other and the entire radiopaque marker 90 stored within the marker recess 46 of the cannula . upon ejection of the marker 90 from the marker recess 46 into the tissue mass , the fingers 94 will spring outwardly to provide the marker 90 with an effectively greater cross - sectional area . in addition to providing the marker 90 with an effectively greater cross - sectional area , the tips of the fingers 94 , together with the free end of the arm 92 , effectively form points of contact with the surrounding tissue mass that help to anchor the marker 90 in its release condition to prevent migration through the tissue mass . fig1 illustrates a fifth embodiment 100 of a radiopaque marker having a wire - form body in a horseshoe - like configuration comprising a rounded bight portion 102 from which extend inwardly tapering legs 104 , each of which terminate in curved tips 106 . the entire marker 100 preferably has a circular cross section defining a hollow interior 108 . the hollow interior provides for the trapping of air within the marker 100 to improve the ultrasound characteristics of the marker 100 . the curved bight portion 102 and legs 104 preferably lie in a common plane . however , the tips 106 extend away from the legs 104 and out of the common plane so that the tips 106 will better function as anchors for the tissue that prolapses about the tips 106 once the marker 100 is ejected from the marker recess 46 and the introducer 12 is withdrawn from the tissue mass . fig1 illustrates a sixth embodiment 110 of a radiopaque marker that is similar to the horseshoe - like fifth embodiment marker 100 in that it comprises a bight portion 112 from which extend legs 114 , which terminate in tips 116 . the legs 114 of the marker 110 are crossed relative to each other , unlike the legs of the marker 100 , providing the marker 110 with an effectively larger cross - sectional diameter . the tips 116 are oriented at approximately 90 ° relative to the legs 114 to form anchors . the marker 110 also has a hollow interior 118 for enhanced radiopaque characteristics . though , as illustrated in fig1 , the tips 116 of the marker 110 are oriented at approximately 90 ° with respect to the legs 114 , it is within the scope of the invention for the tips 116 to extend at substantially any angle with respect to the legs 114 . the tips 116 also need not extend away from the legs in the same direction . for example , the tips 116 could extend in opposite directions from the legs 114 . fig1 illustrates a seventh embodiment 120 of a radiopaque marker having a generally helical configuration comprising multiple coils 122 of continuously decreasing radius . the helical marker 120 is preferably made from a radiopaque material and has a hollow interior 124 to enhance its radiopaque characteristics . the decreasing radius of the coils 122 provides the marker 120 with multiple anchor points created by the change in the effective cross - sectional diameter along the axis of the helix . in other words , since the effective cross - sectional diameter of each coil is different from the next and each coil is effectively spaced from adjacent coils at the same diametric location on the helix , the tissue surrounding the marker 120 can prolapse between the spaced coils and each coil effectively provides an anchor point against the tissue to hold the marker 120 in position and prevent its migration through the tissue mass . fig1 illustrates an eighth embodiment 130 of a radiopaque marker comprising a cylindrical body 132 in which are formed a series of axially spaced circumferential grooves 134 . the spaced grooves 134 form a series of ridges 136 therebetween on the outer surface of the cylindrical body 132 . the cylindrical body 132 preferably includes a hollow interior 138 . the alternating and spaced ridges 136 and grooves 134 provide the marker 130 with a repeating diameter change along the longitudinal axis of the cylindrical body 132 . as with the helical marker 120 , the grooves 134 between the ridges 136 provide an area in which the tissue surrounding the marker 130 can prolapse thereby enveloping the ridges 136 , which function as anchors for preventing the migration of the marker 130 in the tissue mass . fig1 illustrates a ninth embodiment 140 of a radiopaque marker comprising a cylindrical body 142 having an axial series of circumferential grooves 144 whose intersections with adjacent grooves form ridges 146 . the cylindrical body 142 preferably includes a hollow interior 148 . an anchor 150 extends from the cylindrical body 142 . the anchor 150 comprises a plate 152 connected to the cylindrical body 142 by a wire 154 . the grooves 144 and ridges 146 of the maker 140 provide anchors in the same manner as the grooves 134 and ridges 136 of the marker 130 . the anchor 150 further enhances the non - migrating characteristics of the marker 140 by permitting a large portion of the surrounding tissue mass to prolapse between the plate 150 and the cylindrical body 142 . the fifth through the ninth embodiments all preferably have a wire - form body . the various wire - form body shapes can be formed by stamping the shape from metal stock or the bending of a wire . it should be noted that virtually all of the embodiments of the radiopaque marker described as being hollow can be made without a hollow interior . similarly , those without a hollow interior can be made with a hollow interior . the hollow interior improves the ultrasound characteristics of the particular marker beyond the inherent radiopaque and ultrasound characteristics attributable to the marker shape and material . in practice , the use of the hollow interior is limited more by manufacturing and cost considerations rather than by performance . also , the shape of each marker can be altered to improve or enhance its non - migrating characteristics by adding an express anchor such as that disclosed in connection with the marker 140 or by modifying the marker to provide more anchor points as may be compatible with the basic configuration of the marker . the combination of the enhanced radiopaque characteristics of the markers and the enhanced non - migrating features result in markers that are superior in use for identifying biopsy location after completion of the biopsy . the ability to accurately locate the biopsy site greatly reduces the amount of tissue that must be removed in a subsequent surgical procedure if the biopsy is cancerous . additionally , the marker further enhances the ability to use percutaneous methods for removing the entire lesion , reducing the trauma associated with more radical surgical techniques . the radiopaque markers described and illustrated herein are smaller than the staple - type clip and embolization coil used heretofore , thereby permitting a cannula of 14 gauge or less . while the invention has been specifically described in connection with certain specific embodiments thereof , it is to be understood that this is by way of illustration and not of limitation , and the scope of the appended claims should be construed as broadly as the prior art will permit .	0
in fig2 a and 2b , a first package 30 having a composite material base 32 is shown in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure . fig2 a is a top down view of the first package 30 having the composite material base 32 on a semiconductor die 34 . fig2 b is a cross - sectional view of the first package 30 taken through 2 b - 2 b . the first package 30 has the semiconductor die 34 positioned on a first surface 33 of the composite material base 32 . the semiconductor die includes an electronic circuit ( not shown ) for performing a desired function . in one embodiment the composite material base 32 is in the range of 20 μm and 400 μm in thickness . in some devices , such as mobile devices , the composite material base 32 may be in a more narrow range of thickness between 50 μm and 150 μm , depending on the size constraints of the mobile device . in one embodiment of the first package 30 , the composite material base 32 is 200 mm by 200 mm square as shown in fig2 a . in another embodiment of the package 30 , the composite material base 32 is 300 mm by 400 mm . during the packaging process , a 12 inch by 12 inch square of the composite material base 32 may be used for an array of die 34 before singulation . an adhesive layer 84 , such as a double - sided adhesive tape , attaches the die 34 to the composite material base 32 . the die 34 includes a first surface 39 and a set of electrical contacts 85 , positioned on the bottom surface , which are connected to the electronic circuit of the die . a dielectric encapsulation layer 36 laterally surrounds the die and contacts sidewalls 35 of the die 34 . a dielectric redistribution layer 38 is on the first surface 39 of the die 34 . the first surface 39 of the die 34 is substantially coplanar with a first surface 48 of the encapsulation layer 36 . a passivation layer 40 is on a bottom surface of the redistribution layer 38 such that the redistribution layer is between the die 34 and the passivation layer 40 . a plurality of conductive first contacts 41 are positioned between the bottom surface of the redistribution layer 38 and the passivation layer 40 . a plurality of first interconnections 37 extend completely through the redistribution layer 38 and electrically couple the contacts 85 of the die 34 to the first contacts 41 . a plurality of openings 42 extend through the passivation layer 40 in positions immediately adjacent to the first contacts 41 . a plurality of solder balls 43 of a ball grid array 44 extend into the openings 42 and directly contact the first contacts 41 . the solder balls 43 provide an electrical interface between the die 34 , via the die contacts 85 , first interconnections 37 , and first contacts 41 , and external circuits of the device to which the first package 30 is to be connected . fig3 is a cross - sectional view of the composite material base 32 which has a plurality of fiber bundles 76 that are woven together . some of the bundles 76 , such as bundle 76 a and bundle 76 b are adjacent to each other and extend in and out of fig3 . other bundles , such as bundle 76 c , are transverse to bundles 76 a and 76 b and extend left to right in fig3 . each bundle alternates over and under adjacent transverse bundles . for example , bundle 76 c is over bundle 76 d , under bundle 76 a , over bundle 76 b , and under bundle 76 e . each bundle 76 includes a plurality of fibers 78 or strands of flexible resilient material . in one embodiment , the fibers are elongated fiberglass strands . fig3 shows eleven fibers 78 per bundle , however the number of fibers 78 is illustrative and any number of fibers 78 may be utilized to achieve the composite material having the desired qualities . the bundles 76 are encased in a support material 82 that makes the composite material base 32 rigid enough to support the plurality of die 34 during the packaging process . the support material 82 may be a polymer or other material sufficient to bind the fibers 78 of the bundles 76 in the woven pattern . the support material 82 may be applied to the fiber bundles 76 in a liquid form so that the support material 82 fills in spaces between the woven bundles . alternatively , the woven bundles 76 of fibers 78 are placed between two polymer sheets and heated to form the support material . in one embodiment , the heat causes the polymer sheets to flow between the fibers 78 and bond to each other to form the support material 82 . in another embodiment , the polymer sheets form a laminate of the support material over the bundles of fibers . once solidified , the support material 82 is not brittle , which minimizes the risk of cracking during the packaging . fig4 is a top down view of the composite material base 32 having the plurality of fibers 78 arranged in the plurality of bundles 76 . the over and under woven pattern forms a strong yet flexible material for supporting the plurality of die 34 . the composite material base 32 has moderate flexibility under deflection without risk of catastrophic failure due to a tensile strength of the woven bundles 76 of fibers 78 . in one embodiment , the fibers 78 are flame resistant woven fiberglass cloth and the support material is a flame resistant epoxy resin binder , such as an fr - 4 grade reinforced glass epoxy laminate sheet having the woven bundles of fibers . fr - 4 grade is a high - pressure thermoset plastic laminate with good mechanical strength - to - weight ratios that maintains its mechanical qualities in dry and humid conditions . fiberglass has high tensile strength with flexibility . fig5 a - 5e show steps in a method of making the first package 30 on the composite material base 32 in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure . in fig5 a , the plurality of dies 34 are placed on the first surface 33 of the composite material base 32 using the adhesive layers 84 . in one embodiment , each adhesive layer 84 is first attached to the corresponding semiconductor die 34 and then the die 34 and the adhesive layer 84 are attached as a unit to the composite material base 32 . in another embodiment the adhesive layers 84 are attached to the composite material base 32 and the semiconductor dies 34 are positioned on the respective adhesive layers 84 . the dies 34 may be placed on the composite material base 32 manually or by an automated process . in fig5 b , the encapsulation layer 36 is formed adjacent to the sides 35 of the die 34 . in one embodiment the encapsulation layer 36 is a curable photosensitive material that is deposited on the first surface 33 of the composite base material 32 . the encapsulation layer 36 has the first surface 48 that is substantially coplanar with the first surface 39 of the die 34 . in one embodiment , the first surface 48 of the encapsulation layer 36 is planarized to be coplanar with the first surface 39 of the die 34 . in fig5 c , the redistribution layer 38 is formed on the first surface 39 of the die 34 and the first surface 48 of the encapsulation layer 36 . the redistribution layer 38 is an insulating layer through which a plurality of vias are formed and filled with conductive material to form the first interconnections 37 . subsequently , a metal layer is formed over the redistribution layer 38 and etched to form the plurality of first contacts 41 . in an alternative embodiment , the redistribution layer 38 is etched to form recesses in which a conductive material is formed to form the first contacts 41 . the passivation layer 40 is formed on the first contacts 41 and the redistribution layer 38 . the plurality of openings 42 are formed through the passivation layer 40 to expose a surface 45 of the first contacts 41 . in one embodiment , the passivation layer 40 may be a plurality of passivation layers or insulating layers . in another embodiment , the redistribution layer 38 may be a plurality of layers . fig5 d includes the plurality of solder balls 43 of the ball grid arrays 44 formed in the openings 42 through the passivation layer 40 . each solder ball 43 electrically connects to one of the plurality of first contacts 41 , which couples the solder balls 43 to the die 34 . in fig5 e , the overall structure formed on the base material 32 is singulated into the plurality of packages 30 . singulation may be achieved by placing a cut 92 through the layers of the overall structure with a saw , a water jet tool , laser tool , or other methods of separating the individual packages 30 . fig6 a is a top down view of a second package 52 having the composite material base 32 . the second package 52 is similar to the first package 30 , but includes a buried electrically conductive layer 54 positioned between the encapsulation layer 36 and the composite material base 32 . the buried electrically conductive layer 54 may be patterned in a number of alternative embodiments to include one or more conductive traces , electrical connection pads , and electrical circuitry . in one embodiment of the present disclosure the buried layer 54 is copper . fig6 b is a cross - sectional view of the second package 52 in fig6 a , taken through 6 b - 6 b . the second package 52 also includes a plurality of vias filled with electrically conductive material to form second interconnections 56 that extend through the encapsulation layer 36 and the redistribution layer 38 . the second interconnections 56 electrically connect the buried electrically conductive layer 54 to the solder balls 43 via the first contacts 41 . the buried electrically conductive layer 54 provides in the second package 52 a second layer of electrical circuitry , in addition to the circuitry of the redistribution layer 38 . the second layer of circuitry provides the opportunity to increase the circuit density of the package and therefore make the second package 52 smaller than other packages . fig7 a - 7f show a method of making the second package 52 having the composite material base 32 and the buried electrical conductive layer 54 . in fig7 a , a conductive layer is formed on the first surface 33 of the base 32 . the conductive layer is patterned to form the buried electrically conductive layer 54 , which may include a plurality of pads , traces , or other circuit features . the semiconductor die 34 is attached to the two - sided adhesive 84 , which is attached to a surface of the buried electrically conductive layer 54 . in fig7 b , the encapsulation layer 36 is formed on the buried electrically conductive layer 54 and adjacent the sidewalls 35 of the die 34 . the encapsulation layer 36 surrounds the sidewalls 35 of the semiconductor die and , as in fig5 b , the first surface 48 of the encapsulation layer 36 is coplanar with the first surface 39 of the die 34 . a plurality of through silicon vias ( tsv ) 57 are formed through the encapsulation layer 36 , thereby re - exposing surface portions 59 of the buried conductive layer 54 . in fig7 c , a conductive material is formed in the plurality of tsvs 57 to form second interconnections 56 . in fig7 d , the redistribution layer is formed on the first surface 48 of the encapsulation layer 36 and the first surface 39 of the die 34 . the plurality of first interconnections 37 are formed through the redistribution layer to couple to the die 34 and to the second interconnections 56 . the plurality of first contacts 41 are formed on the redistribution layer 38 and couple to the first interconnections 37 . the second interconnections 56 connect the buried conductive layer 54 to the first contacts 41 and in some cases to the die 34 . this arrangement allows coupling another die or electrical device to the second package 52 . this will be described in more detail below . subsequently , the passivation layer 40 is formed over the first contacts 41 and the redistribution layer 38 . the plurality of openings 42 are formed to re - expose surface portions 45 of the first contacts 41 . in fig7 e , the plurality of solder balls 43 of the ball grid arrays 44 are formed in the openings 42 in the passivation layer 40 . the solder balls 43 electrically connect to the first contacts 41 , which connects the solder balls 43 to the buried layer 54 . in fig7 f , the overall structure formed on the base material 32 is singulated into the plurality of second packages 52 by forming cuts 92 . in fig8 a and 8b , a third package 58 having the composite material base 32 is shown in accordance with yet another embodiment of the disclosure . fig8 a is a top down view of the composite material base 32 over the die 34 and over a plurality of second contacts 60 formed on a second surface 62 of the composite material base 32 . at least some of the second contacts 60 may be electrically connected to each other by conductive traces 65 . fig8 b is a cross - sectional view of the third package 58 taken through 8 b - 8 b . a second plurality of vias formed through the base 32 are filled with electrically conductive material to form third interconnections 64 . the third interconnections 64 connect the second contacts 60 to the buried electrically conductive layer 54 . the second contacts 60 provide yet another opportunity to increase the circuit density of the package 58 . fig9 a - 9c are cross - sectional views of steps in a method of forming the second contacts 60 on the third package 58 . fig9 a is the composite material base 32 of fig7 e flipped over so that the second surface 62 is available for processing . the composite material base 32 is flipped prior to the singulation step in fig7 f . in fig9 b , a plurality of vias 67 are formed through the composite material base 32 from the second surface 62 to re - expose a surface 69 of the buried conductive layer 54 . the plurality of vias 67 may be formed by laser drilling or other via formation techniques . in fig9 c , the plurality of vias 67 are filled with conductive material to form the third interconnections 64 . the conductive material may be formed by plating techniques . after forming the conductive material in the vias 67 , some excess conductive material may remain on the second surface 62 of the base 32 . a planarization step may be used to make the conductive material of the third interconnections 64 coplanar with the second surface 62 . the plurality of second contacts 60 are formed over the second surface 62 and over the third interconnections 64 . the contacts 60 maybe coupled to traces 65 , as shown in fig8 a . the traces 65 may be etched from the same layer of conductive material used to form the contacts 60 . some of the contacts 60 are electrically coupled to the die 34 through the second interconnections 56 and the first contacts 41 . a second passivation layer 61 is formed over the second contacts 60 . a plurality of openings 63 are formed through the second passivation layer 61 to re - expose a surface 73 of the second contacts 60 . the contacts 60 may be configured to receive wire bonds for connecting the third package 58 with other electronic components . the overall structure of fig9 c is singulated between the dies 34 to form the third packages 58 . in an alternative embodiment , further processing is performed before singulation . this is described in more detail below with respect to fig1 a - 10b and 11 a - 11 b . in fig1 a and 10b , a fourth package 66 having the composite material base 32 is shown in accordance with still another embodiment of the disclosure . fig1 a is a top down view of the fourth package 66 having a fifth package 70 and a sixth package 72 coupled to the second contacts 60 . the plurality of second contacts 60 are arranged to align with the solder balls 43 of the fifth and sixth packages 70 , 72 . fig1 b is a cross - sectional view of the fourth package 66 of fig1 a taken through 10 b - 10 b . the fifth and sixth packages 70 , 72 are positioned over the second passivation layer 61 . in one embodiment , a gap 71 of air remains between the second passivation layer 61 and the fifth and sixth packages 70 , 72 . the solder balls 43 of the fifth and sixth packages 70 , 72 couple to the third interconnections 64 which may couple to the die 34 . this enables electrical communication between the semiconductor die 34 and the fifth and sixth packages 70 , 72 , which are all supported by the composite material base 32 . the embodiment of the fourth package 66 enables multichip module ( mom ) packaging at yet an even higher level of circuit densification and therefore compact package size . fig1 a and 11b are steps in the method of forming the fourth package 66 having its die 34 electrically connected to dies in the fifth and sixth packages 70 , 72 . the strength of the composite material base 32 is sufficient to support the plurality of packages , while allowing for sufficient flexibility in various operating environments . fig1 a is the composite material base 32 of fig9 c having the second passivation layer 61 with openings 63 exposing the surface 73 of the second contacts 60 . the fifth and sixth packages 70 and 72 each include a die and electrical connections ( not shown ) that couple to the plurality of solder balls 43 . the fifth and sixth packages 70 , 72 may be manually positioned or placed with a robotic arm . in fig1 b , the overall structure is singulated into the fourth , fifth , and sixth packages 66 , 70 , 72 by making a plurality of cuts 92 . in one embodiment , the buried electrical conductive layer 54 is an electromagnetic interference ( emi ) shield buried within the packages . in another embodiment , the composite material base 32 has a coefficient of thermal expansion selected to match at least one of the encapsulation layer 36 and the die 34 . these and other changes can be made to the embodiments in light of the above - detailed description . in general , in the following claims , the terms used should not be construed to limit the claims to the specific embodiments disclosed in the specification and the claims , but should be construed to include all possible embodiments along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled . accordingly , the claims are not limited by the disclosure .	7
an embodiment of the present invention discloses a method to provide a financial transaction due diligence convergence platform comprising the steps of : validating users &# 39 ; credentials ; validating permissions based upon the type of transaction and the role of the users ; validating rules based upon the transaction profile and status ; creating a workspace template for transaction ; delivering the template to the users . the following paragraphs generally outline the steps above using a loan transaction as one example of many financial transactions contemplated by the present invention . validate user credentials including assigned account . a user is granted access to the system only after the user submits their credentials and their credentials are validated . typically this includes the user &# 39 ; s code , password , and account identifier . the common “ logon ” screen is such a mechanism . in the examples below a user may represent multiple roles . thus a single user , although unlikely , may work a loan application through the complete loan process . validate permissions based upon account , role , and user . the permissions for all interaction between the user and the system if configured by the user &# 39 ; s administrator . loan content is displayed if the user has permission to view the loan content . menu access and screen navigation is visible and enabled only if the user has permission to access these features . information updates and services are available only if the user has permission to perform these features . validate rules based upon loan profile and status . industry and client specific business rules are applied to a loan &# 39 ; s profile and a loan &# 39 ; s work flow “ migration ” path . this is typically called business logic and is defined and managed within the system . each role has a subset of control over how the system applies the business rules to the processing of individual loans , loan types or by location / work group . after the user successfully logs onto the system a workspace is opened for the user . the user is presented with a workspace that provides the most appropriate environment to the user to perform the required work needed to fund the loan . a user can preset personal workspace options , default input tables and features . new workspaces can be configured by the client . all appropriate aspects of a loan are visible in each of the workspaces . after a loan application is imported or created in the system , its interaction with the users can be configured by loan managers . this configuration includes : users which have access to the loan ; user &# 39 ; s permissions of interaction with the loan ; migration path between accounts and users . as a loan application is worked it migrates from account to account , user to user , production stage to production stage ; and , requirements for the loan &# 39 ; s conditions , tasks , documents , certificates , and other matters as needed . delivering the workspace templates to users . after the user successfully logs onto the system a workspace is opened for the user . the user is presented with a workspace that provides the most appropriate environment to the user to perform the required work needed to fund the loan . a user can preset personal workspace options , default input tables and features . new workspaces can be configured by the users . all appropriate aspects of a loan are visible in each of the workspaces . workspace templates are selected from a group comprising of , but not limited to , loan services , underwriting services , lender services , real estate services , investor services , document management services , integrated services , and audit services . see fig2 . the loan officer consults a borrower for a mortgage loan program . after the loan program is selected the loan officer enters the borrower and property information into the loan application electronic form . the loan officer prints facsimile cover sheets that direct the borrower for which documents to fax into the system and its fax phone number . the officer submits the loan application to processing . the next available loan processor selects the new loan application and chooses to work the loan application . an “ underwriting response ” of the loan can be requested from one of the major gse companies , freddie mac / fannie mae . the loan processor faxes the initial disclosures with facsimile cover sheet to the borrower . the loan officer is automatically notified to call the borrower for disclosure consultation . the borrower signs and faxes the disclosures into the system . the loan processor uses the electronic “ to do ” list and begins to resolve the loan &# 39 ; s conditions as stated in the “ underwriting response ” and predefined business rules . the loan processor request reports and services . the system electronically orders the requested the reports and services from the appropriate entities . the processor verifies the faxed document &# 39 ; s content matches their auto assigned classification and the document &# 39 ; s corresponding values prove the loan applicant &# 39 ; s statements are factual . a login user is created for the borrower . the processor submits the resolved loan application to their manger or underwriter . the loan processor &# 39 ; s manager is notified of the new loan application for approval . the manager reviews the loan application . once approved the loan is submitted to underwriting . a manager may or may not be included in a loan &# 39 ; s process . the client uses the system workflow manager to configure loan routing . this process involved no hard copies or couriers and required no verbal interaction between employees working on the loan . each employee can reside anywhere their computer can communicate with the internet . a “ running ” commentary for the loan is managed in an electronic forum . all responsible parties can view the loan &# 39 ; s status and timeline in real time electronically . the system monitors the loan and alert / messages are triggered for circumstances that should be addressed or reported . this example of the present invention contemplates that loan services include the following functionalities : 1 . origination . the loan application is electronically created on the system . this can be performed using an on - line form or an edi interface with an external system . initial fiscal and demographic borrower details are entered and selected . work flow tasks , conditions , events , and timelines are established . the upfront disclosures are made ready for signature and then signed . 2 . processing . work flow tasks , conditions , events , and timelines are established upon the origination of a loan . the loan program and lender &# 39 ; s product is selected . the disclosures are made ready for signature and then signed . the automated underwriting response is performed . processing is complete when the loan is ready to be submitted to the underwriter . 3 . workflow management . work flow of a loan and its workers is managed and maintained by the system . the work flow is configured by managers and / or administrators . examples of loan work flow include loan file routing , automated decisions and condition resolution , work flow profile at the loan level , required acknowledgments , and manager approvals . well configured work flow parameters stream line the loan process reducing processing effort and time . 4 . condition resolution . the automated underwriting response establishes the required conditions to be resolved and / or documented . industry and client specific business rules are also used to establish required conditions . the resulting loan condition list is typically resolved when processors provide documents of proof and / or visual verifications . 5 . task lists . program and lender &# 39 ; s product types determine a loan &# 39 ; s required tasks . industry and client specific business rules are also used to determine required tasks . the processor typically performs these tasks . 6 . comments / forums . while working a loan , user &# 39 ; s comments are managed in an electronic forum . comments are messages sent to other users who have access to the loan . the comment display with a timestamp of its creation . comments can be marked with restrictive access . comments marked with restrictive access are accessible only in the loan processing workspaces . the underwriter and lender workspaces will not be able to access restricted comments . 7 . custom publishing driven by underwriter options . each underwriter requires a specific subset of loan documents , disclosures , and reports . each underwriter also requires these documents to be “ stacked ” in a specific order . as a loan is published or routed to an underwriter , the system will automate the building of a loan package with the underwriter &# 39 ; s specified content and stacking order . 8 . publishing . loan publishing is used to deliver a loan package to external systems while preserving the loan &# 39 ; s original content and image as best is possible . the output format of the loan package varies according to the media being used to deliver the loan package . the system is able to publish in many different presentations forms and media formats . publishing differs from external interface services . publishing a loan package usually involves the complete loan as a whole unit . while external interfaces usually involves a subset of one or more loan packages and or documents . a loan may be published as a pdf or xml document , sent to a facsimile machine , or transmitted by secure internet communications like ssl e - mail . it may also be exported into a file formatted to a client &# 39 ; s specifications . the pdf format is also viewable on - line and supports local printing . 9 . multiple automated underwriting . one or more underwriting responses are displayed for each loan . a processor will typically only work the underwriting response that suggests the easiest path to funding . the user determines which underwriting response to work by activating a single response . each response contains its own work flow tasks , conditions , events , and timelines . the system calculates the percentage of success for each underwriting response . the user can use this information when choosing which underwriting response on a loan to work . 10 . loan package archival . the loan package is available for archiving after automated underwriting . the loan package can be tamper sealed . the loan package is stored on media appropriate for archiving at redundant , remote locations . the loan package is available for retrieval for purposes of viewing and restoring working data . the loan package is stored in data format that can be translated to newer / other data formats . thus the loan packaged data is secured and preserved in time and guaranteed to be restorable in future versions of data formats . 11 . rules based alerts & amp ; notifications . the status of a loan application changes as it is worked . the status changes are monitored by automated systems . the automated systems are configured to deliver messages when they are triggered by the status changes . automated alerts or notification messages of loan events for individual loans , all loans in an account , or select loans or groups of loans matching customized criteria can be delivered to one or more recipients via email , fax , or both . client specific configurations create unique criteria for each trigger . this feature is to be used as an internal management and communication tool with loan customers and external entities or persons . 12 . time lines . loan applications usually expire within a specified frame of time . rate locks and loan product features are examples of loan elements that are bound to time frames . thus it is critical that the loan processor be made aware of these time frames and warned of their expiration . each workspace contains visible controls that indicate the appropriate time lines on any given loan . 13 . tracking of external loan events — manual or synchronized to external systems . the system is informed of external events that influence a loan &# 39 ; s time line by automated electronic synchronizations or by the user manually updating the system with events , dates , or status changes . a manual update includes a user setting indicators and / or dates in the system . this manual update may be related to loan processing transactions that have occurred outside of or external to our system . the external system may have not communicated electronically with our system . since the user has knowledge of the transaction , it is acceptable that the user manually update our system of the transaction event . an automatic update includes an external system informing our system of a loan processing transaction that occurred outside of or external to our system . if the external system has knowledge of the transaction , it is acceptable that the external system automatically communicate electronically update our system of the transaction event . 14 . automated work assignments / load balancing / condition alerts . work assignments are managed and configurable by management . as a loan officer &# 39 ; s work load reaches its maximum work level , new loans are deferred to the next available user . condition criteria can be defined by management . when these conditions are found during routine automated query analysis , electronic alerts are sent to the appropriate , configured manager or resources . management actively participates in resolving work flow or production issues . 15 . accurate production metrics . loan transactions / movements are accurately recorded where production reports can be reviewed . as loan applications are funded , the institutions involved in the loan &# 39 ; s processing are notified of it completion . the system does not promote misrepresented productivity . see fig5 . the underwriter is automatically notified of new loan packages ready for underwriting . the underwriter reviews the loan package . the loan officer decides to counter the loan offer , suspend the process with further conditions , deny the loan out right , or accept the loan as is . if accepted the loan is submitted to the lender for funding . underwriter services include the following : 1 . underwriter decisions . underwriting decisions include accept , counter , suspend and denial of loan applications . when an underwriter decides to counter , suspend or deny a loan application , comments or clarification is entered by the underwriter and passed back to the appropriate loan processing member or institution . 2 . custom publishing driven by lender options . each lender requires a specific subset of loan documents , disclosures , and reports . each lender also requires these documents to be “ stacked ” in a specific order . as a loan is published or routed to a lender , the system will automate the building of a loan package with the lender &# 39 ; s specified content and stacking order . 3 . underwriter forum . comments and notes can be segregated where only the underwriter workspaces can access the forum . all normal forum features are supported as well . 4 . fraud screens . loans are electronically validated for authenticity and accuracy before funding is considered by the lender party . client specific business rules and / or external third party tools and components can be applied to the fraud evaluation . all of the above “ loan services ”, in example 1 , can apply to the underwriter &# 39 ; s workspace . conditions , tasks , documents , events and time lines are adjusted where appropriate . the lender is automatically notified of new loan packages ready for funding . the lender reviews the loan package . the lender uses the electronic “ to do ” list and begins to resolve the loan &# 39 ; s conditions that need to be satisfied before documents are drawn . after which the documents are ordered and drawn up . the underwriter uses the electronic “ to do ” list and begins to resolve the loan &# 39 ; s conditions that need to be satisfied before funding is initiated . after which the loan packaged is funded . the underwriter uses the electronic “ to do ” list and begins to resolve the loan &# 39 ; s conditions that need to be satisfied before the loan is finally closed . after which the closing documents are ordered and a check is signed . lender services include the following : lender decisions . a lender has the same opportunity to make the same decisions as the underwriter makes . ( an underwriter is usually a representative of a lender &# 39 ; s office .) custom publishing . each investor requires a specific subset of loan documents , disclosures , and reports . each investor also requires these documents to be “ stacked ” in a specific order . as a loan is published or routed to an investor , the system will automate the building of a loan package with the investor &# 39 ; s specified content and stacking order . electronic vault service . an electronic vault service provides secure and reliable online data backup and recovery services . loan packages are backed up and moved off - site to a secure facility . if data loss or catastrophe should strike , rapid and accurate restoration is performed to return the system back to a complete state . lender forum . comments and notes can be segregated where only the lender workspaces can access the forum . all normal forum features are supported as well . all of the above “ loan services ” in example 1 can apply to the lender &# 39 ; s workspace . conditions , tasks , documents , events and time lines are adjusted where appropriate . the paper trail of a completed loan package can be extensive and several inches thick . the system reduces the hard copies and shipping costs . loan disclosures and supporting documents such as the tax forms and employment papers can all be faxed into the system . with electronic signatures the borrower no longer needs to sign a physical piece of paper . this can be performed over the internet or a “ signing kiosk ”. the system supports the facsimile and can be used to import any existing hard copy document into a loan package . all documents received with corresponding white sheets are automatically indexed appropriate loan files . when documents are indexed to a loan , automated condition resolution is performed . the loan processor needs only to visually verify the documents for authenticity and correctness . where appropriate electronic documents can be optically scanned for required field values ( these values are used as input for automated form completion ). using computer scanner devices and web browser , an imaging workstation can be created to provide a high speed document imaging processing station . this provides a highly adaptive environment with increased production and reduction of costs and time . for a correctly configured environment and fundable loan application and underwriting response , a loan processor can literally refresh his browser screen and watch a loan complete itself . since all documents are electronic the cost for storage space is removed . document management services may also include : automated document indexing of facsimile and scanned documents ; import document files ; upload documents into a loan &# 39 ; s work folder via a secure link or facsimile ; loan condition and task assignments ; marking documents as associated to a loan stage or as a supporting document ; if the document is supporting loan conditions , then automatically assign the document to one or more conditions or tasks found on the loan ; identification or classification ; split , merge and group documents ; and publishing or communicating documents . during the loan process numerous services need to be requested and documents filed for retrieval that include but are not limited to home owner insurance , pest inspection , house appraisal , entitlement , and insurance certificate copies . with proper relations and connections , these services and fillings can be performed at the click of a button . since the documents and service reports are received as electronic documents , the “ to do ” list is automatically managed . loan status reports are available in real time with a real time status . also third party businesses can offer extended services , such as metadata or special procedures . also security can be greatly increased using electronic ciphering and strong security standards that can far exceed today &# 39 ; s typical usage of e - mail and uncredited delivery workers . as new and better forms of business become established , such as mers , mismo & amp ; sisac , the system has leveraged itself to adapt to these new standards . because the system is using open technology there is a greater support for new business to business relationships . integrated services may include : import existing loan files ; automated underwriting ; credit reports , appraisals , fraud investigations , flood insurance requirements , environmental reporting ; and managing all reports required to resolve a loan application . the credit report documents are attached to a loan ; viewed , validated and worked as any other document in a loan folder . the system provides audit trails of all changes performed on a loan within the system . the client can request that , prior to any changes in a loan , the loan information is backed up , and creating managed versions of the loan information . thus changes to a loan can be reported and evaluated where needed . using industry and client specific business logic , loans are automatically evaluated for quality assurance and quality checks . the loans are rated accordingly and reports can be created for the purpose of quality assurance . these reports also describe the state of difficulty required for each loan to become successfully funded . audit & amp ; quality assurance services may also include : audit trail for every processed transaction including user name , time stamp , and action performed ; loan data , status , & amp ; documentation can be versioned off into a retrievable datasets for future receipt or comparisons ; and , timely loan quality control checks are automatically performed on data sources . additionally included are checks for data reasonableness , trends , variances , ratios , and industry standards . checks for lost or orphaned loans , dead end loan routing , cyclical loan routing , skipping , or overrides of checks and balances and security breaches are also contemplated by the present invention . continuous data integrity checks are performed on persisted data . abnormalities and exceptions are reported . proactive services are initiated in order to repair or update inconsistent data . non - limiting reference to fig1 . the servers , components and entities are organized as shown in fig1 and deployed on one or more computers where the result is a robust system able to perform the requirements / claims as described in the “ loan services ” of example 1 . fig1 is a typical representation of the said system . the system may include other proprietary services , external connectivity , security , redundancy , fail over services , backup sites , and support for other presentation outputs . functionalities included are : presentation includes interacting web pages , publications , and edi interfaces ; business services and transactions are represented by the software components ; and the information is stored on the database . the web server renders the presentation and manages the connected users &# 39 ; session . the user environment component supports the user &# 39 ; s environments . the enterprise server manages the software components below it . the entity server manages the entities . each type of entity has a unique identifier ( uid ). the entities are managed so that no entity with the same uid may be duplicated within the system . the database manages the persisted data source . the edi , fax , e - mail , e - message , integration servers manage there appropriate resources and services . the software components in the box are specific to fig1 . the software components outside of the box are not specific and universally support the overhead requirements of the system . some software component &# 39 ; s names are duplicated across diagrams . they are similar in function yet they are unique for each system as each system contains a unique set of defined business rules . the investor business rules are different from the realtor &# 39 ; s business rules . each component in each of the processing systems diagrams are unique code sets . the investor processing software components support all of the necessary functions as described in example 1 . a software component executes in a run time environment which executes in a computer . a server executes in a computer . a computer can contain one or more servers . a run time environment may contain one or more software components . the computers in fig1 are not shown and assumed to exist for the effect of simplicity and clarity . furthermore a server communicates with other servers using a computer network . the lines between servers without arrows represent a form of communication . therefore a server may communicate with another server either internally on the same computer or externally across the computer network . an entity is a specialized software component and also executes in a run time environment . non - limiting referral to fig2 thru fig5 . the servers , components and entities are organized as shown and deployed on one or more computers where the result is a robust system able to perform the requirements / claims as described in the “ loan services ” example 1 . the system may include other proprietary services , external connectivity , security , redundancy , fail over services , backup sites , and support for other presentation outputs . functionalities included are : presentation includes interacting web pages , publications , and edi interfaces ; business services and transactions are represented by the software components ; and the information is stored on the database . the web server renders the presentation and manages the connected users &# 39 ; session . the user environment component supports the user &# 39 ; s environments . the enterprise server manages the software components below it . the entity server manages the entities . each type of entity has a unique identifier ( uid ). the entities are managed so that no entity with the same uid may be duplicated within the system . the database manages the persisted data source . the edi , fax , e - mail , e - message , integration servers manage there appropriate resources and services . the software components in the box are specific to the specific figure cited . the software components outside of the box are not specific and universally support the overhead requirements of the system . some software component &# 39 ; s names are duplicated across diagrams . they are similar in function yet they are unique for each system as each system contains a unique set of defined business rules . the lender &# 39 ; s business rules are different from the realtor &# 39 ; s business rules . each component in each of the processing systems diagrams are unique code sets . the software components support all of the necessary functions as described . a software component executes in a run time environment which executes in a computer . a server executes in a computer . a computer can contain one or more servers . a run time environment may contain one or more software components . the computers in the diagrams are not visible and assumed to exist for the effect of simplicity and clarity . furthermore a server communicates with other servers using a computer network . the lines between servers without arrows represent a form of communication . therefore a server may communicate with another server either internally on the same computer or externally across the computer network . an entity is a specialized software component and also executes in a run time environment . the preceding examples were given as written illustrations of non - limiting embodiments of the present invention . one skilled in the art can appreciate the scope of the present invention . by providing the various embodiments of the present invention , the ability to deliver a loan transaction package electronically , users can save potentially 3 - 15 days in the due diligence process . this time estimate is based on a standard package using the traditional method of delivering packages via transbox or external parcel shipping service . packages can be delivered up to 5 times , not counting for packages that are sent back due to errors or incomplete packages . ability to process loans quicker and more efficiently through the use of collaborative platforms and event driven workflows are results of the use of embodiments of the present invention . functionalities include : 1 . real - time notifications based on event driven workflow . for example , email notification of incoming documents , allowing the processor to focus on processing loans rather than tracking down supporting documents . 2 . centralized data and document management for loan processing . for example , system level controls based on workflow engine to allow multiple parties to view the loan and only one party to modify the loan based on stage , status and role . 3 . visual representation of the underwriting findings and the supporting documents that support each and / or all findings . for example , allowing any user to work the file and not have to review the file prior to working the file . from the underwriting findings ( freddie mac and fannie mae ) the user can see the findings , 1003 data associated with the findings and the supporting documents associated with the findings . this allow file to be worked from one screen various the traditional method of multiple screen or a desk full of documents . 4 . automated document assignment to underwriting findings based on custom rules engine . documents are assigned to the appropriate finding based on document name and tag . allowing the processor to simply review the file and approve the assignment , rather than having to interrupt the file and documents to determine their assignment . 5 . automated assignment of faxed document to the loan package , pre tagged and indexed . thus , providing custom coversheets that associate the document name , loan file and account id to index the documents . user can submit multiple files in an individual fax transmission using their current fax machine . 6 . audit trail of all transaction and electronic - quality control checks within the system , showing user , date , time , transaction and comments . unless otherwise indicated , all numbers expressing quantities of ingredients , properties such as data , database parameters , reaction conditions , and so forth in the specification and embodiments are to be understood as being modified in all instances by the term “ about .” accordingly , unless indicated to the contrary , the numerical parameters set forth in the specification are approximations that may vary depending upon the desired properties sought to be obtained by the present invention . at the very least , and not as an attempt to limit the application of the doctrine of equivalents to the scope of the embodiments , each numerical parameter should at least be construed in light of the number of reported significant digits and by applying ordinary rounding techniques . notwithstanding , numerical ranges and parameters setting forth the broad scope of the invention are approximations , the numerical values set forth are reported as precisely as possible . numerical values , however , inherently contain certain errors necessarily resulting from the standard deviation found in their respective testing measurements . the terms “ a ” and “ an ” and “ the ” and similar referents are used in the context of describing the invention and are to be construed to cover both the singular and the plural , unless otherwise indicated herein or clearly contradicted by context . recitations of ranges of values herein are merely intended to serve as a shorthand method of referring individually to each separate value falling within the range . unless otherwise indicated herein , each individual value is incorporated into the specification as if it were individually recited herein . all methods described herein can be performed in any suitable order unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context . the use of any and all definitions , examples , or exemplary language ( e . g . “ such as ”) provided herein is intended merely to better illustrate the invention and does not pose a limitation on the scope of the invention otherwise claimed . no language in the specification should be construed as indicating any non - claimed element essential to the practice of the invention . groupings of alternative elements or embodiments of the invention disclosed herein are not to be construed as limitations . each group member may be referred to and claimed individually or in any combination with other members of the group or other elements found herein . it is anticipated that one or more members of a group may be included in , or deleted from , a group for reasons of convenience and / or patentability . when any such inclusion or deletion occurs , the specification is herein deemed to contain the group as modified thus fulfilling the written description of all markush groups used in the appended embodiments . preferred embodiments of this invention are described herein , including the best mode known to the inventors for carrying out the invention . of course , variations on those preferred embodiments will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon reading the foregoing description . accordingly , this invention includes all modifications and equivalents of the subject matter recited in the embodiments appended hereto as permitted by applicable law . moreover , any combination of the above - described elements in all possible variations thereof is encompassed by the invention unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context . in closing , it is to be understood that the embodiments disclosed herein are illustrative of the principles of the present invention . other modifications that may be employed are within the scope of the invention . thus , by way of example , but not of limitation , alternative configurations of the present invention may be utilized in accordance with the teachings herein . accordingly , the present invention is not limited to that precisely as shown and described . in addition , the embodiments of the present invention , without limitation , can be used in research , product manufacturing , and data access systems or used calibration systems as in accordance with the appropriate research , clinical trial , manufacturing or treatment protocols or procedures approved by the appropriate governing institutions having authority to recommend , approve , evaluate or regulate such protocols or procedures .	6
fig1 illustrates , in block diagram form , the major components of an exemplary stirring hot plate . a control panel 104 provides the interface to a user operating the hot plate . an exemplary control panel is shown in fig4 and includes input devices , such as control knobs 402 , 404 , that permit a user to adjust the heat and stirrer settings of the hot plate . by using these knobs , a desired temperature and rpm setting can be input to the controller 102 . the control panel 104 also includes output devices , such as leds 406 , 410 , 412 and 7 - segment displays 408 , that provide to a user indication of how the hot plate is operating . for example , the control panel 104 can display the current temperature of the hot plate or the temperature set point , the stirrer setting , or whether the hot plate is on or off . one particularly useful display is an indicator of whether the hot plate &# 39 ; s surface remains hot even though the hot plate has been turned off . one of ordinary skill will readily appreciate that not all the leds in the control panel are required ; for example , leds 410 and 412 can be omitted and replaced by appropriate graphical symbols to assist a user in identifying the controls . the hot plate includes a programmable controller 102 that manages the operation of the hot plate according to an embedded software routine . one of ordinary skill will appreciate that controller 102 can be implemented using a variety of equivalent hardware devices and software applications . based on the temperature setting , or set point , entered via the control panel 104 , the controller 102 energizes a heater 106 that warms the hot plate &# 39 ; s surface . a temperature sensor 108 , such as an rtd or a thermocouple , can be used to sense the temperature and provide feedback to the controller 102 . in this way the controller 102 can maintain the proper temperature of the hot plate . the control of the motor 112 may be accomplished in a number of ways in order to operate the hot plate at the desired rpms . the present invention does not require any specific method for controlling the motor 112 ; however , an exemplary motor control embodiment is described below that provides a number of advantages and benefits . typically , the controller 102 controls the speed of the motor 112 by turning on and off a triac 110 . one exemplary embodiment of the present hot plate uses a triac 110 along with a shaded pole motor 112 to rotate the magnets within the hot plate at a desired speed . the rotating magnets couple with a magnetic stir bar in a container on top of the hot plate so that a mixture in that container will be stirred as well . in some embodiments , unlike the schematic drawing of fig1 , the triac 110 may be a part of the programmable control 102 . fig2 depicts an ac waveform 202 that could be used to energize the motor 112 . however , to obtain accurate and stable control of the motor speed , phase control can be introduced through the use of the triac 110 . the triac can be turned on ( i . e ., allowing current flow ) for a portion of the waveform of fig2 and then switched off at a zero crossing . a phase controlled waveform 302 is illustrated in fig3 a . in particular , the waveform 302 has a 50 % duty cycle . the power to the motor 112 is a ratio of the area under the waveform 302 versus that of the full ac waveform 202 , which in this case is 50 %. speed is not linearly related to the power supplied to the motor so the motor speed resulting from waveform 302 will be less than 50 % of that which would result from waveform 202 . embodiments of the present invention permit the stirrer speed to be adjusted from approximately 50 rpm to approximately 1200 rpm . this range of speeds corresponds to a duty cycle range of approximately 25 % to approximately 95 %. however , one of ordinary skill will appreciate that other duty cycles and speed ranges are contemplated within the scope of the present invention . the specific correlation between duty cycle and speed depends on a number of factors , however , such as the fluid &# 39 ; s viscosity , the temperature of the fluid , motor efficiency , the stir bar mass and shape , the flask shape and the material of the flask . in addition to this usable duty cycle range , the triac and motor can be utilized to brake a magnetic stir bar . with known hot plates , the stirring action is terminated by disconnecting power from the motor thereby stopping the rotating magnets which results in the magnetic stir bar slowly spinning down within whatever mixture is on the hot plate . however , embodiments of the present invention include an operational mode in which the motor is rapidly braked so as to quickly slow the magnets and any coupled magnetic stir bar . in particular , when a user turns off the stirrer control , the controller 102 detects this condition and operates the triac accordingly . in particular , the waveform 312 , of fig3 b is a positively rectified waveform having substantially a 50 % duty cycle . the exemplary waveform 312 is a positively rectified version of the waveform 202 of fig2 ; however , a negatively rectified waveform can also be used . additionally , the exemplary waveform 312 is cut - off around region 313 slightly before a zero - crossing . by doing so , the programmable control 102 can ensure that no power of the opposite polarity is inadvertently applied to the motor 106 due to the finite timing constraints of real - world triacs and control circuitry . allowing anywhere from 70 % to 90 % of the possible waveform 312 to be applied to the motor 106 before cutting it off is sufficient to prevent unintended application of power to the motor 106 . in alternative embodiments of the present invention , no portion of the exemplary waveform 312 is cutoff thereby providing 100 % of the positively rectified waveform . in other embodiments , waveforms having less than 70 % duty cycle can accomplish the braking action as well . alternatively , instead of a rectified waveform , a dc waveform may be applied to the motor as well to initiate braking action . operating the motor according to the waveform 312 for approximately one to four seconds , such as 1 . 6 seconds , can quickly stop the motor rotation even from a high speed setting , such as , for example , 1200 rpm . as a result , a magnetic stir bar can be quickly stopped and a vortex within a stirrer mixture can be quickly collapsed if needed . if desired , a speed sensor 114 can be coupled with the rotating shaft ( not shown ) to sense the motor &# 39 ; s speed and provide it as feedback to the controller 102 . the motor speed can be used , for example , to determine when braking action can be terminated . for example , when a desired speed is reached ( such as 0 rpm ), the controller 102 can cease applying the braking action . as previously mentioned , an exemplary control panel 104 is illustrated in fig4 . the knob 402 on the left adjusts the temperature setting while the knob 404 on the right adjusts the stirrer speed . an indicator 406 , for example the international symbol for a hot surface , is shown that is illuminated when the hot plate surface is above a predetermined temperature , such as 50 ° c . a more detailed view of this indicator is shown in fig7 in which the symbol is accompanied by the text “ caution hot top .” this indicator alerts a user of the hot surface . also , a seven segment display 408 or other equivalent display is provided that shows either a temperature set point or the current temperature of the hot plate surface . other leds 410 and 412 can be used to alert a user that the heat and stirrer controls are active . in the past , hot plates have relied on a single indicator to remind a user that even though the hot plate may be turned off , the surface may still be hot . embodiments of the present invention include additional indicators as more fully described with respect to the flow chart of fig5 and illustrated in fig6 a and 6b . when the hot plate is powered on , in step 502 , the various display windows of the control panel become active as well . these displays can include , for example , the temperature set point display ( e . g ., 408 ). the displays are initialized , or zeroed , in step 504 , as part of the power - on sequence of the hot plate . the controller causes the display of zeroes or some other indication ( e . g ., dashes ) to inform the user that while the hot plate has been turned on , a temperature set point has not yet been entered by a user . if a stirrer speed display is present , it can be zeroed in step 504 as well . as part of its operation , the controller ( e . g ., 102 ) samples , in step 506 , the temperature setting , or set point , to determine if the heater needs to be turned on . for example , the temperature setting is controlled by a knob attached to the shaft of a potentiometer . as the shaft is rotated , the controller senses the change is resistance and converts it into a corresponding temperature control setting . alternatively , digital or other input devices could be used to provide the controller with the desired temperature setting . in response to the set point being entered by a user , the controller will turn on the heater and adjust , in step 508 , the heater to maintain the hot plate &# 39 ; s temperature according to the set point . the controller accomplishes this function by comparing a temperature sensor value of the hot plate &# 39 ; s surface with the control setting sensed , for example , from the potentiometer . based on this comparison , the controller adjusts the operation of the heater appropriately . concurrently with the adjustment of the heater , the controller also updates , in step 510 , the temperature set point display ( e . g . 408 ) so that the user can be informed of the temperature which will result from the current knob position . this display can be a seven - segment display , an lcd screen , or other similar displays . often , the display increments in five - degree steps as the user turns the knob up and decrements in five - degree steps when the user turns the knob down . five - degree steps are exemplary in nature and embodiments of the present invention contemplate other step sizes such as one - degree or even step sizes greater than five degrees . when the hot plate is initially turned on , there will be a warm - up period before the hot plate can attain the desired set point . in step 512 , the controller determines if the hot plate temperature has yet to reach the set point so that this condition can be visually conveyed to a user . to indicate that the hot plate surface has not yet reached the temperature control setting and , therefore , that the temperature control setting is different than the actual hot plate temperature , the controller can cause the display to blink or flash . once the hot plate temperature reaches the set point , then the controller , when performing step 512 , will determine that the set point has been reached and cause the display to stop blinking and become solidly lit . the steps of sampling the temperature setting and updating the display are continually repeated by the controller so that the user &# 39 ; s input via the control knob appears to change the display almost immediately . the temperature of the hot plate surface is sensed , in step 514 , to determine if it is above a certain temperature , such as 50 ° c . if so , then a “ hot ” indicator on the control panel ( e . g . 406 ) can be activated . if not , the controller can repeatedly sense the temperature until a determination is made that the “ hot ” indicator should be activated . as shown in fig7 , the “ hot ” indicator may include both a graphical symbol and words . accordingly , both the words and the symbol , or simply one of them , may be constructed so as to be backlit , or illuminated , to become more visible when activated . additionally , intermittently blinking the indicator 406 will enhance its visibility as well . the controller continually monitors the operation of the hot plate so that it can detect , in step 516 , when a user turns the power off to the heater or to the entire hot plate . eventually , upon completion of a desired hot plate operational routine , the user will want to turn off the heater and the controller will determine when the heater knob has been turned off . once the power is turned off , the controller will continue to operate in order to determine , in step 518 , if the hot plate &# 39 ; s surface has cooled to a safe temperature . if the hot plate has not cooled sufficiently , then the potentially dangerous condition is visually displayed , in step 522 , to the user . once the plate has cooled , however , the display can be shutdown , in step 520 . for example , the hot plate surface temperature is sensed to determine if it is above a certain temperature , such as 50 ° c . if so , then the “ hot ” indicator ( e . g ., 406 ) can be caused to blink , in step 522 , thereby making it more visually noticeable than simply a static display element . also , the temperature display window ( e . g ., 408 ) can have a blinking or scrolling message as an additional indicator that the hot plate surface remains hot even though the hot plate has been turned off . for example , the display could alternate displaying the words “ hot ” and “ off ”. other types of appropriate displays and phrases could be used as well to alert a user to the hot plate &# 39 ; s condition . in addition to using words other than “ hot ” and “ off ” to indicate the hot condition of the hot plate ( e . g ., words in a foreign language ); an even longer message could be displayed that scrolls across the display 408 . additionally , a temperature other than 50 ° c . can be selected as the threshold for determining whether or not to power off the displays in step 520 without departing from the scope of the present invention . the display 408 may be a multi - character display comprised of one or more multi - segment displays , such as a seven - segment display , or some other type of multi - character display . accordingly , the specific characters that can be displayed on the display 408 partially depends on the display &# 39 ; s attributes . for example , in the exemplary display 408 of fig6 a , the letter “ t ” in “ hot ” has a vertical line in its center . a conventional seven - segment display does not have these center segments and if one were used in the display 408 , then some other recognizable “ t ” character would need to be used . referring to fig6 a and 6b , an exemplary hot plate control panel is depicted at two different instances in time . assuming the temperature knob 402 has recently been turned off , the surface of the hot plate will be hot . accordingly , the indicator 406 blinks or flashes to alert a user . in addition , the display window changes periodically so as to draw the user &# 39 ; s attention to the hot plate &# 39 ; s condition . at one moment in time , the display 408 can display the phrase “ hot ” while at another moment it can display the phrase “ off ”. thus , the dynamic nature of the display 408 is visually effective at getting the user &# 39 ; s attention while also informing them of both the condition of the temperature setting ( i . e ., off ) and the current safety concern over the hot plate &# 39 ; s temperature ( i . e ., hot ). the displays in the above - mentioned figures are exemplary in nature and may be comprised of all capital letters , small , letters , a mixture of upper - case and lower - case letters , non - letter characters , and various words and phrases . in addition to the temperature control of the hot plate , the controller also samples , in step 550 , a stirrer control setting which can again be a potentiometer or some more complex input device . in response to the stirrer control setting , the controller adjust the stirrer motor , in step 552 . as explained previously , phase control can be implemented using a triac so that the duty cycle of the voltage waveform powering the motor can be adjusted to generate the desired motor speed . eventually , the controller detects , in step 554 , when a user has turned off the stirrer and initiates braking of the motor . as explained earlier , a rectified phase - controlled signal is used , in step 556 to brake the motor , duty cycles from approximately 3 % to as high as 100 % may be used to accomplish the braking . in one embodiment , this duty cycle is applied for a predetermined period of time , such as 1 . 6 seconds . alternatively , the motor speed could be sensed and a feedback loop used to the controller such that the controller applies the reduced duty cycle based on the shaft speed and stops applying it once the shaft speed reaches a threshold . in step 558 , the motor is powered off once braking is complete . while the invention has been illustrated by the description of one embodiment and while the embodiment has been described in considerable detail , there is no intention to restrict nor in any way limit the scope of the appended claims to such detail . additional advantages and modifications will readily appear to those who are skilled in the art . therefore , the invention in its broadest aspects is not limited to the specific details shown and described . consequently , departures may be made from the details described herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the claims which follow .	1
referring to fig2 , the present invention relates to a method of making an optical device 100 including first and second transparent portions 102 and 103 . as shown in fig3 a - c , the resulting optical device 100 includes a first transparent portion 102 having a first plurality of transparent protrusions 110 extending from the first surface 106 and a second transparent portion 103 having a second plurality of transparent protrusions 112 extending from the second surface 108 . in accordance with this embodiment of the method of the present invention , first and second transparent portions 102 and 103 having their first and second plurality of transparent protrusions 110 and 112 , respectively , are produced with a microreplication process . in particular , in this embodiment , the first and second portions 102 and 103 with protrusions 110 and 112 are fabricated from uv curable resin in a casting process , or they can be made with a molding process such as injection molding or embossing ( e . g ., embossing or continuous embossing ), using any suitable material , such as acrylic , polycarbonate , or vinyl . in another embodiment , each of the transparent portions 102 and 103 can be formed in a two - step process in which a substrate of the transparent portion 102 , 103 is formed and then the protrusions 110 , 112 , respectively , ( which may be different materials than the substrate portions ) are formed on top of the substrate portion . in accordance with one embodiment , the first and second transparent portions 102 and 103 are cast with a casting process in which a uv curable resin is placed into a microstructured mold and then the uv curable resin is exposed to uv light which polymerizes the resin and causes it to harden . the mold is then removed . this process is typically done in a continuous roll - to - roll process in which the mold is in the form of a cylinder in which a negative of the plurality of protrusions 110 and 112 is formed into the surface , and then the uv resin is continually rolled over the mold &# 39 ; s surface as it rotates about its axis . alternately , the protrusions 110 and 112 of the first and second transparent portions 102 and 103 can be formed by the use of an embossing molding process , a compression molding process , or an injection molding process . the method further involves positioning the first transparent portion 102 , which is in the form of a film , on a first feed roll 402 and positioning the second transparent portion 103 , which is also in the form of a film , on a second feed roll 404 . the first and second transparent portions 102 and 103 are joined at point 406 using nip rollers 410 and 412 , wherein the first plurality of transparent protrusions are positioned adjacent the second plurality of transparent protrusions and self - align to form a plurality of spaced openings 109 ( see fig3 a - c ). in particular , self - aligning in accordance with the present invention includes first transparent portion 102 having the first plurality of transparent protrusions 110 zippering with second transparent portion 103 having the second plurality of transparent protrusions 112 to form the openings 109 in the optical device 100 . more specifically , referring to fig3 a , the first plurality of transparent protrusions 110 include at least one surface 105 designed to mate with at least one surface 107 of the second plurality of transparent protrusions 112 . the mating surfaces 105 and 107 self - align , i . e ., fit together in one configuration which forms the plurality of openings 109 having a desired size , shape , and aspect ratio . as shown in fig3 a - c , transparent portions 102 and 103 are identical to each other , but transparent portion 102 is inverted with respect to transparent portion 103 . the openings are filled with opaque material 114 . a reservoir 408 of opaque adhesive material 114 is positioned to dispense the material 114 . in this embodiment , reservoir 408 is positioned to gravity feed the opaque adhesive material , although other configurations may be used , for example , a pump dispenser or system , or capillary action . the opaque adhesive material creates a bond between the first and second portions by at least partially filling the plurality of spaced openings formed when the first and second transparent portions are joined and creating alternating opaque and transparent sections . a pair of nip rollers 410 and 412 is used to form a nip to force the opaque material into the openings ( and leave the first and second transparent portions 102 and 103 and protrusions 110 and 112 substantially free of the opaque material 114 ) as the optical device 100 , with a bead of opaque material at the nip , passes between the rollers . as used herein , a nip is the point of intersection between two rollers . as the optical device 100 moves around roller 412 it is cured with an ultraviolet source 414 and the finished product is wound onto roll 416 . although fig2 shows an ultraviolet source 414 , if non - uv curable materials are used as the opaque material 114 an ultraviolet source would be unnecessary . alternatively , heat could be applied through ir lamps , air , or by heating the roll 412 . filling can also be achieved by other methods known to one of ordinary skill in the art . in particular , the opaque material 114 , can be installed between the protrusions 110 and 112 , respectively , in any of a number of different ways . by way of example only , the openings 109 and transparent portions 102 and 103 can both be sprayed with the opaque material , and the transparent portions 102 and 103 can be wiped or squeegeed so that they are free of the opaque material , with the result that the opaque material is only present in the openings 109 . alternately , the opaque material can simply be squeegeed across the openings 109 and transparent portions 102 and 103 with the result that the transparent microstructures are free of the opaque material but the opaque material will be present in the openings 109 . then the first and second transparent portions can be fit together such that the protrusions 110 and 112 self - align . the surface 108 of the transparent portion 103 can then be attached to the output surface of the viewing display 12 using an adhesive 104 , resulting in the final construction shown in fig3 - 4 . a system 99 including an optical device 100 produced in accordance with embodiments of the method of the present invention is illustrated in fig3 - 4 . referring to fig3 a - b , an optical device 100 is shown having a first surface 106 and an opposing second surface 108 . in one embodiment , the optical device 100 has a thickness of from about 0 . 5 mm to about 5 mm . normally first surface 106 is a planar , optically smooth surface . as shown in fig3 c , the first plurality of transparent protrusions 110 is positioned adjacent and in contact with the second plurality of transparent protrusions 112 . suitable transparent materials include , but are not limited to , polymer sheets or films , such as acrylics , polycarbonates , vinyls , polyethylene terephthalate (“ pet ”), and polyethylene naphthalate (“ pen ”). although in the embodiment shown in fig3 a - c , the first portion 102 and first plurality of protrusions 110 are formed of one material , the first plurality of transparent protrusions 110 can be formed of a different material than the remainder of transparent portion 102 . similarly , the second plurality of transparent protrusions 112 can be formed of a different material than the remainder of transparent portion 103 . the protrusions 110 and 112 can have a triangular cross - sectional shape as shown in fig3 a - c , although other cross - sectional shapes such as trapezoidal , rectangular , or square , are possible . if the cross - sectional shape of the transparent protrusions 110 and 112 is triangular , the triangle can be a right triangle , or it can be tilted , asymmetric , or otherwise formed so that the ambient light absorption , the display light emission , or both , can be asymmetric . the angle of the sidewalls of the triangular - shaped protrusions in fig3 a - c and 4 is from about 3 ° to about 80 °, most preferably from about 5 ° to about 50 °, from a line parallel to the optical axis o . furthermore , although the sides of the protrusions 110 and 112 are shown as straight in fig3 a - c and 4 , other embodiments are possible , including curved sides ( see fig9 a , 9 b , and 10 and the description below ). in one embodiment , the refractive index of the first and second transparent portions 102 and 103 and first and second plurality of transparent protrusions 110 and 112 is between 1 . 4 and 1 . 6 , although lower indices perform better , as described below . in a further embodiment , the refractive index of the first and second transparent portions 102 and 103 and protrusions 110 and 112 is substantially equal . in yet another embodiment , the first and second plurality of transparent protrusions 110 and 112 have an aspect ratio of from about 1 to about 5 . as used herein , aspect ratio is defined , for a two - dimensional shape , as the ratio of its longer dimension to its shorter dimension . it is also applied to two characteristic dimensions of a three - dimensional shape , especially for the longest and shortest ‘ axes ’ or for symmetrical objects ( e . g . rods ) that are described by just two measures ( e . g . length and diameter ). normally the first and second transparent portions 102 and 103 have minimal amounts of haze , although some haze may be beneficial to overcome the louvering effects imparted by the opaque material 114 on the light emitted by the display panel . furthermore , the normally transparent first and second portions 102 and 103 can have bulk diffusive properties obtained by dispersing particles of a different refractive index throughout the first and second transparent portions 102 and 103 , including the first and second plurality of transparent protrusions 110 and 112 . the transmittance of the first and second transparent portions 102 and 103 should not be spectrally dependent , but instead should transmit all wavelengths approximately the same between 400 nm and 700 nm so that it does not impart a strong tint to the viewed image . however , if a mild tint is imparted , the spectral emissive properties of the display panel can be changed to reduce or eliminate the effect . alternately , tinting can be intentionally added to the first and second transparent portions 102 and 103 to compensate for spectral irregularities of the light emitted by the display panel . furthermore , ir absorbing additives can be provided that reduce the amount of infra - red light that is emitted by the display . such ir emissions have been known to disrupt ir - based handheld remote controls , and blocking these emissions would be beneficial . referring to fig3 b , when the first and second transparent portions 102 and 103 are joined they form a plurality of rectangular - shaped openings ( in cross - section ) 109 in the optical device 100 . as shown in fig3 b , in this embodiment , the rectangular - shaped openings 109 are positioned substantially centrally between the first surface 106 and second surface 108 . however , in alternative embodiments , the openings may be positioned in any desired location within the optical device 100 and may extend substantially from the first surface 106 to the second surface 108 . although in this embodiment of the present invention , the optical device 100 includes rectangular - shaped openings 109 ( in cross - section ), other shapes of openings may be used including , but not limited to , triangles , square , trapezoidal , hexagonal , octagonal , and other polygons , and their side and base surfaces can be flat as shown in fig3 a - c and 4 , or one of more of them can be curved or non - linear . an example of curved openings is shown in fig9 a - b and 10 . referring to fig3 a - c and 4 , the rectangular - shaped openings are filled with an opaque material 114 to create alternating transparent and opaque sections in the optical device 100 . in this embodiment , the opaque material 114 is an adhesive and adheres the first and second transparent portions 102 and 103 . alternatively , the opaque material 114 may not be an adhesive and a separate transparent adhesive can be used to adhere the first and second transparent portions 102 and 103 . in another embodiment , the rectangular - shaped openings can be partially filled with an opaque material 114 as long as the sides of the openings are coated with the opaque material . in this case the void behind the partially filled rectangular - shaped opening could be filled with a second material , or it can be left vacant . the opaque material 114 has a light absorbing characteristic . also referring to fig4 , the distance d between adjacent opaque sections 114 is from about 0 . 03 mm to about 5 mm , the length a of the opaque sections 114 is from about 0 . 03 mm to about 5 mm , and the width b of the opaque sections 114 is from about 0 . 01 mm to about 2 mm . suitable opaque materials 114 include , but are not limited to , a uv curable resin , a solvent - cured material , a paint , a heat - curing material , a cyanoacrylate adhesive such as loctite &# 39 ; s black max , or any other material that polymerizes without the use of uv radiation . in one embodiment , light absorbing particles are mixed into , for example , a uv curable resin to form the opaque material 114 . suitable light absorbing particles include , but are not limited to , carbon , dyes , inks , or stains . in one embodiment , the opaque material 114 has a refractive index of from about 1 . 4 to about 1 . 6 . in one particular embodiment of the present invention , the refractive index of the first and second transparent portions 102 and 103 ( including the first and second plurality of transparent protrusions 110 and 112 ) and opaque material 114 are substantially equal . this reduces fresnel reflection of light ( both ambient light and light emitted from the display ) at the interface between the opaque regions 114 and the transparent protrusions 110 and 112 . in one embodiment , the difference in refractive indices between the first and second transparent portions 102 and 103 with protrusions 110 and 112 and the opaque material 114 is 0 . 03 or less . in another embodiment , the refractive index of the opaque material 114 is greater than the refractive index of the first and second transparent portions 102 and 103 with protrusions 110 and 112 so that total internal reflection of ambient light or light emitted from a pixel 10 does not occur at the interface between the two materials . in addition , the opaque material 114 preferably has an optical density greater than 1 . 0 , most preferably greater than 3 . 0 , and superior ambient light absorbance is achieved when the optical density is 5 . 0 or more . in yet another embodiment , the opaque material 114 is composed of a dielectric material . however , in alternate embodiments , the opaque material may contain metallic components , particularly light - absorbing ferrous materials that can be magnetically mixed , dispersed , or deposited throughout a dielectric matrix of a supporting medium . the opaque material 114 may also contain particles of metallic oxides . in a further embodiment , opaque regions 114 can be tailored to preferentially absorb ambient light from a predetermined direction , such as from overhead . in one embodiment of the present invention , as illustrated in fig6 , the openings filled with opaque material 114 extend horizontally across the optical device 100 . in another embodiment , as illustrated in fig7 , the openings filled with opaque material 114 extend vertically across the optical device 100 . in yet another embodiment , the optical device 100 includes multiple sets of openings . for example , the multiple sets of openings can be positioned such that they are cross - hatched ( bi - directional ) wherein two sets of openings are orthogonal to each other or three sets of openings can be positioned so that they are rotationally 60 degrees apart . furthermore , two or more sets of optical devices 100 can be used in a cascade arrangement , either crossed or running parallel ( either vertically , horizontally , or some other arbitrary angle to minimize moiré between the optical device 100 and the pixels 10 ). fig6 is a front view of an optical device produced in accordance with the method of the present invention , showing the pixels 10 of the display panel in the background behind the opaque material 114 and 314 ( described below ). a duty factor of the opaque material 114 , 314 can be defined as the ratio of the width of the widest part of an opaque material 114 , 314 , designated as “ w ” in fig6 , divided by the pitch , p . that is , the duty factor df = w / p . larger duty factors allow for greater light absorption while smaller duty factors allow for greater display light transmittance through the optical device 100 . a typical value for df is 0 . 15 , although it can range from about 0 . 05 up to about 0 . 85 . the absorbance of the opaque material 114 should not be spectrally dependent , but instead should absorb all wavelengths approximately the same between 400 nm and 700 nm so that it does not impart a strong tint to the viewed image . however , if a mild tint is imparted , the spectral emissive properties of the display panel can be changed somewhat to compensate for spectral irregularities of the light emitted by the display panel . furthermore , ir absorbing additives can be added to the opaque material 114 that reduce the amount of infra - red light that is emitted by the display . such ir emissions have been known to disrupt ir - based handheld remote controls , and blocking these emissions would be beneficial . in another embodiment , the openings filled with opaque material 114 have an aspect ratio , defined as the ratio of a / b ( see fig4 ), of greater than one for optimal ambient light absorption as described below . however , the aspect ratio of the openings filled with opaque material 114 may be from about 0 . 5 to 10 . the material of the opaque material 114 , the first and second transparent portions 102 and 103 , or both can have elastomeric properties to facilitate molding of the high aspect ratio protrusions 110 and 112 . referring to fig6 , in one embodiment , the optical device 100 has a pitch p of from about 10 μm to about 2 mm , which should be much less than the width of a pixel 10 so that moiré interference does not occur . the pitch of the optical device can be such that there are at least two , and preferably five or more , opaque regions 114 per pixel 10 of the viewing display . in one exemplary embodiment , the thickness of the optical device 100 is less than about 1 mm , and can be in the range of from about 0 . 1 mm to about 2 . 5 mm . in general it is desirable to keep the thickness of the optical device 100 as small as possible , in keeping with the trend to thinner displays . referring to fig4 , the optical device 100 is positioned proximate the front face panel 12 of a viewing display . as shown in fig4 , the optical device 100 and second surface 108 of the viewing display are in optical contact . however , another layer may be present between the optical device 100 and viewing display , such as an adhesive layer 104 which adheres second surface 108 of the optical device 100 to an output surface of a front face panel 12 of a viewing display . the adhesive layer 104 can be a pressure sensitive adhesive ( psa ), although other types of adhesives can be used as well . the transmittance of the adhesive layer 104 should not be spectrally dependent , but instead should transmit all wavelengths approximately the same between 400 nm and 700 nm so that it does not impart a strong tint to the viewed image . however , if a mild tint is imparted to the adhesive layer 104 , the spectral emissive properties of the display panel can be changed . that is , tinting can be intentionally added to the adhesive layer 104 to compensate for spectral irregularities of the light emitted by the display panel . furthermore , ir absorbing additives can be added to the adhesive layer 104 to reduce the amount of infra - red light that is emitted by the display . such ir emissions have been known to disrupt ir - based handheld remote controls , and blocking these emissions would be beneficial . in one exemplary embodiment , the refractive index of the adhesive layer 104 is between that of the second portion 103 and the output surface of the viewing display 12 to reduce unwanted fresnel reflections at these interfaces . alternatively , as shown in fig8 , optical device 200 can be optionally installed onto a light - transmissive sheet of material 216 that is then placed in front of the display panel , leaving an air gap 218 between the optical device 200 and the viewing display . in another embodiment , the light - transmissive sheet of material 216 can be placed adjacent front face panel 12 without leaving an air gap . in one embodiment , the viewing display is a flat panel display . suitable viewing displays include , but are not limited to , pixelated displays , such as plasma display panels , lcd display panels , iled display panels , and oled display panels . fig4 - 8 and 10 show examples of pixelated displays including pixels 10 a , 10 b , and 10 c . in another embodiment , the display panel is curved , and the optical device 100 of the present invention can be formed to fit the curvature of such a non - flat device . in yet another embodiment , the optical device can be used as a privacy film , which when installed in front of a display restricts the angular emission profile width , so that , e . g ., somebody sitting next to you on a plane , or looking over your shoulder , cannot view what you are viewing . in one embodiment , the first surface 106 of the optical device 100 , i . e . that which faces the viewer , is treated with an anti - reflective coating or a subwavelength antireflective microstructure to minimize reflections from surface 106 . furthermore , in another embodiment , first surface 106 has a diffusive surface relief texture to minimize specular glare . one alternate optical device configuration is shown in fig9 a - b and 10 where the transparent protrusions 310 and 312 have at least one side that is non - linear in cross - section or curved . non - linear sides can have several potential advantages over a linear cross - sectional shape , such as the ability to fabricate molds or tools quickly and at a lower cost , faster and less costly molding processes , and better optical performance of the finished part . referring back to fig4 , the operation of the device 100 can be illustrated by describing how a few different types of rays interact with the device 100 . ambient light ray 130 originates at an ambient light source , such as an overhead room lamp , or it could be reflected off of a wall of a room of the ambient environment . regardless of its source , it is highly desirable to prevent ambient light ray 130 from being reflected back into the viewing environment . ambient light ray 130 enters into the transparent first portion 102 . after propagating some distance into the transparent first portion 102 , the ambient light ray 130 becomes incident upon an opening filled with opaque material 114 at location 132 . if the refractive index of the opaque material 114 is substantially the same as the refractive index of the transparent first portion 102 , then ambient light ray 130 will be substantially absorbed at location 132 , regardless of the angle of incidence of the ambient light ray 130 at location 132 . in this way , good ambient light absorption is achieved . moreover , when the values for refractive indices of transparent portions 102 and 103 and first and second plurality of transparent protrusions 110 and 112 are lower , e . g ., 1 . 4 , ambient light in the device 100 will generally be less parallel to the optical axis 0 , and will have a better chance of hitting the side of an opaque region 114 to be absorbed . ambient light ray 130 also illustrates an advantage of the present invention over the prior art . if the openings filled with opaque material 114 were instead replaced with thin opaque stripes 14 of the prior art , then ray 130 would not be absorbed at location 132 , but instead would propagate along path 131 and pass through transparent portion 103 at location 133 . this ray would then be backreflected by pixel 10 a , seen by a viewer , and result in an apparent reduction in contrast . in particular , the thickness “ a ” of the opaque regions in the prior art is very small , and essentially there are no sides that can absorb ambient light ( ray 130 is shown to be incident on the side at location 132 ). in contrast , the opaque regions in the present invention provide for a substantial side area that can also absorb ambient light . now consider light rays emitted by the display panel pixels themselves , such as light rays 134 and 136 emitted by pixel 10 b at locations 138 and 140 . emitted light ray 134 is absorbed by an opening filled with opaque material 114 at location 142 , and reduces the apparent brightness of the display panel . light ray 136 passes through the optical device 100 and contributes to the brightness of the display panel . the optical device 100 of the present invention will reduce the amount of transmitted light ( emitted by the display panel ) by approximately 20 %, although in some cases it may approach 80 %, or be as little as 5 %, depending on the ambient light absorbing characteristics of the film . light ray 144 exits the pixel 10 b from position 146 at an oblique angle and is subsequently incident on the side of an opening filled with opaque material 114 at location 148 . light ray 144 is nominally absorbed , but if the refractive index of the transparent portion 103 is different than the refractive of the opaque material 114 , then a reflection ray 150 exists . to a viewer , reflection ray 150 appears to originate at pixel 10 c , by way of virtual ray 152 which appears to originate at location 154 . to the viewer , then , pixel 10 b and pixel 10 c appear to overlap to some extent , and results in a phenomenon that will be referred to as “ pixel blur .” this pixel blur manifests itself as a reduction in spatial resolution of the display panel . however , pixel blur can be easily remedied by substantially matching the refractive index of the opaque material 114 to the refractive index of the transparent protrusions 110 and 112 , as this will reduce or eliminate the fresnel reflection , or total internal reflection ( tir ) that can occur at the point of incidence . the analysis of the light reflection at the interface between the opaque material 114 and the transparent portions 102 and 103 , and the transparent protrusions 110 and 112 , can be facilitated by referring to fig5 . in this figure , the following list of variables are utilized in the optical analysis : θ pr is the emission angle of real ray 144 as it leaves a pixel 10 b at location 146 ; θ 1 is the angle of incidence that the emitted ray 144 makes at the interface between the opaque material 114 and the transparent protrusion 112 ; θ t ( not shown ) is the angle of exittance of the light ray transmitted into the opaque material 114 ; θ out is the final output angle of the light ray 150 as it leaves the display panel relative to a normal line 156 ; θ pv is the apparent emission angle of virtual ray 152 as it leaves a pixel 10 c at location 154 ; n c is the refractive index of the transparent material of the protrusions 110 and 112 ; and n o is the refractive index of the opaque material 114 . by inspection , θ pv = θ pr , and from snell &# 39 ; s law θ out = a sin [ n c sin ( θ pv )] ( equation 2 ) θ t = a sin [ n c sin ( θ 1 )/ n o ] ( equation 4 ) as discussed above , it is highly desirable to minimize the power in reflected rays 150 , which is accomplished by controlling the relative refractive indices of the opaque material 114 and the transparent portions 102 and 103 and protrusions 110 and 112 . the amount of power in the reflected rays 150 is known to follow the fresnel reflection equations . there are two fresnel equations which are used to compute the amount of reflected power : one for light whose e - field is oriented perpendicular to the plane of incidence ( s - polarization ), and another for light whose e - field is oriented parallel to the plane of incidence ( p - polarization ). these two equations are : given that the light emitted by a display panel &# 39 ; s pixel is generally randomly polarized , containing 50 % p - polarization and 50 % s - polarization , the total reflectance becomes an average of these two : as a general rule of thumb , for the pixel - blur to be reduced to an acceptable level , the amount of power in the reflected ray 150 should be less than 10 % of the amount of power in a ray 144 emitted by a pixel , but preferably the amount of reflected power should be less than 2 %, for any given angle of incidence . this condition occurs when the refractive index difference is less than 0 . 01 , although differences as high as 0 . 03 may be acceptable for some applications . furthermore , the refractive index of the opaque material 114 should be greater than the refractive index of the transparent portions 102 and 103 and protrusions 110 and 112 in order to avoid total internal reflectance ( tir ) conditions which can occur at large values of θ 1 . tir can produce 100 % reflectance , which clearly will result in objectionable pixel blur . referring back to fig9 a - b and 10 , an alternate configuration is shown in which at least one of the sides of the protrusions 310 and 312 is curved . the sides of the resulting opaque material 314 areas are now substantially curved in cross - section . the operation of this configuration follows that as described in connection with fig4 and 5 , including the relative refractive index values of the opaque material and the transparent portions 102 and 103 and protrusions 110 and 112 . having thus described the basic concept of the invention , it will be rather apparent to those skilled in the art that the foregoing detailed disclosure is intended to be presented by way of example only , and is not limiting . various alterations , improvements , and modifications will occur and are intended to those skilled in the art , though not expressly stated herein . these alterations , improvements , and modifications are intended to be suggested hereby , and are within the spirit and scope of the invention . additionally , the recited order of processing elements or sequences , or the use of numbers , letters , or other designations therefore , is not intended to limit the claimed processes to any order except as may be specified in the claims . accordingly , the invention is limited only by the following claims and equivalents thereto .	1
fig1 is a side view of a sod harvester 10 having a sod slab - elevating conveyor 12 that elevates sod slabs , which have been cut from a sod field 9 by sod cutter 11 , to a transfer conveyor 13 within the sod harvester that delivers the sod slabs to a sod stacking mechanism within the sod harvester . a driver 50 located in a cab within the sod harvester 10 drives the sod harvester as well as observes the transporting of sod slabs from a first ground end 12 c of the sod slab conveyor 12 to a higher elevation at an opposite end 12 d of sod slab conveyor 12 . fig2 shows an isolated side view of a sod slab hold down 15 and fig4 shows a top isolated view of the sod slab hold down 15 that resiliently maintains sod slabs in alignment with a conveyor belt 12 b . in the example shown in fig2 and fig4 a set of two free wheeling elastic belts 30 and 30 c are brought into top engagement with the sod slabs on the conveyor to hold the sod slabs in conveyor alignment as the sod slabs are conveyed from end to end of the conveyor 12 . the top engagement of the sod slabs with the elastic belts not only holds the sod slabs in place it also causes the elastic belts to move in unison with the sod slabs on the conveyor belt 12 b thus avoiding damage to the sod slabs from the elastic belt contact . a suitable elastic belt 30 or 30 c , which have an inherent resiliency , are o - ring belts as they are elastomeric and can stretch and contract in response to external forces on the belt although other types of belts may be used without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention . the side view in fig2 shows that sod hold down 15 includes , a first end frame upright 15 a attached to conveyor 12 , a middle frame upright 15 b attached to conveyor 12 and a second end frame upright 15 c attached to conveyor 12 , with each upright extending above an endless conveyor belt 12 b on the sod slab conveyor 12 to provide support for a free wheeling sod hold down 15 . sod hold down 15 includes a first set of idler pulleys 19 and 21 that are rotatably mounted on arm 18 , which is pivotally supported at a first end of the conveyor 12 by a pivot pin 15 d in frame upright 15 a . a second set of idler pulleys 25 and 27 are rotatably mounted on frame upright 15 c . pulley 25 is rotatably mounted on upright 15 c and pulley 27 is rotatably mounted on pivotable arm 26 through an axle 22 a . arm 26 is pivotally supported by frame upright 15 c though a pivot pin 26 a that allows the arm 26 with pulley 27 thereon to pivot thereabout in response to the presence or absence of a sod slab on the conveyor belt 12 c . a first elastic belt 30 extends from the first set of pulleys 19 and 21 to the second set of pulleys 25 and 27 with the elasticity of belt 30 urging the first set of pulleys 19 and 21 and pulley 27 in the second set of pulleys 25 and 27 toward each other through the pivoting of arm 18 around pivot pin 15 d and arm 26 around pivot pin 26 a . in this example frame 15 b includes a circumferentially grooved pulley 39 ( fig2 b ), which is located on an inside face of belt 30 , to maintain a top portion of belt 30 in an out of the way condition above the sod slabs on the conveyer 12 as well as a second circumferentially grooved pulley 39 c , which is located on an inside face of belt 30 c , to maintain a top portion of belt 30 c in an out of the way condition above the sod slabs on the conveyer 12 . fig2 shows the lower portion of elastic belt 30 has an outside face 30 a in engagement with sod slabs 9 a , 9 b , 9 c and 9 d on the conveyor belt 12 b to maintain the orientation of the sod slabs as the conveyor belt 12 b elevates the sod slabs thereon for delivery to the sod transfer conveyor 13 . in this example the engagement of the pulley 22 and the engagement of the elastic belt 30 with the sod slabs causes the belt 30 to travel in unison with the conveyor belt while at the same time maintaining the sod slabs in position for later transfer within the sod harvester . that is , the elasticity of the hold down elastic belt 30 maintains the hold down belt 30 in a motion transfer engagement with the conveyor belt 12 b . similarly , the elasticity of the hold down elastic belt 30 c maintains the hold down belt 30 c in a motion transfer engagement with the conveyor belt 12 b . fig2 a is identical to fig2 except fig2 a shows the side view of the sod hold down 15 without any sod slabs on the conveyor belt 12 . note , the peripheral contact of pulley 22 with the conveyor belt 12 b as well as the face 30 a of belt 30 , which is caused by the resiliency of the elastic belt 30 . in this example the conveyor belt 12 b rotates in a counter clockwise direction while the elastic belt 30 on the free wheeling sod hold down 15 is driven in a clockwise direction through frictional engagement with conveyor belt 12 . as can be seen in fig2 a that with or without sod slabs the conveyor belt 12 b rotates the drive belt 30 since the drive belt 30 is in a free wheeling mode as the pulleys supporting drive belt 30 are idler pulleys as opposed to drive pulleys although there may be some beneficial assist from pulley 21 and 27 through contact of the idler pulleys with either the conveyer belt or the sod slabs . in the example shown each of the idler pulleys include a circumferential groove therein to maintain a positive tracking of an elastic belt therein . fig4 is a top view of sod hold down 15 revealing a third set of pulleys 19 c and 21 c , an elastic belt 30 c and a fourth set of pulleys 25 c and 27 c , which are identical to the first set of pulleys 19 and 21 , the elastic belt 30 and the second set of pulleys 25 and 27 . in this example pulleys 19 , 21 , 25 and 27 as well as elastic belt 30 are located in a first vertical plane and the pulleys 19 c , 21 c , 25 c and 27 c as well as elastic belt 30 c are located in a second plane , which is parallel to the first vertical plane with both elastic belt 30 and elastic belt 30 c coacting to maintain sod slabs in position as the sod slabs are transported along the conveyor 12 . fig4 shows that the pulleys 21 c and 19 c are mounted on a pivotable arm 18 c , which pivots about a pivot pin 15 d ( fig2 ) on upright 15 a and that pulley 27 c is mounted on a pivotable arm 26 c that pivots about a pivot pin 26 a ( fig2 ). the side - by - side mounting of the elastic belt 30 and elastic belt 30 c provide contact with the sod slabs on spaced apart locations on the sod slab to maintain the sod slab in proper orientation as it is transferred along conveyor belt 12 . although a set of side - by - side free wheeling elastic cord belts 30 and 30 c are shown it is envisioned that a single wide belt may be used without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention . fig3 shows a partial side view of hold down 15 showing pulleys 19 and 21 and arm 18 of sod hold down 15 when sod slabs 9 a and 9 b are located on conveyor belt 12 b . note , in this position the arm 18 , which supports idler pulley 19 and idler pulley 21 makes an angle θ 2 with the upright 15 a . fig3 a shows an identical partial side view of hold down 15 showing idler pulley 19 and idler pulley 21 and arm 18 of sod hold down 15 when there are no sod slabs present on conveyor belt 12 b . note , in this position the arm 18 , which supports pulley 19 and 21 makes an angle θ 1 with the upright 15 a . fig3 a ( without the sod slabs ) shows arm 18 pivoted at an angle θ 1 about pivot pin 15 d while fig3 ( with the sod slabs ) shows arm 18 pivoted at an angle θ 2 about pivot pin 15 d where the angle θ 2 is greater than the angle θ 1 . in this example the downward or counter clockwise pivoting of arm 18 , which is illustrated by fig3 and fig3 a is generated through the elasticity of the belt 30 . that is , by placing elastic belt 30 in tension through engagement with the set of idler pulleys on the opposite ends of hold down 15 generates a counter clockwise torque on arm 18 that brings the belt 30 into engagement with the top of the sod slabs with sufficient force so as to maintain the sod slabs in place on the conveyor belt 12 as the sod slabs are carried thereon . similarly , by placing elastic belt 30 c in tension through engagement with the set of idler pulleys on the opposite ends of hold down 15 generates a counter clockwise torque on arm 18 c that brings the belt 30 into engagement with the top of the sod slabs with sufficient force so as to maintain the sod slabs in place on the conveyor belt as the sod slabs are carried thereon . likewise the clockwise torque on pivotable arm 26 from elastic belt 30 brings elastic belt 30 into contact with sod slabs on the conveyor belt 12 . in this example the operation of elastic belt 30 c is identical to elastic belt 30 . thus the invention includes a method of transferring a sod slab along a conveyor 12 while maintaining the sod slab in a conveying condition by elevating the sod slab onto a conveyor belt 12 b and bringing a hold down belt 30 or 30 c supported by a set of idler pulleys into engagement with a top surface of a sod slab on the sod conveyor belt 12 b with sufficient force to hold the sod slab proximate the conveyor and rotate the hold down belt in unison with the conveyor belt through frictional engagement of the hold down belt with a top surface of the sod slab on the conveyor belt . in the example shown the elasticity of the belts are used to pivot the idler pulleys 21 and 27 , 21 c and 27 c toward each other and bring the belts down into contact with the sod slabs . that is , the elastic belt 30 is used to pivot the arm 18 and arm 26 toward each other through the pulleys 21 and 27 , which are located on opposite ends of the hold down 15 . an alternate method is to pivot arm 18 and arm 26 toward each other using an external tensioner such as a spring or the like between arm 18 and arm 26 or between arm 18 and upright 15 a and between arm 26 and upright 15 c that causes the arm 18 and arm 26 to pivot toward the sod slabs to bring the belt into top engagement with the sod slabs on the conveyor . with the use of an external tensioner in the form of springs or the like either one or more of an inelastic belt or an elastic belts may be used as a hold down for the sod slabs .	1
referring to the drawings more particularly by reference number , reference numeral 10 refers to an infant heel heat pack in accordance with the present invention . an ideal but non - limiting size for heat pack 10 fitted to a baby &# 39 ; s foot is 3½ by 5 inches . heat pack 10 is formed as a flexible pouch 14 with a front panel 16 and a rear panel 18 , the construction of which is discussed below . pouch 14 provides a container for a supercooled aqueous salt solution which , when activated releases heat . suitable solutions include supercooled sodium acetate , lead acetate , calcium nitrate tetrahydrate , sodium pyrophosphate and sodium thiosulfate solutions . sodium acetate may be preferred because it is generally harmless to humans . the salt solution is made by dissolving the salt in a desired amount of water . the amount of salt to be utilized should permit the salt solution to be supercooled to at least the ambient temperature at which the heat pack is intended to be utilized . the supercooled aqueous salt solution may include a small amount of a viscosity increasing agent . a variety of gelling or thickening agents are commercially available , have been proposed for use in heat packs before and may be used . as seen in fig1 - 2 and 4 , a trigger 20 to initiate crystallization is included in pouch 14 . many triggers have been used in prior art heat packs and may be used in the present heat pack . for example , trigger 20 may be a metal disc or disc formed of flint , garnet , aluminum oxide , silicon carbide , alumina - zirconia , chromium oxide , ceramic aluminum oxide and so forth . what is important is that when trigger 20 is manually manipulated as shown in fig4 by pressing the disc between thumb and index finger of one or both hands , the disc initiates crystallization . front panel 16 of pouch 14 can be made from a flexible plastic material . suitable flexible materials include plastics used in the food industry such as polyolefins , copolymers of ethylene , substituted olefins , polyesters , polycarbonates , polyamides , acrylonitriles and so forth . a plastic laminate such as nylon polylaminate may also be used for front panel 16 ; suitable materials for such purpose having a thickness in the range of about 1 mil to 10 mils . rear panel 18 is formed as a laminate , an essential feature of which is that an outer layer 22 be formed of a nonwoven material . an illustrative cross - section of a rear panel 18 is shown in fig3 . non - limiting examples of nonwoven materials suitable for outer layer 22 include nylon , rayon , cellulose ester , polyvinyl derivatives , polyolefins , polyamides , polyesters , natural materials such as wool , silk , jute , hemp , cotton , linen , sisal , ramie and combination thereof . the nonwoven material may be formed by a suitable process such as , for example melt blowing , spunbonding , card webbing , etc . for example , 42 gsm white sms polypropylene untreated , product code b0116 , sold by pgi of mooresville , n . c . has been used . the polypropylene is spunbond and combined with meltblown polypropylene to form a layered sms ( spun - melt - spun ) product . the polypropylene sms is water - repellent but capable of adsorbing water on the surface and applying a film of water to an infant &# 39 ; s heel . other of the nonwoven materials mentioned above may also be wetted prior to application of the heat pack to an infant &# 39 ; s heel . an adhesive 24 attaches nonwoven outer layer 22 to an inner layer 26 which may be bonded to front panel 16 . inner layer 26 may also be a composite as shown in fig3 wherein a first layer 28 is formed of a biaxial oriented polymer film . biaxially oriented polyamides , polyethylene terephthalate or the like are generally much stronger in terms of tear strength and thus may be used to reinforce the nonwoven outer layer 22 . a second layer 30 is formed of a flexible plastic material that can be bonded to or fused with the plastic material making up front panel 16 . front panel 16 and second layer 30 may be formed of the same material or not . a specific example of rear panel 18 comprises nonwoven outer layer 22 , adhesive 24 , 60 gauge biaxially oriented nylon ( bon ) as first layer 28 , adhesive 24 and 3 mil clear low linear density polyethylene ( lldpe ) as second layer 30 . the 60 gauge bon is manufactured by american biaxis , inc . laminating adhesive 24 is sold under the trade name tycel and is manufactured by henkel adhesive . the lldpe is manufactured by appleton performance packaging - films . a band 32 is attached to heat pack 10 for the purpose of attaching the heat pack to a heel 34 of an infant as shown in fig5 . for this purpose a patch 36 of adhesive is provided on opposite ends of band 32 for connecting to front panel 16 . before heat pack 10 is applied to heel 34 and after crystallization has been initiated , a peel - off strip 38 over patch 36 as shown in fig2 may be removed exposing patch 36 for attachment of the free end of band 32 to front panel 16 . band 32 may have a non - slip coating to keep heat pack 10 in place on an infant &# 39 ; s heel . a message 40 such as “ safe ” as shown in fig1 , “ safe to use ” or the like may be printed on band 32 in a thermochromic ink or dye to let the operator know that heat pack 10 is at a proper temperature to be placed on infant &# 39 ; s heel 34 . for example , message 40 could appear when the temperature is somewhere between 98 ° and 105 ° fahrenheit . suitable thermochromic substances include liquid crystals and leucodyes . the indicator used for message 40 may include two or more different thermochromic materials that change color at different temperatures . for example , the indicator may include a first thermochromic material that is blue when heat pack 10 is below 98 °, a second thermochromic material that turns green when heat pack 10 is within the desired temperature range , and a third thermochromic materials that turns orange when heat pack 10 is above 105 °. thermochromic materials can also be combined with non - thermochromic dyes and / or pigments to form message 40 . for example , message 40 formed with non - thermochromic indicia may be obscured by a thermochromic coating that becomes translucent at a predetermined temperature , e . g ., when a temperature above 105 ° has been reached . in use , trigger 20 in heat pack 10 is flexed as shown in fig4 initiating crystallization . when heat pack 10 has reached the suitable operating temperature , message 40 on band 32 may appear signaling that heat pack 10 is safe to apply to heel 34 of the infant and nonwoven outer layer 22 is preferably wetted . strip 38 is peeled off patch 36 and heat pack 10 is attached to heel 34 with band 32 as shown in fig5 with nonwoven outer layer 22 in contact with the baby &# 39 ; s skin . as crystallization proceeds nonwoven layer outer layer 22 causes heat pack 10 to nest about the infant &# 39 ; s heel thereby keeping it in place . nonwoven outer layer 22 also insulates the infant &# 39 ; s skin from burning and cuts back on potential irritation . the heat of the heat pack 10 drives water which has been applied to nonwoven outer layer 22 into the infant &# 39 ; s skin where it is then trapped under the heat pack . the water moisturizes and softens the skin on the infant &# 39 ; s heel thereby facilitating entry of a needle . in view of the above , it will be seen that the several objects of the invention are achieved and other advantageous results attained . as various changes could be made in the above constructions without departing from the scope of the invention , it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense .	0
the present invention will now be described in conjunction with the attached figures , wherein like elements are identified with like numerals . fig2 illustrates an example of a basic communications network system which utilizes the present invention . the network 2 includes a plurality of n nodes 4 . each node 4 is connected to each of m networks 6 . the communications network system 2 may be , for example , the internet , an intranet , or a process plant network . fig3 illustrates one of the nodes 4 . the node may also be referred to as a computer wherein the computer includes a cpu 8 , an input device 10 , an output device 12 , software application program memory 14 , network communications program memory 16 and a plurality of network cards 18 . the cpu 8 may be , for example , an intel pentium ii processor operating in a windows 95 environment . the input device 10 may be any of a variety of input devices such as a mouse , a keyboard , a voice recognition system , or other input device . the output device 12 may be any of a variety of devices such as a display monitor or a printer . the memories 14 and 16 may be any computer memory capable of storing program code including for example , a hard disk drive , read only memory ( rom ), random access memory ( ram ), or an optical disk drive . the memories 14 and 16 may be implemented as a single memory unit or as multiple memory units . the network cards 18 may be , for example an ethernet card , a card for a wireless local area network ( lan ), or a card for a modem . the cards 18 may all be the same or may all be different or any combination thereof . application memory 14 may store any one of a variety of applications including , for example , an internet web browser , a factory process control program , or an intranet database program . the network communications memory 16 includes all of the programs necessary for connecting to a network and transmitting information to and receiving information from another node . fig4 illustrates the network communications memory 16 in more detail . the memory 16 includes an interface module 20 , for example the winsock . dll , and a network manager 22 which connects to at least two of the multiple protocol stacks 24 . each protocol stack 24 is connected to a network card 18 . each protocol stack comprises a transport service provider ( tsp ) 26 and a network card driver 28 . the combination of the protocol stack 24 and network card 18 comprises a network connection channel from each individual node 4 to a particular network 6 . the network manager 22 of the node 4 operates with the other elements of the node as follows . the network manager 22 operates in a first manner when managing a node in a server mode , as illustrated in fig5 and in a second manner when managing a node in a client mode , as illustrated in fig6 . in either a server node or a client node , one of the applications 30 residing in application memory 14 is activated . the application 30 requires a network connection to transmit or receive information . the application 30 requests a single network connection from the interface 20 . the interface 20 passes this request to the network manager 22 . in response to the request the network manager 22 prepares at least two of the protocol stacks 24 to establish a network connection . the network manager 22 selects as many protocol stacks as is required by the redundancy / backup scheme it is working under , as discussed below . the protocol stacks 24 are prepared for connection to another node and are also associated with each other and the requesting software program application . for example , if the requesting application is a web server the protocol stacks are defined by the socket number 80 which also designates the web server application . the following flow charts are meant only to assist in understanding the present invention and are not intended to limit the scope of this specific embodiment . an example of the procedure the network manager 22 follows in a server mode is illustrated in the flow chart of fig5 . the network manager 22 is activated when the interface 20 makes a call requesting a single network connection . operation of the network manager 22 begins with a call to a start step 32 . the network manager 22 then calls a server stack connector 34 . the procedure followed by the server stack connector 34 is illustrated in the flow chart of fig7 . the server stack connector procedure begins at start step 340 . in step 342 , the server stack connector 34 initializes x service provider resources in accordance with a preselected redundancy / backup scheme , as discussed below . in step 344 , the server stack connector 34 creates an end point for communication of the x service providers . in step 346 , the server stack connector 34 assigns an address to each of the x service providers . in step 348 , the server stack connector 34 listens for incoming connection requests on all of the x service providers . in step 350 , the server stack returns control to the network manager 22 . the network manager 22 then calls a server connection manager 36 . the procedure followed by the server connection manager 36 is illustrated in the flow chart of fig8 . operation of the server connection manager 36 begins at a start step 360 . in step 362 , the server connection manager 36 determines if an initial connection has been requested from another node . if a connection has not been requested , the server connection manager 36 loops back to step 362 . if an initial connection has been requested , in step 364 the server connection manager 36 determines if it is an appropriate request . an appropriate request includes one which has the correct address and the correct socket number and includes information indicating it has come from the network manager of another node . this information may be for example some type of tag in the form of bits appended to the request call . an inappropriate request includes one which was initiated by a client node that did not use the network manager 22 . such a request would not include the appended tag . if an inappropriate request is made , the request is discarded in step 366 and the server connection manager 36 loops back to step 362 . if an appropriate request has been made , the server connection manager 36 sets a countdown timer to a preselected period t1 at step 368 . once the countdown timer has been set the server connection manager 36 makes a call to a network connector in step 369 . the network connector establishes a connection between the requested protocol stack and the corresponding protocol stack of the requesting node . once the connection is made the server connection manager 36 makes a call to a status manager in step 370 . the status manager monitors and marks which tsps have and have not been connected . if a connection has been established the connection condition is marked as available . once the status of the tsp and corresponding network connection is marked the server connection manager 36 checks if period t1 has elapsed , in step 371 . if t1 has not elapsed , in step 372 , the server connection manager 36 checks for another connection request . if a connection request has not been made the server connection manager 36 loops back to check the period t1 . the server connection manager 36 continues in this loop until another connection request has been made or period t1 elapses . if another connection request has been made the server connection manager 36 continues to step 373 . if the connection request received in step 372 is inappropriate , it is discarded in step 374 and the service connection manager 36 loops back to step 371 . if the connection request is appropriate , a connection is made by the network connector , the status manager marks the tsp and corresponding network connection as connected and available and the period t1 is checked again . once the period t1 has elapsed , the server connection manager 36 returns control to the network manager 22 . in a client mode the network manager 22 operates slightly differently from the server mode . in the client mode the network server 22 calls a client stack connector 52 . the procedure followed by the client stack connector 52 is illustrated in the flow chart of fig9 . operation of the client stack connector procedure begins at step 520 . in step 522 , the client stack connector 52 initializes x service provider resources in accordance with the preselected redundancy / backup scheme . in step 524 , the client stack connector 52 creates end points for communication of the x service providers . in step 526 , the client stack connector 52 assigns an address to each of the x service providers . in step 528 , the client stack connector 52 returns control to the network manager 22 . the network manager 22 then calls a client connection manager 54 . the procedure followed by the client connection manager 54 is illustrated in the flow chart of fig1 . operation of the client connection manager 54 begins at step 540 . in step 542 , the client connection manager 54 sends a connection request to a server node for all x service providers . in step 544 , the client connection manager 54 sets a countdown timer to a preselected period t2 . in step 546 , the client connection manager 54 checks and determines if an initial connection has been established with the server node . if an initial connection has not been established , in step 548 , client connection manager 54 checks if the period t2 has elapsed . if the period has not elapsed the client connection manager 54 loops back to step 546 . if the period has elapsed , in step 558 , the client connection manager 54 returns control to the network manager 22 . if the connection has been established , the client node will receive a signal from the server node . once an initial connection has been established , the client connection manager 54 calls the status manager in step 550 . as in the server mode , the status manager marks the particular tsp and corresponding network connection as connected and available . in step 552 , the client connection manager 54 checks if period t2 has elapsed . if the period t2 has not elapsed , in step 554 , the client connection manager 54 checks to determine if all of the x connections have been established . if all of the connections have not been established , in step 556 , the client connection manager 54 checks if another connection has been established . if another connection has not been established the client connection manager 54 loops back to step 552 . if another connection has been established the client connection manager 54 loops back to step 550 . if all of the connections have been established , in step 558 , the client connection manager 54 returns control to the network manager 22 . if the period t2 has elapsed before all of the connections have been established , in step 558 , the client connection manager 54 returns control to the network manager 22 . in both the server mode and the client mode the network manager 22 then calls a report manager 38 . the report manager 38 reports the status ( also referred to as “ condition ”) of the individual tsps 24 and corresponding network connections to a report log using the information established by the status manager . the report log indicates which tsps have successfully connected to the network and which have not , within the preselected time period . once the report manager 38 has reported the status of the various tsps , the network manager 22 calls a receive manager 40 . the procedure followed by the receive manager 40 is illustrated in the flow chart of fig1 . operation of the receive manager 40 begins at step 402 . in step 404 , the receive manager 40 sets a counter x equal to one . in step 406 , the receive manager 40 determines if an incoming message is present at a tsp x . if a message is not present , in step 408 , the receive manager 40 determines if the counter x is equal to x , which is equal to the number of tsps selected by the redundancy / backup scheme currently in operation . if counter x is not equal to x , in step 410 , the receive manager 40 increments the counter x by 1 and then loops back to step 406 to determine if the next tsp has a message . if a message is present on the tsp , in step 412 , the receiver manager 40 calls a transmission manager . the transmission manager retrieves the message present on the tsp and delivers it to the appropriate application . once the message is retrieved and delivered , the counter x is again checked to see if all of the current tsps have been checked . once all the tsps have been checked , at step 414 , the receive manager 40 returns control to the network manager 22 . the network manager 22 then calls a health manager 42 . the procedure followed by the health manager 42 is illustrated in the flow chart of fig1 . operation of the health manager 42 begins at step 420 . in step 422 , the health manager sets a counter x equal to one . in step 424 , the status of a connection through a tsp x is determined . in determining if the network connection is alive , the health manager 42 calls the status manager . the status manager continuously checks the status of every network connection which the particular redundancy / backup scheme requires . this is achieved by a heart beat checker , for example . the heart beat checker sends a pulse down each network connection . if a return signal is received from the other end of the network connection , the status manager knows the network connection is alive and available and reports it as such to a status report . if a return beat is not received the network connection is marked as dead and unavailable in the status report . the status manager will repeatedly check the network connection after a preselected time period . if the node receives a heart beat request from another node , the status manager will mark the network connection as alive and checked and not check it the next period . once it is determined that the network connection is alive , in step 426 , the health manager 42 checks the “ health ” of the network connection . this is determined by variables associated with information transmission which are monitored every time information is transmitted over a particular network connection . these variables include but are not limited to transmit time , transmit cost , and wait period before transmission begins . in step 428 , the health manager then reports the network connection health to a health report . in step 430 , the health manager 42 determines if all of the required network connections have been checked . this is accomplished by checking if the counter x equals x . if all of the network connections have not been checked in step 432 , the counter is incremented by one , and the health manager 42 loops back to step 424 to check the next network connection . if a network connection is found to be “ dead ” the death is reported to the status report , in step 434 . once all of the network connections have been checked , in step 436 , the health manager 42 returns control to the network manager 22 . the network manger 22 then calls the transmission manager 44 . the procedure followed by the transmission manager 44 is illustrated in the flow chart of fig1 . operation of the transmission manager 44 begins at step 440 . in step 442 , the transmission manager 44 determines if any of the applications 30 are ready to transmit information . if an application has called the interface 20 to transmit the interface 20 will call the network manager 22 to transmit . if a program wishes to transmit information , in step 444 a health report established by the health manager 42 is reviewed . using the predetermined redundancy / backup scheme , the status report and the health report , in step 446 , the transmission manager 44 determines which is the most suitable connection to use . in step 448 , the transmission manager 44 selects the most suitable connection . once the connection is selected , in step 450 , the transmission manager 44 directs the information to the proper protocol stack for transmission . once the information is directed , at step 452 , the transmission manager 44 returns control to the network manager 22 . if none of the applications wish to transmit information , the transmission manager 44 simply returns control to the network manager 22 . in step 46 , the network manager 22 determines if a request to disconnect the connection has been received . if no disconnect request is present the network manager 22 loops back to step 40 and calls the receive manager . if a disconnect request has been received the network manager 22 disconnects the connections associated with the disconnect request . the network manager 22 then shuts down and waits for another request from a application to establish a network connection . an example of a network system which does use the present invention and one that does not use the present invention will be helpful in better understanding the present invention . fig1 illustrates two personal computers 600 and 602 , each having two independent network cards 604 , 606 , 608 and 610 . a first network , for example an ethernet network , 612 connects card 604 to card 608 . a second independent network , for example but not necessarily another ethernet network , 614 connects card 606 to card 610 . since each computer 600 , 602 has two network cards , each computer has two network addresses . in this example the first computer 600 has addresses pc1ip1 and pc1ip2 and the second computer 602 has addresses pc2ip1 and pc2ip2 . in this example both computers are running winsock software . the first computer 600 is running in the client mode and the second computer 602 is running in the server mode . the particular application running on the computers is unimportant to the operation of the winsock program and the network manager for purposes of this example . however , various application programs may introduce changes in the low level operation of the interface and the manager without affecting the overall purpose and scope of the present invention . table 1 presents an example of winsock calls when the present invention is not operating . the operation of the winsock calls results in a single network path over one of the networks 612 or 614 . in this example the first network 612 is selected . either network can be selected , and there is usually no reason to prefer one over the other . winsock passes the function calls to a network protocol stack corresponding the first network 612 ( as discussed above ) and then assumes that the same stack is to be used for all future communications . therefore all packets of information the application wishes to transmit over the network will be routed to the first network 612 regardless of the health or status of the first network 612 . the network stacks of the two networks 612 , 614 are unaffected by and do not cooperate with each other . when the present invention , referred to as the network manager , is installed on each of the computers 600 , 602 and configured as the default service provider , the winsock program passes the function calls to it instead of one of the service providers of the various protocol stacks . tables 2 and 3 show an example of the steps followed by the server and client for a particular application program when the network manager is operational . the first three steps of both the client and the server are the same as in the example wherein the network manager is not running except that both networks are prepared for transmitting information from and receiving information for the application and both networks are associated with each other and the application . in other words , every time winsock receives a call from an application to establish a network connection winsock passes that call to the network manager . for every call the network manager receives from winsock to establish a single network connection , the network manager will establish multiple network connections . in this example two connections are established . however , the number of connections will only be limited to the number of available network cards . further , the application is unaware that multiple network connections will be established . the first four steps of table 2 correspond generally to the operation of the server stack connector 34 , discussed above and the first three steps of table 3 correspond generally to the operation of the client stack connector 52 , discussed above . after the two network connections are prepared and associated with each other and the application , the server waits until it receives a connection request from a client . in step 4 of table 3 , the client requests a connection to the server for all of the service providers . step 4 of table 3 corresponds generally to the client connection manager 54 . in step 5 of table 2 , the server receives a first connection request from a particular client . step 5 of table 2 corresponds generally to the server connection manager 36 . after all of the available connections have either been established or determined dead as reported by the report manager 38 , the network manager in both the server and the client begins sending and receiving information on the connected networks . steps 6 - 13 of table 2 and steps 5 - 12 of table 3 correspond generally to the receive manager , health manager and transmission manager discussed above . in the example set forth in tables 2 and 3 , the first data information send occurs at step 5 of table 3 . in this example , the network manager has directed the information to service provider # 1 and therefore the information is sent through service provider # 1 . the network manager selects the service provider to send the information based upon the information gathered by the health manager , as discussed above and the particular redundancy / backup scheme it is running under , as discussed below . further , the reception of data on a particular service provider is determined by the decision made by the sending node . the sending node selectively chooses a service provider for transmission in the same manner discussed above . the particular service providers selected in this example merely illustrates one potential combination among a virtually infinite set of combinations . another example would have the server network manager determining that service provider # 1 is unavailable ( dead ) and therefore will select service provider # 2 every time the server needs to transmit information . at the same time , the server network manager will continuously recheck the status of service provider # 1 so that it will know when it has the option to again transmit information on service provider # 1 . the phrase “ redundancy scheme ,” as used above is intended to mean a template which the network manager 22 uses to select a particular network connection to transmit information from an application in one node to an application in another node . the redundancy scheme will assume all of the available network connections are alive and provide a method for selecting a connection dependent upon the task the communications system is undertaking . an example of one redundancy scheme is illustrated in the flow chart of fig1 . using the network described above in fig1 , the redundancy scheme of fig1 simply alternates the selection of the two connections . the first data transmission would be sent through the first network 612 , the second data transmission would be sent through the second network 614 , the third data transmission would be sent through the first network 612 and so on . this redundancy scheme will be taken into account by the network manager 22 when selecting a network connection . however , if one of the network connections is found to be “ dead ” then the network manager 22 will only transmit data through the other connection . the network manager 22 will periodically check the “ dead ” connection , as discussed above , to determine if the connection is “ alive .” once the connection is “ alive ” again , the network manager 22 will return to following the redundancy scheme . the redundancy / backup scheme illustrated in fig1 is merely an example of one possible scheme the network manager 22 can be set to follow and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention . the present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential attributes thereof and , accordingly , reference should be made to the appended claims , rather than to the foregoing specification , as indicating the scope of the invention .	7
referring now to the drawings , and first to fig1 , there is shown a bed foundation 10 of the present invention in an unassembled state . the bed foundation 10 includes at least two longitudinal members 12 , at least two transverse members 14 , a plurality of cross members 16 , and at least one top panel 18 . preferably , the longitudinal members 12 are configured to have an i - beam construction , with an upper portion 20 , a lower portion 22 and a middle portion 24 , the upper and lower portions 20 , 22 being thicker than the middle portion 24 . additionally , the longitudinal members 12 preferably include end portions 26 that are thicker than the middle portion 24 , thereby framing the middle portion 24 in a panel - like fashion . the i - beam construction of a longitudinal member 12 is shown in fig3 . the upper portions 20 of the longitudinal members 12 also include upper surfaces 28 that define a plurality of notches or grooves 30 . the grooves 30 are arranged and sized to accommodate the cross members 16 . the arrangement of the grooves 30 is such that the grooves 30 of adjacent longitudinal members 12 align with each other to receive a cross member 16 that is perpendicular to the length of the longitudinal member 12 . the grooves 30 are sized such that when the cross members 16 are placed in the grooves 30 , top surfaces 32 of the cross members 16 are substantially flush with the upper surfaces 28 of the longitudinal members 12 receiving the cross members 16 . this configuration is best shown in fig2 . though any rigid materials , including plastic , may be used , the longitudinal members 12 are preferably made of wood . more preferably , the upper portions 20 , lower portions 22 , and end portions 26 , are made of a relatively inexpensive material such as pine . the middle portions 24 , are preferably made of mdf , particle board , or plywood . similar to the construction of the longitudinal members 12 , the transverse members 14 , seen in fig4 , are preferably configured to have an i - beam construction , with an upper portion 34 , a lower portion 36 and a middle portion 38 , the upper and lower portions 34 , 36 being thicker than the middle portion 38 . additionally , the transverse members 14 preferably include end portions 40 that are thicker than the middle portion 38 , thereby framing the middle portion 38 in a panel - like fashion . like the longitudinal members 12 , any rigid materials , including plastic , may be used to construct the transverse members 14 . however , the transverse members 14 are preferably made of wood . more preferably , the upper portions 20 , lower portions 22 , and end portions 26 , are made of a relatively inexpensive material such as pine . the middle portions 24 , are preferably made of mdf , particle board , or plywood . the construction of the transverse members 14 may be identical to the construction of the longitudinal members 12 . fig3 shows a longitudinal member 12 of solid construction whereas fig4 shows a transverse member 14 having a panel construction . one skilled in the art will realize that the construction shown in fig3 may apply to transverse members 14 just as the panel construction of fig4 may apply to longitudinal members . the cross members 16 are substantially straight pieces sized to rest within the grooves 30 such that the top surfaces 32 of the cross members 16 are substantially flush with the upper surfaces 28 of the longitudinal members . though a variety of cross member widths , and inter - cross - member spacing , may be used to accomplish the present invention , consideration should be given to the structural integrity of the resulting foundation 10 . thus , narrow cross members should be accompanied by relatively small spacing between cross members , thereby resulting in the use of more cross members . conversely , wider cross members might accommodate larger inter - cross - member spacing . these considerations are important to ensure a sufficiently rigid surface , thereby preventing unwanted noises , and to reduce the chances of a puncture in one of the top panels 18 . any rigid material may be used to form the cross members 16 . preferably , the cross members 16 are wood . more preferably , the cross members 16 are a cost effective wood such as pine . the top panels 18 are planar pieces that rest on the upper surfaces 28 of the longitudinal members 12 , the top surfaces 32 of the cross members 16 , and on upper surfaces 42 of the transverse members 14 . the top panels 18 are flat , rigid pieces that are preferably resistant to warping , such as extruded plastic or more preferably , plywood or particle board . the thickness and strength of the top panels 18 should also be considered when determining the optimal spacing between the cross members . thicker top panels 18 can be used in conjunction with fewer cross members . though cardboard has been discussed as undesirable , given the appropriate number of cross members , closely spaced , cardboard could function adequately to be considered within the scope of the invention . in an assembled state , as is shown in fig2 with the exception of one of the top panels 18 , the various components of the foundation 10 are held together with fasteners 44 . any suitable fasteners are acceptable . preferably , the fasteners 44 are screws , nails , pins , bolts , biscuits , glue , or the like . the fasteners 44 are shown connecting the transverse members 14 to the longitudinal members 12 . additionally , any type of fastener 44 may be used to secure the cross members 32 to the transverse members 14 , and / or the top panels 18 to any or all of the members 12 , 14 , and 16 . the use of these fasteners 44 , as well as the structural integrity provided by the grooves 30 , allow the foundation 10 to be constructed at a location other than the factory in which the individual pieces are manufactured . additionally , shipping costs are greatly reduced as the various members 12 , 14 and 16 , may all be packaged together in a compact package . the queen - sized embodiment , shown in fig1 and 2 , has a shipping package size of approximately 78 × 30 . 25 × 3 . 75 inches . more importantly , the length of the package into which the foundation fits is less than 108 inches in length and less than 165 inches in length and girth combined . girth is defined as the distance around the package at its widest point in a direction perpendicular to the length . the length being the longest side of the package . therefore , the package is can be shipped using commercial shipping companies such as united parcel service of america , inc . ( ups ). packages exceeding 108 inches in length and 165 inches in length plus girth require special , more expensive , courier services . the queen - sized embodiment of the foundation 10 shown in fig1 and 2 includes three longitudinal members 12 , two transverse members 14 , and a plurality of cross members 16 that span the entire width of the foundation 10 . though this embodiment of the foundation 10 could be resized to any bed size , a preferred embodiment of a king - sized foundation 10 is shown in fig5 . the foundation 10 of fig5 is completely assembled and inverted to show its various components . not unlike many convention box springs , the king - sized foundation 10 of fig5 includes two smaller subfoundations 10 a and 10 b juxtaposed to form a larger foundation 10 . these subfoundations 10 a and 10 b also serve individually as twin - sized foundations . thus , the cross members 16 span the entire widths of the smaller foundations 10 a and 10 b , but do not span the width of the entire foundation 10 . because the widths of the individual subfoundations 10 a and 10 b are smaller than the queen - sized foundation , the center longitudinal member may be replaced with a joist member 46 . the joist member 46 is less expensive than the longitudinal members 12 as it does not have i - beam construction and is smaller . the joist member 46 is supported at the ends of the subfoundations 10 a and 10 b by braces 48 attached to the transverse members 14 . the joist member 46 has grooves 50 that match the grooves 30 of the longitudinal members 12 and that are sized to accept the cross members 16 . like the queen - sized embodiment , the king - sized foundation 10 of fig5 saves on shipping costs by being able to fit into a package that is not oversized . each subfoundation 10 a and 10 b , in an unassembled state , can be placed into a single container having a shipping package size of approximately 78 × 39 × 2 . 06 inches . more importantly , the length of the package into which the foundation fits is less than 108 inches in length and less than 165 inches in length and girth combined . therefore , the package is can be shipped using commercial shipping companies such as united parcel service of america , inc . ( ups ). packages exceeding 108 inches in length and 165 inches in length plus girth require special , more expensive , courier services . the invention has herein been described in its preferred embodiments to provide those skilled in the art with the information needed to apply the novel principles and to construct and use the embodiments of the examples as required . however , it is to be understood that the invention can be carried out by specifically different devices and that various modifications can be accomplished without departing from the scope of the invention itself , which is set out in the following claims :	0
with reference to fig1 , there is shown a rear portion of a fuselage 10 of an aircraft having a central longitudinal axis ( x ). the description will be made using a conventional axis system , comprising a longitudinal ( x ), a horizontal ( y ), and a vertical ( z ) axis . the rear portion of the fuselage 10 comprises two engines 11 , 12 each having a central longitudinal axis ( a ) parallel to the longitudinal axis ( x ) of the fuselage 10 . in this example , each engine comprises a nacelle 13 , 14 for housing a compressor and combustion chamber , and a pair of counter rotating open fan blades 15 , 16 providing thrust to the aircraft . each engine is attached to the fuselage by means of an engine attachment pylon 17 , 18 . each engine attachment pylon comprises a rigid structure 19 covered by aerodynamic fairings , in particular a front fairing 20 which forms a leading edge and a rear fairing 21 which forms a trailing edge of the pylon . with reference to fig3 , the rigid structure 19 forms substantially a box , which comprises a front spar 22 , a rear spar 23 , connected together by a first plate attachment means 24 and a second plate attachment means 25 extending perpendicularly between each spar , and sealed with an upper 26 and a lower panel 27 . with reference to fig2 , both rigid structures 19 are joined together on a vertical plane ( p ) passing through the longitudinal ( x ) axis of the fuselage 10 by a junction 28 . each rigid structure passes through openings in the fuselage , as explained in fr2943643 ( u . s . published application 2012 / 0066937 ) and incorporated in the present description by reference . in this example , the rigid structures are raised by 30 ° from the horizontal ( y ) axis . the engine attachment pylons 17 , 18 interface at the uppermost edge second structural members so as to form the junction 28 which is substantially a hinge . the first attachment means 24 is conventionally rigidly attached to the engine nacelle . the rigid structure 19 is attached to the fuselage 10 internally by means of struts , as explained in fr2943643 ( u . s . published application 2012 / 0066937 ), but not shown in the figures . the engine attachment pylon 18 further comprises a dynamic mass absorber 29 , or resonator , as shown in fig2 and 3 , according to the present invention , housed within the rigid structure 19 . the terms dynamic mass absorber and resonator may be used interchangeably . with reference to fig3 , the resonator 29 comprises a damping member 30 attached at one end to the second attachment means 25 and movably attached at the other end to a load transfer means 31 . the load transfer means comprises 31 a lever 32 pivotally mounted around a pivot 33 and attached at one end to the damping member 30 and a fitting 34 at the other end . the fitting 34 attaches the lever 32 to the first attachment means 24 . the damping member 30 has a narrow width compared to its length and extends , in - use , in the direction between the engine 11 and the fuselage 10 . the damping member 30 comprises a lumped mass 35 , or suspended ring mass , which is preferably located in the vicinity of the first attachment means 24 . the pivot 33 is preferably a ball joint attaching the lever 32 to the end of a fixed member 36 , having a narrow width compared to its length and which is attached at its other end to the second attachment means 25 . during flight and operation of the engines , vibrations comprising bending ( b ), torsion ( to ), and tension ( te ) and compression ( c ), as illustrated in fig1 , will be induced and transferred to the fuselage . the bending and torsion vibrations are attenuated by an arrangement of struts , which are not illustrated in the figure but are explained in fr2943643 ( u . s . published application 2012 / 0066937 ). the struts serve to support the engine attachment pylons 17 , 18 and reduce bending and torsion vibrations induced into the engine attachment pylon by the operation of the engine 11 , 12 and during flight . the tension and compression vibrations in this example are attenuated by the resonator 29 . tension and compression vibrations are experienced by the fitting 34 , and subsequently transferred to the damping member 30 by inducing oscillatory rotations in the lever 32 around the pivot 33 . then , the amplitude of the displacements at the attachment point of the damping member 30 to the lever 32 is attenuated by the inertia of the lumped mass 35 , or ring mass , mounted onto the damping member 30 , thus acting altogether as a damping force . the size of the ring mass 35 is chosen so that the dynamic mass absorber 29 can dissipate or absorb the vibration of the engine 11 , 12 . in particular , the weight of the lumped mass 35 is determined as a function of the amount of force required to react against the frequency of the vibrations seen at the location of the fitting 34 . the principal advantage of this invention is to provide an engine attachment pylon 17 , 18 which prevents tension and compression vibration from the engines 11 , 12 from propagating into the cabin area of the fuselage . also , the use of the junction 28 in the present invention minimizes any vibrations from one engine attachment pylon 17 from propagating into the other engine attachment pylon 18 . this is achieved because the junction 28 forms a hinge which isolates the movement from one engine attachment pylon 17 to the other 18 . another advantage of this invention is that the position of the lumped mass 35 being located in the vicinity of the first attachment means 24 prevents bending vibrations from being induced into the engine attachment pylon 17 due to the existence of the resonator 29 . also , by implementing a lumped mass 35 as the means of damping , there is a reduced maintenance burden due to there being no moving parts and no hydraulic leakage . alternatively , the lumped mass 35 could be replaced by a hydraulic damper . the pivot 33 may also be changed such that it is not a fixed member 36 having a narrow width compared to its length and extending to the second structural member 25 , but takes the form of a rigid strut attached between the upper 26 and lower panels 27 , at the location of the pivot 33 . it will be appreciated that engine attachment configurations other than a rear mounted configuration with two engines mounted on engine attachment pylons 17 , 18 raised by 30 ° from the horizontal ( y ) axis of an aircraft fuselage are possible . the engine attachment pylon according to the present invention could easily be adapted for other configurations . one such configuration would be to attach the second structural member to the fuselage . in this case , there is no need for a junction connecting the two engine attachment pylons and it would be appreciated that there would be a reduction in structural mass as a result . the engine attachment pylon could also be relocated to beneath the wing . in this case , the resonator within the engine attachment pylon would extend vertically in the direction between the engine and the wing . as is apparent from the foregoing specification , the invention is susceptible of being embodied with various alterations and modifications which may differ particularly from those that have been described in the preceding specification and description . it should be understood that i wish to embody within the scope of the patent warranted hereon all such modifications as reasonably and properly come within the scope of my contribution to the art .	8
fig1 is a network diagram illustrating a conventional mobile network where each bsc is assigned to a single msc . in particular , in fig1 , bscs 104 and 106 are assigned to msc 100 , and bscs 108 and 110 are assigned to msc 102 . each bsc 104 , 106 , 108 , and 110 has access to only a single msc without the ability to utilize resources provided by other mscs . as a result of this fixed relationship between bscs and mscs , there is no ability to load - share the assignment of mscs to mobile stations . fig2 illustrates a network as described in 3gpp ts 23 . 236 where a non - access stratum node selection function ( nnsf ) is integrated within the bscs . more particularly , in fig2 , each bsc 200 , 202 , 204 , and 206 includes an nnsf 210 . nnsf 210 allows multiple mscs 212 and 214 to be assigned to a given single bsc . however , 3gpp ts 23 . 236 does not specify the method by which nnsf 210 assigns mobile stations to mscs . moreover , requiring that the nnsf be located at the bsc node requires that each bsc nodes be upgraded and is therefore unsuitable for networks with large numbers of legacy bsc nodes without nnsf functions . fig2 also illustrates an msc pool area , which is the area served by mscs 212 and 214 . according to one aspect of the subject matter described herein , an nnsf may be located within a media gateway that resides between the bscs and the mscs to allow load - sharing of msc assignments among mobile stations . in addition , the load - sharing may be based on bearer circuit availabilities of the mscs . fig3 illustrates an example of a network where the nnsf is integrated with media gateways and where mscs are assigned to mobile stations using bearer circuit availability - based load sharing according to an embodiment of the subject matter described herein . referring to fig3 , a plurality of media gateways ( mgs ) 300 and 302 with integrated signaling gateway ( sg ) functions resides between bscs 304 , 306 , and 308 and mscs 310 and 312 . each media gateway 300 and 302 includes an nnsf function 314 . each nnsf function 314 monitors availability of bearer circuits of each of mscs 310 and 312 and assigns new mobile stations to mscs 310 and 312 based on the monitored availabilities and in a load - sharing manner . in the illustrated example , each bsc 304 , 306 , and 308 is connected to two combined media gateway / nnsf nodes 300 and 302 , which are both active and share the load of the subtending bscs 304 , 306 , and 308 . the sg functions of media gateways 300 and 302 handle sccp signaling between bscs 304 , 306 , and 308 and mscs 310 and 312 and appear as a single node to the bscs . the sg functions of media gateways 300 and 302 may share the same local point codes and a single bsc linkset connected to both sgs . in operation , when a mobile station is first active in a bsc service area , i . e ., through initial registration or handover , the serving bsc sends an initial layer 3 message to the msc assigned to the bsc . for example , bsc 304 may send the initial layer 3 message to msc 310 . nnsf 312 of mg 300 may intercept the initial layer 3 message , determine whether to assign the mobile station to msc 310 or msc 312 based on monitored relative bearer circuit availabilities of the mscs , and assign the mobile station to the msc with the highest bearer circuit availability . bearer circuit availability or relative bearer circuit availability between mscs of equal processing capacity may be determined by comparing the number or percentage of available bearer circuits of each msc . if one msc has a higher number or percentage of available bearer circuits than another msc of the same processing capacity , then the mobile station may be assigned to the first msc . monitoring the bearer circuit availability of an msc may be performed by keeping track of assignments of bearer circuits by each msc made through the nnsf 314 . moreover , each nnsf 314 may periodically audit each msc 310 and 312 to determine whether the msc 310 or 312 has blocked or made circuits available . the auditing may be performed using an operations , administration , and maintenance ( oa & amp ; m ) interface of nnsf 314 to communicate with a corresponding oa & amp ; m interface of each msc . exemplary oa & amp ; m protocols that can be used include proprietary protocols and snmp . monitoring bearer circuit availability may also include monitoring bearer circuit maintenance messages generated by bscs 304 , 306 , and 308 to inform mscs 310 and 312 of bearer circuit maintenance or equipment failure events . in the illustrated example , a pair of nnsfs 314 serves a common subscriber pool , represented by the box surrounding bscs 304 , 306 , and 308 . in such an embodiment , cic assignment messages from mscs 310 and 312 and maintenance messages from bscs 304 , 306 , and 308 may go through either nnsf 314 . as a result , nnsfs 314 may implement communications to track the state of all the bearer circuits . one option for tracking bearer circuit status information where bearer circuit assignment or maintenance messages are not guaranteed to go through the same nnsf is to have the nnsfs communicate with each other regarding bearer circuit status . such a solution may lead to consistency problems if an nnsf receives bearer circuit status information from both its mated nnsf and from a bsc or msc . another option for tracking bearer circuit operational status is to have the nnsf - msc audit messages request bearer circuit operational state ( free or busy ) instead of just the administration state ( unblocked or blocked ). in such an embodiment , it may be unnecessary for the nnsfs to record cic assignment messages from the mscs . in yet another example , each msc may compute its own bearer circuit availability information as an absolute number or a percentage and send that information to each nnsf . any method for obtaining bearer circuit availability information for core network nodes is intended to be within the scope of the subject matter described herein . fig4 illustrates an alternate embodiment of the subject matter described herein where nnsf 314 is separate from mg nodes 300 and 302 . in fig4 , each nnsf 314 is implemented on a platform that hosts a signaling gateway , but not a media gateway . the operation of the subject matter illustrated in fig4 with regard to msc load sharing is similar to that illustrated in fig3 and a description thereof will not be repeated herein . fig5 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary nnsf architecture according to an embodiment of the subject matter described herein . referring to fig5 , each nnsf 314 may reside on a circuit board that is associated with a signaling gateway 502 , or implemented on a separate circuit board . nnsf 314 may communicate with signaling gateway 502 through inter - processor communications 504 . each nnsf 314 may implement both sccp and bssap signaling layers 506 and 508 . each nnsf 314 may maintain a list of available bearer channels and corresponding mscs , illustrated in fig6 by circuit identifier code ( cic ) list 510 . the network resource identity ( nri ) table 511 stores nris for all cn nodes accessible by each nnsf 314 . each nnsf 314 may send and receive bssap signaling to and from bscs and mscs via a tdm network interface 512 or ip network interface 514 . table 1 shown below illustrates an example of bearer circuit availability data that may be maintained by nnsf 314 according to an embodiment of the subject matter described herein . table 1 shown above illustrates exemplary cic availability that may be maintained for mscs or other core network nodes . in the illustrated example , the first column includes msc identifiers . in practice , each msc may be identified by any suitable network identifier , such as an nri , a point code , or an ip address . the next column includes cics that are assigned to each msc and the corresponding bscs with the cics are associated . in the illustrated example , msc 1 has cic 1 and cic 2 with bsc 1 and cic 3 and cic 4 with bsc 2 . similarly , msc 2 has cic 6 and cic 7 with bsc 1 and cic 8 and cic 9 with bsc 2 . if the nnsf with which table 1 is associated receives an initial layer 3 message from bsc 1 , the nnsf may determine from the stored cic status information that msc 1 has two cics , cic 1 and cic 2 , available for bsc 1 and msc 2 has only one cic available for bsc 1 . using this availability status information , the nnsf may assign msc 1 to the mobile station for which the initial layer 3 message was sent . the nnsf may then forward the initial layer 3 message to msc 1 , which returns a response to the message to bsc 1 . fig7 is a message flow diagram illustrating exemplary msc assignment by nnsf 314 according to an embodiment of the subject matter described herein . referring to fig7 , in line 1 , bsc 700 sends an sccp connection request ( cr ) message to nnsf 314 . if the connection request message contains a valid nri that corresponds to one of the mscs in the network , then the connection request corresponds to a mobile station that has already been assigned , e . g ., due to a previous activation . however , if any of the following conditions are true , the nnsf may perform load sharing : the timsi does not contain a valid nri ( no match in the static configuration data ); the timsi contains the null nri ; the initial layer three message does not contain a timsi ( imsi or imei used instead ); for all these cases the nnsf selects the msc from available mscs in the pool using the load balancing algorithm described herein , taking into account the msc &# 39 ; s reachability , service , and load redistribution states . returning to the message flow diagram in fig6 , in line 2 , nnsf 314 sends the sccp connection request to msc 602 . msc 602 allocates an sccp local reference number for the connection and embeds its snri in the sccp lrn sent back in the sccp connection confirm message in line 3 . in line 4 , the sccp connection confirm message is sent from nnsf 314 to bsc 600 . in line 5 , bsc 600 sends an sccp dt message to nnsf 314 . nnsf 314 extracts the snri from the sccp destination lrn and distributes the sccp message to the appropriate msc , msc 602 , as illustrated by line 6 . fig7 is a network diagram illustrating an example where nnsf 314 is co - located with signaling gateway 700 and interfaces with a first bsc 702 that has a - flex or lu - flex capabilities and a second bsc 704 that does not have a - flex or lu - flex capabilities . as stated above , lu - flex refers to the ability of a radio access node in a umts network to select between mscs in a pool of mscs . a - flex refers to the same capability in a gsm network where the radio access interface between the bsc and the msc is referred to as the a or access interface , rather than the lu interface . signaling gateway 800 may determine whether or not a message originates from a node with or without a - flex or lu - flex capabilities by examining a configuration parameter associated with the address of the sending bsc that indicates whether lu - flex or a - flex capabilities exist . if signaling gateway 700 determines that an initial layer 3 message originates from a node that has a - flex or lu - flex capabilities , then nnsf function 314 is bypassed , and the message is forwarded to the appropriate msc 706 or 708 identified in the message . in the illustrated example , the solid line from bsc 702 to msc 708 represents the case where nnsf 314 is bypassed . if signaling gateway 700 receives a message from a node that does not have a - flex or lu - flex capabilities , then the message is forwarded to nnsf 314 , which selects the appropriate msc using load sharing , as described above . the load sharing case is illustrated by the dashed line in fig7 . fig8 is a network diagram illustrating exemplary cic assignments between bscs and mscs and the transparent mapping of cics performed by each nnsf according to an embodiment of the subject matter described herein . in the illustrated example , each nnsf is a component of a combined mg / sg node 800 or 802 . mg / sg nodes 800 and 802 interface between bscs 804 and 806 and mscs 810 and 812 . bsc 804 has cics 1 - 50 and 101 - 150 that it believes that bsc 804 associates with msc 810 . however , each nnsf maps cics 101 - 150 to msc 2 512 transparently from bsc 804 . similarly , bsc 806 is assigned cics 51 - 100 and 151 - 200 that bsc 806 associates with msc 2 812 . however , the nnsfs of mg / sg nodes 800 and 802 map cics 51 - 100 to msc 1 810 . by transparently mapping cics in the manner shown in fig8 , each nnsf is able to transparently load share assignment of mobile stations to mscs without acquiring modification of the bscs . fig9 is a flow chart illustrating the exemplary overall steps that may be performed by an nnsf at an intermediate node according to an embodiment of the subject matter described herein . referring to fig9 , in step 900 , the nnsf receives an initial layer 3 message from a radio access node . for example nnsf 314 may receive an initial layer 3 message from a bsc . in step 902 , it is determined whether the radio access node that originated the message includes nnsf functionality . if the nnsf determines that the radio access node has nnsf functionality , control proceeds to step 904 where the nnsf function at the intermediate node is bypassed and then to step 906 where the message is routed to the cn node specified by the message . in step 902 , if it is determined that the sending radio access node does not include nnsf functionality , control proceeds to step 908 where it is determined whether the message includes a valid , assigned nri . if the message includes a valid , assigned nri , control proceeds to step 906 where the nnsf routes the message to the cn node specified by the nri . returning to step 908 , if the message does not include a valid , assigned nri , control proceeds to step 910 where the core network node is assigned using a load sharing algorithm described herein based on bearer circuit availability . control then proceeds to step 906 where the message is routed to the assigned cn node . it will be understood that various details of the presently disclosed subject matter may be changed without departing from the scope of the presently disclosed subject matter . furthermore , the foregoing description is for the purpose of illustration only , and not for the purpose of limitation .	7
turning first to fig1 , the loaded firearm stand includes a base 10 which supports and / or contains the other components of the stand . the base 10 shown is a box - like housing having front 11 , rear 13 , left side 15 , right side 17 and top 19 walls . the walls may be steel or any other suitable material of corresponding thickness to inhibit violent access to the contents of the housing or distortion of the alignment of its structural components . the base 10 need not necessarily be box - like or orthogonal . looking at fig2 and 3 , the base 10 also has a removable bottom cover 21 which closes the housing . as shown , the cover 21 hinges at one end 23 in a groove 25 in the lower inside surface of the rear wall 13 into abutment against a seat 27 along the lower inside surface of the front wall 11 . looking also at fig4 , a lock cylinder 31 is mounted on the cover 21 . a lock ring 32 threaded on the cylinder 31 engages the cylinder 31 against a flange 28 of an opening 29 in the cover 21 . the keyway is accessible to the key 33 from outside of the housing and the linkage 35 rotates within the housing to engage a flange 37 on the inside surface of the front wall 11 to lock the cover 21 to the base 10 . other cover configurations and methods of operation can be used , provided the resulting locked housing inhibits violent access to the contents of the housing or distortion of the alignment of the structural components . continuing to look at fig2 and 3 , the stand also includes a mechanism mounted on the base 10 for limiting engagement and disengagement of the firearm f to and from the base 10 to forward and rearward axial motion , respectively , of the firearm f relative to the base 10 . in the embodiment of fig2 , the motion restricting mechanism is a rod 41 fixed at one end 43 to the base 10 . as shown , a reinforcing tube 45 is mounted against the underside of the top wall 19 of the base 10 and the end 43 of the rod 41 extends through holes in the top wall 19 and the reinforcing tube 45 into the housing . exterior and interior lock nuts 47 and 49 secure the rod 41 in place on the base 10 . the exposed portion of the rod 41 is oriented at an angle 51 for insertion into the muzzle m of the firearm f . the barrel b of the firearm f restricts motion of the firearm f on the rod 41 to motion along the rod axis 53 . the forwardmost position 55 of the firearm f on the rod is determined by contact of the trigger guard g against the reinforcing tube 151 or by contact of the muzzle m on the top wall 19 of the base 10 depending on the length of the barrel b . once on the rod 41 in the forwardmost position 55 , axial motion of the firearm f is substantially limited to reward motion on the axis 53 . as best seen in fig1 , the rod 41 is of adjustable length . for example , one or more threaded extensions 42 can be used to extend the rod 41 or replace an extension of different length . the adjustable components 42 of the rod 41 are located and contoured for disposition within the barrel b so as to minimize any possibility of tampering with the adjustable components 42 . in the embodiment of fig3 , the motion restricting mechanism is a sleeve 61 fixed at one end to the base 10 . as shown , the mounting end 43 of a rod is secured to the base 10 in the same manner as the rod 41 was secured to the base 10 in fig2 . the closed forward end 65 of the sleeve 61 is fixed to the exposed end 67 of the rod with the sleeve axis 69 oriented at an angle 71 to receive the muzzle m of the firearm f . the forwardmost position 55 of the firearm f in the sleeve 61 is determined by contact of the trigger guard g against the reinforcing tube 151 or by contact of the muzzle m with the closed end 65 of the sleeve 61 depending on the length of the barrel b . once in the sleeve 61 in the forwardmost position 55 , axis motion of the firearm f is substantially limited to rearward motion on the axis 69 . other mechanisms may be used to limit axis motion of the firearm f . the materials and dimensions of the components of any axial motion limiting mechanism must be such as to inhibit violent distortion of the alignment of its structural components . considering fig2 , 3 , 8 and 9 , the stand also includes a mechanism cooperable with the firearm f in a loaded condition to prevent firing of the firearm f when the firearm f is in the fixed forwardmost position 55 on the base 10 . as seen in fig2 , the anti - firing mechanism is an extension 73 of the rod 41 into an empty chamber e of the firearm f . the rod extension 73 prevents rotation of a revolver cylinder c which would align a loaded chamber l for firing . similarly , the extension 73 of the rod 41 into the empty chamber of an automatic pistol would prevent a shell from being fed from a clip or magazine into the chamber . as seen in fig3 , the anti - firing mechanism is a pin 75 mounted for reciprocal travel into and out of abutment with the back of the trigger t of the firearm f along an axis transverse , as shown perpendicular , to the axis 69 . the pin 75 prevents the trigger t from being pulled sufficiently to fire the firearm f . looking at fig8 and 9 , similar arrangements of pins 77 and 79 behind an uncocked hammer h and in front of a cocked hammer h , respectively , will prevent the hammer h from moving sufficiently to fire the firearm f . again , the materials and corresponding dimensions of any components of the anti - firing mechanism must be such as to inhibit violent distortion of the alignment of its structural components . still considering fig2 , 3 , 8 and 9 , the stand further includes a mechanism mounted on the base 10 and operable along an axis transverse , as shown perpendicular , to the axial motion of the firearm f . this mechanism operates between a first position in which the firearm f can move axially to and from its fixed forwardmost position 55 on the base 10 and a second position in which the firearm f cannot move axially rearwardly from its fixed forwardmost position sufficiently to disengage the anti - firing mechanism and permit firing of the firearm f . as seen in fig2 , the anti - release mechanism is a pin 91 mounted on the base 10 for reciprocal travel into and out of abutment with the back of the front wall of the trigger guard g of the firearm f along the transverse axis . as seen in fig3 , the anti - release mechanism is the same pin 75 which serves as the anti - firing mechanism . as seen in fig8 , the anti - release mechanism may be the same pin 77 which serves as the anti - firing mechanism behind an uncocked hammer h or a pin 93 which moves into and out of abutment with the back of the pistol grip p . as seen in fig8 and 9 , the anti - release mechanism may be a pin 95 which moves into and out of abutment with the back of the front sight s of the firearm f . looking at fig2 and 5 - 7 , the operation of the pins 75 , 77 , 79 , 91 , 93 and 95 as anti - firing or anti - release mechanisms or both can be understood in relation to the operation of the trigger guard anti - release pin 91 of fig2 . the pin 91 is aligned to reciprocate in holes 101 in the structure of the base 10 . as shown , the holes 101 are in the reinforcing tube 45 and the right side wall 17 . other structural members could be added to permit the desired reciprocal alignment of the pin 91 or any of the pins 75 , 77 , 79 , 93 or 95 . as shown , the pin 91 reciprocates between a first position 103 in which rearward axial motion of the trigger guard g and firearm f from the fixed forwardmost position 55 is permitted and a second position 105 in which rearward axial motion of the trigger guard g and firearm f from the fixed forwardmost position 55 is prevented . as seen in fig5 , 6 and 7 , the stand also includes a mechanism for locking the anti - release mechanism in its anti - release position . in fig5 , the operation of the pin 91 can be accomplished , for example , by operation of a rotating linkage 111 on a lock cylinder 113 manually rotated by use of a key 115 . a post 117 on the pin 91 is engaged in a slot 119 in the linkage 111 . rotation of the key 115 causes reciprocation of the pin 91 between its first and second positions 103 and 105 and removal of the key 115 leaves the pin 91 locked in its second position . in fig6 and 7 , as further examples , the operation of the pin 91 can be accomplished by manually pushing an exposed end 121 of the pin 91 inwardly against the bias of a spring 123 compressed between the reinforcing tube 45 and a stop ring 125 on the pin 91 until a stop member or cone 127 on the pin 91 is engaged by a solenoid 129 mounted in the base 10 to hold the pin 91 in the first position 103 . the solenoid 129 is powered by an electrical source such as a battery 131 in the housing so that , when energized , the solenoid 129 releases the pin 91 to the bias of the spring 123 , returning the pin 91 to its second position 105 . until the solenoid 129 is engaged , the pin 91 remains locked in its second position . returning to fig1 , the stand includes a member 140 externally accessible on the base 10 for unlocking the locking mechanism to permit authorized removal of the firearm f from the stand . by way of example , as seen in fig5 , the accessible member is the lock cylinder key hole 116 . as seen in fig6 , the accessible member is an electronic key pad 141 in the circuit of the solenoid 129 . as seen in fig7 , the accessible member is an electronic fingerprint reader 143 . except for the accessible operating member , the unlocking and locking mechanism is contained within the housing . as seen in fig1 - 3 and 5 - 7 , the pin 91 in the second position 103 of the anti - release mechanism is entirely within the base 10 . as best seen in fig1 , a slot 151 is provided in the base 10 to receive the trigger guard g . the external structure of the base 10 can be similarly modified to enclose any of the pins 75 , 77 , 79 , 93 and 95 . furthermore , as best seen in fig1 - 3 , a bracket 153 can be mounted on the exterior of the rear wall 13 of the base 10 , as by use of one or more nuts 155 , to obstruct the magazine or clip passage of an automatic pistol . the stand can be disguised to some extent by combination in a lamp , clock or telephone stand or the like . it can be mounted on furniture or a wall or the like or be free standing . for example , the cover 21 may be secured to a suitable object , such as the top of a night table ( not shown ), by bolts ( not shown ). a hole can be drilled through the night table which is aligned with the lock cylinder 31 . thus , the cover 21 can be bolted to the night table and the base 10 can be locked to the cover 21 or unlocked and removed from the cover 21 . thus it is apparent that there has been provided , in accordance with the invention , a stand for a loaded hand gun that fully satisfies the objects , aims and advantages set forth above . while the invention has been described in conjunction with several embodiments thereof , it is evident that many alternatives , modifications and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art and in light of the foregoing description . accordingly , it is intended to embrace all such alternative , modifications and variations as fall within the spirit of the appended claims .	5
described herein are exemplary embodiments which optimize vehicle distribution via multi - car carriers . fig1 illustrates a system 8 wherein the transportation of vehicles from an inventory 10 to each vehicle &# 39 ; s individual destination is optimized , according to an exemplary embodiment . information on the vehicles in inventory 10 , available transport trucks 20 , and a best fit table 50 are entered into a load optimizer 30 . a plurality of best fit tables may be used . the load optimizer 30 determines the most efficient and profitable method of transporting the vehicles and outputs this transportation method as a chosen best load profile 40 . the inventory 10 includes all vehicles that are available for transportation . fig2 illustrates exemplary information for each vehicle in the inventory 10 which is later imported into the load optimizer 30 . a vin 102 is a vehicle identification number which is unique to each vehicle and is used to identify the vehicle . an origin zip 104 represents the postal zip code where the vehicle is located prior to transport . a destination zip 106 represents the postal zip code of the destination where the vehicle is to be transported . a destination client number 108 represents the client to which the vehicle is to be transported . a size 110 represents the size of the vehicle . vehicles may be classified into a plurality of sizes 110 as determined by the user . in an exemplary embodiment , vehicles are classified into five sizes 110 . a released date 112 represents the date and time that the vehicle was entered into inventory . a revenue 114 represents the amount of money to be earned by the transportation of the vehicle to its destination . a must ship flag 116 represents whether or not the vehicle must be immediately shipped to its destination . fig3 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of the load optimizer 30 and its operational components . in an exemplary graphical user interface ( gui ), these operational components are accessed by way of graphical tabs . in the exemplary embodiment , the gui for the load optimizer 30 includes a dashboard tab 302 , an available transport tab 304 , an import / export tab 306 , an execute tab 308 , and a solution set tab 310 . the dashboard tab 302 provides a graphical representation of the current load optimization solution based on specific parameters further described below . the available transport tab 304 provides a user input mechanism to define the transport truck availability . the process of inputting the transport truck availability is further defined below . in an exemplary embodiment , the import / export tab 306 engages the load optimizer 30 to import required data including truck type definitions , best fit table 50 , inventory , and order information and to export the generated load profile to an external application . the imported data will be further defined below . fig7 depicts a screen shot of a gui after the import / export tab has been chosen . the gui in fig7 allows the user to input parameters into a best fit table . other embodiments of the import / export tab may include user definable inputs for inventory , truck type definitions , and order information . the execute tab 308 allows the user to configure parameters of the load optimizer 30 to refine the optimization process . these configuration parameters are further defined below . the solution set tab 310 displays the results of the optimization process and is further defined below . fig4 illustrates operations performed by the load optimizer 30 in accordance with an exemplary embodiment . additional , fewer , or different operations may be performed depending on the particular implementation . further , while a certain order or sequence in the operations is illustrated and described , alternative embodiments could have operations in a different order . in an operation 410 , certain data is imported into the optimizer 30 . this data may include the inventory 10 , truck type definitions , and best fit table 50 . the truck type definitions define the different types of transport trucks . best fit table 50 defines how different combinations of vehicle sizes fit most efficiently on each type of transport truck . after the data is imported , the load optimizer 10 determines the delivery distance by comparing the destination zip 106 to the origin zip 104 in an operation 420 . the transport truck availability is input in an operation 430 . fig6 depicts a screen shot of a gui presented upon selection of the transport truck availability tab . the gui allows the number and types of available trucks to be inputted manually . the transport truck availability is further defined by both the load type and the delivery type of each transport truck . in an exemplary embodiment , transport trucks may be defined by one of four load types ; city , mini , turn , and line . the city load type can be loaded , delivered , and returned in a single day . the mini load type can be loaded and delivered in a single day , but the return drive is completed in the following work period . the turn load type can be loaded , delivered , and returned in 2 - 3 work periods . the line load type is loaded , delivered , and returned in a period greater than 3 days . in an exemplary embodiment , transports trucks may also be defined by one of four delivery types . the day delivery type can be delivered between normal working hours . the night delivery time can only be delivered during off hours . the weekend delivery time can only be delivered on saturday or sunday . the all delivery time can be delivered at any time . prior to running the optimization , the user may also configure parameters of the load optimizer in an operation 440 by utilizing the execute tab 308 . fig8 depicts a screen shot of a gui after the selection of the execute tab 308 . the gui allows the user to configure the allowable load efficiency threshold , load factor , skid drops , revenue per loaded mile , loaded miles , revenue miles , running miles , and days at origin . in addition , other embodiments may allow the user to choose inventory 10 from certain individual inventory origins or select multiple locations . the user may also configure the allowable must ship vehicles and transport trucks . the load efficiency threshold relates to the minimum number of vehicles on the load divided by the truck capacity . skid drops relate to the number of different destination clients 108 on each load . the revenue per loaded mile on a load is determined based on the sum of the revenues 114 of the vehicles on the load divided by the total drive miles of the load . after modification of these parameters , the user may run the optimization . upon running the optimization , the inventory is prioritized based on parameters such as load distance , must ship vehicle statuses , release date vulnerability , same destination , and other destinations in an operation 450 . the load optimizer 30 creates a best profile set of loads in an operation 460 based on the following four exemplary rules ( additional , fewer , or different rules may be used depending on the particular embodiment ): 1 ) maximize the revenue per mile on the load ; 2 ) minimize the number of skid drops on the load ; 3 ) minimize the age of the remaining inventory that is not included in the best profile load ; and 4 ) maximize the number of vehicles on a best available transport truck in accordance with best fit table 50 . the age of the remaining inventory is determined from the released dates 112 of the vehicles . certain metrics of the best profile set of loads are displayed on a gui upon selection of the dashboard tab 302 , and the best profile set of loads is displayed on a gui upon selection of the solution set tab 310 in an operation 465 . fig5 depicts a screen shot of a gui after the selection of the dashboard tab 302 . the gui depicts graphical representations of the load efficiency , the load factor , the average age of cars dispatched , the revenue per loaded mile , and the average skid drops per trip . the graphical representations are in the form of gauges . the gauges have threshold values which are illustrated by green to represent good values , yellow to represent neutral values , and red to represent bad values . in addition , the gui depicts a summary of the metrics . selection of the solution set tab 310 displays a gui the solution set at the load level and may include the following data elements : load number , origin location , destination location , number of cars in load , skid drops , revenue miles , revenue , load efficiency , and revenue / loaded mile . fig9 depicts a screen shot of a gui after the solution set tab has been chosen . the solution set tab also enables a secondary display to view details of individual loads which may contain the order number , origin 104 , destination 106 , vin 102 , released date 112 , date out , vehicle type , make , model , revenue 114 , revenue miles , loaded miles , and must ship flag 116 . in addition , the user may manually delete a selected vehicle from a load and add a vehicle from inventory 10 which is not part of the current best profile set of loads . if the user is not satisfied with the current best profile set of loads , the user may reconfigure the parameters of the load optimizer in an operation 440 and re - run the optimization . once the user is satisfied with the best profile set of loads , the user will select the “ commit ” function in an operation 480 within the solution set tab 310 . a visual confirmation mechanism is provided to ensure the user wants to commit to the current best profile set of loads . upon confirmation , in an operation 490 , the best profile set of loads will be exported to the dispatch and the transports are loaded according to the profile . possible export methodologies include web services , file export , or direct database update . by way of example , in an exemplary implementation using computer software , a delivery distance is determined for all vehicles in inventory from an origin zip code to a destination zip code . an example inventory table is shown below . a set of inventory objects is found by running a call multiple times with varying parameters . examples of such parameters include quantity of inventory desired ( numeric ); load distance type ( the types include city ( less than 100 miles ), mini ( 100 - 250 miles ), turn ( 250 - 350 miles ), and line ( greater than 350 miles )); flag for inclusion of must ship vehicles ; flag for inclusion of non - must ship vehicles ; flag to include other vehicles going to same destination ; must ship destination codes ( if applicable ); and flag to determine whether other destinations are allowed . the inventory candidates are prioritized , for example , by must ship first , then release data vulnerability , etc . for each candidate set , profile candidates are found by transport type and candidate set to determine the set &# 39 ; s load factor , number of skid drops , revenue per mile , running miles , and which inventory items fit ( or do not fit ) into a load . the set of candidates with the best profile is chosen , e . g ., using the best fit matrix in the table shown below . then a load is created for the set with the best profile . a sample computer program product to implement the optimization method can include programming logic which determines delivery distance for all vehicles in inventory . once a delivery distance is determined , the computer program product cycles through requested loads and , for each load , a software routine or method is called multiple times with varying parameters . this method provides a list of inventory objects based on requested parameters . parameters can include : quantity of inventory desired , load distance type ( city , mini , etc . ), flag for inclusion of must ship vehicles , flag for inclusion of non - must ship vehicles , flag to include other vehicles going to same destination , must ship destination codes ( if applicable ), flag to determine whether other destinations are allowed . inventory candidates can be returned in priority order ( must ship , release date vulnerability , same destination , other destinations ). another routine or method can be used , for each set of candidates , to determine that set &# 39 ; s load factor , number of skid drops , revenue per mile , running miles , and which inventory items fit or do not fit in a load . the set of candidates with the best profile can be selected and a load for the set of candidates with the best profile can be created . one or more flow diagrams have been used to describe exemplary embodiments . the use of flow diagrams is not meant to be limiting with respect to the order of operations performed . the foregoing description of exemplary embodiments has been presented for purposes of illustration and of description . it is not intended to be exhaustive or limiting with respect to the precise form disclosed , and modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings or may be acquired from practice of the disclosed embodiments . it is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the claims appended hereto and their equivalents .	6
the device according to the invention is applied to fractured ribs ( thorax fractures ). in these cases the object is to reduce the movement of the injured ribs in the chest . an embodiment of such an immobilizing device and its application are shown in a significantly simplified way in fig1 and 2 . fig1 shows the scheme of four ribs 15 - 18 from one side of a chest 13 , from among which the second rib from the top , rib 16 has a fracture 14 . the tissue and skin layers of the body over ribs 15 - 18 are not shown for simplicity reasons . the intercostal musculature is not shown either . a flat , splint - like immobilizing device 10 fitted to the arching of chest 13 is adhered to the area of chest 13 surrounding fracture 14 , on a large part of the total surface . the main component of the immobilizing device 10 consists of a splint element 12 ( fig2 ) in form of a plate made of a suitably rigid , but at the same time plastically deformable , material . adhering is achieved by applying an appropriate adhesive layer 11 on the inside of splint element 12 , similarly to plasters ( fig2 ). the size ( lateral dimension ) of the immobilizing device 10 is chosen preferably so that the immobilizing device 10 covers not only the injured rib 16 , but also the neighboring ribs 15 and 17 in a sufficient manner . through adhering , the immobilizing device 10 is supported by the not fractured part of the injured rib ( s ) and by the uninjured neighboring ribs 15 and 17 and keeps the fractured rib 16 in a fixed position relative to the neighboring ribs 15 and 17 . this hinders to a great extent any painful movement of the injured rib 16 at breathing , coughing , laughing or in other similar situations eliminating or at least reducing thereby the pain caused by these movements . additionally , some means can also be applied locally to the inside of the immobilizing device 10 for reducing the pain caused by the injured rib 16 . preferably pads or cushions impregnated with some analgesic material having its effect through the skin are used , which are connected to the inside of immobilizing device 10 by a releasable bond , e . g . by adhering or by hook and loop fastener . another solution may be to impregnate parts of or the total adhesive layer 11 with a suitable pain killer . the effect of the immobilizing device 10 according to the present invention may be explained on the basis of fig3 - 6 . in this case , we also have four parallel ribs 15 - 18 , from among which the second one from the top , rib 16 has a fracture 14 ( of course , it is also possible that more fractured ribs are present ). considering the section of the chest along the line iv - iv in fig3 , the configuration shown in fig4 is obtained in a simplified form . ribs 15 - 18 are embedded into intercostal musculature 21 serving , among other things , for breathing . this is covered by a multilayer consisting of skin and fat tissues which , in a simplified way , can be denoted as a skin / fat tissue layer 20 . in the area of fracture ( fracture area 19 ), the fractured rib 16 looses at least in part its stability , and as a result , a frictional movement ( marked in fig3 and 4 by double arrows ) of the ends of the fracture relatively to each other may occur causing significant pain to the patient at any movement of the chest . if , according to fig5 and 6 a flat immobilizing device 22 is adhered to fracture area 19 involving rib 16 and preferably to the not injured ribs 15 , 17 and 18 as well , fracture area 19 is stabilized so that rib 16 is immobilized in se and also relative to the other ribs 15 , 17 and 18 . this leads to a less painful breathing of the patient improving thereby the way of his / her breathing , as well . clinical experiments were carried out in 90 patients ( 72 of them using the immobilizing device , 18 being in the control group ) which patients had fractures up to 5 neighboring ribs , in which experiments the intensity of pain was determined by an analogous scale before the admission of the patients to the study , and 1 - 2 , 24 , 48 and 72 hours after that . in comparing with the control group , the intensity of pain in rest ( p & lt ; 0 , 05 ), and especially at forced inspiration ( p & lt ; 0 , 01 ) was over the whole period significantly less than in the control patients . the reduction of pain owing to the use of immobilizing devices 10 or 22 was measurable already even 1 hour after putting them on , whereas the control patients experienced a measurable reduction of pain only after 2 - 3 days . spirometric measurements were carried out in 29 patients before , and 1 - 2 , 24 , 48 and 72 hours after the adhering of the immobilizing device ( in several patients in all these periods ). two different sizes of immobilizing devices ( 12 × 17 cm and 17 × 17 cm ) were used according to the size of the fracture area . in 12 further patients ( control patients ) was the fracture area covered only by operation pads . in these control patients the forced vital capacity ( fvc ) hindered by the fracture , was further reduced by 174 ml in the average after 1 - 2 hours , and improved within further 24 or 48 hours only by 4 or 34 ml . to the contrary , in patients treated with the immobilizing device , the fvc continuously and significantly improved ( p & lt ; 0 . 001 ), by 153 ml in the average already after 1 - 2 hours , and by 384 , 474 and 616 ml after 24 , 48 and 72 hours , after the application of the immobilizing device , respectively . just like fvc , the spirometric parameters fev1 , ivc and pef improved also by using the immobilizing device . a preferred embodiment of immobilizing device 22 is shown in fig5 - 7 . the immobilizing device 22 comprises a flat splint element 24 as central component , in the present case made of a corrugated aluminum plate . the thickness and corrugation of the plate are chosen so that splint element 24 may be fitted easily to the area of the fracture to be treated in the arching of the chest by bare hands without any additional aid , and on the other hand , it is appropriately rigid for its function as support and immobilizing means for the fracture . splint elements described in wo - a1 - 97 / 22312 are also suitable for this purpose ( this is why the dates about the material used in that description are taken over in the present application ). in order to fit immobilizing device 22 best to the chest , the crests of the corrugations of splint element 24 are arranged parallel to the ribs . splint element 24 is provided with a covering 25 on its lower side and covering 23 on its upper side for making its wearing more comfortable . coverings 23 and 25 are preferably made of an elastic , foamed open - pored or perforated plastic material . covering 25 at the lower side is provided with an adhesive layer 26 on its outer surface , by means of which the immobilizing device 22 can be adhered to the fracture area . as adhesive materials for the adhesive layer , every adhesive suitable for medical applications can be used . during application , the upper side of the immobilizing device 22 , e . g . the outer surface of covering 23 is adhered to a protecting foil 27 which is greater on the sides than the covering , thus forming a protruding rim 28 ( fig5 ). if the protecting foil 27 with its protruding rim 28 is adhered to the skin of the patient , immobilizing device 22 is protected against external effects , thus the patient can e . g . take a shower without any negative consequence . the protecting foil is permeable for air ( so called breathing foil ) and water - tight . splint elements 24 in the present invention may be made of other materials than corrugated aluminum plate , such as plastic plates or similar materials being rigid enough and at the same time , sufficiently plastically deformable . splint element 24 is preferably provided with holes , e . g . in form of a perforation , in order to be permeable and being more comfortable to wear . the inventor has also discovered that the present device offers a further improvement over any known prior art in the field of analgesic relief for rib fractures . as described in detail above the present device is preferably constructed with two adhesive areas . one of these areas is that of adhesive layer 26 . the other is that of the perimeter area of protecting foil 28 . in at least one embodiment , the adhesive layer 26 is surrounded by the perimeter adhesive area of layer 28 . the perimeter area of protecting foil 28 is adhered to the skin of the chest in a separate step from that of adhering adhesive layer 26 . as described above , one of the beneficial effects of the perimeter adhesive area of layer 28 is to act as a barrier to things such as water . the presence of this layer allows the patient to engage in activities such as showering without adverse effect to the device . the combination of these two separate adhesives has proven to have yet another , entirely different advantage , however . one of the characteristics of rib fractures that makes their treatment considerably more difficult than fractures of other bones is the necessarily dynamic nature of ribs . by their very nature , ribs must be in nearly constant motion with respect to the remainder of the skeletal structure . the inhalation and exhalation of air required for breathing is , at its core , a fundamental mechanical operation . like a bellows , the lungs must be expanded and contracted to draw in oxygen - rich air in and expel the carbon dioxide produced by the respiration process . it is the skeletal - muscular structure of the ribcage that acts as the bellows . given this crucial function , a fractured rib or ribs cannot be rigidly fixed in place by a cast or other similar immobilizing device . to draw a contrast with the leg , as an example , the two elements of a fractured tibia can be set back into proper relationship with one another and then rigidly fixed in place by a cast or other immobilizing device . such a cast can not only surround the lower part of the leg , but can extend down past the ankle . in so doing , such a cast holds several bones of the leg and foot in a fixed positional relationship with one another . while uncomfortable , this does not interfere with the overall health of the patient . it is only the activities of mobility that are affected while the cast is in place . it is not , however , possible to hold the chest in place in a similar manner . to do so would bring to a halt the motion necessary for inhalation and exhalation , with obvious disastrous consequences . while the present device makes a considerable advance in the possibilities for treatment of rib fractures by virtue of its ability to be secured to that area of the skin of a patient that overlies the fracture or fractures , the presence of the two different adhesive areas offers yet another considerable advance in treatment , insofar as it allows for yet further accommodation of the different positions that the ribcage must occupy during maximum and minimum lung volume at different times of the breathing cycle . with this in mind , it has been discovered that considerable gains can be achieved by adhering the two different adhesive portions at two different point in the breathing cycle . under one example , the adhesive portion 26 is first adhered to the skin that overlies the fracture or fractures when the patient is in a condition of minimum lung volume , namely when the patient has finished exhaling , or very nearly so . the other adhesive portion 28 of the perimeter is not attached to the surrounding skin at the same time , however . instead , the patient is instructed to inhale , and the adhesive portion 28 is then adhered when the lung volume is at or near its maximum volume . in this way , the inner area of adhesive 26 is secured to the skin at a time when the skin is relatively slack at the end of exhalation . the outer perimeter adhesive 28 is secured to the skin when the skin when the skin is relatively stretched at the end of inhalation . accordingly , when one of the areas of adhesive is stressed by the movement of skin ( and underlying structure ) away from the relationship the adhesive had with the skin at the time it was adhered , the other area of adhesive is having a corresponding stress relieved as it moves back into the relationship it had with the skin and underlying structure at the time of adhesion . this method of application greatly improves the ability of the device to provide an overall secure relationship of the rigid portion of the device with the fractured rib or ribs during the many tens of thousands of respiration cycles that will take place from the time that the device is attached to the time that it is removed after the rib or ribs have healed . it is also possible that the relationship of the two can be reversed , so that the inner adhesive area 26 is secured when the lungs are at or near a condition of maximum volume , and the outer adhesive is attached at or near a condition of minimum volume . it is also unnecessary that the attachment of either adhesive portion take place at the limit of either inhalation or exhalation . so long as the two steps of adhesion take place at different points in the cycle , an advantage will be had over a corresponding method and device in which all adhesion takes place at essentially a single point in the respiration cycle .	0
the catalytic converter 1 has an oval outer shell 3 which is closed at opposite ends by an inlet header 5 and an outlet header 7 , respectively , which are interlocked with it in fluid tight joints 9 . supported inside of the outer shell 3 is a slightly smaller oval inner shell 11 which has a bottom portion 12 that rests on the inside of the bottom of the outer shell 3 as seen best in fig3 . the inner shell is closed at opposite ends by a flanged inlet header 13 and a flanged outlet header 15 which are illustrated as welded inside the ends of the shell . additionally , there is a flanged partition 17 welded inside the shell 11 adjacent the inlet header 13 and defining with it an inlet chamber 19 . a catalyst bed 21 is defined inside the inner shell 11 by a transversely curved longitudinally extending bed support partition 23 which acts with a portion of the shell 11 ( fig3 ) to form the transversely downwardly curved shape of the bed . the opposite ends of the bed are closed by flanged partitions 25 and 27 which are welded to the bottom bed support 23 . the bottom partition 23 and that part of the inner shell 11 located above it are louvered as seen at 29 and 31 to provide , respectively , outlet and inlet openings for gas to flow through the bed 21 , the bed containing suitable particulate catalyst material . a capped filler tube 33 ( fig1 ) is supported in aligned necks 35 in header 5 , header 13 , partition 17 , and partition 25 and opens at its inner end and outside of the converter to provide a means to refill the bed . an inlet tube 37 for exhaust gas is supported in aligned necks 39 in inlet headers 5 and 13 to open into the inlet chamber 19 . the inlet header 13 and the partition 17 have aligned flanged openings 41 and 43 providing seats for the valve heat 45 of a thermovalve member 47 , the stem 49 of which is slidably supported in a bushing 51 mounted in the inlet header 5 . opening 41 permits flow through the bed 21 while opening 43 permits bypass flow around the bed . the outside end 53 of the stem 49 is operated through suitable circuitry and operating means 54 which includes means for sensing the temperature of bed 21 , such as a thermister , and to the ignition circuit for the internal combustion engine . when the engine is off or when the temperature of the bed exceeds a predetermined temperature , e . g . 1800 ° f ., the valve head 45 will seat on inlet header 13 to cover opening 41 and provide for bypass flow through opening 43 . on engine start up or after the bed reaches a desired minimum temperature , the valve 45 will be shifted to seat on partition 17 and close opening 43 so that flow is through opening 41 . the space inside of inner shell 11 between the partition 17 and outlet header 15 comprises a combination bypass and bed outlet flow passage or chamber 55 . the opening 43 connects it to inlet chamber 19 for bypass flow and the louvers 29 in partition 23 connect it to the bed 21 to receive outlet flow from the bed . the chamber 55 empties into an outlet tube 57 , that is supported in aligned necks 59 in the outlet headers 7 and 15 , which conducts gas out of the converter where ordinarily it enters a tailpipe ( not shown ) in the exhaust system . the space inside of the outer shell 3 between it and the inner shell 11 comprises an inlet passage 61 connecting the opening 41 to the louvered openings 31 in inner shell 11 that form the inlet to bed 21 . thus , when the converter is operative and valve head 45 covers opening 43 , inlet gas from inlet tube 37 enters inlet chamber 19 , exits the chamber through opening 41 , flows through space 61 to the bed inlet openings 31 , passes through the catalyst in bed 21 where undesired emissions undergo chemical changes , and the treated gas leaves the bed through openings 29 in partition 23 to enter chamber 55 from which it leaves the converter via outlet tube 57 . when the converter is inoperative , the valve head covers opening 41 and inlet gas flows directly into chamber 55 , bypasses the bottom of bed 21 , and leaves the converter via outlet tube 57 . modifications in the specific structure shown may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention .	5
with reference now to the drawing and more particularly to fig1 thereof , there is shown a typical workstation having graphics display or crt 11 , keyboard 12 , graphics tablet 13 , mouse 14 , track ball 15 , and eight - knob valuator 16 , all connected to or on desk top 17 . central processing unit ( cpu ) 18 is positioned adjacent the desk . screen 21 shows graphics in central area 22 and various different elements of text in areas 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 and 28 . note also a graph , which may be considered text or graphics , in area 27 . it may be observed that the text elements clearly overlay the graphics portion to the extent that it blanks out a portion of the graphics in certain areas , for example , text areas 26 and 28 . the graphics portion overlays text areas 23 , 24 , 25 and 27 . the screen of fig1 is made possible by the structure of fig2 . this figure shows cpu &# 39 ; s 31 and 32 . for purposes of illustration , it is assumed that cpu 31 processes graphics information and cpu 32 has text information . it could just as easily be that they both have graphics information and there may be more than two cpu &# 39 ; s involved . the outputs of cpu 31 are data lines 33 and address lines 34 , both sets of lines being inputs to frame buffer 35 . priority buffer 36 receives an input from data lines 33 and from frame buffer 35 over line 37 . the output of this frame buffer is provided on line 41 to color lookup table 42 , the output of which is provided to digital - to - analog converter ( dac ) 43 over line 44 . the output of dac 43 is the blue / green / red control signal on line 40 which is intended to control the color guns of the crt . similarly , cpu 32 has data and address outputs 45 and 46 , respectively , as inputs to frame buffer 47 . the data line is also connected to priority buffer 51 as is line 52 from frame buffer 47 . the output of frame buffer 47 is applied to color lookup table 53 over line 54 and the output of the color lookup table is applied through line 55 to dac 56 to provide the blue / green / red signal on line 57 . each priority buffer has an output which is applied over respective lines 61 and 62 to priority decoder 63 . there is also a tie bit from cpu 31 data line 33 which is connected through line 64 to the priority decoder . the signal from the priority decoder is provided to analog video switch 65 over line 66 . this is a select control signal which determines on a pixel - by - pixel basis which signal from the dac &# 39 ; s will energize the blue / green / red guns of the crt . the priority buffers determine the output of priority decoder 63 based upon the priority bit assigned to each pixel . in cases of priority ties , the output of cpu 31 over line 64 determines which frame buffer information is displayed on the crt as that tie bit determines , through the priority decoder , the operation of the analog video switch . to put it concisely , the purpose of this invention is to allow two or more frame buffers output video displays to be combined , while each maintains its own integrity . this leaves the frame buffer &# 39 ; s output control and access separated from each other . this separation of frame buffers is needed to display the desired images and to allow maximum speed of each process to or from the process &# 39 ; s frame buffer . this allows multiple overlapping images to be displayed , selectable by the user on a pixel - by - pixel basis . with two processes and two frame buffers , or one process with multiple needs using two frame buffers , one for text and one for graphics , each process image is drawn into its frame buffer and a plane of importance or priority attribute bit is written with the object . this priority is compared with the priority bit of the other process frame buffer to enable the video switch , under control of signals from the priority decoder , to select the higher priority frame buffer &# 39 ; s video to be displayed . in addition to the priority bits being sent to the comparator or priority decoder , a user settable tie bit is also sent and is used to select the outcome when the priority bits from two frame buffer have the same priority . each process can draw multiple images at different priorities depending on the image &# 39 ; s importance within its frame buffers and it will overlay or underlay the other process &# 39 ; s images in accordance with the outcome of the priority decoder and tie bit , displaying them as a single image on a crt screen . in view of the above description , it is likely that modifications and improvements will occur to those skilled in the art which are within the scope of the appended claims .	6
referring to the drawings , fig1 schematically demonstrates an embodiment of the present invention for cooling bearing components in the center housing of turbocharger 10 having a turbine 12 and a compressor 14 interconnected by a shaft 16 . the shaft is supported by a bearing system 18 which is mounted within the center housing as will be described in greater detail subsequently . the turbocharger operates in a conventional fashion with the turbine receiving exhaust gas from the engine 20 through exhaust manifold 22 . charge air for the engine is provided from an air intake through an air filter 24 to the inlet of the compressor . after compression the charge air flows through an intercooler 26 through the inlet manifold 28 to the intake of the engine . in the embodiment shown for a diesel engine , a crankcase breather 30 is connected to the inlet conduit for the compressor . an ejector 32 receives high energy air , in the embodiment of fig1 as bleed flow from the compressor discharge through a bleed port 34 and conduit 36 . the ejector , best seen in fig2 in an exemplary embodiment , directs the high energy bleed flow into the ejector primary flow inlet 38 through a nozzle 40 increasing the velocity of the bleed flow as the primary gas stream generally designated “ a ”. in the embodiment shown the nozzle is converging ; however , in alternative embodiments , a converging - diverging nozzle is employed for obtaining desired flow velocity and pressure . an annular slot 42 in the ejector downstream of the nozzle provides the inlet for entrainment of the secondary gas stream entering the ejector through one or more secondary flow inlet ports 44 . the secondary gas stream generally designated “ b ” constitutes the coolant which is drawn into the low pressure nozzle exit 46 of the ejector for entrainment and mixing with the primary gas flow . the mixed stream generally designated “ ab ” then passes through a diffuser 48 to the outlet of the ejector 50 in the embodiment shown in the drawings . returning to fig1 the coolant flow for entrainment in the ejector is drawn as a bleed flow from the compressor inlet through a second bleed port 52 . the cooling air is bled downstream of the engine air - filter and any air flow - meter the engine may have , but upstream of the crankcase breather ( if connected to the compressor inlet as shown in fig1 ) to eliminate any need for further filtering devices . the coolant flows through first coolant conduit 54 to a plenum associated with the component to be cooled , in the case of fig1 the bearing system , and through a second coolant conduit 56 to the secondary flow inlet ports of the ejector . the mixed stream from the ejector is then returned through conduit 58 to be dumped in the low energy flow at the compressor inlet . reintroduction of the mixed flow from the ejector into the charge air is accomplished through a “ y ” or annular mixer generally designated 60 adjacent the inlet of the compressor . the high flow density at compressor discharge bleed port allows the ejector to be very compact . impact of the bleed flow on engine performance is minimized by rematching the turbocharger to the engine under the bleed conditions , or by changing the positioning of the vanes in variable nozzle turbine turbochargers , or both where possible . in addition , using this embodiment , there is no need for any additional engine control related flow metering to account for the bled compressor discharge flow that is not getting to the engine since all the flow that is bled from the compressor is dumped back into the compressor inlet , and all manipulation of the flow is all occurring downstream of where the airflow meter 62 on the engine is typically located , therefore , all of the amount of airflow measured by the airflow meter gets to the engine cylinders . the system matching for the ejector cooling system in the present invention is ideal in that the energy of the compressor discharge gas is dependent on the rotational speed of the turbocharger . higher rotational speed implies higher bearing and component temperatures ; however , the higher energy of the discharge bleed gas for the primary ejector flow allows pumping of a larger volume of cooling gas through the ejector secondary flow . an alternative embodiment of the present invention using bleed flow from the engine exhaust gas inlet to the turbine as the high energy primary flow for the ejector is shown in fig3 . the primary components of the system are comparable to those described with respect to fig1 ; however , the high energy gas stream is provided through a first bleed port 64 in the exhaust manifold upstream of the turbine inlet . the mixed flow from the ejector is dumped into the low pressure exhaust gas stream through a “ y ” 66 or , alternatively , an annular mixer downstream of the turbine outlet for treatment with the main exhaust gas stream from the turbocharger . cooling flow provided by the present invention is employed in several exemplary embodiments shown in fig4 and 5 . fig4 demonstrates a system employing the combined components of the invention for cooling an air bearing 68 in the turbocharger center housing 70 . the air bearing supports the shaft 16 which interconnects the turbine and compressor . the cooling air flow is drawn from the first coolant conduit 54 through the center housing coolant inlet 72 for circulation in the plenum 74 surrounding the air bearing . details of the plenum and flow configuration of the coolant are dependent on the air bearing configuration . the cooling air is exhausted from the center housing through coolant outlet 76 to which the second coolant conduit 56 is attached for carrying the coolant flow to the ejector . fig5 shows a second application of the invention for cooling the stator 78 and rotor 80 of an electric motor in an electrically assisted turbocharger . the rotor is integral to or mounted on the shaft of the turbocharger . the stator is mounted in the center housing concentric to the shaft . in the embodiment shown in the drawing , the cooling air flow is drawn from the first coolant conduit 54 through the center housing coolant inlet 82 for circulation in the plenum 84 surrounding the stator and rotor . the cooling air is exhausted from the center housing through coolant outlet 86 to which the second coolant conduit 56 is attached for carrying the coolant flow to the ejector . having now described the invention in detail as required by the patent statutes , those skilled in the art will recognize modifications and substitutions to the specific embodiments disclosed herein . such modifications are within the scope and intent of the present invention as defined in the following claims .	8
the following description is of the best - contemplated mode of carrying out the invention . this description is made for the purpose of illustrating the general principles of the invention and should not be taken in a limiting sense . the scope of the invention is best determined by reference to the appended claims . methods for fabricating image sensor devices will now be described in greater detail in the following . some embodiments of the invention , such as the exemplary embodiments described , can potentially reduce optical interference and improve quantum efficiency of the light - sensing device formed within an image sensor device , especially when a size thereof is further reduced . in some embodiments , this can be accomplished by thinning a backside of a semiconductor substrate thereof , comprising light - sensing devices , and forming a color filter layer and micro lenses on the thinned semiconductor substrate . fig2 a - 2 c are schematic cross sections showing an embodiment of a method for fabricating an image sensor device . as shown in fig2 a , a nearly fabricated image sensor device is first provided , including a substrate 100 with a semiconductor layer 101 formed thereon , having a plurality of isolation regions 102 formed in the semiconductor layer 101 and defining a plurality of pixel regions thereon . a light - sensing device 104 for converting an incident light to photo - charges or light - sensing is formed in the semiconductor layer 101 in a corresponding pixel region but is not limited thereto . the light - sensing device 104 can also be formed over the semiconductor layer 100 c of a corresponding pixel region ( not shown ). examples of the light - sensing device 104 can be charge - coupled devices ( ccd ), cmos image sensors ( cis ) and / or optical microelectromechanical systems ( mems ), incorporating photodiodes in active or passive arrangements . herein , the substrate 100 is a semiconductor on insulator ( soi ) substrate , including a semiconductor layer 100 c overlying an insulating layer 100 b formed on a bulk substrate 100 a , the bulk substrate 100 a is a semiconductor substrate such as a silicon substrate . the insulating layer can be , for example , a silicon oxide layer . herein , the semiconductor layer 100 c can comprise , for example , silicon or silicon germanium , and the semiconductor layer 101 can comprise , for example , silicon of monocrystal . the semiconductor layer 101 can be formed by , for example , conventional epitaxial processes . in addition , the semiconductor layer 100 c and the semiconductor layer 101 are further doped with the same conductivity type dopants , such as well known n or p type dopants , but have different doping concentrations therein . the semiconductor layer 100 c preferably comprises a doping concentration greater than that of the semiconductor layer 101 . for example , the semiconductor layer 100 c has a doping concentration of about 1e16 ˜ 1 . 5e20 atoms / cm 2 and the semiconductor layer 101 has a doping concentration of about 1e13 ˜ 1e16 atoms / cm 2 . the semiconductor layer 101 is formed at a thickness t 2 of about 2 ˜ 8 μm and the semiconductor layer 100 c is formed with a thickness of about 500 ˜ 10 , 000 å . typically , an overall thickness t 1 of the soi wafer 100 and the semiconductor layer 101 is about 500 ˜ 900 μm . moreover , as shown in fig2 a , an interlayer dielectric ( ild ) layer 106 is formed on the semiconductor layer 101 and covers the light - sensing device 104 thereon . an interconnect structure comprising dielectric layers 108 , 112 , 116 , 118 and conductive elements 110 , 114 , 120 respectively provided on or between at predetermined locations of above dielectric layers in consideration of the underlying light - sensing devices 104 is provided over the ild layer 106 so that the incident light projected on the light - sensing devices is not shielded by the existence of the conductive segments formed therein . the dielectric layer 122 here at a topmost place of the interconnecting structure may function as a passivation for protecting a device from moisture and scratching during post - manufacturing processes . fabrication of the interconnect structure can be achieved by , for example , damascene process incorporating copper metal and low dielectric constant ( low - k ) dielectric materials and is well known by those skilled in the art . moreover , as shown in fig2 a , another substrate 200 is provided with or without a bond layer 202 formed thereon and the bond layer 202 is arranged to face the dielectric layer 122 formed over the substrate 100 . the substrate 200 and the substrate 100 are next pushed toward each other to bond into a composite structure . as shown in fig2 b , the composite structure comprising the substrates 200 and 100 is then inverted . the substrate 100 is then thinned by removing the bulk substrate 100 a of the substrate 100 , stopping on the insulating layer 100 b by methods such as mechanical grinding , chemical mechanical polishing ( cmp ), dry etching and / or wet etching , thereby exposing the insulating layer 100 b far from a back side of the semiconductor layer , 101 having devices or structures formed thereon , leaving a slightly thinned insulating layer 100 b ′. herein , an overall thickness t 1 ′ including of the slightly thinned insulating layer 100 b ′, the semiconductor layer 100 c and the semiconductor layer 101 is about 2 ˜ 10 μm . the slightly thinned semiconductor layer 100 b ′ is formed by first thinning the bulk substrate 100 a by a method such as , mechanical grinding , to a thickness of about 25 ˜ 100 um from a back side thereof . next , an etching ( not shown ) such as a plasma etching or chemical etchant is performed to further reduce the bulk substrate 100 a to remove the remaining bulk substrate 100 a ′ and automatically stopping on and exposing a back side of the insulating layer , thereby leaving a slightly thinned insulating layer 100 b ′, the chemical etchant used to removed the remaining bulk substrate is a mixture comprising acidic solution such as hf , hno 3 , h 2 o 2 , h 3 po 4 , ch 3 cooh , or h 2 so 4 and alkaline solution such as naoh , koh , nh 3 , tmah , showing a great etching selectivity difference of about 10 ˜ 5000 between the bulk substrate 100 a and insulating layer 100 b since a material difference does exist therebetween . next , as shown in fig2 c , an anti - reflection layer 600 is formed directly on the back side of the slightly thinned insulating layer 100 b ′, having a thickness of about 100 ˜ 5000 å . the anti - reflection layer 600 may comprise dielectric materials formed by pvd or cvd methods , such as sionx , siny or organic materials by spin coating , such as acrylic polymers , polyester , polystyrene , or polyimide . preferably , the anti - reflection layer 600 has a refractive index ( n ) between 1 . 0 ( in air ) and 3 . 5 ( in silicon substrate ). next , color filter array 300 having red , green and blue color filters is formed on the anti - reflection layer 600 and an optional over - coating layer ( ocl ) 302 is next provided on color filter array 300 , thereby providing a planarized surface . a plurality of dome shaped microlens 304 is next formed on the ocl 302 , substantially corresponding to each of the pixel regions from a back side thereof . therefore , incident light 400 can be projected onto the light - sensing devices 104 via passing along an optical path l 2 which is relatively shorter than that in the cmos image sensor illustrated in fig1 since fewer structures and no metal interconnects are now formed between the light - sensing devices 104 and the microlenses 304 . therefore , an image sensor device having such structures can be formed with reduced optical interference and improved quantum efficiency . fig3 a - 3 c are schematic cross sections showing another embodiment of a method for fabricating an image sensor device similar to that illustrated in fig2 a - 2 c . herein , the same numerals represent same elements and only the differences are described in the following . as shown in fig3 a , a nearly fabricated image sensor device is first provided . it is noted that a substrate 100 is now provided with two semiconductor layers 101 a and 101 b sequentially formed thereon . the light - sensing device 104 for converting an incident light to photo - charges or light - sensing is now formed in the semiconductor layer 101 b in a corresponding pixel region but is not limited thereto . the light - sensing device 104 can also be formed over the semiconductor layer 101 a of corresponding pixel region ( not shown ). examples of the light - sensing device 104 can be charge - coupled devices ( ccd ), cmos image sensors ( cis ) and / or optical microelectromechanical systems ( mems ), incorporating photodiodes in active or passive arrangements . herein , the substrate 100 is a bulk substrate comprising , for example , silicon and the semiconductor layers 101 a , 101 b can comprise , for example , silicon germanium or silicon formed by conventional epitaxial processes . also , the substrate 100 and semiconductor layers 101 a , 101 b are doped with same conductivity type dopants , such as well known n or p type dopants , but have different doping concentrations therein . herein , the substrate 100 preferably comprises a doping concentration less than that of the semiconductor layers 101 a , and semiconductor layers 101 a comprises a doping concentration greater than that of the semiconductor layers 101 b . for example , the substrate 100 has a doping concentration of about 1e13 ˜ 1e16 atoms / cm 2 , the semiconductor layer 101 a has a doping concentration of about 1e16 ˜ 1 . 5e20 atoms / cm 2 and the semiconductor layer 101 b has a doping concentration of about 1e13 ˜ 1e16 atoms / cm 2 . also , as shown in fig3 a , the semiconductor layer 101 b is formed at a thickness t 2 of about 2 ˜ 8 μm , the semiconductor layer 101 a is formed at a thickness t 3 of about 1 , 000 ˜ 50 , 000 å . typically , an overall thickness t 1 including the substrate 100 and the semiconductor layers 101 a , 101 b is about 500 ˜ 900 μm . moreover , as shown in fig3 a , an interlayer dielectric ( ild ) layer 106 is formed on the semiconductor layer 101 b and covers the light - sensing device 104 thereon . an interconnect structure comprising dielectric layers 108 , 112 , 116 , 118 and conductive elements 110 , 114 , 120 respectively provided on or between at predetermined locations of above dielectric layers in consideration of the underlying light - sensing devices 104 is provided over the ild layer 106 so that the incident light projected on the light - sensing devices is not shielded by the existence of the conductive segments formed therein . the dielectric layer 122 here at a topmost place of the interconnecting structure may function as a passivation for protecting a device from moisture and scratching during post - manufacturing processes . fabrication of the interconnect structure can be achieved by , for example , damascene process incorporating copper metal and low dielectric constant ( low - k ) dielectric materials and is well known by those skilled in the art . moreover , as shown in fig3 a , another substrate 200 is provided with or without a bond layer 202 formed thereon and the bond layer 202 is arranged to face the passivation layer 122 formed over the substrate 100 . the substrate 200 and the substrate 100 is next push toward each other to bond into a composite structure . as shown in fig3 b , the composite structure comprising the substrates 200 and 100 , and the semiconductor layers 101 a and 101 b illustrated in fig3 a is inverted . the substrate 100 ( shown in fig3 a ) is then removed by methods such as mechanical grinding , chemical mechanical polishing ( cmp ) dry etching and / or wet etching , thereby exposing a back side of the semiconductor layer 101 a , where no device or structures formed thereon , leaving a slightly thinned semiconductor layer 101 a ′. the slightly thinned semiconductor layer 101 a ′ is formed by first thinning the substrate 100 by a method such as , mechanical grinding , to a thickness of about 25 ˜ 100 μm . next , an etching ( not shown ) such as a plasma etching or wet chemicals is performed to further reduce the substrate 100 to a thickness of about 5 - 10 μm . next , another etching ( not shown ) is performed , incorporating etchant such as alkaline solution , to remove the remaining substrate and automatically stopping on and exposing a back side of the semiconductor layer 101 a , thereby leaving a slightly thinned semiconductor layer 101 a ′. the alkaline solution used to removed the remaining substrate is a mixture comprising naoh , koh , nh3 , tmah , etc . and showing a great etching selectivity difference of about 1 . 5 ˜ 50 between the semiconductor layer 101 a and the substrate 100 since a doping concentration difference does exist therebetween . next , as shown in fig3 c , a buffer layer 700 and an anti - reflection layer 600 are sequentially formed on the back side of the slight thinned semiconductor layer 101 a ′, having a thickness of about 100 ˜ 1000 å and 100 ˜ 5000 å , respectively . the anti - reflection layer 600 may comprise dielectric materials formed by pvd or cvd methods , such as sinx , siony or organic materials by spin coating , such as acrylic polymers , polyester , polystyrene , polyimide , and the buffer layer 700 may comprise sio 2 or sionz for releasing stresses formed between the semiconductor layer 101 a ′ and the anti - reflection layer 600 . preferably , the anti - reflection layer 600 has a refractive index ( n ) between 1 . 0 ( in air )˜ 3 . 5 ( in silicon substrate ). next , color filter array 300 having red , green and blue color filters is formed on the anti - reflection layer 600 and an optional over - coating layer ( ocl ) 302 is next provided on color filter array 300 , thereby providing a planarized surface . a plurality of dome shaped micro lenses 304 are next formed on the ocl 302 , substantially corresponding to each of the pixel regions from a backside thereof . therefore , incident light 400 can be projected onto the light - sensing device 104 via passing along an optical path l 2 ′ which is still relatively shorter than that in the cmos image sensor illustrated in fig1 since fewer internal structures and no metal interconnects are now formed between the light - sensing device 104 and the microlens 304 . therefore , an image sensor device having such structures can be formed with reduced optical interferences and improved quantum efficiency . fig4 a - 4 c are schematic cross sections showing yet another embodiment of a method for fabricating an image sensor device similar to that illustrated in fig2 a - 2 c . herein , the same numerals represent same elements and only the differences are described in the following . as shown in fig4 a , a nearly fabricated image sensor device is first provided , including a substrate 100 with a semiconductor layer 101 formed thereon , having a plurality of isolation regions 102 formed therein and defining a plurality of pixel regions thereon . a light - sensing device 104 for converting an incident light to photo - charges or light - sensing is formed in the substrate 101 in a corresponding pixel region but is not limited thereto . the light - sensing device 104 can also be formed over the substrate 100 of a corresponding pixel region ( not shown ). examples of the light - sensing device 104 can be charge - coupled devices ( ccd ), cmos image sensors ( cis ) and / or optical microelectromechanical systems ( mems ), incorporating photodiodes in active or passive arrangements . herein , the substrate 100 is a bulk substrate comprising , for example , silicon , and the semiconductor layer 101 can comprise , for example , silicon of monocrystal formed by conventional epitaxial processes . in addition , the substrate 100 and the semiconductor layer 101 are further doped with the same conductivity type dopants , such as well known n or p type dopants , but have different doping concentrations therein . the substrate 100 preferably comprises a doping concentration greater than that of the semiconductor layer 101 . for example , the substrate 100 has a doping concentration of about 1e16 ˜ 1 . 5e20 atoms / cm 2 and the semiconductor layer 101 has a doping concentration of about 1e13 ˜ 1e16 atoms / cm 2 . the semiconductor layer 101 is formed at a thickness t 2 of about 2 ˜ 10 μm . typically , an overall thickness t 1 including of the substrate 100 and the semiconductor layer 101 is about 500 ˜ 900 μm . moreover , as shown in fig4 a , an interlayer dielectric ( ild ) layer 106 is formed on the semiconductor layer 101 and covers the light - sensing device 104 thereon . an interconnect structure comprising dielectric layers 108 , 112 , 116 , 118 and conductive elements 110 , 114 , 120 respectively provided on or between at predetermined locations of above dielectric layers in consideration of the underlying light - sensing devices 104 is provided over the ild layer 106 so that the incident light projected on the light - sensing devices is not shielded by the existence of the conductive segments formed therein . the dielectric layer 122 here at a topmost place of the interconnecting structure may function as a passivation for protecting a device from moisture and scratching during post - manufacturing processes . fabrication of the interconnect structure can be achieved by , for example , damascene process incorporating copper metal and low dielectric constant ( low - k ) dielectric materials and is well known by those skilled in the art . moreover , as shown in fig4 a , another substrate 200 is provided with or without a bond layer 202 formed thereon and the bond layer 202 is arranged to face the passivation layer 122 formed over the substrate 100 . the substrate 200 and the substrate 100 are next pushed toward each other to bond into a composite structure . as shown in fig4 b , the composite structure comprising the substrates 200 and 100 is then inverted . the substrate 100 is then removed , thereby exposing a backside of the semiconductor layer 101 , leaving a slightly thinned semiconductor layer 101 ′. the slightly thinned semiconductor layer 101 ′ is formed by first thinning the substrate 100 by a method such as mechanical grinding , to a thickness of about 25 ˜ 100 μm from a back side thereof . next , an etching ( not shown ) such as a plasma etching or wet chemicals is performed to further reduce the substrate 100 to a thickness of about 5 - 10 μm . next , another etching ( not shown ) is performed , incorporating etchant such as acidic solution , to remove the remaining substrate and automatically stopping on and exposing a back side of the semiconductor layer 101 , thereby leaving a slightly thinned semiconductor layer 101 ′. the acidic solution used to removed the remaining substrate is a mixture comprising hf , hno 3 , h 2 o 2 , h 3 po 4 , ch 3 cooh , h 2 so 4 and showing a great etching selectivity difference of about 5 ˜ 300 between the semiconductor layer 101 and the substrate 100 since a doping concentration difference does exist therebetween . next , an ion implantation and thermal anneal ( both not shown ) are sequentially performed on the back side surface of the slightly thinned semiconductor layer 101 ′, thereby forming a well region 500 near the back side surface of the slightly thinned semiconductor layer 101 ′. typically , the well region 500 is formed with a depth of about 200 - 5000 å from the back side surface of the slightly thinned semiconductor layer 101 ′, having a doping concentration of about 1e16 ˜ 5e19 atoms / cm 2 , which is greater than that of the semiconductor layer 101 ′. next , as shown in fig4 c , a buffer layer 700 and an anti - reflection layer 600 are sequentially formed on the back side of the slight thinned semiconductor layer 101 a ′, overlying the well region 500 thereof and having a thickness of about 100 ˜ 1000 å and 100 ˜ 5000 å , respectively . the anti - reflection layer 600 may comprise dielectric materials formed by pvd or cvd methods , such as sionx , siny or organic materials by spin coating , such as acrylic polymers , polyester , polystyrene , polyimide , and the buffer layer 700 may comprise sio2 , sionz , for releasing stresses formed between the semiconductor layer 101 a ′ and the anti - reflection layer 600 . preferably , the anti - reflection layer 600 has a refractive index ( n ) between 1 . 0 ( in air )˜ 3 . 5 ( in silicon substrate ). next , color filter array 300 having red , green and blue color filters is formed on the anti - reflection layer 600 and an optional over - coating layer ( ocl ) 302 is next provided on color filter array 300 , thereby providing a planarized surface . a plurality of dome shaped microlens 304 is next formed on the ocl 302 , substantially corresponding to each of the pixel regions from a backside thereof . therefore , incident light 400 can be projected onto the light - sensing devices 104 via passing along an optical path l 2 which is relatively shorter than that in the cmos image sensor illustrated in fig1 since fewer structures and no metal interconnects are now formed between the light - sensing devices 104 and the microlenses 304 . therefore , an image sensor device having such structures can be formed with reduced optical interference and improved quantum efficiency . referring to the image sensor device respectively illustrated in fig2 c , 3 c and 4 c , since a backside of a semiconductor substrate / layer where comprising the light - sensing devices are exposed and a color filter layer and microlenses are formed thereon , incident light can be projected onto the light - sensing devices via passing along an optical path relatively shorter than that of the conventional light - sensing devices . therefore , reduced optical interference and improved quantum efficiency of the light - sensing device formed within such image sensor device can be achieved . this is desired especially when a size of the light - sensing device is further reduced . while the invention has been described by way of example and in terms of the preferred embodiments , it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments . to the contrary , it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements ( as would be apparent to those skilled in the art ). therefore , the scope of the appended claims should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar arrangements .	7
fig1 is an architectural overview of a wireless communications service area 100 practicing predictive cell frequency transfers according to an embodiment of the present invention . service area 100 represents for example a typical cellular telephone coverage area using analog or digital technology . it is clear , that it would similarly apply , if other wireless technologies were to be used , such as including but not limited to umts , w - cdma , wifi , and wimax etc . it is noted herein that in analog technology , available frequencies for an entire coverage area are significantly less than those available in a 2 nd or 3 rd generation digital network . for example , a typical cell has 56 available channels while a digital cell may have up to 3 times as many available channels . each channel involves 2 frequencies for full duplex communication or a duplex channel . in this example , there are 3 illustrated cells , a cell a ( 102 b ), a cell b ( 101 b ), and a cell c ( 103 ). in this example the broken boundaries indicate the furthest reaches of each cell . each cell a - c has a cell tower . these are illustrated in this example as a cell tower 107 in cell a , a cell tower 109 in cell b , and a cell tower 108 in cell c . each cell tower is associated with local base station equipment not illustrated but assumed present in this example . towers 107 - 109 provide communication connectivity within each cell and when mobile users are transitioning between cells . it will be apparent to one with skill in the art that there may be more individual cells making up a coverage area than are illustrated in this example without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention . the inventor illustrates 3 cells and deems the number illustrated sufficient for the purposes of explaining the present invention . also , in some cases , channels may not be limited to different radio frequency slots , but may also include by themselves or in combination time division multiple access ( tdma or tdm ), channel division multiple access ( cdma ), digital spread spectrum ( dss ) etc ., which use logical channels rather than just radio frequency slots . other similar technologies may also be employed by themselves or in conjunction . cell a and cell b are illustrated as having inner boundaries denoting the outer boundary of each cell where the channel signal is still sufficiently strong . these are illustrated herein as a cell boundary 102 a for cell a and a cell boundary 101 a for cell b . boundaries 102 a and 101 a are illustrated to aid in explanation of the present invention and the purpose of these boundaries will be described in detail further below and later in this specification . a highway or thoroughfare 104 is illustrated in this example extending through coverage area 100 . highway 104 may be just one of many thoroughfares comprising roads or other traversable tracks that may extend through more than one cell or through all cells in a given service area . two arrows 115 a and 115 b are illustrated in this example and are associated with thoroughfare 104 . arrows 115 a and 115 b represent mobile telephones operated by users traversing thoroughfare 104 from one cell to a next cell , the users traveling in opposite direction from one another on thoroughfare 104 . in this example , each cell tower 107 - 109 has connection to a router 106 responsible for routing calls within and to and from service area 100 . router 106 is typically maintained and operated by a service provider or carrier 105 . carrier 105 maintains active monitoring and control over activity in service area 100 . in this example , carrier 105 is enhanced with an ability geographically track mobile telephones that are in use anywhere within service area 100 . this requires that the telephones have tracking modes , which are set to tracking enabled . the service capability of tracking such phones is typically provided for emergency purposes so that if there is a distress call for example , the mobile phone source of the call may be geographically pinpointed anywhere in service area 100 . global positioning satellite ( gps ) methods may be used to accomplish phone location and tracking . gps tracking is illustrated in this case by a satellite 114 and a satellite transceiver 113 . in this way , service carrier 105 may determine with some accuracy , the whereabouts of any user within the area that has his or her phone enabled for tracking . carrier 105 includes a data server ( sv ) 111 having a data repository 112 connected thereto . server 111 within carrier domain 105 has a direct line connection to router 106 and to satellite system transceiver 113 . sv 111 may receive data from transceiver 1 13 and may send data through transceiver 1 13 . sv 111 may also send and receive data from router 106 . the routing system used in service area 100 is dependant on towers 107 - 109 and router 106 . user 115 a is illustrated in this example as leaving cell a and entering cell b . user 115 b is illustrated as leaving cell b and entering cell a . it may be assumed in this example that users a and b both are using cell phones in conversation and that tracking for both telephones is turned on . adjacent cells cannot share cell channels . cell channels assigned to one cell may be re - used only in a non - adjacent cell . an instance of software ( sw ) 110 a is provided , in one case , to router 106 and is installed thereon and executable therefrom . sw 110 a has the capability according to some cases of the present invention , of predicting when a channel reassignment or “ tower handoff ” might be required for any mobile and trackable cell user engaged in a conversation that is about to leave one cell and enter an adjacent cell . a software instance ( sw ) 110 b is provided to sv 111 within the domain of carrier 105 . sw 110 b is adapted to communicate with sw 110 a and cooperates with sw 110 a in some cases . sw 110 b is capable of determining available bandwidth in the cell being entered by a user and reserving bandwidth for the mobile phone about to enter the cell so that the existing connection has a better chance of being maintained in transit and not being dropped without warning . in some cases , there are 2 separate instances of sw that cooperate , sw 110 a installed on router 106 and sw instance 110 b installed at sv 111 . however , this is not specifically required in order to practice the present invention . in one example , the entire software capability may reside in router 106 or in server 111 without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention . in yet other cases , one or more separate , dedicated computer ( s ) may be added in the pertinent locations to offer same performance as installing sw on existing equipment . considering user 115 a , it is apparent in this example that the user is leaving cell a and is about to enter cell b while engaged in a conversation and driving on thoroughfare 104 . in this case , the frequencies comprising the duplex channel used in cell a will shortly be unavailable as the user approaches the furthest boundary 102 b of cell a . if cell b is saturated with activity , there may not be an assignable channel available to the user 115 a and his call may be inadvertently disconnected or dropped without warning . in one example of the present invention , the space between cell boundary 102 a and cell boundary 102 b is known to the software of the invention such that when user 115 a enters this space a predictive calculation is performed to determine when the user will need a new channel . this calculation considers as variables the user &# 39 ; s location information repeatedly reported to determine a reasonable trajectory and speed of travel against time intervals . the result is a window within which a pre - negotiation may occur on behalf of the user to ascertain availability of a channel at the predicted need time and , perhaps a reservation of a channel for the user assignable at the time of need . the same capability exists for user 115 b traveling in the opposite direction leaving cell b and entering cell a . in one example , gps positioning and tracking is used in conjunction with a reliable geographic mapping service . map data may be available from database 112 within carrier domain 105 , or from an external data mapping service not illustrated in this example . in this case , the service of the present invention may be applied for trackable users who may be traveling known trajectories such as major highways and roads that extend through the cells . this case may consider that a user simply moving in a direction toward another cell may not actually enter that cell is the road he or she is using stays within the existing cell . in this way streamlining in determination of applicable users may occur such that every cell phone user engaged in conversation and close to a boundary is not tracked for service . in some cases , rather than using maps , the system could simply graph the movement of users , thereby being able to predict that a user entering a certain area on a certain path ( i . e . by freeway 101 ) will with a predictable chance leave the area on the same ( or another route ) again , therefore better preplanning the transfer . also , a major intersection would show up , allowing predicting a change of route and therefore predicting a new exit route correctly . in yet another case , it could also learn the route of specific users , and rely on them to make even better prediction . that approach has also certain advantages to other modes of transport , such as walking , trains , bicycles etc . in yet other cases , a simulation may be used to predict the flow . in one example of the present invention gps is not used but some other method like triangulation between 3 geographic markers might be used . however , gps is already available on most 2 nd and 3 rd generation handsets and requires only that “ tracking ” be turned on . integration of a mapping feature simply enables a limit to the number of users that may be considered for service according to the present invention at any given time . in yet other cases , other suitable technologies similar to e911 may be used etc . such technologies are known in the art and are not described in detail here . part of determining whether there are available channels in a next cell may be enhanced by the ability to predict a future time point for consideration . for example , if a user has 3 minutes before he or she will cross boundaries , then a window of opportunity is established . a cell with no channels available at the start time of that 3 - minute window of time may have one or more users predicted to exit that cell within the window . in this case a tentative reservation may be made on behalf of the entering user for a channel predicted to be available by the end time of the window . in one case , users in transit are not monitored by the system of the present invention , for predictive bandwidth reservation at least , unless they are within the inner and outer boundaries of a cell and are in fact moving out of that cell . however , all users within a cell and who are engaged in active conversation are considered in determination of available channels for assignment . in a preferred example of the present invention , if during a predictive time window a negotiation or determination and reservation of a channel cannot be assured for any user , then a “ loss of connection ” alert may be sent to the parties in question ahead of the drop of that connection giving the parties to the call time to finish there conversation or to schedule a resumption of their conversation if they cannot finish it in time . fig2 is a process flow chart 200 illustrating acts for predicting when frequency changes will be required and reserving those frequencies according to an embodiment of the present invention . at act 201 , any given cell in an area is monitored for trackable phones as an ongoing process . a trackable phone for the purposes of the present invention may be one that is turned on , engaged in an active connection , is set for tracking , is moving in some predicable trajectory , and perhaps is moving within a determined boundary space on that trajectory toward an adjacent cell with some measure of certainty that the user will continue into that adjacent cell . at act 202 , it is determined if there are - any trackable phones in the cell that fit the criteria . one with skill in the art will recognize that an initial check may consider , without elimination , all phones in a cell that are simply turned on , engaged on a channel , and have tracking turned on . further monitoring is required to narrow the field to phones that fully fit the criteria for service according to the present invention as will be described in subsequent acts in this example . at act 202 if the software does not recognize any trackable phones , then the process reverts back to act 201 and continues to monitor until one or more phones are recognized . at act 202 , if there are one or more trackable phones within the cell , then the process continues to act 203 , which applies a filter to determine the number of those phones that are in transit . act 202 requires at least two location checks for each phone recognized in act 202 to determine if there has been a significant change in position . a threshold may be established that may help to refine the filtering out of those phones considered stationary . however , in one case where there is traffic congestion on a particular thoroughfare phones in transit may appear stationary . therefore , other considerations like current traffic conditions may be considered in the determination for each user considered . at act 204 , if it is determined that there are no phones in transit , the process reverts back to act 203 . this loop may continue while the process ensues . in fact each act in this process may be an ongoing process to ensure that all serviceable phones are detected and monitored . if at act 204 , it is determined that there are one or more trackable phones in transit , then at step 205 a determination is made whether those identified phones in transit are mapable . it is noted herein that a phone in transit may include any trackable phone that is moving along a path . this may include phones used in cars , in taxis , in transit systems , from bicycles , and so on . a mapable state simply indicates that a phone in question can be pinpointed to a discernable trajectory such as on a thoroughfare , road , rail , or other locatable pathway having a known trajectory . if at step 205 , there are no mapable phones then the process reverts back to act 203 . it may be that there are several phones in transit , but that none are progressing on a predictable trajectory . talking on the phone and driving around the block would be a good example of this . the phone is in transit , but does not have a predictable trajectory . that phone may be eliminated or filtered out of the group of phones monitored . if at act 205 , one or more phones in transit are mapable according to set criteria , then at act 206 the software plots 2 or more location sets from each monitored phone to known roads or trajectories to establish a geographic time reference . those phones that are determined to be traveling on a trajectory can be gauged for average speed by running a location / time algorithm along the trajectory . for example , on an unobstructed highway with little traffic , accurate speed may be reasonably calculated with little effort . on a congested road with frequent stops and starts , then more samples must be taken of each phone to predict an average speed along a given trajectory . it is noted herein as well that any time during the monitoring process calls may be initiated and terminated at will by users so that new phones become trackable and phones being tracked disappear from the radar . the phones that disappear because a call was ended may reappear on the same trajectory , for example , at initiation or receipt of a next call . in this case , a margin of time may be allowed by the system for such phones whereby a predictive track using the last known data may still be propagated for that phone for a set period of time . in this way the phone in question , should it reappear within the set time frame can be prevented from elimination . once one or more phones are mapped and have reasonable trajectories , at act 207 , the software may begin filtering the number down to those that are leaving the cell . in this case , it may be that only those phones entering a set boundary space before the outer boundary of the cell would be treated . this consideration might be important because one or more of the phones further within the cell may change course on a new trajectory that prevents them from leaving the cell at the predicted trajectory . restricting consideration to those that are predicted to leave the cell with a reasonable certainty further streamlines the process . by providing a limited “ buffer zone ”, the system can be more certain that individual ones of the monitored phones will actually leave the cell while engaged in a conversation . if at act 208 , no phones are leaving the cell , then the process reverts back to act 207 . also , in some cases , operators may chose to selectively scan user &# 39 ; s devices not on calls that approach a boundary at higher occurrence rate than normal ( typically about 1 scan per minute ) thus obtaining better resolution . this rate may also change with the speed of motion of the previous trajectory or other useful parameters . it is important to note herein that the process of this example is practiced simultaneously with regard to all of the possible exit routes or trajectories from a cell that may qualify for consideration . therefore , trajectories and predicted exit times ( entrance times into adjacent cell ) may widely vary among users as well as the predicted adjacent cell they may eventually enter . that is not to say however that there may not be more than one user leaving a cell on a single route and at or near the same timeframe . moreover , the processing of users may be more or less intense for any given cell based in part on the complexity of the infrastructure within a given cell . for example , one cell may contain only one thoroughfare leading in and out of the cell , and perhaps one intersecting railway to consider . another cell may contain many urban routes leading in and out of the cell . such consideration may be mitigated in part by creating rules that apply to individual cells . one example might be for an urban cell , only phones trackable on major highway trajectories would be considered for service according to some cases of the present invention . in a rural cell there may be only one or two roads to consider therefore all phones in transit could be tracked to one or the other trajectory . at act 208 , if it is determined that there are one or more phones leaving the cell , then at act 209 the service predicts if there will be available bandwidth for those phones in the subsequent cell they are entering . act 209 is performed individually for each phone leaving the cell and may include pinging the system of the adjacent cell to requesting information about the total bandwidth being used at the time of the ping and any data known at the time including predictive data about phones that may leave the entrance cell within a set time frame . at step 209 , the software already has determined the estimated need times for the one or more users leaving the cell and entering the next cell . if the entrance cell in question can predict the numbers of its own users leaving the cell then a predicted availability of a channel may be made . for each user leaving the cell , the prediction determines what channels will be available for the user at the time he or she will enter the adjacent cell . at act 210 , it is determined if there will be any service available or not for each user . if the prediction at act 209 resulted in a negative at act 210 , then the software may send a loss of service advisory to the user in question at act 211 . the loss of service alert may be an audible message sent to the cell phone under consideration in such a way as the other party or called party may also here the message . the audible alert may be a distinctive sound or a voice synthesized voice message simply advising the user to please terminate the call and try again . in one example , the alert may be visual instead of audible such as a flashing icon appearing on the display of the phone . in still another example , both audible and visual alert may suffice . if at act 210 , it is determined that there will be service available for the user coming into the new cell , the time for transferring the user into the new cell is predicted at step 212 . at such time then the channel assignment is executed at act 213 . at act 212 , the system may additionally reserve some available bandwidth from the adjacent cell through simple apportionment based on the known data , or by requesting the assignment from the tower in the adjacent cell . in a preferred case , the software may make all of the determination and channel reservation and assignments based on its coverage of all of the cells of a particular service area . however in one case , the adjacent cell may be part of another carrier network or service area and it may be running its own version of the sw of the present invention for predicting the needs of its users . in this case , separate instances of software may collaborate using a request / response format where a request for a reserved channel is received and is either granted or denied . in either case in the event of a denial or determination of no bandwidth , the user in question may receive an adequate alert as described further above . it will be apparent to one with skill in the art that the acts represented in flow chart 200 may , according to varied examples , be modified in number or order without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention . for example , in one case all phones with tracking turned on are monitored for trajectories regardless of how close they may be to the outer periphery of a cell and the estimated time that any of those phones might actually leave the cell is available to the system even if those phone change trajectory and do not leave the cell . in one case , cell phone users may elect to be tracked specifically for the purposes of the present invention after downloading and installing a small lightweight application adapted for the purpose and then initiating a location tracking feature , perhaps through the application . in this case , the system would only track those users who have initiated the service through their own applications . an advantage of this example is that the number of users tracked for predictive channel reassignment would be reduced and would not necessarily take into account users who may be in transit but ultimately will not require service according some cases of present invention because ultimately they would not be exiting a cell . another variance that may occur between in some cases of the present invention is that in act 210 , determining whether service is available may be performed from a centralized control point requiring no negotiation in some cases . alternatively , service availability and bandwidth reservation may be subject to negotiation between 2 or more routers in a distributed in some cases . there are many possibilities . fig3 . is a block diagram illustrating basic components of software 110 a / 110 b of fig1 according to an embodiment of the present invention . for purposes of clarity here software 110 a or 110 b shall be referred to herein simply as software 110 . reference to version a or b of software 110 simply indicates that it may be installed in more than one host as was described with reference to fig1 . likewise , it may be a multipart application distributed to two or more host including the possibility of a lightweight and downloadable client without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention . in this example , sw 110 has three basic software layers . these are a telephone detection and qualification layer 301 ; a coordinate tracking and mapping layer 302 ; and a service change calculation and notification layer 303 . it should be noted herein for discussion purposes that the scope of the present invention is not limited to cellular telephones for successful practice . methods and apparatus of the invention may be adapted to include other wireless communication devices capable of sending and receiving telephony calls over a wireless network such as hand held computers , personal digital assistants , wireless laptops , and so on . likewise , the methods and apparatus of the invention may be successfully practiced both in analog networks and in digital networks . layer 301 is adapted to detect and qualify a mobile communication device such as a cellular telephone for service according to an embodiment of the present invention . as described further above , a cellular phone might be tracked and qualified for service if certain criteria are satisfactorily met according to rules inherent to the particular implementation of the service , which may vary according to design and overall intent . generally speaking , a user may not be tracked if his or her phone is not powered on , or is powered on but tracking is disabled . a user whose phone is powered on with tracking enabled may be subject to detection by the system of the present invention . layer 301 includes , in this example , a “ service - in - use ” detection software module 304 provided therein . module 304 may be adapted to determine and identify a number of users who have their phones turned on and tracking enabled through a lightweight client application installed on their devices . in this case , other users who may have their phones powered on and 911 tracking enabled may not be considered if they have not initiated service through a client . in another case , module 304 may be adapted to identify all users in the cell who have their phones on with tracking enabled whether or not they are in transit . layer 301 includes a location change detection software module 305 . module 305 may be adapted in one case to detect the number of users identified by module 304 who are in transit ( location changing ). module 305 may determine a transit state of a user by performing a location check at least 2 times in succession for that user and calculating the distance between the two or more samples taken . at this point , it may be too early to predict a consistent trajectory , but the users are known to be in transit or moving away from an original location . layer 302 is adapted to further refine transit determination of users . in one case , a pinging and reporting software module 306 is provided and is adapted to ping cell phones or a central location server according to some repetitive pattern to acquire a set of gps or other type of location coordinates for each phone at each time point the coordinates are requested . module 306 may establish a trajectory after a sufficient number of “ location requests ” are performed for a particular phone . it is noted herein that a directional trajectory may be established without any specific “ street or road mapping ” performed as long as the four main directions , north , south , east , and west are known . it is important to note herein that identifying and tracking a user is not specifically dependant on whether the user is engaged in any conversations using the phone . however , in one example the service of the present invention requires that the user be engaged in a conversation to be considered for channel - reassignment because if the user is not conversing no channel need be reserved for that user in transit between cells . layer 302 includes a geographic mapping interface 307 . interface 307 provides system access to detailed mapping information covering each cell in a service coverage area . in general , mapping information may include highways , major roads , thoroughfares , streets , and even bicycle paths or off road trails if available . the reason for mapping information may be to provide service only for certain highways or thoroughfares such that tracked users in transit and engaged in a call may not be serviced if they are traveling on a path or trajectory not considered a serviceable thoroughfare . in some cases , road and thoroughfare mapping is not specifically required as long as the cell boundaries are known and trajectories within those cell limits can be accurately established based on any geographic descriptions such as a land mark , longitude and latitude , and so on . in this case , it would not matter what path a user is transiting as long as a trajectory may be established and that the average time it would take the user to leave the cell on that trajectory can be calculated . module 307 may include selective information generic to each cell and may be highly detailed or not depending on the intent of the service of the present invention . layer 302 includes a predictive “ time of need ” algorithm 308 provided therein and adapted to predict times that users exiting a cell to an adjacent cell will need a channel reassignment while engaged in a conversation . algorithm 308 uses information provided by modules 306 and optionally 308 for all users that fit the criteria of the service . the algorithm fires and calculates a need time for each user that is exiting the cell at any given time . in one case , the algorithm only fires for users who have entered an established buffer region in the cell and therefore are considered highly likely to enter an adjacent cell at the predicted point in time for that user . the channel reassignment is only necessary if a user is leaving the cell and is engaged in a conversation while in transit across the cell border . however , if a user terminates a conversation just before leaving the cell , he or she may still be considered for reassignment until the predicted time approaches in case another call is initiated within the time span between the termination of the call and the predicted time of need providing that the time span is sufficient before losing coverage of the previous cell . layer 303 is adapted to determine service availability in an adjacent cell and to determine or negotiate for available bandwidth to transfer a user &# 39 ; s call in progress call to . a service negotiation is provided within layer 303 in one case . module 309 may be adapted to pre - negotiate for and reserve a channel for any user that is expected to enter a cell and who has a call in progress necessitating a cell handoff . module 309 may provide the identification of the user &# 39 ; s device and the expected time that the user will require a new channel to maintain the call in progress in the adjacent cell . module 309 may also be adapted to determine if there might be channels available at the time the user will enter the adjacent cell . in this regard , the adjacent cell may also have users leaving the cell at predictive times and can therefore provide overall usage statistics and expected usage statistics taking into account expected departures from the adjacent cell into other cells . therefore , if at first request , there appears to be no channels available , there may be one or two that may be expected to be available according to the predictive routine operating in the adjacent cell . in one case , there is no negotiation between cells but rather a determination is made from a central location responsible for the entire cell coverage area including all of the cells . in this case , the data from all of the cells is immediately available and allocating a channel for a user transiting cell borders while engaged in a conversation is a matter of predicting availability and reserving bandwidth . layer 303 includes a connection routing software module 310 . module 310 is adapted in this case to execute channel reassignments to reserved channels for users crossing cell borders at the predicted time of need for those users . module 310 may be an existing routing application in place for performing normal channel reassignments . the only modification to the routing routine may be that it is enhanced according to the present invention to route a reserved channel reassignment whether or not the channel was actually available at the time of the routing request . layer 303 includes a messaging alert software module 311 , which may be adapted to send some visual or audible alert to a user crossing a cell border in the event that no bandwidth was reserveable within the time period that a reassignment was necessary for the user to continue his or her conversation . the alert may be a text message , an audible beep or sound , a flashing icon on the display , or a synthesized audio interruption over the current call channel . the alert may inform the user that it does not appear he or she will be able to continue their conversation if the user proceeds on the current trajectory . the user may after receiving the alert , pull over to finish the conversation , take a detour in a direction other than the current trajectory to finish the call , or simply finish the call quickly or reschedule the call at a latter time . it will be apparent to one with skill in the art that the methods and apparatus of the present invention may be practiced in analog or digital cellular network environments without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention . it will also be apparent that the methods of the invention may be implemented with all or some of the features described herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention . likewise , the methods of the present invention may be successfully practiced with or without detailed maps of roadways or streets and with or without special cell buffer regions described further above . in some cases , the resulting reduced dropped call rates may be sold as a premium service . in yet other cases , non - premium customers may be dropped in order to provide premium customers with better service . in some cases , a rating , based on for example including but not limited to total monthly billing , late payments etc . may be used to determine which customers to drop . in light of the many possible examples and application of the broader invention , the methods and apparatus described herein should be afforded the broadest possible consideration . the spirit and scope of the present invention should be limited only by the following claims .	7
the present invention provides a method and system that performs phase insertion adjustments in a transmitter when it transitions from a deactivated state to an activated state . preferably , the method and system disclosed herein is incorporated into a wireless transmit / receive unit ( wtru ). hereafter , a wtru includes but is not limited to a user equipment , mobile station , fixed or mobile subscriber unit , pager , or any other type of device capable of operating in a wireless environment . the features of the present invention may be incorporated into an integrated circuit ( ic ) or be configured in a circuit comprising a multitude of interconnecting components . the present invention is applicable to communication systems using time division duplex ( tdd ), frequency division duplex ( fdd ), code division multiple access ( cdma ), cdma 2000 , time division synchronous cdma ( tdscdma ), orthogonal frequency division multiplexing ( ofdm ) or the like . fig1 is a block diagram of a transmitter 100 operating in accordance with the present invention . the transmitter includes a pair of digital to analog converters ( dacs ) 105 , 110 , a modulator 115 , a radio frequency ( rf ) variable gain amplifier ( vga ) 120 and a pa ( power amplifier ) 125 . the rf vga 120 and pa 125 are selectively enabled and disabled by control line 130 . furthermore , the transmitter 100 includes multipliers 135 , 140 , 145 , 150 and adders 155 and 160 . the transmitter 100 generates signals based on a real ( re ) i signal component 165 and an imaginary ( jim ) q signal component 170 . the phase of the signal components re and jim by x degrees ( e jx ) are rotated as described by equation 1 below : ( re + jim )× e jx =( re + jim )×( cos ( x )+ j sin ( x )) equation 1 the transmitter 100 deactivates the rf vga 120 , the pa 125 and other power consuming components of the transmitter 100 during the occurrence of receive time slots in a tdd type system , thus essentially deactivating the transmitter 100 . based on the condition of control line 130 , and the output 174 of an accumulator 173 , a function unit ( e . g ., an lut ) 175 is used to provide a phase offset ( x ) to compensate for phase variations caused by deactivating or activating the transmitter 100 . alternatively , other devices and / or techniques may be used in lieu of the accumulator 173 . fig2 is a timing diagram 200 showing a receive time slot 205 and a transmit time slot 210 separated by a guard period 215 during which transmitter ( i . e ., amplifier ) switching 220 occurs . fig3 is a flow chart of a process 300 including steps implemented to continuously counteract the effects of phase offsets introduced into the transmitter 100 due to the powering up of at least one amplifier therein . in step 305 , a period is established for adjusting the output power level of the transmitter 100 , and at least one power amplifier therein , for the transmitter 100 to transition from a deactivated state (“ off ”) value to a desired quiescent (“ on ”) state value when the transmitter 100 is activated . the insertion phase of the transmitter 100 will overshoot the “ on ” value and eventually settle . in step 310 , a reference target insertion phase is set that corresponds to the quiescent state value of the transmitter 100 . the function unit 175 detects a change on the control line 130 and instantaneously adjusts the insertion phase of the transmitter 100 by inputting incremented and / or decremented power gain control values into the accumulator 173 via an accumulator input 176 . the same power gain control values are provided to the rf vga 120 . the transmitter 100 , and thus the amplifiers 120 , 125 , therein , are activated ( i . e ., turned on ) during the guard period 215 . because it takes a substantial amount of time for an applied agc incremented value to settle in the transmit chain , the transmitter 100 is required to provide sufficient time periods for implementing ramp up and ramp down of the transmitter 100 . in step 315 , an incremented power gain command value provided on input 176 is input into accumulator 173 . in step 320 , the accumulator 173 outputs an accumulated value 174 to the function unit 175 . in step 325 , the function unit 175 outputs one or more rotation functions of “ x ”, ( e . g ., sin ( x ), cos ( x )), to instantaneously adjust the phase of the transmitter 100 . in step 330 , a determination is made as to whether the accumulated value output 174 is equal to the target insertion phase . if , in step 330 , the accumulated value output 174 is determined not to be equal to the target insertion phase , the process 300 repeats steps 315 , 320 , 325 and 330 until the accumulated value 174 is determined to be equal to the target insertion phase . in a preferred embodiment of the present invention , the function unit 175 at digital baseband instantaneously adjusts the insertion phase of the transmitter 100 by providing a value of “ x ” such that it is sufficiently close to the desired quiescent value at the time of transmitter switching . the value of “ x ” is then gradually reduced to zero such that the overall insertion phase deviation is maintained from the quiescent value to within some acceptable amount . in order to provide both continuous and discrete phase adjustments , the accumulator 173 may be used to indicate to the function unit 175 what the current power is by summing up several incremented and / or decremented power gain control values 176 . while this invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to preferred embodiments , it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention described hereinabove .	7
in the invention a common architecture platform for the two algorithms , rsa and ecc , whose inputs are taken in two different forms , is used to manipulate the two asymmetric encryption algorithms . in the preferred embodiment the combining function is restricted to the computational engine , i . e . modular manipulation . this relies heavily on the low - bit , say 8 bit , processor software to complete the design . thus , three design considerations must are taken into account . these considerations are : 1 ) hardware optimization for both rsa and ecc implementation with the best speed / resource trade off , 2 ) the amount of design / module reuse and hardware sharing of the two protocols , and 3 ) the asynchronous executing of the hardware modules in much higher speed than the processor communicating with it , i . e . heterogeneous processing . the preferred embodiment of the present invention provides a compact crypto - engine capable of executing asymmetric cryptographic algorithms including both rsa and ecc protocols and has heterogeneous computation ability running at a higher internal clock speed . referring to fig1 , the preferred embodiment of a compact crypto - engine 10 comprises a modular arithmetic unit ( mau ) 11 and an interface control unit ( icu ) 12 . the inputs and outputs of the icu are provided from / to a host processor ( not shown ) such as a personal , network computer or digital signal processor . the host processor provides an 8 - bit ‘ data ’ transput ( input and output ) to and from icu 12 , and 8 - bit ‘ key ’ and operation code (‘ opcode ’) inputs to icu 12 . the icu 12 has an 8 - bit ‘ status ’ and a 1 - bit ‘ interrupt ’ output to signal the host processor . communication between the icu 12 and mau 11 comprises a k - bit ‘ data_in ’ and a 8 - bit ‘ modular_opcode ’ signals from the icu 12 to the mau 11 , and a k - bit ‘ data_out ’ and a 8 - bit ‘ status_out ’ signals from the mau 11 to the icu 12 . referring to fig2 , the mau 11 comprises an sram block 13 , a controller 14 , a modular multiplication unit ( mmu ) 15 , a modular addition unit ( madu ) 16 and a sign inversion unit ( siu ) 17 . the outputs k - bit ‘ data_in ’ of icu 12 , k - bit ‘ temp_data ’ of mmu 15 / madu 16 / siu 17 , 4 - bit ‘ address ’ and 4 - bit ‘ control 1 ’ of controller 14 go into sram block 13 . the output k - bit ‘ a / b 1 / b 2 / n 1 / n 2 ’ of sram block 13 goes to mmu 15 . the output k - bit ‘ a / b 1 / n 1 ’ of sram block 13 goes to madu 16 . the output k - bit ‘ b 1 ’ of sram block 13 goes to siu 17 . the outputs 8 - bit ‘ modular_opcode ’ of icu 12 and k - bit ‘ temp_data ’ of mmu 15 / madu 16 / siu 17 go to controller 14 . the outputs 4 - bit ‘ address / control 1 ’ of controller 14 goes to sram block 13 . the output 6 - bit ‘ control 2 ’ goes to mmu 15 . the output 3 - bit ‘ control 3 ’ of controller 14 goes to madu 16 . the output 3 - bit ‘ control 4 ’ of controller 14 goes to siu 17 . the 8 - bit ‘ status_out ’ of controller 14 goes to icu 12 . the outputs k - bit ‘ a / b 1 / b 2 / n 1 / n 2 ’ of sram block 13 and 6 - bit ‘ control 2 ’ of controller 14 go to mmu 15 . the output k - bit ‘ data_out ’ of mmu 15 goes to icu 12 and the output k - bit ‘ temp_data ’ of mmu 15 goes to sram block 13 and controller 14 . the outputs k - bit ‘ a / b 1 / n 1 ’ of sram block 13 and 3 - bit ‘ control 3 ’ of controller 14 go to madu 16 . the output k - bit ‘ temp_data ’ of madu 16 go to sram block 13 and controller 14 . the outputs k - bit ‘ b 1 ’ of sram block 13 and 3 - bit ‘ control 4 ’ of controller 14 go to siu 17 . the output k - bit ‘ temp_data ’ of siu 17 goes to sram block 13 and controller 14 . referring to fig3 , the interface control unit 11 comprises a bus interface unit ( biu ) 18 , a concatenation / split unit ( csu ) 19 and a modular - opcode generator ( mog ) 20 embedded into a cryptographic controller ( crc ) 21 . the 8 - bit transput ( input and output ) ‘ data ’ of buffer bdata in biu 18 is provided to the host processor . the 8 - bit outputs ‘ opcode ’ and ‘ key ’ from the host processor are provided to the buffer bopcode and bkey respectively in the biu 18 . the 8 - bit output ‘ status ’ and 1 - bit output ‘ interrupt ’ of bstatus and binterrupt in biu 18 respectively are provided to the host processor . in the preferred embodiment , the icu provides buffers to handle heterogeneous operation and the ‘ interrupt ’ signal to synchronize the data exchange . this allows the crypto - engine 10 to operate at a different clock speed to the host processor . the 8 - bit transput ‘ tdata ’ of buffer bdata in biu 18 is provided to the concatenation / split unit 19 . the 8 - bit outputs ‘ topc ’ and ‘ tkey ’ of buffer bopcode and bkey respectively in the biu 18 are provided to the modular - opcode generator ( mog ) 20 inside cryptographic controller ( crc ) 21 . the outputs 8 - bit ‘ tsta ’ and 1 - bit ‘ tint ’ generated from the ‘ status_out ’ signal in the crc 21 are provided to the biu 18 . the k - bit output ‘ data_in ’ of concatenation / split unit ( csu ) 19 , generated by cascading a sequence of 8 - bit ‘ tdata ’, is provided to mau 11 . the k - bit output ‘ data_out ’ of mau 11 , converted to a sequence of 8 - bit ‘ tdata ’, is provided to concatenation / split unit ( csu ) 19 . the 8 - bit output ‘ module_opcode ’ of mog 20 , generated from signals ‘ topc ’ and ‘ tkey ’, is provided to mau 11 . the 8 - bit output ‘ status_out ’ of mau 11 is provided to crc 21 to generate the 8 - bit ‘ tsta ’ and 1 - bit ‘ tint ’ signals . referring to fig4 , the static random access memory ( sram ) block 13 comprises an address decoder 22 , a plurality of switches mux0 23 and mux1 / mux 2 / mux 3 / mux 4 / mux 5 25 , a plurality of memory blocks 24 comprising one 16 × k - bit sram0 and four 8 × k - bit sram 1 / sram 2 / sram 3 / sram 4 / sram 5 . in the preferred embodiment there are a total of 3 × 1024 - bit sram blocks to store the 5 parameters ‘ a / b 1 / n 1 / b 2 / n 2 ’ for 1024 - bit rsa modular multiplication in various stages or to store 192 - bit ecc temporary data . the gate counts required for storing of interim manipulation results are substantially reduced . to ameliorate the overflow problems that may be encountered during the modular multiplication calculation in mmu 15 , a memory - size - expansion approach is adopted with according to the memory block size provided by integrated circuit fabrication supplier , say a 1152 - bit memory for a 1024 - bit manipulation . another preferred approach to overcome the overflow problem is to provide an “ overflow control unit ” with additional one bit for checking , say 1025 - bit memory for 1024 - bit manipulation . still referring to fig4 , the 4 - bit outputs ‘ address ’ and ‘ control 1 ’ of controller 14 are provided to address decoder 22 to generate one 16 - bit ‘ address_select [ 0 : 15 ’] output , one 10 - bit ‘ control_select [ 0 : 9 ]’ output and one 6 - bit ‘ mux_select [ 0 : 5 ]’ output . the output first bit ‘ mux_select [ 0 ]’ of address decoder 22 is provided to switch mux0 23 to select either k - bit ‘ data_in ’ outputted by icu 12 or k - bit ‘ temp_data ’ outputted by mmu 15 / mau 16 / siu 17 . the outputs k - bit ‘ data_in 0 ’, ‘ data_in 1 ’, ‘ data_in 2 ’, ‘ data_in 3 ’, and ‘ data_in 4 ’ of mux0 23 are provided to sram0 , sram 1 , sram 2 , sram 3 and sram 4 24 respectively . the output 3 - bit address_select [ 0 : 3 ], address_select [ 4 : 6 ], address_select [ 7 : 9 ], address_select [ 10 : 12 ] and address_select [ 13 : 15 ] of address decoder 22 is provided to sram0 , sram 1 , sram 2 , sram 3 and sram 4 24 respectively . the output 2 - bit control_select [ 0 : 1 ], control_select [ 2 : 3 ], control_select [ 4 : 5 ], control_select [ 6 : 7 ] and control_select [ 8 : 9 ] of address decoder 22 are provided to sram0 , sram 1 , sram 2 , sram 3 and sram 4 24 respectively . sram0 , sram 1 , sram 2 , sram 3 and sram 4 receive respective signals ‘ address_select [ 0 : 15 ]’, ‘ data 13 in 0 ’/‘ data 13 in 1 ’/‘ data_in 2 ’/‘ data_in 3 ’/‘ data_in 4 and ‘ control_select [ 0 : 9 ]’ to generate respective k - bit outputs ‘ data_out 0 ’, ‘ data_out 1 ’, ‘ data_out 2 ’, ‘ data_out 3 ’ and ‘ data_out 4 ’. the 1 - bit outputs ‘ mux_select [ 1 ]’, ‘ mux_select [ 2 ]’, ‘ mux_select [ 3 ]’, ‘ mux_select [ 4 ]’ and ‘ mux_select [ 5 ]’ of address decoder 22 control switches 25 to select between mux1 inputs ‘ data_out 0 ’ or ‘ b 1 ’, mux 2 and mux 3 inputs ‘ data_out 1 ’ or ‘ data_out2 ’ and mux 4 and mux 5 inputs ‘ data_out 3 ’ or ‘ data_out 4 ’. referring to fig2 , the k - bit outputs ‘ a ’, ‘ b 1 ’, ‘ b 2 ’, ‘ n 1 ’ and ‘ n 2 ’ of switches 25 are provided to mmu 15 ; outputs ‘ a ’, ‘ b 1 ’ and ‘ n 1 ’ are provided to mau 16 ; and output ‘ b 1 ’ is provided to siu 17 . referring to fig5 , the modular multiplication unit mmu 15 comprises a pair of process elements pe1 26 and pe 2 link up with a flop - flip ( ff ), a register 27 , a shift register 28 , a first in first out flip - flop ( fifo ) 29 and a control line element ( cle ) 30 . the 6 - bit output ‘ control 2 ’ of controller 14 is provided to control line element 30 and is decoded into a plurality of outputs ‘ load_control ’, ‘ load_shift_control ’, ‘ load_a_control 1 ’ ( pe1 ) and ‘ load_a_control 2 ’ ( pe 2 ). the k - bit output ‘ a ’ of sram block 13 is provided to register 27 . the k - bit output ‘ data_out ’ of register 27 is provided to shift register 28 and to icu 12 when the output ‘ load_control ’ of cle 30 is set . the 1 - bit outputs ‘ a i ’ and ‘ a i + 1 ’ of shift register 28 are provided to process element 1 ( pe1 ) 26 and process element 2 ( pe 2 ) respectively when the output ‘ load_shift_control ’ of cle 30 is set . in the preferred embodiment the interim data ‘ u_out ’ and ‘ u_carry_out ’ are included with ( k + 1 )- bit instead of normal ( 2 + k )- bit for logic gate size ( physical hardware size ) reduction and the fifo 29 is used as a delay line for the inputs k - bit ‘ u_out ’ and 1 - bit ‘ u_carry_out ’ of pe 2 to provide the inputs k - bit ‘ u_in ’ and 1 - bit ‘ u_carry ’ of pe1 . the k - bit output ‘ u_in ’ of fifo 29 is provided to a flip - flop ( ff 1 ) and the k - bit output ‘ temp_data ’ of ff 1 is provided to sram block 13 . the k - bit outputs ‘ b 1 ’ and ‘ n 1 ’ of sram block 13 , the outputs k - bit ‘ u_in ’ and 1 - bit ‘ u_carry ’ of fifo 29 , the output ‘ a i ’ of shift register 28 and the outputs 1 - bit ‘ load_a_control 1 ’ ( pe1 ) of cle 30 are provided to process element 1 ( pe1 ) to generate the outputs k - bit ‘ u_out 0 ’ and 1 - bit ‘ u_carry 0 ’. the outputs k - bit ‘ u_out 0 ’ and 1 - bit ‘ u_carry 0 ’ are provided to flip - flop ( ff 2 ) to generate the outputs k - bit ‘ u_out 1 ’ and 1 - bit ‘ u_carry 1 ’. the k - bit outputs ‘ b 2 ’ and ‘ n 2 ’ of sram block 13 , the outputs k - bit ‘ u_out 1 ’ and 1 - bit ‘ u_carry 1 ’ of flip - flop ( ff 2 ), the output ‘ a i + 1 ’ of shift register 28 and the outputs 1 - bit ‘ load_a_control 2 ’ of cle 30 are provided to process element 2 ( pe 2 ) to generate the outputs k - bit ‘ u_out ’ and 1 - bit ‘ u_carry_out ’. the outputs k - bit ‘ u_out ’ and 1 - bit ‘ u_carry_out ’ are provided to fifo 29 to generate the outputs k - bit ‘ u_in ’ and 1 - bit ‘ u_carry ’. referring to fig6 , the processor elements ( pes ) implement montgomery &# 39 ; s multiplication to generate the modular multiplication . by defining as the multiplier , multiplicand , modulo and modular product ( result ) respectively , for m bit integers where { a i , b i , n i , u i }∈{ 0 , 1 }, the basic algorithm for montgomery &# 39 ; s multiplication is given as follows : q i := ( u i − 1 + a i b ) mod 2 ; // lsb of u i − 1 = u 0 , i − 1 u i := ( u i − 1 + q i n + a i b ) div 2 in order to optimize the process element ( pe ) sizes for a compact hardware implementation , instead of full m - size pe elements , k - size ( where m = e × k ) pe pairs are included and parameters a j , b j , n j and u j are included where u i − 1 = u 0 , i − 1 , 0 is the first outer - loop . // q i is implemented using mux6 39 and csa 34 q i := u 0 , i − 1 + a i b 0 ; ( u_carry , u i 0 ) = a i b 0 + u i − 1 0 ; // implemented using csa 34 ( u_carry , u i 0 ) = u i 0 + q i n 0 + u_carry ; // perform ( u_carry , u i j ) = a i b j + u i − 1 j + q i n j + u_carry ; // implement using csa 34 , i . e . u i j = ( a i & amp ; b j ) ⊕ u i − 1 j ⊕ u_carry // u_carry = ( a i & amp ; b j & amp ; u_carry )\|( u i − 1 j & amp ; u_carry )\|( a i & amp ; b j & amp ; u i − 1 j ) ( u_carry , u i j ) = a i b j + u i − 1 j + u_carry ; // implement using csa 35 , i . e . u i j = ( q i & amp ; n j ) ⊕ u i j ⊕ u_carry // u_carry = ( q i & amp ; n j & amp ; u_carry )\|( u i j & amp ; u_carry )\|( q i & amp ; n j & amp ; u i j ) ( u_carry , u i j ) = u i j + q i n j + u_carry ; // concatenate the lsb of u j to msb of u j − 1 as carry & amp ; // u i j − 1 := u i j − 1 div2 , implement using clas 32 and 40 u i j − 1 := ( u 0 , i j , u k − 1 ... 1 j − 1 ); in the preferred embodiment the process element 26 and the modified algorithm include a k - bit carry look - ahead adder ( cla ) 31 , a ( k − 1 )- bit cla 32 , a plurality of and gates 33 , a plurality of carry save adders ( csa ) level 1 34 and level 2 35 , a plurality of flip - flops 36 , a ( k − 1 )- bit flip - flop 37 , registers 38 , a multiplexer mux6 39 and a single cla 40 . the outputs k - bit ‘ u_in ’ and 1 - bit ‘ u_carry ’ of fifo 29 are provided to a k - bit cla 31 of process element 1 ( pe1 ) 26 . for process element 2 ( pe 2 ), the outputs k - bit ‘ u_out 1 ’ and 1 - bit ‘ u_carry 1 ’ are provided to a k - bit cla 31 . the outputs k - bit ‘ b ’ ( b 1 or b 2 ) of sram block 13 and k - bit ‘ a_out ’ of register1 are provided bitwise to a plurality of two - input and gates 33 . the outputs k - bit ‘ u [ 0 : k − 1 ]’ of k - bit cla 31 , 1 - bit ‘ u_carry ’ of fifo 29 and ‘ ab [ 0 : k − 1 ] ’ of and gates 33 are provided to level 1 csa 34 to generate a plurality of add results ‘ uab ( 0 : k − 1 ) ’ and carry ‘ cab [ 0 : k − 1 ]’. the outputs 1 - bit ‘ q ’ of mux6 and k - bit ‘ n ’ ( n 1 or n 2 ) of sram block 13 are provided to a plurality of and gates to generate a k - bit output ‘ nq [ 0 : k − 1 ]’. the outputs k - bit ‘ nq [ 0 : k − 1 ]’ of a plurality of and gates 33 , k - bit ‘ uab [ 0 : k − 1 ]’ and k - bit ‘ cab [ 0 : k − 1 ]’ are provided to level 2 csa 35 bitwise to generate a plurality of add results ‘ unq [ 0 : k − 1 ]’ and carry ‘ cnq [ 0 : k − 1 ]’. preferably , the output ‘ cab [ k − 1 ]’ goes through a flip - flop ( ff 3 ) to bit - 0 ( of level 2 ) csa 35 . the outputs k - bit ‘ unq [ 0 : k − 1 ]’ and ‘ cnq [ 0 : k − 1 ]’ of a plurality of csas 35 are provided to a ( k − 1 )- bit cla 32 and 1 - bit cla 40 to generate the outputs k - bit ‘ u_out ’ and 1 - bit ‘ u_carry_out ’. preferably , the output ‘ cnq ( k − 1 )’ of csa goes through a flip - flop ( ff 4 ) to cla 40 and the output is carry of ( k − 1 )- bit cla 32 goes through a flip - flop ( ff 5 ) 36 to cla 40 . preferably , the outputs of ( k − 1 )- bit cla 32 go through a plurality of flip - flops ( ff6 ) 37 to generate the outputs ‘ u_out [ 0 : k − 2 ]’ of ‘ u_out ’. the outputs ‘ uab [ 0 ]’ of bit - 0 csa 34 and 1 - bit delayed ‘ uab [ 0 ]’ of register1 38 are provided to mux6 39 to give output ‘ q ’ according to condition of an output ‘ load_a ’ of cle 30 . the output ‘ q ’ of register1 38 is generated according to the outputs ‘ uab [ 0 ]’ of bit - 0 csa 34 and delayed ‘ load_a ’ from register3 of cle 30 . the outputs 1 - bit ‘ load_a ’ of cle 30 and 1 - bit ‘ a ’ of shift register 28 are provided to register2 to generate an output of 1 - bit ‘ a_out ’. embodiments of the invention have been implemented using 0 . 35 μm semiconductor technology . a total gate count of 15k for rsa and 20k for both rsa and ecc was utilized for k = 64 . the benchmark testing for a 1024 ( 1024 - bit ) rsa is summarized in table 1 as follows with an internal clock of 22 mhz . the benchmark device is capable of running at 100 mhz where the computational time can be reduced to 0 . 18 seconds for the worst case scenario . with the heterogeneous computation ability , the process can be executed in a much higher clock rate using phase lock clock multiplier to allow faster computational and thus transaction time . a implementation example of an rsa coprocessor is based on four special function registers ( sfrs ) rsad , rsao , rsas and rsak in a host processor for controlling and monitoring the rsa coprocessor . a brief description of the sfrs now follows : the bi - directional sfr is accessed via a mnemonic rsad . depending on the sfr rsas , cpu and rsa coprocessor read from and write to this register . data x , n and m are written at the beginning by software while data m is read is at the end by hardware . the rsad is reset to 00h by a reset . there is unrestricted read / write access to this sfr . the rsa opcode register with mnemonic rsao receives instructions to configure the operation of the rsa coprocessor . this byte is set or cleared by software for the following purpose . kend key end : this bit is set to tell the coprocessor the key writing is finished . rst reset : this bit is set to reset the coprocessor synchronously . wx write precomputation constant x : when this bit and rw are set , 128 bytes of data x are written into the coprocessor . when this bit is cleared , data x will not be written . wn write modulus n : when this bit and rw are set , 128 bytes of data n are written into the coprocessor . when this bit is cleared , data n will not be written . rwm read write message m : when this bit and rw are set , 128 bytes of data m are written into the coprocessor . when this bit is set while rw is cleared , 128 bytes of data m are read from the coprocessor . when this bit is cleared , data m will not be read or written . rw read write control : when this bit is set , data x , n , m will be written depends on bits wx , wn , rwm . when cleared , 128 bytes of data m are read from the coprocessor if rwm is set . the rsao is reset to 00h by a reset . there is unrestricted read / write access to this sfr . the status with mnemonic rsas of the rsa coprocessor is expected to shown in the rsa status register . this byte is set or clear by hardware for the following purpose . wkr write key request : this bit is set to request the cpu to write the next byte of key to the sfr rsak . rmr read message request : this bit is set to tell the cpu that the rsa operation is finish and it is ready to read the data m . it also requests the cpu to write instruction to read data m from rsad . the sfr with mnemonic rsak will be used to store the key . one byte of rsa key , i . e . the exponent e or d is written into this register by software , while the bit wkr of the sfr rsas is set . the rsak is reset to 00h by a reset . there is unrestricted read / write access to this sfr . the procedure of control the rsa coprocessor to carry out a rsa operation is summarized in fig7 and 8 . the sequence of operation is as follows : 1 . the coprocessor must be reset at the beginning of rsa operation ; the reset ( rst ) bit is set ( rsao = 10h ) and cleared ( rsao = 00h ) to reset the coprocessor . 2 . two bytes of rsa key are then written to rsak , starting from the most significant byte . 3 . if the key ends , i . e . the key is less than or equal to 2 bytes , set the bit kend of rsao ( rsao = 20h ) to inform the coprocessor . 4 . set the write operation by setting appropriate bits in rsao , followed by writing the data block ( s ) in the order of data x , n and m into rsad , starting from the least significant byte of first data block . for example , if rsao = 0fh , 3 × 128 bytes of data x , n , and m are written to rsad sequentially , starting from the least significant byte of data x ; if rsao = 0bh , 2 × 128 bytes of data x and m are written to rsad sequentially , starting from the least significant byte of data x ; if rsao = 09h , only 128 bytes of data x is written to rsad , starting from the least significant byte of data x . 5 . check the wkr of rsas to see whether the rsa coprocessor request next byte of key . 6 . if the wkr is set , write one byte of key to rsak . 7 . if the key ends , i . e . all bytes of key is written into rsak , set the bit kend of rsao ( rsao = 20h ) to inform the coprocessor . 8 . check the rmr to see whether the result data is ready to be read . 9 . when it is ready to read the data , the read data m instruction is assigned to the rsao ( rsao = 02h ). 128 bytes of data m are read from rsad , starting from the least significant byte of data m . where in the foregoing description reference has been made to methods or elements have known equivalents then such are included as if individually set forth herein . embodiments of the invention have been described , however it is understood that variations , improvement or modifications can take place without departure from the spirit of the invention or scope of the appended claims .	7
referring to fig1 a process of increasing fab productivity is illustrated in flow chart form . the process comprises an algorithm for use on a computer connected to the fab for optimization of the productivity of the fab and is started as indicated by terminal block 10 in fig1 . the supervisor program as shown in decision block 11 in fig1 checks table a below . the ratio of wip ( work in progress ) report is checked to determine ( as indicated by decision block 11 in fig1 ) on a fab - wide basis : for example , 0 . 262 is less than 0 . 27 so go to step 2 in block 12 . table a shows rrw fab - wide and other data by areas listed generated by central fab computer system showing the rrw for each area . table a__________________________________________________________________________ratio of running wiptime wip rrw cvd dif dry imp pho spu wet__________________________________________________________________________02 / 22 07 30310 . 209 . 094 . 315 . 182 . 079 . 160 . 564 . 28802 / 22 10 30677 . 262 . 156 . 332 . 226 . 052 . 189 . 651 . 493target 30677 . 270 . 200 . 500 . 200 . 170 . 200 . 170 . 400__________________________________________________________________________ the supervisor program as shown in processing block 12 in fig1 works to identify a location where the rrw is less than the local target value . the supervisor program as shown in decision block 13 in fig1 checks table b which is the capacity utilization report to make the test : is capacity utilization ( of the identified location ) out of a predetermined tolerable range if yes , ( out of a predetermined tolerable range ) continue to step 4 in block 14 . if no , ( in a predetermined tolerable range ) proceed to step 5 in block 15 . for example , if capacity utilization of imp has a value of only 0 . 3 , that shows that there are numerous imp machines idle and in need of an additional supply of wafers . table b shows current capacity utilization with cur fab - wide and the other data for fab areas as listed . table b______________________________________capacity utilization ( cur ) time cur cvd dif dry imp pho spu wet______________________________________02 / 22 . 537 . 245 . 544 . 754 . 500 . 860 . 455 . 2210702 / 22 . 734 . 872 . 683 . 750 . 300 . 911 . 458 . 51210______________________________________ the supervisor program as shown in processing block 14 in fig1 takes actions including ( 1 ) redispatching and ( 2 ) auditing idle machines . idle machines are those waiting for wafers . ( for example , the supervisor checks table c comparing current dispatching status with wip distribution and then makes a determination that it will redispatch photo machines as shown in table d to supply more wafers to imp machines to increase capacity utilization of imp machines . in the pho m / c allocation column the value &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ; for sin - 1 - pho indicates photo machine numbered &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ; is processing table c______________________________________current photo machines dispatching vs . wipdistributionprocess order pho m / cor stage wip allocation______________________________________waf - start 480pad - ox - 1 408sin - 1 - dep 720sin - 1 - pho 360 1sin - 1 - etch 576n - wl - 1 - imp 72well - ox 850sin - 1 - rm 24well - pho 48n - wl - 2 - imp 18pwell - pho 24p - wl - 2 - imp 24p - wl - driv 24well - driv 696pad - ox - 2 35sin - 2 - dep 216sin - 2 - pho 204 2sin - 2 - etch 360n . sub .-- fld . sub .-- imp 24p -. sub .-- fld . sub .-- pho 288p -. sub .-- fld . sub .-- imp 0______________________________________ wafers at sin - 1 - pho stages . the processed wafers will then come to sin - 1 - etch stage and wait to be processed by dry machines . the value &# 34 ; 2 &# 34 ; for sin - 2 - pho indicates that photo machine numbered &# 34 ; 2 &# 34 ; is processing wafers at sin - 2 - pho stage . the processed wafers will then come to sin - 1 - etch stage and wait to be processed by dry machines . in table d below the &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ; ( for photo machine numbered &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ;) is moved to p -- - fld -- pho to overcome under utilization in cur in table b . the wafers at p - -- fld -- phd will come to p - -- fld -- imp stage after they are processed by photo machine numbered &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ;, and then more imp machines can be utilized . in the last row the &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ; indicates under utilization ( idle machines ). table d______________________________________redispatched photo machines vs . wipdistributionprocess order pho m / cor stage wip allocation______________________________________waf - start 480pad - ox - 1 408sin - 1 - dep 720sin - 1 - pho 360 1sin - 1 - etch 576n - wl - 1 - imp 72well - ox 850sin - 1 - rm 24well - pho 48n - wl - 2 - imp 18pwell - pho 24p - wl - 2 - imp 24p - wl - driv 24well - driv 696pad - ox - 2 35sin - 2 - dep 216sin - 2 - pho 204 2sin - 2 - etch 360n . sub .-- fld . sub .-- imp 24p -. sub .-- fld . sub .-- pho 288p -. sub .-- fld . sub .-- imp 0 1______________________________________ the supervisor program as shown in decision block 17 in fig1 checks table e which contains data indicating machine availability to determine whether machine availability of the identified location is out of control . if yes , ( out of control ) continue to step 6 in block 16 . if no , ( in control ) proceed to step 7 in block 17 . for example , only 57 % of the imp machines are available for production . the value 1 . 00 under wet machine listing indicates full availability . table e__________________________________________________________________________machine availabilitytime cvd dif dry imp pho spu wet mar__________________________________________________________________________02 / 22 09 : 59 0 . 92 0 . 76 0 . 88 0 . 57 0 . 93 0 . 93 1 . 00 0 . 8702 / 22 06 : 57 0 . 89 0 . 76 0 . 90 0 . 86 0 . 93 0 . 76 0 . 92 0 . 85__________________________________________________________________________ the supervisor program as shown in processing block 16 in fig1 takes actions including ( 1 ) redispatching and ( 2 ) auditing machines which are down . down machines are those which are out of order . for example , the supervisor sets a list of priorities for the sequence in which repairs are to be made by equipment maintenance engineers . the supervisor program as shown in decision block 17 in fig1 checks table a above to determine whether there is any other location with an rrw less than the local target value . if yes , ( out of control ) return to step 2 in block 12 for example , location cvd is identified as a location with an rrw less than the local target value . the program is ended by the supervisor program as shown by terminal block 18 in fig1 . fig2 shows a computer control system in accordance with this invention including supervisor 20 comprising a computer which can be interactively operated by an operator and alternatively can be operated independently of an operator . the supervisor is connected by bus line 22 to supply data to and receive data from data tables including run -- wip roll -- wip , all -- wip , rolling wip , stopped wip , and idle wip . the supervisor is also connected by bus line 24 to supply data to and receive data from data table wip . the supervisor is connected by bus line 26 to supply data to machine units and receiving data from those machine units on bus line 28 . the machine units include as follows : the supervisor is also connected by bus line 30 to supply data to and receive data from data table rrw . the supervisor is connected by bus line 32 to supply data to and receive data from data tables including arw , rolling wip , rw ; stopped wip , sw ; idle wip , iw ; tr / dt , rttr ; stopped stage , ss ; idle stage , is ; and rolling stage , rs . daily turn ratio ( dtr ) is one of the most important indicators of performance for an ic fabrication line . a high value of dtr leads to a short cycle time and high productivity . dtr is usually expressed as an average number of stages through which wip moves within one day . dtr can be interpreted as a final speed that wip reaches at the end the day . in physics , it is well known that speed comes from acceleration . thus , it is necessary to keep the acceleration of wip as high as possible during a specific period to reach a high final speed at the end of the period . the daily turn ratio , as defined by equations ( 1 ) and ( 2 ) in table f below , is the average number of stages through which wip moves within one day . the final speed which wip reaches at the end of the day is the calculation which is done . the turn ratio tr ( which can be daily ( dtr ), hourly , weekly , etc .) is the speed of wip . in a given period , wip of an ic fabrication line can be divided into three categories : ( 1 ) rolling wip ( running beginning to end , but with some stops .) ( 2 ) stopped wip ( wip running at beginning of period , but stops during the period .) the turn ratio tr of this given period can be calculated by equation ( 3 ) in table f . acceleration of wip can be derived as a derivative of tr with respect to time , which is called the real time turn ratio ( rttr ). in equation ( 4 ) the derivative tr / dt of equation ( 3 ) is taken , yielding the value rttr . the second and third terms in the numerator of the equation have a derivative of &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ; because ss k and is 1 are constants , and the result is shown in equation ( 5 ) in table f . referring to equation ( 5 ), it is assumed that rs j / dt = arw for all rs j , j = 1 , . . . p , where arw is a constant called acceleration of rolling wip . making the substitution of arw for rs j / dt yields equation ( 6 ) in table f . the equation ( 6 ) in table f is equal to equation ( 7 ) because : ## equ1 ## rolling wip of a given period is equal to running wip at the beginning of this period when the length of this period is approximately equal to zero . thus rttr in equation ( 6 ) in table f is equal to equation ( 7 ). let rrw denote ratio of running wip to all wip , then the equation ( 9 ) in table f is the measure of rttr . since arw is an unknown constant , it is impossible to calculate rttr from rrw . fortunately , rrw can be used instead of rttr to reflect acceleration of wip at any moment because arw is a constant . an experiment must be made to test whether there is a linear relationship between rrw and tr before acceptance of rrw as a performance indicator of a production line . table f______________________________________ ## str1 ## ( 1 ) ## str2 ## ( 2 ) ## str3 ## ( 3 ) tr / dt = ( 4 ) ## str4 ## ## str5 ## ( 5 ) ## str6 ## ( 6 ) ## str7 ## ( 7 ) ## str8 ## ( 8 ) rttr = rrw × arw ( 9 ) ______________________________________ m = move n = lots in production w = work in progress s = stage rw = rolling wip sw = stopped wip iw = idle wip rttr = tr / dt run . sub .-- wip = constant running roll . sub .-- wip = constant running all . sub .-- wip = constant running data of tr of every three - hours and rrw at the beginning of each three hours has been collected from july 1 to july 9 and the following model has been derived from the collected data . ## equ2 ## the sample correlation of the coefficient for this model is 0 . 96 . this correlation indicates a very strong linear relationship between tr and rrw . that is , rrw is as good as tr as a performance indicator of an ic fabrication line , without consideration of other benefits brought by rrw . rrw was included in a report and reviewed daily for a significant period of time . the improvements gained are shown below in table g . note that rrw increased 0 . 01 which means that a six - lot wafer out capacity increase per month occurred for a wip = 20000 pieces fab . table g______________________________________ mean of variance of rrw rrw______________________________________7 / 1 / 93 - 8 / 10 / 93 0 . 216 0 . 00128 / 11 / 93 - 9 / 20 / 93 0 . 226 0 . 0008improvement 0 . 01 - 0 . 0004improvement in % 4 . 63 % - 33 . 33 % ______________________________________ acceleration of integrated circuit ( ic ) fabrication ( fab ) lines work in progress ( wip ) can be described and evaluated by ratio of running work in progress ( rrw ). in addition , rrw is a real time performance indicator of ic fab which is related to turn ratio , move and throughput . rrw is a fair performance indicator of the management because of no interaction between shifts . an index which can provide real time production information about acceleration of wip and running status is provided . while this invention has been described in terms of the above specific embodiment ( s ), those skilled in the art will recognize that the invention can be practiced with modifications within the spirit and scope of the appended claims , i . e . that changes can be made in form and detail , without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention . accordingly all such changes come within the purview of the present invention and the invention encompasses the subject matter of the claims which follow .	6
this invention relates to a process for cultivating the a10255 complex , which comprises cultivating streptomyces gardneri nrrl 15922 , or an a10255 - producing variant , mutant or recombinant thereof , in a culture medium containing assimilable sources of carbon , nitrogen , and inorganic salts under submerged aerobic fermentation conditions until the a10255 antibiotic complex is produced . a preferred process includes the additional step of separating the a10255 complex from the culture medium . further preferred processes include the additional step of isolating antibiotic a10255 factor b , c , e , or f from the separated a10255 complex . a further aspect of the invention is a biologically pure culture of the microorganism streptomyces gardneri nrrl 15922 , or an a10255 - producing mutant , variant or recombinant thereof . a preferred embodiment of this aspect of the invention is the biologically pure culture of the microorganism streptomyces gardneri nrrl 15922 . as is the case with many antibiotic - producing cultures , fermentation of an a10255 - producing strain of s . gardneri nrrl 15922 results in the coproduction of a number of antibiotic substances . antibiotic a10255 factor b is the major factor produced by this culture , and factors c , e , and f are produced in minor yet isolable amounts . other factors are present in only minor quantities or are relatively unstable . the amounts of the individual factors coproduced may vary somewhat from fermentation to fermentation . the antibiotic factors b , c , e , and f , coproduced during the fermentation and obtained as a mixture , are termed the a10255 complex . the amounts of the individual factors are separated from each other and isolated as distinct entities with the following physical and biological properties . the antibiotic a10255 complex and its individual factors and method for producing them are claimed in u . s . patent application no . 06 / 941 , 894 , of karl h . michel , laverne d . boeck , herbert a . kirst , marvin m . hoehn , and eugene t . seno . a10255 factor b is a non - crystalline white to light - yellow powder which is soluble in dimethylsulfoxide , dimethylformamide , pyridine , chloroform / methanol mixtures , and 4 : 1 ( v : v ) tetrahydrofuran : water . elemental analysis of factor b indicates the following approximate percentage composition ( average ): carbon , 49 . 25 %; hydrogen , 3 . 94 %; nitrogen , 15 . 65 %; oxygen , 21 . 36 %; and sulfur , 6 . 73 %. the apparent molecular weight of a10255 factor b was determined by fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry to be approximately 1244 daltons . electrometric titration of a10255 factor b measured in 66 % aqueous dimethylformamide indicates the presence of three titratable groups with pka values of 4 . 9 , 11 . 2 and 12 . 8 . amino acid analysis of factor b ( after hydrolysis with 6n hydrochloric acid ) indicates the presence of ammonia ( 5 , 268 nanomoles / mg ) and threonine ( 629 nanomoles / mg ). the analysis also evinced a large , unidentified peak coming before the position for the histidine peak . the ultraviolet absorption spectrum for factor b obtained in neutral , acidic , and basic methanol demonstrated λ max of 245 nm ( ε = 66 , 000 ). the infrared absorption spectrum of factor b in a potassium bromide disc exhibit as the more significant absorption maxima at 3373 , 2969 , 2932 , 2875 , 1661 , 1598 , 1520 , 1494 , 1395 , 1250 , 1114 , 1084 , 996 , 932 , and 900 cm - 1 . the proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectrum of factor b was obtained in perdeuterated dimethylsulfoxide at 270 mhz and had the following absorption maxima : δ 6 10 . 56 , 9 . 98 , 9 . 94 , 9 . 82 , 9 . 62 , 9 . 60 , 9 . 43 , 8 . 90 , 8 . 85 , 8 . 69 , 8 . 52 , 8 . 48 , 8 . 40 , 8 . 26 , 8 . 24 , 8 . 09 , 6 . 88 , 6 . 53 , 6 . 51 , 6 . 40 , 5 . 97 , 5 . 83 , 5 . 80 , 5 . 65 , 5 . 55 , 5 . 45 , 5 . 10 , 4 . 80 , 4 . 68 , 4 . 63 , 4 . 24 , 2 . 70 , 2 . 20 , 2 . 19 , 1 . 82 , 1 . 36 , 1 . 12 , and 1 . 00 . a10255 factor c is a non - crystalline white to light - yellow powder which is soluble in dimethylsulfoxide , dimethylformamide , pyridine , 1 : 1 ( v : v ) methylene chloride / methanol , and 4 : 1 ( v : v ) tetrahydrofuran : water . elemental analysis of factor c indicates the following approximate percentage composition ( average ): carbon , 49 . 18 %; hydrogen , 3 . 86 %; nitrogen , 17 . 89 %; oxygen , 18 . 28 %; and sulfur , 6 . 46 %. the apparent molecular weight of a10255 factor c was determined by fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry to be approximately 1174 daltons . electrometric titration of a10255 factor c measured in 66 % aqueous dimethylformamide ( initial ph , 7 . 29 ) indicated the presence of two titratable groups with pka values of 2 . 9 ( uncertain ) and 12 . 0 . amino acid analysis of the factor c ( after hydrolysis with 6n hydrochloric acid ) indicated the presence of ammonia ( 7 , 429 nanomoles / mg ) and threonine ( 758 nanomoles / mg ). the analysis also evinced a large , unidentified peak coming before the position for the histidine peak . the ultraviolet absorption spectrum for factor c obtained in neutral , acidic , and basic methanol demonstrated λ max of 245 nm ( ε = 63 , 000 ). the infrared absorption spectrum in a potassium bromide disc exhibits more significant absorption maxima at 3375 , 2973 , 2932 , 2876 , 1661 , 1597 , 1494 , 1427 , 1345 , 1305 , 1249 , 1111 , 1083 , 984 , 933 , and 894 cm - 1 . the proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectrum of factor c was obtained in perdeuterated dimethylsulfoxide at 360 mhz and had the following absorption maxima : δ 10 . 51 , 10 . 08 , 9 . 84 , 9 . 57 , 9 . 10 , 8 . 88 , 8 . 03 , 7 . 94 , 7 . 53 , 5 . 15 ( all of the foregoing maxima are exchangeable with d 2 o ), 8 . 67 , 8 . 59 , 8 . 51 , 8 . 49 , 8 . 38 , 8 . 25 , 8 . 24 , 6 . 57 , 6 . 52 , 6 . 38 , 6 . 11 , 5 . 91 , 5 . 78 , 5 . 74 , 5 . 70 , 5 . 65 , 5 . 63 , 5 . 44 , 5 . 15 , 4 . 79 , 4 . 67 , 4 . 63 , 4 . 23 , 2 . 21 , 1 . 62 , 1 . 11 , and 1 . 01 . a10255 factor e is a non - crystalline white to light - yellow powder which is soluble in dimethylsulfoxide , dimethylformamide , pyridine , chloroform / methanol mixtures , and 4 : 1 ( v : v ) tetrahydrofuran : water . elemental analysis of factor e indicates the following approximate percentage composition ( average ): carbon , 48 . 03 %; hydrogen , 3 . 91 %; nitrogen , 15 . 76 %; oxygen , 17 . 09 %; and sulfur , 5 . 63 %. the apparent molecular weight of a10255 factor e was determined by fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry to be approximately 1258 daltons . electrometric titration of a10255 factor e measured in 66 % aqueous dimethylformamide indicates the presence of three titratable groups with pka values of 4 . 85 , 11 . 1 , and 13 . 2 . amino acid analysis of the factor e ( after hydrolysis with 6n hydrochloric acid ) indicates the presence of ammonia ( 8 , 580 nanomoles / mg ) and threonine ( 716 nanomoles / mg ). the analysis also evinced a large , unidentified peak coming before the position of the histidine peak . the ultraviolet absorption spectrum for factor e obtained in neutral , acidic , and basic methanol demonstrated a λ max of 245 nm ( ε = 77 , 000 ). the infrared absorption spectrum of factor c in a potassium bromide disc exhibits more significant absorption maxima at 3367 , 3361 , 2966 , 1664 , 1501 , 1389 , 1254 , 1102 , and 889 cm - 1 . the proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectrum of factor b was obtained in perdeuterated dimethylsulfoxide at 270 mhz and had the following adsorption maxima : 6 10 . 54 , 10 . 00 , 9 . 94 , 9 . 81 , 9 . 60 , 9 . 56 , 9 . 45 , 8 . 89 , 8 . 84 , 8 . 66 , 8 . 59 , 8 . 50 , 8 . 47 , 8 . 39 , 8 . 25 , 8 . 22 , 8 . 10 , 6 . 53 , 6 . 50 , 6 . 24 , 5 . 95 , 5 . 86 , 5 . 84 , 5 . 77 , 5 . 64 , 5 . 55 , 5 . 52 , 5 . 44 , 5 . 10 , 4 . 80 , 4 . 66 , 4 . 64 , 4 . 22 , 2 . 78 , 1 . 60 , 1 . 11 , and 1 . 00 . a10255 factor f is a white to light - yellow non - crystalline powder which is soluble in dimethylsulfoxide , dimethylformamide , pyridine , 1 : 1 ( v : v ) methyl chloride / methanol , and 4 : 1 ( v : v ) tetrahydrofuran : water . elemental analysis of factor f indicates the following approximate percentage composition ( average ): carbon , 49 . 65 %; hydrogen , 4 . 23 %; nitrogen , 17 . 11 %; oxygen , 22 . 08 %; and sulfur , 7 . 78 %. the apparent molecular weight of a10255 factor f was determined by field desorption mass spectrometry to be approximately 1188 daltons . electrometric titration of a10255 factor f measured in 66 % aqueous dimethylformamide ( starting ph of 7 . 08 ) indicates the presence of a titratable group with a pka value of 12 . 5 . amino acid analysis of the factor f ( after hydrolysis with 6n hydrochloric acid ) indicates the presence of ammonia ( 7 , 226 nanomoles / mg ) and threonine ( 735 nanomoles / mg ). the analysis also evinced a large , unidentified peak coming before the position of the histidine peak . the ultraviolet absorption spectrum for factor f obtained in neutral , acidic , and basic methanol demonstrated a λ max of 245 nm ( ε = 71 , 500 ). the infrared absorption spectrum in a potassium bromide disc exhibits more significant absorption maxima at 3369 , 2943 , 2907 , 2846 , 1663 , 1588 , 1519 , 1493 , 1425 , 1337 , 1288 , 1251 , 1151 , 1110 , 1083 , 995 , 927 , 890 , 807 , 776 , and 751 cm - 1 . the proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectrum of factor f was obtained in perdeuterated dimethylsulfoxide at 10 360 mhz and had the following adsorption maxima : δ 10 . 51 , 10 . 17 , 9 . 88 , 9 . 77 , 9 . 54 , 9 . 10 , 8 . 90 , 8 . 88 , 8 . 66 , 8 . 59 , 8 . 51 , 8 . 49 , 8 . 38 , 8 . 25 , 8 . 24 , 8 . 06 , 7 . 94 , 7 . 53 , 6 . 56 , 6 . 51 , 6 . 27 , 6 . 23 , 6 . 12 , 6 . 12 , 5 . 96 , 5 . 77 , 5 . 76 , 5 . 71 , 5 . 71 , 5 . 64 , 5 . 62 , 5 . 47 , 5 . 14 , 4 . 77 , 4 . 65 , 4 . 62 , 4 . 20 , 2 . 77 , 2 . 48 , 2 . 48 , 1 . 58 , 1 . 08 , 0 . 98 , and 0 . 98 . the a10255 . 2 strain , ( referred to above as the streptomyces gardneri strain nrrl 15922 ) is an ntg mutant of the a10255 . 1 strain . the latter strain is the subject of u . s . patent application no . 06 / 941 , 894 , karl h . michel , laverne d . boeck , herbert a . kirst , marvin m . hoehn , and eugene t . seno , and is referred to therein as a strain of streptomyces gardneri nrrl 15537 . as there are many similarities in the taxonomies of the a10255 . 1 and a10255 . 2 strains , the taxonomy of the a10255 . 1 strain will be discussed first . the taxonomic differences between the a10255 . 1 and . 2 strains will then be set forth in tabular form . taxonomic studies of the a10255 . 1 strain were carried out by frederick p . mertz of the lilly research laboratories . based on these studies , the organism is classified as a new strain of streptomyces gardneri ( waksman 1942 ) waksman 1961 atcc 23911 . this classification is based on an examination of published descriptions of this species [ r . e . buchanan , and n . e . gibbons ( eds . ), &# 34 ; bergey &# 39 ; s manual of determinative bacteriology &# 34 ;, 8th edition , the williams and wilkins co ., baltimore , 1974 ; e . b . shirling and d . gottlieb , &# 34 ; cooperative description of type cultures of streptomyces &# 34 ;, int . j . syst . bacteriol . 18 ( 4 ): 279 - 392 ( 1968 ); and s . a . waksman , &# 34 ; the actinomycetes vol . ii &# 34 ;, the williams and wilkins co ., baltimore , 1961 ] and simultaneous laboratory comparsions . the methods recommended by the international streptomyces project ( isp ) for the characterization of streptomyces species [ e . b . shirling and d . gottlieb , &# 34 ; methods for characterization of streptomyces species &# 34 ;, int . j . syst . bacteriol . 16 ( 3 ), 313 - 340 ( 1966 )] have been followed along with certain supplementary tests [ d . j . blazevic and g . m . ederer , &# 34 ; principles of biochemical tests in diagnostic microbiology &# 34 ;, john wiley and sons , inc ., new york , 1975 ]. carbon utilization was determined on isp no . 9 basal medium to which filter - sterilized carbon sources were added to equal a final concentration of 1 . 0 percent . plates were incubated at 30 ° c . and read after 14 days . melanoid pigment production ( chromogenicity ) was determined with isp no . 1 ( tryptone - yeast extract broth ), isp no . 6 ( peptone - yeast extract iron agar ), isp no . 7 ( tyrosine agar ), and modified isp no . 7 which has tyrosine removed . starch hydrolysis was determined by testing for the presence of starch with iodine on isp no . 4 ( inorganic salts - starch agar ) plates ( see blazevic and ederer , supra ). . morphology was studied using an optical light microscope . a scanning electron microscope ( sem ) was used to study the spore surface ornamentation . sodium chloride tolerance was measured by adding sodium chloride to isp no . 2 agar to equal the concentration desired . icss - nbs centroid color charts , standard sample no . 2106 ( national bureau of standards , 1958 , u . s . department of commerce , washington , d . c .) and the color harmony manual ( 4th ed ., color standards department , container corporation of america , chicago , ill ., 1958 ) were used to assign color names . the cell wall sugars were determined with the procedure of m . p . lechevalier , &# 34 ; identification of aerobic actinomycetes of clinical importance ,&# 34 ; j . lab . clin . med ., 71 , 934 - 944 ( 1968 ). the isomers of diaminopimelic acid ( dap ) were established by the chromatographic methods set forth in b . becker , m . p . lechevalier , r . e . gordon , and h . a . lechevalier , &# 34 ; rapid differentiation between nocardia and streptomyces by paper chromatography of whole - cell hydrolysates &# 34 ;, appl . microbiol 11 , 421 - 423 ( 1964 ). a10255 . 1 is characterized by limited vegetative and very poorly developed aerial mycelia . the aerial mycelia have a spore mass color in the white ( w ) to gray ( gy ) color series . the nearest matching color tab in the tresner and backus system [ color harmony manual , supra , and e . j . backus and h . d . tresner , &# 34 ; system of color wheels for streptomyces taxonomy , appl . microbiol ., 11 , 335 - 338 ( 1956 )] for the white color series is b oyster white and in the gray color series is d light gray . this cultural feature is best observed on glycerol asparagine agar ( isp no . 5 ). aerial mycelia are so poorly developed on most media that a color determination is very difficult . the reverse side of this culture has no distinctive pigments . the color of the reverse side is orange - yellow to yellow - brown and the color is unaffected by ph . the only soluble pigment produced is a light brown pigment on tyrosine agar isp no . 7 and tomato paste oatmeal agar ( tpo ) and a light - orange pigment on glycerol - glycine agar . when plated for variability , this culture was stable and homogeneous . cultural characteristics of the a10255 . 1 strain and s . gardneri strain atcc 23911 are set forth . below in table 1 . table 1__________________________________________________________________________cultural characteristics of a10255 . 1 and s . gardneriagar a10255 . 1 s . gardneri__________________________________________________________________________isp . sup . a g : fair fairno . 2 . sup . b r : 72 . d . oy 72 . d . oy . sup . c am : poor : - b white ( edges only ) poor : - d light gray ( edges only ) - d light gray sp : none noneisp g : trace to fair traceno . 3 r : 70 . 1 . oy -- am : trace : none - b white ( edges only ) -- sp : none nonecalcium g : fair fairmalate r : 79 . 1 . gy . ybr 93 . ygray am : none → trace trace : - b white ( edges only ) sp : none noneczapek &# 39 ; s g : fair abundant r : 93 . ygray 79 . 1 . gy . ybr am : poor : abundant : - b white - b white sp : none noneglucose g : fair fairasparagine r : 72 . d . oy 90 . gy . y am : poor : - b white none : -- sp : none noneisp g : good goodno . 7 r : 54 . bro 77 . m . ybr am : poor : - b white poor : - b white sp : light - brown very light brownglycerol g : fair fair - ( wrinkled surface ) glycine r : 53 . m . o ( no ph change ) 90 . gy . y am : none none sp : light - orange nonetpo g : good good r : 54 . bro ( no ph change ) 72 . d . oy am : poor : ( edges only ) poor : ( edges only ) 3ca pale orange yellow - d light gray sp : light orange - brown noneisp g : fair fairno . 4 r : 71 . m . oy 91 . d . gy . y am : poor : - b white poor : - d light gray sp : none noneisp g : fair fairno . 5 r : 70 . 1 . oy 90 . gy . y am : fair : trace : -- - b white to - d l . gray sp : none none__________________________________________________________________________ . sup . a g = growth ; r = reverse ; am = aerial mycelia ; sp = soluble pigment . sup . b coding of reverse colors follows the icssnbs system , supra . . sup . c coding of aerial color follows the color harmony manual , supra . culture a10255 . 1 produces a poorly developed non - fragmenting aerial mycelium which is monopodially branched . sporophores are arranged as straight and flexuous branches . no spirals , sclerotia , sporangia , or motile spores were observed . a10255 . 1 is placed in the rectus - flexibilus ( rf ) section of pridham et al . [ t . g . pridham et al ., &# 34 ; a guide for the classification of streptomyces according to selected groups &# 34 ;, appl . microbiol ., 6 , 52 - 79 ( 1957 )]. the same morphology is observed on all media where aerial mycelia could be observed . mature spore chains generally contain from 10 to 50 spores per chain . the spore shape is cylindrical . the spore size ranges from 0 . 9 - 1 . 0 μm in length and 0 . 5 - 0 . 6 μm in width . the average size is 1 . 6 × 0 . 6 μm . the spore surface ornamentation is smooth . whole cell hydrolysates contain ll - diaminopimelic acid with no meso isomer present . sugars present in whole cell hydrolysates were glucose , mannose , and ribose . these characteristics represent a type i cell wall and a nc , or no characteristic , sugar pattern [ m . p . lechevalier , supra ]. this combination of major cell wall constituents is indicative of the genus streptomyces [ m . p . lechevalier , supra , and r . e . buchanan and n . e . gibbons ( eds )., supra ]. the carbon utilization pattern for a10255 . 1 is as follows : l - arabinose , d - fructose , d - galactose , d - glucose , i - inositol , raffinose , and d - xylose are utilized for growth . d - mannitol , l - rhamnose , salicin and sucrose do not support growth . table 2 below compares the carbon utilization patterns observed for a10255 . 1 and s . gardneri atcc 23911 . table 2______________________________________utilization of carbon compounds by a10255 . 1 ands . gardneri atcc 23911carbon source a10255 . 1 s . gardneri______________________________________no carbon . sup . -. sup . a - l - arabinose . sup . +. sup . b + d - fructose + + d - galactose + + d - glucose + + i - inositol + - d - mannitol - - raffinose + + l - rhamnose - + salicin - - sucrose - + d - xylose + + ______________________________________ -. sup . a = no utilization +. sup . b = utilization culture a10255 . 1 hydrolyzed starch and , partially hydrolyzed skim milk , produced catalase , liquified gelatin , and reduced nitrates to nitrites . a10255 . 1 will tolerate up to 6 percent sodium chloride and will grow at temperatures ranging from 4 ° c . to 40 ° c . melanoid pigments are produced when a10255 . 1 is grown in tryptone - yeast extract broth ( isp no . 1 ) and on slants of peptone - yeast extract iron agar ( isp no . 6 ). no melanoid pigments were produced on slants of tyrosine agar ( isp no . 7 ). using the cultural , morphological , and physiological characteristics of a10255 . 1 , comparison was made with the published descriptions of similar species . four species of streptomyces were selected to examine in simultaneous laboratory comparison : a e . b shirling and d . gottlieb , &# 34 ; cooperative description of type cultures of streptomyces &# 34 ;, int . j . syst . bacteriol ., 19 ( 4 ), 375 - 390 ( 1969 ). b e . b . shirling and d . gottlieb , &# 34 ; cooperative description of type cultures of streptomyces &# 34 ;, int . j . syst . bacteriol ., 22 ( 4 ), 265 - 394 ( 1972 ). c e . b . shirling and d . gottlieb , &# 34 ; cooperative description of type cultures of streptomyces &# 34 ;, int . j . syst . bacteriol ., 18 ( 4 ), 279 - 392 ( 1968 ). laboratory companions indicated significant differences with s . aureofasciculus and s . flavochromo genes , and good agreement with s . aureomonopodiales and s . gardneri . however , since s . aureomonopodiales is not in the approved list of bacterial names , it was removed from consideration . a10255 . 1 is quite similar to s . gardneri in cultural , morphological , and physiological characteristics . the predominant cultural feature that distinguishes both strains is the very poor formation of aerial hyphae on most media . s . gardneri is described in the literature as belonging in the gray ( gy ) series . however , in the original description by waksman [ s . a . waksman , supra . ], and in . laboratory comparisons with a10255 . 1 , it produced white ( w ) and gray ( gy ) aerial hyphae . the reverse color of both cultures is almost identical . both cultures possess a rectus - flexibilus ( rf ) morphology , smooth spore surface ornamentation , cylindrical spore shape , and chains of 10 - 50 spores . catalase production , liquefaction of gelatin , melanoid pigment production , reduction of nitrate , and hydrolysis of milk and starch were the same for both strains . differences between al0255 . l and s . gardneri are minimal . s . gardneri had less tolerance to sodium chloride and a lower temperature range than a10255 . 1 . the utilization of l - rhamnose , sucrose , and inability to utilize i - inositol distinguish s . gardneri from a10255 . 1 . these similarities and differences are summarized below . ______________________________________comparison between a10255 . 1 and streptomyces gardnerisimilarities differences______________________________________aerial spore mass color ( w ) carbon utilizationcatalase positive sodium chloride tolerancecell wall hydrolysates ( ll - dap ) temperature rangedistinctive pigments absentgelatin liquefactionmorphology ( rf ) nitrate reductionpartial milk hydrolysisreverse pigmentationsoluble pigments absentspore chain lengthspore shapespore surface ornamentation ( sm ) starch hydrolysis______________________________________ the similarities and differences between the two cultures are set forth below in detail in table 3 : table 3______________________________________comparison of a10255 . 1 and s . gardneri atcc 23911characteristics a10255 . 1 s . gardneri______________________________________aerial spore mass color ( w ) ( w ) carbon utilization patterni - inositol + - l - rhamnose - + sucrose - + catalase + + cell wall type i idistinctive pigments - - gelatin liquefaction + + melanoid pigment productionisp no . 1 + + isp no . 6 + + isp no . 7 - - morphology ( rf ) ( rf ) nacl tolerance - % 6 4nitrate reduction + + reverse color ybr ybrskim milk hydrolysis partial partialsoluble pigments - - spore chain length 10 - 50 10 - 50spore shape cylindrical cylindricalspore surface smooth smoothstarch hydrolysis + + temperature range - ° c . 4 - 40 4 - 37______________________________________ the results of the above comparisons indicate that a10255 . 1 is very similar to s . gardneri . therefore culture a10255 . 1 is classified as a strain of streptomyces gardneri ( waksman , 1942 ) waksman 1961 , atcc 23911 . s . gardneri is recognized in the approved list of bacterial names [ v . b . d . skerman et al ., &# 34 ; approved lists of bacterial names &# 34 ;, international j . syst . bacteriol ., 30 ( 1 ), 225 - 420 ( 1980 ) and consequently is a validly published species . it should be mentioned that kurylowicz et al . [ w . kurylowicz , a . paszkiewicz , w . woznicka , and w . kurzatkowski , &# 34 ; numerical taxonomy of streptomyces &# 34 ;, polish medical publishers , 1975 ], when classifying streptomyces , in both the wroclaw dentrite of similarity and the overall similarity method numerical methods place s . aureomonopodiales and s . gardneri in the same cluster . a dendrogram based on this study relates these two strains at a percentage similarity of 94 . this similarity suggests that a distinction in species is not justified . the streptomyces gardneri culture described above has been deposited and made a part of the stock culture collection of the northern regional research division , u . s . department of agriculture , agricultural research service , peoria , il , 61604 . upon issuance of the instant specifications , the culture will be made available to the public from this branch of the department of agriculture under the number nrrl 15537 . significant similarities , in addition to all the differences between the a10255 . 1 strain and the instant a10255 . 2 strains , are set forth below in tables 4 and 5 . table 4__________________________________________________________________________cultural characteristics of a10255 . 1 and a10255 . 2agar a10255 . 1 a10255 . 2__________________________________________________________________________isp . sup . a g : fair fairno . 2 . sup . b r : 72 . d . oy 72 . d . oy . sup . c am : poor : - b white ( edges only ) poor : - b white to 2 ba pale yellow - d light gray sp : none noneisp g : trace to fair trace to fairno . 3 r : 70 . 1 . oy 93 . y . gray am : trace : trace : - b white - b white ( edges only ) sp : none nonecalcium g : fair ( malate not hydrolyzed ) fair ( malate not hydrolyzed ) malate r : 79 . 1 . gy . ybr 79 . 1 . gy . ybr am : none none sp : none noneczapek &# 39 ; s g : fair none r : 93 . ygray am : poor : - b white sp : noneglucose g : fair poorasparagine r : 72 . d . oy 90 . gy . y am : poor : ( edges only ) none - b white sp : none noneisp g : good goodno . 7 r : 54 . bro 54 . bro am : poor : - b white fair : - b white sp : light brown light brownglycerol g : fair abundantglycine r : 53 . m . o ( no ph change ) 50 . s . o am : none good : 5 cb gy . ypk . -- -- sp : light - orange light - orangetpo g : good abundant r : 54 . bro ( no ph change ) 51 . deep o am : poor : ( edges only ) good : 2 ba pale yellow 3ca pale orange yellow sp : light orange - brown light orange - brownisp g : fair fairno . 4 r : 71 . m . oy 77 . m . ybr . am : poor : fair : - b white to - b white ( edges only ) 2 ba pale yellow sp : none noneisp g : fair goodno . 5 r : 70 . 1 . oy 70 . 1 . oy am : fair : good : - b white to 2 ba pale yellow - b white to - d l . gray sp : none none__________________________________________________________________________ . sup . a g = growth ; r = reverse ; am = aerial mycelia ; sp = soluble pigment . sup . b coding of reverse colors follows the icssnbs system , supra . . sup . c coding of aerial color follows the color harmony manual , supra . table 5______________________________________comparison of a10255 . 1 and a10255 . 2 strainscharacteristic a10255 . 1 a10255 . 2______________________________________aerial spore mass color w to gy w to ycarbon utilization pattern identicalcatalase + + cultural characteristics : aerial hyphae on glycerol - glycine agar - + growth on czapek &# 39 ; s agar + - distinctive pigments on certain media + + gelatin liquefaction + + melanoid pigment production + + morphology rf rfnacl tolerance % 6 6nitrate reduction + + reverse color ybr ybrskim milk hydrolysis partial completesoluble pigments on certain media + + spore chain length 10 - 50 10 - 50spore shape cylindrical cylindricalspore size - μm 1 . 0 × 0 . 6 1 . 3 × 0 . 6spore surface smooth smoothstarch hydrolysis + + temperature range - ° c . 4 - 40 4 - 37______________________________________ the streptomyces gardneri culture a10255 . 2 described above has been deposited and made a part of the stock culture collection of the northern regional research division , u . s . department of agriculture , agricultural research service , peoria , ill ., 61604 . upon issuance of the instant specification , the culture will be made available to the public from this branch of the department of agriculture under the number nrrl 15922 . the a10255 antibiotic complex is produced by culturing the previously undescribed microorganism streptomyces gardneri , nrrl 15922 , or an a10255 - producing mutant , variant , or recombinant thereof , in a culture medium containing assimilable sources of carbon , nitrogen , and inorganic salts , under submerged aerobic fermentation conditions until the a10255 antibiotic complex is produced , and preferably until a substantial level of antibiotic activity is produced . most of the antibiotic activity is generally found associated with the mycelia , while minor amounts of antibiotic activity are found in the broth . the a10255 complex is most readily separated from the fermentation mixture by removal of the mycelia ( the biomass ), by filtration . the broth is generally discarded . the antibiotic complex is then isolated from the mycelia . the mycelia are extracted with polar solvents ( such as 4 : 1 acetone : water ), concentrated , acidified , again extracted with an organic solvent ( ethyl acetate , for example ), and the resultant solutions are concentrated to precipitate the a10255 complex . alternatively , the mycelia are extracted with polar solvents ( such as 4 : 1 acetone : water ). the combined extracts are concentrated in vacuo to an aqueous suspension . the crude antibiotic is isolated by filtration or centrifugation , and further dried in vacuo . the a10255 complex can be used without further purification and mixed directly into animal feed or animal feed premix . alternatively , the a10255 antibiotic complex can be further purified and separated into its individual factors by well - known chromatographic techniques such as thin layer chromatography , column chromatography , and especially various high performance liquid chromatography procedures . some specific procedures for isolating the individual factors are discussed in the experimental section . a number of different media may be used with nrrl 15922 to produce the a10255 complex . for economy in production , optimal yield , and ease of product isolation , however , certain culture media are preferred . these media should contain assimilable sources of carbon , nitrogen , and inorganic salts . suitable carbon sources include glucose , starch , maltose , fructose , and glycerol . optimum levels of carbon sources are from about 2 to about 5 percent by weight . preferred nitogen sources include soybean grits , acid digest of soybeans , cottonseed meal , peanut meal , fish meal , acid or enzymatic digests of casein , ammonium salts , nitrate salts , glycine , alanine , serine , asparagine , and glutamine . essential trace elements necessary for the growth and development of the organism may occur as impurities in other constituents of the media in amounts sufficient to meet the growth and biosynthetic requirements of the organism . however , it may be beneficial to incorporate in the culture media additional soluble nutrient inorganic salts capable of yielding sodium , potassium , magnesium , calcium , ammonium , chloride , carbonate , phosphate , sulfate , nitrate , and like ions . although small quantities of the a10255 antibiotic may be obtained by shake - flask culture , submerged aerobic fermentation in tanks is a preferred method for producing substantial quantities of the a10255 antibiotic . for tank fermentation , it is preferable to use a vegetative inoculum . the vegetative inoculum is prepared by inoculating a small volume of culture medium with the spore form , or mycelial fragments , to obtain a fresh , actively growing culture of the organism . the vegetative inoculum is then transferred to a tank where , after a suitable incubation time , the a10255 antibiotic is produced in optimal yield . the a10255 . 2 strain produces the a10255 complex over a temperature range of from about 25 to about 37 ° c . optimum production of the a10255 antibiotic complex appears to occur at a temperature of about 30 ° to about 32 ° c . as is customary in aerobic submerged culture processes , sterile air is dispersed through the culture medium . for efficient growth of the organism , the volume of air used in tank production is in the range of from about 0 . 25 to about 1 . 0 volumes of air per volume of culture medium per minute ( v / v / m ), with from about 150 to about 400 rpm agitation . an optimum initial rate in a 165 - liter vessel containing 115 liters of fermentation medium is about 0 . 5 v / v / m , with agitation provided by conventional impellers rotating initially at about 300 rpm . the fermentation of the a10255 . 2 strain generally produces antibiotic activity after about 20 hours . peak antibiotic production occurs at from about 90 hours to about 140 hours fermentation time . production of the a10255 antibiotic can be monitored during the fermentation by either agar diffusion using bacillus subtilis atcc 6633 , or by a turbidimetric method using staphylococcus aureus atcc 9114 . the a10255 complex and individual factors are antimicrobial agents and are especially active against gram - positive microorganisms , as illustrated by the following in vitro and in vivo test data . in the following table 6 is presented the minimum inhibitory concentration , ( mic , in micrograms / milliliter ) for the factors against a sampling of pathogenic gram - positive and gram - negative bacteria . the mic values were obtained by the standard agar dilution method test . table 6__________________________________________________________________________activity of a10255 compounds vs . pathogenic microorganisms mic ( mcg / ml ) test organism b c e f__________________________________________________________________________staphylococcus aureus x1 . 1 0 . 125 0 . 03 0 . 25 0 . 03staphylococcus aureus v41 0 . 5 0 . 125 0 . 25 0 . 06staphylococcus aureus x400 0 . 5 0 . 125 0 . 5 0 . 06staphylococcus aureus s13e 0 . 5 0 . 06 0 . 125 0 . 03staphylococcus epidermidis 270 0 . 25 0 . 03 0 . 25 0 . 03staphylococcus epidermidis 222 0 . 5 0 . 125 0 . 5 0 . 06streptococcus pyogenes c203 0 . 125 0 . 06 0 . 125 0 . 03streptococcus pneumoniae park i 0 . 125 0 . 015 0 . 125 0 . 015streptococcus group d x66 0 . 25 0 . 06 0 . 25 0 . 06streptococcus group d 2041 0 . 5 0 . 125 0 . 25 0 . 125hemophilus influenzae c . l . ( sens .) & gt ; 128 64 & gt ; 128 & gt ; 128hemophilus influenzae 76 ( res .) & gt ; 128 16 16 128__________________________________________________________________________ the a10255 compounds also demonstrate excellent antimicrobial activity against a number of clostridium difficile strains . in particular , in standard agar dilution tests the a10255 complex and factors b , c , e , and f exhibited mic &# 39 ; s of less than or equal to 0 . 03 microgram / milliliter . by comparison , in the same tests for the complex and factors b and c , the antibiotic vancomycin exhibited an mic of 2 or 4 micrograms / milliliter . the a10255 complex and factor c were tested against several bacteroides species and demonstrated excellent antimicrobial activities . the results of this agar - dilution test are set forth below in table 7 . table 7______________________________________activity of a10255 compoundsvs . select bacteroides species strains mic ( mcg / ml ) test organism a10255 complex factor c______________________________________b . fragilis strains1877 0 . 5 0 . 5 103 0 . 5 0 . 5 104 0 . 06 0 . 06 106 0 . 06 0 . 06 107 1 . 0 1 . 0 108 1 . 0 1 . 0 110 0 . 5 0 . 5 111 1 . 0 1 . 0 112 1 . 0 1 . 0 113 1 . 0 1 . 01451 0 . 25 0 . 251470 1 . 0 1 . 0 2 0 . 5 0 . 5 9 1 . 0 1 . 09032 1 . 0 1 . 0b . corrodens 1874 0 . 5 0 . 5b . vulgatis 1563 0 . 25 0 . 25b . thetaiotaomicxon 1438 0 . 5 0 . 5b . thetaiotaomicxon 1900a 0 . 5 0 . 5______________________________________ the a10255 complex and the individual factors have demonstrated antimicrobial activity against a wide variety of anaerobic microorganisms . the antimicrobial activityis set forth below in table 8 . the results set forth in the table are mic values from a standard agar dilution test . table 8__________________________________________________________________________activity of a10255 compounds vs . anaerobic bacteria mic ( mcg / ml ) test organism complex b c e f__________________________________________________________________________clostridium difficile 2994 0 . 125 ≦ 0 . 06 0 . 125 ≦ 0 . 03 ≦ 0 . 03clostridium perfringens 81 ≦ 0 . 06 ≦ 0 . 06 ≦ 0 . 06 ≦ 0 . 03 ≦ 0 . 03clostridium septicum 1128 ≦ 0 . 06 ≦ 0 . 06 ≦ 0 . 06 ≦ 0 . 03 ≦ 0 . 03eubacterium aerofaciens 1235 ≦ 0 . 06 ≦ 0 . 06 ≦ 0 . 06 ≦ 0 . 03 ≦ 0 . 03peptococcus 1 . 0 ≦ 0 . 06 1 . 0 ≦ 0 . 03 0 . 06asaccharolyticus 1302peptococcus prevoti 1281 ≦ 0 . 06 ≦ 0 . 06 ≦ 0 . 06 0 . 125 0 . 125peptostreptococcus ≦ 0 . 06 2 ≦ 0 . 06 2 1 . 0anaerobius 1428peptococcus intermedius 1264 1 . 0 & gt ; 32 1 . 0 0 . 5 0 . 25propionibacterium acnes 79 0 . 125 & gt ; 32 0 . 125 0 . 5 0 . 125bacteroides fragilis 111 1 . 0 & gt ; 32 1 . 0 4 1 . 0bacteroides fragilis 1877 2 & gt ; 32 2 4 1 . 0bacteroides fragilis 1936b 0 . 5 & gt ; 32 0 . 5 4 1 . 0bacteroides 0 . 5 0 . 5 0 . 5 1 . 0 0 . 25thetaiotaomicron 1438 bacteroides 1 . 0 & gt ; 32 1 . 0 4 4melanionogenicus 1856 / 28bacteroides 0 . 5 4 0 . 5 0 . 5 0 . 125melaninogenicus 2736bacteroides vulgatis 1211 0 . 5 4 0 . 5 1 . 0 0 . 25bacteroides corrodens 1874 0 . 25 & gt ; 32 0 . 25 2 0 . 5fusobacterium symbiosum 1470 ≦ 0 . 06 ≦ 0 . 06 & lt ; 0 . 06 ≦ 0 . 03 ≦ 0 . 03fusobacterium ≦ 0 . 06 ≦ 0 . 06 & lt ; 0 . 06 ≦ 0 . 03 ≦ 0 . 03necrophorum 6054a__________________________________________________________________________ the a10255 complex and factor b demonstrated an ld 50 of greater than 300 mg / kg × 1 and greater than 75 mg / kg × 1 , respectively . the results were obtained by intraperitoneal injection in mice . the antimicrobial compounds ( i . e ., a10255 complex and individual factors ) made by the process of this invention are useful for the therapeutic or prophylactic treatment of infections in warm - blooded animals caused by pathogenic bacteria . the antimicrobial compounds can be administered orally , parenterally ( for example , intravenously , intramuscularly or subcutaneously ) or as a topical ointment or solution in treating bacterial infections of warm - blooded animals . the pharmaceutical compositions of the a10255 complex or the individual factors thereof are composed of a therapeutically active amount of the instant antibiotic compounds ( i . e ., the a10255 complex or factor b , factor c , factor e or factor f separately ) and a suitable vehicle . with regard to compositions for oral administration ( for example tablets and capsules ), the term &# 34 ; suitable vehicle &# 34 ; means common excipients such as binding agents , for example , syrup , acacia , gelatin , sorbitol , tragacanth , polyvinylpyrrolidine ( povidone ), methylcellulose , ethylcellulose , sodium carboxymethylcellulose , hydroxypropylmethylcellulose , sucrose , and starch ; fillers and carriers , for example corn starch , gelatin , lactose , sucrose , microcrystalline cellulose , kaolin , mannitol , dicalcium phosphate , sodium chloride , and aliginic acid , disintegrators such as croscarmellose sodium , microcrystalline cellulose , corn starch , sodium starch glycolate , aliginic acid , and mutable wetting agents such as sodium lauryl sulfate ; and lubricants such as magnesium stearate and other metallic stearates , stearic acid , silicone fluid , talc , waxes , oils , and colloidal silica . flavoring agents such as peppermint , oil of wintergreen , cherry flavoring or the like can also be used . it may be desirable to add a coloring agent to make the dosage form more appealing visually or to help identify the product . the tablets may also be coated by methods well known in the art . the pharmaceutical compositions may also be in the form of oral liquid preparations , which may be either a ) aqueous or oily suspensions , solutions , emulsions or syrups ; or b ) a dry powder to be reconstituted with water or another suitable vehicle before use . when used in conjunction with such oral liquid preparations , the term &# 34 ; suitable vehicle &# 34 ; means conventional additives such as suspending agents , for example , sorbitol , syrup , methyl cellulose , glucose / sugar syrup , gelatin , hydroxyethylcellulose , carboxymethyl cellulose , or aluminum stearate gel ; or hydrogenated edible oils , for example , almond oil , fractionated coconut oil , oily esters , propylene glycol or ethyl alcohol ; and preservatives such as methyl or propyl p - hyroxybenzoates or sorbic acid . the pharmaceutical composition can also be for intravenous ( iv ) use . specifically , a water soluble form of the antibiotic compound can be dissolved in one of the commonly used intravenous fluids and administered by infusion . when used in conjunction with compositions for iv use , the term &# 34 ; suitable vehicle &# 34 ; means such fluids as physiological saline , ringer &# 39 ; s solution or 5 % dextrose solution for intramuscular preparations a sterile formulation of a suitable salt form of the antibiotic compound ( for example , the hydrochloride salt or sodium salt ) can be formulated with a &# 34 ; suitable vehicle &# 34 ;. examples of such sterile formulations are a suitable salt form either dissolved in a pharmaceutical diluent ( for example , water - for - injection , physiological saline , 5 % glucose ) or suspended in an aqueous base or a pharmaceutically acceptable oil base ( for example , an ester of a long chain fatty acid such as ethyl oleate ). topical compositions can be formulated with &# 34 ; suitable vehicles &# 34 ; such as hydrophobic or hydrophilic bases . such bases include ointments , creams or lotions . veterinary pharmaceutical compositions of the antibiotic compounds may be administered in the feed or the drinking water of farm animals . alternatively , the compounds can be formulated as intramammary preparations with &# 34 ; suitable vehicles &# 34 ; such as long - or quick - release bases . the antibiotic compounds made by the process of the instant invention can also be formulated in unit dosage form in sterile vials , sterile plastic pouches containing a part with a septum , or sterile , hermetically sealed ampoules . the anitibiotic compound ( or the corresponding pharmaceutically - acceptable salt ) may be a dry powder or in crystalline or lyophilized form . the amount of the antibiotic compound per unit dosage may vary from about 250 milligrams to about 10 grams . a &# 34 ; therapeutically effective amount &# 34 ; of the a10255 antibiotic compounds is from approximately 3 . 5 mg to about 50 mg of compound per kilogram of body weight . this amount generally totals from about 1 gram to about 27 grams per day for an adult human . a method for treating or controlling infectious diseases caused by gram - positive and gram - negative organisms in warm - blooded animals comprises administering to the animal a therapeutically effective amount of the a10255 antibiotic compounds . a typical daily dose for an adult human in this method is from about 1 gram to about 12 grams . in practicing this method , the antibiotic compound can be administered in a single daily dose or in multiple doses per day . the treatment regime may require administration over extended periods of time , for example , for several days or for from two to three weeks . the amount administered per dose or the total amount administered will depend on such factors as the nature and severity of the infection , the age and general health of the patient , and the tolerance to the antibiotic compound of both the patient and the microorganism or microorganisms involved in the infection . the following examples are provided to further illustrate the invention . it is not intended that the invention be limited in scope by reason of any of the following examples . the following medium was prepared for use in the agar slant culture of the a10255 . 2 producing microorganism : ______________________________________production of a10255 complexingredient amount ( g / l ) ______________________________________pre - cooked oatmeal 60 . 0yeast 2 . 5k . sub . 2 hpo . sub . 4 1 . 0kcl 0 . 5mgso . sub . 4 . 7h . sub . 2 o 0 . 5feso . sub . 4 . 7h . sub . 2 o 0 . 1deionized water q . s . to 1 liter______________________________________ the ph of the resultant medium was adjusted to ph 7 . 3 with aqueous sodium hydroxide . the medium was then autoclaved , yielding a sterilized medium with a ph of 6 . 7 . spores of s . gardneri , nrrl 15922 , were inoculated on a nutrient agar slant composed of the above sterilized medium . the inoculated slant was incubated for 7 - 10 days at a temperature of 30 ° c . the mature slant culture was then covered with calf serum and scraped with a sterile tool to loosen the spores and mycelia . the resultant suspension was transferred to small tubes and lyophilized for preservation . one lyophilized pellet was used to inoculate sterile vegetative culture medium ( 50 ml , contained in a 250 ml widemouth erlenmeyer flask ) of the following composition : ______________________________________ingredient amount ( g / l ) ______________________________________glucose 15 . 0dextrin 20 . 0soybean grits 10 . 0corn steep liquor 10 . 0yeast extract 1 . 0caco . sub . 3 2 . 0tap water q . s . to 1 liter______________________________________ the ph of the medium was adjusted to 6 . 7 with aqueous sodium hydroxide . the medium was autoclaved , which raised the ph of the medium to between 6 . 8 and 7 . 0 . the inoculated vegetative medium was incubated for 48 hours at 30 ° c . on a shaker rotating through an arc two inches in diameter at 250 rpm . the resulting vegetative medium culture was used either to inoculate small fermentors ( the inoculum being approximately 1 % per volume of fermentors medium ), or to inoculate second stage flasks for the production of a larger volume of inoculum . two wide - mouth erlenmeyer flasks ( 2 liter capacity ) were charged with amedium ( 400 ml each ) having the following composition : ______________________________________ingredient amount ( g / l ) ______________________________________glucose 15 . 0dextrin 20 . 0soybean grits 15 . 0corn steep liquor 10 . 0yeast extract 1 . 0caco . sub . 3 5 . 0tap water q . s . to 1 liter______________________________________ the medium in each erlenmeyer flask was inoculated with 2 . 5 % of its volume of the above vegetative culture . the inoculated medium was incubated at 30 ° c . for 23 hours on a rotary shaker at 250 rpm to yield a &# 34 ; bump &# 34 ; culture . the above &# 34 ; bump &# 34 ; culture ( 800 ml ) was used to inoculate the following medium ( 115 liters ): ______________________________________ingredient amount ( g / l ) ______________________________________antifoam * 0 . 200propylene glycol ( mw2000 ) 2 . 000 mlglucose 1 . 000casein 16 . 000nah . sub . 2 po . sub . 4 . h . sub . 2 o 0 . 100blackstrap molasses 40 . 000caco . sub . 3 5 . 000tap water q . s . to 110 liters______________________________________ * sag 471 , silicone antifoaming agent , dow corning co . the medium was contained in a 165 liter fermentor . the ph of the medium was adjusted to 6 . 9 with 5n aqueous sodium hydroxide . the mixture was sterilized for 45 min . at 17 - 19 psi at 121 ° c . after the sterilization procedure the medium had ph 6 . 8 . the sterilized medium was aerated with sterile air at the rate of 0 . 5 v / v / m , stirred with conventional agitators at an initial rate of 300 rpm , and allowed to ferment for about 7 days at a temperature of 30 ° c . during the fermentation period , the ph was maintained at 7 . 0 , dissolved oxygen level was maintained at 45 % of air saturation and glucose was fed to the medium at a constant rate of 3 . 5 - 4 . 0 g / 1 / day . after 24 hours , hy case amino ( acid hydrosylate of casein , humko sheffield chemical co ., lyndhurst , new jersey ) was also fed into the medium at a constant rate of 3 g / l day . the crude a10255 complex was isolated in a procedure similar to that of example 3 below . as a starting point for large volume fermentations of the a10255 . 2 strain ( i . e ., larger volumes than example 1 above ), vegetative innoculum is prepared in two stages . both stages use the following medium : ______________________________________ingredients amount______________________________________glucose 1 . 5 % soybean grits 1 . 5 % potato dextrin 2 . 0 % corn steep liquor 1 . 0 % yeast extract 0 . 1 % calcium carbonate 0 . 2 % tap water to volume______________________________________ the first stage of incubation was carried out in a 250 ml flask containing 80 ml of the sterilized medium . the flask was inoculated with a lyophilized pellet of the a10255 . 2 culture . the medium was incubated at 30 ° c . for 48 hours on a rotary shaker at 250 rpm . a portion ( 10 ml ) of the first stage inoculum was used to inoculate a sterilized second stage incubation medium , composed of 400 ml of the above medium contained in a two liter wide - mouth erlenmeyer flask . this second stage medium was incubated at 30 ° c . for 24 hours on a rotary shaker at 250 rpm . the incubated medium was used below in the tank fermentation . the medium from the above second stage vegetative inoculum was used to inoculate the following tank medium contained in a 150 liter fermenter : ______________________________________ingredients amount______________________________________cerelose 1 . 5 % potato dextrin 2 . 0 % corn steep liquor 1 . 0 % soybean grits 1 . 5 % calcium carbonate 0 . 5 % sag 471 * 0 . 01 % tap water to 120 liters______________________________________ * silicone antifoaming agent , dow corning co . this medium was first sterilized by autoclaving . after sterilization , the ph of the medium was adjusted to 6 . 5 by the addition of 5n sodium hydroxide solution . the medium was then inoculated and fermented at 30 ° c . for about 24 hours . during fermentation the medium was aerated with sterile air at an initial rate of 1 cubic foot per minute ( cfm ) and agitated by a conventional stirrer at an initial rate of 350 rpm . a portion of the above tank medium ( 40 liters ) was used to inoculate the following large - scale medium : ______________________________________ingredients amount______________________________________antifoam * 0 . 02 % propylene glycol ( mw 2000 ) 0 . 02 % molasses 4 . 00 % calcium carbonate 0 . 50 % acid hydrosylate of casein ** 1 . 60 % nah . sub . 2 po . sub . 4 . h . sub . 2 o 0 . 01 % glucose 0 . 10 % tap water to 1200 gallons______________________________________ * sag 471 silicone defoaming agent ** hy case , humko sheffield chemical co ., lyndhurst , new jersey the medium was contained in a 1600 gallon fermenter . the ph of the medium was adjusted to 7 . 0 by the addition of 5n sodium hydroxide solution . the medium was sterilized for thirty minutes at 121 ° c . at 17 psi . the sterilized medium was aerated with sterile air at an initial rate of 20 cubic feet per minute , stirred with a conventional agitator at an initial speed of 100 rpm , and allowed to ferment for about 6 days at 30 ° c . during the fermentation period , the ph of the medium was maintained at about 7 . 0 , the dissolved oxygen content of the medium was maintained at about 45 % of air saturation , and glucose was fed to the medium at a constant rate of 4 g / l day . after 24 hours , hy case was also fed to the medium at the rate of 3 g / l day . whole fermentation broth ( 5000 1 ) of the a10255 . 2 organism was harvested and filtered using filter aid ( hyflo super - cel , johns manville products corp .). the filtrate and water wash ( 1200 1 of water ) of the biomass were discarded . the biomass was then extracted batchwise with a mixture of 1 : 4 water : acetone ( 2000 1 ). the extraction was repeated and the extracts were combined ( total : 4000 liters ). the combined extracts contained the bulk of the a10255 complex . the combined extracts were concentrated under vacuum to an aqueous suspension . upon standing , a fine solid precipitated from the suspension . the solid was the crude a10255 complex . the concentrated extracts were then centrifuged and the supernatant discarded . the solids obtained from the centrifugation were dried in vacuo to give 1 . 5 kg of a brown powder containing 423 microgram / milligram of a10255 antibiotic activity . the separation of the individual antibiotic factors ( b , c , e , and f ) was obtained following in general the procedures described in the co - filed u . s . patent application no . 05 / 941 , 894 of karl h . michel , laverne d . boeck , herbert a . kirst , eugene t . seno and marvin m . hoehn , herein incorporated by reference .	2
the invention will be now described herein with reference to illustrative embodiments . those skilled in the art will recognize that many alternative embodiments can be accomplished using the teachings of the present invention and that the invention is not limited to the embodiments illustrated for explanatory purposes . a design method of a semiconductor package substrate , a semiconductor package substrate design support apparatus and a semiconductor package substrate according to embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the attached drawings . the semiconductor package substrate according to embodiments of a present invention can be designed by a semiconductor package substrate design support apparatus according to embodiments of the present invention , by using the semiconductor package substrate design method according to embodiments of the present invention . fig1 is a conceptual view of a semiconductor package substrate design support apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention . the semiconductor package substrate design support apparatus in this embodiment may be a computer which includes , for example , a cpu 11 , a memory 12 , an input apparatus 13 and an output apparatus 14 . here , the cpu 11 , the memory 12 , the input apparatus 13 and the output apparatus 14 are connected to each other through a bus 10 . fig2 shows a function block diagram of a semiconductor package substrate design support apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention . the semiconductor package substrate design support apparatus includes a first circuit design section 22 - 1 , the second circuit design section 22 - 2 , the third circuit design section 22 - 3 , the memory 22 - 4 and the reflected wave analysis section 22 - 5 . the design support apparatus mentioned above can be implemented as a computer system having the structure shown in fig1 , especially by computer readable software product stored in the memory 12 , read and performed by the cpu 11 . the first circuit design section 22 - 1 , the reflected wave analysis section 22 - 5 , the second circuit design section 22 - 2 and the third circuit design section 22 - 3 can share the cpu 11 , the memory 12 , the input device 13 and the output device 14 physically or by time - sharing . the memory 22 - 4 can be realized by the physical memory 12 . the reflected wave analysis section 22 - 5 can consist of a circuit simulator . fig2 shows a flowchart indicating respective steps of a semiconductor package substrate design method according to an embodiment of the present invention . fig2 shows detailed steps in the step s 3 shown in fig2 . in a semiconductor package substrate according to an embodiment of the present invention , the impedance matching at an interface is achieved by canceling a reflected wave occurred in a circuit by another reflected wave generated in the same circuit . a semiconductor package substrate designing method according to an embodiment of the present invention includes four steps shown in fig2 . at first , at the step s 1 , the first circuit design section 22 - 1 designs a first circuit without considering the cancelling of the reflected wave and the impedance matching . next , at the step 32 , the reflected wave analysis section 22 - 5 analyzes the first reflected wave generated in the first circuit . at the step s 3 , a second circuit design section 22 - 2 designs a second circuit for generating a second reflected wave which is designed to cancel the first reflected wave . finally , at the step s 4 , the third circuit design section 22 - 3 design a third circuit which cancels the two reflected waves by combining the first and second circuits . at this time , ideally , the two reflected waves are completely canceled and do not escape from the third circuit to the outside . as a result , the impedance matching is achieved . namely , the impedance of the third circuit is more closely adjusted to the input / output impedance of the semiconductor element than the first circuit . a semiconductor package manufacturing method according to an embodiment of the present invention is designed such that a fifth step of manufacturing the semiconductor package substrate is added after the four steps in the semiconductor package substrate designing method explained above . at this fifth step , of course , the semiconductor package substrate is manufactured in accordance with the various parameters determined at the step s 4 . fig2 a to 21c are circuit diagrams for explaining equivalent circuits of three circuits designed by an embodiment of the present invention . fig2 b is an equivalent circuit diagram of the first circuit of the three circuits . a voltage vsource is inputted through a resistor 46 to one of both ends of a transmission line , and the other end is terminated by a resistor 37 . one end of the capacitor 32 is connected to the node between the resistor 46 and an end of the transmission line . the other end of the capacitor 32 is grounded . fig2 a to 20c show simulated waveforms for the three circuits designed in this embodiment . in each waveform , the voltages vsource and vi correspond to the voltage inputted to the input end of the resistor rin 46 and the voltage at the capacitor 32 , respectively . in fig2 b , the difference between the waveform of vsource and the waveform of vi is caused by the reflected wave . that is , it indicates that the impedance is not matched . fig2 a is an equivalent circuit diagram of the second circuit . the voltage vsource is inputted through the resistor 46 to one of both ends of the transmission line , and the other end is terminated by a resistor 37 . additionally , a capacitor 35 is connected to a middle node of the transmission line and ground . although the capacitor 35 connected at a determined distance from one end of the transmission line is a lumped circuit element , it may actually be a distributed capacitance belonging to the signal transmission line . in this circuit diagram , the buffer connected to the input end of the transmission line is assumed to be ideal , which means there is no parasitic capacitance 32 . fig2 a is a simulated waveform of the second circuit . the voltages vsource , vi and vc correspond to the voltage inputted to the input end of the resistor rin 46 , the voltage at the capacitor 32 , and the voltage at the capacitor 35 , respectively . when the voltage vsource is inputted to the second circuit , a second reflected wave is generated by the capacitor 35 . the vc corresponds to the voltage of the capacitor 35 . the second reflected wave flows through the transmission circuit in the opposite direction and has influence on the vi . as an example , the second reflected wave that cancels the first reflected wave caused by the influence of a parasitic capacitance is obtained by placing a capacitor at the distance of λ / 8 to λ / 4 from the parasitic capacitance in an equivalent circuit of the transmission line . also , the second reflected wave that cancels the first reflected wave caused by the influence of a parasitic inductance is obtained by placing a capacitor at the distance of 3λ / 8 to λ / 2 from the parasitic inductance in an equivalent circuit of the transmission line . fig2 c is an example equivalent circuit diagram for the third circuit . the third circuit is a combination of the first and second circuits . that is , the voltage vsource is inputted through the resistor 46 to one of both ends of the transmission line , and the other end is terminated by the resistor 37 . an end of the capacitor 32 is connected to the connecting node between the resistor 46 and an end of the transmission line , and the other end of the capacitor 32 is grounded . capacitor 35 is connected to a middle node of the transmission line and ground . although the capacitor 35 connected at a determined distance from one end of the transmission line is a lumped circuit element , it may actually be a distributed capacitance belonging to the signal transmission line . fig2 c is a waveform simulation result of the third circuit . a waveform vsource corresponds to the voltage inputted to the resistor rin 46 which is equal to the waveform vsource in fig2 b or fig2 a . the vi corresponds to the voltage at the parasitic capacitance 32 . the waveform vi in fig2 c is significantly closer to the waveform vsource as compared with the waveform vi in fig2 b . this indicates that the addition of the circuit in fig2 c to the circuit in fig2 a contributes to the impedance matching . the operations of the first circuit design section 22 - 1 and the third circuit design section 22 - 3 are relatively simple . however , the operation of the second circuit design section 22 - 2 is relatively difficult . that is , although the design of the second circuit is theoretically possible by adopting the so - called electromagnetic field simulator , it takes too long time so that such a process is not realistic . to overcome such a problem , in this embodiment of the semiconductor package substrate designing method , a lookup table is adopted . in this method , the time required to design the second circuit could be reduced to approximately 1 / 1000 to 1 / 100 as compared with the method in which a general electromagnetic field simulator was employed . the designing method of this embodiment is explained below in detail , especially on the design process of the second circuit . in a semiconductor package substrate designing method according to this embodiment , the third step s 3 of designing the second circuit is further divided into three steps s 3 - 1 to s 3 - 3 shown in fig2 . at first , at the step s 3 - 1 , the lookup table for the parameters is generated for each of the structural parts of the semiconductor package substrate . next , at the step s 3 - 2 , an equivalent circuit for representing the input / output impedance of the semiconductor input / output element is generated . finally , at the step s 3 - 3 , various parameters are determined to satisfy a predetermined condition . fig2 is a block diagram for describing the functions of the second circuit design section 22 - 2 in the semiconductor package substrate design support apparatus in detail . the second circuit design section 22 - 2 in this embodiment of the semiconductor package substrate design support apparatus includes ; a lookup table generation function section 101 for carrying out the step 33 - 1 ; an equivalent circuit generation function section 102 for carrying out the step s 3 - 2 ; and a parameter determination function section 103 for carrying out the step s 3 - 3 . each section can be implemented as a computer program stored in the memory 12 and performed by the cpu 11 . here , the step s 3 - 1 is described in detail . in a semiconductor package substrate design method in an embodiment of the present invention , a simulation is carried out for determining required parameters based on the equivalent circuit of a semiconductor package substrate . the equivalent circuit of the package substrate consists of various pre - calculated model components , which model parameters are stored in the lookup table by the lookup table generation function section 101 . the generated lookup table may be stored in the memory 12 or may be directly transmitted to the parameter determination function section 103 from the lookup table generation function section 101 . fig2 shows an example of the data format of the lookup table . “ substrate technology ” indicates the sectional structure of the substrate and includes the number of the layers in the substrate , their thicknesses and material properties of the respective structural parts and the like . here , the material properties of each of the structural parts include the dielectric constant of a dielectric material , the dielectric loss , the conductivity of a conductor and the like . the s - parameter of each structural part of the semiconductor package substrate is different from each other depending on its physical dimensions . fig3 is a cross sectional view for explaining various parameters of the pth ( plated through hole ) in a semiconductor package substrate . the semiconductor package substrate is multilayer - structured . the symbol d pth indicates the diameter of pth , d land indicates the diameter of the land of the pth , and d pair indicates the distance between two pths , respectively . c l1 indicates the distance between the land of the pth and the conductor in the same layer , and c l2 indicates the distance between the land of the pth and the conductor in an adjacent layer , respectively . even in the same substrate technology , the s - parameter of the pth varies as respective parameters , d pth , d land , c l1 , c l2 and d pair . therefore , the s - parameter is calculated for all possible variations of the values of respective parameters which are used in the later design . this calculation can be carried out by an electromagnetic simulation . however , if some of the s - parameters are already known , results thereof can be obtained from any existent databases . other than the pth , lookup tables are generated for each of traces , pads , vias and other respective structural parts on signal line paths . here , in this explanation , for simplicity , the bundle of all respective lookup tables is referred to as the lookup table of the semiconductor package substrate as well . here , the s - parameter is mainly employed for distributed circuit model . however , a different type of n - port network parameter , such as y / z / t - parameters may be used . also , a lumped circuit model may be employed which includes the parameters such as the parasitic capacitance , the parasitic inductance and the like . the step s 3 - 2 will be described below in detail . at the step s 3 - 2 , a semiconductor package substrate design support apparatus generates an equivalent circuit of a semiconductor input / output element , as a pre - generation of the step s 3 - 3 , similarly to the step s 3 - 1 . the generated circuits may be stored in the memory 12 or may be directly transmitted to the parameter determination function section 103 from the equivalent circuit generation function section 102 . fig4 shows an example of an equivalent circuit diagram of a semiconductor input / output element based on the lumped model . in this equivalent circuit , the semiconductor input / output element contains a dc ( direct current ) differential resistance r d , a parasitic capacitance c s and a parasitic series resistance r s associated with the parasitic capacitance c s . here , two parallel paths are connected between an input / output unit and the ground . the r d exists on one of the parallel paths , and the c s and the r s that are connected in series exist on the other of the parallel paths . at this time , the impedance z d of the semiconductor input / output element can be represented by , z d = 1 /(( 1 /( jωc s + r s ))+( 1 / r d ) [ equation 1 ] here , the respective values of r d , c s and r s may be obtained from known specification values written on catalogs or the like or may be finely adjusted by an actual measurement . the step s 3 - 3 will be described below in detail . at the step s 3 - 3 , a semiconductor package substrate manufacturing apparatus determines the parameters of the respective structural parts of the semiconductor package substrate in accordance with the results obtained through the steps 53 - 1 and s 3 - 2 . the criteria are represented by the following equation . here , the z d is the input / output impedance of the semiconductor input / output element being observed from the semiconductor package substrate . the z package is the input / output impedance of the semiconductor package substrate being observed from the semiconductor input / output element . ideally , both of the z d and the z package are desired to be adjusted to the standard impedance value 50ω . however , in reality , variations of the impedance along a signal transmission line are unavoidable . therefore , in an embodiment of the present invention , without pursuing the standard impedance value 50ω , the impedance matching at the connection between the semiconductor input / output element and the semiconductor package substrate is intended . it is ideal that the impedance matching is achieved over all frequencies . at the minimum , at least one frequency where the impedance matching is achieved is required in frequency band being required for transmitting digital signals . moreover , it is preferable that such frequencies exist at two or more points . it is further preferable that such frequencies distribute evenly in a desired frequency band and not are concentrated around a specific frequency . the proximity of the left side value of the equation 2 to 0 is assumed to be determined based on the standard of , for example , oif - cei2 . 0 defined in oif ( optical internetworking forum ). this standard will be explained later . thus , at the step s 3 - 3 , the semiconductor package substrate design support apparatus determines a combination of parameters for respective structural parts of a signal transmission line at which the frequencies satisfying the equation 2 exist in at least one or more frequency points in the desirable frequency range . the impedance z package of a semiconductor apparatus package substrate varies depending on its structure . fig5 is an example equivalent circuit of the semiconductor package substrate having a one - layer interconnection structure . in this example , the input / output portion of the semiconductor package substrate is connected to an inductance l 1 . the other end of the inductance l 1 is connected to a capacitor c 1 and a reference resistor r ref . here , the reference resistor r ref indicates the impedance of a secondary mounting substrate on which the semiconductor package substrate is secondarily mounted . the other ends of the capacitor c 1 and the reference resistor rref are connected to the ground , respectively . fig6 is a schematic drawing for explaining a correspondence between the respective structural parts of the semiconductor package substrate in the example of fig5 and the respective elements of the equivalent circuit . the inductance l 1 in fig5 corresponds to the interconnection ( trace ) of the length l 1 in fig6 . the capacitor c 1 in fig5 corresponds to the pth ( plated through hole ) in fig6 . the reference resistor rref in fig5 corresponds to the opposite side of the output portion in fig6 . from the foregoing explanation , the impedance of the semiconductor package substrate can be represented by the equation 3 . z package = jωl 1 + 1 /(( 1 / r ref )+ jωc 1 ) [ equation 3 ] among these parameters , the c 1v is obtained from the lookup table . from the equation 3 , the restriction condition based on the equation 2 is represented by the equation 4 . i m ( 1 /( 1 /(( 1 / jωc s )+ r s )+ 1 / r d )+ jωl 1 + 1 /(( 1 / r ref )+ jωc 1 ))≈ 0 [ equation 4 ] next , structural parameters are selected such that a frequency satisfying the restriction condition of the equation 4 exists inside a desired frequency band which is determined by , for example , an input operation by an operator . the semiconductor package design supporting apparatus carries out this operation to find the optimum parameter sets which satisfy the condition given by the equation 4 or 2 as close as possible . after that , a signal transmission line layout pattern is cut out , and a three - dimensional electromagnetic field analysis is carried out to precisely determine the z package . when the restriction condition of the equation 2 is not satisfied with the obtained z package , a fine adjustment of the structure parameter is carried out , and the three - dimensional electromagnetic field analysis is repeatedly executed to check the restriction condition of the equation 2 . fig7 is an equivalent circuit diagram in an example of a semiconductor package substrate having a two - layer interconnection structure . in this example , an input / output portion of the semiconductor package substrate is connected to the inductance l 1 . the other end of the inductance l 1 is connected to the capacitor c 1 and the inductance l 2 . the other end of the capacitor c 1 is connected to the ground . the other end of the inductance l 2 is connected to the capacitor c 2 and the reference resistor rref . here , the reference resistor rref is the impedance of the secondary mounting substrate on which the semiconductor package substrate is secondarily mounted . the respective other ends of the capacitor c 2 and the reference resistor rref are connected to the ground . fig8 is a view for explaining a correspondence between the respective structural parts of the semiconductor package substrate in the example of fig7 and the respective elements of the equivalent circuit . the inductance l 1 in fig7 corresponds to the interconnection of the first layer of the length l 1 in fig8 . the total of the capacitors c 1 , c 2 in fig7 corresponds to the pth in fig8 . the reference resistor rref in fig7 corresponds to the opposite side of the output portion in fig8 . from the above explanation , the impedance of the semiconductor package substrate can be represented by the equation ( 5 ). z package = jωl 1 +( 1 /(( 1 /( jωl 2 +( 1 /(( 1 / r ref )+ jωc 2 )))+ jωc 1 )) [ equation 5 ] here , l 1 , c 1 , l 2 and c 2 are as follows . among these parameters , the c 1v and the c 2v are assumed to be obtained from the lookup table that will be described later . from the equation 5 , the restriction condition based on the equation 2 is represented by the equation 6 . i m (( 1 /( 1 /(( 1 / jωc s )+ r s )+ 1 / r d ))+ jωl 1 +( 1 /( 1 /( jωl 2 + 1 /(( 1 / r ref )+ jωc 2 ))+ jωc 1 )))≈ 0 [ equation 6 ] next , structural parameters are selected such that a frequency satisfying the restriction condition of the equation 6 exists inside a desired frequency band . the semiconductor package design supporting apparatus carries out this operation by finding out the parameter value closest to an ideal value from the lookup table for each of the structural parts . in the case of the two - signal layer structure , there are always two frequencies that satisfy the restriction condition . thus , typically , in the two - signal layer structure , the impedance matching can be achieved in wider band as compared with the case of the one - layer structure . after that , a signal transmission line layout pattern is cut out , and a three - dimensional electromagnetic field analysis is carried out to precisely determine the z package . when the restriction condition of the equation 2 is not satisfied from the obtained z package , a fine adjustment of the structure parameter is carried out , and the three - dimensional electromagnetic field analysis is repeatedly executed to check the restriction condition of the equation 2 . although a designing method based on the lumped circuit model is used in both of the two examples , a designing method based on the distributed circuit can be adopted . in the case of the distributed circuit design , the lookup table of the n - port parameter is used . all of the structural parts on the signal transmission line are represented by using the parameterized n - port parameter , mainly , the s - parameter . the structural parameter is adjusted such that the frequency point satisfying the restriction condition of the equation 2 exists inside the desired frequency band by changing the structural parameter . also in this case , as the initial value of the structure parameter , the value determined from , for example , the equation 4 or 6 can be used in accordance with the foregoing lumped circuit simulation design . fig9 is a diagrammatic view of a semiconductor package substrate that is secondarily mounted on a secondary mounting substrate . in the plurality of layers , the range of “ package ” corresponds to the semiconductor package substrate , and the range of “ board ” corresponds to the secondary mounting substrate , respectively . however , in this diagrammatic view , the explanation about the relation between the multilayer structure and the pth is intended , and the interconnection of the circuit and the like are not drawn . fig3 is also a section view regarding the relation between the multilayer structure and the pth of the semiconductor package substrate in fig9 . fig1 is a block diagram of a semiconductor package substrate on which a semiconductor input / output element is primarily mounted and which is secondarily mounted on a secondary mounting substrate . when the distributed circuit simulation is used , the values are set for the respective parameters of the structural part and the impedance and the like can be calculated by a full - wave three - dimensional electromagnetic field simulator . this block diagram also indicates a model for the full - wave three - dimensional electromagnetic field simulator . in this block diagram , a semiconductor input / output element 21 is represented as tx / rx ( transmitter / receiver ). the semiconductor input / output element 21 is connected to a first signal line 22 in the semiconductor package substrate by primary mounting . the first signal line 22 is connected through a pth 23 to a second signal line 22 . that is , the first signal line 22 and the second signal line 22 are the interconnections of the layers different from each other . the second signal line 22 is connected through a bga ( ball grid array ) pad 24 to a secondary mounting substrate 25 by secondary mounting . here , each of the first and second signal lines 22 is represented as inductance serving as the differential interconnection model . the pth 23 is represented as an inductance which connects the two signal lines 22 to each other . each end of the inductance is connected to a capacitor . the other end of each capacitor is connected to the ground . the second signal line 22 and the secondary mounting substrate 25 are connected to each other through the bga pad 24 . the bga pad 24 is also connected to a capacitor . the other end of the capacitor is connected to the ground . by combining those model parts to each other , the circuit simulator can carry out a simulation of the semiconductor package substrate . when the above operation is finished , similarly to the case of the lumped constant simulation , the signal transmission line layout pattern is cut out , and the three - dimensional electromagnetic field analysis is executed . in this way , the z package is precisely obtained , thereby checking whether or not the restriction condition of the equation 2 is satisfied . if it is not satisfied , a fine adjustment of the structure parameter is carried out , and the three - dimensional electromagnetic field analysis is repeatedly executed to check the restriction condition of the equation 2 . typically , the distributed constant design gives a value close to the final verification result , as compared with the lumped constant simulation . the operation principle of the distributed constant design can be described as follows . only the representation is different , but it means a same physical phenomenon . fig1 to 15 are circuit diagrams for explaining the impedance matching method of distributed circuits . in any of the cases , a semiconductor input / output element 31 is connected through a distributed signal line 34 to a termination resistor r out 37 . the other end of the output side resistor r out 37 is connected to the ground 38 . also , the semiconductor input / output element has a parasitic capacitance 32 in its input / output portion . the other end of the parasitic capacitance 32 is connected to the ground 33 . fig1 a is a circuit diagram in a case that a capacitor 35 is added at the position of 1 / 4 wavelength from the semiconductor input / output element 31 in the distributed signal line 34 . in this case , the phase of the electromagnetic wave is inverted by 180 degrees at the output end of the semiconductor element . fig1 b indicates an equivalent circuit of the circuit shown in fig1 a . in fig1 b , instead of the capacitor 35 in fig1 a , an inductor 39 is placed between the output end of the semiconductor element and the distributed signal line 34 . the parasitic capacitance 32 is cancelled by the inductor 39 . fig1 a indicates a circuit diagram in a case that a capacitor 35 is added at the position of 1 / 8 wavelength from the semiconductor input / output element 31 in the distributed constant line 34 . fig1 b indicates an equivalent circuit of the circuit shown in fig1 a . in fig1 b , the capacitor 35 in fig1 a is not placed , and the resistance value of the termination resistor r out 37 in fig1 b is smaller than 50ω in the case of fig1 a . fig1 a indicates a circuit diagram in a case that a capacitor 35 is added at the position of 3 / 8 wavelength from the semiconductor input / output element 31 in the distributed signal line 34 . fig1 b indicates an equivalent circuit of the circuit shown in fig1 a . in fig1 b , the capacitor 35 in fig1 a is not placed , and the resistance value of the termination resistor rout 37 in fig1 b is larger than 50ω in the case of fig1 a . fig1 a indicates a circuit diagram in a case that a capacitor 35 is added at the position of 1 / 2 wavelength from the semiconductor input / output element 31 in the distributed constant line 34 . fig1 b indicates an equivalent circuit of fig1 a . in fig1 b , instead of the capacitor 35 in fig1 a , a capacitor 41 is placed between the output end of the semiconductor element and the distributed constant line 34 . the capacitor 41 and the parasitic capacitance 32 are added to each other . fig1 a indicates a circuit diagram in a case that a capacitor 35 is added at the position of 1 / 4 wavelength from the semiconductor input / output element 31 in the distributed signal line 34 and that a capacitor 43 is similarly added at the position of 1 / 2 wavelength , respectively . fig1 b indicates an equivalent circuit of the circuit shown in fig1 a . in fig1 b , instead of the capacitors 35 , 42 in fig1 a , the capacitor 41 and the inductor 39 are placed between the output end of the semiconductor element and the distributed constant line 34 . the capacitor 41 , the parasitic capacitance 32 and the inductor 39 are cancelled to each other . in this way , since the parameters of the distributed signal line 34 are adjusted , it is possible to cancel the parasitic capacitances of the semiconductor input / output elements and adjust the resistance value of the termination resistor . in this embodiment of the present invention , it is the principle of the semiconductor package substrate design method that this impedance matching process is performed until a desired frequency band is covered . here , fig1 a has the same circuit as the case of the two - signal layer structure in the foregoing lumped circuit designing method . actually , since an element functions as a pure capacitance or a pure resistance does not exist , the adaption design is required by executing the above explained modeling . fig1 to 19 are the graphs showing the results of the adaption design . in any of the graphs , the horizontal axis indicates the frequency , and the vertical axis indicates the return loss . each of the graphs represents the return loss of the total of the semiconductor input / output element and the semiconductor package substrate being observed from the secondary mounting substrate side in the situation in which the semiconductor input / output element , the semiconductor package substrate and the secondary mounting substrate are connected to each other . among the three lines in each of fig1 to 19 , the drawings , the wide line corresponds to the case in which a matching circuit is built in the semiconductor package substrate , and the other lines correspond to the case in which the semiconductor package substrate is adjusted to the standard resistance of 50ω , respectively . moreover , as an example of the reference , the line corresponding to the standard based on the aforementioned oif is also drawn . the oif issues the document oif - cei - 02 . 0 with regard to the serdes rule . according to this document , the followings are ruled . here , “ fb ” indicates the bit rate frequency . and the reflection coefficient is as follows . fig1 is the graph showing a simulation result when , at the differential mode , the semiconductor input / output element receives a signal . fig1 is the graph showing a simulation result when , at the differential mode , the semiconductor input / output element transmits a signal . fig1 is the graph showing a simulation result when , at the common mode , the semiconductor input / output element receives a signal . fig1 is the graph showing a simulation result when , at the common mode , the semiconductor input / output element transmits a signal . in this way , all of the graphs have a frequency or a frequency band that satisfies the standard of the oif . this indicates the effectiveness of the semiconductor package substrate designing method according to an embodiment of the present invention . in a semiconductor package substrate designing method according to an embodiment of the present invention , a function for the impedance matching between the semiconductor input / output element and the secondary mounting substrate is built in a semiconductor package substrate . as a result , it is possible to reduce the multiple reflection of high speed digital signals and obtain desirable signal waveform and stable operation . at this time , the impedance matching function is attained by adjusting only the parasitic inductance and the parasitic capacitance , which are unavoidable in a signal transmission line . thus , there is no adverse effect on a high speed signal transmission that is caused by an addition of an extra structural part or electronic part . also , since the extra layout space is not required , the signal density is not dropped . moreover , since the distributed constant structural parts of the signal transmission line is used , wide band impedance matching being required to transmit the digital signal is obtained . also , since the design can be attained by using a general package substrate , the cost can be suppressed . according to a semiconductor package substrate designing method of an embodiment of the present invention , such excellent effects can be achieved . it is apparent that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments , but may be modified and changed without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention .	7
fig1 a and 1b show perspective views of an embodiment of a waterproof connector 100 . the waterproof connector 100 has a unitary compressible housing 110 , which partially encapsulates and holds electrical contact pins 120 . the compressible housing 110 may be made of a resilient compressible material , such as silicone . the pins 120 each have a portion extending from the housing into a well 130 formed by the housing 110 . lead lines 140 extend into the base 113 of the unitary housing 110 and couple with the pins 120 within the base 113 of the unitary housing 110 . the base 113 surrounds the lead lines 140 to inhibit seepage of water into the base 113 by way of the lead lines 140 . the housing 110 has a sealing lip 117 around the well 130 at a mating interface of the waterproof connector 100 . the unitary housing 110 forms partitions 115 , extending vertically from the base 113 into the well 130 toward the sealing lip 117 between the electrical contact pins 120 . the partitions 115 are flexible , and form separate cavities 135 which isolate any water ( not shown ) that happens to enter the well 130 within the cavities 135 . this compartmentalizing of the water within the connector 100 , results in keeping any water that is adjacent to or contacting a pin from being in electrical communication with any other water contacting another pin , inhibiting short circuiting between the pins 120 . in some applications , a battery is installed prior to mating the waterproof connector 110 with a payload 580 ( fig5 ). thus , one or more of the pins 120 may be powered during to mating . compartmentalizing any water droplets that may be present in the well 130 inhibits shorting of a powered pin . fig2 shows an exploded perspective view of the waterproof connector 100 . a finger board assembly 200 is shown outside of the housing 110 . as shown in fig1 a and 1b , when assembled , the finger board assembly 200 is within the housing 110 . the pins 120 are secured to a finger board 250 , such as by swaging into the finger board 250 . the pins 120 and the lead lines 140 may both be soldered ( not shown ) to the finger board 250 . the pins 120 and their corresponding lead lines 140 may be electrically connected together by the solder , or via traces ( not shown ) within , or on the surface of the finger board 250 . the finger board 250 is a unitary board fabricated out of a flexible material , such as a printed circuit board , fiberglass , or the like . the finger board 250 has separate projecting fingers 251 , attached together near a lead line side 242 of the finger board 250 so that the individual pins 120 are able to independently move in 2 - axis , side - to - side / up - and - back , and up and down . thus , the fingers 251 allow both torsional movement , and flex , along the longitudinal axis . fig3 is a cut - away front view of the waterproof connector 100 of fig1 a and 1b . the finger board 250 is encased within the base 113 , with the pins 120 extending from the base 113 into the well 130 . partitions 115 extend from the base 113 into the well 130 between the pins 120 . a portion of the base 113 forms a compressible backing 316 under the finger board 250 opposite the mating interface . the compressible backing 316 resiliently supports the finger board 250 and the base 121 of the pins 120 when backed by a supporting structure . the compressible backing 316 provides a biasing force against the pins 120 when compressed . in some embodiments , the pins 120 may extend above a top sealing surface 117 s of the sealing lip 117 prior to mating , and have a chamfered contact surface 120 c to allow sliding of the pin over a contact pad 586 ( fig5 ). in the embodiment of fig3 , the sealing lip 117 is semicircular in cross section and overhangs the side wall 113 s of the base 113 . the partitions 115 extend to , or slightly below the sealing surface 117 s of the sealing lip 117 . thus , in some embodiments , when the sealing lip 117 is compressed against a mating surface ( shown in fig5 ), the partitions 115 meet to seal against the mating surface , such as a contact board ( shown in fig5 ). in other embodiments , the partitions 115 need not actually contact the mating surface ( shown in fig5 ) and completely enclose the cavities 135 to be effective . the partitions 115 may provide a fluid barrier when oriented such that the fluid is contained within the well 130 near the base 113 by gravity and thus is separated by the partitions 115 . in such an embodiment , the partitions 115 will inhibit short circuiting between adjacent pins until the level of the fluid within the well 130 , or within adjacent cavities 135 , exceeds the height of the partitions 115 . further , the partitions 115 inhibit shorting when the connector 100 is unmated . this is particularly important if the connector could have power on any of the pins 120 prior to mating . fig4 shows a projected view of an embodiment of the waterproof connector 100 installed in a vehicle 400 . the vehicle 400 , which provides a rigid backing for the base ( not shown in fig4 ) and for the sealing lip 117 of the waterproof connector 100 . thus , the waterproof connector 100 is integrated into the structural frame of vehicle 400 and may be secured within the frame of the vehicle 400 by glue , interference fit , etc . fig5 shows an exploded projected view illustrating one possible system employing an embodiment of the waterproof connector 100 a payload 580 for mating with the vehicle 400 of fig4 . fig6 shows a cross sectional side view of the embodiment of fig5 . referring to fig5 and 6 , the waterproof connector 100 seats within a rigid housing 590 . the compressible backing 316 of the compressible housing 110 seats against the rigid backing 596 , which provides a supporting structure for the compressible backing 316 . in this embodiment , the rigid housing 590 is part of the structural component of the vehicle 400 . thus , the rigid housing 590 is integrated into the structural frame of the vehicle 400 . this provides a weight and space savings , as compared to conventional connectors with separate hard shells , while still providing a robust waterproof connector . the waterproof connector 100 mates with a contact board 585 seated in the payload 580 . a projection 581 on the payload 580 is inserted into receptacle 582 , the payload 580 is pivoted about the projection 581 in the receptacle 582 to cause the contact board 585 to mate with connector 100 seated in the rigid housing 590 . optional alignment slots 588 and alignment projections 587 ( fig4 ) facilitate mating of the payload 580 with the vehicle 400 . the mating of the contact board 585 with the waterproof connector 100 causes the pins 120 to engage contact pads 586 on the contact board 585 . in some embodiments ( not shown ), the contact pads 586 may contain dimples for receiving the pins 120 and / or to keep the pins 120 in alignment upon mating . in other embodiments , the pins 120 may be inserted into receptacles ( not show ), or other means , that engage the pins 120 . one advantage of the unitary housing , which incorporates the sealing surface 117 as an integral part of the housing 110 is that it ensures that the sealing lip 117 is not displaced during the mating process . the pivotal mating by rotating the board 585 to mate with the connector 100 could otherwise cause a conventional gasket to slide or unseat during the mating process , compromising the waterproof seal . the compressible backing 316 backed by rigid backing 596 , along with the flexible finger board 250 , biases the pins 120 against the contact pads 586 . the rigid housing 590 biases the sealing lip 117 to form a face seal against the contact board 585 ( or other sealing surface associated with the payload 580 ) to seal pins 120 within the compressible housing 110 . a locking means 683 distal from the projection 581 , in cooperation with the projection 581 secures the payload 580 to the vehicle 400 and maintains contact of the pins 120 with the contact pads 586 , and the sealing lip 117 with the contact board 585 , and the partitions 115 ( fig3 ) with the contact board 585 if applicable . one advantage of allowing the pins 120 to move along the contact pads 586 as they meet the contact board 585 , is that they can abrade the contact board 585 as the connector 100 is seated against the contact board 585 . thus , in some embodiments , the pins 120 are able to scrape through surface oxidation on the contact pads 586 to make better electrical contact than a fixed pin configuration . in some embodiments , the pins 120 and / or the pads 586 , may have abrading surfaces ( not shown ) to aid in the removal of oxidation from the pads 586 and / or the pins 120 . further , resiliently holding the pins 120 , and allowing a limited degree of rotational movement of the pins 120 , provides a lateral bias force on the pins 120 against the contact pads 586 . the lateral bias is provided by a combination of the deflection of the finger board 250 and compression of the portions of the base 113 adjacent to the pins 120 . this adds to the normal force provided by the compressible backing 316 against the back of the pins 120 , to further improve contact between the pins 120 and the contact pads 586 . fig7 a and 7b show a top view and a cross sectional side view , respectively , of an optional guide plate 700 . the optional guide plate 700 may be placed over / around the pins 120 within the housing 113 to facilitate alignment of the pins 120 with the pads 586 on the contact board 585 . also , the guide plate 700 can inhibit individual side - to - side movement the pins 120 separately , to maintain separation between the pins 120 upon mating . the guide plate 700 may be situated on top of the partitions 115 and the lip 117 . the guide plate 700 may be fabricated of a rigid material , such as fiberglass or other insulative material . in various embodiments , the waterproof connector , is a light weight waterproof connector for a light weight uav or unmanned aerial vehicle , which may have a payload such as electronics , a camera , battery , or other payload . the light weight waterproof connector 100 allows an easily portable unmanned aerial vehicle , which may be submersed in water , such as during transport , or upon landing . in some embodiments , it further allows separate subcomponents to be submersed during transport prior to assembly and operation , as some amount of liquid within the isolated cavities of the connector will not create shorting between the pins . it is worthy to note that any reference to “ one embodiment ” or “ an embodiment ” or a “ system ” means that a particular feature , structure , or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment or system may be included in an embodiment or system , if desired . the appearances of the phrase “ in one embodiment ” in various places in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment . the illustrations and examples provided herein are for explanatory purposes and are not intended to limit the scope of the appended claims . this disclosure is to be considered an exemplification of the principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the spirit and scope of the invention and / or claims of the embodiment illustrated . those skilled in the art will make modifications to the invention for particular applications of the invention . the discussion included in this patent is intended to serve as a basic description . the reader should be aware that the specific discussion may not explicitly describe all embodiments possible and alternatives are implicit . also , this discussion may not fully explain the generic nature of the invention and may not explicitly show how each feature or element can actually be representative or equivalent elements . again , these are implicitly included in this disclosure . where the invention is described in device - oriented terminology , each element of the device implicitly performs a function . it should also be understood that a variety of changes may be made without departing from the essence of the invention . such changes are also implicitly included in the description . these changes still fall within the scope of this invention . further , each of the various elements of the invention and claims may also be achieved in a variety of manners . this disclosure should be understood to encompass each such variation , be it a variation of any apparatus embodiment , a method embodiment , or even merely a variation of any element of these . particularly , it should be understood that as the disclosure relates to elements of the invention , the words for each element may be expressed by equivalent apparatus terms even if only the function or result is the same . such equivalent , broader , or even more generic terms should be considered to be encompassed in the description of each element or action . such terms can be substituted where desired to make explicit the implicitly broad coverage to which this invention is entitled . it should be understood that all actions may be expressed as a means for taking that action or as an element which causes that action . similarly , each physical element disclosed should be understood to encompass a disclosure of the action which that physical element facilitates . such changes and alternative terms are to be understood to be explicitly included in the description . having described this invention in connection with a number of embodiments , modification will now certainly suggest itself to those skilled in the art . the example embodiments herein are not intended to be limiting , various configurations and combinations of features are possible . as such , the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments , except as required by the appended claims .	7
the preferred embodiment herein described is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed . it is chosen and described to best explain the principles of the invention and its application and practical use to thereby enable others skilled in the art to utilize the invention . the strut assembly 10 as seen in fig1 is adapted to support a variety of loads through a unique pivotal joint which employs a pivot ball and socket arrangement . such an arrangement is particularly suited for use with a tailgate or hatchback 11 of an automobile 30 . a spring work medium is illustrated , however , it is to be understood that a gaseous work medium ( not shown ) may be employed within the strut assembly . strut assembly 10 includes inner and outer telescoping tubes 12 and 13 enclosed by end members 14 . the inner end portion 15 of tube 13 is of reduced diameter so as to form an abutment with flared end 22 of tube 12 to prevent separation of the tubes when in a fully extended position . the diameter of each end member 14 is slightly reduced so as to facilitate engagement with tubes 12 and 13 . end members 14 may be connected to tubes 12 , 13 in any one of several ways , such as by transverse pins or by the use of adhesives . housed within tubes 12 and 13 is a helical spring 31 which abuts end member 14 to provide the extension force for the strut assembly . at each end member 14 , there is a pivot joint 23 which serves to connect an attachment or connector bracket 25 to the remainder of the assembly . brackets 25 are used to attach the strut assembly 10 to a support , such as the frame of automobile 30 . pivot joints 23 provide a smooth operating environment for strut assembly 10 while increasing the mobility of the strut and maintaining its ease of manufacturability . each pivot joint 23 includes an end member 14 , a pivot ball 17 and an integral shank 16 which extends from the ball , and a clip 19 . a socket 15 is formed in end member 14 and receives pivot ball 17 . socket 15 is only slightly larger in transverse dimension than pivot ball 17 in order to eliminate much of the play while maintaining mobility . pivot ball 17 is attached at shank 16 to bracket 25 . end members 14 may be formed out of teflon or other materials with similar low friction characteristics . a transverse slot 18 is formed in end member 14 which intersects socket 15 at the location of pivot ball 17 just below shank 16 when the ball is fully seated within the end member socket . clip 19 is preferably formed of a resilient material and includes an offset center 27 of truncated shape intersected by a slot 24 which extends to one end of the clip . each end of clip 19 is down - turned to form tabs 21 which extend in an opposite direction of offset center 27 . each pivot joint 23 is assembled by first inserting pivot ball 17 into the socket 15 of an end member 14 . clip 19 is then inserted in slotted end first into end member slot 18 and slid around shank 16 with its sides 29 straddling the shank until the offset center 27 of the clip is brought to rest on top of pivot ball 17 , as best seen in fig6 . the prevention of unnecessary ball - in - socket play is the result of unique characteristics of clip 19 . tabs 21 of clip 19 at its slotted end overlay the side of end member 14 to retard withdrawal of the clip with the clip assuming a flexed orientation which serves to urge the ball into socket 15 . it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the details above given and that it may be modified within the scope of the appended claims .	8
the present invention contemplates hydraulic motor means for driving a load at a nearly ideal speed irrespective of the volumetric flow rate of hydraulic fluid supplied to the motor means . this is accomplished by adjusting the work area of working surface means positioned within displacement chamber means . more particularly , and in preferred embodiment , as illustrated in fig1 and 2 , the hydraulic motor means may comprise a plurality of hydraulic motors each having a displacement chamber connected for reception of hydraulic fluid from a common supply line . for driving an automotive cooling fan 12 the arrangement may comprise an idle motor 16 and a grade motor 18 connected in parallel as illustrated in fig1 or in series , as illustrated in fig2 . the best mode is the parallel arrangement of fig1 . referring now to that figure , idle motor 16 is mounted fast to a drive shaft 14 connected to cooling fan 12 . idle motor 16 has a displacement chamber which houses a working surface ( not illustrated in fig1 ) for driving shaft 14 . the working surface has a work area which is rotated by pressurized hydraulic fluid in a branch line 26 connected to an input port of idle motor 16 . idle motor 16 may be of conventional design and may take a variety of forms . branch line 26 is connected to a supply line 24 which in turn is connected to a pump ( not illustrated ) powered by an automotive engine . supply line 24 is connected to a pump ( not illustrated ) that supplies hydraulic fluid at a volumetric rate which is directly proportional to the speed of the automotive engine . part of that flow is bypassed through a bypass line ( not illustrated ) at high engine speeds . when the automotive engine is operating at idle speed all of the hydraulic fluid flows through branch line 26 and into idle motor 16 to produce rotation of shaft 14 . the work area of the working surface carried by idle motor 16 is designed such that it causes shaft 14 to rotate at the desired speed when the engine is idling and delivering hydraulic fluid into line 24 at the volumetric rate corresponding thereto . the size of the work area a i may be calculated from the equation : ## equ1 ## where : v i = volumetric flow rate of hydraulic fluid at idle speed , r i = ideal or desired fan rotation rate ( radians per sec .) at idle speed , and m i = is the moment arm of the work area a i . in general v i is known and r i is specified . in accordance with this invention the idle motor is configured to provide an area - moment product a i m i which is equal to v i / r i . then so long as valve 20 remains closed , the rotational speed r of fan 12 for any flow rate v will be given by the equation : ## equ2 ## the flow rate v and the fan speed r both increase with increasing engine speed . this invention contemplates an increase in the area - moment product before r reaches its grade speed value r g , thereby reducing the rate of increase in r . the increase in area - moment product is achieved by diverting part of the hydraulic fluid flow through grade motor 18 when the fluid pressure in supply line 24 reaches a predetermined level . the relationship between fan speed r and the line pressure p is : ## equ3 ## where t is the torque generated by the drive motor against shaft 14 . grade motor 18 is connected to supply line 24 by a branch line 28 , a pressure sequencing valve 20 and another branch line 30 . pressure sequencing valve 20 is closed when the automotive engine is idling , so that grade motor 18 does not drive fan 12 at this time . grade motor 18 is connected to shaft 14 by an over - riding slip clutch 19 so as to avoid interference with rotation of shaft 14 during the idle operation . as the automotive engine gains speed , the volumetric flow rate of hydraulic fluid increases in lines 24 and 26 , thereby causing a proportional increase in the rotational speed of fan 12 . as fan 12 speeds up , it generates an increasingly large reaction torque which in turn causes an increase in the pressure of the hydraulic fluid being supplied by the automotive engine . the pressure sequencing valve 20 has a spring 22 which yields under increasing pressure in a line 83 which is connected to supply line 24 . this causes valve 20 to begin opening as the pressure in line 24 increases . the spring constant of spring 22 is selected so as to enable full opening of pressure sequencing valve 20 sometime after idle and before the pressure in line 24 reaches that value associated with grade operation . as valve 20 begins opening , hydraulic fluid flows from line 24 into branch line 28 , through valve 20 and branch line 30 into a displacement chamber ( not illustrated in fig1 ) within grade motor 18 . a working surface is positioned within this displacement chamber to cause grade motor 18 to begin turning at at a speed lower than the speed of shaft 14 , upon arrival of hydraulic fluid . as the flow to supply line 24 increases , there is a concomitant flow rate increase through line 30 and grade motor 18 . meanwhile the pressure across idle motor 16 remains approximately constant . when the flow through line 30 reaches the point at which grade motor 18 has attained the speed of shaft 14 , clutch 19 engages . grade motor 18 then begins to contribute torque to the fan shaft . as the flow through grade motor 18 increases , the pressure drop across the grade motor likewise increases . this pressure drop increases until it is equal to the pressure drop across idle motor 16 . during the period of increasing pressure drop across grade motor 18 , the pressure drop across idle motor 16 remains nearly constant , and the differential appears across pressure sequencing valve 20 . after the pressure drop across grade motor 18 equals the pressure drop across idle motor 16 , the pressure in line 24 begins increasing . at this time fan 12 has achieved a speed r g , and motors 16 , 18 are working with a total area - moment equal to the ratio v g / r g . in order to achieve this total area - moment , grade motor 18 has a displacement chamber configured with an area - moment selected in accordance with the formula : ## equ4 ## as also illustrated in fig1 hydraulic motors 16 , 18 are connected to discharge lines 44 , 42 respectively , and these discharge lines are joined to a return line 32 . fig1 further illustrates motor drain lines 69 and 33 which serve to drain seal cavities ( not illustrated ) in motors 16 , 18 respectively . there is also a drain line 31 draining a spring cavity 81 housing reaction spring 22 for pressure sequencing valve 20 . drain line 31 is connected to a reference pressure source for valve 20 . this reference pressure source may be common to line 69 , 33 and / or line 32 or some other reference . fig2 illustrates an alternative arrangement wherein idle motor 16 and grade motor 18 are arranged in series . in this arrangement idle motor 16 has a clutch 21 for connection to drive shaft 14 . there is a connection line 50 which carries hydraulic fluid from the output side of idle motor 16 to the input side of grade motor 18 . in this arrangement both motors turn at low flow rates , but only grade motor 18 turns at the grade condition . other arrangements are feasible , including arrangements employing additional hydraulic motors and arrangements employing valves in more than one branch line . fig3 illustrates the effectiveness of the arrangement of fig1 in minimizing wasted power . for any fan speed r there is a corresponding reaction torque t and an associated power consumption 2πtr . at any given fan speed there is an ideal pump speed which produces the needed amount of hydraulic flow . any power consumption attributable to an excess hydraulic flow may be regarded as wasted . however , fig3 assumes that there is no waste at engine speeds below that which produces the maximum desired fan speed . fig3 therefore plots wasted power for a typical automotive cooling system according to the equation : where p is the fluid pressure in lb . per . in 2 and es is the engine speed . the above equation assumes a pulley ratio of 1 . 12 and a pump displacement of 0 . 689 in 3 per revolution . the plot of fig3 assumes that p has a value of 1600 psi and that the engine speed for max fan , es mf , is 1200 rpm ( twice the idle speed ). the resulting values of wp are plotted in fig3 as a function of engine speed for dual parallel motors ( curve 100 ) and for a single motor ( curve 102 ). curve 102 has a steep , constant slope which wastes power at a rapid rate . in comparison curve 100 has an initial gradual slope , as indicated by the curve portion 104 . the slope then falls off and goes negative at an engine speed of about 1760 rpm , where valve 20 begins opening ( curve portion 106 ). the wasted power is eliminated entirely at a grade speed of about 3000 rpm ( curve portion 108 ) and then rises again at speeds in excess of grade ( curve portion 110 ). fig4 illustrates a work area and a moment arm for a typical spur gear hydraulic motor 140 . it will be understood that other types of hydraulic motors could be used and that a spur gear hydraulic motor is illustrated only for purposes of explanation of the terms used in this application . for instance a gerotor type hydraulic motor is generally less expensive and is preferred over the specific arrangement illustrated in fig4 . the hydraulic motor of the illustration includes a housing 142 in which are mounted two inter - meshing spur gears 146 , 148 mounted on shafts 160 , 162 respectively . hydraulic fluid flows into a displacement chamber 145 and out through an exit port ( not illustrated ). it will be understood that one of the shafts 160 , 162 will be connected to fan shaft 14 . the working surfaces of motor 140 are the upstream faces 150 of the teeth of spur gears 146 , 148 . as the hydraulic fluid acts on the faces 150 there is a net torque which produces rotation of gears 146 , 148 in the directions illustrated by arrows 152 , 154 . the net torque is produced by reason of the fact that the hydraulic fluid exerts a net force upon three tooth faces 150 at any point in time . two of those faces act cooperatively and are associated with two teeth ( one on each gear ) just becoming tangent to the inside surface of housing 142 . the third active face 150 is associated with a tooth just coming into mesh between the two gears 146 , 148 . this third face 150 produces a torque opposing the rotation illustrated by the arrows 152 , 154 . the work area a of displacement chamber 145 then is equal to the area 150 of a single tooth . the moment arm of that area switches back and forth between gears 146 , 148 and is illustrated by two arrows m of fig4 . as indicated previously this invention involves selection of at least two area - moment products am so as to reduce wasted power . it will be appreciated that the area - moment product is dimensionally equivalent to a volume , and , in fact , is equal to displacement per radian . it is also equal to 1 / 2π times the displacement per revolution , a more familiar term to those in the field . as applied to an arrangement of the type illustrated in fig4 the area - moment product may be adjusted by adjusting either the radii of the gears 146 , 148 or the size of the teeth . the tooth size may be adjusted by changing either the tooth length or the thickness in a direction parallel to the axes of shafts 160 , 162 . any of these adjustments will likewise adjust the displacement per revolution . while the forms of apparatus and the method herein described constitute preferred embodiments of this invention , it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to these precise forms of apparatus and method , and that changes may be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention which is defined in the appended claims .	5
referring now in detail to the figures of the drawings , in which parts corresponding to one another are denoted by the same reference signs , and first , particularly , to fig1 thereof , there is seen a sectional side view of an electric parking brake 2 of a motor vehicle , having a spindle nut 4 which , as a force generating element , interacts with a spindle 6 . the spindle nut 4 is mounted so as to be rotatable and is supported on an axial bearing 8 . the spindle nut 4 carries , on its outer side , a helically toothed second gearwheel 10 of a gearing unit 12 . in other words , the spindle nut 4 forms a second shaft 14 to which the second gearwheel 10 is attached . the second gearwheel 10 has , in the center , an opening 16 which corresponds to the cross section of the spindle nut 4 , within which opening the spindle nut 4 in the form of a journal is disposed in a form - locking and rotationally secure manner . the spindle nut 4 can be driven , through a third gearwheel 18 , by a first shaft 20 , which is the rotor shaft of an electric motor 22 . in this case , the free end of the rotor shaft 20 is provided with cut - out grooves 28 running in spiral fashion along an axis of rotation 26 to form a first gearwheel 24 . in other words , the first gearwheel 24 is integral with the first shaft 20 , and the outer diameter of the first gearwheel 24 is equal to the diameter of the first shaft 20 . the electric motor 22 is fastened at the end thereof to a gearing housing 30 , within which the gearwheels 10 , 18 , 24 are situated and which projects into a spindle housing 32 in which the spindle nut 4 , the spindle 6 and the axial bearing 8 are disposed . the axial bearing 8 is typically in the form of a rolling bearing and is supported on a second spring element 34 , which in turn , in the illustrated state , is supported on a first spring element 36 in an axial direction 38 . the first spring element 36 is in the form of a helical spring which coaxially surrounds the spindle 6 or its displacement travel during rotation of the spindle nut 4 . reference sign 40 denotes a sleeve which surrounds and protects the spindle 6 in the region of the spring elements . a bowden cable receptacle 42 is attached to that end of the spindle 6 which faces toward the sleeve 40 . a non - illustrated bowden cable engages into the bowden cable receptacle 42 for the actuation of brake pads which act on a brake disk and through the use of which a movement of the motor vehicle is prevented . if the spindle 6 moves in the direction of the arrow 38 , the bowden cable is pulled , or the tensile force is increased . in this case , a force acts on the spindle 6 and the spindle nut 4 in the direction of an arrow 44 . in the event of a movement of the spindle 6 in the direction of the arrow 44 , the pulling action is eliminated , and the tensile force is reduced . during the course of the force generation , the spindle nut 4 is supported on the first spring element 36 and on the second spring element 34 . the first spring element 36 is in the form of a spring which is softer , with a lower spring constant , than the spring of the second spring element 34 , so that the first spring 36 is compressed first , and to a greater extent than the spring of the second spring element 34 . the first spring 36 is supported on a first stop 46 which is formed by using a step of the spindle housing 32 . in the case of a low tensile force being generated , and a corresponding support force being applied by the first spring 36 , the latter is compressed to an extent by virtue of the second spring element 34 being moved , undeformed , toward the first spring 36 . when the first spring travel has been traveled through , a first end retention element 48 of the second spring element 34 abuts against a stationary second stop 50 . at this point in time , a second end retention element 52 of the second spring element 34 also moves in the direction of the arrow 44 , without the second spring element 34 being compressed or expanded in the axial direction of the spring . correspondingly , the axial bearing 8 moves to an extent , typically in the region of 2 mm , in the direction of the arrow 44 , in such a way that the spindle nut 4 also performs this movement . the toothing of the second and third gearwheels 10 , 18 permits such a relative movement of the two gearwheels with respect to one another in the axial direction 44 . if , by further rotation of the spindle nut 4 , the tensile force is increased , the first spring 36 is not compressed any further because the first end retention element 48 , which together with the second mechanical stop 50 forms a first mechanical engagement device , abuts against a fixed stop . the first spring 36 does not absorb any further forces beyond the corresponding partial compression . with a further increase in the tensile force or the support force , a further movement in the axial direction takes place only when the second spring element 34 is compressed in the axial direction 44 when the level of the second support force is reached . fig2 shows the gearing unit 12 in a perspective view , wherein the third gearwheel 18 and a cover of the gearing housing 30 have been removed . both the axis of rotation 26 of the first shaft 20 and an axis of rotation 54 of the second shaft 14 run in parallel through the box - shaped main body of the gearing housing 30 , and are both perpendicular to the base thereof and also stationary . a movable slide 56 which is also introduced into the base has an opening 58 . the plane of extent of the preferably circular opening 58 in this case is substantially parallel to the plane of extent of the second gearwheel 10 and perpendicular to the axes of rotation 26 , 54 . the slide 56 is displaceable along a straight adjustment line 60 between the first shaft 20 and the second shaft 14 , wherein the central point of the circular opening 58 lies on the straight adjustment line 60 . the straight adjustment line 60 is furthermore perpendicular to the axes of rotation 26 , 54 and intersects them . the non - illustrated cover of the gearing housing 30 likewise has such a slide 56 , as illustrated in fig3 . in this case , the gearing unit 12 is shown in a front view with the third gearwheel 18 installed . the third gearwheel is parallel to the second gearwheel 10 . only the slide 56 of the cover of the gearing housing 30 is shown . the third gearwheel 18 has two axially running axle journals 62 ( see fig1 ), each of which is inserted through the opening 58 of the respective slide 56 . consequently , the third gearwheel 18 is disposed between the two slides 56 , which are substantially parallel to the third gearwheel 18 . the two slides 56 and the opening 58 thereof , which has a cross section corresponding to that of the respective axle journal 62 , thus form a bearing point 64 for the third gearwheel 18 . due to the mobility of the slides 56 along the respective straight adjustment line 60 , it is made possible for the bearing point 64 to be moved between the two axes of rotation 26 , 54 . in this case , the position of the bearing point 64 and the radius of the gearwheels 10 , 24 determine a transmission ratio 66 between the first shaft 20 and the second shaft 14 . fig3 shows a first transmission ratio 66 and fig4 shows a further transmission ratio 66 . in order to vary the transmission ratio 66 , in a first step , the cover of the gearing unit 12 is removed and the third gearwheel 18 is removed . in a further working step , a winged nut 68 fastened to the free end of the spindle 6 is removed . the winged nut 68 prevents the spindle nut 4 from being unscrewed from the spindle 6 during normal operation , as is seen in fig1 . in a further working step , the second gearwheel 10 is removed from the gearing unit 12 and is replaced with a new second gearwheel 10 . for adjustment purposes , the bearing point 64 is displaced in such a way that the axis of rotation of the third gearwheel 18 is situated centrally between the first gearwheel 24 and the now new second gearwheel 10 . this is realized by positioning the two slides 56 . in a further step , a new third gearwheel 18 is inserted , and the gearing housing 30 is closed . the transmission ratio 66 shown in fig3 is such that a rotational movement of the first shaft 24 leads to a relatively slow rotational movement of the second shaft 14 . by contrast , in the case of the transmission ratio 66 illustrated in fig4 , an identical rotational movement of the first shaft 24 causes an increased rotational speed of the second shaft 14 . this is achieved due to the reduced radius of the second gearwheel 10 and the increased radius of the third gearwheel 18 . this has the effect that , in the case of the gearing unit 12 shown in fig4 , the bearing point 64 has been shifted in the direction of the second shaft 14 . rather than the transmission ratio 66 being varied after assembly has already taken place this is , for example , already taken into consideration at the initial assembly stage , and a suitable second and third gearwheel 10 , 18 are selected . due to the different transmission ratio 66 , the gearing unit 12 shown in fig3 transmits a relatively high force , so that even a vehicle of relatively high weight can be secured by using the electric parking brake 2 . in a motor vehicle with a relatively low weight , a gearing unit 12 shown in fig4 is adequate . if use is made of the same electric motor 22 with the same actuation device , the exertion of force by the gearing unit on the bowden cable is faster , so that the motor vehicle is already secured by using the parking brake 2 at an early point in time . the invention is not restricted to the exemplary embodiments described above . rather , a person skilled in the art may also derive other variants of the invention therefrom without departing from the subject matter of the invention . in particular , it is also the case that all individual features described in conjunction with the exemplary embodiments may also be combined with one another in a different way without departing from the subject matter of the invention .	8
this invention includes a method for the patterned solidification , desolidification , or modification of the index of refraction of a photo reactive material by non - degenerate two - photon absorption thereby providing rapid fabrication of three - dimensional micro - structures directly from computer models . the steps of the novel method include : placing a medium capable of selective solidification , desolidification , or refractive index modification via non - degenerate two - photon absorption into a container having at least one optically transparent window so that the medium within the container is accessible by laser light . in the alternative , the entire container may be made of an optically transparent material ; selecting two synchronized pulsed laser sources having respective wavelengths to induce non - degenerate two - photon polymerization ; providing an optical projection system for projecting patterned images of femtosecond pulsed laser light ; directing femtosecond laser pulses onto the array of pixel elements , so that a desired patterned portion of source light travels through the window of the container and into the photoreactive material and focuses inside the photoreactive material ; providing an optical system for producing the sheet of light of picosecond pulsed laser light so that sheet has an optimal thinness and flatness ; aiming the femtosecond patterned light and the picosecond sheet of light so that they intersect one another orthogonally with the two focal planes overlapping . more particularly , directing picosecond pulses in a thin , flat sheet so that said picosecond pulses intersect with the femtosecond pulses , such that the thin , flat sheet of picosecond pulses intersects the source light perpendicular to the projected source from the array of pixel elements so that select regions of the photoreactive material are cured at the intersection ; positioning the container and the photoreactive material therewithin relative to the intersecting focal planes at an angle less than the critical angle of the container material and photoreactive material ; monitoring the real - time velocity of the container through the light intersection region by employing a velocity sensor ; providing a computer control system that sends electronic data for each image pattern to be projected from the controllable pixel element where the refresh rate of the controllable pixel array is throttled according to the velocity data obtained from the velocity sensor . in the alternative , the feedback could alter the conveyor speed , control the laser repetition rate , the light path length , or the controllable pixel array . a finely tuned system may not require feedback ; providing a computer - executable program for extracting a series of slices of a three - dimensional computer model data into a series two - dimensional image files that are compatible with the controllable pixel elements ; sequentially sending the sequence of two - dimensional images extracted from the three - dimensional computer model file to the controllable pixel array , thereby enabling projection of the slices of the computer model file into the medium as the medium volume translates through the intersecting focal planes at a velocity determined by the photo reactive cure time of the photoreactive material and the real - time velocity feedback data ; and synchronizing overlapping pulses operating at two different wavelengths that are of preselected energies to meet the combined energy requirements necessary to achieve non - degenerate two - photon absorption in the beam intersection volume within the photoreactive material . the array of controllable pixel elements may include a spatial light modulator and the spatial light modulator may include a plurality of mirrored surfaces each independently pivotable from a first to a second position or state allowing directional control of the area of light reflecting from each mirror . the spatial light modulator is controlled by digital electronics that modify each mirror state by loading a binary array of data . each bit of data in the binary image array determines the directional pivot of the mirror thus providing spatially patterned projection of laser pulses . the binary array of mirror state data is provided by two - dimensional slice plane image data that is programmatically extracted from a three - dimensional computer model . the two - dimensional slice plane data extracted from the computer model is in some cases an exact two - dimensional cross - section replica of the desired fabrication geometry and in other cases the extracted slice plane data is processed in such a way as to use the spatial light modulator as a digital programmable holographic grating capable of projecting a holographic image into the medium . the illuminating pulsed laser light of the spatial light modulator is a femtosecond pulsed laser source . an optical system couples with the spatial light modulator to form a laser illuminated projector that has an aspheric beam shaping condenser lens placed prior to and directed onto the spatial light modulator , a micromirror array spatial light modulator , and a reducing imager lens placed post spatial light modulator and focused to intersect sheet of light . this invention is not limited to a micromirror array spatial light modulator . there are many types of spatial light modulators and all of them are within the scope of this invention . the aspheric condenser lens redistributes the gaussian energy distribution of the femtosecond laser light to form a more even energy distribution across the spatial light modulator and thus across the projected focal plane , and the projected image is directed into a region that will allow intersection with the picosecond light sheet and allow the medium and windowed container / cuvette to pass through the intersection region . alternatively , the optical imager lens can be used to expand or reduce the total area of the projected image thus decreasing or increasing the build resolution respectively . the sheet of light optical system is capable of creating a thin sheet of pulsed radiance energy from the picosecond source using an aspheric beam - shaping cylindrical lens set placed between the picosecond laser source and the beam intersection volume or “ fabrication plane .” the aspheric beam - shaping cylindrical lens set redistributes the picosecond laser light gaussian energy distribution to form a more even energy distribution across the thin light sheet . the thin sheet of pulsed energy is directed into the vat perpendicular to the focal plane of the femtosecond projected image . alternatively , the sheet of light optical system can be designed from a diffractive optical element that forms a sheet of light that intersects the focal volume of the projected source the photoreactive material includes a highly efficient two - photon photoreactive initiator material combined with compatible fast reacting monomers such as acrylates , vinyl ethers , epoxies , biodegradable hydrogels , elastomers , or polymer - derived - ceramics . the medium may be a liquid resin that is solidified upon exposure to the intersecting beams thus allowing microstructure fabrication . it may also be a solid that is desolidified upon exposure to the intersecting beams thus allow microstructure fabrication . it may also be a material with the capability of altering the index of refraction thus enabling the fabrication of waveguides . the novel poof process incorporates a spatial light modulator such as texas instrument &# 39 ; s digital light processor ( dlp ™) projection technology into a two - photon fabrication process . it requires a non - degenerate approach to the tpip process due to the geometry of the projected light entering the bulk volume of the polymer . the poof process further requires that the projection system be illuminated by a high peak - power , femtosecond , pulsed , laser source operating at a specific wavelength λ 1 which projects a series two dimensional slices of a three dimensional computer model . the pulsed image is projected into the bulk fabrication volume of photopolymer material through a reducing imager lens of approximately 1 . 1 : 1 or greater reduction a high peak - power , nanosecond , pulsed , very thin , flat sheet of laser light operating at a specific wavelength λ 1 , orthogonally intersects the pulsed image at the focal plane of the projection imager lens . at this junction of the femtosecond pulsed image and the thin sheet of picosecond pulsed light the two different wavelengths of light , λ 1 and λ 2 , will induce non - degenerate tpa thus initiating the free - radical or cationic tpip process of an entire digitally patterned two - dimensional slice of a computer model in each synchronized dual pulse intersection . this intersection of femtosecond projected pulsed images intersecting with picosecond pulsed sheet of light is a significant feature of the invention . non - degenerate two - photon absorption increases the overall complexity of the machine design by requiring two synchronized pulsed lasers . however , another advantage in implementing this configuration exists in the versatility to alter the beam intersection geometry . this allows alteration of the fabricated voxel geometry . non - degenerate two - photon scheme also enables utilization of lower numerical apertures in a two - photon polymerization process . this versatility is inherent in the non - degenerate two - photon absorption process because two - photon absorption will only occur in the volume of the pulses intersection where the combined irradiance of each beam plays a contribution to meeting the quadratic irradiance dependence required for tpip . to ensure an optimized microstereolithography process capable of high volume mass production , the projected image is directed into a vat or cuvette at an angle less than the critical angle of the a transparent vat / cuvette wall and the photopolymer material . this critically important aspect of the poof configuration meets five crucial conditions during the fabrication of the desired object : a ) a static focal plane , b ) substantially static optical components in the optical path ( excluding minute vat vibration ), c ) constant velocity translation in a single axis , d ) substantially turbulence free photopolymer build volume , and e ) an array of up to 4 . 1 million fabricated voxels digitally projected via a high performance spatial light modulator such as the extremely high performance texas instrument &# 39 ; s digital micromirror device ( dmd ). from an optical , mechanical , and software design perspective , meeting these five important design constraints produces a microstereolithography process that is optimized for high - speed , high - volume microfabrication . meeting these design constraints also identifies the overall novelty of the poof technology in an all digital , high - speed , non - degenerate two photon , projection , microstereolithography device for high - volume 3d microfabrication of any geometry . the basic poof system includes an enclosed transparent vat containing a two - photon photoinitiator monomer concentration that is meets the criteria of one - photon optical transparency of each of the poof process &# 39 ; s dual synchronized lasers . the vat is mounted to a low vibration translation system that translates the vat at a constant velocity through the fabrication plane where the pulsed image and sheet of light intersect . the dlp ™ projection system projects a series of high peak power femtosecond pulsed cross - sectional cad model slice image at a refresh rate defined by the velocity of the translation system and the polymerization rate of the photoreactive material . a picosecond pulsed thin sheet of light is synchronized to intersect the projected pulsed image in the focal plane . because of numerical apertures of the light entering the photopolymer volume , the wavelength of light , and the irradiance of the pulsed laser light neither single beam alone can induce immediate tpip . a liquid volume goes in and “ poof ,” the three - dimensional part is produced . the thickness of each fabrication slice is determined by the non - degenerate tpip dynamics of the spatial thickness of the sheet of light interacting with the temporal length of the femtosecond projected pixel in the physical intersection geometry and also by any diffusion of the light as photopolymerization occurs and the termination coefficient of the polymer chain during the reaction . further empirical exploration of the intersection beam geometries , with each of the best material candidates , is required to determine the optimal balance of intersecting femtosecond pulse energy dose and picosecond pulse energy dose range that will induce non - degenerate tpip without causing thermal damage during the fabrication process while maintaining the highest possible throughput of the system . the poof process laser systems and optical systems are chosen by meeting the criteria that tpip occurs only in the intersection volume of the laser beams . exposing the photopolymer material to either the projected femtosecond pulsed image of wavelength λ 1 or the picosecond pulsed sheet of light of wavelength λ 2 alone will not induce immediate tpip . only where the beam operating at λ 1 intersects with a second beam operating at λ 2 , where λ 1 and λ 2 are of the appropriate combined energies , will the energies sum to induce immediate tpip . the picosecond pulse sheet thickness and collimation is constrained to an irradiance limitation below the irradiance induced damage threshold of the photopolymer materials . the optimal theoretical light delivery system working in conjunction with the optimal chemical and hardware configuration facilitates a process capable of high volume production of polymer - based micro - structures with the unprecedented combination of three - dimensional complexity , feature size resolution , and volume throughput . several conceptual tpip projection poof design configurations for mass production are depicted in the drawings that include designs for rapid prototyping or rapid manufacturing of polymer or polymer - derived - ceramic microstructures and a design for high resolution rapid prototyping of micro - feature build resolution of macrostructures to fully optimize the overall throughput of this system an optional hardware addition to the overall system is realized by incorporating a magnet that creates a thin , sheet - like , magnetic field across the pulsed light intersection region also called the fabrication region . it is known that photopolymers located in a moderate magnetic field can have an increase in the overall photoefficiency of the photopolymerization process . however , no prior art in the field of stereolithography or tpip configurations has incorporated a thin magnetic field into the focal region of the incoming light . increasing the overall photoefficiency of the process results in either lower pulse power requirements to achieve tpip or an increase in the overall fabrication throughput of the process . fig1 - 3 depict a typical set - up , which is denoted as a whole by the reference numeral 10 . conveyor system 12 carries container 14 through the fabrication region . as mentioned above , at least part of container 14 is optically transparent . the depicted conveyor system includes a sprocketed belt 16 that makes a continuous path of travel around sprocket pulleys 18 a , 18 b that are longitudinally spaced apart from one another and which are respectively supported by vibration isolation base members 19 a , 19 b having support legs 20 a , 20 b . optically flat glass tracks 22 provide a guided path for container 14 through the fabrication region is itself supported by base members 21 a , 21 b and support legs 23 a , 23 b . of course , the art of machine design includes numerous equivalent structures for carrying a container along a predetermined path of travel and all of such equivalent structures are within the scope of this invention . the femtosecond pulsed laser is denoted 24 and the picosecond pulsed laser is denoted 26 . the spatial light modulation ( slm ) projection system associated with femtosecond pulsed laser 24 is denoted 28 and the femtosecond pulsed laser 24 illuminated projection optics is denoted 30 . the femtosecond pulsed laser images projected by slm projection system 28 are denoted 32 . these images are also referred to as the image source light . the flat sheet of picosecond pulsed laser light is denoted 34 is illuminated by the picosecond pulsed laser denoted 26 and formed by the sheet of light optics denoted 35 . the intersection where the synchronized laser pulses meet , i . e ., where images 32 meet flat sheet 34 , is denoted 36 . intersection 36 is the fabrication region . thin magnet 38 is positioned in an inclined plane and intersects fabrication region 36 . the structure diagrammatically depicted in fig4 and 5 differs from the structure of fig1 - 3 in that no magnet 38 is provided in this embodiment . in all other respects , the structure is the same as indicated by the reference numerals , which are common to fig1 - 5 . a third embodiment is depicted in fig6 and 7 . most of the functional parts are the same as in the first two embodiments as indicated by the common reference numerals . however , instead of a relatively small container 14 that contains the photoreactive material , a large vat 40 contains said material . vertical lifting platform 42 is positioned inside said large vat and suitable means are provided for elevating said platform 42 in increments that correspond to the vertical height of the fabrication region 36 as the inventive method is performed . vat 42 is supported by a dual axis translation system that includes rigid arms 44 , 46 disposed at a right angle relative to one another at the base of vat 42 , externally of said vat . translation of vat 42 along an x - axis is controlled by arm 44 , along a y - axis by arm 46 , and along a z - axis by vertical lifting platform 42 . the z - axis is perpendicular to the plane of the paper in fig7 . in this way the photoreactive material is moved through fabrication region 36 as vat 40 is translated along said axes under the control of a computer . it will be seen that the advantages set forth above , and those made apparent from the foregoing description , are efficiently attained and since certain changes may be made in the above construction without departing from the scope of the invention , it is intended that all matters contained in the foregoing description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense . it is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described , and all statements of the scope of the invention which , as a matter of language , might be said to fall therebetween . now that the invention has been described ,	1
fig1 illustrates is shown a block diagram of the touch based input system 10 including a crt display 12 . a transparent pressure sensitive touch panel 14 is attached onto the surface of crt display 12 . touch panel 14 is touched by a user and the touch is detected by touch detection circuit 18 . a detection signal corresponding to the position of the touched input point is output from touch detection circuit 18 in a controller 16 . the detected signal from touch detection circuit 20 is input to an x - y detection circuit 20 . x - y detection circuit 20 processes the input signal and performs an arithmetic operation or the like . thus , the x - y detection circuit 20 detects the ( x , y ) coordinates of the input point touched on the surface of touch panel 14 and transmits such information to cpu 22 . touch panel detection circuit 18 , x - y detection circuit 20 and the cpu 22 combine to form controller 16 . controller 16 performs the control in accordance with the control program stored in program rom 26 in memory 24 . rom section in memory 24 includes program rom 26 in which the control program of cpu 22 is stored and pattern data area to store various kinds of character patterns or the like . ram section 28 of memory 24 includes a ram portion which is used as a work area of cpu 22 and a character position data area 30 to store display positions of character patterns and the like . specifically , in fig2 touch panel 14 is an electronic input device such as an electronic sketch pad , liveboard or whiteboard which employs a working surface and may employ a plurality of accessible functions 40 as is shown . the working surface is the upper area 36 of touch panel 14 and the accessible functions 40 are positioned at the bottom area 38 of touch panel 14 . these functions 40 may include new operation ( draw mode ), delete , move , shrink and so on . alternatively , these functions can be accessed by a pop - up menu . these functions however are optional in designation , their principal objects being to define operations which are inherent in the operation of the system . these functions may share the some of the same functions that are represented by many designated command gestures . a suitable user manipulable control or interacting device such as a stylus or light lo pen or the like 42 is employed to draw input symbols , select functions or draw gestures representative of specified functions . obviously , other variants within the skill of the art may be employed . in fig2 the user has created objects 34 and has selected these objects by drawing a circle 32 around them . a drawing editing application which incorporates the present invention by making use of the following user operations is illustrated in fig3 ( a ) and 3 ( b ). these operations are based on the system procedures set forth in appendix a . user actions are shown as encircled by rounded figures and computer implemented decisions and functions are shown in diamond and rectangle figures . the sequence of operations is as follows . referring to fig3 ( a ), as indicated by inactive block 50 touch panel 14 remains inactive until a signal is sensed from a user &# 39 ; s action . a user has the option of touching any of the accessible functions ( to print e . g . or to call up a pop - up menu ) or touching the upper area of the touch panel 14 to activate it . this option is defined as selecting a new operation 52 i . e ., operation x . it is noted that the touch panel 14 is by default in the draw mode under the control structure . should the user desire to draw objects on touch panel 14 he / she may do so at user action fig5 . these objects drawn are detected at block 55 and then stored and displayed . when the user desires to manipulate the objects drawn by performing some desired function , he / she may retrieve i . e ., &# 34 ; call &# 34 ; a pop - up menu at user action fig6 . this menu can be a pull - down or pie type . the menu may be called , for example , by exerting pressure on the stylus , if the stylus is of the type that outputs a pressure responsive signal . at diamond 64 , the system then detects whether the menu can be completely fit at the current location of the stylus . if the menu is completely displayed , the user may remove the stylus from the touch panel 14 at user action fig6 . at decision diamond 68 the system determines if the stylus is over a menu item before removal . if the stylus is over the an item then the command associated with the item is executed at block 69 and the system returns to inactive status . if the stylus is not over a menu item then the menu is removed at block 70 and the system returns to inactive status . if the system detects that the menu does not fit at the current location , the user is presented with a guide display 66 , i . e ., a visible adjustment path on the display from the current location where only a portion of the menu can be displayed to a new location where the menu can be displayed in full . in one system version , the user may then follow the path with the stylus 42 to the displayed new location . see fig4 ( a )-( c ). in this version , the system detects the movement along the path . in another system version , the user may remove the stylus 42 and place it at the displayed new location . in either version , the system detects when the stylus 42 reaches the new location , and the menu is redisplayed in full at the new location 74 . that is , the menu is translated or transposed to the displayed new location . in a variation , the menu may be dragged from the old stylus location as the user moves the stylus to the new location . in another embodiment as is shown in fig5 ( a ) and 5 ( b ), the menu pops - up at a location where it does fit , and the user is provided with an adjustment path from where the user is originally pointing to the menu . in both embodiments however , when the menu is displayed at the indicated new location , the user has the option of selecting an item for execution or removing the menu by moving the stylus away from the menu with invoking an operation . in essence , the user can act from a point onward as if the menu had popped up there in the first place . if however the user does not follow the path within some predetermined distance thereof then the system will remove the menu at at block 73 and the user may continue with the operation at user action fig5 . in all embodiments , a message at the end of the path can be displayed such as &# 34 ; move here &# 34 ; to indicate where the user must move the stylus to translate the menu . a similar technique can be applied to issuing commands by gestural marks . gestures , like menus , don &# 39 ; t work well when the user is too close to the edge of the display and a direct , absolute pointing device is used . fig3 ( b ) illustrates the technique using gestural commands . the description concerning the same flowchart figures shown in fig3 ( a ) is incorporated herein . if the user desires to perform an operation on given objects by drawing a gesture , but such objects are too close to the edge of the display , then the user draws an adjustment prefix at user action fig7 which has some spatial relationship with the object intended to be operated on . the adjustment prefix is a command to create a surrogate object or symbol which represents the original object , such that any gesture on the surrogate has the same effect on the original object . once the prefix is drawn , it is detected at block 80 and a surrogate symbol is created at block 82 at the end of the prefix . the prefix should be drawn at a location lo where the desired gesture can be drawn in full . once the surrogate symbol is created , with the stylus 42 positioned over the surrogate symbol , the user may draw 84 any desired gesture . the gesture is then detected at block 86 and executed at block 88 to effect the desired operation on the original objects . fig4 ( a )-( c ) illustrate the preferred embodiment of the present invention as described above when used with a pop - up menu . fig4 ( a ) shows the menu partially displayed including the adjustment path and information message indicating where to move the stylus so that the menu will fit fully on the display . in fig4 ( b ) the user moves the stylus along the path to the new location . however , in another system version , the user can remove the stylus from the display and place it directly at the new location . after the user has moved the stylus to the indicated new location , the menu is redisplayed , i . e ., transposed to the new location under the stylus , and the user can proceed as normal with the use of the menu . this is shown in fig4 ( c ). fig5 ( a ) and 5 ( b ) shows another embodiment of the present invention used with the menu as described above . in fig5 ( a ) when the stylus is positioned in a remote region of the display such as a corner and the user calls a menu , the menu is fully displayed at a location where it fits . in addition , an adjustment path is displayed guiding the user to move to the menu . when the stylus is moved to the menu , the adjustment path disappears and the user can proceed as normal in the use of the menu . fig6 ( a ) and 6 ( b ) show the adjustment path as implemented using a pop - up pie menu . here the user causes the pie - menu to become visible by holding the stylus down on the touch panel 14 . fig6 ( a ) shows the pie menu partially displayed including an adjustment path to a location , namely a black circle 100 , where the menu will completely fit . fig6 ( b ) shows the menu redisplayed in full at circle 100 after the user moves to the new location . fig7 ( a )-( d ) illustrate the adjustment prefix technique for adjusting the location of a gesture on an object close to the edge of the touch panel 14 . specifically , in fig7 ( a ) the user desires to perform operations on the selected object 112 , i . e . the handwritten words &# 34 ; some text &# 34 ; on the touch panel 14 . however , such text is located at a peripheral or remote region of the touch panel 14 where a gesture cannot be completely drawn . therefore , the user may draw a line , i . e ., the user may draw an adjustment prefix 110 extending from objects 112 to a location where the gesture can fully fit . the line contains a black dot 116 at the location where the gesture can fully fit . once the adjustment prefix gesture is drawn , the system detects the prefix , i . e ., the black dot 116 as a command for creating a surrogate symbol for the information located at the opposite end of the line segment . this is shown in fig7 ( b ). at this stage , the stylus 42 is directly over black dot 116 . the user may effect operations on the text 114 by drawing gestures at black dot 116 . in fig7 ( c ) the user applies a deletion gesture , i . e ., a pigtail to the black dot 116 to the northeast . this causes the deletion command to be applied to the original text object . the result is shown in fig7 ( d ). although the invention has been described with reference to preferred embodiments , it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that variations and modifications are contemplated within the spirit and scope of the invention . the lo drawings and description of the preferred embodiments are made by way of example rather than to limit the scope of the invention , and it is intended to cover within the spirit and scope of the invention all such changes and modifications . ______________________________________appendix a______________________________________the procedure for translating graphial menus with directtouch input : repeat { wait for user to touch panelif menu is not requestedhandle non - menu commandelseif menu will fit at current pen location display menu at current pen location handle selection from menu based on current pen locationelse determine the amount to move the menu so it fits save the current pen location display the menu moved the determined amount compute path and sign indicator display the path and sign handle selection from menu based on saved locationit is noted that &# 34 ; handle selection from menu based onlocation &# 34 ; is a subprocedure that tracks the pen tip on the screenand highlites the menu item being pointed to until the pen is liftedfrom the screen . it then executes the menu item last selected , ifany . when the menu item is executed the system takes intoaccount &# 34 ; location &# 34 ; ( e . g ., it may apply the menu item to the objectat &# 34 ; location &# 34 ;). the procedure for translating gestural commands with directtouch input : repeat { wait for user to touch panelif command mode is not gesturehandle non - gestural commandelsewhile ( pen is not lifted ) track pen to accumulate gestureif gesture is the prefix symbol create the surrogate object according to prefixelse if gesture is a command in the prefix apply the command to the objects pointed to by the prefixelse the gesture is some other command , execute it . ______________________________________	6
a novel apparatus , mold or machine constructed in accordance with this invention is generally designated by the reference numeral 10 ( fig1 - 4 ), and includes four identical mold sections 11 , 12 , 13 and 14 . the mold sections 11 - 14 are mounted for reciprocal sliding movement upon respective arms or cross arms 15 , 16 , 17 , and 18 of a table 20 ( fig3 ) between an open position ( fig1 and 4 ) and a closed position ( fig2 and 3 ). each mold section 11 - 14 ( fig4 ) carries three generally identical mold or matrix segments , namely , matrix segments 21 - 23 carried by the mold section 12 , matrix segments 24 - 26 carried by the mold section 13 , matrix segments 27 - 29 carried by the mold section 14 , and matrix segments 30 - 32 carried by the mold section 15 . all matrix segments 21 - 23 are in generally spaced relationship from each other ( fig4 ) when the mold sections 12 - 15 are open and are moved circumferentially closer to each other and radially inwardly when the mold sections 12 - 15 are moved from the open position ( fig4 and 18 ) to the closed position ( fig2 and 19 ). each of the matrix segments 21 - 32 carries six pairs of pitches , elements or inserts 41 - 46 ( fig4 , 18 and 19 ) in which only the pitch pairs 41 - 46 associated with the matrix segment 22 of the mold section 12 have been individually numbered . however , it is to be understood that the remaining matrix segments 21 and 23 - 32 each includes six pairs of such pitches 41 - 46 , as will be described more fully hereinafter . furthermore , the pairs of pitches 41 - 46 of the matrix segment 22 are rigidly , though releasably , clamped together by a matrix segment clamp or clamping assembly 35 , and a like , though unnumbered clamping assembly 35 is associated with the remaining matrix segments 21 and 23 - 32 to rigidly secure the pairs of pitches 41 - 46 therein . accordingly , seventy - two pairs of pitches 41 - 46 or six pairs of pitches 41 - 46 per matrix segment 21 - 32 defines an annular mold or matrix cavity 40 , as is best illustrated in fig3 and visualized in fig1 and 4 . it is within the annular matrix or mold cavity 40 that a tire t ( fig3 ) is positioned with its beads b , b aligned by an associated tire aligning or centering hub 50 carried by a hub centering post 51 supported by the table 20 . thus , in the closed position of the mold 10 , including the four mold sections 11 - 14 thereof , the tire 10 is subjected to heat and / or pressure in a conventional manner to mold the tire t , be it a new tire or a retread tire . after the molding operation the mold 10 and specifically the mold sections 11 - 14 are moved from the closed position ( fig2 ) to the open position ( fig1 and 4 ) to permit the removal of the tire t therefrom . the specifics of the mold 10 will now be described particularly with respect to the mold section 12 , and this description is equally applicable to the identical mold sections 11 , 13 and 14 . the mold section 12 is mounted upon the cross arm 16 of the table 20 for reciprocal sliding movement toward and away from the centering post 51 , and the construction thereof will be best understood by reference to fig3 , 6 , 7 and 9 of the drawings . the cross arm 16 is a generally inverted u - shaped steel beam 52 which is welded ( not shown ) to a diagonal brace 53 , ( fig3 ) and to a vertical leg 54 . the brace 53 and the leg 54 are also welded to each other and the leg 54 is in turn welded to a foot or pad 55 ( fig3 ). a generally square - shaped guide bar 56 of wear - resistant metal is welded to the steel beam 52 . a generally inverted u - shaped outer segment guide 57 and a similarly contoured inner segment guide 58 , each constructed from wear resistant metal , are in spaced relationship to each other ( fig3 ) and are each in straddled relationship to the guide bar 56 . the segment guides 57 , 58 are each adjustably connected to a web 61 of an inverted u - shaped guide channel or guide beam 59 . two hexhead bolts and locknuts 62 and two headless set screws and hexhead locknuts 63 secure the segment guides 57 , 58 to the web 61 of the guide channel 59 . essentially the set screws and hexhead bolts pass freely through bores ( not shown ) in the web 61 and are threaded in threaded bores ( not shown ) of the segment guides 57 , 58 . with the locknuts loose , the hexhead bolts and headless set screws can be threaded or unthreaded as need be to adjust the planar disposition of the web 61 and all components carried thereby including , of course , the mold section 12 . a bushing plate 64 , ( fig5 and 7 ) having an opening ( unnumbered ) therethrough is welded to the web 61 and a generally rectangular wear plate 65 is also welded or bolted to the web 61 in underlying sliding relationship to a wear plate 66 of a generally rectangular configuration ( fig6 ) bolted to an underside of a generally arcuate bottom sidewall plate 70 which is of a three - ply composite construction , as is best illustrated in fig8 . the bottom sidewall plate 70 ( fig8 ) is formed of an arcuate steel plate 71 , an arcuate tempered hardboard plate ( masonite ) 72 and an arcuate sheet of glass cloth 73 sandwiched between the steel plate 71 and the tempered hardboard plate 72 . a plurality of holes 74 ( fig6 ) passed through the bottom sidewall plate and receive hexhead bolts 75 therein . three other openings ( unnumbered ) arcuately spaced from each other each receive a hexhead bolt 76 which carries a cam roller 77 . the bolts 75 secure a heater , heater unit or heater assembly 80 against the dense tempered hardboard plate 72 of the bottom sidewall plate 70 , as is most readily apparent from fig5 and 7 of the drawings . the heater 80 is formed by an inside metallic ring 81 in radially spaced relationship to an outside metallic ring 82 between which are sandwiched and welded an upper metallic band 83 and the lower metallic band 84 . opposite end plates 85 , 86 ( fig1 ) are welded to the plates 81 - 84 and collectively define therewith an arcuate steam chamber 87 having steam inlet / outlet ports 88 at opposite ends thereof for circulating steam in a conventional manner through the steam chamber 87 . a plurality of grease fittings 89 are connected to the heater 80 and ports or bores 91 thereof open through an inner circumferential or arcuate surface 90 of the metallic ring 81 to lubricate the same and facilitate circumferential sliding therealong of the matrix segments 21 - 23 , as will be more apparent hereinafter . a circumferential sheet of insulation 92 is sandwiched between the outside ring 82 of the heater 80 and a circumferential retaining ring 95 to which is welded a pair of identical triangular gusset plates 96 in turn bridged by and welded to a base plate 97 having an opening ( unnumbered ) aligned with the opening ( also unnumbered ) of the bushing plate 64 . a pivot pin 98 is slidably received in the bore ( unnumbered ) of the base plate 97 , the bore ( unnumbered ) of the bushing plate 64 and a bore ( also unnumbered ) in the web 61 of the guide channel 59 . in this fashion the entire mold section 12 can pivot about a vertical axis through the pivot pin 90 during open and closing motion of the mold sections 11 - 14 . a pair of plates 99 , 99 are welded to the bushing plate 64 and removably receive a pin 100 which prevents the entire mold section 12 from being lifted vertically from the arm 16 . after each of the four heaters or heater sections 80 have been secured by the bolts 75 in upstanding relationship to the bottomside of wall plate 70 of each of the mold sections 12 - 15 , each of the matrix segments 21 - 32 is assembled by selecting pairs of pitches 41 - 46 and securing the same together by the clamps or clamp assemblies 35 in a manner which will be most readily apparent with respect to fig1 - 19 of the drawings . each clamp assembly 35 is formed by a pair of identical mirror image clamp bars , namely , a lower clamp bar 35l and an upper clamp bar 35u . the &# 34 ; l &# 34 ; and &# 34 ; u &# 34 ; designations are utilized simply to indicate that the clamp bar 35l is positioned most closely adjacent the bottom sidewall plate 70 at the lower side or bottom of the annular matrix cavity 40 , as viewed from above in fig5 whereas the clamp bar 35u is the higher or upper clamp bar relative to the matrix cavity 40 . each of the clamp bars 35l , 35u is of a generally arcuate configuration ( fig1 ) and is set - off by an outer circumferential surface 101 , an inner circumferential surface 102 , outer peripheral surface 103 , an inner peripheral surface 104 , and opposite end faces or surfaces 105 . cylindrical bores 106 are formed in each of the clamp bars 35l , 35u and open through one of the end surfaces 105 . circumferential and radial saw cuts 107 , 110 open the bore 106 through the surface 102 of each clamp bar 35l , 35u and set - off therebetween clamping legs 108 , 109 . socket head cap screws 111 pass freely through openings ( fig1 ) in each of the legs 109 and are received in threaded bores in each of the legs 108 which function to clamp within each bore 106 a spring - biasing mechanism 115 for spacing adjacent matrix segments 21 - 32 away from each other when the mold sections 12 - 15 are opened , as will be described more fully hereinafter . the outer peripheral surface 103 of each clamp bar 35l , 35u includes a generally rectangular recess 112 adjacent each end face 105 , and a generally elongated through - slot 113 which is located generally centrally of each recess 112 . a bolt 114 ( fig1 ) passes through each of the through slots 113 and opposite threaded end portions ( unnumbered ) receive spacers 115 and threaded nuts 116 for clamping the pairs of pitches 41 - 46 between the clamp bars 35l , 35u . the inner peripheral surfaces 104 of the clamp bars 35l , 35u also have generally arcuate grooves 117 which open in opposing relationship to each other ( fig5 and 13 ) and receive therein ribs associated with upper pitches 41l - 46l and lower pitches 41u - 46u , the pairs of pitches 41 - 46 , as will be described more fully hereinafter . each spring - biasing mechanism 115 ( fig1 ) includes a cylindrical housing 121 which houses a compression spring 122 between a retaining slit pin 123 and an enlarged end portion 124 of a spring cap 125 having an end portion 126 projecting outwardly of an opening 127 of the housing 121 . each spring - biasing mechanism 115 is slid into an associated one of the bores 106 after which the socket head cap screws 111 ( fig1 ) are tightened to draw the legs 107 , 108 closer to each other and thereby tightly grip the cylindrical housing 121 . the cylindrical housing 121 can be clamped within the bore 106 in numerous positions which is dictated by desired spacing between the segments 21 - 32 which in turn is dictated by the particular diameter / circumference of the tire t which is molded in the mold cavity 40 . one or more radial bores 128 ( fig1 and 18 ) are formed in the inner circumferential surface 102 and these may be threaded or plain to receive threaded or plain stop pins 129 which cooperate with the cam roller 77 ( fig6 ) of each bottom ( and top ) sidewall plate 70 to limit circumferential movement of the matrix segments 21 - 32 relative to their associated mold sections 12 - 15 or selectively prevent any such circumferential motion , as will be described more fully hereinafter . however , as an example thereafter , in fig4 and 18 it will be seen that the matrix segments 21 , 22 and 23 are in their open position spaced from each other by the projecting end portions 126 of the spring - biasing mechanisms 115 with each outer circumferential surface 101 being in abutting circumferential sliding engagement with the lubricated circumferential surface 90 of the associated heater 80 . one stop pin 129 of the matrix segment 21 contacts the left - most cam roller 77 of the mold section 12 which prevents the matrix segment 21 from moving further to the left beyond the position shown in fig4 and 18 under the influence of the spring - biasing mechanisms 115 between the matrix segments 21 , 22 . likewise a stop pin 129 of the matrix segment 23 ( fig4 ) contacts the right - most cam roller 77 of the mold section 12 which prevents the matrix segment 23 from moving further to the right beyond the position illustrated in fig4 under the influence of the spring - biasing mechanisms 115 between the matrix segments 22 , 23 . finally , two stop pins 129 ( fig4 and 18 ) embrace the centermost cam roller 77 of the mold section 12 and essentially prevents circumferential sliding movement of the matrix segment 22 except for extremely limited distances , both to the left and to the right in fig1 , in this case under the influence of the spring - biasing mechanisms 115 between the matrix segments 21 , 22 and the matrix segments 22 , 23 . thus , the matrix segments 21 - 23 are automatically circumferentially moved away from each other under the influence of the springs 122 ( fig1 ) of the spring - biasing mechanisms 115 when the mold sections 12 - 15 move from the closed to the open positions thereof . the pair of pitches 46 will be described with particular reference to fig1 , 16 , 17 and 19 , and the description thereof is applicable to the pairs of essentially identical pitches 41 - 45 except for specific circumferential or lengthwise dimensions which differ in a manner to be described more fully hereinafter . the upper pitch 46u and the lower pitch 46l of the pair of pitches 46 each includes respective outer circumferential surfaces 131u , 131l ; each traversed by an outwardly opening u - shaped slot or channel 129u , 129l ; respective inner circumferential surfaces 132u , 132l ; respective outer annular surfaces 133u , 133l ; respective inner annular surfaces 134u , 134l ; respective medial circumferential abutting surfaces 135u , 135l ; and radial plane or pitch plane abutting surfaces 136u , 137u ; 136l , 137l . the outer annular surfaces 133u , 133l each includes an arcuate rib 148 which accurately locates in the arcuate groove 117 of the associated clamping bar 35u , 35l ( fig1 ). the medial circumferential abutting surface 135u of the pitch 46u has an arcuate rib 141 which is received in an arcuate groove 142 of the pitch 46l ( fig1 ). the interengaged ribs 148 , 141 with the associated grooves 117 , 142 assures that the pitches 46u , 46l , as well as the remaining pair of identically constructed pitches 41 - 45 , are accurately maintained in precise relationship when releasably secured together by the clamping bar assembly 35 associated therewith . the inner circumferential surface 132u , 132l of all of the pairs of pitches 41 - 46 carried by all of the matrix segments 21 - 32 collectively define the annular mold or matrix cavity 40 ( fig1 ) and the particular tread configuration or pattern 60 thereof . in fig1 , 16 and 19 , the inner circumferential surface 132u is defined by an outermost land 143 , an adjacent upstanding zig - zag shaped mold rib 144 having an upper face in which are located four upwardly opening generally rectangular recesses 145 , a medial land 146 , an inner most zig - zag upstanding mold rib 147 having generally rectangular upwardly opening recesses 148 and an innermost land 149 . when the tire t is molded , either as a new tire or a retread tire in the mold cavity 40 , the lands 143 , 146 , 149 of all of the pairs of pitches 41 - 46 of all of the matrix segments 21 - 32 define the treads or lugs of the tire t whereas the tire grooves are formed by the mold ribs 144 , 147 . an extremely important aspect of the present invention is the manner in which all circumferentially adjacent lands 143 , 146 , 147 and all circumferentially adjacent ribs 144 , 147 match across a radial plane or pitch plane ( generally p -- p of fig1 ) passing through and / or defined by the abutting radial or pitch abutting surfaces 136u , 136l of one of the pairs of pitches 41 - 46 which abuts the pitch surfaces 137u , 137l of any of the other pairs of pitches 41 - 46 . in the example of the invention illustrated in fig1 , there are five pitch planes p -- p , and for ready reference , the pitch planes between the pairs of pitches 41 , 42 are designated as the pitch plane p41 , 42 -- p41 , 42 ; the pitch plane between the pairs of pitches 42 , 43 by the pitch plane designation p42 , 43 -- p42 , 43 , etc . since the pitch plane abutting surfaces 136u , 136l ; 137u , 137l are not parallel ( see fig1 , 16 , 17 and 18 ), the various pitch planes p41 , 42 - p41 , 42 through p45 , 46 -- p45 , 46 are not parallel to each other but they generally merge at an axis a ( fig4 and 18 ) of the matrix cavity 40 when the mold sections 12 - 15 are closed . three parallel circumferential planes ( fig1 ) which are normal to the axis a of the matrix cavity 40 are designated as the planes pu1 -- pu1 ; pu2 -- pu2 ; and pu3 -- pu3 . the planes pu1 -- pu1 and pu3 -- pu3 are shown intersecting each of the pitch planes p41 , 42 -- p41 , 42 through p45 , 46 -- p45 , 46 at the matching points or lines of contact pm1 of one side of the mold ribs 44 while the plane pu3 -- pu3 likewise passes through like matching points / lines of contact pm2 at the lower side of the mold ribs 144 , as viewed in fig9 . the plane pu2 -- pu2 passes generally symetrically through all of the upwardly opening rectangular recesses 145 , and these planes pu1 -- pu1 through pu3 -- pu3 evidence the manner in which irrespective of the irregular or angular nature of the mold ribs 144 , all pitches 41u - 46u match at each of the pitch planes p41 , 42 -- p41 , 42 through p45 , 46 -- p45 , 46 , and this matching across these pitch planes occurs not only when the pairs of pitches 41 - 46 are positioned in the exact adjacent relationship as shown in fig1 , but also if any of these pitches are reoriented relative to each other or exchanged for a different pitch , as will be more apparent hereinafter . furthermore , this interchangeability is significant because each pitch 41u , 41l through 46u , 46l of each pair of pitches 41 - 46 is of a different circumferential length ( generally l in fig1 ) as measured normal to and between the pitch surfaces 136u , 137u of the pitches 41u - 46u and 136l , 137l of the pitches 41l - 46l with the specific distances being respectively designated as l41 - l46 . the manner in which the pairs of pitches 41 - 46 are selected and associated with the various matrix segments 21 - 32 to mold tires t of different diameters / circumferences within the mold 10 will be described subsequently herein . after the matrix segments 21 - 23 , 24 - 26 , 27 - 29 and 31 - 32 have been clamped together by the clamping assemblies 35 and placed in the respective mold sections 12 - 15 ( fig4 ), each mold section 21 - 32 is closed by a top sidewall plate 150 which is of a construction generally identical to the bottom sidewall plate 70 , and therefore identical , through primed , reference numerals have been applied thereto . as is best illustrated in fig1 after each of the top sidewall plates 150 has been positioned above the matrix segments associated with each mold section 12 - 15 , each top sidewall plate 150 is fastened to its associated mold section 12 - 15 by a retaining bar 151 ( fig1 , 20 and 21 ) defined by a base plate 152 having a central notch 153 and axially opposite openings 154 . a handle plate 155 having a hand grip and hoist hook engaging opening 156 is welded to the base plate 152 . bolts 157 pass through the openings 154 and are threaded into threaded bores 158 , 159 ( fig2 and 24 , respectively ) of respective piston rod retainer brackets 160 and fluid cylinder retainer brackets 170 carried one each at circumferentially opposite ends of each retaining ring 95 by being welded thereto . each piston rod retainer bracket 160 includes a pair of side plates 161 , 162 ( fig2 and 23 ) bridged by a face plate 163 welded thereto and having a threaded bore 164 . each of the side plates 161 has one of the threaded bores 158 formed therein to receive one of the bolts 157 . the threaded bore 164 threadly receives a threaded end portion ( unnumbered ) of a fluid motor piston rod 181 of a fluid motor cylinder 182 of a fluid motor 180 carried by each of the fluid cylinder retaining brackets 170 . each fluid cylinder retaining bracket 170 includes side plates 171 , 172 and a face plate 173 secured therebetween to which is connected the fluid motor cylinder 182 . the side plates 171 of each fluid cylinder retaining bracket 170 includes one of the threaded bores 159 ( fig2 and 24 ) for receiving one of the bolts 157 . fluid in the form of liquid or gas from an appropriate source is controllably delivered to the cylinders 182 and exhausted therefrom through appropriate regulating valves to simultaneously move the mold sections 11 - 14 from the open ( fig1 and 4 ) to the closed ( fig2 and 3 ) positions and vice versa during which time the mold sections 11 - 14 slide along the respective cross arms 15 - 18 . the tire t must be accurately centered relative to the matrix cavity 40 , particularly if the matrix cavity 40 is increased in width in a manner to be described more fully hereinafter . however , irrespective of such increase in matrix cavity width , means generally designated by the reference numeral 190 ( fig3 and 26 ) is associated with the hub centering post 51 and the tire centering hub 50 ( fig3 ) to achieve accurate location of the tire t within the matrix cavity 40 , namely , a medial plane through the tire t is coincident to the medial plane pm ( fig5 and 19 ). the tire centering / aligning mechanism 190 includes a mounting channel 191 having legs 192 , 193 welded to the hub centering post 51 . a web 194 has a central opening ( unnumbered ) which matches an opening ( not shown ) in the center of a circular rotatable selector disk 195 having a handle 196 and a plurality of bolts 201 - 204 threaded into threaded bores ( not shown ) of a periphery of the disk 195 . a spring - biased ball detent locking mechanism 205 is carried by the web 194 and its ball ( unnumbered ) can selectively mate with a plurality of recesses 206 of the disk 205 . the heads of the bolts 201 - 204 project different distances away from the peripheral surface ( unnumbered ) of the disk 195 and , if required , can be threaded or unthreaded for further minor adjustment . an individual one of the bolts 201 - 204 can be positioned at the twelve o &# 39 ; clock position shown in fig3 and 26 which in fig2 is occupied by the bolt 201 . an edge 211 of a hub supporting tube 212 of the tire centering hub 50 ( fig3 ) rests upon whichever of the bolts 201 - 204 is at the twelve o &# 39 ; clock position . thus , by rotating the disk 195 and placing any one of the bolts 201 - 204 in the twelve o &# 39 ; clock position ( fig3 and 26 ) the edge 211 of the hub supporting tube 212 can be selectively elevated or lowered to accurately support the tire centering hub 50 in such a manner that a center plane through the tire t corresponds to the plane pm of the matrix cavity 40 , as shown in fig3 . the hub supporting tube 212 is connected by a plurality of radial ribs or spiders 213 ( fig1 ) to a central cylindrical sleeve 214 . a bottom rim half 215 is welded to the central sleeve 214 while an upper rim half 216 is removably and adjustably secured to the central rim portion 214 . a normally closed valve 217 is connected to a line 218 which is placed in fluid communication with a suitable source of compressed air . the tire t , after being buffed and built - up , is placed over the bottom rim half 215 which forms an airtight seal with the bottom tire bead b and the top rim half 216 is then placed over the cylindrical rim portion 214 and conventionally locked thereto which automatically opens the valve 217 and pressurizes the interior of the tire t . the matrix cavity 40 is closed by the rods 181 being retracted into the cylinders 182 drawing the mold sections 12 - 15 circumferentially toward each other which also slides the mold sections 12 - 15 radially inwardly along the respective arms 15 through 18 , as is readily apparent from fig1 and 2 . moreover , the circumferential closing of the mold sections 12 - 15 slides the matrix segments 21 - 32 relatively circumferentially against the bias of the springs 122 of the mechanisms 115 until all pitch surfaces 136u , 136l and / or 137u , 137l of all endmost pairs of pitches 41 - 47 of all segments 21 - 32 are brought into intimate abutting relationship to close the matrix cavity 40 . after a predetermined time period the sections 21 - 32 are opened , the entire tire centering hub 50 and the tire t is lifted from the mold by a hoist or the like , the hub 50 is disassembled and the process is repeated . it will be assumed for the purposes of the description of the operation of the mold 10 that the annular mold or matrix cavity 40 has been made to a median matrix tread diameter of 421 / 4 &# 34 ; which is a circumference of approximately 132 . 732 &# 34 ; requiring 33 . 1830 &# 34 ; of mold cavity circumference per each mold section 11 - 14 which in turn is 11 . 061 &# 34 ; per each matrix segment 21 - 32 . the pitch lengths l41 - l46 are respectively 2 . 2853 &# 34 ;, 1 . 4999 &# 34 ;, 2 . 0889 &# 34 ;, 1 . 5981 &# 34 ;, 1 . 8926 &# 34 ;, and 1 . 6962 &# 34 ; or a total of 11 . 061 &# 34 ;. therefore by assembling the pitches 41 - 46 of fig1 t o form the matrix segment 22 in the manner described and identically placing identical pairs of pitches 41 - 46 in the remaining matrix segments 21 and 23 - 32 , the twelve segments multiplied by 11 . 061 &# 34 ; per segment equals the circumference of 132 . 732 &# 34 ; and , of course , the latter divided by π equal a tread diameter of 42 . 2499 or 421 / 4 &# 34 ; diameter . while the pitches 41 - 46 of all matrix segments 21 - 32 have been described in the last example as being arranged in the numerically consecutive order of 41 - 46 , as shown in fig1 , these pitches can be arranged in different sequences in each matrix segment . for example , in fig1 the pairs of pitches could be arranged in any sequence , such as 41 , 43 , 42 , 44 , 46 , 45 ; 41 , 42 , 43 , 45 , 46 , 44 ; 43 , 42 , 41 , 46 , 45 , 44 , etc . no matter the sequence of the pitches 41 - 46 , the length or circumference of any sequence of pitch lengths l41 - l46 remains the same , namely , 11 . 061 &# 34 ;. furthermore , no matter the sequence of the pitches , all abut at the pitch planes ( generally p -- p ) and the tread patterns at all the pitch planes p -- p are perfectly matched circumferentially , as is visually evident from fig1 , particularly relative to the planes pu1 -- pu1 , pu2 -- pu2 , pl4 -- pl4 , etc . it will now be assumed that the mold 10 is to be converted from the 421 / 4 &# 34 ; tire diameter matrix 40 to a larger tire diameter matrix , for example , a tire diameter of 423 / 4 &# 34 ;. obviously the bolts 157 are removed and each top sidewall plate 150 is also removed to expose the interior of each of the mold sections 12 - 15 and the segments 21 - 32 thereof , as is shown in fig4 . in order to reduce mold conversion time and associated down - time , it is obviously preferable to alter as few of the matrix segments 21 - 32 and the pairs of pitches 41 - 46 thereof , as is possible when converting from the 421 / 2 &# 34 ; diameter matrix to the 423 / 4 &# 34 ; matrix . with this in mind it is preferable to change only one matrix per mold section . accordingly , it will be assumed that only one matrix segment 21 - 32 will be removed from each mold section 12 - 15 , and also preferably an end matrix segment of each mold section is preferably removed because of ease and convenience . accordingly , the matrix segments 22 , 23 will remain in the mold section 12 and only the matrix segment 21 will be removed . similarly , the matrix segments 24 , 27 and 30 will be removed from the respective mold sections 13 , 14 and 15 while the matrix segments 25 , 26 ; 28 , 29 ; and 31 , 32 will remain in the respective mold sections 13 , 14 and 15 . therefore , retained in the mold 40 and left unaltered are eight mold sections each having the earlier noted total length of 11 . 061 &# 34 ; or a total of 88 . 488 &# 34 ;. each of the removed matrix segments 21 , 24 , 27 and 30 will necessarily have the clamp assemblies 35 loosened by appropriately unthreading the nuts 116 associated with the bolts 114 . the pair of pitches 42 will be removed from the sequence of pitches 41 - 46 ( fig1 ) and substituted therefor is another pair of pitches 45 . therefore , the pairs of pitches in each of the matrix segments 21 , 24 , 27 and 30 are 41 , 45 , 43 , 44 , 45 , and 46 . thus in each of the matrix segments 21 , 24 , 27 and 30 , there are no longer a pair of pitches 42 , and instead there are a pair of pitches 45 and the pitches 41 , 43 , 44 and 46 . the total length of each segment 21 , 24 , 27 , 30 is therefore the total of the lengths l41 , l45 , l43 , l44 , l45 , and l46 which equals 11 . 4537 &# 34 ; per matrix segment or a total of 45 . 8148 &# 34 ;. adding 88 . 488 &# 34 ; and 45 . 8148 &# 34 ;, the total is 134 . 3028 &# 34 ; circumference which when divided by π is a tire diameter of 42 . 7499 &# 34 ; or 423 / 4 &# 34 ; diameter . obviously , the nuts 116 are tightened , the matrix segments 21 , 24 , 27 and 30 are repositioned as shown in fig4 and a molding , new tire treading or retreading operation can take place for a 423 / 4 &# 34 ; diameter tire in , of course , the same mold 10 . furthermore , since the thread configuration 60 of the pitches 41 - 46 match across the pitch planes p -- p , the pair of pitches 45 substituted for the pair of pitches 42 and sandwiched between the pairs of pitches 41 , 43 match perfectly with the latter . if it is desired to mold , tread or retread a tire of a diameter smaller than the original 421 / 4 &# 34 ;, this can be readily accomplished by again selectively changing the pitches 41 - 46 . in this case it will be assumed that the mold 10 has the same pitches 41 - 46 as described for the 421 / 4 &# 34 ; diameter matrix , namely , twelve identical pitches each totalling 11 . 061 &# 34 ;. just as in the case of the 421 / 4 &# 34 ; diameter tire , it will also be assumed that eight matrix segments 22 , 23 ; 25 , 26 ; 28 , 29 and 31 , 32 will not be changed thus retaining a total circumferential matrix length of 88 . 488 &# 34 ;. the four matrix segments 21 , 24 , 27 and 30 are again removed , the clamp assemblies 35 loosened , and in each segment 21 , 24 , 27 and 30 the pairs of pitches 43 , including the upper pitch 43u and the lower pitch 43l , are removed and substituted for by a pair of pitches 46 resulting in a sequence of pitches of 41 , 42 , 46 , 44 , 45 and 46 for each of the four segments 21 , 24 , 27 and 30 . the lengths of each segment following this substitution is the total of l41 , l42 , l46 , l44 , l45 and l46 or a total of 10 . 683 &# 34 ; per matrix segment and 42 . 6732 &# 34 ; for the four matrix segments 21 , 24 , 27 and 30 . the total of 88 . 488 &# 34 ; and 42 . 6732 &# 34 ; is 131 . 1612 &# 34 ; circumference which when divided by π is 41 . 7499 &# 34 ; or 413 / 4 &# 34 ; tire diameter . it is again emphasized that though the tire circumference and diameter has again been changed , the tread pattern or configuration 60 matches across all pitches at each pitch plane p -- p . the latter also applies irrespective of the sequence of the pitches , as was earlier noted . in other words , in the last example the pair of pitches 43 was removed and replaced or substituted for by another pair of pitches 46 . thus the sequence of the pitches became 41 , 42 , 46 , 44 , 45 and 46 . however , the sequence could as well be 41 , 46 , 42 , 44 , 45 , 46 ; etc . again , no matter the sequence of the selected pitches , all tread configurations of the tread pattern 60 match across the pitch planes p -- p of adjacent pitches 41 - 46 . though three examples have been given exemplary of the invention , these should not be considered limiting since numerous different diametered tires can be molded by selecting appropriate pitches 41 - 46 . table i lists hereafter diameters increasing and decreasing in 1 / 8 &# 34 ; increments from the median mold diameter of 42 1 / 4 &# 34 ; diameter which allows new tires or retread tires in the range of 41 - 431 / 2 &# 34 ; to be molded in the mold 10 . table i______________________________________mold cavity / tire diameters attainablein median 421 / 4 &# 34 ; matrix diameter ( inches ) circumference ( inches ) ______________________________________maximum 43 . 5 136 . 659 43 . 375 136 . 266 43 . 25 135 . 874 43 . 125 135 . 481 43 135 . 088 42 . 875 134 . 696 42 . 75 134 . 303 42 . 625 133 . 910 42 . 5 133 . 518 42 . 375 133 . 125median 42 . 25 132 . 732 42 . 125 132 . 229 42 131 . 947 41 . 875 131 . 554 41 . 75 131 . 161 41 . 625 130 . 768 41 . 5 130 . 376 41 . 375 129 . 983 41 . 25 129 . 590 41 . 125 129 . 198minimum 41 128 . 805______________________________________ table ii is exemplary of common tires falling in the 41 &# 34 ; to 431 / 2 &# 34 ; diameters . table ii__________________________________________________________________________ diameter tire tread widthsize type pr at 16 / 32 mold cs tire mold__________________________________________________________________________tread diameters from 41 &# 34 ; to 411 / 2 &# 34 ; 11r22 . 5 x 14 41 - 413 / 8 411 / 4 10 . 6 - 11 . 5 7 . 6 - 8 . 5 81 / 811r22 . 5 x 16 411 / 4 - 411 / 2 411 / 2 10 . 6 - 11 . 2 7 . 4 - 8 . 7 81 / 8275 / 80r24 . 5 px . sup . 14 41 - 411 / 4 411 / 4 10 . 7 - 11 7 . 7 - 8 . 5 81 / 810r22 . 5 x 14 411 / 8 - 411 / 2 411 / 4 10 . 6 - 11 . 1 7 . 6 - 8 . 5 71 / 2 - 81 / 810r22 . 5 x 16 411 / 4 - 411 / 2 411 / 2 10 . 6 - 11 . 3 7 . 4 - 8 . 7 71 / 2 - 81 / 810 . 00r20 x 14 411 / 8 - 411 / 2 411 / 4 10 . 7 - 10 . 9 7 . 2 - 8 71 / 2 - 81 / 810 . 00r20 x 16 411 / 4 - 411 / 2 411 / 2 10 . 7 - 11 . 8 7 . 1 - 8 . 7 71 / 2 - 81 / 8295 / 80r22 . 5 px . sup . 16 413 / 8 411 / 2 11 . 7 8 . 5 81 / 8tread diameters from 421 / 4 &# 34 ; to 423 / 4 &# 34 ; 11 . 00r20 x 14 421 / 2 421 / 2 11 - 11 . 4 7 . 7 - 8 . 1 71 / 2 - 81 / 811 . 00r20 x 16 421 / 2 423 / 4 11 - 12 7 . 7 - 9 . 2 81 / 810 . 00r22 x 14 421 / 2 - 425 / 8 423 / 4 10 . 6 7 . 9 71 / 2 - 81 / 812r22 . 5 x 16 421 / 2 - 425 / 8 423 / 4 11 . 2 - 11 . 3 7 . 6 - 8 71 / 2 - 81 / 8tread diameters from 431 / 4 &# 34 ; to 431 / 2 &# 34 ; 10 . 00r22 x 12 431 / 8 - 433 / 8 431 / 4 10 . 7 - 10 . 9 7 . 4 - 7 . 9 71 / 210 . 00r22 x 14 431 / 4 - 433 / 8 431 / 2 10 . 6 - 11 . 3 7 . 4 - 8 . 7 71 / 2 - 81 / 811r 24 . 5 x 14 431 / 8 - 433 / 8 431 / 4 10 . 9 - 11 . 1 7 . 6 - 8 . 5 71 / 2 - 81 / 811r24 . 5 x 16 433 / 8 - 431 / 2 431 / 2 10 . 7 - 11 . 1 7 . 6 - 8 . 7 71 / 2 - 81 / 8__________________________________________________________________________ the mold 10 is also capable of molding new or retread tires of varying tread widths , including tread widths beyond those listed in table ii . in order to do so , one or more circumferential pitch inserts 250 ( fig2 ) are provided which have spaced generally parallel circumferential surfaces ( unnumbered ) provided with an arcuate groove 251 and an arcuate rib 252 which mate with the respect ribs 141 and grooves 142 of the pairs of pitches 41 - 46 and specifically the upper pitches 41u - 46u and the lower pitches 41l - 46l . an inner circumferential surface 253 of the pitches 250 has a tread configuration corresponding to that of the tread configuration 60 , and preferably all the pitches 250 have parting planes p -- p and dimensions corresponding to and mating with those of the pairs of pitches 41 - 46 . the latter results in the pitch inserts 250 matching across all pitch planes , particularly radial pitch planes corresponding to the pitch planes p -- p of fig1 . by utilizing such pitch inserts 250 tires can be molded or retreaded having appreciably wider tread widths , as represented in table iii listed hereafter . table iii__________________________________________________________________________pitch insert ( s ) for wide treads diameter diameter spacertire size type pr tire mold cs tire mold width__________________________________________________________________________13 . 80r20 px 18 41 41 12 . 6 9 . 8 91 / 2 2 &# 34 ; 315 / 80r22 . 5 px 18 423 / 8 421 / 2 12 . 4 9 9 11 / 2 &# 34 ; 315 / 80r22 . 5 px 20 421 / 4 421 / 2 12 . 4 9 . 3 9 11 / 2 &# 34 ; 385 / 65r22 . 5 . sup . x 18 42 42 14 . 9 11 . 1 11 31 / 2 &# 34 ; __________________________________________________________________________ though the invention has been thus far described relative to an annular mold or molding machine 10 , the invention is equally applicable to a relatively long and flat mold , as is generally designated by reference numeral 270 in fig2 - 30 . in this case the mold 270 includes opposite generally parallel longitudinal walls 271 , 272 and opposite shorter end walls 273 , 274 rigidly interconnected in surrounding confining relationship to pairs of pitches 241 - 246 which are essentially identical in construction to the pitches 41 - 46 , respectively , including the matching of the tread configuration or profile 260 across the individual pitch planes p241 , 242 - p241 , 142 ; p242 , 243 - p242 , etc . furthermore , a pitch insert 250 &# 39 ; ( which is not used for narrower treads ) is sandwiched between the pairs of pitches 241 - 246 and locked thereto by bolts and nuts 262 , 263 in the manner clearly apparent from fig3 of the drawings . the mold 270 is heated by steam heaters 280 , 281 , the lower one of which is bolted to the walls 271 - 272 and the upper one of which is removably secured to the same walls to form a generally uniplanar length of rubber , specifically &# 34 ; precure ,&# 34 ; which after molding is removed from the mold 270 , transversely cut into desired lengths , and applied to the circumference of buffed tires . heretofore when such precure was made in long lengths and cut into shorter lengths , the splices did not match even with stretching or crowding the rubber , except rarely by happenstance , and therefore tires were unsightly and were difficult to balance . however , in keeping with the present invention , a relatively long length of precure can be formed in the mold 270 , transversely severed along any one of the parting pitch planes ( generally ) p -- p , and all splices , irrespective of the length , would match . as an example , it will be assumed that a length of precure is to be molded in the mold 270 sufficient to apply a tread to each of three tires with the tires varying in diameter from 41 &# 34 ; to 431 / 2 &# 34 ; which , of course , reflects a difference in length of approximately 21 / 2 &# 34 ;. the mold 270 is primed in fig3 to designate changes in mold length and pitch organization / juxtaposition as compared to the mold 270 of fig2 - 30 . however , the pitches 241 - 246 are assembled in the mold 270 &# 39 ; in abutting relationship and clamped therein by the bolts 262 and nuts 263 as in the manner heretofore described . the major difference between the mold 270 and the mold 270 &# 39 ; is the fact that mold 270 &# 39 ; has a mold or matrix cavity 260 &# 39 ; having an overall length of 407 . 19 &# 34 ;. the length of 407 . 19 &# 34 ; is selected because one - third thereof , minus one or more pitches , as necessary , will produce three pieces of precure ( hereinafter precure segments ) each of which will generally &# 34 ; fit &# 34 ; an associated tire circumference in the diameter range from 41 &# 34 ; to 431 / 2 &# 34 ; with either no stretch or minimum stretch . ( precure tread can be stretched a minimum of one inch around a tire circumference , and therefore it is not necessary for the matrix cavity 260 &# 39 ; to be exactly three times the circumference of the three tires which are to be retreaded from the three precure segments cut from the single length of precure molded in the matrix cavity 260 &# 39 ;.) turning specifically to fig3 , the mold 270 &# 39 ; is fully illustrated and includes a cavity 260 &# 39 ; which is 407 . 19 &# 34 ; in length , as aforesaid , and includes three identical sections 301 , 302 and 303 . the entire mold cavity 260 &# 39 ; is formed of thirty - six segments 501 - 536 or twelve segments per each section 301 , 302 and 303 . the section 301 is formed of the segments 501 - 512 , the section 302 is formed of the segments 513 - 524 and the section 303 is formed of the segments 525 - 536 . the total length of each section 301 , 302 and 303 is identical , namely 135 . 73 &# 34 ; ( 1 / 3 of 407 . 19 &# 34 ;) which is accomplished by selectively assembling and juxtapositioning the pitches 241 - 246 . each of the segments 501 - 511 ; 513 - 523 and 525 - 535 of the respective sections 301 , 302 and 303 is of identical lengths and each is formed of the pitches 241 , 246 , 244 , 245 , 243 and 242 in this exact order from left - to - right in fig3 . the pitch 241 is 2 . 2853 &# 34 ;, the pitch 246 is 1 . 6962 &# 34 ;, the pitch 244 is 1 . 5981 &# 34 ;, the pitch 245 is 1 . 8926 &# 34 ;, the pitch 243 is 2 . 0889 &# 34 ; and the pitch 242 is 1 . 4999 &# 34 ;. the total length of these six pitches is 11 . 061 &# 34 ; which multiplied by eleven segments is 121 . 67 &# 34 ;. accordingly , the total length of each of the segments 501 - 511 ; 513 - 523 and 525 - 535 is 121 . 67 &# 34 ;. the final segment 512 , 524 and 536 of each respective section 301 - 303 is also of an identical length and is formed by the pitches 243 , 246 , 244 , 243 , 246 , 245 , 242 and 242 in exactly that order from left - to - right in fig3 . ( however , for purposes of describing the method of cutting the mold precure into three precure segments , the last two pitches of the segments 512 , 524 and 536 have been numbered 242a , 242b ; 242c , 242d ; and 242e , 242f , respectively . therefore , the total length of each segment 512 , 524 and 536 is 14 . 06 &# 34 ;. each segment 301 , 302 and 306 therefore totals 121 . 67 &# 34 ; ( eleven segments ) plus 14 . 06 &# 34 ; ( one segment ) or a total of 135 . 73 &# 34 ; which when multiplied by the three sections 301 - 303 is a total length of 407 . 19 &# 34 ;. table iv__________________________________________________________________________single precure mold length for retreadingthree tires of different diameters / circumferencestire tire precure precure pitch planes / precurediameter circumference length segment length precure cut planes segment__________________________________________________________________________ stretch431 / 2 &# 34 ; 136 . 66 &# 34 ; 407 . 19 &# 34 ; 135 . 73 &# 34 ; 242b of segment 512 0 . 93 &# 34 ; 242d of segment 524431 / 4 &# 34 ; 135 . 87 &# 34 ; 407 . 19 &# 34 ; 135 . 73 &# 34 ; 242b of segment 512 0 . 144 &# 34 ; 242d of segment 524423 / 4 &# 34 ; 134 . 3 &# 34 ; 407 . 19 &# 34 ; 134 . 23 &# 34 ; 242a / 242b of segment 0 . 069 &# 34 ; 242c / 242d of segment 524 242e / 242f of segment 536421 / 4 &# 34 ; 132 . 73 &# 34 ; 407 . 19 &# 34 ; 132 . 73 &# 34 ; 245 / 242a of segment 0 . 0 245 / 242c of segment 524 245 / 242e of segment 536411 / 2 &# 34 ; 130 . 37 &# 34 ; 407 . 19 &# 34 ; 130 . 24 &# 34 ; 246 / 244 of segment 0 . 1214 242a / 242b of segment 512 246 / 244 of segment 513 242c / 242d of segment 524 246 / 244 of segment 525 242e / 242f of segment 53641 &# 34 ; 128 . 80 &# 34 ; 407 . 19 &# 34 ; 128 . 65 &# 34 ; 244 / 245 of segment 501 242a / 242b of segment 512 244 / 245 of segment 513 242c / 242d of segment 524 244 / 245 of segment 525 242e / 242f of segment__________________________________________________________________________ 536 reference is made to table iv from which it can be seen that a 431 / 2 &# 34 ; diameter tire has a circumference of approximately 136 . 66 &# 34 ;. thus , if the precure from the matrix cavity 260 &# 39 ; of fig3 is cut through the pitch plane of the pitch 242b of the section 512 , and the pitch plane 241 of the section 513 , and also cut through the pitch plane of the pitch 242d of the segment 524 and 241 of the segment 525 , three precure segments will be produced , each having a length of 135 . 73 &# 34 ;. therefore , each 135 . 73 &# 34 ; length of precure segment need be stretched but 0 . 93 &# 34 ; to accommodate a 136 . 66 &# 34 ; circumference of a 431 / 2 &# 34 ; diameter tire which is easily accommodated since the precure segment of 135 . 73 &# 34 ; can readily be stretched a minimum of 1 &# 34 ; ( or more ). thus , the stretch of 0 . 93 &# 34 ; per 135 . 73 &# 34 ; of precure segment is virtually negligible and permits each length of precure segment to be applied evenly to an associated tire of 431 / 2 &# 34 ; diameter in the absence of heavy spots or gaps between the precure tread and the buffed tire and , most importantly , with perfect matching across the splice of each precure segment because , of course , the cutting across or through the pitch planes latter - described is across tread configuration of the matrix cavity 260 &# 39 ; which matches across these pitch planes . in other words , the precure segment of the section 301 would be spliced at the plane of the pitch face 242b of the segment 512 which would match the tread configuration across the pitch face of the pitch 244 of the segment 501 . similarly , the precure segment corresponding to the section 302 would be spliced across the abutting pitch faces of the pitch 242d of the segment 524 and the pitch face of the pitch 241 of the segment 513 . assuming a 431 / 4 &# 34 ; tire is to be retreaded , table iv indicates that a tire of this diameter has a circumference of 135 . 87 &# 34 ;. accordingly , the exact precure segment lengths ( 135 . 73 &# 34 ;) are utilized and the precure is cut exactly as that described relative to the 431 / 2 &# 34 ; diameter tire . however , in this case when the precure lengths are each applied to the circumference ( 135 . 87 &# 34 ;) of a 431 / 4 &# 34 ; diameter tire , each would have to be stretched 0 . 144 &# 34 ;, again , a very moderate and acceptable distance . in the case of a 423 / 4 &# 34 ; diameter having a circumference of 134 . 3 &# 34 ; ( table iv ), the 407 . 19 &# 34 ; total precure length is cut into three segments each having a length of 134 . 23 &# 34 ;. this is accomplished by cutting the total length of precure in exactly the same manner as described relative to the 431 / 2 &# 34 ; and / or 431 / 4 &# 34 ; tire diameters resulting in three precure lengths of 135 . 73 &# 34 ;. each of these precure segments is then cut across a pitch plane corresponding to the pitch planes between the pitches 242a , 242b of the segment 512 , the pitch plane between the segments 242c , 242d of the segment 524 , and the pitch plane between the pitches 242e , 242f of the segment 536 . this effectively removes a piece of precure corresponding to the pitches 242b , 242d and 242f , each having a length of 1 . 4999 &# 34 ;. subtracting 1 . 4999 &# 34 ; from 135 . 73 &# 34 ; is approximately 134 . 23 &# 34 ; per length of precure segment cut from the corresponding mold precure sections 301 , 302 and 303 . each precure segment 134 . 23 &# 34 ; is therefore extremely close to the 134 . 3 &# 34 ; tire circumference requiring only a very modest stretch of 0 . 069 &# 34 ; per tire circumference . obviously , there is also a loss of approximately 4 . 5 &# 34 ; of precure ( total of 242b , 242d and 242f ), but this is minimal when compared to the fact that a single mold 270 &# 39 ; is all that a retreader requires to mold precure to retread numerous different diametered tires . in order to retread a 421 / 4 &# 34 ; diameter tire having a 132 . 73 &# 34 ; circumference , a precure segment of 132 . 73 &# 34 ; is obtained from each section 301 , 302 , 303 . in this case the total precure length is cut as was described relative to the 431 / 2 &# 34 ; or 431 / 4 &# 34 ; tire diameters , but now the precure segments are cut along pitch planes corresponding to the pitch plane between the pitches 242a , 245 of the segment 512 ; 242c , 245 of the segment 524 and 242e , 245 of the segment 536 . this effectively removes approximately 3 &# 34 ; from each precure segment , namely , the total length of the pitches 242a , 242b ; 242c , 242d and 242e , 242f per section 301 , 302 , and 303 , respectively . therefore , 135 . 73 &# 34 ; reduced by 3 &# 34 ; is 132 . 73 &# 34 ; per precure segment which corresponds exactly to the circumference of a 421 / 4 &# 34 ; diameter tire which obviously means there is no stretch involved at the splice of each tire . a 411 / 2 &# 34 ; tire has a circumference of 130 . 37 &# 34 ;, and in this case the total precure segment length ( 407 . 19 &# 34 ;) is cut as follows : the precure length is cut at the pitch plane between the pitches 246 , 244 of the segment 501 and between the pitches 242a , 242b of the segment 512 . this effectively removes the total length of the pitches 242b , 241 and 246 which achieves a length of 130 . 24 &# 34 ; for the precure segment 301 which in turn requires 0 . 1214 &# 34 ; of stretch . the precure is also cut as further set forth in table iv to achieve two other precure segments corresponding to the sections 302 , 303 , each of 130 . 24 &# 34 ;. in the final example , the 41 &# 34 ; diameter tire has a 128 . 8 &# 34 ; circumference which is best matched by a precure segment having a length of 128 . 65 &# 34 ; which is achieved by cutting the precure as set forth in table iv resulting in each precure segment having a length of 128 . 65 &# 34 ; requiring a stretch of 0 . 146 &# 34 ; per tire circumference . this obviously removes a piece of the total precure corresponding to the length of the pitches 241 , 246 and 244 of the segment 501 and the pitch 242b of the segment 512 , which is a total length of 7 . 08 &# 34 ;. the precure of the other mold sections 302 , 303 is cut along corresponding pitch planes resulting in the formation of three precure segments each of approximately 128 . 65 &# 34 ; necessitating not only a stretch of a nominal 0 . 146 &# 34 ; but also a loss of approximately 21 &# 34 ; of precure . however , even 21 &# 34 ; of precure loss is far outweighed by the tread matching heretofore noted and the minimal investment involved in the utilization of essentially a single mold 270 &# 39 ; and a series of specifically utilized pitches 241 - 246 to achieve a single length precure ( 407 . 4 &# 34 ;) which through selective pitch plane cutting achieves multiple diameter / circumference tire retreading with tread matching at all splices . gaps and excessive tension at each retread splice , as is now conventional , is completely eliminated , as is excessive stretching . presently when conventional precure is excessively stretched , the ends stretch more than the middle causing a thin section of tread adjacent the splice . normally , the precure is also thicker diametrically opposite the splice . therefore , excessive stressing occurs in the area of the splice and there is excessive rubber remote therefrom . furthermore , if the precure is too long it will crowd or bulk at one or more portions along the tire circumference which results in one or more humps , and these are usually accompanied by a weak bond between the buffed tire and the precure tread . obviously any one of these problems can provide balancing and alignment difficulties , but all are essentially entirely eliminated by the present invention . in further accordance with this invention , a full circle curing tube or a curing bladder can be inserted in the tire t ( fig3 ) and pressurized to urge the new rubber on the tire t into intimate engagement with the tread configuration 60 of the mold cavity 40 . a typical bladder of this type is fully disclosed in u . s . pat . no . 3 , 990 , 821 in the name of kenneth t . macmillan mentioned earlier herein . furthermore , the apparatus 10 can be used to manufacture annular precure , as opposed to retreading the tire t . in this case an annular piece of rubber or like material is inserted into the mold cavity 40 when the mold sections 11 - 14 are opened , after which the latter are closed and a precure curing tube ( not shown ) located between the annular piece of rubber and the hub 50 is inflated to force the precure radially outwardly into intimate engagement with the mold cavity configuration 60 . subsequently the mold sections 11 - 14 are opened and the annular precure is removed therefrom . if the precure has a circumference of 132 . 73 &# 34 ; ( see table iv ), it will match a 421 / 4 &# 34 ; diameter tire and need but be stretched slightly , the tire encircled thereby , and subsequently cured thereto in a conventional manner . if , however , the circumferential length of the annular precure is 135 . 73 &# 34 ; or 134 . 23 &# 34 ; ( see table iv ), the annular precure can still be stretched well beyond the 0 . 93 &# 34 ;, 0 . 144 &# 34 ; and 0 . 069 &# 34 ; to accommodate tire diameters of 431 / 2 &# 34 ;, 431 / 4 &# 34 ; and 423 / 4 &# 34 ;, respectively . just as obviously , any of the annular precure segments can be cut across the pitch planes thereof in the manner heretofore described , and an appropriate piece of precure removed , and the remaining precure length encircled about and / or stretched relative to an associated buffed tire , spliced , and cured thereto . the cutting and matching of an annular precure corresponds identically to that heretofore described more specifically which is hereat incorporated by reference in order not to unduly length this record . though the apparatus and method described relative to fig3 and table iv dealt with cutting a precure of 407 . 19 &# 34 ; length into three precure segments each of the same length , it is also within the scope of this invention to cut the total length ( 407 . 19 &# 34 ;) of precure into a variety of lengths to fit any combination of three tires of equal or different diameters , as are set forth in table iv . for example , if one were interested in retreading three tires of 431 / 2 &# 34 ;, 431 / 4 &# 34 ; and 423 / 4 &# 34 ;, two of the precure segments would be cut to 135 . 73 &# 34 ; and the third precure segment would be cut to 134 . 23 &# 34 ;. the two larger precure segments would be used to retread the 431 / 2 &# 34 ; and 431 / 4 &# 34 ; diameter tires while the smaller precure segment would be used to retread the 423 / 4 &# 34 ; tire ( see table iv ). it is also in keeping with the present invention to construct a mold which would have a total length of only one of the sections 301 , 302 or 303 . a precure from one of these molds would be 135 . 73 &# 34 ; long and would , of course , fit any of the tires of table iv . thus , a press or platen 135 . 73 &# 34 ; ( 11 &# 39 ; 33 / 4 &# 34 ;) long could be used to make three separate precure segments each 135 . 73 &# 34 ; long and , if cut across the pitch planes ( or not ), the effect of three such precure segments formed in an individual shorter press one - third the length of the platen 270 &# 39 ; effectively produces three separate precure segments which collectively total 407 . 19 &# 34 ;. a platen / press of this lesser one - third length would be obviously more inexpensive to build , easier to load and unload , shorter precure segments produced thereby would be easier to handle , and would be perhaps more cost effective in a low demand retread operation . although a preferred embodiment of the invention has been specifically illustrated and described herein , it is to be understood that minor variations may be made in the apparatus and the method without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention , as defined in the appended claims .	8
the following description of certain examples of the invention should not be used to limit the scope of the present invention . other examples , features , aspects , embodiments , and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description , which is by way of illustration , one of the best modes contemplated for carrying out the invention . as will be realized , the invention is capable of other different and obvious aspects , all without departing from the invention . accordingly , the drawings and descriptions should be regarded as illustrative in nature and not restrictive . fig1 shows an exemplary vehicle lift system ( 100 ) comprising a first lift assembly ( 110 ), a second lift assembly ( 120 ), and a control cabinet ( 130 ). vehicle lift system ( 100 ) is operable to control lift assemblies ( 110 , 120 ) to lift a vehicle in response to control signals sent by control cabinet ( 130 ). although control cabinet ( 130 ) is depicted as a cabinet , it should be understood that control cabinet ( 130 ) may take any suitable form and / or may be integrated into other parts of the vehicle lift system ( 100 ). first lift assembly ( 110 ) comprises a superstructure ( 112 ) mounted to a post ( 114 ) that reciprocates vertically relative to an inground portion ( 116 ). similarly , second lift assembly ( 120 ) comprises a superstructure ( 122 ) mounted to a post ( 124 ) that reciprocates vertically relative to an inground portion ( 126 ). superstructures ( 112 , 122 ) are configured to engage a vehicle and thereby raise and lower the vehicle relative to the ground as posts ( 114 , 124 ) are raised and lowered relative to inground portions ( 116 , 126 ). by way of example only , posts ( 114 , 124 ) and superstructures ( 112 , 122 ) may be raised and lowered relative to inground portions ( 120 , 122 ) using hydraulics , screw mechanisms , scissor mechanisms , and / or any other suitable kind of lifting technology . lift superstructures ( 110 , 112 ) may engage vehicles in numerous ways , such as by contacting the chassis of a vehicle , the axles of a vehicle , the wheels of a vehicle , and / or any other suitable lift points on a vehicle . in the present example , inground portion ( 126 ) also includes a longitudinal path ( 128 ) and a drive feature ( not shown ) that is operable to translate post ( 124 ) and superstructure ( 122 ) at selected locations along longitudinal path ( 128 ). this enables vehicle lift system ( 100 ) to accommodate vehicles of various lengths , by selectively positioning superstructure ( 122 ) under the appropriate lift point for the particular vehicle to be lifted . as noted above , control cabinet ( 130 ) is operable to control vehicle lift system ( 100 ). this may include selectively raising and lowering posts ( 114 , 124 ) and superstructures ( 112 , 122 ), translating post ( 124 ) and superstructure ( 122 ) along longitudinal path ( 128 ), halting movement of posts ( 114 , 124 ) and superstructures ( 112 , 122 ), etc . control cabinet ( 130 ) may be equipped with one or more control boards , pcbs , a computer , microprocessor , and / or any other suitable components configured to transmit , store , carry out , etc . instructions to operate vehicle lift system ( 100 ). in the present example , control cabinet ( 130 ) is in communication with lift assemblies ( 110 , 120 ) via conduits ( 132 ), which may include wires , hydraulic lines , etc . it will be appreciated that other suitable methods of communication may be used . for instance , control cabinet ( 130 ) and lift assemblies ( 110 , 120 ) may be equipped with wireless receivers and transmitters operable to establish wireless communication between control cabinet ( 130 ) and lift assemblies ( 110 , 120 ). other suitable methods of communication may be used as would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art in view of the teachings herein . while vehicle lift system ( 100 ) of the present example comprises a two - post in - ground lift , it should be understood that the teachings herein may be readily applied to various other kinds of vehicle lifts , including but not limited to in - ground scissor lifts , above ground lifts , and many other kinds of lifts as will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art . a pendant control ( 150 ) is connected to a pendant cable ( 151 ). pendant cable ( 151 ) may be routed through a wall , ceiling , etc . to connect to control cabinet ( 130 ). pendant cable ( 151 ) in some instances may comprise a serial cable , but it will be understood that pendant cable ( 151 ) may include any suitable form of wired communication as would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art in view of the teachings herein . while in the exemplary version pendant control ( 150 ) is in communication with control cabinet ( 130 ) through pendant cable ( 151 ), it will be understood that pendant cable ( 151 ) need not be used . for instance , pendant control ( 150 ) and control cabinet ( 130 ) may be equipped with transceivers configured to wirelessly communicate information to each other . pendant control ( 150 ) is operable to provide instructions to control cabinet ( 130 ) regarding operation of lift assemblies ( 110 , 120 ). in some versions , pendant control ( 150 ) communicates directly with lift assemblies ( 110 , 120 ), such that control cabinet ( 130 ) may be omitted ( at least in part ). fig2 - 5 show an exemplary pendant control ( 150 ) operable for use with vehicle lift system ( 100 ). pendant control ( 150 ) comprises a housing ( 152 ), a cord grip ( 158 ), an emergency stop button ( 160 ), a membrane panel ( 162 ), a lift rocker joystick ( 176 ), and a lower to lock button ( 178 ). housing ( 152 ) has an elongated rectangle shape , but it will be understood that housing ( 152 ) may have any other suitable shape as would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art in view of the teachings herein . housing ( 152 ) may be constructed of a durable plastic , rubber , metal , and / or other suitable material ( s ). housing ( 152 ) includes a back plate ( 154 ), as seen in fig3 . back plate ( 154 ) may be removed to gain access to internal portions of housing ( 152 ). a plurality of screws ( 156 ) secure back plate ( 154 ) onto housing ( 152 ). it will be understood that any suitable fasteners may be used to connect back plate ( 154 ) and housing ( 152 ). housing ( 152 ) further includes two attachment portions ( 184 ) operable to receive a lanyard , string , keyring , or other suitable support structure . although attachment portions ( 184 ) are shown as protruding from housing ( 152 ), it should be understood that attachment portions ( 184 ) may be of any other suitable design such as being integrated into the structure of housing ( 152 ). housing ( 152 ) may also contain any suitable number of attachment portions ( 184 ), a single attachment portion ( 184 ), or attachment portions ( 184 ) may be omitted entirely . cord grip ( 158 ) has a removable cap ( 159 ) operable to tighten cord grip ( 158 ). cord grip ( 158 ) is configured to engage pendant cable ( 151 ) to establish communication between pendant control ( 150 ) and pendant cable ( 151 ). it will be understood that cord grip ( 158 ) may be in communication with pendant cable ( 151 ) through a screw coupling , snap coupling , or any other suitable coupling mechanism . as can best be seen in fig5 , housing ( 152 ) has a dome cap ( 186 ). dome cap ( 186 ) is operable to plug the bottom of housing ( 152 ). in some instances , cord grip ( 158 ) may be removed and placed in this position . thus , cord grip ( 158 ) and pendant cable ( 151 ) may be selectively placed on the top or bottom of housing ( 152 ). emergency stop button ( 160 ) is shaped as a large circular , protruding button . emergency stop ( 160 ) is operable to immediately initiate a stop action to bring posts ( 114 , 124 ) and superstructures ( 112 , 122 ) to a controlled stop . it will be understood that other suitable button shapes may be used that allow a user to quickly halt movement within vehicle lift system ( 100 ). it will be understood that pressing emergency stop button ( 160 ) sends instructions to control cabinet ( 130 ), which then commands lift assemblies ( 110 , 120 ) to halt movement of lift superstructures ( 110 , 112 ). fig6 shows an enlarged view of membrane panel ( 162 ). membrane panel ( 162 ) comprises a touchpad membrane , but it will be understood that other suitable constructions for membrane panel ( 162 ) may be used as would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art in view of the teachings herein . for instance , membrane panel ( 162 ) could comprise a face plate and corresponding buttons . membrane panel ( 162 ) comprises a menu screen ( 164 ), first membrane switches ( 166 ), second membrane switches ( 168 ), mode switch ( 172 ), vertical movement icon ( 170 ), and horizontal movement icon ( 174 ). in some versions , all of these features are provided through a printed circuit board that is located behind membrane panel ( 162 ). such a circuit board may also include hardware configured to provide communication with control cabinet ( 130 ). menu screen ( 164 ) may comprise an lcd , led powered lcd , or any other suitable display . in the exemplary version , a three character , seven segment led is used for menu screen ( 164 ). in some other versions , a single or dual screen display may be used instead . menu screen ( 164 ) is operable to provide information to the user . such information may include visual confirmation of button presses by the user or actions currently being carried out by vehicle lift system ( 100 ). further information may include status information for vehicle lift system ( 100 ), error codes , diagnostic codes , heights of superstructures ( 112 , 122 ), inch counts , and / or other messages regarding any of the components of vehicle lift system ( 100 ). indeed , any suitable information may be provided by menu screen ( 164 ) as would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art in view of the teachings herein . first membrane switches ( 166 ) comprise three switches ( e . g ., thin film switches covered by a membrane ) that are horizontally aligned and operable to be pressed by the user . while the exemplary version shows three switches , any other suitable number of switches may be provided . furthermore , any orientation of buttons for first membrane switches ( 166 ) may be used as well . first membrane switches ( 166 ) may include an “ up ,” “ down ,” and “ enter ” button as seen in fig6 . it will be appreciated that first membrane switches ( 166 ) may be used to navigate menus displayed on menu screen ( 164 ). for instance , “ up ” and “ down ” may be used to cycle through menu options . “ enter ” may be used to select / confirm a menu option . it will be understood that any suitable controls may be used for first membrane switches ( 166 ) as would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art in view of the teachings herein . first membrane switches ( 166 ) and menu screen ( 164 ) may be used together to cycle through and select vehicle profiles . such vehicle profiles may be stored in pendant control ( 150 ), control cabinet ( 130 ), and / or any other suitable location ( s ). lift system ( 100 ) may include stored vehicle profiles for a variety of specific vehicle types ( e . g ., down to the make / model / year , etc .) and / or for a variety of vehicle categories ( e . g ., bus , truck , etc .). such vehicle profiles may include a variety of information that may be used to control or otherwise influence various aspects of lift system ( 100 ) operation . by way of example only , vehicle profiles may include information relating to a vehicle &# 39 ; s wheelbase dimensions , a vehicle &# 39 ; s height , a vehicle &# 39 ; s axle configuration , etc . of course , the vehicle profile need not necessarily include actual values for a vehicle &# 39 ; s wheelbase dimensions , a vehicle &# 39 ; s height , a vehicle &# 39 ; s axle configuration , etc . a vehicle profile may instead include sets of instructions for lift system ( 100 ) that are based on a vehicle &# 39 ; s wheelbase dimensions , a vehicle &# 39 ; s height , a vehicle &# 39 ; s axle configuration , etc . various other kinds of information that may be stored in a vehicle profile will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art in view of the teachings herein . data from the vehicle profile may be displayed on menu screen ( 164 ); in addition to displaying information such as status information for vehicle lift system ( 100 ), error codes , diagnostic codes , heights of superstructures ( 112 , 122 ), inch counts , and / or other messages as noted above . by way of example only , information in a selected vehicle profile may be used by lift system ( 100 ) to provide height limit stops ( e . g ., to ensure clearance between the highest part of the vehicle and the ceiling of the garage / shop room where it is located ), to influence where adapters should be positioned along superstructures ( 112 , 122 ), to determine expected axle engagement heights , etc . vehicle profiles may also provide instructions for positioning post ( 124 ) and superstructure ( 122 ) at the appropriate location along longitudinal path ( 128 ) for a particular vehicle ( or for a vehicle matching a particular profile ). in some instances , axle engagement adapters on each superstructure ( 112 , 122 ) are automated , such that the axle engagement adapters automatically move into the appropriate axle engaging position based on the selected vehicle profile . such movement may be provided hydraulically , pneumatically , mechanically , electromechanically , and / or in any other suitable fashion . the operator may thus move all of the axle engagement adapters superstructures ( 112 , 122 ) into position with a single key press through membrane switches ( 166 ). various other ways in which a vehicle profile may be used to influence operation of lift system ( 100 ) will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art in view of the teachings herein . it should be understood from the foregoing that the combination of membrane switches ( 166 ) and screen ( 164 ) provide interactive lift status and control from pendant control ( 150 ). in an exemplary use , the user may use membrane switches ( 166 ) and menu screen ( 164 ) on pendant control ( 150 ) to select the appropriate vehicle profile that matches with the vehicle that the user wishes to lift . pendant control ( 150 ) may transmit the user &# 39 ; s selection to control cabinet ( 130 ), which may command lift assembly ( 120 ) to position post ( 124 ) and superstructure ( 122 ) at the appropriate location along longitudinal path ( 128 ) for the selected vehicle profile . control cabinet ( 130 ) may also command axle engagement adapters on each superstructure ( 112 , 122 ) to move to the appropriate positions . the user may then use pendant control ( 150 ) to raise the vehicle . data from the selected vehicle profile may continue to influence the operation of lift system ( 100 ), such as by restricting the permitted lift height , etc . other suitable uses for first membrane switches ( 166 ) will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art in view of the teachings herein . it should also be understood that vehicle profiles and associated lift points may be updated in pendant control ( 150 ) as desired , using a laptop computer or other device . in the present example , second membrane switches ( 168 ) comprise a set of three buttons arranged vertically . however it will be understood that any other suitable number and arrangement of buttons may be used . second membrane switches ( 168 ) are operable to select a single particular lift assembly ( 110 , 120 ) for controlling . for instance , if the user wishes to only operate one lift assembly ( 110 , 120 ), the user may press just one switch ( 168 ). if the user wishes to operate two lift assemblies ( 110 , 120 ), the user pay press a first switch ( 168 ) and a second switch ( 168 ). it will be understood that the number of second membrane switches ( 168 ) may correspond to the number of lift assemblies ( 110 , 120 ) present . in some instances , however , the number of second membrane switches ( 168 ) may be greater or less than the number of lift assemblies ( 110 , 120 ) present in vehicle lift system ( 100 ). a plurality of lights ( 167 ) may run along second membrane switches ( 168 ). each lights ( 167 ) may comprise an led or any other suitable light source as will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art in view of the teachings herein . it will be understood that lights ( 167 ) may illuminate to indicate to the user which lift assemblies ( 110 , 120 ) have been selected by switches ( 168 ) for operation . it will be appreciated that in some versions , lights ( 167 ) may be operable to illuminate in different colors or patterns to indicate to the user different statuses regarding superstructures associated with second membrane switches ( 168 ). mode switch ( 172 ) may be pressed by the user to toggle between different modes . in the present example , mode switch ( 172 ) toggles between a first mode and a second mode . in the first mode , pendant control ( 150 ) is operable to control vertical movement of posts ( 114 , 124 ) and superstructures ( 112 , 122 ) relative to inground portions ( 116 , 126 ). in the second mode , pendant control ( 150 ) is operable to control horizontal movement of post ( 124 ) and superstructure ( 122 ) along longitudinal path ( 128 ). a vertical movement icon ( 170 ) is positioned above mode switch ( 172 ). vertical height icon ( 170 ) comprises a graphical representation of a lift post and superstructure next to a vertically pointing double arrow . a horizontal movement icon ( 174 ) is positioned below mode switch ( 172 ). horizontal movement icon ( 174 ) comprises a graphical representation of a lift post and superstructure next to a horizontally pointing double arrow . icons ( 170 , 174 ) comprise backlit cutouts formed in housing ( 152 ). the backlit feature of icons ( 170 , 174 ) is achieved by leds or the like . icons ( 170 , 174 ) will illuminate based on the operator &# 39 ; s mode selection through mode switch ( 172 ). in particular , when the operator selects the first mode , icon ( 170 ) illuminates . when the operator selects the second mode , icon ( 174 ) illuminates . as the operator repeatedly presses mode switch ( 172 ), the illumination of icons ( 170 , 174 ) may toggle back and forth between icons ( 170 , 174 ). it should be understood that icons ( 170 , 174 ) may have any other suitable configurations . fig7 depicts a cutaway view which shows lift rocker joystick ( 176 ) and lower to lock button ( 178 ). lift rocker joystick ( 176 ) comprises a rocker switch , but any suitable switch type may be used as would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art in view of the teachings herein . lift rocker joystick ( 176 ) is operable to control the movement of lift superstructures ( 110 , 112 ). for instance , when the first mode of operation is selected , pressing the upper portion of rocker joystick ( 176 ) forward ( e . g ., toward lower lock button ( 178 )) raises posts ( 114 , 124 ) and superstructures ( 112 , 122 ) relative to the ground ; while pressing the lower portion of rocker joystick ( 176 ) backward ( e . g ., toward membrane panel ( 162 )) lowers posts ( 114 , 124 ) and superstructures ( 112 , 122 ) relative to the ground . when the second mode of operation is selected , pressing the upper portion of rocker joystick ( 176 ) forward causes post ( 124 ) and superstructure ( 122 ) to translate along longitudinal path ( 128 ) in a direction away from lift assembly ( 110 ); while pressing the lower portion of rocker joystick ( 176 ) backward causes post ( 124 ) and superstructure ( 122 ) to translate along longitudinal path ( 128 ) in a direction toward lift assembly ( 110 ). lower to lock button ( 178 ) comprises a single , circular , pressable button , but it will be understood that any suitable button may be used as would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art in view of the teachings herein . lower to lock button ( 178 ) is operable to instruct lift assemblies ( 110 , 120 ) to lower posts ( 114 , 124 ) and superstructures ( 112 , 122 ) to a point where a mechanical lock feature is engaged in each lift assembly ( 110 , 120 ), which may prevent further downward movement of posts ( 114 , 124 ) and superstructures ( 112 , 122 ) until the mechanical lock feature is disengaged . for instance , each lift assembly ( 110 , 120 ) may have a mechanical lock feature that comprises a lock bar ( 190 ) and an engaging component ( 192 ) that is configured to engage the lock bar . such mechanical lock features may permit posts ( 114 , 124 ) and superstructures ( 112 , 122 ) to ascend freely ; while selectively restricting descent of posts ( 114 , 124 ) and superstructures ( 112 , 122 ). in particular , the mechanical lock features may prevent posts ( 114 , 124 ) and superstructures ( 112 , 122 ) from descending unless a lock release is activated ( e . g ., an activated lock release may prevent the engaging component from engaging the lock bar ). during normal descent of posts ( 114 , 124 ) and superstructures ( 112 , 122 ), the lock releases may be activated to permit posts ( 114 , 124 ) and superstructures ( 112 , 122 ) to descend without being impeded by the lock features . when posts ( 114 , 124 ) and superstructures ( 112 , 122 ) are not in a normal descent mode ( e . g ., during an ascent mode ), the lock releases may be de - activated , such that the lock features may prevent a posts ( 114 , 124 ) and superstructures ( 112 , 122 ) pair from falling to the ground in the event of a sudden pressure loss in the hydraulic system associated with post ( 114 , 124 ). of course , any other suitable kind of lock features may be used . housing ( 152 ) also includes raised ribs ( 182 ) that extend outwardly past rocker joystick ( 176 ) and lower to lock button ( 178 ) such that ribs ( 182 ) prevent inadvertent pressing of rocker joystick ( 176 ) and lower to lock button ( 178 ). it will be understood to other features may be used to shield rocker joystick ( 176 ) and lower to lock button ( 178 ). for instance , a pivotable cover or any other suitable structure may be used . fig8 - 10 depict an exemplary alternative pendant control ( 250 ) comprising a housing ( 252 ), emergency stop button ( 260 ), membrane panel ( 262 ), menu screen ( 264 ), mode switch ( 272 ), upper led cutouts ( 270 ), lower led cutouts ( 274 ), first membrane switches ( 266 ), second membrane switches ( 268 ), plurality of lights ( 267 ), ribbed portion ( 282 ), lift rocker ( 276 ), lower to lock button ( 278 ), and on - off switch ( 280 ). it will be appreciated that emergency stop button ( 260 ), membrane panel ( 262 ), mode switch ( 272 ), upper led cutouts ( 270 ), lower led cutouts ( 274 ), first membrane switches ( 266 ), second membrane switches ( 268 ), plurality of lights ( 267 ), lift rocker ( 276 ), and lower to lock button ( 278 ) are substantially similar to emergency stop ( 160 ), membrane panel ( 162 ), mode switch ( 172 ), vertical movement icon ( 170 ), horizontal movement icon ( 174 ), first membrane switches ( 166 ), second membrane switches ( 168 ), plurality of lights ( 167 ), lift rocker joystick ( 176 ), lower to lock button ( 178 ), and on - off switch ( 180 ), respectively , described above . some of the differences between pendant control ( 250 ) and pendant control ( 150 ) will be discussed below . alternative pendant ( 250 ) is shown as having a different configuration of first membrane switches ( 266 ). in particular , pendant ( 250 ) is shown as having four membrane switches ( 266 ) as opposed to three membrane switches ( 266 ). it will be appreciated that first membrane switches ( 266 ) may be used to navigate menus displayed on menu screen ( 264 ). for instance , “ up ” and “ down ” may be used to cycle through menu options . “ enter ” may be used to select / confirm a menu option . “ cancel ” may be used to cancel an option . as described above , it should be understood that any suitable controls may be used for first membrane switches ( 266 ) as would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art in view of the teachings herein . on - off switch ( 280 ) is positioned on the side of pendant ( 250 ). on - off switch ( 280 ) is operable to turn pendant ( 250 ) on or off . it will be understood that while the exemplary version shows a switchable rocker for on - off switch ( 280 ), other suitable switches may be used as would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art in view of the teachings herein . in other versions , such as pendant ( 150 ), above , on - off switch ( 280 ) may be omitted entirely . housing ( 252 ) of pendant ( 250 ) has a different shape than housing ( 152 ) of pendant ( 150 ). in particular , housing ( 252 ) is shaped to be flatter with rounded and beveled corners . furthermore , housing ( 252 ) is shaped such that the upper portion of housing ( 252 ) is wider than the bottom portion . it will be understood that any suitable shape for housing ( 252 ) may be used as would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art in view of the teachings herein . menu screen ( 264 ) of pendant comprises a single lcd screen operable to display information to the user . as mentioned above , menu screen ( 264 ) may be constructed of a single display but may also be configured to be a multi - part display as seen in fig2 . rib ( 282 ) of pendant ( 250 ) comprises a raised , rounded , rectangular perimeter operable to encircle rocker ( 276 ) and lower to lock button ( 278 ). of course , rib ( 282 ) may have any other suitable configuration . it should be understood that any one or more of the teachings , expressions , embodiments , examples , etc . described herein may be combined with any one or more of the other teachings , expressions , embodiments , examples , etc . that are described herein . the following - described teachings , expressions , embodiments , examples , etc . should therefore not be viewed in isolation relative to each other . various suitable ways in which the teachings herein may be combined will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art in view of the teachings herein . such modifications and variations are intended to be included within the scope of the claims . having shown and described various embodiments of the present invention , further adaptations of the methods and systems described herein may be accomplished by appropriate modifications by one of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope of the present invention . several of such potential modifications have been mentioned , and others will be apparent to those skilled in the art . for instance , the examples , embodiments , geometrics , materials , dimensions , ratios , steps , and the like discussed above are illustrative and are not required . accordingly , the scope of the present invention should be considered in terms of the following claims and is understood not to be limited to the details of structure and operation shown and described in the specification and drawings .	1
briefly , the novel aqueous coating composition comprises an iodine complex antimicrobial composition , a polyvinyl alcohol polymeric film forming composition having a degree of hydrolysis greater than about 91 %, a thickener formulated in an aqueous base . the aqueous material can contain other useful materials in the formulation to enhance the properties of the materials or to add new properties required by the dairy operator . the aqueous composition can be used to form a barrier film having antimicrobial properties on mastitis susceptible skin surface of a dairy animal . the barrier is long lived and flexible , provides barrier properties and is antimicrobial but can be rapidly removed prior to milking using an aqueous wash in typical dairy operations . the material is applied to the dairy animal in a variety of ways . the material can be sprayed , brushed , dabbed , or flooded onto the susceptible site . one common application mode of applying such dips is to place the aqueous composition in a small container with a useful shape adapted to the teat and apply the contained material in the container directly to the dip teat by dipping the teat into the container filled with the aqueous composition . the material dries quickly to form a barrier layer . the barrier layer is flexible and resists cracking . the layer contains the antimicrobial material that kills microorganisms on the skin surface . such antimicrobial action is important because the milking operation can often spread mastitis causing microorganisms which can under certain circumstances cause inflammation and infection in abraded or affected skin resulting from contact with milking machines during milking operations . the preferred antimicrobial agent of the invention is an iodine - nonionic complex . such complexes are used to maintain the iodine material in the film formed from the aqueous composition to prevent creation of substantial quantities of free i 2 or other free iodine species and to any accumulation of iodine or iodide in the cow &# 39 ; s tissue , body fluids resulting in a concentration of iodine in any dairy product . such accumulation could be caused by external contact with free iodine . the nonionic - iodine complex materials of the invention can be made by contacting a source of active iodine with a polymeric nonionic material having large segments of polymeric residues derived from ethylene oxide , propylene oxide or other alkylene oxides in the form of block or heteric polymer chains . such nonionic materials contain blocks of polyethylene oxide in the form of ( c 2 h 4 o ) x wherein x can range from about 1 to 45 ; or polypropylene oxide ( c 3 h 6 o ) x wherein y can range from about 1 to 60 ; and can also contain regions of heteric random polymer containing from about 1 to about 80 % of propylene oxide , the balance comprising ethylene oxide and additional reactant materials . the nonionic material can contain multiple blocks of either ethylene oxide , propylene oxide or both and can also optionally contain heteric units of either ethylene oxide or propylene oxide or mixed heteric blocks . such nonionic materials can be formed as such or can be polymerized on a starting molecule such as an anion , a sodium alcoholate , an alkyl phenate salt , alkyl carboxylic acid salt or other conventional starting material . a preferred source of active iodine for reaction with nonionic materials to form the nonionic iodine complexes of the invention is a composition comprising iodine in association with an inorganic iodide providing a source of active iodine . such a source is shown in winicov , u . s . pat . no . 3 , 028 , 299 or cantor et al . u . s . pat . no . 3 , 728 , 449 , which are incorporated by reference herein . commonly , at least 0 . 35 part of iodide ( i - 1 ) should be present per part of iodine . in the compositions of the invention , the preferred method of introducing iodine in association with iodide is to employ an aqueous concentrate containing about 57 % by weight iodine and 20 % by weight hi , or 24 % by weight nai . this will provide approximately the minimum ratio of 0 . 35 part iodide per part of iodine previously indicated to be important . when higher ratios are desired , additional hi or nai can be incorporated . in a preferred mode , the iodine iodide complexes are formed by reacting in an aqueous medium iodine ( i 2 ) with a source of iodide such as sodium iodide or hydriodic acid . the amounts of materials can be adjusted to result in the preferred iodide iodine ratio of at least 0 . 35 : 1 . polyvinyl alcohol ( pvoh ), a polyhydroxide polymer having a polymethylene backbone with pendent hydroxy groups , is a water soluble synthetic resin . the resin is produced by the hydrolysis of polyvinyl acetate . the theoretical monomer : ## str1 ## does not exist . polyvinyl alcohol is one of a limited number in the class of water soluble polymer materials . the resin is commonly available as a dry solid and is available in granular or powder form . the grades of polyvinyl alcohol include a partially hydrolyzed version having a degree of hydrolysis ( the percentage of acetate groups removed from the polyvinyl alcohol leaving free hydroxyl groups ) from about 87 to about 91 %. an intermediate grade of hydrolysis in the polyvinyl alcohol produces a polymer having from about 91 to about 98 % removal of acetate groups . a fully hydrolyzed grade of polyvinyl alcohol has from about 98 to about 99 . 5 % of acetate groups removed . a polyvinyl alcohol product called superhydrolyzed pvoh has greater than 99 . 5 % of the acetate groups removed . the degree of hydrolysis has a marked impact on the properties of the material . the partially hydrolyzed material is substantially hydrophilic and is readily soluble in cold water . as the degree of hydrolysis increases , the hydrophilic properties of the material changes in a contra - intuitive manner . one would assume that as the proportion of hydroxyl groups increases ( with the increase in degree of hydrolysis ) that the materials would become more hydrophilic . in fact , the opposite is true , the increase in the number of hydroxyl groups tends to increase the number of intra and intermolecular hydrogen bonding between hydroxyl groups resulting in a more strongly bonded and coiled polymer molecular resulting in reduced water solubility and increased hydrophobicity . as a result , superhydrolyzed polyvinyl alcohols resist solubilization and are only solubilized in water at relatively high temperature , i . e . the pvoh is cooked into solution . polyvinyl alcohol is commonly produced in nominal number average molecular weights that range from about 4 , 000 to about 100 , 000 . commonly , the molecular weight of commercial polyvinyl alcohol grades is reflected in the viscosity of a 4 wt % solution measured in centipoise ( cp ) at 20 ° c . ( hoeppler falling ball method ). variation of film flexibility , water sensitivity , ease of solvation , viscosity , film strength , adhesion , dispersing power can only be varied by adjusting molecular weight or degree of hydrolysis . solutions of polyvinyl alcohol and water can be made with large quantities of lower alcohol cosolvents and salt cosolutes and with an number of other small molecular or polymeric additives or active constituents . further , polyvinyl alcohols can react with aldehydes to form acetyls , can be reacted with acrylonitrile to form cyanoethyl groups and can be reacted with ethylene or propylene oxide to form hydroxyalkylene groups . polyvinyl alcohols can also be readily crosslinked and can be borated to affect gelation . such crosslinking or gelation can be achieved using either a covalent crosslinking scheme or using an ionic reversible crosslinking agent . polyvinyl alcohol is made by first forming polyvinyl acetate or a vinyl acetate containing copolymer such as an ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer , and removing acetate groups using a base catalyzed alkanolysis . a production of polyvinyl acetate or vinyl acetate containing copolymer can be done using conventional polymerization processes which controls ultimate molecular weight . catalyst selection , temperature , solvent selection , and chain transformation can be adjusted by persons skilled in polymerization arts to control molecular weight and other polymer structural attributes . the degree of hydrolysis is controlled by preventing completion of the alkanols reaction . polyvinyl alcohols are made in the united states by a variety of vendors including air products and chemicals inc ., dupont and others . in sharp contrast to the prior art and particularly marhevka , u . s . pat . no . 5 , 017 , 369 , we have found that partially hydrolyzed polyvinyl alcohol forms an inferior mastitis treating composition compared to our invention . we have found that the partially hydrolyzed pvoh is not suitable for a barrier teat dip having antimicrobial properties . we have found that using the partially hydrolyzed polyvinyl alcohol materials , that the resulting materials resist removal under typical conditions resulting in reduced productivity . further , we have found that the use of the partially hydrolyzed polyvinyl alcohol material results in a teat dip that can be formulated into useful viscosities but often results in excessive dripping and waste of material after application . further , we have found in our work with the intermediate hydrolysis grades and grades of polyvinyl alcohol at higher degrees of hydrolysis that the materials can be formulated into a material having an acceptable viscosity , little dripping after application but with the formation of a flexible effective barrier coating that additionally provides antimicrobial properties . the preferred polyvinyl alcohol has a degree of hydrolysis greater than 92 %, preferably greater than 98 %, most preferably greater than 98 . 5 %, and has a molecular weight that falls in the range of between about 15 , 000 and 100 , 000 , corresponding to a product viscosity of 12 - 55 , preferably between 40 , 000 and 70 , 000 , corresponding to a product viscosity of 12 - 25 . the compositions of the invention may also comprise additional stabilizing agents , wetting agents , skin conditioning agents , thickeners , chelating agents and other materials including pigments , dyes , fragrances , etc . stabilizing agents may be added to the composition of the invention to stabilize the nonionic iodine complex , stabilize ph , prevent oxidation of the organic materials or to prevent phase separation of the aqueous film forming materials . chelating agents or sequestrants are useful stabilizing agents in the invention . commonly available chelating agents can be used in the invention including both inorganic and organic chelating agents . organic chelating agents include alkyl diamine polyacetic acid , chelating agents such as edta ( ethylenediamine tetracetic acid tetrasodium salt ), acrylic acid and polyacrylic acid type stabilizing agents , phosphonic acid and phosphonate type chelating agents and others . preferable organic sequestrants include phosphonic acids and phosphonate salts including 1 , hydroxy ethylidene - 1 , 1 - diphosphonic acid , amino tri ( methylene phosphonic acid )!, ethylene diamine tetra ( methylene - phosphonic acid )!, 2 phosphonobutane - 1 , 2 , 4 - tricarboxylic acid as well as alkali metal salts , ammonium salts , or alkyl or alkanol amine salts including mono -, di - or triethanol amine salts . inorganic chelating agents include commonly available polyphosphate materials such as sodium pyrophosphate , sodium or potassium tripolyphosphate along with cyclic or higher polyphosphate species . preferably , such a sequestering agent is used at a concentration ranging from about 0 . 05 wt % to about 0 . 5 wt % of the composition . also useful in the composition of the present invention are wetting agents . wetting agents function to increase the penetrant activity of the antimicrobial composition of the invention into the tissue surface at risk from mastitis causing microorganisms . wetting agents also tend to , in some instances , increase the activity of the iodine containing compositions to reduce the populations or kill microorganisms . wetting agents which may be used in the composition of the invention include commonly available anionic surfactants such as carboxylate , sulfonate , and sulfate materials including carboxylate surfactants such as potassium alkyl oxycarboxylates , an alkyl sarcosinates , alkyl benzene sulfonates , alpha olefin sulfonates , and sulfonates with an ester amide or ether linkage . additionally useful sulfate wetting agents include sulfated alcohol , sulfated alcohol ethoxylates , sulfated alkyl phenols , sulfated carboxylic acid amides and esters , sulfated natural oils and fats as well as agents such as dioctyl ester sodium sulfosuccinic acid . the compositions of the present invention are also contained in an emollient to lubricate , condition and generally reduce the irritation on the surface of the application which may result either from the antimicrobial agent or from the mechanical action of the milking machine on the surface . generally , any water soluble or dispersible skin conditioning agent known to those of skill in this art may be used in the present invention . preferred emollients to be used in the invention include glycerine , propylene glycol and sorbitol . generally , the emollient within the present invention ranges from about 0 . 5 to about 20 wt % of the composition preferably about 1 to 10 wt % of the composition . a dye may also be used in the compositions of the invention to indicate the range of application . dye or pigment used in the composition of the invention may be any organic or inorganic dye or pigment which is chemically acceptable trace constituent on surfaces to which the composition is applied . additionally , the dye should be compatible with the resulting mode of products . generally , dyes which are useful in the composition of this invention include fd & amp ; c yellow nos . 5 and 6 and others . although any number of colorants may be used , these dyes are preferred due to their relative acceptability in various solid and liquid food systems . generally , dyes or pigments used in the invention are present in a concentration ranging from about 0 . 001 to about 0 . 01 wt %. the composition of the invention may also contain various viscosity enhancers or thickeners . the viscosity enhancer or thickener cooperates with the film forming agent to form a barrier film that retains antimicrobial compositions . further , the thickener causes the aqueous compositions to cling to the surface skin of the animal and enables the composition to resist waste through excessive dripping . the thickener enables the material to remain in place until dry when the barrier layer is formed . the preferred aqueous compatible thickener compositions useful in the invention are those which do not leave contaminating residue on the surface of the application , i . e . constituents which are incompatible with food or other sensitive products or contact areas . thickeners which may be used in the present invention include natural gums such as xanthan gum . also useful in the present invention are cellulosic polymers such as carboxy methyl cellulose , carboxy ethyl cellulose , hydroxy ethyl cellulose and others . generally , the concentration of thickener used in the present invention will be dictated by the desired viscosity required in the final composition . the aqueous based formulations useful in this dip application are as follows : ______________________________________ useful most ( wt %) preferred preferred______________________________________polyvinyl alcohol . sup . 1 0 . 1 - 30 0 . 2 - 25 0 . 5 - 10buffer 0 . 1 - 20 0 . 1 - 10 0 . 2 - 5sequestrant 0 . 1 - 20 0 . 1 - 10 0 . 2 - 5thickener . sup . 2 0 . 1 - 5 0 . 10 - 2 0 . 1 - 1emollient . sup . 3 0 . 1 - 30 0 . 2 - 20 0 . 5 - 15i . sub . 2 - nonionic 0 . 5 - 20 0 . 2 - 25 1 - 12complex . sup . 4wetting agents 0 . 1 - 5 0 . 1 - 2 0 . 1 - 1 . 0______________________________________ . sup . 1 degree of hydrolysis greater than 92 %, preferably greater than 98 % . sup . 2 xanthan preferred . . sup . 3 sorbitol , glycerine . . sup . 4 provide from 0 . 1 - 2 wt % preferably 0 . 2 - 1 . 5 wt % available i . sub . 2 . in the manufacture of the compositions of the invention , the ingredients are typically blended in large blending equipment adjusted to the appropriate ph and viscosity and stored in available disposable plastic containers . in processing the compositions of the invention , commonly a quantity of acceptable water such as deionized water is added to blending equipment . to the water is slowly added under conditions of agitation and heat if necessary , the polyvinyl alcohol and thickener compositions if required for appropriate viscosity . the aqueous material is agitated until smooth and into the thickened aqueous composition is placed the nonionic iodine antimicrobial complex composition . while the iodine and nonionic can be premixed to form the complex , the complex can be formed in situ . aqueous teat dips have been common for use in dairy operations for many years . in the most common application of the material , farmers have introduced a quantity of aqueous material into a suitable sized container for application by dipping to the animal &# 39 ; s skin . the practice of post milking application of the materials has been common in an attempt to reduce or ameliorate the undesirable effects of environmental or contagious mastitis . the aqueous compositions and the resulting films of this invention are barrier layers and antimicrobial materials that prevent the contact between the animal skin and microorganisms either from the environment or from other animals . the stability of the compositions , the ability to form effective barrier layers and the ability to provide antimicrobial properties is a surprising result particularly in view of the water sensitivity of polyvinyl alcohol films . one skilled in the art can easily establish the water removability of the films in the invention . the aqueous material can be applied to any hard surface in virtually any form . the hard surface can be dipped into the material to simulate actual application of the composition to animal skin using the common dipping technique . the film thickness will be the result of the viscosity of the material . the material should be formulated such that little dripping occurs after application . one method of testing the film forming , dripping and removability properties of the material involves dipping disposable plastic pipettes into the material and measuring the properties of the resulting films . the larger volume pipettes having a size and shape somewhat smaller than , but approximating the geometry of the common dairy teat is useful . commonly the removability of the material is estimated by centering the pipette in approximately 140 milliliters of cold ( 20 ° c .) water on a stir plate with a stir bar having a consistent agitation rate . the pipette is placed about one inch from the bottom of the beaker . the amount of time to release or solubilize the film on the pipette in a low agitation environment is then observed and recorded . the sensitivity of the films to aqueous materials at a warmer temperature or with other cleaning materials can similarly be estimated . the materials of the invention are typically used by first using a warm or cold water removal step . the materials are contacted with water either in the dip mode or using towels or other sheet - like removal means . the water in contact with the films soften the films and result in dissolution or dispersion of the film composition in the water . the films are then rapidly removed by wiping or agitation resulting in a cleaned surface which can be then rinsed with further amounts of water to produce a milkable animal . the animal is then attached to automatic milking equipment . once milk production is completed , the automated milk equipment is removed and the antimicrobial films are put in place by dipping the teat in an appropriate volume of the material in an appropriately shaped container . the following examples and data provide a basis for understanding the metes and bounds of the invention and provide a best mode . into an appropriately sized stainless steel container equipped with a mechanical stirrer was placed 1955 . 4 grams of soft water . stirring was initiated and into the soft water was placed 4 . 0 grams of a 50 wt % active aqueous solution of citric acid followed by 3 grams of sodium citrate and 2 grams of sodium iodide . stirring was continued until the solution was uniform and into the stirred solution was added 18 grams of xanthan ( keltrol ) slowly over the period of a few minutes . stirring was continued until uniform and into the stirred mixture was placed 1600 . 0 grams of a 10 wt % active aqueous solution of a polyvinyl alcohol having a degree of hydrolysis of about 99 % ( elvanol 90 - 50 ). in a container separate from the original container , a premix comprising 90 . 4 parts of nonylphenolethoxylate having 12 moles of ethylene oxide and 19 . 2 grams of a premix of 24 grams of sodium iodide and 58 grams of iodine in 18 grams of soft water . into the separate container under agitation is added 200 grams of sorbitol , 100 grams of glycerine and 8 . 0 grams of a 97 wt % active aqueous solution of a linear alkyl sulfonate . the mixture in the separate container was mixed until uniform and the total premix in the separate container was then added to the first container to complete the preparation of the barrier antimicrobial material . the ph of a 100 % solution of the material was 4 . 04 , the iodine content was 0 . 289 %, the brookfield viscosity using a number 2 spindle at 20 ° c . was 1350 cp with a specific gravity of 1 . 025 . into a suitably sized container equipped with a mechanical agitator is placed 58 . 81 parts by weight of deionized water . into the agitated water is slowly added 0 . 45 part by weight of keltrol , a xanthan thickener material . the thickener is dispersed into the aqueous mixture and the mixture is agitated until uniform . into the uniform aqueous solution is then slowly added under conditions of moderate stirring , 40 . 0 parts by weight of a 10 % aqueous solution of a 87 % hydrolyzed polyvinyl alcohol material ( elvanol 52 - 22 ). when addition is complete and the solution becomes homogeneous , a mixture , formed in a separate container , comprising about 5 parts by weight of sorbitol , 2 . 26 parts of nonylphenolethoxylate having 12 moles of ethylene oxide and 0 . 48 part by weight of a premix of 24 grams of sodium iodide and 58 grams of iodine and 18 grams of water , is introduced into the agitated aqueous mass . agitation is continued until a uniform mixture has formed and the material becomes uniform . example 1 and example 1a were evaluated for properties related to its utility as a teat dip including film formation , dripping and removability properties . the evaluations were performed by dipping disposable plastic pipettes upside down into the aqueous products to simulate teat dipping , were hung in the air to dry . products dried 24 hours were then subject to their evaluation of properties . comparative example 1a formed a dark chocolate brown thin aqueous coating which dripped excessively . the major portion of the aqueous material dripped off , but left a thin even film coating . the material of example 1 produced on the average between 1 and 2 drops from the pipette tips leaving a thick flexible even barrier coating . in order to evaluate the removability of the material , the coated pipettes were dipped upside down in a glass beaker containing 400 milliliters of cold ( 20 ° c .) water on a stir plate with a stir bar having low agitation . the pipette was placed 1 inch from the bottom of the beaker . the time to release or removal of the material in the low agitation environment was recorded . the comparative material of example 1a after 8 minutes and 50 seconds first showed some signs that the films on the side of the pipette began to soften and release . after 18 minutes , the film was fully removed , however the button formed by the dripped material was not removed until 31 minutes had passed . in sharp contrast , the materials of the invention prepared in example 1 immediately upon introduction into the water cracked and began to release . after 27 seconds , the film was fully removed and the button was removed after 4 minutes and 35 seconds . the laboratory data shown in the specification provides a basis for comparison of the formulations . the test data are comparable for evaluation purposes and predicts field performance . for practical removal purposes the material should be removable from the animal in less than 5 minutes , and preferably substantially less than 2 minutes ( i . e ) 60 seconds or less . following the procedure of example 1 , the following examples 2 - 2c were prepared as shown in table i . table i______________________________________ example 2a 2b 2c % ______________________________________water 90 . 55 88 . 29 87 . 76acid blue # 9 trace trace tracexanthan gum 0 . 45 0 . 45 0 . 4elvanol 90 - 50 . sup . 1 4 . 00 4 . 00 4 . 00sorbitol 5 . 00 5 . 00 5 . 00npe - 12 . sup . 2 -- 2 . 26 2 . 26tri - iodide premix . sup . 3 -- 0 . 48sodium iodide -- -- 0 . 05 100 . 00 100 . 00 100 . 00______________________________________ . sup . 1 polyvinyl alcohol 99 % hydrolyzed . . sup . 2 nonylphenolethoxylate ( 12 moleseo ). . sup . 3 premix contains 57 % iodine and 20 % iodide . examples 2 - 2c were evaluated for coating and removability properties using the protocol discussed above . the test results shown below in table ii demonstrate that a cooperative effect between the iodine sources , the nonionic and the polyvinyl alcohol results in surprising levels of coating efficacy and rapid removability . only example 2c was acceptable for button removability . table ii______________________________________product properties______________________________________coating properties uneven even evenremovability - side 120 sec 75 sec . 36 sec . coat ( had gummy residue ) removability - & gt ; 1 hour & gt ; 1 hour 5 min . button______________________________________ using a method similar to that set forth in example 1 and 1a , prototype teat dip materials were manufactured containing a polyvinyl alcohol having a degree of hydrolysis of between 87 and 89 %. the preparations are similar to that shown in example 1 of marhevka , u . s . pat . no . 5 , 017 , 369 . the purpose of these preparations is to further investigate the coating properties , and removability of the side coated button of the materials formed in the experiments described above . the compositions are as follows : table iii______________________________________water 90 . 00 93 . 00acid blue # 9 trace tracexanthan gum -- -- elvanol 52 - 22 8 . 00 5 . 00pvoh 87 - 89 % hydrolyzedsorbitol -- -- npe - 12 -- -- tri - iodine premix -- -- sodium iodine -- -- chlorhexidine gluconate 2 . 00 2 . 00 ( 20 % wt / vol ) 100 . 00 100 . 00coating properties uneven uneven ( both dripping ) removability - side coat 53 sec . 90 sec . removability - button less than greater about 12 than about mins . 12 mins . ______________________________________ the materials were characterized by uneven film formation with excessive dripping and waste of the teat dip preparation . further , the materials appeared to be difficult to remove . the side coat were removed in 53 - 90 seconds while the button was not removed until approximately 12 minutes after contact with water . such coating and removability properties are unacceptable in typical dairy herd production practices . the materials of example 1 were prepared and tested using standard aoac sanitizer test methods for microbial kill . the test results for duplicate preparations of example 1 are shown below in table iv and table iva for a variety of microorganisms . table iv______________________________________iodine barrier teat dip3 day test initial inoculum percent test organism ( cfu / ml ) cfu / ml ) reduction______________________________________example 1 . sup . 1 s . aureus 1 . 0 × 10 . sup . 8 & lt ; 10 & gt ; 99 . 999 e . coli 9 . 0 × 10 . sup . 7 & lt ; 10 & gt ; 99 . 999 ps . aeruginosa 7 . 3 × 10 . sup . 7 & lt ; 10 & gt ; 99 . 999 e . aerogenes 6 . 6 × 10 . sup . 7 & lt ; 10 & gt ; 99 . 999duplicate s . aureus 1 . 0 × 10 . sup . 8 & lt ; 10 & gt ; 99 . 999preparation . sup . 2 e . coli 9 . 0 × 10 . sup . 7 & lt ; 10 & gt ; 99 . 999 ps . aeruginosa 7 . 3 × 10 . sup . 7 & lt ; 10 & gt ; 99 . 999 e . aerogenes 6 . 6 × 10 . sup . 7 & lt ; 10 & gt ; 99 . 999______________________________________ . sup . 1 ph = 4 . 04 ; i . sub . 2 content = 0 . 2767 wt %; brookfield viscometernumber 2 spindle , @ 20 rpm = 1500 cp ; @ 50 rpm = 720 cp , measured at room temperature . . sup . 2 ph = 4 . 04 ; i . sub . 2 = 0 . 2889 wt %; 1350 cp and 710 cp . table iva______________________________________iodine barrier teat dip initial survivor inoculum numbers percent test organism ( cfu / ml ) cfu / ml ) reduction______________________________________example 1 k . pneumonias 1 . 3 × 10 . sup . 8 & lt ; 10 & gt ; 99 . 999 s . dysgalactiae 1 . 7 × 10 . sup . 7 & lt ; 10 & gt ; 99 . 999 s . agalactiae 2 . 8 × 10 . sup . 7 & lt ; 10 & gt ; 99 . 999 s . uberis 3 . 3 × 10 . sup . 7 & lt ; 10 & gt ; 99 . 999duplicate k . pneumonias 1 . 3 × 10 . sup . 8 & lt ; 10 & gt ; 99 . 999preparation s . dysgalactiae 1 . 7 × 10 . sup . 7 & lt ; 10 & gt ; 99 . 999 s . agalactiae 2 . 8 × 10 . sup . 7 & lt ; 10 & gt ; 99 . 999 s . uberis 3 . 3 × 10 . sup . 7 & lt ; 10 & gt ; 99 . 999______________________________________ a further experiment was done to evaluate the effect of temperature on the ability of the material to treat or prevent mastitis on a dairy herd . a series of exemplary materials listed below as brands a - e were prepared . the preparations included an iodine nonionic complex of nonylphenol - iodine at about a 9 : 1 weight ratio of nonionic to iodine , a citrate buffer that maintains the ph of the material between about 3 . 5 and 4 . 5 and a variable glycerine level as shown below in the table . the porcine skin test procedure used to evaluate the influence of temperature on the efficacy of iodine teat dips was a newly developed modification of the excised teat assay . the procedure was designed to improve the ease , accuracy and reproducibility of a teat dip efficacy evaluation by using sterile lyophilized porcine skin , which provides a consistent skin test surface , rather than an excised teat . the recovery of surviving and potentially attached bacteria were also improved over the technician dependent excised teat rinse procedure . with one exception , efficacy of all dips versus s . aureus was reduced at the lower ( 4 ° c .) temperature , most likely a direct result of a decrease in free iodine . the activity of the composition of the invention was not reduced at lower temperature , most likely due to an increase in viscosity . the higher viscosity of the composition of the invention might also explain the superior germicidal activity , i . e ., equivalent to the 1 . 0 % iodine teat dips . table v______________________________________ average log reduction v . commercial titratable glycerine s . aureusteat dip iodine variable 24 ° c . 4 ° c . ______________________________________brand a 1 . 0 % 3 % glycerine 3 . 7 3 . 0brand b 1 . 0 % 10 % glycerine 4 . 3 3 . 1brand c 0 . 5 % 3 % emollient 3 . 0 2 . 2brand d 0 . 25 % no emollient 2 . 3 1 . 8brand e 0 . 1 % 1 % glycerine 1 . 4 1 . 1example 1 0 . 25 % barrier 3 . 4 3 . 8______________________________________ the porcine skin test procedure used to compare germicidal activity of teat dips with other commercial iodine based teat dips containing from 0 . 1 to 1 wt % titratable iodine at variable temperatures was performed using the following procedure 3 . a one inch square sterile lyophilized porcine skin , corethium ™ 2 sold by johnson & amp ; johnson in the united kingdom was rehydrated for one hour in sterile distilled water . the rehydrated skin squares were inoculated in duplicate with 5 microliters of a 24 hour broth culture of the microorganism to be tested . the inoculated skin square was permitted to remain in contact with the inoculum for 5 minutes . thereafter the inoculated skin squares were dipped into the teat dip solution for 10 seconds , and the skin squares were maintained in a vertical position to allow drainage . once drainage was complete , the skin squares were placed in a sterile petri dish and maintained in a horizontal position . after 5 minutes of contact time the squares were removed from the petri dishes and placed in a tube containing 10 milliliters of appropriate neutralizer . for iodine teat dips , a sodium thiosulfate neutralizer , used in a concentration of slight excess over the amount of iodine present , is used . these samples were mixed on a vortex mixer and were plated to enumerate survivor population . as a control , a square of sterile lyophilized porcine skin was submerged in sterile water only and treated as above . note prior to using the klenzade porcine skin test method , the teat dip and culture should be equilibrated at the temperatures used , namely 4 ° or 24 ° c . for a minimum of 4 hours . while the above specification , examples and data can be used to understand the technical nature of the invention , the invention can be made in a number of embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention . the invention resides in the claims hereinafter appended .	0
in the intermediate stages , shown in diagrammatic and cross - sectional side view in fig1 to 9 , in the fabrication of a semiconductor memory device according to the invention identical or identically acting elements of the regions are designated by identical reference symbols , and their description is not repeated individually in detail for each figure . the configuration shown in lateral cross - sectional view in fig1 is the starting point in the construction of the semiconductor circuit device 1 according to the invention in accordance with the fabrication method according to the invention . in an actual semiconductor substrate 20 , a cmos structure serving for the interconnection of the semiconductor memory device 1 is formed in a series of preliminary processes . in a surface region 20 a of the semiconductor substrate 20 , selection transistor devices t 1 to t 4 are provided for the selection of the memory cells to be formed , i . e ., for the driving of the storage capacitors 10 - 1 , . . . , 10 - 4 that are to be correspondingly formed . source / drain regions sd disposed in the surface region 20 a of the semiconductor substrate 20 form the selection transistor devices . in this case , adjacent source / drain regions sd are disposed spaced apart from one another and are separated from one another by an intermediate region 20 b in the surface region 20 a of the semiconductor substrate 20 . substantially electrically conductive word lines wl run above the intermediate regions 20 b in the surface region 20 a of the semiconductor substrate 20 , in a manner electrically insulated by gate oxide regions g . the gate oxide regions g of the individual selection transistor devices t 1 to t 4 , the regions thereby functioning as gate , are driven through the word lines wl . so - called contact regions , plug regions or plugs p made of substantially electrically conductive material are provided above the source / drain regions sd , that is to say , extending from the surface region 20 a . the plugs p are in substantially electrically conductive contact with the source / drain regions sd . the word lines wl , the gate oxide regions g , and also the plugs p ( see fig8 and 9 ) are embedded in a passivation region 21 formed from a silicon oxide , for example . the surface region 21 a of the passivation region 21 is situated opposite the surface region 20 a of the actual semiconductor substrate 20 . consequently , the plugs p extend from the surface region 20 a , namely in electrically switching contact with the source / drain regions sd , with their own surface region pa as far as the surface region 21 a of the passivation region 21 . the configuration and structure shown in fig1 can be formed by standard methods , as are in the prior art . proceeding from the basic structure shown in lateral cross - sectional view in fig1 the invention proceeds as follows to form the semiconductor memory device 1 according to the invention . within the context of a substantially anisotropic etching process or lithography step , a plurality of first cutouts 22 are formed in the first passivation region 21 , to be precise at defined first locations k 1 between the plug regions p to be formed and above the word lines wl and gate regions g of the selection transistors t 1 , . . . , t 4 . in this case , the first cutouts 22 extend in the vertical direction , proceeding from the surface 21 a of the first passivation region 21 , to above the level of the surface of the word lines wl . in the lateral direction , the edge regions 22 b of the first cutouts 22 that have been formed form edge regions pb of plugs that are to be formed . the first cutouts 22 are , thus , bounded by the edge regions 22 b at the sides and , toward the bottom , by the bottom regions 22 a and are otherwise open toward the top . elevated regions 21 e are , therefore , formed in the first passivation region 21 , to be precise at the second locations k 2 above the source / drain regions . this intermediate stage of the method according to the invention is shown in fig2 . in the transition to fig3 a material region 26 for the electrodes 14 and 18 to be formed ( see fig4 ) is then deposited in a two - dimensional , whole - area and conformal manner on the prepatterned surface sequence 22 a , 22 b , 21 a , so that the material of the material layer 26 for the electrodes 14 and 18 follows the contour that substantially follows through the areas 22 a , 22 b , 21 a . in this way , material sections 26 b are formed in a lateral direction and 26 c in a substantially vertical direction on this surface contour . to isolate the conductive regions 26 c from one another , the conformally formed material layer 26 is etched back in an anisotropic etching process such that the bottom regions 22 a of the cutouts 22 and also there the surface of the first passivation region 21 are freed of the conductive material of the layer 26 , in other words , the material regions 26 b are completely removed , and the vertically running material regions 26 c remain as first electrodes 14 and second electrodes 18 that are respectively electrically insulated from one another by the elevated regions 21 e . [ 0066 ] fig4 shows this intermediate state in which the first and second electrodes 14 and 18 , respectively , are in each case already formed in a manner isolated from one another . proceeding from the intermediate state shown in fig4 the cutouts 22 that have remained free are then filled with a corresponding dielectric 16 , preferably a ferroelectric . this can be done by coating the prepatterned surface region with a corresponding material layer 24 in a substantially large - area or whole - area or 2d deposition method , so that , in particular , the cutouts 22 between the first and second electrodes 14 and 18 are filled beyond the level of the surface region 21 a of the first passivation region 21 . afterward , a polishing step with a stop on the level of the surface region 21 a of the first passivation region 21 was then carried out . these steps are shown in fig5 and 6 . [ 0068 ] fig7 shows a further intermediate state in the performance of the fabrication method according to the invention , in which second cutouts 32 are formed by selective etching in the region of the second defined locations k 2 . the second cutouts 32 extend in a manner proceeding from the level of the surface regions 14 a , 16 a , 18 a as far as the surface region 20 a of the semiconductor substrate 20 and , in particular , as far as the surface region 32 a of the source / drain region sd of the selection transistors t 1 , . . . , t 4 . in this case , the edges 32 b of the cutouts 32 are formed by edge regions 14 b , 18 b and 21 b of the first and second electrode devices 14 and 18 and also of the first passivation region 21 . afterward , a further material layer of a conductive material is then applied in a substantially two - dimensional , conformal , large - area and / or whole - area manner . in particular , the second cutouts 32 in the region of the second predefined locations k 2 are completely filled such that a substantially electrically conductive contact or plug region p from the first electrode devices 14 or the second electrode devices 18 to one another and to the respective assigned source / drain regions sd is produced and overall a chain structure can be realized for the capacitor devices 10 - 1 to 10 - 4 of the capacitor configuration 2 that have been formed , as is shown in fig8 . finally , fig9 shows a further intermediate stage of the fabrication method according to the invention , in which additional barrier , insulation , and contact layers are formed for interconnection purposes . a further important aspect of the present invention is that a corresponding dielectric material , in particular , a ferroelectric , can be influenced in terms of its crystallization by an underlying layer and can , thus , be constructed in a desired manner in terms of its crystal properties . in particular , it has been shown by corresponding surface structure analyses and spectroscopic examinations that , for example , pzt on al 2 o 3 crystallizes in the [ 111 ] direction . the overall result is an identification of the material system al 2 o 3 / pzt as material system for a vertical chain feram capacitor concept . if appropriate , al 2 o 3 could also be deposited following the intermediate state shown in fig2 ; in that case , during etching in the transition from the state of fig3 to the state of fig4 a stop would have to be effected on al 2 o 3 so that the layer remains . because al 2 o 3 is extremely hard , such an embodiment is certainly possible . the patterning of the barrier layers , in particular , with the aid of a bowl structure or the like , produces a particularly advantageous process sequence . as an alternative , the same advantageous configuration can be achieved by a recess process with arc or with photoresist : in this case , firstly a recess or a cutout is formed in the already completed plug region . afterward , a tin layer is applied by sputtering . this is followed by the deposition of a resist and the further formation of a cutout or a recess . the tin recess subsequently follows . the resist is then removed and is followed by the deposition of iridium , for example , by sputtering and a subsequent planarization step by cmp . it is also possible for three barrier layers to be buried in a vertical capacitor configuration . in such a case , the material combination for the barriers , the electrode , and the ferroelectrics differs depending on whether no , one , two , or three barrier layers are intended to be formed . the following special qualities result with regard to the patterning of the dielectric , in particular , the ferroelectric : high aspect ratios occur during etching , in particular , with regard to 4f 2 - 8f 2 areas . what is important here is that the electrodes are not short - circuited by the double etching of the ferroelectric structures nor at any time do free - standing ferroelectric structures occur whose structure might not be durable and that might fall over . one possible procedure in the patterning of the dielectric , in particular , the ferroelectric , is outlined in the following text . after the large - or whole - area deposition of the al 2 o 3 barrier and of the ferroelectric , for example , in the form of pzt , an etching process is performed in a first patterning step to open regions vertically as far as the tin / ir barriers above the plug regions . this is followed by wet - chemical cleaning , in particular , of the pzt regions . this results in virtually vertical etching profiles , for example of 83 - 86 ° in the case of a pt / pzt etching . furthermore , a good selectivity of the oxide mask of more than 0 . 7 : 1 is provided . afterward , the electrode material , for example iro 2 , is deposited such that the cutouts between the pzt regions are filled with contact to the plugs . this may preferably be done by an mocvd method or the like , preferably , in two - dimensional , large - area or whole - area form . if appropriate , planarization is subsequently effected with a stop on the surface of the pzt region , preferably , by a cmp method . as an alternative , patterning by an etching process is also conceivable . an annealing step is then also effected . for the electrical isolation of the individual capacitors , the procedure is then as follows : an etching step with regard to the pzt regions first ensues . this is followed by a wet - chemical cleaning step for the pzt regions . a passivation layer , preferably , made of al 2 o 3 , is then formed . this al 2 o 3 layer serves as a hydrogen barrier and also as a barrier against the formation of pb silicates . a further central concept of the present invention is the covering — that is optionally to be provided — of the vertical chain feram capacitor structures with al 2 o 3 . this layer serves , as has already just been mentioned , as a hydrogen barrier and as pb silicate forming blocker .	7
the present invention focuses on the genetic underpinnings of schizophrenia . in the first phase of the research , cdna microarrays were used to investigate potential alterations in transcript expression in six pairs of schizophrenic subjects . rgs4 was determined to be the most significantly and consistently changed transcript . in situ hybridization was also used to verify the microarray findings and to examine the regional and disease - related specificity of this change . out of the several hundred genes on locus 1q21 - 22 , the present studies indicate that rgs4 is a strong candidate for a major susceptibility gene on this locus . genetic association and linkage studies were conducted using two samples independently in pittsburgh and by the nimh collaborative genetics initiative . using the transmission disequilibrium test ( tdt ), significant transmission distortion was observed in both samples , albeit with different haplotypes . in support of the tdt results , increased sharing of alleles , identical by descent was observed for polymorphisms in this region among affected siblings of the nimh cases , though associations were not observed when the cases were compared to a limited number of population - based controls . these analyses are consistent with the possibility that inheritable polymorphisms in the flanking untranslated regions ( utr ) of the rgs4 gene confer susceptibility to schizophrenia . two groups of human subjects , consisting of six and five pairs of schizophrenic and control subjects , were used in the present studies . subject pairs were completely matched for sex ( 18 males and 4 females ). the mean (± sd ) difference within pairs was 4 . 6 ± 3 . 5 years for age and 4 . 4 ± 2 . 7 hours for post mortem interval ( pmi ). the entire group of schizophrenic and control subjects did not differ in mean (± sd ) age at time of death ( 46 . 5 ± 10 . 7 and 45 . 1 ± 11 . 5 years , respectively ), pmi ( 19 . 4 ± 7 . 1 and 17 . 7 ± 5 . 0 hours , respectively ), brain ph ( 6 . 85 ± 0 . 29 and 6 . 81 ± 0 . 15 , respectively ), or tissue storage time at − 80 ° c . ( 45 . 4 ± 12 . 3 and 37 . 7 ± 13 . 1 months , respectively ) when the studies initiated . nine of the schizophrenic subjects were receiving antipsychotic medications at the time of death , five had a history of alcohol abuse or dependence , and one died by suicide . also studied were 10 subjects with major depressive disorder ( mdd ), each of whom were matched to one normal control subject . the mdd subject pairs were also completed matched for sex ( 18 males and 2 females ). the mean ( s . d .) difference within pairs was 1 . 2 ± 1 . 4 years for age and 2 . 5 ± 2 . 1 hours for pmi . the depressive and control subjects did not differ in mean (± s . d .) age at time of death ( 52 . 7 ± 13 . 1 and 52 . 1 ± 13 . 1 years , respectively ), pmi ( 14 . 9 ± 5 . 3 and 15 . 7 ± 5 . 5 hours , respectively ), brain ph ( 6 . 81 ± 0 . 17 and 6 . 72 ± 0 . 30 ), or tissue storage time at − 80 ° c . ( 39 . 0 ± 17 . 4 and 39 . 9 ± 13 . 2 months , respectively ). two of the depressed subjects had a history of alcohol dependence , and six died by suicide . two of the control subjects had also been matched to subjects with schizophrenia ( 685c , 604c ). consensus dsm - iiir diagnoses were made for all subjects using data from clinical records , toxicology studies , and structured interviews with surviving relatives . a human multiple tissue northern blot ( clontech ) and a 32 p - labeled cdna probe were used to confirm the size of the rgs4 transcript reported previously ( druey , et al ., 1996 ). however , our results reported the presence of single dark bands of ˜ 3 kb in lanes from multiple brain regions ( whole cerebral cortex , frontal pole , occipital pole , temporal lobe ), with much fainter or absent bands observed in lanes from other brain regions ( cerebellum , medulla , spinal cord , putamen ). because the unigene entry for the rgs4 cdna ( u27768 ) contained only the truncated transcript ( 800 bp ), we designed custom pcr primers based on the bac clone sequence containing the rgs4 gene ( nt — 022030 ) to rapidly obtain the full - lenght rgs4 transcript sequence . for this analysis , mrna from a control human brain was purified , dnased , and re - purified prior to first strand cdna synthesis using superscript ii ( gibco ) with an oligo dt primer . the resulting cdna - mrna mixture was diluted and used in a standard pcr reaction using amplitaq gold ( see above ). all reaction products yielded single bright bands on 2 % agarose / ethidium bromide - stained gels , and were subsequently purified and sequenced . alignment of these sequences produced & gt ; 99 % identity matches with the bac clone sequence containing rgs4 . the 3 ′ utr for rgs4 obtained in this manner also aligned & gt ; 99 % with a cdna entry ( al137433 . 1 ) that contains both a poly a signal and a poly a attachment site , confirming that the human rgs4 transcript is 2949 bp without the poly a tail and includes a cdna entry not previously associated with the human transcript in the ncbi database ( see below ; fig6 ). fresh - frozen human tissue was obtained from the university of pittsburgh &# 39 ; s center for the neuroscience of mental disorders brain bank . area 9 from the right hemisphere was identified and isolated and sectioned into tubes at − 24 ° c . as described previously by glantz , l . a . and lewis , d . a . in arch gen psychiatry 54 : 943 - 952 , 2000 , which is herein incorporated by reference . total rna and mrna were isolated according to manufacturer &# 39 ; s instructions using promega ( madison , wis .) kit # z5110 , rnagents ® total rna isolation system and qiagen ( valencia , calif .) kit # 70022 , oligotex mrna kits , respectively . the volume was adjusted using microcon columns ym - 30 # 42409 to 50 ng / μl . the quality and purity of the mrna used in the reverse transcription labeling reactions was evaluated by size distribution on a 10 non - denaturing agarose gel (& gt ; 50 % of mrna smear over 1 kb ; integrity of rrna bands ) and optical density ( od ) measurements ( 260 / 280 & gt ; 1 . 80 ), respectively . labeling was performed at incyte genomics , inc . ( fremont , calif .). two hundred nanograms of mrna was reverse transcribed using cy3 - or cy5 - labeled fluorescent primers ; appropriate matched control and schizophrenic sample pairs were combined , and hybridized onto the same unigem - v cdna microarray . each unigem - v array contained over 7 , 000 unique and sequence - verified cdna elements mapped to 6 , 794 unigene homo sapiens annotated clusters found at the following nih website : “ http :// www . ncbi . nlm . nih . gov / unigene / index . html ”. hybridization and washing was performed using proprietary incyte protocols . if a gene or expressed sequence tag ( est ) was differentially expressed , the cdna feature on the array bound more of the labeled probe from one sample than the other , producing either a greater cy3 or cy5 signal intensity . the microarrays were scanned under cy3 - cys dual fluorescence , and the resulting images were analyzed for signal intensity . if the cy3 vs . cy5 signal intensity was within three fold , and the microarray detected spiked - in control standard less abundant than 1 copy in 50 , 000 , the raw data were exported to a local sql server database . on the server , the data were further analyzed using gemtools ( incyte &# 39 ; s proprietary software ) and ms - excel 2000 . note that the operators performing the labeling , hybridization , scanning , and signal analysis were blind to the specific category to which each sample belonged . a gene was considered to be expressed if the dna sample was successfully amplified by pcr , produced signal from at least 40 % of the spot surface , and had a signal / background ratio over 5 - fold for either the cy3 or cy5 probe . based on incyte &# 39 ; s control hybridization studies (“ http :// www . incyte . com / reagents / gem / products . shtml / gem - reproducibility . pdf ”) and control experiments , array data reliability and reproducibility cutoffs were established as follows : 1 . genes were comparably expressed between the control and experimental samples if the cy3 / cy5 ratio or cy5 / cy3 ratio was & lt ; 1 . 6 . 2 . gene expression was changed between the two samples at the 95 % confidence level ( 95 % cl ) if the cy3 / cy5 or cy5 / cy3 signal was 1 . 6 - 1 . 89 . 3 . gene expression was changed between the two samples at the 99 % confidence level ( 99 % cl ) if the cy3 / cy5 or cy5 / cy3 signal was & gt ; 1 . 9 . in the control experiments , & lt ; 0 . 5 % of the observations fell into this category . of the genes represented on the array , a g - protein group was created for data analysis , and included transcripts on the microarray for g - protein - coupled receptors ( gpcr ), heterotrimeric g - protein subunits , ras proteins , regulator of g - protein signaling ( rgs ) molecules , and g - protein - dependent inward rectifying potassium channels ( girks ), totaling 274 genes . at least two genes , rgs4 ( unigene cluster hs 227571 ) and rgs5 ( unigene cluster hs 24950 ) were mapped to the cytogenetic band 1q21 - 22 . in order to determine whether there is altered expression of multiple genes mapped to this locus , a 1q21 - 22 group was created from genes represented on the microarray locus . the 1999 ncbi database human 1q21 - 22 map is represented by 70 genes on the microarray , although some of them are not expressed in the central nervous system . the rgs4 microarray immobilized probes sequence matched the entry in the ncbi database ( accession number u27768 , unigene cluster hs . 227571 ). of the 800 bp full - length mrna , the double - stranded dna microarray immobilized probe was complementary to the 3 ′ region of 571 nucleotides , as shown in fig1 a . the anti - sense , in situ hybridization probe was derived from the mrna region spanning nucleotides 39 - 739 , resulting in a 700 nucleotide long crna probe ( see below ). the rgs4 cdna sequence , as determined from the complete mrna coding sequence is listed as follows : gtacgctcaa agccgaagcc acagctcctc ctgccgcatt 60 tctttcctgc ttgcgaattc caagctgtta aataagatgt gcaaagggct tgcaggtctg 120 ccggcttctt gcttgaggag tgcaaaagat atgaaacatc ggctaggttt cctgctgcaa 180 aaatctgatt cctgtgaaca caattcttcc cacaacaaga aggacaaagt ggttatttgc 240 cagagagtga gccaagagga agtcaagaaa tgggctgaat cactggaaaa cctgattagt 300 catgaatgtg ggctggcagc tttcaaagct ttcttgaa9t ctgaatatag tgaggagaat 360 attgacttct ggatcagctg tgaagagtac aagaaaatca aatcaccatc taaactaagt 420 cccaaggcca aaaagatcta taatgaattc atctcagtcc aggcaaccaa agaggtgaac 480 ctggattctt gcaccaggga agagacaagc cggaacatgc tagagcctac aataacctgc 540 tttgatgagg cccagaagaa gattttcaac ctgatggaga aggattccta ccgccgcttc 600 ctcaagtctc gattctatct tgatttggtc aacccgtcca gctgtggggc agaaaagcag 660 aaaggagcca agagttcagc agactgtgct tccctggtcc ctcagtgtgc ctaattctca 720 cctgaaggca gagggatgaa atgccaagac tctatgctct ggaaaacctg aggccaaata 780 ttgatctgta ttaagctcca gtgctttatc cacattgtag cctaatattc atgctgcctg 840 ccatgtgtga gtcacttcta cgcataaact agatatagct tttggtgttt gagtgttcat 900 cagggtggga ccccattcca gtccaatttt cctaagtttc tttgagggtt ccatgggagc 960 aaatatctaa ataatggcct ggtaggtctg gattttcaaa gattgttggc agtttcctcc 1020 tcccaacagt tttacctcgg gatggttggt tagtgcatgt cacatgacat ccacatgcac 1080 atgtattctg ttggccagca cgttctccag actctagatg tttagatgag gttgagctat 1140 gatatgtgct tgtgtgtatg tctatgtgta tatattatat atacattaga cacacatata 1200 cattatttct gtatatagat gtctgtgtat acatatgtat gtgtgagtgt atgtatacac 1260 acacacacac acacacacac acacttttgc aagagtgatg ggaaagaccc taggtgctca 1320 taactagagt atgtgtatgt acttacatgg gtgttttgat ctctgttctt tcatactaca 1380 tttgaacagg gcaaaatgaa ctaactgcca tgtaggctaa gaaagaaatg ctaacctgtg 1440 gaaagttggt tttgtaaaat tccatggatc ttgctggaga agcatccaag gaacttcatg 1500 cttgatttga ccactgacag cctccacctt gagcactatt ctaaggagca aataccttag 1560 ctcccttgag ctggttttct ctgatggcac ttttgagctc ctaagctgcc agccttccct 1620 tcttttcctg ggtgctcagg gcatgcttat tagcagctgg gttggtatgg agttggcaga 1680 caggatgttc aacttaatga agaaatacag ctaaggcctt gccagcaaca cctgccgtaa 1740 gttactggct gagtgagggc atagaagtta aaggttactg tttttatcct ctatcctttt 1800 ttcctttcct gatcaaggtg ctcttctcat tttttcctga gaaccttagc catcagatga 1860 ggctccttag tttattgtgg ttggttgttt tttctttata atggctctgg gctatatgcc 1920 tatatttata aaccagcagc aggggaaaga ttatatttta taagagggaa caaattttca 1980 caatttgaaa agcccacata agttttctct tttaaggtag aatcttgtta atttcattcc 2040 aaacatcggg gctaacagag actggaggca tttcttttta ggctctgaga ctaaatgaga 2100 ggaaaagaaa agaaaaaaaa aatgattgtc taaccaattg tgagaattac tgtttgaaac 2160 ttttcaaggc acattgaaat acttgaaaac ttctcattta tgttatttat gatgttattt 2220 tgtacgtgtt attattatta tattgtttta taaatggagg tacaggatat cacctgaatt 2280 attaatgaat gcccaggaag taattttctt ctcattcttc taaaactact gcctttcaaa 2340 gtgcacacac acgcgtccac atacactgca ttcgttgctc cagtataaat tacatgcatg 2400 agcacctttc tggcttttaa gccaatataa tgggctgcaa aatgaagaca ccagagtgta 2460 tgcatacaaa tctcactgta ttaaagatgc aggttttcta attgtaccct tcttgtctct 2520 ctggcaatct tgcccttaat atccctggag ttcctcatca gtgtcatttt ctgttataca 2580 cagttccaca attttgtctc tagttgactt caaatgtgta actttattgg tcttgcccta 2640 ttataattgt catgactttc agattgtatc tgaactcaca gactgctgtc ttactaatag 2700 gtctggaagg tcacgctgaa tgagaagtaa attattttat gtaatacatt tttgagtgtg 2760 tttttcagtt gtatttccct gttatttcat cactatttcc aatggtgagc ttgcctgctc 2820 atgctccctg gacagaatac tccttccttt tgcatgcctg tttctatcat gtgcttgata 2880 ggcctcaaag ctaatgcttc cagtgaaaca cacgcatctt aataataagg gtaaataaac 2934 gctccatatg aaac for purposes of the present invention , the rgs4 cdna will be referred to as seq id no : 1 . the 205 amino acid long sequence of rgs4 , as determined and reported by druey et al . in nature , 379 : 742 - 746 ( 1996 ) which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety , is listed as genbank accession number p49798 as follows : mckglaglpa sclrsakdmk hrlgfllqks dscehnsshn kkdkvvicqr vsqeevkkwa eslenlishe cglaafkafl kseyseenid fwisceeykk ikspsklspk akkiynefis vqatkevnld sctreetsrn mleptitcfd eaqkkifnlm ekdsyrrflk srfyldlvnp sscgaekqkg akssadcasl vpqca the above amino acid sequence of rgs4 is referred to as seq id no : 2 for purposes of the present invention . untranslated regions upstream and downstream from the rgs4 coding region are identified in the context of the present invention as being relevant components of the rgs4 gene . the rgs4 coding sequence along with these sequences are found on nt — 022030 as described in greater detail below . this sequence is agttcaagac cagcctgagc aacatggtga aaccccatct 60 ctactaaaaa tacaaaatta gacaggcatg gtgatacacg cctgtaatcc cagctacttc 120 ggaggccgag gcaggagaat cacttgaacc tgctgggggt ggaggttgcg gggagcaaga 180 tcatgccatt gcactccagc ccaggcaaca agagcgaaat gtcatctcag aaaaaaaaaa 240 aggcatttta tatatatata tatatatata tacacacaca cacacatata tatatacaca 300 tatatataca catatataca tatatacaca tatatacaca tatatataca catacatatg 360 tacacatata tatacacata tgtatacaca tatatacaca tatatacaca catatataca 420 catatataca cacatatata cacatatata cacatatata cacatataca catatataca 480 catatataca tatatacaca tatatataat atacacacat atatatacac atatatacac 540 acatatatac acatatatac acatatatat acacatatat acacatatat acatatatac 600 acatatatat acatatatac acatatatac atatatacac atatatacat atatacacac 660 atatatacac atacatatac acacacatag atatacatat atatacacat atatatacgt 720 atatatatgt atatatatat gctccagagt tcataagagg tagcagttga ttaccactgg 780 ggatagagga aaagagagtt tgacagcagt gtattgtgag aaggacattt caggttgatg 840 gcaaatagta ggggaaatac ataaatgtgt aataaaacct atctgtaagg tagttaagaa 900 ggtaacacta tatatatata tagtgaaagc agtgtaaacc taaaggatgg gccaaggatt 960 taaatgttat agaagaatgg ctaagatgcc aaagctcagt gtatgtggca gaggcatggt 1020 gtagggtgtg tccaggttca tatattgcat taagtgtgag aacaccctgg agtatgaacc 1080 aagaaaatgc aaaagccaga agtgatggag gaaatgagac acaataatga agatattgag 1140 aggagggtgt gggcctagag tgaagctttt cgtgccagta cttcttttga aggcccagtt 1200 ctcttctctc tcgggggctc cttcatctct catagagtcc acagctttta agggccaaca 1260 cttgaggtca gcctggctct ctcatttgag ctggatagaa cattttagag caccatctat 1320 tcttcaagag gaagtttaaa aataaaagaa ccttgaagag gaaaaaatgt agacattcaa 1380 tctaaccttt tcattttact agccaaagct aaatagaatg caggttacct gtttttcagc 1440 caggcaccat catttcctaa ttgttataaa atttattatt attgttgtta ttattattat 1500 ttgccataag aagtttccca tatcctttta gtataacaaa aacacaattc acaagcatta 1560 taaaacccat ggtgtctaac tattaaaaaa attaagtgga acacacttgt cccagctact 1620 ggggaggctg aggagggagg atcacgtgat cccagggggt caaggttatg gagagctatg 1680 attgtgccac tgcactccag cctgggtgac agggaaagac cctgtctcta aaattttttt 1740 taaaaaaact aaactggttt tattacagag attctggaga cagctacaca taaaagggtg 1800 gtatgcctca tattagctac ccagggaggt ggaatgccaa cttaggtggt gtcaccacta 1860 ttaaaaatgc cccaaagcaa tcaaaactga gaacttcctg ggagcttagc attgtgcaaa 1920 agcagcacaa aacacttaaa caattcacag ttgtgttgga atgggaaggc ctggaaatat 1980 aaaccaaaga gtatattgtc taaattgata gagattacaa ttgcctgaaa gaaaaagttg 2040 acttttaact agaatgttca gagtaggttt acagaagaag ctcttaaact gggctccagt 2100 ggatttgtca atgctttgga agctggtggg gtgggagggt tggagggggc ataaaaagtc 2160 atgttggtat gctctgctca agtctccatt ctgtttcctt ttcctctttt caatgtcatg 2220 tcccattatt tcattatggg cttcccttta tccaggatca atatgccacc tcttggttgt 2280 cttttaccta cttctccacc tcactatgga atcgtccttg ggtagctcct gtgcttggga 2340 acctgcacgg gcacttttct gatgtcttga ttccagcttt actcctaaaa cttaaatgct 2400 gaggggccaa caccatggca gtggtaggga tgggaatggg ggtcttgtaa cacactacat 2460 aaactacacg aaataaacta catgaaactc aacatgtttg caagactcag ttcacatcca 2520 tgaggagctc atgcttctcc ctcctgctcc cctagcacac atgattatct ctatttggaa 2580 atgtttggca tttttggtga agtgaatggt tcaataactt tctccaccat cagaacaaaa 2640 gctctttaag gttagggatg ggatcataca cacttccctt gtccaagtcc ccatcacccc 2700 ttatctagac aattgctaca gtttcctaca cactcttcta acctcttgca gtctattttc 2760 ataaaacagc tagagaactt tgagatgtaa gtcaaaaaat agaacatgtc gctctttccc 2820 attgtttttg aaataaagtt caaccccctt accagggtca acaaggccct gcaatgattt 2880 ggtcctgtta aaaattcttt agccttaact catgctgttc ttccttacac tcactgcatt 2940 ctagccattg aggtttctat gcatcaaact ttttttggtc ccagcactgt gcacatcctt 3000 ctgggtagaa tgccccttga tttgtataat tagcacctcc ttcatcattt aggtcttagt 3060 ataactacta ccttcttaga gaagctctgc ttcttcatcc tataaaaaag taaaattcct 3120 taccctgtta ttttttaagt catccgtgtt tcattctgtt aaagttctta tcacaattta 3180 tcattatttt atttacagtc atgtgccaca taacaatgtt tcagtcaggg atagaacaca 3240 aatgtatctg gccccataat attataagct gagaaatttc tattaactag tgatatcgca 3300 gccatcataa gtgtaatgca ggacattacc ttttctatgt ttagatatgt tagatacaca 3360 aatatatttc attgtgttat aatttcctac agtattcagt acagtaacat gctgtacagg 3420 tttgtaacct aggagtaata ggctatacca tacagcttag gtgtgtagta ggctataacc 3480 atctaggttt gtgtaagtac attctatgat attcccacaa tgatgaaatc acctaactac 3540 acatttctca gaatgtttca ctgttgtgaa gtgacccatg actatatttt cctatatact 3600 tgatattttt gtgcatctgc ccatgagaat gtagtgtaag atcaaaggat gcaagaatgg 3660 gttctatcca gtatagtacc cactacactg gtggatgtca atatgtattt gttagattaa 3720 tatctcaaga atgagcacct ttctcagaca cataaaagat gctcaatata aaagtttgtt 3780 gaactgaacg ttattggcaa atgtaacatg atcggattta aagaggagcg aaacagaggt 3840 ctggctcaaa caccatactt ctagagtgca taagaggtag cagttgatta ccactggcga 3900 caggagaaaa aagagcttga ccgcagggta ctgtgaagac atttcaggtt gatggcacag 3960 aacaggggaa atacataaat gtgtgggaat attcagtggt ctgggatgac tacatagtag 4020 aatataatga agaaaagagt ggaagggaaa gatgaaaagt tggaatgggg atgaattatg 4080 aaagtaccag aatgttatgc taaggaatct agattttaaa atgtgagggc aaattgaagt 4140 c gggcacg ttacaaaact agaggtcata aagtttaccc taatttacca agatttccta 4200 gaggatctat aattggaatc cagatctgcc tctctgtaaa gttcaagcac tttccatgac 4260 accatactgt ttctttccac ctgcacaatg caaatgaact cttatgaaac tgctgtttct 4320 atcctgggct aaatgttgca gaaaaaagat ttaatctttg ggataaggct attttgggtt 4380 ttctcct ct tcttgggaaa caaggttttc ttcccctggc taattaagtg tggtattgtt 4440 cttccaggga aatcagtgat gcatcacctg ctgctatcaa atgtcagggt tggagttcct 4500 gatttattgc atgtgcccac aaagcttggt gcaaagaatt ggacacattt cccaaaagta 4560 agacatactg ggaagtccct gtttaccttc ctggtataca gcatcctcca gccccatatc 4620 tttgcttttt agtcctaaaa tcaataact gaactctcat tgatgtctag gccattgtag 4680 taaacaataa agaaggaggg aggcttctga caactgagag gaaattgtca tctgaagtgg 4740 tgcaagcaca gcctggggct gagccttggc ctacatcctg cccaagtgga ggatcagtg 4800 cccatttaac atctggtaga actaaagaac gcaac cctg ccacaatgac ttatttccct 4860 gcatttgata ccgtcaatcc ttgagaaatg ttttcttttg ttctccctga gcaaaggttg 4920 gaaaaatttg aaatttacct agagaccaca catagttcac atcctgctgt gtggctgaat 4980 gtctgcccc cagtaggaaa cagttcttct aaagcctatt gtcaacaata ccttccagat 5040 gttagcattt tacaatttaa ggaacttaaa atag cttca aactttttgc cagtttctct 5100 gatatccaat ctattctttt actctgcctc ccaagctttc tttctagaat gctaacctga 5160 tcggcttaag tacttgaact acctcttctc ctccattaac tacagagtaa attctggtct 5220 tcagagtaac aagaaacacc ctttagttct cagcatattc gtgcaccttc atttatctct 5280 ccttctctct caaagctgca gtaggggtga aaac tgtga tacattttct cttccatcat 5340 aagggtcgca accaaaactc ctatagtaaa agacaggtta ataagagcaa aacctaacaa 5400 atttatttaa tcaaagtttt acatgacatg ggagtcttca gaaatgaaga cccaaagacc 5460 caggggaaac tgtctgtttt ttttgctgag gttcgatgaa gaatggatag catgtagcca 5520 tgtagattag acaaaaggat atgatctagt ggtaaaggac tcagggggaa acacagcaag 5580 gcctgtctat tcagattctt cttgatctct ctctctctat gtatagcatt ctttcctcct 5640 gagtatgggg caggactctt cttcaatgag ggtcttcaag ggagaaggga gaaagtggcc 5700 tttttagatt ttat cttg cttcggggaa gaggagttct agtttctatg acccatcttg 5760 gggaagagga attctggttt ctgtgacttg ctttcatgaa gaaagaggag taagaggcag 5820 gagggcagga gatggtcaga aagagacttg gctgcttctg agggcttccg ctctccttta 5880 gttccaagta cttcttagca taccaaagca ctatactttg gcatatggtt ttctgagctc 5940 taacactgca atcatgctaa actcctctat gaccttcaaa cattccactt gcttttattc 6000 tttatggttg tgatggcata gaggtcaata gcaaagaccc tggagtccca ctgtctgagc 6060 tggcataaca ttactaccac ttaatcaatg tgtaagctca ggtaagtact taagtcctct 6120 atgcttcatc tgtaaaatga gaatcattga agaacattct ctcaggatgg atcatgagga 6180 ataagtgaat taactggcat atagtgctta aaccagtgcc ttgctcagtt agtgacagat 6240 aaaatcatct gttattactg tgcccactat tgtgatgctc ttctcttctt tgtacaacga 6300 ctacatctct atttatcatt ttagggtctc cttgtgaaaa accactccag attcaaaaga 6360 ttgagtttaa tctctatcct ctgtgctttc ctggagtttt gtaaagtaaa tcttcacttg 6420 acatcatgga taggttcttg gaaactacaa cttcaagtga aaggacataa ctaaaccaat 6480 ttttttctca tcaacgttat aatgaaatgg cattgatgaa atgatggcat tcaaggacct 6540 gctgtacctt gtttcactta aagtcactgt ttccaataat ctattgatga cattgaggac 6600 ttactatata ataataaata tatatataat cgacgaaaca ggaatcaaac tgctaactct 6660 gctaactggt ctccctgctt ccacactctg cccactcatc tcagtctttc tttcacaaga 6720 gtcagaatga tcagatgaga cccctcctct gcttctgttt cttccatgga tttccactgc 6780 actctgataa agtccagcct cttgaccaca gcctacaaat ccttgcacga tctatcgttt 6840 acttttccat ctccttttat gctactttca tcttgttctc aattctctag ctatgctggc 6900 cccttcttgt tctttcccat ttttttttaa tttttaaaat ttgtatatat ttatgggtta 6960 taagtgaaat ctttttagat gcataggttg tatagtgata aaatcagggc ttttagggta 7020 ttcatcacct gaatgatgta cattgtaccc cttaagtaat ttctcaccat ccgctgactt 7080 cttgccccct gggtattcat cacctgaatg atgtgcattg taccccttaa gtaatttctc 7140 accatccgct gacttcttgc cccctgggta ttcatcacct gaatgatgtg cattgtaccc 7200 cttaagtaat ttctcaccat ccgctgactt cttgccccct catccttctg aggctccatt 7260 gtccatcatt ccacactcta catctatgtg tacacattat ttagctccta cttataagtg 7320 ataacatgca atatttgtct ttctgtgtct gtcttgtttt acttatgata atggccccca 7380 gttctatcta ggct ctgca aaaggcatga tttcattctt ttttatggct atgttctttc 7440 ccaatttaga taaagaacac tcgcacttgc tcttacttct atttggaata ctaattccta 7500 ggcttcttgc attgctttct ccttctcacc catcaaatct cattttagat accacctctt 7560 caaagagggc tttcctgacc accttggctg aattagccct tcaccatctg attactctct 7620 agcacatcac ctgcccattt tattcatggt acaggtcaaa atctggaatc acctgatttg 7680 tttattttct gactccttct actgagatga aaactctact agagcggaga ttttatctgc 7740 ttgtatcagg tactgcttca aacagcacct gatacaga t aggtggtcaa aagatatttc 7800 ttaaacaaat gaacaaataa aaagtagatc ttttgagagt aaagctcttc cacactacca 7860 gagtcattca ggaatgacaa atcatagaat aacagaattt gatgctttgt gcatatcaga 7920 gaaagaaggt ggaaggttgt caaggtatca tgatgtacca gtcctcgcct cctcaaacac 7980 aatctgcaag tcccacagtg aaaaagtaag ttaactcatg tgaagcgttt tacaaacact 8040 tttttaaaag tcttaaaact cctaagaaag caagatttaa tagtcaaaga agtgagtaaa 8100 catgaaatgc ctgaacagag taatgagcta agcacaaagt tagagacatg ttagttaata 8160 tgtcttgaaa gcagcagctc ctgctttcaa ggagcaagaa caaattgggc aagtgaacac 8220 tccttgaata aaatgtgtaa aattaatttt gggttatgtt ctatactgtg tataatagaa 8280 tgataaaaat tatttgacta gcactttgta gtttagaaat atctctattt acacagttta 8340 ccttatttga taagactgtt gagtgatggg atagcatggt ggacaatcca cataactgag 8400 tatcgagaca cctgtatctg gacccagctc tgttagtaag aagctgtaac ctcagcaagt 8460 cactttctct ttctgggtct ctatttcctt tttggtgaaa tgagagtgtt aggctagatt 8520 gcctttgaag tcccattttg tctttaaagt cccatctatt gcagtgattt atatttaact 8580 catgacaaat caggcttctc ttattctaag tgcaa acat aaaactttta ttgtggaatt 8640 tcaggcatca gtaaatcttt ttgggtactc acttatgttc ctgaaatcaa tctatttgag 8700 tgatcactct tttaggtgcc caggtaaaca aagaaggcca tggtctttct ttgagtgacc 8760 ttctttccct tttaattagt ctgacctctt taatgtcagt tctgactgat tcatttccct 8820 ggtccatctt ccttggtctg agggccttcc tagtttcata ttgcacttca gttccttcca 8880 caccaccatc aaggatggct gtcaacattc atttgttcta tgttataatt caaggaaaag 8940 ttgcccagta gctaatccaa taaatgccct cttatgggcg gctagagact ttttcctata 9000 atttaaatgc atcttctgta gattatggtc cctccaccac tttacatttg tctgctgtct 9060 ccttgctctg ctagtcatgg aacgtgttgg tagtgggggc agtgtgggat gttcaagggc 9120 acgtattggg tagggccaca tatgggcatt gctttgtgcc attctttcta tatttttggt 9180 attttgcatc tcactggaac ccaactattt ttcatctctt ccacctaaac tatttgatgc 9240 ctctgtttct tatatataaa gtatagctca ctgtagccta tgatcaggaa cctatctgct 9300 ttctaaatga aagctgtttt ggtcagatct agcaattaat tcccttcttc cacttatagc 9360 tttcctctgt aactctggtg taggtatttg gtttatggct ataagatgtg aaacacctga 9420 atgattctgt ccatgcaggc atttcagttc atgatattgt atgtaaaaga tactgattgt 9480 ctaggtgttc agaaacacct atagggctta atattcttac aatcagtttg aaggctggtg 9540 atacgcaaag caaactacat atttttctgc ctgctctctc tctttctctc tacatctctc 9600 tttctttatc ttttgaaata tcagtttgga gacttagaat tacataagac ataaacccat 9660 ttgatataag aattgctgtg tatatttgct catctactcc ctcctttggt cctcgagctg 9720 ccggtttaga ctttttacag gacgcaggca tgtgaaggag aaactgtcag tgctaggctg 9780 aattctgttg ttaccaagat ttctagaaaa gtattcctca gtcaggttga ttacagatat 9840 agcaaatcta tttttcctag ggtagtttct gtatgctgcc gggcttataa ctgtctgtca 9900 tccagctatt t tctccacc ttcttgtttg cataacaacc aaggcaactt ccgcaaatca 9960 ctgcgtggag acgatgatcc tg cagctcc cttttggaaa tcgtgaggat cagatcttgg 10020 accatgtata atatgatgct tctaatccaa aagaggaaag gcattgggag tcagctccta 10080 agtaagctcc agaattcctg ctggtacttt tccttccagg aagcaacttc cttgatattt 10140 tttttttaca g catatgaa taaaaactat attttgcagc attgtacact ttttttcctt 10200 ttctagaaat tctaaacctc tgacattggt ggagacattg agtacatttt ttcccatatc 10260 cctacttttc agaaggattt tctctgctcg ttcacttaac attgctgatg cgtcagtctt 10320 ttcttcctca tctctttcag gggctggaga ggcagaggga gacagaggag ctggtactgc 10380 agagcggtcg tctgattggc tggacggtcg tagctgggct ataaaagaga cccctacagg 10440 cttagcagga agacgctcag aggattctga caatatcttt accggagaag aggcaaagta 10500 cgctcaaagc cgaagccaca gctcctcctg ccgcatttct ttcctgcttg cgaattccaa 10560 gctgttaaat aagatgtgca aagggcttgc aggtctgccg gcttcttgct tgaggaggta 10620 agattgcttt cagccattaa ccatattaaa cttttggcta gactttctca gttatttaca 10680 tgttgtactt actaacctag ttctgtgcaa ttagaaacag tgtggtcagg agagcacgac 10740 tttctaactt tcctccaaga ctagctagat attgtgactt aagacatgtg ctccccaaat 10800 ttcagccctt atgtgttgtt ttgtgtgacc tcagttttga gaactgttct attctttaag 10860 ccaggtctaa gaaagctagt tttaattaag aagcgagatg aggtttgagg ctatgtacag 10920 tgatctgtaa tatctccatc tgtgattact actgctattt gagcatccct ggagtacata 10980 gaagcctggc tctgggcttt ctgattgtat gctacaactt gtttcaggaa aggtacccca 11040 gaatgaggtt tggctccatc atcagaaagg cacta gctt tccgtgtggt ggtgcagtaa 11100 ctttcactct tatgttctt ataag aaat gttacaatga gatatgagtt ttaaagccag 11160 atcttcctta tctctctgcc ccatctctag ttcttgaagt gtctcatatg agtttggttg 11220 agaaatattg atcattacaa atcagttaat agttttgtag aagatctcat cttaaagaca 11280 ttgttttgtt aatatactcc cttgattttt ttaaaagacc ttacagacat acagctattc 11340 atttgttttt ggtttgttca aaaaaggtat aaagaaatgc attcagagaa agatcatata 11400 ttagccagtt gaaaattaaa cacaaaatga gtgcatatta cattacttaa tcttgcagtc 11460 aaaggtaaaa agtcaaccta aaggtatact acctgctttc ttatcgcact gcaaatagaa 11520 attaccacaa attttatttt ggaaataatc tcagaaaaca taatttttta tgtactatta 11580 aaacatttac tttccaaata ttctgtcatt caggagtatg gaagtatcga tggcttcttt 11640 aaaatgaagc aggagggtct ggcagagagt atctatgaaa taagttcctc tgaccttcac 11700 gcttaatttt ctgaatggag tggagcaaat tacttcaagc ttcacttaac ttgcatatga 11760 aatgaaccgt acaaaaatac aagagtgtca gga aaagtt atgctctggt aaatattttg 11820 caaaacagat aaaagataat actagagcta tgtcctcaaa gagttaagca gctaatctaa 11880 ggaggtaaac tctatgtcag caggatgaac tgctcttccc tttcctcctc aataaattgc 11940 aaatcatcta gtccaacatc tttaccacca gtgcctgagg ctccagagga gccattgcct 12000 tctcaaggtc acataggtgg tgggtgagtt aggaccaaat ctagaattcc tgactccagt 12060 aacttctgaa gtcattttgt tttttatttt tatggtttta ttataagaat acttgctaag 12120 cacacttacc ccctgcattg attaataact ctaggatctc ag t gatcc agcacataga 12180 aatatgaatt cgtttctatt tggacttcat gatatattta cattatcacc ttggaatcac 12240 cctaacattc aggattgtat cttgttataa tcaaaaagga tgttgcatcc cctgaacagt 12300 catcagtcag ggaagcagag gagggaaagt aatcttgcga ggaagagaaa atactattta 12360 agggacagtc agagaacata atggaattca aactttctgg gaaaacctac atacataaat 12420 gtattagtgg ccatcctaaa tgtctttata tctttgaggc tttattttcc ctactccaaa 12480 tagacacatt tagttattca tttcttttaa aatggtattt ctctttttaa actatttctt 12540 gactttttta ataaaaagag atgcaagcaa gaggatattt aataaaaagt aagagagttg 12600 agcttaaggc ttattaaaag accccctttt tctagttagt caggagctct aatgtgccct 12660 ggctacctat taaatggtgg caataaactg gaagctcagt gatgactcta gcctgcttct 12720 cctaatagct gttaagcctc aaatgccctt tagagtgtgt atgtccttta aagtagctat 12780 taagaaggaa agcagcagca gcagatattg tctagaaaga agccccaaga agctgaggtt 12840 tcagcttggg catttgtttt cgccatccca tgctccattt ccctctgctg gaactgtgca 12900 cctcagtgta ttctccctct atacctcaca gcaggaactg cttgcccccc cccccccccc 12960 ccaacataca tggctggaac tgaatagact tttactttcc cgaggtgctt ctacagttcc 13020 ctctgccagc aggggaacag atggaaatag caatcacctg ccagaaggtg gcgtgcagca 13080 aggatgtgca tcttttgccg ctactgcttt ctgattccta aaaattactc agagatcact 13140 catgtgttca gtgattcagg ttctgttgaa gataccaaag atattcggtt ggtcaaaatg 13200 acgggcatat aaaggcttct caggtttctg aggtaaactg aagggtcaga attccagttg 13260 tggatgaagg aaatggtgtt atgactgcct caaggttttg tagcaagtca tagggaacca 13320 agaggaatct tgttttcctc agaggtcatg ccaactccaa ctcccgttcc ctaaactgtc 13380 tctgagccat agactagtaa tggactcttc aagctctacc attaggtatc ttttaaagaa 13440 agctggttat tactatttat tcattttttt ctcttctgtg cagtgcaaaa gatatgaaac 13500 atcggctagg tttcctgctg caaaaatctg attcctgtga acacaattct tcccacaaca 13560 agaaggacaa agtggttatt tgccagaggt aagagaaaag gccttggtga agatgtactt 13620 agtattaact atctgatgat ggggatgttc tgtgagaagg aacttgtgct cctagttaag 13680 ccagatttgg atcaagatag cctccatttt catggagatc ataactacat ttgaaatttc 13740 tatacattta gtgaaaaact gccctcatca ataacatatt ttgtcataac gatggaaaat 13800 aaaatctttg ccttcattca ggatcttaga tttcttgccc caattttttt accatggcat 13860 tccaattatt ctgtttctct ctattttttc tagagtgagc caagaggaag tcaagaaatg 13920 ggctgaatca ctggaaaacc tgattagtca tgaatgtaag tctgacagca acctgggatg 13980 aggtactctg gataagacaa gttatattat gctggtctaa tagaaactgc agcaaggcct 14040 ggcttctttc tgatgttcag actcaggaga ctctttaggt cttaaattca gtctgtttaa 14100 aattttaata tgccctagag ctttgtgata tacaatgaaa agtttatgca ggaaccatgt 14160 ggaaaaccat ctctctcatc acaaggaaaa acggaagaga gaaaaaaaat gataaatatc 14220 aataccttct tgcaaaatca atctcagttt ctctttccca aattgacctt ggtaattgat 14280 agctgcatag gcatttcaga agcaaaatac ttccttgaaa gaggcttcca acttgagtaa 14340 gaatcattag gtagaactgg gaaccactgg atatcaaaca cagatt ggg ttacctgact 14400 ccaggtgact tgaaaaaagc aggggaaaaa gggattgctt gaatccatgc tttatccccc 14460 aagtacctca gctttatgtg aaatagcata tccaagaggc caaccagtgt gatgacaact 14520 gtggtccttt ctcctgtatc ataggtgggc tggcagcttt caaagctttc ttgaagtctg 14580 aatatagtga ggagaatatt gacttctgga tcagctgtga agagtacaag aaaatcaaat 14640 caccatctaa actaagtccc aaggccaaaa agatctataa tgaattcatc tcagtccagg 14700 caaccaaaga ggtaggtttt ttatggatac ataaaaattg tacgtattta tggagtatgt 14760 gtgatatttt gatacatgca tacaatgtga taacaatcaa atcagggcaa ttgctatata 14820 catatctcaa acatttatta tttctacgtg ttgagaacat tccaaatctc ctcttctagc 14880 tatcttaaaa tatacaataa actattgata actatatcac cctaatgtgc tatcaaacac 14940 tagaacctat tccctctacc caactttcta tctattcctt ctacccatta gccaacctga 15000 ccaaaaaggt aagcttttat ggcagagaac tctctggatc ttagtgaagg ttcctagaat 15060 agtggagctg actatcataa tcttgacaac cccaaataaa tcagtttttt aaaaaatctc 15120 ttttatccat gtggcttacc ataacctccc tgcatgaatt tttctgatga atctccccaa 15180 tttgttagac agaacagaag atcttgccct gctctctcta aagcagaaag gttcattctg 15240 aacctttcat actctctcac atgtgccaag gaggacccca atgtcacttt tgttttttgc 15300 ttctgaaata cagagggtgc actgccactt acaagtcact acaaagcata caggcttgca 15360 tcctcaacag ggatataggt ctaatgaagc cttggccttt gcccctcagg tgaacctgga 15420 ttcttgcacc agggaagaga caagccggaa catgctagag cctacaataa cctgctttga 15480 tgaggcccag aagaagattt tcaacctgat ggagaaggat tcctaccgcc gcttcctcaa 15540 gtctcgattc tatcttgatt tggtcaaccc gtccagctgt ggggcagaaa agcagaaagg 15600 agccaagagt tcagcagact gtgcttccct ggtccctcag tgtgcctaat tctcacctga 15660 aggcagaggg atgaaatgcc aagactctat gctctggaaa acctgaggcc aaatattgat 15720 ctgtattaag ctccagtgct ttatccacat tgtagcctaa tattcatgct gcctgccatg 15780 tgtgagtcac ttctacgcat aaactagata tagcttttgg tgtttgagtg ttcatcaggg 15840 tgggacccca ttccagtcca attttcctaa gtttctttga gggttccatg ggagcaaata 15900 tctaaataat ggcctggtag gtctggattt tcaaagattg ttggcagttt cctcctccca 15960 acagttttac ctcgggatgg ttggttagtg catgtcacat gacatccaca tgcacatgta 16020 ttctgttggc cagcacgttc tccagactct agatgtttag atgaggttga gctatgatat 16080 gtgcttgtgt gtatgtctat gtgtatatat tatatataca ttagacacac atatacatta 16140 tttctgtata tagatgtctg tgtatacata tgtatgtgtg agtgtatgta tacacacaca 16200 cacacacaca cacacacact tttgcaagag tgatgggaaa gaccctaggt gctcataact 16260 agagtatgtg tatgtactta catgggtgtt ttgatctctg ttctttcata ctacatttga 16320 acagggcaaa atgaactaac tgccatgtag gctaagaaag aaatgctaac ctgtggaaag 16380 ttggttttgt aaaattccat ggatcttgct ggagaagcat ccaaggaact tcatgcttga 16440 tttgaccact gacagcctcc accttgagca ctattctaag gagcaaatac cttagctccc 16500 ttgagctggt tttctctgat ggcacttttg agctcctaag ctgccagcct tcccttcttt 16560 tcctgggtgc tcagggcatg cttattagca gctgggttgg tatggagttg gcagacagga 16620 tgttcaactt aatgaagaaa tacagctaag gccttgccag caacacctgc cgtaagttac 16680 tggctgagtg agggcataga agttaaaggt tactgttttt atcctctatc cttttttcct 16740 ttcctgatca aggtgctctt ctcatttttt cctgagaacc ttagccatca gatgaggctc 16800 cttagtttat tgtggttggt tgttttttct ttataatggc tctgggctat atgcctatat 16860 ttataaacca gcagcagggg aaagattata ttttataaga gggaacaaat tttcacaatt 16920 tgaaaagccc acataagttt tctcttttaa ggtagaatct tgttaatttc attccaaaca 16980 tcggggctaa cagagactgg aggcatttct ttttaggctc tgagactaaa tgagaggaaa 17040 agaaaag aa aaaaaaatga ttgtctaacc aattgtgaga attactgttt gaaacttttc 17100 aaggcacatt gaaatacttg aaaacttctc atttatgtta tttatgatgt tattttgtac 17160 gtgttattat tattatattg ttttataaat ggaggtacag gatatcacct gaattattaa 17220 tgaatgccca ggaagtaatt ttcttctcat tcttctaaaa ctactgcctt tcaaagtgca 17280 cacacacgcg tccacataca ctgcattcgt tgctccagta taaattacat gcatgagcac 17340 ctttctggct tttaagccaa tataatgggc tgcaaaatga agacaccaga gtgtatgcat 17400 acaaatctca ctgtattaaa gatgcaggtt ttctaattgt acccttcttg tctctctggc 17460 aatcttgccc ttaatatccc tggagttcct catcagtgtc attttctgtt atacacagtt 17520 ccacaatttt gtctctagtt gacttcaaat gtgtaacttt attggtcttg ccctattata 17580 attgtcatga ctttcagatt gtatctgaac tcacagactg ctgtcttact aataggtctg 17640 gaaggtcac ctgaatgaga agtaaattat tttatgtaat acatttttga gtgtgttttt 17700 cagttgtatt tccctgttat ttcatcacta tttccaatgg tgagcttgcc tgctcatgct 17760 ccctggacag aatactcctt ccttttgcat gcctgtttct atcatgtgct tgataggcct 17820 caaagctaat gcttccagtg aaacacacgc atcttaataa taagggtaaa taaacgctcc 17880 atatgaaact atttgcttgg aaacacatta atgatccaga gacatgctat gagaaacatc 17940 agggtgtagg gtgactttag aaaaatactc atactgagtc tttaatccct cctgtgccag 18000 tgaactctgg gaaagaaagt acaaactgaa tattgtttat tctttagttc atgccactgc 18060 tctgcttggc tctactcata gaaccaaggc aatcttagct tcagagactg caaaacagat 18120 taagtgattt gcttgcagat tctcaatcaa ttttcaaggg atagagttca ccttccagag 18180 ccattctttt atttccagtt acccgcctgt ttgagagatg atagagcagt gggaaattga 18240 gagagttgaa aggagctata gattcttacc caaacttcaa aaatccttcc ctcccttttg 18300 ttaattctct ttcctggaaa agaggtcata aaatgttcac atcctcagta ataggccctg 18360 tgctgtgtct attatgtcat gagactccca tttcctgacc cttctttccc attgtaagag 18420 tagtagttac aaggtgttaa ggatagatga tcttcaacac ttttgagaaa tagatccatt 18480 tacggatctg gtaaaaacta tggaccgaac catcttttaa gaaaaaaatt cagagaggaa 18540 tctaaatttt gtgtgctttg aggggaaact ctcagaatct cccctcaaaa ctatcattct 18600 tctcttatac tatagatgtg tcagactctc actgggactg tatagttgct gctccctgta 18660 tttgataata tctatcaaga actgcagggt aattcaaagt cacgctatta gcagcaagtg 18720 tgagcagtgt tggtttcccc agtctctaca tccctcatcc tttctttctt ctttatggtt 18780 gtctattaaa gaaataaaaa aaaatattgg ctgaccgttt ttctgaagat aatgtatatc 18840 aaggaccacc ttttgaaaaa cactcattat tcgagaacaa agacacaaca tacgagaatc 18900 tctgggatac attcaaagca gtgtgtagag ggaaatttat agcactaaat gcccacaaga 18960 gaaagcagga aagatctaaa attgataccc taacatcaca attaaaagaa ctagaaaagc 19020 aagagcaaac acattcaaaa gctagcagaa gacaagaaat aactaagatc agagcagaac 19080 tgaaggaaat agagacacaa aaaacccttc aaaaaattaa tgaatccagg agctggtttt 19140 ttgaaaagat taacaaaatt gatagactgc tagcaagact aataaagaag aaaagagaga 19200 agaatcaaat agacacaata aaaaatgata aaggggatat caccaccgat cccacagaaa 19260 tacaaactac catcagagaa tactataaac acctctacgc aaataaacta gaaaatctag 19320 aagaaatgga taaattcctc gatacataca ccctcccaag accaaaccag gaagaagttg 19380 aatctctgaa tagaccaata acaggctctg aaattgaggc aataatcaat agcttaccaa 19440 ccaaaaaaag tccaggacca gatggattca cagctgaatt ctaccagacg tacaaagagg 19500 agctggtacc attccttctg aaactattcc aatcaataga aaaagaggga atcctcccta 19560 actcatttta tgaggccagc atcatcctga taccaaagcc tggcagagac acaaccaaaa 19620 aagagaattt tagaccaata tccttgatga acattgatgc aaaaatcctc aataaaatac 19680 tggcaaaccg aatccagcag cacatcaaaa agcttatcca ccatgatcaa gtgggtttca 19740 tccctgggat gcaaggctgg ttcaacatac gcaaatcaat aaatgtaatc cagcatataa 19800 acagaaacaa agacaaaaac cacatgatta tctcaataga tgcagaaaag gcatttgaca 19860 aaatttaaca actcttcatg ctaaaaactc tcaatcaatt aggtattgat gggacgtatc 19920 tcaaaataat aagcactatc tatgacaaac tcacagccaa tatcatactg aatgggcaaa 19980 aactggaagc attccctttg aaaacgggca caagacaggg atgccctctc tcaccactcc 20040 tattcaacat agtgttggaa gctctggcca gggcaattag gcaggagaag gaaataaagg 20100 gtattcaatt aggagaagag gaagtcaaat tgtccctgtt tgcagatgac atgattgtat 20160 atctagaaaa ccccatcgtc tcagcccaaa atctccttaa gctgataagc aacttcagca 20220 aagtctcagg atacaaaatc aatgtacaaa aatcacaagc actcttatac atcaataaca 20280 gacaaacaga gagccaaatc atgagtgaac tcccattcac 20300 for purposes of the present invention , this dna sequence will be referred to as seq id no : 3 . the location of the snps discussed further below is indicated by bold and larger font letters . several additional sequences of dna that are upstream from seq id no : 3 are identified as relevant to the present invention . these dna sequences are also found on nt — 022030 and are ggattaatca tgacaaaagt aatctaaatc tcgttaagac 60 tacttaatga tcaatctttc cctctgtttt ccctgactat agggaagtga attgccccaa 120 tccttctcta tcacccccct gcagccatgc caatgcctta cctctgttat attcagccat 180 aggggaagct tattctcata gaatcagggg ttggcatg a gtcactagct attcttggtg 240 agactagtga agatgagtga aggaaaatat tgcataggtg aaatctcata ggcacaaata 300 ggtgtttgtg agagtaacaa taaaagaaag tcattcccat actctagtag atgactcatt 360 ttctcctcat tttttttttt tcaaggcgtt ctctacaacg gttaacctag taccaaaaat 420 ccttctcttt tttcttggac aaatcctgtt caagttagca tggcatttac tacgtccaag 480 acattgtcca gatgctgtgg for purposes of the present invention , this dna sequence will be referred to as seq id no : 4 . agagaaagaa aggcaggcag caaggagaaa aaacattttt 60 taaaaaaaga aaattaaaat ccatgtaatg tctgatatct gttctgctgt atgtgtagat 120 ctttccatat accaactcat tagccttatt ttacaggtga ggaaaatgag ac gagagtc 180 cttcttactt gaccaagttc acacagcaag atcacacatg gtagaaccaa tgttagaacc 240 taggtgtata cttgctcatt caatatgtac aataattgca aaagtttcca taggtcttat 300 tatatatcag gcactataaa tgctatgcat gtgtcaacta atttaaacct aagcaatatt 360 ataaggaagg tactattata gaaatctcag ccttacaggt aagggaacag gaataaagag 420 atgtgaggta atggcccaag for purposes of the present invention , this dna sequence will be referred to as seq id no : 5 . ataatctcct ttcaagtttt tatcctgtca cttgctagtt 60 gtgtgatttg ggacaaatca tttaactcct tgtaaaggga gagaag aag gctgtaaaaa 120 aattaagtaa taaaaagata aactccttgt ggtatatttt gttattgttc aaaaatattt 180 attgcccctc ttaggatgtc ttaggtcatt cttgcattgc tataaagaaa tacccaagtc 240 tgggtaattt ataaagaata gaggttaaat tggctcacag ttctgcaggc tgcacaggaa 300 gcatcccact ggcgtctact cacttctggt gaggactcag aaagcttttg cttatgacag 360 caggctaagt gagagcaggt for purposes of the present invention , this dna sequence will be referred to as seq id no : 6 . several additional sequences of dna that are downstream from seq id no : 3 are identified as relevant to the present invention . these dna sequences are also found on nt — 022030 and are catggtattt ttactaccca ttgccttcta ggaaagggta 60 taacaaatag gaaatattaa tatttttaat gcctttgagg gtgttaaaaa gcacaactct 120 aaggactgtt tgtaaattc aggtcaaatg ttgtttctcc ttctctattt cctaccttgg 180 tgatggcctg atcttatatg gagtcactcc aactagaaac cacagaatca tccctagttc 240 ctacttctga ctcactccat acactcaaaa gtcacctgac tctgcagaat ttctctagaa 300 aaactctatg aaaacctatt cctgcctctc cacctgcata gatgtagctt catccaggct 360 cttatggtgc atggcctcgg ttactgcctt atcctttcta ctggcctctc aatctcccat 420 ctgataccca ttaatgtact for purposes of the present invention , this dna sequence will be referred to as seq id no : 7 . ccaaatactt tttaggcaca ctgggaagtt acattgtttc 60 ttgcaagtga caggttgtcc tttaattagt tctttctctc aaaaagagac tgctgactcc 120 aaactgggaa gaaacccact caccagcaaa atgctgctga attcactctg atagttttct 180 aatctctcat cagtagatga caataatgaa gccagtattg ttaccacaag actcagatat 240 tctatcacc caagatgatt tctctttaag acgcaataaa agggaacttt tctccccatt 300 tattagcaac taagatgaaa tgagagccag agaaataaag tgaggaagga aagagaattt 360 actaccttta caagctgaaa for purposes of the present invention , this dna sequence will be referred to as seq id no : 8 . in all upstream and downstream sequences ( i . e . seq id nos : 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , and 8 ), the location of snps are indicated by bold and larger font letters . double - stranded cdna containing the rgs4 sequence was first amplified from normal human brain cdna using custom designed primers ( forward primer sequence : ccgaagccacagctcctc ( seq id no : 3 ); reverse primer sequence : catccctctcccttcaggtg ( seq id no : 4 ), and “ touchdown ” pcr with amplitaq gold ( pe biosystems ): ( 94 ° c . for 10 minutes ( min ), followed by 10 pcr cycles with a high annealing temperature 94 ° c . for 30 seconds ( sec ), 62 ° c . for 30 sec , and 72 ° c . for 60 sec ), 10 cycles with a medium annealing temperature ( 94 ° c . for 30 sec , 60 ° c . for 30 sec , 72 ° c . for 60 sec ), and 20 cycles at a low annealing temperature ( 94 ° c . for 30 sec , 58 ° c . for 30 sec , 72 ° c . for 60 sec ). the product of this touchdown pcr reaction produced a single bright band on a 2 % agarose gel and was purified and ligated into a t / a plasmid cloning vector ( advantage , clontech ) and transformed into competent escherichia coli cells and plated overnight at 37 ° c . colony pcr was performed on selected colonies containing the insert , and the products of these reactions were restriction digested and sequenced to verify orientation and insert identity . [ 35 s ]- labeled riboprobes were synthesized using the t7 riboprobe in vitro transcription system ( promega kit # p1460 ) and purified using rneasy kit ( qiagen # 74104 ). a scintillation counter was used to verify the specific radioactivity and yield of the probe . during hybridization , approximately 3 nanograms ( ng ) of probe was used per slide in a total volume of 90 μl . all other methods used were those described previously in campbell et al ., in exp . neurol . 160 : 268 - 278 , 1999 , which is hereby incorporated by reference . tissue blocks containing the regions of interest ( pfc area 9 , motor cortex [ mc ] and visual cortex [ vc ]) were identified using surface landmarks and sulci ( the superior frontal gyrus , the central sulcus and precentral gyrus , and the calcarine sulcus , respectively ). after histological verification of the regions , 20 μm sections containing these regions were cut with a cryostat at − 20 ° c ., mounted onto gelatin - coated glass slides , and stored at − 80 ° c . until use . the slides were coded so that the investigator performing the analysis was blind to the diagnosis of the subjects . following hybridization and washing , slides were air dried and exposed to biomax mr film ( kodak ) for 8 - 22 hours and then dipped in emulsion ( ntb - 2 , kodak ), and exposed for 3 - 5 days at 4 ° c . high resolution scans of each film image were used for quantification of signal with image ( scion corporation , fredrick , md . ), version 4 . 0b ), and darkfield images were captured from the developed slides . throughout all steps and procedures , subject pairs were processed in parallel . hybridization of sections with sense rgs4 riboprobe , used as a specificity control , did not result in detectable signal . quantification was performed by subtracting the background white matter od from the average signal od measured in five non - overlapping rectangular regions on each section ( 3 sections per tissue block ). in pfc and mc , these rectangular regions spanned cortical layers ii - vi . due to the lack of rgs4 signal in layer iv throughout the neocortex , and the great expansion of this layer in vc , the supragranular and infranular signal intensities were analyzed separately in vc . however , there were no significant differences in the levels of signal contained in the supra - and infragranular layers , so they were combined as a measure of overall vc signal intensity . each in situ hybridization was repeated three times in separate hybridization reactions . the resulting ods were background - corrected and averaged . visual cortex ( v1 ) od quantification , due to a bi - laminar transcript distribution , was performed separately for the supragranular and infragranular layers . in order to search for novel candidate genes whose expression is consistently altered in schizophrenia , high - density cdna microarrays ( unigem - v , incyte genomics ) were used to examine the expression patterns of over 7 , 800 genes and ests in post mortem samples of prefrontal cortex area 9 from six matched pairs of schizophrenic and control subjects . as illustrated in fig1 b , a gene was determined to be expressed if the arrayed immobilized probe or target ( the design of which is shown in fig1 a ) was successfully amplified by pcr , produced a signal from at least 40 % of the spot surface and had a signal / background ratio over 5 - fold for either the cy3 or cy5 probe . both images represent the same spot under cy3 and cy5 excitation , respectively . in this experiment , the balanced cy3 signal intensity ( control or c - subject ) was 6 . 2 - fold brighter than the cy5 signal intensity ( schizophrenic or s - subject ). genes were comparably expressed between the control and experimental samples if the cy3 / cy5 ratio or cy5 / cy3 ratio was & lt ; 1 . 6 . over 80 % of observations fell into this class . gene expression was changed between the two samples at the 95 % confidence level ( 95 % cl ) if the cy3 / cy5 or cy5 / cy3 signal was 1 . 6 - 1 . 89 . gene expression was changed between the two samples at the 99 % confidence level ( 99 % cl ) if the cy3 / cy5 or cy5 / cy3 signal was 1 . 9 . in the microarray analyses , data from experimental subjects were compared to data from matched control subjects in a pairwise design to control for the effects of age , race , sex and pmi on gene expression . to evaluate potential changes in gene group expression on the microarrays , two types of statistical measures were employed : 1 ) χ - square analysis was performed on the distribution of genes in a group versus the distribution of all genes called present on each individual microarray . the distribution of gene expression ratios was divided into five different bins based on confidence levels for individual gene comparisons : & lt ;− 1 . 9 , − 1 . 89 to − 1 . 6 , − 1 . 59 to 1 . 59 , 1 . 6 to 1 . 89 and & gt ; 1 . 9 . 2 ) a paired t - test ( degrees of freedom = 5 ) was used to compare mean expression ratios for a given gene group to the mean expression ratios for all expressed genes across all six subject pairs . a gene group was considered to be changed only if it reported differential expression by both the χ - square and t - test compared to the mean and distribution of all expressed genes . microarray changes were also analyzed by descriptive statistics and correlation . to mimic the microarray comparisons , the in situ hybridization data were analyzed using ancova with diagnosis as the main effect , subject pair as a blocking factor , and brain ph and tissue storage time as covariates . furthermore , to verify that the pairing of subjects adequately controlled for sex , age , and pmi , we also conducted an ancova with diagnosis as a main effect , and sex , age , pmi brain ph , and tissue storage time as covariates . since both models produced similar results , the values from the ancova with subject pair as a blocking factor are reported . changes between groups were also analyzed by descriptive statistics , pearson correlation , and factor analysis . inpatients and outpatients were recruited at western psychiatric institute and clinic , a university of pittsburgh - affiliated tertiary care center and 35 other treatment facilities within a 500 mile radius of pittsburgh . the diagnostic interview for genetic studies ( digs ) was the primary source for clinical information for probands ( nurnberger , et al . archives of general psych . 51 , 849 - 59 ; discussion 863 - 4 , 1994 ). additional information was obtained from available medical records and appropriate relatives , who also provided written informed consent . consensus diagnoses were established by board certified psychiatrists . there were 93 caucasian and 70 african - american cases . genomic dna , but not clinical information was available from all parents of the caucasian cases . cord blood samples were obtained from live births at pittsburgh and served as unscreened , population - based controls . there were 169 individuals . they included 76 caucasians and 93 african - americans . national institute of mental health collaborative genetics initiative ( nimh cgi ) sample from 1991 - 98 , pedigrees having probands with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder , depressed ( dsm iv criteria ) were ascertained at columbia university , harvard university , and washington university . the digs was the primary interview schedule . the families were ascertained if they included two or more affected first degree relatives ( cloninger et al . am . j . med . gen . 81 , 275 - 81 , 1998 , which is hereby incorporated by reference ). we selected case - parent trios and available affected siblings from this cohort . thus , 39 cases , their parents and 30 affected sibling - pairs were obtained . they comprised 25 caucasian families , 10 who reported african - american ethnicity and 4 from other ethnic groups . transmission disequilibrium test ( tdt ) analysis utilized only one case / family . written , informed consent was obtained from all participants . ethnicity was based on self - report ( maternal report for neonatal samples ). the genomic sequence for rgs4 was obtained from nt — 022030 ( 390242 bp ), a currently unfinished clone from human genome project , chromosome 1 database . the annotated data revealed three identified genes , namely , rgs4 , mstp032 and rgs5 . the genomic organization of rgs4 and rgs5 includes 5 exons which is typical for the rgs family gene . a panel of 10 african - american cases and 6 caucasian controls was initially used to screen for polymorphisms in the exonic , intronic , and flanking genomic sequences of the rgs4 gene . the re - sequenced region included 6 . 8 kb upstream and 2 . 9 kb downstream of the coding sequence . the genomic sequence was used to design primers and amplicons 500 bp were generated , with overlapping sequences . the amplified fragments were sequenced using an abi 3700 dna sequencer . the sequencing panel that was used ( n = 16 ) has over 80 % power to detect snps with minor allele frequency over 5 % ( kruglyak et al . nature gen . 27 , 234 - 236 , 2001 , which is hereby incorporated by reference ). we also sequenced cdna sequences from the post - mortem samples reported on earlier ( mirnics et al . mol . psychiatry 6 , 293 - 301 , 2001 ). the sequences were aligned using sequencher ( version 4 . 5 ) and polymorphisms were numbered consecutively . additional snps localized to nt — 022030 were obtained from the ncbi snp database (“ http :// www . ncbi . nlm . nih . gov / snp ”). we also obtained genotype data from a prior study of the nimh sample (“ http :// zork . wustl . edu / nimh ”). pcr based assays included primers ( 5 pmol ) with 200 μm dntp , 1 . 5 mm mgcl2 , 0 . 5 u of amplitaq polymerase ( pe biosystems ), 1 × buffer and 60 ng of genomic dna in 10 or 20 μl reactions . the pcr conditions were 95 ° c . for 10 min followed by 35 cycles ( 94 ° c . for 45 sec , 60 ° c . 45 sec and 72 ° c . for 1 min ). the final extension at 72 ° c . for 7 min . the amplified products were digested with restriction endonucleases , electrophoresed on agarose gels , and visualized using ethidium stain . snps 4 and 18 were identified as single strand conformational polymorphisms ( sscp ) ( orita et al . dnas 86 , 2766 - 70 , 1989 ). all genotypes were read independently by two investigators . polymorphisms were detected only in the intronic and flanking sequences of rgs4 ( fig6 ). among 34 identified snps , one was selected from each of six sets which appeared to be in complete linkage disequilibirum in the re - sequenced panel . snps were further evaluated for informativeness ( minor allele frequency & gt ; 0 . 1 ) and availability of reliable genotyping assays . among the caucasian cases from pittsburgh , deviations from hardy weinberg equilibrium ( hwe ) were noted for snp 7 ( p & lt ; 0 . 03 ) and snp 13 ( p & lt ; 0 . 01 ). though all maternal genotypes conformed to hwe , deviations were noted at snps for the fathers of pittsburgh cases at snps 4 and 18 ( p & lt ; 0 . 05 ). for the analysis of ibd sharing among affected sibling - pairs from the nimh samples , we also used genotypes for markers d1s1595 , d1s484 , d1s1677 , d1s431 and d1s1589 ( faraone et al . am . j . of med . gen . 81 , 290 - 5 , 1998 ). pedcheck software was used to check for mendelian inconsistencies ( o &# 39 ; connell et al . am . j . of hum . gen . 63 , 259 - 266 , 1998 , which is hereby incorporated by reference ). χ 2 tests were employed for comparisons between cases and unrelated controls . we also used snpem software based on the em algorithm to estimate and compare haplotype frequencies ( fallin , 2001 , which is hereby incorporated by reference ). we utilized genehunter software for tdt analysis of individual snps and haplotypes , as well as analysis of identity by descent among affected sibling - pairs ( kruglyak et al . am . j . of hum . gen . 58 , 1347 - 63 , 1996 ; spielman et al . am . j . of hum . gen . 54 , 559 - 60 , 1994 , both of which are hereby incorporated by reference ). we also used transmit for global tests of association involving multiple haplotypes ( clayton et al . am . j . of med . gen . 65 , 1161 - 1169 , 1999a ; clayton et al . am . j . of hum . gen . 65 , 1170 - 1177 , 1999b , both of which are hereby incorporated by reference ). single gene transcripts were analyzed across all cdna microarray comparisons . across the six microarray comparisons over 90 , 000 data points were collected , and from these 44 , 000 were expression - positive observations , resulting in an average of 3 , 735 expressed genes / microarray . of the expressed transcripts , 4 . 8 % were judged to be differentially expressed ( 99 % cl ) between the schizophrenic and control subjects . the observed differences for any subject pair , in general , were comparably distributed in both directions : 2 . 6 % of the genes were expressed at higher levels in schizophrenic subjects than in the matched controls , whereas 2 . 2 % were expressed at lower levels in the schizophrenic subject . of all the expressed genes , rgs4 transcript reported the most significant decrease across all schizophrenic subjects . in fact , it was the only gene decreased at the 99 % cl in all microarray comparisons . the microarray - bound , 571 base pair long , double - stranded cdna immobilized probe corresponded to the 3 ′ end of rgs4 and had a less than 50 % sequence homology to any other known transcript , including rgs family members . this high binding specificity , coupled with strong cy3 and cy5 hybridization signal intensities , as shown in fig1 b , showed that rgs4 was robustly expressed in the human prefrontal cortex . across the six microarray comparisons , rgs4 mrna levels were decreased 50 - 84 % in the pfc of schizophrenic subjects , as illustrated in fig1 c , while the expression of the ten other rgs family members represented on the microarray were unchanged in the schizophrenic subjects . in the scatter plot shown in fig1 c , the x - axis reports subject pairs , the y - axis reports percent change between schizophrenic and control subjects . individual symbols represent a gene expression difference between a schizophrenic and control subject in a single pairwise comparison . the black dashed line denotes equal cy3 and cy5 signal intensity ( similar expression ) between schizophrenic and control subjects ( 0 % change ), green dashed line denotes the 95 % confidence interval ( 37 . 5 % change ), red dashed line represents 99 % confidence interval ( 47 . 5 % change ). missing symbols in some pairwise comparisons indicate that the corresponding genes &# 39 ; microarray hybridization did not meet expression criteria . across all the rgs members represented on the microarray , only rgs4 showed a consistent expression change over the 99 % cl in schizophrenic subjects . to confirm the microarray findings for the rgs4 expression changes , in situ hybridization was performed on the pfc from the same five subject pairs used for the microarray experiments ( for pair 794c / 665s , no sections were available from the same block of tissue used in the microarray experiment ). as a further test of the robustness of the microarray data , five additional subject pairs were added to the in situ hybridization analysis . radiolabeled crna probes designed against rgs4 mrna were used to localize and quantify relative transcript levels . in the control subjects , rgs4 labeling was heavy in the prefrontal cortex , as shown in fig2 a , mimicking previously described labeling in the rat . in the gray matter of prefrontal cortex , the rgs4 riboprobe heavily labeled various size and shape cell profiles , including both projection neurons and interneurons . this labeling was the most prominent in layers iii and v , with sparse labeling in the intervening granular layer iv , and appeared to be present over both large pyramidal neurons and smaller cells that could represent interneurons . high power photomicrographs of pfc tissue sections from a schizophrenic ( 622s ) and matched control ( 685c ) subjects were viewed under darkfield illumination . micrographs for each subject were taken under identical conditions . roman numbers denote cortical layers . pial surface is to the left . strong labeling across all cortical layers except lamina iv was observed , and diminished labeling in the matched schizophrenic subject across all the layers was noted ( scale bar = 400 μm ). white matter labeling was absent . based on optical density analysis , 9 / 10 subject pairs exhibited a 10 . 2 % to 74 . 3 % decrease in pfc rgs4 expression , as shown in fig2 b . the in situ hybridization data from 10 pfc pairwise comparisons were quantified using film densitometry . the x - axis represents subject classes , the y - axis reports average film od from 3 repeated hybridizations , measured across all layers . lines connecting symbols indicate a matched subject pair . note that in 10 pfc pairwise comparisons , 9 schizophrenic subjects showed rgs4 transcript reduction ( mean =− 34 . 5 %; f 1 , 1 5 = 6 . 95 ; p = 0 . 019 ). to investigate whether rgs4 transcript decrease is a specific alteration in schizophrenia , the same microarray data was analyzed for consistent gene expression changes across other rgs - family members ( fig1 c ). nine of the eleven rgs family members represented with immobilized probes on the microarrays reported expression in four or more microarray comparisons . rgs13 , primarily lung - specific family member , was not expressed in any of the comparisons , while p115 - rhogef reported expression in only one comparison . rgs4 was the only family member ( and the only gene on the microarray ) to report a consistent change in expression over the 99 % cl in every schizophrenic subject . rgs5 mrna ( a gene also localized to cytogenetic position 1q21 - 22 ) was decreased at the 99 % cl in one subject pair , at the 95 % cl in another subject pair , and unchanged in the remaining 2 pairs that showed detectable rgs5 expression by microarrays . expression of the other rgs family members did not display any consistent differences across the schizophrenic subjects . the mrna from pair 567c / 537s was analyzed a second time on the newest incyte microarray , unigem - v2 , which includes five additional rgs family members ( rgsz , rgs1 , rgs7 , rgs11 , and rgs14 ). this analysis confirmed that , in the comparisons , rgs4 was the only significantly changed rgs family member . heterotrimeric g - proteins , the main substrates for rgs family members , were assessed for expression patterns . several reports suggest gα changes associated with schizophrenia . thus , it was desirable to assess whether the decrease in rgs4 expression correlated with changes in gα expression levels . of the eight gα rgs substrates represented on the microarrays , only g o expression was changed beyond the 95 % cl in three or more pairwise comparisons . these three subjects with increased go levels ( 317s , 547s , and 622s ) showed the most robust decrease in rgs4 expression both in the pfc microarray and in situ hybridization assays . expression of 274 genes known to be involved in the g - protein signaling cascades ( gpcr , heterotrimeric g - proteins , rgs , girks , g - protein receptor kinases , and mitogen - activated protein kinases ) were analyzed in a gene group comparison . an average of 105 genes belonging to this group were expressed in each comparison . the results of microarray analyses showing g - protein and 1q21 - 22 locus - related expression differences in the pfc of six pairs of schizophrenic and control subjects are shown in fig3 a and 3b . for both gene groups , all expressed genes were classified into signal intensity difference intervals ( 0 . 1 bins ) according to their cy5 / cy3 signal ratio . transcripts in a “ 1 ” bin had identical cy5 vs . cy3 signal intensities . positive values ( to the right ) on the x - axis denote higher cy5 signal in schizophrenic subjects ( s & gt ; c ), negative values ( to the left ) correspond to higher cy3 signal intensity in the control subjects ( c & gt ; s ). the y - axis reports percentage of expressed genes across the six subject pairs per bin for each gene group . in both panels , the white bars ( all genes ) denote distribution of all expressed genes across the six pfc pairwise comparisons ( n = 22 , 408 ). additionally , in both panels , rgs4 contribution to the transcript distribution is denoted by a hatched bar . note that in both fig3 a and fig3 b , the cy3 / cy5 signal distribution of g - protein and 1q21 - 22 gene groups was comparable to the distribution of all expressed genes across the six microarray comparisons . at the 99 % confidence level , 5 . 6w of g - proteins showed a different distribution between schizophrenic and control subjects , as shown in fig3 a : 2 . 8 % of g - proteins were decreased , while 2 . 8 % were increased in the pfc of schizophrenic subjects . of the 2 . 8 % decrease in schizophrenic subjects , rgs4 observations alone accounted for nearly half of the decrease . when rgs4 was removed from the g - protein group , a gene group analysis by χ 2 test and t - test closely matched the distribution of all expressed genes , suggesting that the majority of different expression levels can be attributed to normal human variability . except rgs4 , no other member of the g - protein gene group was consistently changed across the subject pairs over the 95 % or 99 % confidence levels . the rgs4 gene has been mapped to locus 1q21 - 22 , a novel schizophrenia locus recently implicated by pedigree studies with a linkage of disease score ( lod ) of 6 . 5 as described by brzustowicz et al . supra . to address if any other genes at this locus displayed altered expression in the pfc of schizophrenic subjects , 70 additional transcripts originating from this cytogenetic region were analyzed . at the 99 % cl , 0 . 4 % of 1q21 - 22 genes were increased , and 5 . 9 % were decreased in the schizophrenic subjects . of the transcripts decreased in schizophrenic subjects , rgs4 observations alone accounted for nearly half of the decreases , as shown in fig3 b . furthermore , of all the genes on the 1q21 - 22 locus , only rgs4 showed a consistent expression change across all the pairwise comparisons over the 95 % or 99 % confidence levels . of the remaining genes on this locus , only the all1 - fused gene ( af1q genbank accesion # u16954 ) reported consistent expression change over the 95 % cl in the schizophrenic subjects in three or more pairwise comparisons . furthermore , as a gene group , the expression of the remaining genes on locus 1q21 - 22 showed the same overall pattern as genes located on non - schizophrenia loci or the overall average gene expression which is shown in fig3 b . to test whether rgs4 transcript decrease is specific to the prefrontal cortex or includes a more widespread cortical deficiency , rgs4 expression was assessed by in situ hybridization in the visual cortex ( vc ) and motor cortex ( mc ) from the same 10 pairs of control and schizophrenic subjects ( for pair 558c / 317s mc material was not available , and this pair was substituted with pair 794c / 665s ). the figure layout for fig4 a - d is similar to that of fig2 a - b . in vc , rgs4 in situ hybridization showed heavy labeling under darkfield illumination of diverse cell population in the gray matter , with a very prominent bi - laminar labeling pattern in the supragranular and infragranular layers , as shown in fig4 a . roman numbers denote cortical layers , scale bar = 400 μm . there was very sparse labeling in the well - developed layer iv , with very few cellular elements exhibiting detectable levels of rgs4 mrna . these high power photomicrographs show that rgs4 levels are significantly decreased in the vc region of the schizophrenic subjects . the od measurements on these two layers were performed separately . across the same ten pairwise comparisons that were examined in the pfc hybridizations , combined rgs4 expression in supragranular and infragranular layers of vc was decreased by 32 . 8 % ( f 1 , 15 = 8 . 24 ; p = 0 . 012 ) as shown in fig4 b . in mc , rgs4 expression was concentrated over the cell - rich layers i - iii and v - vi of both control and schizophrenic subjects , as shown in fig4 c . high power photomicrographs of mc tissue sections from the same matched pair of schizophrenic and control subject are represented in fig2 a and fig4 a , viewed under darkf ield illumination . roman numbers denote cortical layers , scale bar = 400 μm . because of the attenuated layer iv in motor cortex , the rgs4 labeling is almost uniform across all layers . similar to the rgs4 transcript decrease observed in supragranular vc , schizophrenic subjects across the same 10 subject pairs were analyzed in mc . the mean rgs4 expression in mc shown in fig4 d , measured across all the layers , was decreased by 34 . 2 % across the 10 schizophrenic subjects ( f 1 , 15 = 10 . 18 ; p = 0 . 006 ). in the pfc , vc , and mc of subjects with schizophrenia , rgs4 expression was consistently decreased compared to the pfc of subjects with the diagnosis of mdd , as shown in the schematic of fig5 . in contrast , factor analysis of the pairwise differences in rgs4 gene expression across 3 different cortical areas for all 9 common schizophrenic and control subject pairs revealed that over 84 % of the total variance in expression was accounted for by diagnosis ( variance proportion = 0 . 848 , eigenvalue = 2 . 544 , p = 0 . 001 . the x - axis represents experimental groups , the y - axis reports percent rgs4 expression change in pfc , vc , mc , in schizophrenic subjects ( sch ) and pfc of subjects with mdd viewed by in situ hybridization . each symbol represents percent of change between a single pairwise comparison ; same symbols represent the same subject pairs . arrows represent mean expression difference for each group . the same schizophrenic subjects showed a comparable and highly correlated decrease in rgs4 expression across all three cortical regions ( pfc - vc : r = 0 . 88 , p = 0 . 0003 ; pfc - mc : r = 0 . 69 , p = 0 . 0384 ; vc - mc : r = 0 . 76 , p = 0 . 0144 ). in contrast , subjects with mdd reported variable rgs4 expression changes when compared to their matched controls . the combined data indicate that rgs4 transcript changes are a result of the pathophysiological changes related to schizophrenia and not due to confounds . furthermore , the rgs4 expression decrease appears to be specific and unique to schizophrenia , and not a hallmark of the major depressive disorder . rgs4 labeling in the white matter was comparable to background labeling across all brain regions , suggesting that rgs4 is primarily expressed in neuronal cells . the labeling was abundant in the majority of interneurons and projection neurons . however , in some pyramidal cells and interneurons rgs4 labeling could not be detected . rgs4 labeling was heavy in all cortical layers , except layer iv , where rgs4 expression was both sparse and light . this overall pattern of labeling was comparable across all three cortical regions ( pfc , vc , mc ). as the granular layer iv is the widest in the primary visual cortex , in this region rgs4 labeling was prominent in supragranular and infragranular layers , separated by a wide zone of mostly unlabeled granular cells . the overall distribution pattern of the rgs4 message does not mimic the known expression patterns of neurotransmitter systems , suggesting that rgs4 regulates many functionally distinct neuronal populations . together , the microarray and in situ hybridization methods suggest decreased rgs4 expression is a consistent characteristic of schizophrenic subjects . several causes of the reduced rgs4 expression may be offered , including adaptive and genetic changes in schizophrenic patients . it was hypothesized that reduction in rgs4 expression was generated by alterations in the rgs4 gene . in addition , it was contemplated that variations in the dna upstream and downstream from the coding region of the rgs4 gene may also impact the expression of the rgs4 transcript . these possibilities were investigated by searching for snps in the rgs4 gene . the specificity of the reduced expression of rgs4 message for schizophrenic patients was confirmed in a series of control experiments . the same reduced level of rgs4 message was not observed in patients suffering from major depressive disorder . in addition , prolonged treatment of non - human primates with the anti - psychotic haloperidol did not result in decreased levels of rgs message in the cerebral cortex . this result indicates that chronic exposure to anti - psychotic drugs are unlikely to be responsible for the depressed levels of rgs4 message observed in schizophrenic patients . 34 single nucleotide polymorphisms ( snps ) were identified after re - sequencing all exons , introns and flanking 5 ′ and 3 ′ utrs of the rgs4 coding region ( fig6 ). thirteen snps were chosen for analysis using the tdt . snps are explicitly defined in table 1 . when the snps were tested individually , significantly increased transmission at snp4 was observed in the pittsburgh sample . ‘ moving window ’ haplotype analyses using two to four contiguous snps , revealed significant association for several haplotypes ; all but one included snps 1 , 4 , 7 , or 18 ( table 2 ). a global test of association for haplotypes encompassing these snps was significant ( transmit software , χ 2 = 16 . 6 , 8 df , p = 0 . 035 ). there were 39 cases with schizoaffective disorder in the sample ; these trends remained significant when the sample was restricted to individuals with schizophrenia ( χ 2 = 13 . 0 , 6 df , p = 0 . 043 ). tdt analysis was conducted next in the ethnically diverse nimh sample using the same set of snps . significant transmission distortion was observed individually at snps 1 , 4 and 18 ( table 2 ). exclusion of african - american families from the sample also revealed significant results for these snps ( p = 0 . 023 , 0 . 011 and 0 . 033 respectively ). however , the transmitted alleles differed from the pittsburgh sample . moving window haplotype analyses revealed preferential transmission for more extensive chromosomal segments than the pittsburgh sample . like the pittsburgh sample , all but one of haplotypes with significant increased transmission included snps 1 , 4 , 7 or 18 . a global test for association was also significant for haplotypes encompassing these snps ( transmit analysis ; χ 2 = 18 . 8 , p = 0 . 016 , 8 df ). if the significant tdt results were due to linkage , it was reasoned that the affected sibships in the nimh sample should yield evidence for increased haplotype sharing . for 30 available affected sib - pairs , the proportion of 0 , 1 , or 2 haplotypes identical by descent ( ibd ). were elevated over expectations of 0 . 25 , 0 . 50 , 0 . 25 ; namely 0 . 11 , 0 . 44 , 0 . 45 respectively ( for snps 1 , 4 , 7 and 18 analyzed in conjunction with 5 flanking short tandem repeat polymorphisms genotyped previously ). increased ibd sharing was also observed when these sets of snps or strps were analyzed separately . association at the population level was assessed by comparing caucasian cases from each sample separately with two independent groups of caucasian community - based controls . since snps 1 , 4 , 7 and 18 appeared to be critical for transmission distortion in both samples , genotypes and allele frequencies for these snps were analyzed . haplotypes frequencies were estimated using an expectation - maximization algorithm ( em ), paying particular attention to haplotypes vi and xi , the haplotypes with excess transmission in the nimh and tsburgh samples , respectively ( table 3 ). snp 14 was ormative only among african - americans and so was lyzed separately using 70 african - american cases and control individuals from pittsburgh . significant e - control differences were not noted for any of the parisons . the failure to detect association may lect superior power for the tdt in the context of ulation sub - structure . the demonstration of the association between these snps and schizophrenia offers a large number of applications in the diagnostic and therapeutic fields . thus , embodiments of the present invention offer the possibility of diagnosing schizophrenia by means of a biological test and no longer exclusively by means of clinical evaluations . embodiments of the present invention can also be applied to diagnosing pathologies of the schizophrenia spectrum , such as , in particular , schizotypy , schizoid individuals , etc . embodiments of the present invention make it possible to refine the criteria for diagnosing these pathologies , which is currently entirely established clinically . furthermore , embodiments of the invention also makes it possible to demonstrate susceptibility to schizophrenia by means of identifying a genetic vulnerability in the families of patients who posses the identified snps in the rgs4 coding region and flanking regions . once individuals have been identified as being susceptible to schizophrenia , the utility of prophylactic treatment may be investigated . the dna sample to be tested can be obtained from cells that have been withdrawn from the patient . these cells are preferably blood cells ( e . g . mononucleated cells ), that are easily obtained by the simple withdrawal of blood from the patient . other cell types , such as fibroblasts , epithelial cells , keratinocytes , etc ., may also be employed . the dna may then extracted from the cells and used to detect the presence of snps in the rgs4 coding region and flanking regions . most preferably , the dna extract is initially subjected to one or more amplification reactions in order to obtain a substantial quantity of material corresponding to the region carrying the rgs4 coding region and flanking regions . the amplification can be achieved by any technique known to the skilled person , and in particular by means of the so - called pcr technique as described above . to this end , embodiments of the present invention also relate to specific primers which make it possible to amplify dna fragments that are of small size and which carry the rgs4 gene , flanking regions thereof , or portions thereof generated from seq id nos . 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , or 8 . portion of a polynucleotide sequence is specifically intended to refer to any section of seq id nos . 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , or 8 that can be used in the practice of this invention , such as use as a primer to identify the presence of seq id nos . 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , or 8 or variations thereof in a patient or a section of seq id nos . 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , or 8 that can be used to amplify the entire sequence . the phrase contiguous portion is meant to refer to a series of bases that are adjacent to one another within a polynucleotide sequence . in the context of the present invention , the word gene is intended to mean the protein coding region , the proximal 5 ′ and 3 ′ untranslated regions , as well as any distal and proximal regulatory domains . the phrase gene - coding region is meant to refer to the stretch of dna that begins at the transcription initiation site and includes all exionic and intrionic sequences that encode a protein . embodiments of the present invention may also involve isolating dna sequences and ligating the isolated sequence into a replicative cloning vector which comprises the isolated dna of the rgs4 gene , based upon or derived from the cdna of seq id nos . 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , or 8 and a replicon operative in a host cell . additional embodiments include an expression system which comprises isolating dna of the rgs4 gene , based upon complimentarity to seq id nos . 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , or 8 and operably linking this dna to suitable control sequences . recombinant host cells can be transformed with any of these replicative cloning vectors and may be used to overproduce the rgs4 protein . embodiments of the present invention also include kits that will facilitate the diagnosis of schizophrenia through the amplification of segments of the 1q21 - 22 locus . several methods providing for this amplification are described including : at least a pair of single - stranded dna primers wherein use of said primers in a polymerase chain reaction results in amplification of a portion of the rgs4 gene fragment , wherein the sequence of said primers is derived from the regions of the cdna defined by or complementary to seq id nos : 1 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , or 8 . similarly , embodiments of the invention also provide for a pair of single - stranded dna primers wherein use of said primers in a polymerase chain reaction results in amplification of an rgs4 gene fragment , wherein the sequence of said primers is based on the exon regions of chromosomal dna derived from seq id nos : 1 or 3 . various nucleic acid probes and primers specific for rgs4 ( derived from or complementary to seq id nos . 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , or 8 ) may also be useful in diagnostic and therapeutic techniques and are included within the present invention . among these are a nucleic acid probe complementary to portions or the entirety of human rgs4 gene as well as a nucleic acid probe complementary to human altered rgs4 gene sequences wherein said nucleic acid probe hybridizes to a variant of the rgs4 gene under hybridization conditions which prevent hybridizing of said nucleic acid probe to a wild - type rgs4 gene . probes that are complementary to portions or the entirety of the rgs4 coding region and flanking regions that contain snps may also be used in these diagnostic tests . any primer which makes it possible to amplify a fragment of the rgs4 coding region or flanking regions also forms part of the present invention . the primers that are used within the context of the invention can be synthesized by any technique known to the skilled person . the primers can also be labeled by any technique known to the skilled person . the invention may also be practiced through detection of snps in the rgs4 coding region or flanking regions by a variety of techniques . the techniques which may preferably be employed are dna sequencing and gel separation . any sequencing method known to the skilled person may be employed . in particular , it is advantageous to use an automated dna sequencer . the sequencing is preferably carried out on double - stranded templates by means of the chain - termination method using fluorescent primers . an appropriate kit for this purpose is the taq dye primer sequencing kit from applied biosystem ( applied biosystem , foster city , calif .). sequencing the snps in the rgs4 coding region and the flanking regions makes it possible to identify directly the snps that are present in the patient . an additional preferred technique for demonstrating the snps in the rgs4 coding region and flanking regions is that of separation on a gel . this technique is based on the migration , under denaturing conditions , of the denatured dna fragments in a polyacrylamide gel . the bands of dna can be visualized by any technique known to the skilled person , with the technique being based , such as by using labeled probes that are complementary to the entirety or portions of the rgs4 coding region and flanking regions . alternatively , the bands may be visualized by using ethidium bromide or else by means of hybridization with a radiolabeled probe . in addition , measuring the expression of rgs4 message in peripheral tissue allows the diagnosis and determination of the susceptibility to schizophrenia in humans . as a matter of convenience , the reagents employed in the present invention can be provided in a kit packaged in combination with predetermined amounts of reagents for use in determining and / or quantifying the level of rgs4 expression . for example , a kit can comprise in packaged combination with other reagents any or all of the following components : appropriate detectors , buffers , deoxynucleotide triphosphates , ions provided by mgcl 2 or mncl 2 , and polymerase ( s ). the diagnostic kits of the invention may further comprise a positive control and / or a negative control as well as instructions for quantitating rgs4 expression . additionally , an embodiment of the present invention relates to ascertaining levels of the rgs4 protein . the level of rgs4 protein can be detected by analyzing binding of a sample from a subject with an antibody capable of binding to rgs4 . an embodiment of this detection method utilizes an immunoassay . the sample from a subject may preferably be a biopsy of skeletal muscle , though any tissue accessible to biopsy may be used . in addition to providing generally useful diagnostic kits and methods , embodiments of the present invention may provide a method for augmenting traditional treatments by supplying the rgs4 protein to a subject and / or augmenting the subject &# 39 ; s medication , such as antipsychotic drugs , and providing an improved therapeutic outcome . further embodiments of the present invention may relate to the construction of an animal model of schizophrenia . transgenic mice technology involves the introduction of new or altered genetic material into the mouse germ line by microinjection , retroviral infection or embryonic stem cell transfer . this results in lineages that carry the new integrated genetic material . insertional mutagenesis occurs when integration of the microinjected genetic material into the host genome alters an endogenous gene resulting in a mutation . methods of transferring genes into the germline , the expression of natural and hybrid genes and phenotypic changes that have occurred in transgenic mice are described by palmiter and brinster in ann . rev . genet . 20 ( 1986 ) 465 - 499 . methods of foreign gene insertion , applications to foreign gene expression , and the use of transgenic mice to study immunological processes , neoplastic disease and other proliferative disorders are described by gordon in intl . rev . cytol . 115 , 1989 , 171 - 299 both of which are hereby incorporated by reference . a further example of genetic ‘ knock - in ’ technology may be found in nebert , et al ., ann . n . y . acad . sci . 919 , 2000 , 148 - 170 which is hereby incorporated by reference . the insertion of seq id no : 3 containing some or all of the described snps into a mouse germ line may be expected to result in adult mice that may be used as an experimental model of schizophrenia . the insertion of seq id no : 3 containing one or more of the variations listed in table 1 with standard on : off regulatory domains will allow for the creation of mice deficient in rgs4 expression at specified times , and may be used as an experimental model of schizophrenia . having now fully described embodiments of the present invention , it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the same can be performed within a wide range of equivalent parameters , concentrations , and conditions without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention and without undue experimentation . while this invention has been described in connection with specific embodiments thereof , it will be understood that it is capable of further modifications . this application is intended to cover any variations , uses , or adaptations of the invention .	2
foregoing described embodiments of the invention are provided as illustrations and descriptions . they are not intended to limit the invention to precise form described . in particular , it is contemplated that functional implementation of invention described herein may be implemented equivalently in hardware , software , firmware , and / or other available functional components or building blocks . other variations and embodiments are possible in light of above teachings , and it is thus intended that the scope of invention should not be limited by this detailed description , but rather by claims following . unless defined otherwise , all 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 . although any methods and materials similar or equivalent to those described herein can be used in the practice or testing of the present invention , the preferred methods and materials are now described . it must be noted that , as used herein and in the appended claims , the singular forms “ a ”, “ an ”, and “ the ” include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise . thus , for example , reference to “ a pixel ” includes a plurality of such pixels , i . e ., pixel array , and equivalents thereof known to those skilled in the art , and so forth . fig1 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary image module assembly 100 in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention . the image module assembly 100 may be included in a digital image device , such as digital image camera and cellular phone with imaging capabilities . the image module assembly 100 includes : an outer case having barrel members 102 a - b and a bottom 102 c ; a lens unit ( or , equivalently lens assembly ) 103 having one or more lens elements 104 a - c ; and a cmos sensor die 106 . the sensor die 106 may contain more than a hundred thousand , or even more than a million pixels , and the detailed structure of the pixels will be described in connection with fig2 a - b . in one embodiment , the width and length of the sensor die 108 may be about , but not limited to , 5 mm . the lens elements 104 a - c may direct incoming optical rays 108 to form an image on the sensor die 106 . a chief ray 110 may be at the center of a light ray pencil 111 collected by a pixel . likewise , a chief ray angle 114 may be defined as an angle between a normal to the surface of the sensor die 106 and a chief ray 116 . the chief ray angle of the center pixel of the sensor die 106 may be zero , while that of a corner pixel ( e . g ., the angle 114 ) may be up to 25 - 30 degrees . as will be explained later , the chief ray angle 114 may be determined by several factors including the lens requirements . a marginal ray angle 112 may be the largest angle between two rays within a light ray pencil collected by a pixel . for simplicity , only three lens elements 104 a - c are shown in fig1 . however , it should be apparent to those of ordinary skill that the present invention can be practiced with any number of lens elements that satisfy the limiting lens requirements specific to the module assembly 100 . as mentioned above , the lens requirement , i . e ., the number of lens elements 104 a - c and the size of the lens unit 103 , may be closely related to the design factors of the image module assembly 100 , such as , the physical dimension of the module assembly 100 ( e . g ., the height 122 and width 118 ), the chief ray angle 114 , the distance 120 between the lens element 104 c and surface of the sensor die 106 , and the physical dimension of the sensor die 106 . for example , the size of the imaging lens elements 104 a - c may become the major factor limiting the module dimension . the module height 122 and footprint size may be limited by the lens size especially when the sensor resolution gets higher with a high number of imaging lens elements . the lens requirements may also affect the chief ray angle of corner pixels and the f - number of the compound imaging lens unit 103 having the lens elements 104 a - c . for example , for a fixed sensor die dimension and the distance 120 , a decrease in the diameter of imaging lens elements 104 a - c may yield an increase in the chief ray angle while a decrease in the number of lens elements may yield an increase in the f - number to maintain the image quality . the chief ray angle of the corner pixel ( e . g ., 114 ) may determine the image uniformity , while the f - number may determine the marginal ray angle 112 , and as a consequence , the overall module sensitivity . as the major goals in module design may be maximizing the chief ray angle of corner pixels and minimizing the f - number of the compound imaging system without degrading the image quality , the imaging system design may be directed toward lowering the lens requirements . in one embodiment of the present invention , in contrast to the conventional approaches to modify the imaging lens elements 104 a - c , the thickness of the sensor die 106 may be changed to generate an effect equivalent to lowering the lens requirement . fig2 a is a top view of the cmos sensor die 106 shown in fig1 . as illustrated in fig2 a , the sensor die 106 includes : a sensing portion 204 having a plurality of pixels and a non - sensing portion 204 having circuits to process the signal generated by the sensing portion 204 , wherein each pixel may include a microlens 206 . fig2 b is a side cross sectional view of a conventional cmos sensor die 230 . as illustrated in fig2 b , the conventional sensor die 230 includes a sensing portion 232 and a non - sensing portion 234 . the sensing portion 232 may includes a plurality of pixels 222 located on a substrate 218 , preferably a silicon substrate , and each pixel includes : a photodiode 220 partially embedded in the substrate layer 218 ; four transparent insulating layers 208 a - d ; four metal layers 210 a - d , the four metal layers being insulated by the four transparent insulating layers 208 a - d and connected to the photodiode 220 ; a passivation layer 212 , the passivation layer being a transparent insulating layer and having a flat top surface ; a color filter 216 for transmitting a specific wavelength or wavelength band of light to the photodiode 220 ; a planar layer 214 for providing a flat surface ; and a microlens 206 for focusing light rays to the photodiode 220 . the sensor die 230 may further include a plurality of passive components ( such as transistors , resistors and capacitors ) partially embedded in the silicon substrate layer 218 , which are not shown in fig2 b for simplicity . the metal layers 210 a - d may function as connecting means for the photodiodes 220 and passive components to the non - sensing area of the sensor die 230 , where the signals from the photodiodes and passive components may be transmitted using a column transfer method . further details of the sensor die 230 are disclosed in u . s . patent application ser . no . 11 / 004 , 465 entitled “ microlens alignment procedures in cmos image sensor design ” filed dec . 2 , 2004 , which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety . each color filter 216 filters light rays directed to its corresponding photodiode 220 and transmits light rays of only one wavelength or wavelength band . in one embodiment , a rgb color system may be used , and consequently , a color filter 216 may be one of three types . in the rgb system , signals from three pixels are needed to form one complete color . however , it is noted that the number of types of filters can vary depending on the color system applied to the sensor die 230 . fig3 a - b are schematic diagrams of the sensor die 106 having shifted microlenses in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention . in fig3 a - b , only microlenses 304 and 324 and photodiodes 302 and 322 are shown for simplicity . however , it should be apparent to those of ordinary skill that other components , such as a color filter , may be inserted between the microlens 304 ( or 324 ) and the photodiode 302 ( or 322 ) and shifted with respect to the photodiode 302 . the microlenses 304 and 324 may correspond to pixels at the center and edge of the sensor die 106 , respectively . as the chief ray angle of the center pixel may equal zero , the microlens 304 may not be shifted with respect to the photodiode 302 in fig3 a . however , the chief ray angle 332 of the edge pixel may be up to 25 - 30 degrees and , as a consequence , the microlens 324 of the pixel near the edge of the sensor die 106 may be shifted by a distance s 330 to collect the light rays 328 as shown in fig3 b . more detailed explanation of the photodiode shifting techniques are disclosed in the previously referenced u . s . patent application ser . no . 11 / 004 , 465 entitled “ microlens alignment procedures in cmos image sensor design ” filed dec . 2 , 2004 . the thickness t 326 may be determined by a set of parameters including the number and thicknesses of the metal layers , transparent insulating layers , passivation layer , color filter and planar layer . the distances s 330 may be calculated by the equation : where θ and n_eq represent the chief ray angle 332 and the equivalent refractive index of the layers from microlens vertex to the photodiode surface , respectively . the shift distance s 330 may decrease as the thickness t 326 decreases for a fixed chief ray angle . likewise , for a fixed shift distance s 330 , a decrease in the thickness t 326 may allow an increase in the chief ray angle 332 . thus , the stack height , or equivalently the thickness t 326 , may be an ultimate limit to the chief ray angle 332 . as describe above in connection with fig1 , the f - number of the compound imaging system may be related to the marginal ray angle 309 . for a given dimension of the photodiode 302 , a decrease in the thickness t 326 may yield an increase in the marginal ray angle 309 , which in turn may allow a decrease in the f - number of the compound imaging system . thus , the thickness t 326 may be an ultimate limit to the f - number of the imaging system . as the major goals in module design may be maximizing the chief ray angle of the corner pixel and minimizing the f - number of the compound imaging system without degrading the image quality , it is desirable to decrease the thickness t 326 . also , as the maximum chief ray angle and the minimum f - number of the compound imaging system are limited by the lens requirements , the decrease in the thickness t 326 may have an effect equivalent to lowering the lens requirements . another advantage of thin sensor die may be realized by the use of thick microlenses . as the thickness t 326 decreases , the focal length of a microlens ( e . g ., 304 ) may decrease , and as a consequence , the thickness of the microlens may increase . in general , thicker microlenses may be fabricated with relative easy than thinner microlenses . furthermore , the surface roughness of the thicker microlenses may have less negative effect on the image intensity than the thinner microlenses . fig4 a is a schematic diagram of an exemplary embodiment 400 of the conventional sensor pixel 222 ( shown in fig2 b ). the sensor pixel 400 may be on a substrate 420 and include : a photodiode 416 ; four transparent insulating layers 404 a - d ; four metal layers 406 a - d , the four metal layers being insulated by the four transparent insulating layers 404 a - d and connected to the photodiode 416 ; a passivation layer 408 , the passivation layer being a transparent insulating layer and having a flat top surface ; a color filter 410 for transmitting a specific wavelength or wavelength band of light to the photodiode 416 ; a planar layer 412 for providing a flat surface ; and a microlens 414 for focusing light rays to the photodiode 416 . typically , the thicknesses 418 and 419 may be about 7 and 10 microns , respectively . fig4 b is a schematic diagram of an exemplary embodiment 420 of a sensor pixel in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention . the sensor pixel 420 includes : a photodiode 436 ; two transparent insulating layers 424 a - b ; two metal layers 426 a - b ; a passivation layer 428 , the passivation layer being a transparent insulating layer and having a flat top surface ; a color filter 430 for transmitting a specific wavelength or wavelength band of light to the photodiode 436 ; a planar layer 432 for providing a flat surface ; and a microlens 434 for focusing light rays to the photodiode 436 . the sensor die 420 may be similar to the sensor pixel 400 except a difference that the sensor pixel 420 has a smaller number of metal and insulating layers to reduce its thickness . the thicknesses 438 and 439 may be about , but not limited to , 3 and 5 microns , respectively . in one embodiment , to reduce the thicknesses 438 and 439 further , the thickness of each layer of the pixel 420 may be decreased . in fig4 b , only two metal layers and two insulating layers are shown for simplicity . however , it is noted that the present invention may be practiced with any number of metal and insulting layers . fig5 is a side cross sectional view of an exemplary embodiment 500 of a sensor die in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention . as illustrated in fig5 , the sensing portion 520 of the sensor die 500 may have a smaller number of metal and transparent insulating layers than the non - sensing portion 522 . the sensing portion 520 includes : a substrate 502 ; photodiodes 504 ; two metal layers 508 a - b ; three transparent insulating layers 506 a - c ; a passivation layer 512 ; a planar layer 510 ; color filters 514 ; and microlenses 516 . the non - sensing portion 522 may include : the substrate 502 ; three metal layers 508 a - c ; four transparent insulating layers 506 a - d ; the passivation layer 512 ; and the planar layer 510 . in one embodiment , the two insulating layers 506 a and 506 d may be made of one dielectric material . typically , as illustrated in fig2 b , each layer of the conventional sensor die 230 may have a uniform thickness distribution over the portions 232 and 234 . thus , in a conventional sensor die 230 , some of the layers may be required by only one of the two portions 232 and 234 , and become unnecessary to the other . for example , the non - sensing portion 522 may require a metal layer 508 c coupled to a plurality of passive components ( such as transistors , resistors and capacitors ) embedded in the substrate 502 , which are not shown in fig5 for simplicity . as the sensing portion 520 may not need the metal layer 508 c , a corresponding part of the metal layer 508 c may be eliminated as illustrated in fig5 . in general , the top metal layer of a conventional sensor die 404 d may be configured to reduce the amount of stray light that otherwise would be collected by the photodiode 416 and its neighboring photodiodes . however , by eliminating unnecessary layers , the thickness 418 may be reduced , and as a consequence , the amount of stray light may be reduced to make the top metal layer 418 dispensable . in fig5 , the sensor die 500 does not have a metal layer configured to block the stray light , which may further reduce the thicknesses 438 and 439 . in one embodiment , the number of imaging lens elements 104 a - c for a vga ( 640 × 480 resolution ) system may be reduced from 3 to 2 , where the number of imaging lens elements for multi mega pixel system may be reduced from 4 to 3 . in another embodiment , the lens diameter and thickness may be decreased by at least 15 %. as explained in connection with fig3 a - b , a decrease in stack height may allow an increase in the maximum chief ray angle of corner pixels and a decrease in the minimum f - number of compound imaging system . typically , the maximum chief ray angle and the minimum f - number of a conventional sensor die may be about 15 - 20 degrees and 2 . 8 - 3 . 5 , respectively . in one embodiment , a reduced stack height may allow the maximum chief ray angle of 25 - 30 degrees and the minimum f - number of 1 . 7 - 2 . 5 , respectively . for clarity explanation , only three metal layers are shown in fig5 . however , it should be apparent to those of ordinary skill that the present invention may be practiced with any number of metal layers . also , it is should be apparent to those of ordinary skill that the difference in the number of layers between the sensing and non - sensing portions can vary without deviating from the present teachings . those skilled in the art will appreciate that the methods and designs described above have additional applications and that the relevant applications are not limited to those specifically recited above . it should be understood 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 .	7
fig1 shows a communication network according to an implementation form . the communication network comprises a local network 110 and a core network 120 . the core network 120 may be a network provided by a mobile communications provider and for example comprises a serving gateway ( sgw ) 122 , a packet data network gateway ( pgw ) 124 , and a mobility management entity ( mme ) 126 . the local network 110 comprises a local transport network ( ltn ) 130 , to which several local network entities 141 , 142 , 143 , 144 , 145 are connected for communicating with each other . the local network entities 141 , 142 , 143 serve as connection points for mobile entities 151 , 152 , 153 , which may be mobile terminals such as user equipments ( ue ). the local network entities 141 , 142 , 143 may be local access points ( lap ), e - node b , home enodeb , wifi access point or similar entities which perform a routing function for the mobile entities in the local network . the local network entity 144 may be an interworking gateway ( igw ), which is connected to the internet 160 . the local network entity 145 serves as a gateway to the core network 120 and is connected to the serving gateway 122 . accordingly , all traffic originating from or targeting at the mobile entities 151 , 152 , 153 respectively , are routed over their respective connecting points , namely the local network entities 141 , 142 , 143 , respectively . further entities can be connected to the local transport network 130 , but are not shown here for the reasons of a better overview . although only one mobile entity is connected to each of the local network entities 141 , 142 , 143 , more than one mobile entity can be connected to each of the local network entities 141 , 142 , 143 . furthermore , the local network entities 141 , 142 , 143 may be provided by the same or by different physical entities . the local transport network 130 may be a physical network like an ethernet network or a logical network like an ip network or a virtual private network ( vpn ). in the following , a short overview over various embodiments of communication scenarios is given , which will be explained in more detail with respect to fig2 to fig6 . one of the local network entities 141 , 142 , 143 , 144 , 145 receives a data packet , which is finally targeted at one of the mobile entities 151 , 152 , 153 , for example the mobile entity 151 . however , the data packet is addressed to a routing entity of the core network 120 , for example the serving gateway 122 . within the data packet , an address , in particular an ip address of the mobile entity 151 , is included or encapsulated . the local router , which received the data packet , for example local network entity 142 , retrieves the ip address of the mobile entity 151 and resolves the local router , via which the mobile entity 151 is connected to the local network 110 , namely the local network entity 141 , wherein the resolution is based on the network address of the mobile entity 151 . the resolution can be made by sending a broadcast request within the local transport network 130 , or by using mapping information from a message received earlier from the local network entity 141 , or by querying a local resolution server in the local network 110 . the data packet can then be forwarded from the local network entity 142 as an originating local network entity to the local network entity 141 as a destination local router , based on the results of the resolution , namely the address of the local network entity 141 . the mapping information between the local network entity 141 and the mobile entity 151 can be stored in the local network entity 142 in order to forward subsequent packets based on the stored mapping information . fig2 shows a flowchart of a method according to an implementation form . in this embodiment , mobile entities 151 and 152 , local network entities 141 and 142 and a packet data network gateway or local gateway ( pgw / lgw ) 200 are part of the communication environment . in a step 210 , a packet data network ( pdn ) connection is established for the first mobile entity 151 via the first local network entity 141 over pgw / lgw 200 . during the establishment a network address , for example an ip address , is allocated to the first mobile entity 151 by the pgw / lgw 200 . in step 212 , the ip address of the first mobile entity 151 is stored in the local network entity 141 . similar to steps 210 and 212 , in steps 214 and 216 , a pdn connection is established for the second mobile entity 152 via the second local network entity 142 with the pgw / lgw 200 , and an ip address allocated to the second mobile entity 152 is stored in the second local network entity 142 . the local network entities 141 , 142 are local routers according to an implementation form . in step 218 , an ip packet is sent from the first mobile entity 151 to its corresponding local network entity 141 . the ip packet has a destination ip of the pgw / lgw 200 , for example a router network address . however , the ip packet is finally targeted at the second mobile entity 152 such that the ip address of the second mobile entity 152 is comprised by the ip packet . this ip address of the second mobile entity 152 is retrieved from the ip packet by the first local network entity 141 in step 220 . in step 222 , a mapping between the second mobile entity 152 and the corresponding local network entity 142 is resolved based on the ip address of the second mobile entity 152 retrieved before . accordingly , the first local network entity 141 knows that packets for the second mobile entity 152 are to be routed via the second local network entity 142 . hence , in step 224 , the ip packet is sent from the first local network entity 141 to the second local network entity 142 and , in step 226 , from the second local network entity 142 to the second mobile entity 152 . the mapping between the second mobile entity 152 and the second local network entity 142 is stored by the first local network entity 141 in step 228 . hence , following , subsequent packets targeted at the second mobile entity 152 and originating from the first mobile entity 151 can be routed from the first mobile entity 151 to the first local network entity 141 in step 230 , from the first local network entity 141 to the second local network entity 142 in step 232 , and finally from the second local network entity 142 to the second mobile entity 152 in step 234 . fig3 shows a further embodiment of a communication network , which is based on the communication network shown in fig1 . in this embodiment , the local transport network 130 , for example , is an ethernet - based network . the local network entity 144 is a local gateway to the internet 160 . the local network entity 145 is an access gateway ( agw ) to the core network 120 . fig4 shows a flowchart of a method according to a further implementation form . similar to steps 210 , 212 , 214 and 216 , in steps 410 , 412 , 414 , 416 , a pdn connection with the core network 120 is established for the first mobile entity 151 via the first local network entity 141 and for the second mobile entity 152 via the second local network entity 142 . respective ip addresses of the mobile entities 151 , 152 are stored in the local network entities 141 , 142 . in step 418 , the first mobile entity 151 sends an ip packet to the local network entity 141 , which is addressed to the ip address of the serving gateway 122 , but includes , encapsulated , the final ip address of the second mobile entity 152 , which is retrieved by the first local network entity 141 . accordingly , in steps 420 and 422 , the first local network entity 141 sends arp requests to the second local network entity 142 and the third local network entity 143 , each of the arp requests comprising the ip address of the second mobile entity 152 . as the third local network entity 143 is not connected with the second mobile entity 152 , no response is sent from the third local network entity 143 . however , in step 424 , the second local network entity 142 sends an arp response to the first local network entity 141 including the mac address of the second local network entity 142 . from the communication so far , the second local network entity 142 knows that the first mobile entity 151 is connected to the local network via the first local network entity 141 and stores this mapping information in step 426 . based on the arp response , in step 428 , the first local network entity 141 stores the mapping information between the second mobile entity 152 and the second local network entity 142 . in particular , the mapping information stored in steps 426 and 428 comprises the ip address of the respective mobile entity and the mac address of the corresponding local router . based on the mapping information retrieved , in step 430 , the first local network entity 141 sends the ip packet targeted at the second mobile entity 152 to the second local network entity 142 , which forwards this packet to its final destination , namely the second mobile entity 152 , in step 432 . a response packet from the second mobile entity 152 to the first mobile entity 151 is sent to the second local network entity 142 in step 434 from the second local network entity 142 to the first local network entity 141 in step 436 and from the first local network entity 141 to the first mobile entity 151 in step 438 , based on the previously stored mapping information . subsequent ip traffic between the first and the second mobile entity 151 , 152 is transmitted via the local network entities 141 , 142 in steps 440 , 442 , 444 , also based on the previously stored mapping information . in step 450 , a handover for the first mobile entity 151 from the first local network entity 141 to the third local network entity 143 is initiated . to this end , in step 452 , the ip address of the first mobile entity 151 is removed from the first local network entity 141 and the same , unchanged ip address of the first mobile entity 151 is stored in the third local network entity 143 . in steps 456 and 458 , the third local network entity 143 announces the new mapping information to the remaining local network entities 141 , 142 by respective freearp requests . in response to this updated information , the second local network entity 142 updates its mapping information between the ip address of the first mobile entity 151 and the mac address of the third local network entity 143 in step 460 . in step 462 , the second mobile entity 152 sends an ip packet to its corresponding local network entity 142 , the ip packet having a final destination being the first mobile entity 151 . as the second local network entity 142 has the corresponding mapping information for the first mobile entity 151 stored , the ip packet can immediately be forwarded to the corresponding local network entity 143 in step 464 . as the ip packet originates from the second mobile entity 152 and is routed via the second local network entity 142 , the third local network entity 143 retrieves the corresponding mapping information between the ip address of the second mobile entity 152 and the mac address of the second local network entity 142 . this mapping information is stored in step 466 in the local network entity 143 . the ip packet is finally forwarded to the first mobile entity 151 from the third local network entity 143 in step 468 . in step 470 , a return ip packet is sent from the first mobile entity 151 targeted at the second mobile entity 152 to the corresponding local network entity 143 , forwarded to the local network entity 142 in step 472 and finally forwarded to the second mobile entity 152 in step 474 , based on the previously stored mapping information . in a similar way , subsequent ip traffic is routed between the first and the second mobile entity 151 , 152 via the respective local network entities 152 , 153 in steps 476 , 478 and 480 . fig5 shows a further implementation form of a communication network . the communication network of fig5 is based on the communication network of fig1 , but further includes a local resolution server ( lrs0 500 which is connected to the local transport network 130 and the local network 110 , respectively . the local resolution server is adapted to store mapping information between each mobile entity connected to the local network 110 , and the corresponding local network entity via which the mobile entity is connected to the local network . the local resolution server 500 can send stored mapping information in response to respective requests , for example including the ip address of the mobile entity , for which the mapping information is requested . fig6 shows a flowchart of a method according to a further implementation form . in step 610 , a pdn connection is established for the first mobile entity 151 via the first local network entity 141 with the core network 120 , wherein an ip address for the first mobile entity 151 is allocated by the core network 120 , for example by the serving gateway 122 . the ip address of the first mobile entity 151 and the address of the corresponding local network entity 141 are sent to the local resolution server 500 in step 612 . in a similar fashion , in step 614 , a pdn connection is established for the second mobile entity 152 via the second local network entity 142 with the core network 120 . in step 616 , the ip address allocated for the second mobile entity 152 and the address of the corresponding local network entity 142 are also sent to the local resolution server 500 . in step 618 , the mapping information provided for the first and the second local network entity 141 , 142 is stored in the local resolution server 500 . in step 620 , the first mobile entity 151 sends an ip packet having a destination ip of the serving gateway 122 to the corresponding local network entity 141 , wherein the target ip address of the second mobile entity 152 is encapsulated in this ip packet and retrieved by the first local network entity 141 . hence , in step 622 , the local network entity 141 sends a resolution request containing the ip address of the second mobile entity 152 to the local resolution server 500 , which provides a respective response with the requested mapping information to the first local network entity 141 in step 624 . in step 626 , the mapping information received from the local resolution server 500 is stored in the local network entity 141 . similar to the previous embodiments , the ip packet is forwarded to the local network entity 142 in step 628 , and from there to the final destination , the second mobile entity 152 in step 630 . in step 632 , a response packet targeted at the first mobile entity 151 is sent from the second mobile entity 152 to its corresponding local network entity 142 , which sends a respective resolution request containing the ip address of the first mobile entity 151 to the local resolution server 500 in step 634 . a corresponding response to the second local network entity 142 containing the address of the local network entity 141 is provided by the local resolution server 500 in step 636 . the ip packet originating from the second mobile entity 152 is then forwarded to the first local network entity 141 in step 638 and from there to the first mobile entity 151 in step 640 . the mapping information between the first mobile entity 151 and the first local network entity 141 , which is received from the local resolution server 500 , can be stored in the second local network entity 142 . based on the stored mapping information , ip traffic can be routed between the first and the second mobile entity 151 , 152 via the corresponding local network entities 141 , 142 in steps 642 , 644 , 646 . fig7 shows a flowchart of a further implementation form of a method . steps 710 , 712 , 714 , 176 correspond to the steps 210 , 212 , 124 , 216 of the method of fig2 respectively . in step 718 , an ip packet is received from the core network 120 by the agw 145 , having a final destination ip encapsulated , namely the ip address of the second mobile entity 152 . in steps 720 and 722 , the agw 145 , which is a local network entity of the local network , sends an arp request to the remaining local network entities 141 , 142 including the ip address of the second mobile entity 152 . in step 724 , the second local network entity 142 , which connects the second mobile entity 152 to the local network , sends an arp response to the agw 145 , including the mac address of the second local network entity 142 . this mapping information between the ip address of the second mobile entity 152 and mac address of the second local network entity 142 is stored in the agw 145 in step 726 . based on this mapping information , in step 728 , the agw 145 forwards the ip packet to the local network entity 142 , which then further forwards the ip packet to the final destination , the second mobile entity 152 in step 730 . the second mobile entity 152 sends a response packet to its corresponding local network entity 142 including a final destination ip of the former originating address ip - x , which may be located in the core network or outside the core network 120 , but in this embodiment not within the local network 110 . the local network entity 142 sends respective arp requests in steps 734 and 736 including the ip address ip - x to the other local network entities 141 , 145 , but , in step 738 , gets no arp reply , because no mobile entity with ip - x is present in the local network 110 . in consequence , the local network entity 142 sends the ip packet to the remote server via the agw 145 in steps 740 and 742 . the remote server may be the routing entity within the core network 120 . following ip traffic is routed between the mobile entity 152 and the core network 120 via the local network entity 142 and the agw 145 in steps 744 , 746 and 748 . the embodiments described above can be combined and , in particular , respective resolution of the mapping information can be interchanged between the embodiments . the kind of ltn described or used in the embodiments should not be understood limiting but include any kind of logical or physical transport network .	7
although the invention is described with respect to specific embodiments , the principles of the invention , as defined by the claims appended herein , can obviously be applied beyond the specifically described embodiments of the invention described herein . moreover , in the description of the present invention , certain details have been left out in order to not obscure the inventive aspects of the invention . the details left out are within the knowledge of a person of ordinary skill in the art . the drawings in the present application and their accompanying detailed description are directed to merely example embodiments of the invention . to maintain brevity , other embodiments of the invention which use the principles of the present invention are not specifically described in the present application and are not specifically illustrated by the present drawings . it should be borne in mind that , unless noted otherwise , like or corresponding elements among the figures may be indicated by like or corresponding reference numerals . fig1 shows a diagram of an exemplary semiconductor processing system using scheduler assisted power management , according to one embodiment of the present invention . network traffic routing system 100 of fig1 includes ethernet mac 110 , scheduler block 120 , shaper 125 , power management block 130 , cpu block 140 , auxiliary block 145 , and bus 150 . scheduler block 120 includes processor 121 and ethernet mac 110 includes queues 115 a - 115 h . scheduler block 120 may use processor 121 to provide scheduling services for queues 115 a - 115 h of ethernet mac 110 , which may be supported by a dma ( direct memory access ) engine for queuing outgoing tx ( transmit ) data packet workloads . while eight queues are depicted in fig1 , alternative embodiments may support different numbers of queues . scheduler block 120 may prioritize particular queues based on data packet content type , such as voice , data , or video content , or perform other qos ( quality of service ) adjustments , for example to conform with the home gateway initiative ( hgi ) version 1 . 0 . in this manner , scheduling rules can be formulated to service real - time media streams , teleconferencing , video gaming , or other latency sensitive applications with a higher priority class , whereas normal data transfers or other latency insensitive streams may be serviced with a lower priority class . alternatively or additionally , priority classes may be determined based on the severity of resulting packet loss . for example , if a few packets of real - time audio streams are not serviced , jarring audio dropouts or artifacts may result . on the other hand , if a few packets of real - time video streams are not serviced , then minor visual artifacting or missing pixels may occur , which may be less distracting to users than audio defects . thus , audio packets might be placed in a higher priority class than video packets . as shown in fig1 , several processing blocks are included in network traffic routing system 100 to process queues 115 a - 115 h . shaper 125 may be directed to specify queue processing delays to moderate the flow of queues 115 a - 115 h and enforce the above qos rules . cpu block 140 may comprise a plurality of processing cores configured to read network packets from ethernet mac 110 for processing into queues 115 a - 115 h over bus 150 . auxiliary block 145 may perform additional services such as supporting ipsec ( internet protocol security ) for encryption and authentication of network packets . scheduler block 120 may then interface with power management block 130 to manage the above processing blocks in the most power efficient manner . in order to process queues 115 a - 115 h in a timely fashion , voltages and operating frequencies of shaper 125 , cpu block 140 , and auxiliary block 145 may be adjusted up or down by power management block 130 as necessary . however , to avoid unnecessary power usage , voltages and frequencies may be ramped up only as much as necessary to safely meet queue processing completion deadlines , thus optimizing power usage . for idle periods when queues 115 a - 115 h are mostly empty , some cores of cpu block 140 may also be turned off completely or provided with zeroed voltage for extra power savings . in this manner , the components of network traffic routing system 100 are intelligently power optimized based on the dynamic workloads presented by queues 115 a - 115 h . while the scheduler assisted power management of the present invention has been illustrated using a network traffic routing system , the present invention is not limited to this particular embodiment and is generally applicable to all kinds of processing blocks requiring power management . for example , fig2 shows a diagram of an exemplary semiconductor processing system using scheduler assisted power management , according to another embodiment of the present invention . computing system 200 of fig2 includes processor 240 and operating system 260 . processor 240 includes power management block 230 and cores 245 a - 245 b . operating system 260 includes threads 265 a - 265 b and scheduler 220 . as shown in fig2 , processor 240 uses conventional on - die power management to control voltages for cores 245 a - 245 b . operating system 260 executes on processor 240 and includes a software scheduler 220 , which is currently executing threads 265 a - 265 b . as shown in fig2 , thread 265 a is assigned to core 245 a and thread 265 b is assigned to core 245 b . while processor 240 is shown as a dual - core processor , alternative embodiments may include additional cores . one example application for fig2 might be real - time video encoding for streaming broadcast . thread 265 a may then comprise a real - time video encoding thread , whereas thread 265 b may comprise a communications thread to transfer the resulting encoded video over a network . scheduler 220 thus has detailed completion deadline data for the workloads represented by threads 265 a - 265 b , and may direct power management to block 230 to adjust voltages for cores 245 a - 245 b accordingly . for example , depending on task parameters such as video encoding bit - rate , resolution , and other factors affecting processing workload , the voltage and frequency for core 245 a may be adjusted upwards to meet a minimum performance threshold for encoding in real - time without buffer underruns . similarly , since thread 265 b only needs to transfer a small amount of network data compared to the processor intensive task of video encoding , voltage and frequency for core 245 b may be adjusted downwards until just enough performance is provided to service the network connection . in this manner , performance and power consumption is best optimized to meet application requirements . fig3 is a flowchart presenting a method of scheduler assisted power management for semiconductor devices , according to one embodiment of the present invention . certain details and features have been left out of flowchart 300 of fig3 that are apparent to a person of ordinary skill in the art . for example , a step may consist of one or more sub - steps or may involve specialized equipment , as known in the art . while steps 310 through 330 shown in flowchart 300 are sufficient to describe one embodiment of the present invention , other embodiments of the invention may utilize steps different from those shown in flowchart 300 . referring to step 310 of flowchart 300 in fig3 and network traffic routing system 100 of fig1 , step 310 of flowchart 300 comprises processor 121 of scheduler block 120 accessing queues 115 a - 115 h describing tx network packets to be processed by shaper 125 , cpu block 140 , and auxiliary block 145 . this workload data provides scheduler block 120 with the information necessary to make power management decisions . referring to step 320 of flowchart 300 in fig3 and network traffic routing system 100 of fig1 , step 320 of flowchart 300 comprises processor 121 of scheduler block 120 analyzing queues 115 a - 115 h to determine a power management policy . as previously described , queues 115 a - 115 h may be optimized according to particular qos rules to prioritize real - time latency sensitive traffic groups above latency tolerant data groups . in addition , the power management policy may be configured to provide only as much performance as necessary to expedite queues 115 a - 115 h according to said qos rules , providing optimal power efficiency . referring to step 330 of flowchart 300 in fig3 and network traffic routing system 100 of fig1 , step 330 of flowchart 300 comprises processor 121 of scheduler block 120 applying the power management policy from step 320 to shaper 125 , cpu block 140 , and auxiliary block 145 . as previously described , the power management policy may specify increasing or decreasing voltages and operating frequencies of the above processing blocks , or may even completely turn off particular processing blocks such as processor cores of cpu block 140 . in this manner , the above processing blocks are optimized to provide sufficient application performance with finely tuned power consumption , which provides greater power savings compared to conventional methods of power management that do not integrate workload data from a scheduler . from the above description of the embodiments of the present invention , it is manifest that various techniques can be used for implementing the concepts of the present invention without departing from its scope . moreover , while the present invention has been described with specific reference to certain embodiments , a person of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that changes can be made in form and detail without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention . it should also be understood that the invention is not limited to the particular embodiments described herein , but is capable of many rearrangements , modifications , and substitutions without departing from the scope of the invention .	8
fig1 is a perspective schematic view of an exemplary filter of the present disclosure . fig2 is a perspective cut - away schematic view of the exemplary filter , showing the filter seals . the figures will be described in conjunction with each other . the filter 10 includes a first seal end 14 , a filter element 12 coupled to the first end 14 , and a second seal end 16 coupled to the filter element , the components being disposed along a longitudinal axis 30 . the filter element is generally porous material , such as cloth or paper , and can be reinforced with metal or plastic mesh . the media flow 32 , such as air , generally is from an outer peripheral portion of the filter 10 through the filter element 12 and into the inner spaces of the filter and then through a filter support assembly and the vacuum cleaner mounting assembly for exhausting , described in more detail below . generally , the filter ends 14 , 16 include non - porous material to reduce leakage therethrough and seal at the interface between the filter element and the filter ends . advantageously , the ends can be made of a variety of flexible elastomeric materials that can be stretched and compressed and formed to various shapes , known to those with ordinary skill in the art . while the filter element and ends generally will be sealingly coupled together as an assembly , in other embodiments , the ends can be separate from the filter element . the filter ends 14 , 16 can include transition portions 15 , 17 , respectively , that support the filter element 12 and seal with the filter element . the transition portions 15 , 17 also provide structure in some embodiments for coupling with the seals 18 , 28 , described herein . while the filter ends 14 , 16 are described in terms of various members , it is understood that such description is for convenience of the reader in identifying different portions , because one or more of the members can be integrally formed , in keeping with the definition of “ coupling ” herein . the term “ coupled ,” “ coupling ,” and like terms are used broadly herein and can include any method or device for securing , binding , bonding , fastening , attaching , joining , inserting therein , forming thereon or therein , communicating , or otherwise associating , for example , mechanically , magnetically , electrically , chemically , directly or indirectly with intermediate elements , one or more pieces of members together and can further include without limitation integrally forming one functional member with another in a unity fashion . the coupling can occur in any direction , including rotationally . further , the term “ end ” is used broadly and generally includes the end of the effective filter used for filtering a media passing therethrough for purposes for which the filter was intended . the filter end 14 includes a seal 18 that includes a lateral seal portion 20 . in the embodiment shown , the filter end 16 has a similar structure with seal 28 and its lateral seal portion 34 , and so the disclosure will describe primarily the filter end 14 to avoid repetition . it is to be understood that the filter end 14 can vary with the primary goal of sealing the filter to the vacuum cleaner so as to inhibit undesired flow through the vacuum cleaner . the lateral seal portion 20 is generally coupled to a longitudinal seal portion 22 that is coupled to the transition portion 15 in at least some embodiments . in the embodiment shown , the lateral seal portion 20 extends radially inward toward the longitudinal axis 30 and seals with a filter support assembly , shown in fig3 and 4 . the lateral seal portion has a thickness and composition sufficient to be compressed between two adjacent surfaces , described below , and maintain resiliency upon release . generally , the lateral seal portion 20 is sized smaller across its inner diametrical dimension 26 than a corresponding cross - sectional dimension of the filter support assembly , so that the lateral seal portion is stretched over the relevant filter support assembly section and then resiliently resumes its shape after the seal is fitted into the undercut area of the filter support assembly , and thus encompasses the filter support assembly . the longitudinal seal portion 22 can provide additional flexibility by providing a flexible moment arm for movement of the lateral seal portion 20 as it is stretched and compressed into position . the longitudinal seal portion 22 can be formed with the lateral seal portion 20 to form a unitary “ l ” shaped member . still further , some embodiments can include a centering flange 24 coupled to the filter end 14 , such as to the longitudinal seal portion 22 or the lateral seal portion 20 , to form a “ t ” shaped member . the centering flange 24 can be useful in initial alignments of the filter to the filter support assembly , or alignment of other members to the filter . fig3 is a perspective schematic view of an exemplary mounting assembly of the vacuum cleaner having a filter support assembly upon which the filter is mounted . having described details of the filter 10 , attention is drawn to the system in which the filter is mounted . the system 40 includes a mounting assembly 42 coupled to other portions of the vacuum cleaner . for clarity , the other portions of the vacuum cleaner , such as a lid to which the mounting assembly attaches , are not illustrated and would be readily understood by those of ordinary skill in the art . the mounting assembly 42 generally includes one or more ports and is coupled to one or more motors , impellers , electrical controls , and other features necessary or desirable to the operation of the vacuum cleaner . a filter support assembly 44 is generally coupled to the mounting assembly 42 . the filter support assembly 44 includes a main filter support 46 that is fixedly attached to the mounting assembly 42 and an outer filter support 50 that is slidably attached to the main filter support . the main filter support 46 includes one or more openings 48 , and the outer filter support 50 includes one or more openings 52 generally partially aligned with at least a portion of the openings 48 . the openings 48 , 52 provide for the flow of air or other media downstream of the filter through the openings and into the mounting assembly 42 for vacuum and subsequent exhaust , as described above . the filter support assembly can further include a centering step 82 to assist in centering and keeping the filter aligned . the outer filter support 50 is slidably held in position relative to the main filter support 46 by a stop flange 54 . the stop flange 54 is in turn attached to the main filter support 46 by any of a number of ways . in at least one embodiment , a mounting member 58 includes a threaded stud extending from the main filter support 46 , and in some embodiments it may extend from the stop flange 54 . a fastener 56 , such as a threaded fastener , can be integrally formed with the stop flange 54 , so that the stop flange threadably attaches to the mounting member 58 . other attaching means can be used to attach the stop flange 54 to the main filter support 46 , such as thumb screws and nuts , such as a filter nut 90 , that can be coupled to the mounting member 58 , or screws that can attach the stop flange to the main filter support and secure the stop flange and the filter . other fasteners can include rivets , snaps , adhesives , or other fasteners as known by those of ordinary skill in the art . thus , the main filter support and the outer filter support are “ sandwiched ” between the stop flange 54 and the mounting assembly 42 . the outer filter support 50 can be biased toward the stop flange 54 , so that a gap or clearance is formed between the mounting assembly 42 and the outer filter support 50 , described in more detail below . the clearance provides a location for a seal of the filter to be relaxed into a natural radial dimension after stretching over the outer filter support and then after mounting is completed to be “ pinched ” between the mounting assembly and the outer filter support . fig4 is a perspective schematic view of the vacuum cleaner mounting assembly with a cut - away schematic view of the filter mounted thereto . fig4 a is a cross - sectional schematic of the filter mounted to the filter support assembly prior to sealing . fig4 b is a schematic cross - sectional view of a portion of a filter seal in an upper end of the filter between the outer filter support 50 and the mounting assembly 42 . the figures will be described in conjunction with each other . it is to be understood that the cross - sections can change and the schematics herein are only exemplary to illustrate the functioning of the various components . the filter 10 , which generally includes the filter element 12 and at least one or more seals 18 , 28 , is shown mounted around the filter support assembly 44 and more specifically the outer filter support 50 . the filter is held in position relative to the filter support assembly 44 by a filter retaining cap 62 . the filter retaining cap 62 can be held in place by a separate nut 90 that is attached to the threaded portion of 58 , or it can advantageously use an integral mounting nut in the cap , in like manner as the fastener 56 described in fig3 to compress the filter seals 18 , 28 described herein . the main filter support includes openings 48 and the outer filter support includes openings 52 at least partially aligned with the main filter support openings . the alignment allows media flow 32 , such as air , to flow through the filter element 12 through the outer filter support opening 52 , the main filter support opening 48 , and then into the mounting assembly 42 and the various components thereof in general , the seal 18 will be disposed between a lower region 86 of the outer filter support and the filter retaining cap 62 . the seal 28 can be disposed between an upper region 88 of the outer filter support 50 and the mounting assembly 42 . when the filter retaining cap 62 is mounted to the mounting member 58 in a secured condition , the seals 18 , 28 are “ pinched ” or otherwise secured between their respective surfaces . the result is an easily mounted filter to the vacuum cleaner that avoids compression stresses on the filter element 12 while providing sufficient sealing for the filter 10 as a unit . further , the mounting and sealing of the filter provides a more consistent compressive force that can be more readily sensed by an operator to determine when the filter has been sealed to the filter support assembly using conventional filter - attaching systems wherein the filter body , and particularly the filter media , is compressed by the attachment means . in this embodiment , the mounting assembly 42 includes a mounting flange 60 extending downwardly , as shown in fig3 , 4 , and 4 a , and toward the outer filter support 50 . the filter support assembly 44 includes a main filter support 46 that is generally secured to the mounting assembly 42 . the outer filter support 50 is slidably coupled around the outer periphery of the main filter support 46 and can be held the stop flange 54 or other fasteners as described in referenced to fig3 . the stop flange 54 generally has a greater diameter than at least a portion of the main filter support 46 sufficient to extend radially outward to restrict the longitudinal movement of the outer filter support 50 . the various components are dimensioned such that sufficient clearance remains for the outer filter support 50 to slide up and down the longitudinal axis 30 within a pre - defined travel between the mounting assembly 42 and the stop flange 54 . the amount of travel is dependent , among other things , upon the thickness of the seal and clearance between the seal and the mounting assembly , described in more detail below . the outer filter support 50 can be biased toward the stop flange 54 by a bias member 84 . the biasing member can be a spring , such as a one or more leaf springs or coil springs . the biasing can aid in proper assembly of the filter 10 to more readily allow the lateral seal portion 34 to extend over the end 66 of the outer filter support to be later compressed between the mounting assembly and the outer filter support . the filter 10 is shown mounted over the outer filter support 50 . in general , the distance between the opposing surfaces of the lateral seal portion 20 of the seal 18 and the lateral seal portion 34 of the seal 28 are no greater than the length between the corresponding ends 64 , 66 of the outer filter support 50 . the relative lengths allow for the lateral seal portions to form an initial seal against the outer filter support during assembly and / or to avoid or minimize compressing or stretching of the filter element 12 . thus , advantageously , the upper surface of the lateral seal portion 20 of seal 18 can contact the first end 64 of the outer filter support and the lower surface of the lateral seal portion 34 of seal 28 can contact the second end 66 of the outer filter support . in general , it is advantageous to minimize the overall deflection of the lateral seal portion when assembled to the outer filter support 50 . further , the inner diametrical dimension of at least one of the lateral seal portions relative to an outer diameter of the outer filter support is slightly smaller , so that the lateral seal portion is slightly stretched over the main filter support during assembly . when the filter is stretched over the outer filter support and then released into position past the outer filter support to a smaller cross sectional dimension , the lateral seal portions extend radially over each end 64 , 66 of the outer filter support to form an overlapping portion 78 , as shown in more detail in fig4 b . thus , the components are generally in the following positions prior to compressing the seals with the filter assembled to the outer filter support . the main filter support 46 is fixedly secured to the mounting assembly 42 . the stop flange 54 is mounted to the main filter support 46 in order to fixedly restrain the maximum amount of sliding movement of the outer filter support 50 . the outer filter support 50 is biased downwardly away from the mounting assembly 42 by the bias member 84 toward the stop flange 54 to form an upper clearance 72 between the mounting flange 60 and outer filter support and the associated lower clearance 70 between the main filter support and the outer filter support . further , the filter 10 , having ends 14 , 16 with seals 18 , 28 , respectively , is disposed around the periphery of the outer filter support 50 . each seal 18 , 28 includes a lateral seal portion 20 , 34 , respectively , that extends radially inward toward the longitudinal axis 30 , so that an overlapping portion 78 engages the ends 64 , 66 of the outer filter support 50 . dimensionally , the sum of the lateral seal portion thickness 76 plus a clearance 72 formed between a mounting flange 60 and the lateral seal portion 34 should be no greater than the clearance 70 longitudinally formed between the main filter support 46 and the outer filter support 50 to provide sufficient travel to allow sealing against the mounting assembly 42 . similarly , the travel 74 of the filter retaining cap 62 should be no less than the sum of the seal clearance 72 , the thickness 76 of the lateral seal portions 20 , 34 on the ends 14 , 16 of the filter , and the clearance 80 formed between the cap seal 68 and the lateral seal portion 20 of seal 18 . to complete the mounting and secure the filter to the vacuum cleaner , the filter retaining cap 62 is simply moved closer to the filter 10 and the outer filter support 50 , such as by threadably engaging the mounting member 58 . as the cap 62 engages the lateral seal portion 20 of the first seal 18 , contact is made . further travel moves the filter 10 and the outer filter support 50 closer to the mounting flange 60 of the mounting assembly 42 . thus , the clearance 70 is reduced and then contact is made between the mounting assembly and the lateral seal portion 34 of the second seal 28 . when sufficient compression is reached , the lateral seal portions 20 , 34 of the seals 18 , 28 are compressed or “ pinched ” between the mounting assembly and the cap 62 . more specifically , the lateral seal portion 20 of the first seal 18 is compressed between the first end 64 of the outer filter support and the cap seal 68 . the lateral seal portion 34 of the second seal 28 is compressed between the mounting flange 60 and the second end 66 of the outer filter support . the compression between the lateral seal portions avoids unnecessarily compressing the filter element 12 and avoids the challenges of the prior art to provide a more secure seal . the structurally rigid outer filter support carries the compression load that would otherwise compress the filter element 12 . fig5 is a perspective schematic view of the vacuum cleaner mounting assembly with the filter mounted and the seals compressed between the filter retaining cap and the outer filter support on one end , and between the mounting assembly and the outer filter support on the other end , independent of the filter element . the filter 10 is shown assembled to the mounting assembly 42 and is restrained in place by the filter retaining cap 62 . the first filter end 14 having a first seal 18 is sealed between the outer filter support 50 , described above , and the filter retaining cap 62 . the second filter end 16 is sealed between the mounting assembly 42 and the main filter support 50 , also described above . fig6 is a schematic perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of the system 40 . the exemplary system shown in fig6 is a wet / dry vacuum cleaner 100 that includes a collection drum 112 and a lid 114 removably attached to the collection drum 112 such that the lid 114 can be removed to empty debris or liquids contained therein . as with known wet / dry vacuums , a motor is generally located proximate to the mounting assembly on the inside portion of the lid 114 of the vacuum cleaner 100 , which is operable to create the vacuum inside the collection drum 112 to draw debris or liquid into the collection drum 112 through an inlet port 116 . the collection drum further includes a drain 118 so that liquid can be emptied from the collection drum 112 without removing the lid 114 . the vacuum cleaner 100 includes the mounting assembly 42 , filter support assembly 44 , and filter 10 , described above , coupled to the underside of the lid 114 . the various steps described or claimed herein can be combined with other steps , can occur in a variety of sequences unless otherwise specifically limited , various steps can be interlineated with the stated steps , and the stated steps can be split into multiple steps . unless the context requires otherwise , the word “ comprise ” or variations such as “ comprises ” or “ comprising ”, should be understood to imply the inclusion of at least the stated element or step or group of elements or steps or equivalents thereof , and not the exclusion of any other element or step or group of elements or steps or equivalents thereof also , any directions such as “ top ,” “ bottom ,” “ left ,” “ right ,” “ upper ,” “ lower ,” and other directions and orientations are described herein for clarity in reference to the figures and are not to be limiting of the actual device or system or use of the device or system . the device or system may be used in a number of directions and orientations . the invention has been described in the context of preferred and other embodiments and not every embodiment of the invention has been described . obvious modifications and alterations to the described embodiments are available to those of ordinary skill in the art . the disclosed and undisclosed embodiments are not intended to limit or restrict the scope or applicability of the invention conceived of by the applicant ( s ), but rather , in conformity with the patent laws , applicant ( s ) intend to protect all such modifications and improvements to the full extent that such falls within the scope or range of equivalent of the following claims . further , any documents to which reference is made in the application for this patent as well as all references listed in any list of references filed with the application are hereby incorporated by reference . however , to the extent statements might be considered inconsistent with the patenting of this invention such statements are expressly not to be considered as made by the applicant ( s ).	1
fig1 illustrates a system 100 for recognizing characters inputted thereto . like the system 10 in fig1 the system 100 has an i / o interface 114 connected to a character input device such as an optical scanner 116 , or a stylus and writing tablet 118 , or both . the optical scanner 116 is capable of scanning in sheets on which machine printed or handwritten characters were previously formed and generating graphical image data of the inputted characters therefrom . the stylus and writing tablet 118 are capable of receiving handwritten characters which are manually inputted therewith and generating graphical image data of the inputted characters therefrom . the generated data may be transferred via the i / o interface 114 and bus 112 to a main memory 122 or disk memory 124 . a processor 120 can process the data , in particular , can compare each inputted character to a database of prototypes to determine the best matching prototype . the inputted characters are recognized as the model character corresponding to the best matching prototypes . the recognized model characters then may be outputted via the audio / video output device 126 . the system 100 , or other suitable similar system , is illustratively capable of generating the database of prototypes . illustratively , this is achieved using a process which is schematically depicted in fig1 . according to a first step 202 , training character samples are inputted via the optical scanner 116 of fig1 or tablet and stylus 118 . graphical image data of the training character samples is stored in the memory 122 or 124 . the training character sample data is then pre - processed to remove noise , etc ., by the processor 120 in step 204 . in step 206 , the processor 120 forms skeleton images of each training character sample and then converts the skeleton images to enlarged contour images . in step 208 , the processor 120 segments the training character samples . in step 210 , the processor 120 extracts feature value vectors from each segmented training character sample . in step 212 , the processor 120 organizes the training character samples into classes . this can be achieved in a number of ways such as is suggested in u . s . patent application ser . no . 08 / 313 , 686 . according to this patent application , the training character samples of each model character are divided into plural classes so as to better organize the training character samples which typically are non - uniformly distributed . next , in step 214 , the processor 120 selects one or more prototypes for each class . these prototypes may be selected by forming the mean feature value vector for each class and assigning the prototype feature value vector thereto . alternatively , each class may be divided into subclasses and a mean feature value vector may be formed for each subclass . each mean feature value vector formed for each subclass defines a prototype of the class . after selecting the prototypes ( and prototype feature value vectors ), the processor 120 executes step 216 wherein a class region ( cr k ) and a dis - ambiguity threshold ( da k ) are assigned to each class . this is discussed in greater detail below . after assigning unique thresholds to each class , the processor 120 executes step 218 wherein the processor forms the database of prototypes having classes with optimized thresholds for each class . the database formed in step 218 may be a flat database , may be organized in a tree structure , etc . the optimized database then illustratively is stored in the main memory 122 or the disk memory 124 . fig1 illustrates the inventive handwriting recognition process which may be executed by the character recognition system 100 of fig1 . in a first step 432 , the inputted handwritten or machine printed characters are received from the stylus and tablet 118 , or from sheets on which handwritten or machine printed characters have been previously handwritten or printed into the optical scanner 116 . the stylus and tablet 118 , or the optical scanner 116 , in turn , transfers character data which graphically represents the handwritten or machine printed characters to the i / o interface 114 . the i / o interface 114 transfers the character data via the system bus 112 to , for instance , the main memory 122 . next in step 434 , the processor 120 pre - processes the inputted character data stored in the main memory 122 . then , in step 436 , the processor 120 optionally forms a skeleton image of each inputted character and converts the skeleton images to enlarge contour images . in step 438 , the processor 120 segments the images of the characters for purposes of extracting feature values from the character images . next , in step 440 , the processor 120 extracts a vector of feature values for each inputted character . u . s . patent application ser . no . 08 / 313 , 686 provides examples of features which may be extracted from characters segmented as shown in fig6 - 9 . after extracting a feature value vector for an inputted character , the processor 120 executes step 442 . in step 442 , the processor 120 compares the feature value vector of each inputted character to feature value vectors contained in a database of predetermined feature value vectors . illustratively , this database may be stored in the disk memory 124 or the main memory 122 . based on these comparisons , the processor 120 determines the predetermined feature value vector which best matches the feature value vector of the inputted character . in step 444 , the processor 120 determines the nearest and second nearest classes to the inputted character . then , in step 446 , the processor 120 tests the inputted character against the predetermined class region threshold and dis - ambiguity threshold of the nearest class . finally , in step 448 , the processor 120 recognizes only those characters that pass both threshold tests , and then outputs those characters . to achieve step 446 , above with high reliability , the processor 120 utilizes an inventive recognition criterion , as follows : ## equ10 ## in this approach , each class k is assigned its own dis - ambiguity threshold da k and class region threshold cr k . in general , the more scattered a class is , the larger its region threshold cr k will be . also , the more ambiguous a class is to other classes , the larger its dis - ambiguity threshold da k should be . in the present invention , a process to compute da k and cr k effectively for each class k is disclosed . first , a cost function closely corresponding to da k and cr k thresholds for 1 ≦ k ≦ k are derived , as described below . in a decision - making system , the ultimate goal is to make a correct decision in every case . however , unless the encountered problem is quite simple , there are always some cases which are difficult or even impossible to decide correctly . therefore , for those cases , it is better for the system to reject them , and to let human experts process them manually . thus , extra cost is required to process the rejected cases . on the other hand , if the system does not reject an ambiguous case , but instead makes a wrong decision , this error will likely cause significant damage to the corresponding application . accordingly , either a rejection or a wrong decision results in extra cost in terms of time , money or damage . therefore , the costs associated with a decision making process should be as low as possible . assume the cost of an incorrect decision is α times that of a rejection . that is , for a recognition system , the cost function is then defined as e = the total sample number of the rejected patterns + α * the total sample number of the misrecognized patterns ( 9 ) the rejected patterns can be divided into two groups : the reject - from - right group , and the reject - from - wrong group . the reject - from - right / reject - from - wrong groups consist of the patterns which are rejected by the system . if the system makes a decisive decision , the decision will be either correct or wrong . hence , the defined cost function becomes ## equ11 ## let m , s , and i denote respectively the nearest class to an input pattern with feature value x , the second nearest class to the input pattern , and the ground - truth class of the input pattern . let o k be the distance d ( x , r k ) for all 1 ≦ k ≦ k . that is : upon further analysis of the rejected patterns , it has been discovered that there are two threshold conditions which result in a pattern rejection , regardless of whether the pattern belongs to the reject - from - right group or the reject - from - wrong group . according to the first condition , the input pattern is rejected if the distance between an input pattern and its nearest class m is larger than the class region threshold of class m . that is : according to the second condition , the input pattern is rejected if the distance from the input pattern to its second nearest class s , less the distance from the input pattern to its nearest class m , is smaller than the dis - ambiguity threshold of class m . that is : if d ( x , r s )- d ( x , r m )& lt ; da m , then x is rejected . accordingly , a pattern is rejected when it corresponds to either of the following two situations : situation 2 : d ( x , r m )& lt ; cr m and d ( x , r s )- d ( x , r m )& lt ; da m . cost function e can now be expressed in mathematical form so that the minimization of cost function e can be derived systematically . a novel mathematical expression representing the cost function of an input pattern with feature value vector x is proposed as : ## equ13 ## where a is a bandwidth parameter , sometimes called the width of the respective field of the sigmoid function , which governs the size of the active area of the sigmoid function . essentially , a is a monotonically decreasing function with a considerably large initial value and a very small positive final value . to derive equation ( 13 ) for cost function e ( x ), assume a is a very small positive value ( e . g . 0 . 0000001 ). first , the function exp ( o m - o i )/ a ! is used to evaluate whether a pattern x is correctly recognized or not . that is : ## equ14 ## when the input pattern is correctly recognized , the value of this function becomes 1 ( since o m = o i ). otherwise , the input pattern is misrecognized , and the value of this function is 0 ( since o m ≠ o i , and o m & lt ; o i ). accordingly , the function 1 - exp ( o m - o i )/ a ! can be used to evaluate whether the input pattern is correctly recognized or incorrectly recognized . that is : ## equ15 ## when the input pattern is correctly recognized , the value of this function becomes 0 . when the input pattern is wrongly recognized , the value of this function becomes 1 . two additional functions are used to evaluate the above two rejection situations . that is , for situation 1 : ## equ16 ## and , for situation 2 : ## equ17 ## for situation 1 , when the distance o m between the input pattern and its nearest class m is larger than or equal to the class region threshold cr m of class m , the value of the first function is 1 , indicating the rejection of the input pattern with feature value vector x . otherwise , the value is 0 , indicating the pass of the input pattern from the first criterion . when cr m ≧ o m , the input pattern passes the first situation . in addition , if the difference of the distance between the input pattern and its second nearest class s ( o s ) and that between the input pattern and its nearest class m ( o m ) is smaller than the dis - ambiguity threshold ( da m ), then the value of the second function is 1 , indicating the pattern is ambiguous , and is rejected . otherwise , the value of the second function is 0 , indicating the input pattern with feature value vector x passes the second criterion as well as the first . if a and α of equation ( 13 ) for e ( x ) are given , then e ( x ) will depend only on cr i , da i , cr m and da m . therefore , minimizing the cost function e ( x ) will derive the optimum cr k and da k thresholds for all classes k ( 1 ≦ k ≦ k ). by using a threshold updating procedure , herein designated as the &# 34 ; gradient descend algorithm &# 34 ; ( to be described below ), optimum thresholds for cr k and da k are iteratively updated during successive iterations with : ## equ21 ## the aforementioned updating gradient descend algorithm is summarized as follows : step 1 establish a monotonically decreasing function value a , and initialize values of thresholds cr k and da k with the following equations : ## equ22 ## where : n k is the total training sample number of class k x k i is the ith training feature vector of class k r im is the closest prototype feature vector of class x r is is the second closest prototype feature vector to x ( b ) identify the nearest class m corresponding to distance d m = min 1 ≦ j ≦ k d k , ( c ) identify the second nearest class s corresponding to distance d s = min k = 1 , k ≠ m d k , ( e ) update thresholds cr k and da k using equation ( 20 ), step 3 if the accumulated cost is smaller than the cost termination threshold or the number of iterations equals the maximum iteration number the process disclosed herein may be implemented in a sun microsystems ™ computer programmed in the c language . an experimental database was used containing 6092 handwritten chinese characters . however , only the most frequently used 400 chinese characters were included in this experiment . two hundred character samples were provided per model chinese character , with the odd - number samples being used to derive the optimized disambiguity and class region thresholds of each class , and the even - number samples being used to test the classification performance . the total epoch number α is set to 50 . fig1 shows the cost distribution of 50 iterations with α = 50 . as shown in fig1 , for the training data set , the cost function is decreased continuously until it reaches a certain stable situation . tables 1 and 2 lists the recognition performance of the training and the testing data sets ( ptrain and ptest , respectively ) with different values of α . table 1______________________________________αno / rate of recog no / rate of reject no / rate of error reliability______________________________________1 25403 ( 70 . 9 %) 10178 ( 28 . 4 %) 241 ( 0 . 67 %) 0 . 99065 25444 ( 71 . 0 %) 10177 ( 28 . 4 %) 201 ( 0 . 56 %) 0 . 992210 25065 ( 70 . 0 %) 10641 ( 29 . 7 %) 116 ( 0 . 32 %) 0 . 995420 24197 ( 67 . 5 %) 11580 ( 32 . 3 %) 45 ( 0 . 12 %) 0 . 998130 23401 ( 65 . 3 %) 12400 ( 34 . 6 %) 21 ( 0 . 6 %) 0 . 999140 22732 ( 63 . 5 %) 13084 ( 36 . 5 %) 6 ( 0 . 02 %) 0 . 999750 22009 ( 61 . 4 %) 13813 ( 38 . 6 %) 0 ( 0 . 00 %) 1 . 000060 21545 ( 60 . 1 %) 14277 ( 39 . 9 %) 0 ( 0 . 00 %) 1 . 000070 20973 ( 58 . 5 %) 14849 ( 41 . 5 %) 0 ( 0 . 00 %) 1 . 000080 20348 ( 56 . 8 %) 15474 ( 43 . 2 %) 0 ( 0 . 00 %) 1 . 0000______________________________________ table 2______________________________________αno / rate of recog no / rate of reject no / rate of error reliability______________________________________1 24448 ( 68 . 6 %) 10933 ( 30 . 7 %) 253 ( 0 . 71 %) 0 . 98985 24463 ( 68 . 7 %) 10941 ( 30 . 7 %) 230 ( 0 . 65 %) 0 . 990710 24026 ( 67 . 4 %) 11402 ( 32 . 0 %) 206 ( 0 . 58 %) 0 . 991520 23078 ( 64 . 8 %) 12402 ( 34 . 8 %) 154 ( 0 . 43 %) 0 . 993430 22297 ( 62 . 6 %) 13198 ( 37 . 0 %) 139 ( 0 . 39 %) 0 . 993840 21584 ( 60 . 6 %) 13923 ( 39 . 1 %) 127 ( 0 . 36 %) 0 . 994250 20914 ( 58 . 7 %) 14609 ( 41 . 0 %) 111 ( 0 . 31 %) 0 . 994760 20457 ( 57 . 4 %) 15076 ( 42 . 3 %) 101 ( 0 . 28 %) 0 . 995170 19925 ( 55 . 9 %) 15613 ( 43 . 8 %) 96 ( 0 . 27 %) 0 . 995280 19323 ( 54 . 2 %) 16223 ( 45 . 5 %) 88 ( 0 . 25 %) 0 . 9955______________________________________ obviously , the reliability of recognition is increased as α is increased . therefore , by using different values of α , different degrees of recognition reliability were obtained . fig1 shows the corresponding rejection - error performance graph of tables 1 and 2 . for comparison , another experiment was performed using constant values cr and da and the prior art equation ( 7 ), where cr is the average cr of all characters derived by the inventive algorithm , and da is proportional to the average da of all characters derived by the inventive algorithm . that is , ## equ23 ## where η is a reliability control parameter which increases with reliability requirement . this latter recognition performance of test samples ( pa ) is also displayed in fig1 from which it is clear that the inventive method produces results with higher recognition reliability results than the prior art method of equation ( 7 ). in short , a novel algorithm is disclosed which provides each prototype class of a pattern recognition data base with individually optimized class region and dis - ambiguity thresholds . as a result , recognition reliability is improved over the prior art , where one class region threshold and one dis - ambiguity threshold were used for all classes . finally , the discussion is intended to be merely illustrative of the invention . numerous alternative embodiments may be devised by those having ordinary skill in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the following claims .	6
referring now to the drawings , fig1 shows a defibrillator 10 . the defibrillator delivers an electrical impulse to a patient via cables 12 and paddles ( not shown ). the defibrillator 10 has a switch 14 for selecting the amount of energy to be delivered to the patient . switches for initiating the discharge are typically located on the paddles . the defibrillator 10 has a display 16 for showing the patient &# 39 ; s heart waveform , enabling the operator to diagnose the patient &# 39 ; s condition . gain switches 18a , 18b enable the operator to increase or decrease the vertical size of the heart waveform on the display 16 . a heart rate display 20 shows the patient &# 39 ; s current heart rate . the defibrillator 10 also has a strip recorder 22 for printing ecg waveforms in permanent form on paper strips 24 . referring now to fig2 the defibrillator 10 provides the ecg signals received by the paddles and transmitted on the cables 12 to an analog to digital ( a / d ) converter 30 . alternatively , the ecg signals may come from a standard patient lead set acquire by separate electrodes . the output of the a / d converter is provided to a digital signal processor 32 which filters the digital ecg signals and provides them to a central processing unit 34 . the central processing unit 34 displays an ecg representation of the ecg data on the ecg display 16 and displays the patient &# 39 ; s heart rate on the heart rate display 20 . the central processing unit also controls the defibrillator electronics 36 . the central processing unit 34 also accepts input from the user switches 38 , including the energy selection switch 14 , the discharge switches ( not shown ) and the gain switches 18a and 18b . the digital signal processor 32 performs many functions on the digitized ecg signals , including low - pass and high - pass filtering , slope detection , activity detection , peak detection , and attenuation . basic to the present invention is the digital signal processor &# 39 ; s function of providing a high - pass variable - corner - frequency filter . the basic building block of a real - time variable ecg high - pass filter is a single - pole digital filter . the output y [ 0 ] at time t = 0 of a digital high - pass filter is equal to its input x [ 0 ] at the same time less an accumulated amount w [ 0 ] which tracks the dc offset . the accumulated amount w [ 0 ] is equal to the accumulated amount at the previous time w [- 1 ] plus some fraction &# 34 ; a &# 34 ; of the previous difference between the accumulated amount and the input . that is , the fraction , or coefficient , &# 34 ; a &# 34 ; determines the frequency response or time constant τ of the filter according to the equation : ## equ1 ## where f s is the sampling frequency . for example , if fs = 1000 hz , and a = 1 / 1000 , then the time constant t would be 1 second and the 3 db frequency f c ( in hertz ) of the filter would be ## equ2 ## by dynamically changing coefficient &# 34 ; a &# 34 ;, the responsiveness of the filter can be changed . a single - pole low - pass digital filter is very similar to the high - pass filter just described . its output is the accumulated amount w [ 0 ], rather than y [ 0 ]. referring now to fig3 a detailed block diagram of a real - time variable ecg high - pass filter can be seen . sampled ecg data is provided to a 40 hz low - pass filter 50 , a 150 hz low - pass filter 76 , and a slope detector 66 . in an exemplary version of the invention , the ecg data is sampled once each millisecond at 16 - bit resolution . the 150 hz low - pass filter 76 and the slope detector 66 will be discussed in more detail below . the 40 hz filter defines the upper end of the passband for the monitor data output and is a multiple term finite - impulse - response ( fir ) digital filter . the output of the 40 hz low - pass filter 50 is provided to two variable high - pass filters 52 and 54 connected in series . the output of the second variable high pass filter 54 is provided to the operator on the display 16 . both of the variable high - pass filters are single - pole high - pass digital filters and operate as described above , varying their respective corner frequencies according to a supplied coefficient &# 34 ; a .&# 34 ; the manner in which the coefficient &# 34 ; a &# 34 ; is determined will be discussed below . although a single variable high - pass filter provides many benefits , it fails to solve a common problem faced by defibrillators . immediately after a defibrillation discharge , the skin - electrode interface acquires a potential which is exponentially dissipated , taking about 5 to 10 seconds . for the sake of discussion , assume a linear decay of this voltage . the output of a single - pole high - pass filter approximates the derivative of its input . the derivative of a ramp is a slowly decaying value ; thus the output of a single - pole high - pass filter receiving a linearly dissipating voltage is a slowly decaying dc value . thus , for 5 to 10 seconds after a defibrillation discharge , the patient &# 39 ; s ecg waveform is superimposed upon a steady dc value . for high decay rates , the ecg waveform will be off - screen . this dc value is typically substantial enough to negate the benefit of the variable high - pass filter . by providing two single - pole high - pass filters , the second filter will receive the dc output of the first and be able to eliminate the dc offset . the coefficient &# 34 ; a &# 34 ; supplied to the two variable high - pass filters 52 and 54 is varied according to the dc offset output by the first variable high - pass filter 52 . a higher dc offset results in a higher coefficient &# 34 ; a &# 34 ;, increasing the corner frequency of the high - pass filters 52 and 54 , allowing them to more quickly respond to the dc offset . as the dc offset decreases to zero , coefficient &# 34 ; a &# 34 ; can also effectively decrease to near zero , providing a highly accurate filter for stable ecg data signals . however , only the output of the first high - pass filter 52 is used . to prevent the output of the second high - pass filter 54 from being away from the baseline when the output of the first high - pass filter 52 allows &# 34 ; a &# 34 ; to be reduced , the corner frequency of the second variable high - pass filter 54 is set to twice that of the first high - pass filter 52 . this allows the output of the second high - pass filter to decay faster and thus be closer to the baseline than the output of the first high - pass filter 52 . the output of the first variable high - pass filter 52 is supplied to a 0 . 25 hz low - pass filter 56 , which provides an output essentially equal to the dc offset from the first variable high - pass filter 52 . this filter is a single - pole low - pass digital filter as described above . the absolute value 58 of the output from block 56 is supplied to a peak detector 60 having a delay . the peak detect allows the coefficient &# 34 ; a &# 34 ; to rise rapidly , and thus respond to large dc offsets quickly . if the coefficient &# 34 ; a &# 34 ; were allowed to decrease as rapidly as the dc offset from the first variable high - pass filter 52 , then as the dc offset neared zero , &# 34 ; a &# 34 ; would also near zero , effectively prolonging the ultimate elimination of the last bit of dc offset . thus , the decay after a delay prohibits the coefficient &# 34 ; a &# 34 ; from decreasing until after the dc offset has reached zero . the peak detector 60 uses two storage registers : &# 34 ; peak &# 34 ; and &# 34 ; decay .&# 34 ; &# 34 ; peak &# 34 ; stores a value representing the current peak in input values . &# 34 ; decay &# 34 ; stores a value less than one which gets multiplied by the value in &# 34 ; peak ,&# 34 ; resulting in the output of the peak detector . the value in &# 34 ; decay &# 34 ; is decreased periodically to slowly decrease the output . the output of the peak detector 60 is scaled such that , if it were passed directly to the first variable high - pass filter 52 as coefficient &# 34 ; a &# 34 ;, a one milli - volt output from the 0 . 25 low - pass filter 56 would result in a corner frequency of 0 . 25 hz . referring now to fig4 every five milliseconds , the peak detector 60 gets 100 the next absolute value 58 of the low pass filter 56 . if 102 the value is 3 . 1 percent greater than the peak detector &# 39 ; s current output , then the value is stored 104 in the &# 34 ; peak &# 34 ; register and the value 0 . 97 is stored 106 in the &# 34 ; decay &# 34 ; register . the output is then equal to the product of the values stored in the &# 34 ; peak &# 34 ; and &# 34 ; decay &# 34 ; registers 110 . however , if 102 the value is not 3 . 1 percent greater than the peak detector &# 39 ; s current output , then the value in the &# 34 ; decay &# 34 ; register is updated 108 according to the following equation . as the value in the &# 34 ; decay &# 34 ; register decreases , its rate of decrease becomes greater . equation 6 can be solved for decay ( n ) yielding : thus , the value stored in the &# 34 ; decay &# 34 ; register , assuming no new peak is detected in block 102 , will decay as shown in the following table . table 1______________________________________n seconds &# 34 ; decay &# 34 ; register______________________________________268 1 . 34 0 . 90422 2 . 11 0 . 80512 2 . 56 0 . 70626 3 . 13 0 . 50716 3 . 58 0 . 25780 3 . 90 0 . 00______________________________________ referring again to fig3 the output of the peak detector 60 is provided to a variable attenuator 62 , which for the present will be described as passing the output of the peak detector 60 on to the clipper 64 . the description of the variable attenuator 62 will be augmented below . the clipper 64 provides as its output the greater of ( 1 ) the output of the variable attenuator 62 , and ( 2 ) a coefficient &# 34 ; a &# 34 ; corresponding to a corner frequency of 0 . 025 hz for the first variable high - pass filter 52 . thus , the minimum corner frequency for the first variable high - pass filter 52 is 0 . 025 hz and for the second variable high - pass filter 54 is 0 . 050 hz . the coefficient &# 34 ; a &# 34 ; to the first and second variable high - pass filters 52 , 54 can also be varied by the &# 34 ; activity &# 34 ; of the input ecg data signal . a digital triangular convolution filter operates on the input ecg data and provides as an output a &# 34 ; slope &# 34 ; z which corresponds to the average slope of the last 40 ms of ecg data . for this reason , the digital triangular convolution filter is termed herein as a &# 34 ; slope detector &# 34 ; 66 . when the ecg signal has high activity , such as during the qrs complex , the output of the slope detector will be elevated . when the ecg signal is essentially flat , the output of the slope detector will be zero . the slope detector &# 39 ; s coefficients are selected such that its output slope is the average slope of the last 40 ms of the ecg data . an exemplary equation used by the slope detector 66 on ecg data sampled at 5 ms intervals is given in the following equation . an activity detector 68 receives the slope z from the slope detector 66 and provides as an output a signal which is the average of the absolute values of the last four slopes . ## equ3 ## the output of the slope detector 68 cannot be used directly because its output can drop near zero when the slope of the input ecg signal changes signs . this will occur at the peak of each r wave . other equations for an activity detector can be used . the requirements are that the activity y [ 0 ] remain high for periods of increased activity in the ecg data . a threshold detector 70 low - pass filters the output of the activity detector 68 with a corner frequency of 0 . 1 hz . thus , the output of the threshold detector is the near - dc component of the slope of the input ecg data , and serves as a threshold for altering the coefficient &# 34 ; a .&# 34 ; the threshold detector is a single - pole low - pass digital filter with a corner frequency of 0 . 1 hz , implemented as described above . block 72 takes the ratio of threshold to activity , and supplies it to a clipper 74 . if the ratio is greater than one , then the activity is less than the threshold , and no modification of &# 34 ; a &# 34 ; will occur as a result of the ecg activity . however , if the ratio is less than one , then the activity is greater than the threshold and the ecg signal is in a period of increased activity . thus , the passband of the variable high - pass filters 52 , 54 should be decreased to decrease the qrs signal &# 39 ; s effect on the filter &# 39 ; s accumulated amounts w . the variable attenuator takes the output of the peak detector 60 and multiplies it by the output of the clipper 74 . above , to keep the discussion of varying the coefficient &# 34 ; a &# 34 ; based on the dc offset of the filters 52 and 54 simple , the variable attenuator was described as passing the output of the peak detector 60 directly to the clipper 64 . during periods of low ecg activity , the output of clipper 74 will be one , and the simplified description is correct . however , during times of high ecg activity , that is , the output of clipper 74 is less than one , the output of the variable attenuator will be decreased by the ratio of threshold to activity as provided by block 72 . this has the effect of decreasing the coefficient &# 34 ; a &# 34 ; supplied to the first and second variable high - pass filters 52 and 54 during times of increased ecg activity . the 150 hz low - pass filter 76 mentioned above defines the upper end of the passband for the diagnostic data output and is a multiple term finite - impulse - response ( fir ) digital filter . the output of the 150 hz low - pass filter 76 is provided to a third and fourth variable high - pass filters 78 and 80 connected in series . the diagnostic output of the fourth variable high - pass filter 80 is provided to the user . thus , their primary purpose is to maintain the ecg signal with the lowest possible corner frequency of high - pass filtering . the third and fourth variable high - pass filters 78 , 80 are single - pole high - pass digital filters and operate as described above . they both operate with the same corner frequency , unlike the first and second variable high - pass filters 52 and 54 discussed above in reference to the monitor data output . the output of the 150 hz low - pass filter is also provided to a 2 hz single - pole high - pass digital filter 82 . the 2 hz corner frequency is set so that the filter &# 39 ; s output contains virtually no baseline wander . the output of the 2 hz high - pass filter 82 is subtracted 84 , 86 from the outputs of the third and fourth variable high - pass filters 78 , 80 . the resulting differences are bandpass filters having passbands between 2 hz and the corner frequencies of the third and fourth variable high - pass filters 78 , 80 . the maximum of the absolute values of the two differences is provided to block 90 by block 88 . block 90 scales the output of block 88 to the gain of the ecg display 16 ( fig1 ). it does this by dividing the output of block 88 by the voltage which represents the extreme edge of the output device , such as the paper edge 24 of the strip recorder 22 , and squaring the result . the output of block 90 is provided to a peak detector 91 . the peak detector provides an output to the third and fourth variable high - pass filters 78 , 80 through a second variable attenuator 92 and clipper 94 . referring now to fig5 the peak detector 91 uses a storage register &# 34 ; peak &# 34 ; for storing peak values detected in the output of block 90 . as a first step , the peak detector 91 gets 150 the output of block 90 . that output is scaled 152 such that an output of unity from block 90 would result in a corner frequency of 0 . 025 hz at variable high - pass filters 78 , 80 . if 154 the resulting scaled value &# 34 ; tmp &# 34 ; is greater than the value stored in &# 34 ; peak ,&# 34 ; then the value in &# 34 ; tmp &# 34 ; is stored in &# 34 ; peak &# 34 ; and provided 164 as the output of the peak detector 91 . however , if 154 the resulting scaled value &# 34 ; tmp &# 34 ; is less than the values stored in &# 34 ; peak ,&# 34 ; then the output of block 90 is scaled 158 such that an output of unity from block 90 would result in a corner frequency of 0 . 10 hz . if 160 the resulting scaled value &# 34 ; tmp &# 34 ; is less than the value stored in &# 34 ; peak ,&# 34 ; then the value in &# 34 ; tmp &# 34 ; is stored in &# 34 ; peak &# 34 ; and provided 164 as the output of the peak detector 91 . thus , the output from the peak detector 91 changes in response to two different conditions . if the output from block 88 is so large that it would exceed the current peak value , then the peak detector &# 39 ; s output changes to increase the corner frequency of the variable high - pass filters 78 , 80 . if the output from block 88 is so small that four times its value does not exceed the current peak value , then the peak detector &# 39 ; s output changes to decrease the corner frequency of the variable high - pass filters 78 , 80 . the second variable attenuator 92 operates similarly to the first variable attenuator 62 . it takes the output of block 91 and multiplies it by the output of the clipper 74 . during periods of low ecg activity , the output of the clipper 74 will be one , and thus the output of the second variable attenuator will equal the output of block 91 . otherwise , the output of the second variable attenuator will be decreased proportionally to the ratio of the output of the threshold detector 70 to the output of the activity detector 68 . the output of the second variable attenuator is clipped such that the resultant &# 34 ; a &# 34 ; supplied to the third and fourth variable high - pass filters 78 and 80 results in corner frequency of 0 . 025 hz . a further refinement in the control of coefficient &# 34 ; a &# 34 ; is preferred . as described above , the accumulated value w in a single - pole filter tracks the low - frequency components of the input signal x . during times of high activity in the ecg signal , the activity detector 68 causes rapid reductions in the coefficient &# 34 ; a &# 34 ; through the actions of the first and second variable attenuators 62 and 92 , thereby preventing w from being affected by the qrs complex . this reduction in coefficient &# 34 ; a &# 34 ; also prevents w from accurately tracking any low - frequency baseline wander present , thereby affecting the appearance of the signals at the outputs of the variable high - pass filters 54 and 80 . by continuing to change the accumulated amount w during times of high activity at the same rate as it was changing just before activity occurred , the accumulated amount w will more accurately track baseline wander . this can be accomplished by varying the manner in which the accumulated amount is updated . let &# 34 ; a 1 &# 34 ; be the coefficient &# 34 ; a &# 34 ; after being reduced by qrs activity in the variable attenuators 62 and 92 and let &# 34 ; a 2 &# 34 ; be the difference between the two : a - a 1 . finally , let &# 34 ; slope &# 34 ; be w [ n ]- w [ n - 1 ] where n represents the sample time at which the output of block 72 is one , that is , the last sample at which &# 34 ; a &# 34 ; was not diminished by qrs activity . then the accumulated amount w can maintain a constant rate of change during times of high qrs activity according to the following equation . referring now to fig6 a flow chart of the above refinement is shown . the outputs of the peak detector 60 and the clipped ratio from clipper 74 are read 120 . coefficient &# 34 ; a &# 34 ; is set 122 to the output of the peak detector and &# 34 ; a 1 &# 34 ; is set 124 to the product of the two read values . value a 2 is set to the difference between &# 34 ; a &# 34 ; and &# 34 ; a 1 .&# 34 ; if 128 that difference is zero , then it is not a time of high qrs activity and slope is updated 130 . then w [ 0 ] is determined according to equation ( 10 ), given above . although the present invention has been described in considerable detail with reference to certain preferred versions and values , other versions are possible . the described version uses two variable high - pass filters in series 52 , 54 , and 78 , 80 to eliminate the effects of a constant slope in the offset signal superimposed on the ecg signal . as a baseline wander filter according to the present invention has uses in devices other than a defibrillator , a single variable high - pass filter may be used . the described version changes the corner frequency of the variable high - pass filters 52 , 54 , 78 , 80 according to both the dc offset of the input ecg data and the qrs activity . a variable high - pass filter according to the present invention may be built which varies its corner frequency according to either dc offset , or qrs activity , or both . therefore , the spirit and scope of the appended claims should not be limited to the description of the preferred versions contained herein .	0
fig2 shows a general flowchart of the method of the invention . following this overview , based on fig2 , the various steps of the method will be described in detail with reference to the other figures . ( 1 ) first , the solid structure to be analyzed is created or described ( 2 ) a geometric parameterization for the deformations of the structure is selected . ( 3 ) equations constituting a fluid model representing the flow of fluid are selected . these equations can be non - linear , such as navier - stokes or euler equations . ( 4 ) a flow solution for the structure without deformation is calculated , using a computational fluid dynamics solver ; ( 5 ) the flow sensitivity with respect to the geometric parameters is calculated , using the sensitivity equation method , finite differences , or other techniques . ( 6 ) a finite element mesh for the structure is set up using known techniques . ( 7 ) the flow and sensitivity solutions are interpolated onto the finite element mesh ( 8 ) a stiffness matrix is computed from this finite element mesh . ( 9 ) the structural stiffness matrix computed in step ( 8 ) is modified to account for flexibility of the structure . then , with the results in hand , one can either modify the design and try the method again ( 11 ), or print out the results ( 12 ). the sensitivity equations , as developed by borggaard and burns in &# 34 ; a sensitivity equation approach to shape optimization in fluid flows &# 34 ; in the context of flow shape optimization , with no regard to shape deformation due to aerodynamic forces , provide the means necessary to compute the desired aerodynamic stiffness matrix , also called the aerodynamic influence coefficient ( aic ) matrix . the equations are obtained by differentiating the euler or navier - stokes equations with respect to a change in a limited number of independent ( or design ) variables , d k . in this case , the design variables are any conveniently chosen set of parameters that provide a basis for compactly defining the rigid and flexible surface geometries . since the governing equations do not have a direct functional dependence upon the design variable , the sensitivity equations are obtained by formally differentiating the flow equations with respect to the design variable . for simplicity , results are given for the two dimensional , inviscid equations in transformed coordinates . ## equ1 ## the matrices a and b above are identical to the flux jacobian matrices for the inviscid flow ( euler ) equations . the a matrix is , for example , ## equ3 ## a finite volume , upwind - biased flow method ( in the case of the numerical demonstration shown here , nasa langley &# 39 ; s cfl2d or cfl3d codes ) is utilized for the computation of rigid airloads ( although other cfd methods may be substituted ). for consistency with the new method , the sensitivity equations are solved with the same finite volume upwind - biased method utilized in the cfl2d and cfl3d codes ( see , vatsa , v . n ., thomas , j . l ., and wedan , b . w ., &# 34 ; navier - stokes computations of prolate spheroids at angle of attack &# 34 ;, aiaa paper 87 - 2627 , 1987 ). in the finite volume formulation , the discretized sensitivity equations are : ## equ4 ## where i , j denote cell centroids , i ± 1 / 2 and j ± 1 / 2 denote cell faces , and the transformation derivatives and other metric terms are implemented geometrically . the sensitivity equations are linear with respect to the sensitivity variables . moreover , the flux jacobian matrices are identical to the flux jacobian matrices of the inviscid flow equations and are functions of the flow variables only . a converged steady state flow solution is required as an input to the sensitivity equations . thus , the sensitivity equations form a linear system with variable coefficients as the flow varies throughout the domain . a sensitivity equation solution is required for variation with respect to each design variable . sensitivity equation solutions differ from each other only through the boundary conditions ( reflecting the explicit dependence of the boundary conditions upon the design variable ) and the initial conditions . because the coefficient matrices are functions of the same steady state flow solution and are identical to the matrices of the flow equations , the sensitivity equation method can be efficiently implemented by modifying the basic flow method to solve for a new flux function ( the sensitivity flux ) and changing the boundary and initial conditions to reflect the dependence upon the design variables . following the flow solver method development , the sensitivity equation flux functions are written as linear functions at the n &# 39 ; th time level . for efficiency , a diagonalized form of the method is introduced , here expressed in terms of the primitive sensitivity variables , q &# 39 ;=( p &# 39 ; u &# 39 ; v &# 39 ; p &# 39 ;) t . the sensitivity equation is then implemented as two approximate factorization sweeps : ## equ5 ## in the above , ## equ6 ## j is the jacobian of the coordinate transformation , r is the steady state sensitivity residual , λ and t are the eigenvalues and eigenvectors of the inviscid flux jacobians , and ∂ w &# 39 ; is a temporary variable defined above by context . the eigenvalues and eigenvectors and the m matrix are the same for all sensitivity equation sets and identical to the corresponding terms in the flow algorithm . thus , for efficiency , they can be precomputed and stored . the cfl2d and cfl3d codes utilize roe &# 39 ; s approximate riemann solver . for the sensitivity equations , the approximate riemann solver must be reformulated for the sensitivity equation flux . the flux at the i + 1 / 2 cell face , for example , is given as ## equ7 ## in equation 9 , the state and sensitivity variables are evaluated in terms of the following upwind - biased interpolations : ## equ9 ## where ∇ q and δq are backward and forward differences and k is an adjustable constant that determines the order of interpolations . the dissipation term is given as : ## equ10 ## in the flow algorithm , (˜) denotes a roe averaged term , introduced to make the dissipative term conservative . for the sensitivity equations , roe averaging cannot be achieved and the corresponding terms are replaced by an arithmetic average of the left and right states , q l and q r . conservation is not required , however , since there is no conservation law expressed by the sensitivity equations . sensitivity equation boundary conditions ( with surface shape as a design variable ) the sensitivity boundary conditions are obtained by differentiating the boundary conditions for the flow method . at the inflow and outflow boundaries , the boundary conditions are not explicit functions of the surface design variable coefficients , d k corresponding to a surface displacement . for the inflow boundary condition , for example , differentiating the fixed inflow boundary values results in setting the sensitivity equation boundary conditions to zero . on the deformable body surface , the geometry is functionally dependent upon the design variables and this functional dependence is accounted for in the development of the surface boundary conditions . at the wing or body surface of an inviscid flow , the only physical boundary condition is the expression of flow tangency , u • n = 0 . numerically , the flow method requires the complete specification of the flow state of the surface . the cfl2d and cfl3d codes further extrapolate the tangential component of velocity along with pressure and density from their cell centroid values to the cell face surface where the subscript w denotes a wall or surface value and the subscript 1 denotes a value at the first cell centroid above the surface . the normal vector a can be written for the geometries of interest ( 2d wing sections or 3d wing sections with deformation restricted to the xy plane ) as ## equ12 ## for the problems of interest , the functional relationship of the design variables is specified to occur only through the y variable . that is , on the surface thus when differentiating with respect to the design variables , for points on the wall , the functional dependence occurs implicitly through the y variable as well as explicitly . for example , u derivatives are ## equ14 ## the right hand side terms of equation 22 are known from geometry and the known flow solution . similar expressions hold for p w and ρ w . ## equ16 ## surface characterization in terms of bezier burnstein polynomials several investigators have demonstrated the utility of bezier - burnstein polynomials for providing a compact representation of 2d curves and 3d surfaces ( see , e . g . burgreen , g . w ., and baysal , o ., &# 34 ; three dimensional aerodynamic shape optimization of wings using sensitivity analysis &# 34 ;, aiaa paper 94 - 0094 , 1994 ). the bezier polynomials have the advantages that : ( 1 ) a limited number of polynomials are sufficient to describe an arbitrary deformation in the surface shape and ( 2 ) the variation with respect to a change in the bezier coefficients provides a continuous representation of the deformed surface . for the two dimensional case considered here ( an airfoil , for example ), the y coordinate surface geometry is described by the n + 1 bezier coefficients , d k . ## equ17 ## the ξ coordinate is the computation variable that corresponds to the circumferential direction ξ &# 39 ; is a normalized coordinate ( 0 : 1 ) that runs from the trailing edge on the lower surface to the trailing edge of the upper surface . the d k are the bezier coefficient design variables ( the total number of design variables corresponds to the number of free coefficients on the upper and lower surfaces ). an arbitrary surface geometry can be described by appropriately adjusting the values of the bezier coefficients . for a given geometry , the initial undeformed surface is obtained by a least squares fit for the design variables providing the best match at each of the surface grid point locations . in the results to follow ( an rae 2822 airfoil ), the y surface coordinate is represented in terms of a single 17th order polynomial . if necessary , the bezier representation can be extended to model changes in the x variable as well with a corresponding increase in the number of design variables and sensitivity solutions . there is also a two dimensional bezier surface definition so the extension to surfaces is routine . integration with a finite element code ( astros ) for non - iterative static aeroelastic analysis the integration of the euler - based load and load sensitivity information into the astros computer code is accomplished through lockheed martin &# 39 ; s alternate aerodynamic interface . this interface , originally developed as a means to replace the ussaero aerodynamics model with other panel codes , requires rigid - body aerodynamic pressure coefficients ( airfrc matrix ) and pressure coefficient sensitivities ( aic matrix ) corresponding to shape change as a result of applied loads . both quantities are computed external to astros based upon the initial , undeformed surface geometry . in addition , since the sensitivity analysis is developed in terms of bezier coefficient design variables , transformation matrices are required to relate y coordinate displacements to changes in the bezier coefficient design variables . if desired in a specific situation , other polynomials such as non - uniform rational b - splines ( nurbs ) or other splines can be used in place of the beziers . the flow solver provides pressures at the surface cell face centroids for those grid cells adjacent to the airfoil surface . this is similar to the panel code except that euler - based cfd grid is more refined with more cell faces . the surface pressure coefficient values are loaded into an m dimensional vector ( corresponding to the m cell face surface centers ). the term , ## equ19 ## is the sensitivity of the pressure at the ith grid surface cell face with respect to a change in the kth design variable , d k , and is obtained from the sensitivity equation solution . the ( aerodynamic influence coefficient aic ) matrix is thus defined as : ## equ20 ## the dimensions of the matrix are m x n , where m is the number of cfd grid surface faces and n is the number of design variables ( free bezier coefficients ). this matrix is intended to serve as a replacement for the ussaero aic matrix . it is significantly different from the panel - based aic matrix in that it is not square . lockheed &# 39 ; s alternate aerodynamic interface converts pressure and pressure coefficient sensitivities to force component and force component sensitivities . the existing astros transformation ( harder & amp ; demaris spline interpolation ) ( see johnson , e . h . and venkayya , v . b . &# 34 ; automated structural optimization system ( astros ) volume 1 , theory manual &# 34 ;, afwal tr - 88 - 3028 , december 1988 ) is used to convert from structural and aerodynamic coordinate systems and vice versa . in particular , given the euler cfd solution on the aerodynamic grid , the conversion from forces to the structural coordinate system is where g as is the coordinate transformation from the aerodynamic to the structural coordinate system . conversely , the transformation of displacements from the structural coordinate system to the aerodynamic coordinate system is ## equ21 ## the expression for the transformation , g sa , is given in the astros theory manual 4 as eqn 8 . 22 and the reciprocal transformation , g as is also defined in the manual as g as = g t sa . unlike the current astros panel - based sensitivity , the new procedure requires actual surface coordinate displacements at the cell face centers rather than panel slopes . the final link in the new process is a matrix that converts displacements in the aerodynamic coordinate system to the changes in the bezier coefficient design variables . for an arbitrary surface geometry , the bezier coefficients are obtained by a least squares fit . if the displacement is expected in only the y coordinate direction ( δ x = 0 ), then only the y coordinate displacements need be computed . the least squares problem is then where { d } is the n dimensional vector of the d k design variables corresponding to the m dimensional vector { y } of cell face surface coordinates . the n matrix is defined as ## equ22 ## where , the number of rows corresponds to the m grid cell face locations , ξ i , and the number of columns corresponds to the number of bezier coefficients . the b n k are the order n bezier polynomials . the difference between any two shapes , as described by the two sets of surface coordinates , y 0 m and y 1 m is again , it is assumed that the x coordinates do not change , δx = 0 . the above equation provides the required link between the aerodynamic surface displacements and changes in the bezier coefficient design variables . changes in the pressure coefficient resulting from the structural deformation are given as lockheed &# 39 ; s alternate aerodynamic interface converts the changes in pressure coefficient to changes in forces in the aerodynamic coordinate system and astros then converts this to changes in force in the structural coordinate system using the existing astros coordinate transformation ( equation 27 ) all of the transformations happen internal to astros as a one - to - one replacement for the current panel - based procedure . that is , given the basic equilibrium equation , with force components broken into rigid airloads and airloads resulting from aeroelastic deformation where δx = δx δy ! s t are displacements in the structural coordinate system and the rigid airloads and aeroelastic airloads increment are : δf . sub . a !. sub . s = g . sub . as ! aic ! n . sup . t n !. sup .- 1 n . sup . t g . sub . sa ! ( 37 ) astros solves directly for the structural displacements at equilibrium , δx = 0 , corresponding to rigid airloads plus the flexible force increment resulting from aeroelastic deflection given the new definitions of the airfrc matrix ( cp ), the aic matrix ( cp &# 39 ;), and the ( n t n ) - 1 n t transformation matrix ( equation 32 ). a preliminary study was made to validate the sensitivity solver prior to integrating the results into the astros computer code . results are presented for the sensitivity of the computed flow with respect to an incremental variation in angle of attack . this case is somewhat simpler than a variation with respect to geometry since there is no implicit dependence upon the design variables . the mach 0 . 75 inviscid flow of the rae 2822 airfoil at 2 . 72 ° angle of attack was considered . a relatively coarse grid ( fig1 ) extended 20 chords outward from the body and consisted of 129 × 41 points circumferentially and radially . freestream boundary conditions were specified on the outer boundary of the c grid . across the wake , continuation boundary conditions were applied and an extrapolation boundary condition was applied at the outflow . on the airfoil surface , inviscid boundary conditions were applied as outlined above . as can be seen in fig5 the flow is characterized by a shock on the upper airfoil surface at about the 70 % chord location . for the sensitivity equation solution , only the outer boundary condition for the velocity components depends directly upon angle of attack . since this boundary condition provides the initial condition for the sensitivity flow state as well . the remaining sensitivity equation boundary conditions are obtained by differentiating the flow state boundary conditions with respect to angle of attack . since there is no direct functional dependence upon angle of attack , the boundary conditions for the sensitivities are identical to those for the flow state . in order to assess the accuracy of the sensitivity solutions , finite difference approximations for angle of attack sensitivity were computed for two different angle - of - attack step sizes δα = 0 . 050 and δα = 0 . 1 ° using the standard central difference approximation ## equ23 ## difficulties inherent in this traditional method of assessing sensitivities are largely responsible for the development of partial differential equation ( pde ) based sensitivity methods . for example , if the more accurate central difference approximation is used , then the method requires two flow state solves for the computation of each sensitivity . the biggest drawback , however , is the critical dependence of the sensitivities upon the step size of the design variable . if chosen too small , then round - off errors may predominate . if the step is chosen too large , truncation errors become unacceptably large . for example , the larger step size , δα = 0 . 1 ° was found to produce very poor agreement with both the smaller step size and the sensitivity equation solutions . fig2 presents a comparison of the finite difference and sensitivity equation predictions for the pressure sensitivity of the flow primitive variables in response to an infinitesimal change in angle of attack ( similar results were obtained for ρ &# 39 ;, u &# 39 ;, v &# 39 ;). the agreement was quite good between the smaller finite difference step size δα = 0 . 05 ° and the analytical sensitivity equation predictions . both show that the largest change is a slight displacement of the shock downstream . compared to their initial values , the region immediately upstream of the shock experiences large negative changes in the density and pressure and the region downstream of the shock experiences corresponding positive changes in response to a somewhat stronger shock . the rae 2822 airfoil surface was defined in terms of a single 17th order bezier polynomial . the order of the polynomial was somewhat arbitrary . no attempt was made to find the minimum degree polynomial necessary to adequately represent the surface geometry . referring to equation 24 , there were 18 bezier coefficients but only 17 free coefficients since the first and last coefficients identically correspond to the same trailing edge point . for illustrative purposes , the effect of an arbitrary + 0 . 05 increment in each of the bezier coefficients on the surface geometry is shown in fig3 . flow solutions and corresponding sensitivity solutions were obtained for two flight conditions , a subsonic mach 0 . 5 case and a transonic mach 0 . 75 , both for an angle of attack of 2 . 72 °. fig4 and 5 shows the resulting pressure field and pressure coefficients for the subsonic and transonic simulation conditions respectively . at the subsonic mach number , the flow is characterized by a rapid expansion at the leading edge and an immediate recompression downstream of the leading edge producing a lift component of 0 . 6289 . at the higher mach number , the suction peak prevailed over most of the upper surface until terminated by the shock . this flow behavior , characteristic of supercritical airfoils , resulted in a significantly higher lift coefficient of 0 . 9475 . sensitivity solutions were obtained for an incremental variation with respect to each of the 17 free y component bezier coefficients . fig6 shows the pressure sensitivity field with respect to a variation of the 2nd , 6th , 10th , and 14th y coordinate bezier coefficients . as can be seen from fig6 the influence of a particular coefficients was most pronounced in the local area where the geometry was most strongly influenced by the coefficient . fig7 plots the pressure coefficient sensitivity ( equation 25 ) for a variation with respect to each of the seventeen bezier coefficients . other than the previously discussed local effect , all of pressure coefficient sensitivities exhibit large changes in leading edge region . the 0th coefficient corresponding to a change in the 0th and 17th coefficients ( the lower and upper surface trailing edge points ) shows the highest level of sensitivity . there is some redundancy in the coefficients . for example , if all y coordinate displacements are scaled by a uniform translation corresponding to a trailing edge displacement of zero , the geometry is unchanged . numerical experiments have shown that the 0th and 17th coefficients are then zero and all other bezier coefficients are shifted up or down proportionately . in this case , the 0th sensitivity solution has no effect upon the solution . however , either translating or not translating to the zero trailing edge state resulted in identical solutions for the pressure coefficient sensitivities for an arbitrary shape deformation . fig8 and 9 show the pressure field sensitivity and surface pressure coefficient sensitivity for the mach 0 . 75 case . unlike the lower mach number case , the sensitivity at the leading edge is much smaller in magnitude . the shock location , however , displays very large changes in the pressure and pressure coefficient sensitivities . both reflect the sensitivity of the shock location and shock strength to small changes in surface geometry . an additional validation test was performed to verify the accuracy of the sensitivity equation solver for geometry variation and the conversion of arbitrary y coordinate displacements to bezier coefficient changes ( equation 32 ), and the subsequent conversion to pressure coefficient sensitivities ( equation 33 ). fig9 and 10 plot the change in pressure coefficient , δcp , corresponding to a change in angle of attack ( 2 . 72 °± 0 . 05 °) as predicted by flow solver . the abscissa begins at the lower surface trailing edge and runs circumferentially around the wing section to the upper surface trailing edge . also plotted on fig1 and 11 are the δcp &# 39 ; s predicted by equations 32 and 33 for a displacement of the y coordinates corresponding to a 0 . 05 ° pitch up or pitch down about the 30 % chord location . in both fig1 and 11 , the agreement is quite good . the sensitivity prediction shows an apparent tendency to somewhat over predict the change in the extremely high gradient regions at the subsonic leading edge and in the transonic shock region . all flow solutions and sensitivity equation solutions presented in this report were obtained with a second order , fully upwind - biased flux interpolation ( k =- 1 , equation 11 ). efforts to extend the flux interpolations to third order ( k = 1 / 3 , equation 11 ) and then impose a limiter in the high gradient regions generally proved unsatisfactory . it should be noted , as well , that the inclusion of derivatives implicitly linked through the y boundary in the surface boundary condition , for example , the term , ## equ24 ## in equation 21 , tended to increase the magnitude of the sensitivity gradients and produced numerical oscillations in regions of rapid change . for that reason , these terms were dropped from the surface boundary conditions , equations 21 - 23 . there is an additional subtlety in the astros implementation of equations 32 and 33 that requires explanation . as defined in the current problem , there were 18 bezier coefficients but only 17 independent coefficients ( corresponding to the repeated trailing edge coefficient ). in equation 32 , the transformation was constructed by varying the standard deviation of the trailing edge points such that : given any set of δy &# 39 ; s with the first and last points equal , the transformation returned a set of δd k &# 39 ; s with the first and last coefficients also identical . the aic matrix consisted of only 17 columns corresponding to the 17 free bezier coefficients ( since the effect of the identical 0th and 17th terms was accounted for in the 0th sensitivity solution ). to reduce the entire process to a simple matrix multiplication , as required by astros , the aic matrix was padded with a column of zeros in the 18th column . a structural model corresponds to the rae 2822 wing section . the chord was 100 inches and the span was arbitrarily set as 5 . fig1 shows the structural model consisting of quad4 , shear , tria3 , and rod elements . fig1 presents a wire - frame view of the structural and the aerodynamic models . the aerodynamic model , corresponding to the cfd grid , was significantly more refined than the structural model . the interpolation between forces and displacements at known points in the aerodynamic grid ( cell face centroids ) and the corresponding points in the structural domain ( individual structural elements ) was accomplished through the existing astros ( harder & amp ; demaris ) spline interpolation technique . the euler - based load and load sensitivity model was developed as a complete replacement for the existing ussaero panel model . the model was incorporated in astros using lockheed &# 39 ; s alternate aerodynamic interface . the alternate interface required rigid body aerodynamic pressure coefficients ( the airfrc matrix ) and pressure coefficient sensitivities ( the aic matrix ) corresponding to surface displacement as a result of applied loads . the new procedure provided the required information through alternate definitions of the airfrc matrix ( cp ), the aic matrix ( cp &# 39 ;), and the ( n t n ) - 1 n t transformation matrix . static aeroelastic solutions were generated at mach 0 . 5 and 0 . 75 flight conditions for sea level static conditions . for the material properties selected , the two dimensional model shows very little deformation and a very small flexibile to rigid force increment . to better demonstrate the integration of the force sensitivity analysis , the structural model was modified to include a torsion spring at the mount point ( 30 % chord ). since the aerodynamic center of pressure was at 38 % chord , the rigid airload produced a nose - down pitching moment . the resulting force sensitivities then acted upon a shape change due largely to rotation rather than deformation . the net effect was to decrease the force generated at the aerodynamic center and hence decrease the nose - down deflection ( aeroelastic relief effect ). this simple two dimensional problem thoroughly exercised the new aerodynamic model and its integration in astros . it further provided a realistic approximation to the torsional effects of the outboard sections of a three dimensional wing . the spring torsion constant , k . sub . θ , was adjusted to provide deflections within which the linear aic matrix was expected to provide reasonable answers . table 1 summarizes the astros runs with the new aerodynamic model . fig1 - 18 and 91 - 23 graphically display the astros output for the mach 0 . 5 , k . sub . θ = 0 . 5 × 10 6 and mach 0 . 75 , k . sub . θ = 7 . 5 × 10 6 cases respectively . results for both subsonic and transonic conditions show the expected aeroelastic relief effect . in accord with fig1 and 11 , the pressure coefficient sensitivity was most pronounced at the leading edge for the lower mach number and at the shock location for the higher mach number . the tabular results highlight a potential problem with the astros code in dealing with realistic wing geometries ( as opposed to the zero thickness ussaero panel representation ). the c y - rigid column is the normal force coefficient as computed in the aerodynamic coordinate system . the c y - splined column is the same normal force now interpolated to the structural coordinate system through the harder - demaris spline . the aerodynamic force coefficient agrees with results independently computed within the cfd code . additional force is generated , however , through the interpolation procedure . it is expected that the force coefficient sensitivities are also subject to the same interpolation errors as the force coefficients . overall , the inaccuracies in the spline interpolation are on the same order as the aeroelastic force increment . table i______________________________________summary of normal force coefficientsfor astros with euler - based aerodynamic modelmachno k . sub . θ ( in - lb / rad ) c . sub . y - rigid c . sub . y - splined c . sub . y - flex c . sub . y - flex / rigid______________________________________0 . 5 0 . 5 × 10 . sup . 6 0 . 62898 0 . 64973 0 . 61133 0 . 94090 . 75 3 . 0 × 10 . sup . 6 0 . 94747 0 . 96402 0 . 93634 0 . 97130 . 75 7 . 5 × 10 . sup . 6 0 . 94747 0 . 96402 0 . 94852 0 . 9839______________________________________ note that one may obtain the sensitivity of the flow field by a method that would compute the flow solutions for two closely spaced values of the parameter for which the sensitivity is desired , subtract the two fields and divide by the increment in the parameter . this method for the calculation of sensitivity is not as robust or efficient as the method described above . however , if one does compute a valid sensitivity in this manner , the above method for assembling the δf a , matrix and introducing it into the finite element calculation may be used .	6
although the present invention will be described with reference to the embodiment shown in the drawings , it should be understood that the present invention could be embodied in many alternate forms of embodiments . exemplary , but not limiting embodiments include : mobile telephone systems requiring the reception and / or transmission of data and / or a satellite data system where information in the form of data is transmitted to a user . referring now to fig1 there is shown an illustration for a transmitter 10 , such as such as might be used in , but not limited to wireless local area networks ( lans ) that are suitable for practicing this invention . it should be understood that the transmitter 10 could be vehicle mounted or a stationary device . the transmitter 10 includes an antenna 13 for transmitting signals to a receiver 17 . the transmitter 10 also includes a modulator 11 and up - converter 12 for preparing data signals for transmission . exemplary , but not limiting , modulation techniques include direct sequence spread spectrum ( dsss ) or frequency hop spread spectrum ( fhss ) systems . it is understood that the receiver 17 complements the transmitter capabilities and also includes circuitry required for implementing the well - known process of multiplying a bandpass signal by a periodic signal to obtain a new center frequency , i . e ., mixing . receiver 17 also includes an antenna 121 for reception of signals transmitted by transmitter 10 and a down - converter 14 . it will be understood that down - converter 14 complements up - converter 12 . receiver 17 also contains receiver - circuitry 122 for extracting data from the demodulated i - demodulated and q - demodulated signals once the phase detector and compensator 15 has corrected phase deviation . it will also be appreciated that receiver 17 and / or components of phase detector and compensator 15 may reside on an integrated circuit ( ic ) such as , for example but not limited to , an application specific ic ( asic ) or field programmable gate array ( fpga ) programmable by hardware description ( hdl ) language file ( s ) such as a very high speed integrated circuit ( vhsic ) hdl file . referring also to fig2 there is shown a block diagram of phase detector and compensator 15 . it will be understood that since the transmitter 10 and the receiver 17 do not share the same reference clocks a carrier frequency and phase error occurs between the modulator 11 and demodulator within the down - converter 14 . in a coherent demodulator the frequency and phase difference between the transmitted frequency and the received frequency must be compensated in order to retrieve the transmitted data . for large frequency errors , generally a frequency in excess of a predetermined percentage of the symbol rate , a frequency error calculation may be performed by frequency error calculator 21 a and then filtered by the frequency loop filter 18 a and applied to the frequency accumulator 19 a . the frequency accumulator 19 a then drives the frequency shifter 16 a at a frequency opposite to the detected frequency error until the frequency error is below some predetermined value . once the frequency error is less than a predetermined value of the symbol rate then phase error calculator 21 determines phase uncertainty . the output of phase error calculator 21 is loop filtered by phase loop filter 18 and then applied to the frequency - to - phase accumulator 19 . the output of frequency - to - phase accumulator 19 drives the phase shifter 16 with an appropriate phase command keeping the phase error as small as possible . in an alternate embodiment the phase error calculator 21 may drive the phase shifter directly . the loop through phase error calculator 21 , phase loop filter 18 , and phase accumulator 19 eventually locks the i and q demodulated data to the correct phase so that the data is useable . in a qpsk system the phase error calculation can only lock the data to one of four quadrants of the i / q complex data plain . another method must be used to correct the four - phase ambiguity of a qpsk ( or qam system ). methods to solve the phase ambiguity are to look at a known pattern in the demodulated data and fix the ambiguity based upon this known pattern . to allow the receiving system to find frequency timing and phase , a block of known data may be used in burst type transmissions . an exemplary but not limiting example is time division multiple access ( tdma ) systems where the known data is contained in a preamble message . the preamble may be used to drive the phase error and resolve the phase ambiguity . referring also to fig3 , the first operation performed on the received data is to rotate the received data as directed by the known data . referring also to table 1 there are shown the steps to rotate the received data based on the known data . in alternate embodiments any suitable frame could be chosen as the reference frame . receiver 17 , receives the known digital data and a phase vector quadrant is determined and tested according to table 1 . as shown in table 1 , if the quadrant of the preamble data is in the first quadrant then no operation is performed on the received data . if the quadrant of the preamble data is in quadrant ii , for this example , then the received data is operated on such that i - data is set equal to the q - received data and q - data is set equal to the negative of the i - received data . the result of the operation is to effectively rotate 41 the data 90 ° clockwise . for example , referring to fig4 , if the known data is located in quadrant ii and the i received data is − 0 . 9 and the q received data is 1 . 1 then the data is located in quadrant ii with a vector angle of approximately 129 . 3 ° from the reference i axis . in accordance with table 1 the i - data is set equal to the q - received data such that i data = 1 . 1 , and q data = 0 . 9 . the vector angle is now approximately 39 . 3 ° from the reference i axis . thus , the vector has been rotated 90 ° clockwise into quadrant i . similar operations are performed if the known data is found in quadrants iii or iv . no operation is performed if the known data is found in the reference quadrant . once the data is rotated in accordance with the known data , the next step 42 determines the amount of accumulated phase error . ideally , the data - vector should be + 45 ° with respect to the i - axis indicating no or minimal phase error . however , due to component differences between the transmitter 10 and receiver 17 , as well as propagation path effects there is generally some phase error . rotating 42 the vector − 45 ° as shown in table 2 and fig4 , and equating any remaining vector angle to an error signal as shown in table 3 may determine this phase error . continuing the example above , the vector ( 1 . 1 , 0 . 9 ) above lays at approximately + 39 . 3 ° in quadrant i . rotating this vector − 45 ° according to table 2 results in the vector ( 2 , − 0 . 2 ), an error angle of − 5 . 7 ° counterclockwise from the i reference axis . the alternative steps shown in table 3 accomplish equating the error angle − 5 . 7 ° to a phase error signal such that the error signal is proportional to − 1 * q_rotated . in this example the error signal is proportional to − 1 *(− 0 . 2 ) equaling + 0 . 2 . in the preferred embodiment the error signal is coupled to a second order frequency / phase loop filter 18 . the filter 18 integrates the phase error signal over a unit time ( a delta frequency ) and outputs a predetermined portion of the phase error signal , which is then coupled to the frequency - to - phase accumulator 19 . the predetermined portion determines the rate at which the phase error is corrected . in an alternate embodiment any suitable loop filter could be used . the frequency - to - phase accumulator 19 outputs 43 a phase correction signal for input into the phase shifter 16 . in an alternate embodiment the phase error signal from the phase error calculation is coupled directly to the phase shifter 16 . in an alternate embodiment it will be appreciated that a frequency control loop may be used to compare a received frequency , such as a received symbol clock with a reference frequency . if the received frequency is determined less than the predetermined value the frequency may be adjusted to conform to the reference frequency ( see fig2 , items 16 a , 18 a , 19 a , and 21 a ). it should be understood that the foregoing description is only illustrative of the invention . moreover , it will be readily appreciated that an advantage of the present invention is the use of rotating vectors in a phase error loop and that the rotation of the vectors may be controlled such that correction of the phase error is an orderly process . it will be further appreciated that advantages of the present invention resolve ambiguity while determining phase error but without the complicated arc tan operation . in addition , various alternatives and modifications can be devised by those skilled in the art without departing from the invention . accordingly , the present invention is intended to embrace all such alternatives , modifications and variances that fall within the scope of the appended claims .	7
the following detailed description is of the best currently contemplated modes of carrying out 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 . as used herein , the term “ substrate ” refers to any injectable substance , including but not limited to cells , drugs , viruses , plasmids , growth factors and the like . the substrate may any suitable form of matter , including a liquid , a suspension , a gel , an encapsulated solid , a nanoparticle suspension , a slow - or extended - release polymer composition and the like . as used herein , the term “ mammal ” refers to any class of warm - blooded higher vertebrates that includes humans . as used herein , the term “ horizontal ” refers to a direction of the spinal column when a subject is lying supine or prone . in other words , horizontal may be described as along the long axis of the spine . the term “ vertical ” refers to a direction from about 45 degrees to about 90 degrees relative to the horizontal direction . broadly , the present invention may permit a multisegmental injection of cells or any diffusible substances ( such as drugs , growth factors or any other injectable substance ) into spinal cord in large animal species and in humans . the present invention may provide methods and apparatus so that one vertical spinal cord puncture may be required to permit a multisegmental ( up to 4 - 6 spinal segments ) delivery of a substrate . conventional devices employ multiple vertical spinal cord injections to deliver cells , drugs , vectors or the like into spinal cord parenchyma . in a typical setting , multiple injections ( up to several hundred ) are required to achieve a satisfactory cell , drug or vector delivery to multiple spinal segments ( feron et al ., brain , 2005 : 128 : 2951 - 2960 .). the device of the present invention , after exiting the guide needle , the injection needle may retain a fixed angle , thus permitting a well controlled placement in a given plane over 1 - 3 inches from the tip of the guide needle . the device of the present invention may permit the number of vertical injections to be reduced to about less than 20 , typically less than 10 , and even more typically to within a range of about 6 to 10 . in addition , because of a continuous cell delivery during the process of the needle withdrawal , a much more homogeneous distribution of substrate can be achieved in the multiple spinal cord segments . the device of the present invention may use a stepping motor to withdraw the needle , thus permitting a homogenous injectate delivery over the whole injection trajectory . referring to fig1 a , a device 10 of the present invention may include two separate elements , a guide needle 12 and an injection needle 14 . the guide needle 12 may be from about 27 to about 30 gauge , typically from about 100 to about 400 micrometers in diameter , and may be made from stainless steel or other non - corrosive material . the guide needle 12 may be from about 2 to about 4 inches long . the lower 2 - 3 inches of the needle may have a bend 16 , the bend 16 curving circularly at an angle of about 45 degrees . the upper 3 - 4 inches of the needle may be attached firmly to a micromanipulator 18 which may be used to place the guide needle into a specific spinal cord region localized in the gray 22 or white matter . the injection needle 14 may be made of stainless steel , polycarbonate , synthetic quartz polymer or other flexible material tubing between about 34 to about 30 gauge and may be from about 5 to about 7 inches long . one end of the needle ( internal end 20 ) may be advanced into the spinal cord tissue ( e . g ., the gray matter 22 ) through the guide needle 12 and used for injection of a substrate 24 , such as cells or any diffusible substances ( see fig1 b ). the other end ( i . e ., external end 26 , about 1 - 2 inches ) may be attached to a stepping motor 28 . the stepping motor 28 may be used for advancement of the injection needle 14 into spinal parenchyma ( e . g ., gray matter 22 ) through the guide needle 12 . the external end 26 of the injection needle 12 may be connected to a syringe 30 using polyethylene tubing 32 . injections may be performed by using a digital microinjector ( not shown ). referring now to fig1 b , 1 c and 1 d , the guide needle 12 may be advanced into spinal parenchyma ( e . g ., gray matter 22 ) through the dorsal horn ( e . g ., spinal segment number 4 ) of the spinal cord 32 at an injection angle ( not shown ) of about a 45 degree angle relative to horizontal . the tip ( not shown ) of the guide needle 12 may be targeted into the spinal regions to be injected with substrate 24 . the tip of the guide needle 12 may have a bend 19 at an angle of about 45 degrees , which , along with the injection angle , may result in the tip of the guide needle 12 pointing in a substantially horizontal direction along the spinal cord 36 when inserted into a subject . the bend 19 in the tip may be formed along the guide needle 12 within the last 0 . 5 inches thereof , typically within the last 0 . 1 - 0 . 2 inch thereof . the spinal region may be gray matter 22 ( dorsal horn , intermediate zone or ventral horn ) or any region of the white matter . after positioning of the guide needle 12 , the injection needle 14 may be advanced horizontally into spinal parenchyma ( e . g ., gray matter 22 ) in dorso - caudal or caudo - rostral direction . the distance of the injection needle 14 advancement can be up to about 1 to about 3 inches . after the targeted spinal segment is reached with the tip ( internal end 20 ) of the injection needle 14 , the injection of substrate 24 may be initiated using , for example , a microinjector ( not shown ). during the course of the injection , the injection needle may be gradually withdrawn , as shown by arrow 34 , thereby permitting a homogenous multisegmental delivery of substrate 24 into the targeted areas ( spinal segments 1 - 4 ), as shown in fig1 d . referring to fig2 , there is shown a flow chart of a method 40 for multisegmental delivery of a substance ( e . g ., substrate 24 ) into a spinal cord ( e . g ., spinal cord 36 ). the method may include a step 42 of advancing a guide needle ( e . g ., guide needle 12 ) into spinal parenchyma ( e . g ., gray matter 22 ). the guide needle may be bent at the injection end at an angle of about 45 degrees . the method may include a further step 44 of advancing an injection needle ( e . g ., injection needle 14 ) through the guide needle to exit the guide needle horizontally into spinal parenchyma . the injection needle may be injected through one or several spinal segments . the method may also include a step 46 of withdrawing the injection needle while delivering the substance into the spinal cord . this withdrawal during delivery may provide not only multisegmental delivery of the substance , but may also provide for a homogenous delivery of the substance . conventional methods may fail to provide the multisegmental delivery or the homogenous delivery of the substance into the spinal column . 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
embodiments of the present invention are described below by way of example only . these examples represent the best ways of putting the invention into practice that are currently known to the applicant although they are not the only ways in which this could be achieved . the term “ telephone terminal ” is used to refer to any device comprising a user interface that enables a user to make a telephone call . for example , a conventional telephone handset , a mobile telephone handset , a personal computer comprising software for providing telephone functionality ( pc phone ) or a personal digital assistant ( pda ) with telephone capability . the term “ web page ” is used herein to refer to information intended to be provided via the internet or other internet protocol communications network , to a user interface for display using a web - browser . for example , hyper text mark - up language ( html ) pages , java script pages , active server pages ( asp ) pages and wap pages using wireless mark - up language ( wml ) are all examples of web pages . the user interface display may be a mobile telephone display , a computer screen or any other suitable user interface . a first embodiment of the present invention is now described in which communication between mobile telephone handsets takes place over the local area network ( or intranet ) of an enterprise . however , the invention is not limited to communication between mobile telephone handsets ; any other suitable communications devices may be used . also , the invention is not limited to communication over local area networks ; any suitable communications network may be used . fig1 shows a communications network with an apparatus for providing a web page to a call member . the communications network comprises a local area network ( lan ) 10 , such as a lan arranged for use by a particular enterprise . the lan is connected to the internet 13 although this is not essential . the lan also comprises a private branch exchange ( pbx ) 16 which is connected to a public switched telephone network 17 . the lan comprises one or more mobile communications base stations 22 which are arranged to communicate with mobile telephones 11 , 12 or other suitable wireless communications devices . this is achieved using an air interface such as the ieee 802 . 11 protocol . each mobile telephone 11 , 12 has a simple web browser capability and is able to communicate with an intranet web server 14 which is connected to the lan 10 . for example , each mobile telephone 11 , 12 supports hyper text transfer protocol ( http ), request for comments ( rfc ) 2616 and is able to display simple hyper text mark - up language ( html ) pages . communication between the mobile telephones 11 , 12 and the web server 14 takes place via either one of the mobile communications base stations 22 . this is indicated by the schematic dotted arrow labelled http in fig1 between mobile telephone 12 and web server 14 . in order for a voice call to take place between one of the telephone handsets 11 , 12 and another terminal ( which may be connected to the lan , internet or pstn ) the private branch exchange 16 is used . as is known in the art , the pbx 16 comprises a voice over internet protocol ( voip ) gateway card 21 which is connected to a system core central processing unit ( cpu ) and switching fabric 19 . voice calls from one of the mobile telephones 12 are received via the lan at the voip gateway card 21 . the system core cpu and switching fabric 19 , switches these calls as is known in the art , to the required destination . the required destination may be within the pstn 17 , internet 13 , lan 10 or may be a mobile telephone in communication with the lan 10 . in the case that such a voice call is switched to a terminal within the pstn 17 the call passes through a pstn interface 18 in the pbx 16 . in the case that the voice call is switched to a terminal within the lan 10 or internet 13 the call passes either via the voip gateway card 21 or via another interface 20 . communication between one of the mobile telephones 11 , 12 and the pbx 16 takes place using h . 323 protocol which supports real time voice communication over the intranet and internet . this communication takes place via either of the mobile communications base stations 22 as indicated by the schematic dotted arrow labelled h . 323 in fig1 . each mobile telephone 11 , 12 thus supports h . 323 protocol and has a basic capability to trigger web page requests based on voice call activity . this is explained in more detail below . the web server 14 comprises a web application 15 comprising a plurality of html or other suitable web pages . the web application 15 is arranged to provide personalised web pages to call members as described below with reference to fig2 . fig2 is a schematic diagram showing a system for provision of personalised web pages to a caller and / or a receiver of a wireless telephone call . fig2 can be thought of as a simplified version of fig1 . two mobile telephones 31 , 32 are shown each of which is able to communicate with a voip gateway card 35 using h . 323 protocol . in this way voice calls are possible between the two mobile telephones 31 , 32 over a lan or other data communications network as in fig1 . each of the mobile telephones 31 , 32 is also able to communicate with a web server 36 using for example the http protocol as described above with reference to fig1 . the user of the mobile telephone 31 labelled a in fig2 pre - specifies a plurality of web pages 34 that are stored on or accessible to the web server 36 . for example , one of the web pages may contain information suitable for user a &# 39 ; s family and another of the web pages may contain information suitable for user a &# 39 ; s business colleagues . each of these web pages is associated with pre - specified information about one or more potential calls . this information can comprise information about potential call members . for example , the web page for user a &# 39 ; s family is associated with directory numbers ( dns ) for user a &# 39 ; s family members e . g . user a &# 39 ; s daughter &# 39 ; s phone number . the pre - specified information can also comprise information about the time of day that a call takes place or any other suitable information . similarly , the user of mobile telephone b pre - specifies a plurality of web pages 33 that are also stored on or accessible to the web server 36 . these web pages are designed for use by different groups of potential call members in the same way as for user a &# 39 ; s web pages . if the user of mobile telephone a initiates a voice call to the user of mobile telephone b , one of b &# 39 ; s web pages 33 is provided to a . the same applies if the user of mobile telephone a receives a call from b . in that case , one of b &# 39 ; s web pages 33 is provided to a . in this way a voice call and provision of web pages takes place at the same time . the user is able to carry out the voice call at the same time as viewing the web pages , for example , by using a headset to enable the mobile telephone screen to be viewed whilst a conversation takes place using the voice call . alternatively , the user speaks into the mobile phone and when not speaking is able to view the display screen and listen to the other party to the call . in the case that a pc phone is used instead of a mobile telephone , the user is easily able to view the web pages whilst carrying out the telephone conversation . considering the user of mobile telephone b , if b initiates or receives a call from a , then one of a &# 39 ; s web pages 34 is provided to b . in order that personalised web pages are presented , the associations between the web pages and pre - specified information about potential calls is used . for example , linked to each web page is one or more telephone numbers of potential callers who should be presented with that web page . when a call is initiated or received , a request is sent to the web server together with information about the call members . for example , this information comprises the directory number of the call originator and the call destination . using this information the web server is able to select a suitable web page for presentation as described in more detail below . alternatively , other information such as the time of day that a call is initiated may be used . fig4 indicates one example of how a user &# 39 ; s web pages are associated with pre - specified information about potential calls . user of mobile telephone 55 pre - specifies a plurality of web pages 54 , in this case four web pages . a look up table is specified by the user and comprises a column 51 indicating each web page , a column indicating a group of potential call members 52 and a column containing telephone numbers of potential call members 53 . by using the look up table in this way , web page 1 is associated with the user &# 39 ; s wife &# 39 ; s telephone number , web page 2 is associated with the user &# 39 ; s secretary &# 39 ; s telephone number , web page 3 is associated with the telephone numbers of those people managed by the user and web page 4 is associated with any other potential telephone numbers . other ways of associating web pages with information about potential calls may be used instead of a look up table . for example , rules can be used , such as “ if a call is outgoing , then present web page number 1 ”. the web pages themselves are pre - specified by a user and contain information suited to a particular group of users . for example , a web page suited for the user &# 39 ; s secretary may contain calendar information , the current location of the user ( provided using global positioning information for example ) and other information . a web page suited for the user &# 39 ; s customers may contain details of products , prices and links to a main business web site . in order to simplify the process of specifying web pages , a service by which users are offered standard web page templates from which to choose their own web pages is offered . this service is provided over the internet such that the user is able to select appropriate web pages from the available templates using his or her mobile telephone or other communications device . alternatively , the available templates can be accessed from a personal computer web browser and customised as required by the user . in order to simplify the process of customising such web pages , limited forms of customisation are possible and text can be entered in a similar fashion to that used by existing short message service ( sms ) services . this enables users who are not experts to customise their web pages . fig5 illustrates another embodiment of the invention in which the web pages are stored on the mobile telephones ( or other suitable terminals ) themselves instead of on a web server . for example , mobile telephone 60 comprises a plurality of web pages 62 that have been pre - specified by the user of that telephone and have been associated with information about potential call members . this is also the case for mobile telephone 61 which comprises a plurality of web pages 63 . in this embodiment , each mobile telephone acts as a type of web server but is able to receive only one “ hit ” or web page request at a time . fig3 shows an example of the system of fig2 which is suitable for use with the embodiment of fig5 . the example of fig3 uses wireless access protocol ( wap ) and next generation wireless technology such as general packet radio service ( gprs ) or utms . in this case , access to a gprs or utms data communications network 40 comprising a wap gateway 41 is provided . simultaneous voice and data calls between the mobile telephones are then possible for example , using gprs class a mobile telephones . consider the situation when mobile telephone a 11 of fig1 is used to initiate a telephone call to mobile telephone b 12 of fig1 . fig6 is a high level message sequence chart indicating the method that takes place in order to provide a personalised one of b &# 39 ; s web pages to a . in the message sequence chart of fig6 vertical lines are used to represent entities from the communications network of fig1 . mobile telephone a 11 of fig1 is represented as vertical line 31 in fig6 . similarly , web server 14 of fig1 is represented as vertical line 36 in fig6 and voip gateway card 21 ( also referred to as a pbx gateway ) is represented as vertical line 35 in fig6 . horizontal arrows in fig6 represent the flow of messages between the entities represented by the vertical lines and the relative positions of those arrows on the height of the page represents the chronological order of the messages . using mobile telephone a , a call is initiated to b by dialing b &# 39 ; s telephone number . this telephone number is sent from mobile telephone a to the pbx gateway 35 as indicated by arrow 71 in fig6 as part of an h . 323 call set up message . as mentioned above , each mobile telephone has the capability to trigger web page requests based on voice call activity . thus , as a result of the telephone number being sent from mobile telephone a to the pbx gateway 35 , the mobile telephone a sends an http get command to a pre - defined address which is that of the web server 36 . this http get command comprises a host field , a port field and a query field . as part of the query field the mobile telephone a includes information about the call . in this example , that information comprises : the calling line identity of mobile telephone a ( i . e ., a &# 39 ; s telephone number ); and the called party telephone number ( i . e . b &# 39 ; s telephone number ), as sent with the previous h . 323 call set up message 71 . the web server 36 uses this information from the query field to select a web page for presentation on mobile terminal a . this selected web page is provided to mobile terminal a 31 using an http response message as indicated by arrow 73 in fig6 . in this way a personalised web page may be provided to mobile terminal a 31 even before the call is completed ( i . e . whilst the ringing tone is still sounding ). subsequent http get / response transactions may then be carried out manually by user a during the call ( see 74 in fig6 ). for example , if the selected web page presented to user a contains links , the user of mobile telephone a may activate those links to view further web pages . eventually the call ends and a call release message is sent from mobile terminal a to the pbx gateway as indicated by arrow 75 in fig6 . when the call ends , communication between the mobile terminal and the web server may also be terminated . alternatively , the user may have the option to continue surfing the web whilst the call has ended . the process of selecting a personalised web page is carried out by a web based application at the web server , or any other suitable selection software , for example , located at one of the mobile telephones or other terminals . as mentioned above the selection is made on the basis of information about the call such as a call member &# 39 ; s telephone number or the time that the call is initiated . other information about the call may also be used together with information about the history of web page selections made during a certain time period . information about the time of day is made available to the selection software and used to select an appropriate web page . in this case , different versions of each web page are available for different times of day and each web page is associated with time of day information . in another example , information about the history of web page selections is made available to the selection software . for example , the software may record the web pages sent to a particular mobile telephone during the last week . when a new request is received from that mobile , a web page is selected which is different from the previous web pages sent to that mobile . fig1 shows more detail of an example of the intranet web server 14 of fig1 . the web server 14 either comprises or has access to backend databases 100 which store the web pages or alternatively store information to create the web pages dynamically . any suitable type of backend databases 100 may be used such as light weight directory access protocol ( ldap ) enabled databases . each of those web pages is associated with information about potential call members as explained above . the required logic to retrieve the appropriate web pages ( or information for creating the required web pages ) is encapsulated using java servlets . that is , the selection software is encapsulated using java servlets 101 . when a http request reaches the web server 14 , this request triggers a java servlet 101 which is sent to the backend databases 100 and retrieves the selected web page . the http request contains information such as the phone numbers of the call members and this information is used by the java servlets to select an appropriate web page from the backend databases 100 . the java servlets 101 then build up an html response message comprising the selected web page and send this to the mobile terminal which made the initial http request . fig7 is a high level message sequence chart for the situation where user of mobile telephone b 12 in fig1 receives a telephone call from mobile telephone a 11 in fig1 . as for fig6 , the vertical lines represent entities from the communications network of fig1 and the same reference numerals are used as in fig6 where appropriate . when mobile telephone ( or portable ) b 32 receives a call , it receives a call setup message 81 from the pbx gateway 36 which comprises the caller line identity ( clid ) of mobile telephone a ( i . e . a &# 39 ; s telephone number ). on receipt of this call setup message 81 an http get message 82 is automatically sent by the mobile telephone 32 to a predefined address which is that of the web server 35 . the http get message 82 comprises a host field , a port field and a query field . the mobile telephone b 32 adds information about the call to that query field such as b &# 39 ; s telephone number and the clid received in the previous call setup message ( i . e . a &# 39 ; s telephone number ). using this information the web server selects a personalised web page and provides this to mobile telephone b 32 . this is achieved using an http response message 83 as shown in fig7 . the user of mobile telephone b is then able to carry on viewing web pages by making manual http get requests ( see 84 in fig7 ). eventually the call is released ( see 85 in fig7 ) and display of web pages on mobile telephone b is either terminated with the call release 85 or permitted to continue after the call . the methods of fig6 and 7 are preferably carried out together such that one of a &# 39 ; s web pages is selected for display on b &# 39 ; s telephone and vice versa . thus , during a telephone call between a and b , both a and b are able to access web pages that are tailored for them and provide information which would otherwise be difficult or if not impossible to present over the telephone call itself . fig8 , 9 and 10 are now discussed in order to explain an example in which one of a &# 39 ; s web pages is selected for display on b &# 39 ; s telephone and vice versa . instead of a and b this example is discussed with reference to john and tommy , where john is the user of telephone a and tommy is the user of telephone b . john and tommy first set up web pages and associate those web pages with particular groups of potential call members . the results of this process are indicated in fig8 which shows a look up table for john &# 39 ; s phone configuration and a similar table for tommy . john specifies two web pages where page 1 is associated with any potential incoming call and page 2 is associated with any outgoing call as indicated in fig8 . however , tommy only specified one web page which is associated with both incoming and outgoing calls . fig9 shows the displays on the telephones when john initiates a call to tommy . in this situation , john &# 39 ; s telephone display 91 displays tommy &# 39 ; s telephone number and tommy &# 39 ; s telephone display indicates that a call is being received from john . at this point , john &# 39 ; s telephone is initiating a call and so it carries out the method of fig6 . this enables one of tommy &# 39 ; s personalised web pages to be selected and provided to john &# 39 ; s telephone . using the pre - specified information from fig8 , tommy only has one possible web page and so this is selected . in the meantime , tommy &# 39 ; s telephone is receiving a call and so it carries out the method of fig7 . this enables one of john &# 39 ; s personalised web pages to be selected and provided to tommy &# 39 ; s telephone . because the call is incoming to tommy , the web page for incoming calls is selected . the resulting displays are shown in fig1 . thus john &# 39 ; s telephone display 91 shows tommy &# 39 ; s home page 93 which contains information that tommy is travelling this week and a request to be left a voice mail message . however , tommy &# 39 ; s telephone display 92 shows john &# 39 ; s incoming call web page 4 which indicates that there is an incoming call from john . the situation in which tommy calls john is now described with reference to fig1 and 12 . the initial telephone displays are shown in fig1 . as tommy calls john , the display on tommy &# 39 ; s phone 92 shows the number being dialed ( i . e . john &# 39 ; s phone number ). as the call is received at john &# 39 ; s phone 91 the display on john &# 39 ; s phone indicates that an incoming call is arriving from tommy &# 39 ; s phone number . in the examples described above with respect to john and tommy , only john &# 39 ; s web page varies based on whether he either receives or initiates a call . however , more complex situations are possible , where john and tommy have several different web pages associated with different types of information about potential calls and with incoming or outgoing calls . in the embodiments described above which use a web server to store the web pages , that web server may store a plurality of web pages for each of several different users . for example , user a may store five web pages for different types of potential call and user b may store three web pages for different types of potential call . when a web page request is made to the web server from one of the call members that web page request contains information about both the receiver and originator of the call . this enables the set of web pages for one of the call members , say the originator , to be identified in the web server , and then for one of those web pages to be selected , using the information about the other call member , e . g . the receiver . in the embodiments described above , a modification is possible in the case that a user wishes to access another &# 39 ; s web page without completing a call to that person . that is , the methods described herein can also be used to provide a simple way of accessing personalised web pages . consider the situation where a daughter knows the telephone number of her mother but not the mother &# 39 ; s web site address . the daughter is able to use the method of the present invention to initiate a call to the mother and so access the mother &# 39 ; s web page ( s ). if the daughter does not wish to actually complete a call to her mother , an option can be provided whereby the voice , or other type of call to the mother is not completed . fig1 is a flow diagram of a method carried out by software controlling the web server 14 . any suitable type of computer software may be used to implement this method in order to provide a web page to a first member of a call . the web server is controlled such that it accesses a plurality of web pages ; each of the web pages being associated with pre - specified information about potential calls ( see box 130 of fig1 ). the web server is then controlled such that it selects one of the web pages using information about the call and so that it provides that selected web page to the call member ( see box 131 of fig1 . fig1 is a flow diagram of a method carried out by a telephone terminal in order to display a personalised web page on a telephone terminal . on initiation or receipt of a telephone call by the telephone terminal , communication is established with a source that has access to a plurality of web pages . for example , the source may be a web server . each of the web pages is associated with pre - specified information about potential calls ( see box 140 of fig1 ). the telephone terminal then receives a web page from the source which has been selected using information about the call ( see box 141 of fig1 ). finally , the telephone terminal displays the selected web page on the telephone terminal ( see box 142 of fig1 ). a range of applications are within the scope of the invention . these include situations in which it is required to provide a web page to a call member . for example , to provide a personalised web page from a call originator to a call receiver and vice versa .	6
referring now to fig1 a circuit 10 is shown for amplifying a signal . in a preferred embodiment the circuit 10 is fabricated as a transconductance amplifier in conjunction with a bias circuit in which the transconductance amplifier is repeated a large number of times on a semiconductor chip . however , the circuit 10 is useful in any application requiring a compensated amplifier having a frequency response that is substantially independent of variation in supply voltage and processing . referring further to fig1 circuit 10 includes first and second power terminals 12 and 14 which are respectively connected to a positive supply and a negative supply . circuit 10 is functionally partitioned into a compensating bias circuit 16 , a first stage of amplification 18 and a second stage of amplification 20 as shown by the dashed lines . the compensating bias circuit 16 includes a transistor 22 with the source terminal thereof connected to the power terminal 12 , the gate terminal thereof connected to a node 24 and the drain terminal thereof connected to a node 26 . a transistor 28 has the source terminal thereof connected to the power terminal 12 , the gate terminal thereof connected to a node 30 and the drain terminal thereof connected to the node 24 . a transistor 32 has the source terminal thereof connected to the power terminal 14 , the drain terminal thereof connected to the node 24 and the gate terminal thereof connected to the drain terminal thereof . the transistors 22 and 28 are p channel devices and the transistor 32 is an n channel device . the transistors 22 , 28 and 32 comprise a positive feedback startup circuit for the compensating bias circuit 16 . a transistor 34 has the source terminal thereof connected to the power terminal 12 , the gate terminal thereof connected to the node 30 and the drain terminal thereof connected to the node 26 . a transistor 36 has the source terminal thereof connected to the power terminal 12 , the gate terminal thereof connected to the node 30 and the drain terminal thereof connected to the gater terminal thereof . the transistors 34 and 36 are p channel devices and form a current mirror . the current flowing from the source to the drain of the transistor 36 is proportional to the current flowing from the source to the drain terminals of the transistors 34 . the width to length ratios of the respective channels of the transistors 34 and 36 will determine the current ratio . a transistor 38 has the source terminal thereof connected to the power terminal 14 , the drain terminal thereof connected to the node 26 and the gate terminal thereof connected to the drain terminal thereof . a transistor 40 has the drain terminal thereof connected to the drain terminal of the transistor 36 and the gate terminal thereof connected to the gate terminal of the transistor 38 . a resistor r b is connected between the source terminal of the transistor 40 and the power terminal 14 . transistors 38 and 40 are n channel devices . the current flowing through the transistor 40 creates a voltage across the resistor r b . the v gs of the transistor 38 is equal to the sum of the v gs of the transistor 40 and the voltage drop across the resistor r b . the combination of the transistors 34 , 36 , 38 , 40 and the resistor r b provide a stable current reference that is supply independent . the stable current is reflected through the node 26 . the positive feedback circuit , comprising transistors 22 , 28 and 32 , operates to inject current into the transistors 34 , 36 , 38 and 40 in the event that the current through these devices is zero when a positive voltage is impressed across the power terminals 12 and 14 . when the current through the transistors 34 and 36 is zero , the drain and gate of transistor 36 is one threshold voltage below the positive terminal 12 , thus raising the gate voltage of the transistors 28 on node 30 to the same potential . this turns off the transistor 28 and no current flows through the drain and source terminals thereof . the drain of the transistor 32 is one threshold above the negative terminal 14 , thereby pulling down the gate terminal of the transistor 22 connected to the node 24 . this turns on the transistor 22 and current flows from the source terminal thereof to the drain terminal thereof and current is injected into the drain terminal of transistor 38 at node 26 . as current is injected into the drain of transistor 38 , this current is mirrored over to transistor 40 . when transistor 40 begins to conduct current , transistor 36 also begins to conduct current , thus increasing the current through transistor 34 . as the current builds up in transistor 34 and 36 , the gate terminals thereof are pulled down from the positive terminal 12 and turn on the transistor 28 . as transistor 28 turns on , the gate terminal of transistor 22 is pulled to a higher potential , thus turning off transistor 22 . the positive feedback circuit comprising transistors 22 , 28 and 32 normally draws a low standby current when there is current through the transistors 34 , 36 , 38 and 40 . the first stage of amplification 18 includes a transistor 46 having the source terminal thereof connected to a node 48 , the drain terminal thereof connected to a node 50 and the gate terminal thereof serving as the negative input to the amplifier and labeled &# 34 ;-&# 34 ;. the source terminal of transistor 46 is connected to the substrate thereof . a transistor 52 has the source terminal thereof connected to the node 48 , the drain terminal thereof connected to a node 54 and the gate terminal thereof serving as the positive input to the amplifier 18 and labeled &# 34 ;+&# 34 ;. the source terminal of the transistor 52 is connected to the substrate thereof . a transistor 56 has the source terminal thereof connected to the positive supply terminal 12 , the drain terminal thereof connected to the node 50 and the gate terminal thereof connected to the drain terminal thereof . a transistor 60 has the source terminal thereof connected to the positive supply 12 , the drain terminal thereof connected to the node 54 and the gate terminal thereof connected to the node 50 . the transistors 46 , 52 , 56 and 60 are configured as a different amplifier stage . the source terminals of the transistors 46 and 52 are connected to the substrate thereof to eliminate the back gate bias that would degrade the threshold voltage of the devices . this substrate connection also improves power supply rejection . the transistors 56 and 60 act as the load to the common source input of the transistors 46 and 52 . the combination of the transistors 56 and 60 act as a current mirror to provide double - to - single ended conversion for the amplifier 18 . without the transistors 56 and 60 the gain of the amplifier 18 would be one half of the present gain . a transistor 62 has the source terminal thereof connected to the negative power supply terminal 14 , the drain terminal thereof connected to the node 48 and the gate terminal thereof connected to the node 26 . the transistor 62 acts as a current source for the transistor 46 , 52 , 56 and 60 , thereby determining the bias current for the amplifier 18 . the gate terminal of transistors 62 is connected to the output of the compensating bias circuit 16 at node 26 . the transistor 62 will effectively reflect the current of the compensating bias circuit 16 in a proportionate manner that is determined by the width - to - length ratio of the channel in the transistor 62 as compared to the width to length ratio of the channel in the transistor 38 . in this manner the compensating bias circuit 16 controls the bias current of the amplifier 18 . the second stage of amplification 20 includes a transistor 64 . the transistor 64 has the source terminal thereof connected to the positive supply terminal 12 , the drain terminal thereof connected to a node 66 and the gate terminal thereof connected to node 54 on the first stage of amplification 18 . a series connected resistors r f and capacitor c f are connected in feedback between the gate terminal of transistor 64 and the drain terminal thereof . a transistor 72 has the source terminal thereof connected to the negative power terminal 14 , the drain terminal thereof connected to the node 66 and the gate terminal thereof connected to the node 26 . the transistors 64 and 72 are operable as a common source amplifier stage . the transistor 72 acts in a similar manner to the transistor 62 in that it reflects the output current of the compensating bias circuit 16 to determine the bias current of the second stage of amplification 20 . now referring to fig2 there is shown a schematic block diagram of a two stage amplifier 78 which is the equivalent circuit of the first stage 18 and the second stage 20 in the circuit of fig1 . a first stage of amplification is provided by a transconductance gm , having a positive input 82 , a negative input 84 and an output 86 . a resistor r 1 is connected between the output 86 and ground . a capacitor c 1 is connected between the output 86 and ground . resistor r 1 represents the output impedance of the amplifier stage 18 of fig1 . capacitor c 1 represents the capacitive load on the amplifier stage 18 of fig1 . a second stage of amplification is provided by a transconductance - gm 2 having an input 90 and an output 92 . the input 90 of the transconductance gm 1 is connected to the output 86 of the transconductance - gm 1 . a resistor r 2 is connected between the output 92 and ground . a capacitor c 2 is connected between the output 92 and ground . the resistor r 2 represents the output impedance of the amplifier stage 20 of fig1 . the capacitor c 2 represents the capacitive loading on the output of the amplifier stage 20 . the output 92 of the transconductance - gm 2 is connected to a terminal 94 that represents the signal output v out of the circuit 78 . the input terminals 82 and 84 of the transconductance gm 1 represent the signal input v in of the circuit 78 . the circuit 78 is an amplifier using an rc compensation method . the following is a more detailed description in terms of the frequency response of the amplifier 78 of fig2 . it may be shown for the circuit 78 , that : ## equ1 ## p 1 , p 2 , p 3 and z represent the poles and zero of the circuit 78 , respectively . a v represents the overall voltage gain of the circuit 78 . referring to equation 4 , when r f is equal to 1 / g m2 , the zero is at infinity , leaving basically a two pole response ( assuming c 2 much greater than c 1 ). for this case , minimal stability requires that : ## equ2 ## noise and power supply rejection considerations result in a fairly large g m1 and a large c 2 . thus , a large c f or a large g m2 must normally be used in the amplifier if it is to meet minimal stability requirements . unfortunately , a large c f increases the die size and results in a slow settling time , while a large g m2 requires increased die size and / or power dissipation . in the rc compensation technique , these unfavorable alternatives are avoided by bringing the zero in from infinity and placing it atop the second pole . this is seen to occur when : ## equ3 ## now referring to fig1 and 2 , the compensating bias circuit 16 will be described in more detail . transistors 38 and 40 have respective gate to source voltages and threshold voltages . the relationship between the transistors is as follows : where i 40 is the current flowing from the drain to the source in transistor 40 . equation 10 expands into : ## equ4 ## where k n &# 39 ; is the product of electron mobility and oxide capacitance for an n - channel transistor and w / l is the width - to - length ratio of the channel region in the respective transistors . the threshold voltages v to38 and v to40 are equal to each other . this result in the following equation : ## equ5 ## the relationship between the current through transitor 38 and transistor 40 is determined by the width to length ratios of the current mirror transistors 34 and 36 . if the width to length ratio of transistor 34 is set equal to twice the width to length ratio of transistor 36 , then now if the relationship is set as follows : ## equ6 ## and equations 14 and 15 are substituted into equation 12 , solving for i 38 gives the following result : ## equ7 ## which reduces to : ## equ8 ## it can be seen from equation 16 that : ## equ9 ## now referring to fig1 and 2 , the transconductance gm 1 , the resistor r 1 and the capacitor c 1 of fig2 are equivalent to the first stage of amplification 18 of fig1 and the transconductance - gm 2 , the resistor r 2 and the capacitor c 2 are equivalent to the second stage of amplification 20 . as described above , the current through the transistor 38 is reflected through the node 26 to the transistor 62 and 72 . the current through the transistor 62 and the transistor 72 is proportional to the current in the transitor 38 . the proportionality is a function of the width - to - length ratio of the transistors 62 and 72 and the width - to - length ratio of the transistor 38 . from equation 9 it can be seen that for pole - zero cancellation g m2 is directly proportional to l / r f . the fundamental relationship defining the transconductance term g m2 is : ## equ10 ## where k &# 39 ; is a processing parameter that is the product of the electron mobility and the oxidation capacitance , w / l is the width - to - length ratio and i is the current through the transistor 64 , which is the transistor whose transconductance is represented by gm 2 . from equation 19 it can be seen that g m2 is directly proportional to the square root of the current through the respective transistor . the current for the first stage of amplification 18 is the current through the transistor 62 and the current for the second stage of amplification 20 is the current through the transistor 72 . the transconductance of the first stage of amplification 18 is equivalent to g m1 of fig2 and the transconductance of the second stage of amplification 20 is equivalent to the g m2 of fig2 . from the principal of current ratios , if ## equ11 ## where k = constant then , which , when combined with equation 19 , results in : ## equ12 ## where k p &# 39 ; is the processing parameter for the transistor 64 . substituting equation 17 for i 38 results in : ## equ13 ## therefore , it can be seen that , ## equ14 ## as stated previously , for pole - zero cancellation gm 2 must be inversely proportional to r f and as proportionality 24 shows , gm 2 is inversely proportional to r b . by processing both r f and r b in the same manner , r f and r b can be made to track each other , thus resulting in pole zero cancellation regardless of variations in the manufacturing process . for example , if the impedance of r b increases due to process variations , then r f also increases . when r f and r b increase then , from equation 18 , i 38 decreases in a squared relationship . since gm 2 is proportional to the square root of i 38 ( equation 22 ), gm 2 decreases by the same amount that r f and r b increased . thus , the relationship of g m2 to r f is maintained , that is , g m decreases when r f increases to give inverse proportionality . in summary , an amplifier circuit is provided that has a frequency response which is independent of manufacturing process variations . since the resistor r f and the resistor r b are the primary components that affect the pole - zero overlap , the design engineer need only concern himself with the initial design of these two resistors . as long as they are fabricated in the same process , the poles and zero will track . although the preferred embodiment of the invention has been described in detail , it should be understood that various changes , substitutions and alterations can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims .	7
the process of the present invention provides a high throughput anneal process performed at high temperature for a significantly short time . the process of the present invention can be advantageously used to process single wafers sequentially , as well as multiplicity of wafers in batches . in the preferred embodiment , the process of the present invention is initialized with a workpiece that is plated using a planar deposition process . after conventional metal deposition , i . e . copper deposition from a suitable bath as shown in fig2 and 4 . the resulting plated film to seed layer ratio may vary between 8 to 15 or even higher for first metal layer ( m1 ) and between 10 to 30 or even higher for a dual damascene level . for example , in fig4 for a metal level with a trench dept of 500 nm , and 50 nm seed layer , a minimum copper deposit of about 700 nm in the field will be required . this implies an overburden of 250 nm over the large structures and overburden usually greater than 750 nm over the smallest structures because of super - fill phenomenon . the plated metal to seedlayer ratio on the substrate will then be at least 14 ( 700 nm plated metal to 50 nm seed layer ). prior to annealing , the overburden may be reduced to about 500 nm or less ( p / s ˜ 8 ) by cmp methods or by wet etch or electroetching or electropolishing methods . after the first polishing step , the planar metal may be annealed at a higher temperature between 150 to 420 ° c . to fully stabilize the structure , for periods varying between 5 to 300 seconds in and inert ambient , prior to a second polishing step to remove all the undesirable metal . the annealing is carried out preferably by a rapid thermal annealing ( rta ) method . to minimize the resulting damage from the annealing process , the metal overburden may be reduced such that plated layer to seed layer ratio is below 7 , preferably between 0 . 1 and 5 as shown in fig6 . fig6 shows a substrate 100 , a preprocessed silicon wafer having a planar conductive layer 102 on it . the conductive layer may be a copper layer that is formed on the wafer 100 using , for example , a planar deposition process or a conventional deposition process followed by a planarization process such as cmp process . preprocessing of the wafer 100 may include forming an insulation layer 104 on a top surface of the wafer 100 and patterning and etching it to form features to be filled with copper . the features may be vias 106 and trenches 108 . the vias and trenches may also partially expose a bottom metal layer 120 . in one application , when filled with copper , such features form the wiring infrastructure of an integrated circuit . conventionally , before the plating process , entire exposed surfaces of the insulating layer 104 or the top surface 105 of the wafer is coated with a barrier layer 110 and a copper seed layer 112 on the barrier layer . the barrier and seed layers coat the exposed portions of the bottom metal layer 120 . the barrier layer may be a ta / tan composite stack or one of wc , wn ( c ), tin layers deposited using pvd or atomic layer deposition process . as a result , the features 106 , 108 and top surface 114 of the insulation layer 104 , as often referred to as field regions , is coated with the barrier and seed layers 110 , 112 respectively . [ 0029 ] fig7 shows the substrate 100 after the anneal process . reducing the overburden prior to annealing step minimizes the resulting stress from the crystallization or re - crystallization process , thus minimizing the problems associated with yield loss due to via separation or detachment from the bottom metal 120 . in one embodiment of the present invention , to reduce the cost associated with multiple cmp operations , for example the pre - anneal cmp and the post anneal cmp method , it is most desirable to anneal a planar film with thin overburden , as disclosed in u . s . pat . no . 6 , 328 , 872 , entitled “ method and apparatus for plating and polishing a semiconductor substrate ”, issued dec . 11 , 2001 , commonly owned by the assignee of the present invention . reducing the thickness of the copper layer , which is plated using the conventional methods to reduce the ( p / s ) ratio , may result in a film where the seed layer plays a dominant role in the texture of the copper film . for example , reducing plated film thickness from 750 nm to about 300 nm by a pre anneal cmp step , will produce a ( p / s ) ratio of 2 for 100 nm seed layer ( 200 nm plating + 100 nm seed layer ). one advantage of the planar film method , as shown in fig6 and 7 , is that , within the thin overburden , of 300 nm , the ratio of ( p / s ) can be greatly amplified . another advantage of reducing the thickness of the overburden , prior to annealing treatment , is that this step may also be used to modify or increase the impurity concentration of the plated structure , when an alloyed seed layer is used . the alloying elements in the seed layer diffuse into the copper during the annealing . for example , if a 100 nm thick cu ( in ) alloy layer , with 0 . 5 % indium , is coated over 500 nm deep damascene features . for this structure , reducing the plated metal overburden from 750 nm to 300 prior to annealing treatment , will effectively increase the concentration of indium in the wiring structure . in the preferred embodiment of the present invention , planar copper layer is plated using electrochemical mechanical processing ( ecmpr ). it is understood that plating a planar copper layer prior to annealing step minimizes the resulting stress from the crystallization process , thus preventing the problems associated with via separation or detachment from the structures beneath , for example from the bottom layer 120 shown in fig6 and 7 . ecmpr is used to include both electrochemical mechanical deposition ( ecmd ) processes as well as electrochemical mechanical etching ( ecme ), also called electrochemical mechanical polishing ), although ecmd and ecme processes can be used alone or in combination during an ecmpr process . it should be noted that both ecmd and ecme processes are referred to as electrochemical mechanical processing ( ecmpr ) since both involve electrochemical processes and mechanical action . in one aspect of an ecmpr process , a workpiece - surface - influencing - device ( wsid ) such as a mask , pad or a sweeper is used during at least a portion of the process when there is physical contact or close proximity and relative motion between the workpiece surface and the wsid . descriptions of various planar deposition and planar etching methods and apparatus can be found in the following patents and pending applications , all commonly owned by the assignee of the present invention . u . s . pat . no . 6 , 176 , 992 , entitled “ method and apparatus for electrochemical mechanical deposition ”. u . s . application ser . no . 09 / 740 , 701 entitled “ plating method and apparatus that creates a differential between additive disposed on a top surface and a cavity surface of a workpiece using an external influence ,” filed on dec . 18 , 2001 , and u . s . application ser . no . 09 / 961 , 193 , filed on sep . 20 , 2001 , entitled “ plating method and apparatus for controlling deposition on predetermined portions of a workpiece ”. these methods can deposit metals in and over cavity or feature sections on a workpiece or substrate in a planar manner . they also have the capability of yielding novel structures with excess amount of metals over the features irrespective of their size , if desired . in ecmd methods , the surface of the workpiece is wetted by the electrolyte and is rendered cathodic with respect to an electrode , which is also wetted by the electrolyte . this typically results in conductive material deposition within the features of the workpiece , and a thin layer on the top surface of the workpiece . during ecmd , the wafer surface is pushed against or in close proximity to the surface of the wsid or vice versa when relative motion between the surface of the workpiece and the wsid results in sweeping of the workpiece surface . planar deposition is achieved due to this sweeping action as described in the above - cited patent applications . in ecme methods , the surface of the workpiece is wetted by the electrolyte or etching solution , but the polarity of the applied voltage is reversed , thus rendering the workpiece surface more anodic compared to the electrode . very thin planar deposits can be obtained by first depositing a planar layer using an ecmd technique and then using an ecme technique on the planar film in the same electrolyte by reversing the applied voltage . alternately the ecme step can be carried out in a separate machine and a different etching or polishing electrolyte . the thickness of the deposit may be reduced in a planar manner . in fact , an ecme technique may be continued until all the metal on the field regions is removed . it should be noted that a wsid may or may not be used during the electroetching or polishing process since substantially planar etching can be achieved either way . [ 0037 ] fig8 a illustrates a substrate 200 having a planar copper layer ( first conductive layer ) which is electroplated using an ecmpr technique . the substrate 200 comprises a patterned insulating layer 202 which is comprised of an insulation material such as silicon oxide and is formed using well - known patterning and etching techniques pursuant to metal interconnect design rules . in this embodiment , the insulating layer 202 may be comprised of features such as vias 204 and trenches 206 separated from one another by field regions 210 . one or more thin layers of barrier or glue layer 217 coats the features 204 , 206 as well as top surfaces 211 of the field regions 210 . a thin film 218 of copper is coated as the seed layer on top of the barrier layer for the subsequent electroplated copper layer . a planar copper layer 220 can be formed into the cavities 204 , 206 and on the field region 210 using an ecmpr process . in this example the copper layer may for example have a 300 nm thickness and deposited using an ecmd process . after the deposition , using ecme by reversing the polarities , the wafer 200 is rendered anodic . as shown in fig8 b , under this anodic condition , the 300 nm overburden or copper layer 220 , may be thinned down to the seed layer 218 and also the seed layer 218 on the field regions 210 is partially etched . the wafer may be rendered anodic with a current density that may for example range between 1 to 60 ma / sq . cm , but preferably between 5 and 30 ma / sq . cm for sufficient times not only to remove all the plated film ( 200 nm cu ) but also reduce the seed layer thickness for example from 100 nm to about 20 nm . as shown in fig8 c , after that , by reversing the plating polarity and rendering the wafer cathodic , a planar layer 220 a or overburden ( second conductive layer ) is plated on the thinned seed layer 218 . the planar layer 220 a is for example approximately 280 nm thick . with the planar layer 220 a , total copper thickness on the field region is still about 300 nm . in this series of processes , the ratio of ( p / s ) have been increased from a value 2 ( 200 nm plated metal to 100 nm seed layer ) described earlier to 14 ( 280 nm plated metal to 20 nm seed layer ). as a result , the seed layer content of the field may be reduced from 33 % or ( ⅓ ) to about only 7 % ( see also fig7 ). thus for equivalent metal thickness , the role of the seed layer on film texture have been reduced . in addition , the texture of the plated film have been modified using other ways , for example , a ) by reversing the polarity of plating potential for metal removal , b ) by touching the surface of the seed layer by a second material during the removal step , c ) by touching the surface of the seed layer during the deposition by another material , and d ) by various combinations of the above steps . the above process produces metal deposits with a more random film texture , as compared to the seed layer . after the deposition of a planar and thinner film with modified texture , the substrates is annealed prior to metal planarization steps , either by cmp or by electropolishing method . for copper and its alloys , it is preferable that a phosphoric acid base electrolyte be used even though other suitable electrolytes may also be used . the barrier layer may also be removed either by cmp methods , or rie methods where there are concerns about the fragility of the insulators , as in some low - k material , the planar copper and barrier layer may be removed by selective electrochemical methods or by employing chlorine plasma assisted with infra red radiation at temperatures between 100 and 200 ° c . with a suitable end point on the dielectric layer . it should be noted that the present invention uses conductor layers , such as copper layers , with small overburden , which allows use of high temperature / short annealing time processes without causing defects due to excessive stress built - up . short anneal times , on the other hand allow use of single wafer processing using rta approaches which are high - throughput methods that can easily be integrated with rest of the interconnect processes such as electrodeposition , cmp systems etc . although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the disclosed embodiments thereof , those skilled in the art will appreciate that various substitutions and modifications can be made to the examples described herein while remaining within the spirit and scope of the invention . accordingly , those skilled in the arts may make changes and modifications and employ equivalents without departing from the spirit of the inventions .	7
the complete description of the invention will be more readily understood by the following examples which purpose is to illustrate rather than to limit the scope of the invention . a human pituitary cdna library established in the λgtlo vector in ecor1 ( kindly provided by dr . o . civelli , vollum institute , portland , oregon ) was screened with the full length ( 2 . 5 kb ) mpc1 cdna ( seidah et al ., 1991a ) radiolabeled with α - 32 p ! dctp by the multiple priming method . the plaques were transfered on duplicate filters which were hybridized overnight in a hybridization solution containing about 2 × 10 6 cpm / ml of the radiolabeled mpc1 cdna ( specific activity = 114 ci / mmole ) and 4 × set ( 1 × set = 150 mm nacl , 1 mm na 2 edta , 30 mm tris . hcl ph 8 . 0 ) at 62 ° c . thirteen positive clones were obtained out of a total of 1 . 5 × 10 6 phage plaques screened . these clones were then repurified by two more screening rounds and phage dna was isolated from three selected clones which spanned the entire length of the coding region of hpc1 . partial and total ecor1 digests were subcloned in pbluescript ™ ii ( ks +) ( stratagene ) and sequencing was performed on double stranded dna by the dideoxy chain - termination method , using either the sequenase ™ kit ( us biochem . corp . ), or the automatic dna sequencer alf ( pharmacia ), using fluorescent primers and following directives of the manufacturer . a first sequence using the t7 and t3 primers ( which sequences are included in pbluescript ii ( ks +)) allowed the sequencing of the 5 &# 39 ;- and 3 &# 39 ;- ends of the inserts . this permitted , in a walking fashion , to synthesize other sense and antisense primers which sequences are determined upon the sequence read in a previous sequencing reaction , allowing the obtention of the complete sequence in both directions . composite sequence analysis of these overlapping cdnas allowed the characterization of the sequence of hpc1starting at the initiator methionine codon and ending at the polyadenylation site . in order to obtain the 5 &# 39 ;- end of the hpc1 cdna sequence , we performed a polymerase chain reaction amplification on the whole cdna obtained from the λgt10 bank using a λgt10 sense primer ending at the ecor1 site ( of sequence ( 5 &# 39 ; cagcctggttaagtccaagctgaattc 3 &# 39 ; ( seq id no : 10 )) and an hpc1 antisense specific primer i ( 5 &# 39 ; ccttcgagaccttctggggtgg 3 &# 39 ;, hpc1 nts . 449 - 428 ( seq id no : 11 )). the amplified cdna mixture ( 2 %) was then reamplified with the same λgt10 sense primer and a nested hpc1 antisense specific primer ii ( 5 &# 39 ; ctgttcagtgcacaccaagcgc 3 &# 39 ;, hpc1 nts . 278 - 257 ( seq id no : 12 )). the 300 bp fragment obtained was subcloned in the ecor1 / ecorv sites of pbluescript ii ( ks +). the sequence of 5 subclones confirmed that this fragment contained the 5 &# 39 ;- end of hpc1 ( hpc1 nts . 1 - 278 ( seq id no : 10 )). the pcr reactions were performed in a dna thermal cycler ( perkin - elmer , cetus ) genamp # pcr system 9600 in a volume of 100 μl containing 1 μg cdna obtained from the human λgt10 pituitary library and , 100 pmol of each primer , 2 . 5 units of taq dna polymerase ( cetus ) in 10 mm tris ( ph 8 . 3 ), 50 mm kcl , 1 . 5 mm mgcl 2 , and 200 μm dntps . the denaturation , annealing and elongation times were for 10 , 30 and 40 sec . at temperatures of 94 ° c ., 54 ° c ., and 72 ° c ., respectively . in fig1 we present the deduced composite cdna sequence of human pc1 , consisting of 3284 nucleotides ( seq id no : 1 ), with a 2259 bp open - reading frame . a consensus polyadenylation signal aataaa is present as well as the poly a tail appearing 31 nts later . in a similar fashion to mpc1 ( seidah et al ., 1991a ), we predict , from the structure of hpc1 , a 753 amino acid protein ( seq id no : 2 ) with a 27 amino acid signal peptide resulting in a mature 726 amino acid protein . the sequence around the initiator methionine gtgtgagctatgg exhibits a 7 / 13 nt . identity to the consensus sequence gccgcc ( a / g ) ccatgg for translation initiation in higher eukaryotes ( kozak , 1989 ), with the purine ( g in hpc1 ) in position - 3 being the most highly conserved nucleotide in all eukatyotic mrnas . different from the mpc1 structure which predicts three n - glycosylation sites , the amino acid sequence of hpc1 contains only two potential n - glycosylation sites . assuming a molecular weight contribution of about 2000 daltons for each glycosylation site , we estimate a molecular weight of about 85 , 000 daltons for the mature hpc1 protein . fig1 also shows that hpc1 contains the three active site amino acids asp 140 , his 181 and ser 355 . these are found at identical positions as in mpc1 and at positions similar to the equivalent residues found in subtilisins , kex2 , furin , and pc2 ( seidah et al ., 1990 ). the asn 282 residue important for the stabilization of the oxyanion hole in subtilisins ( bryan et al ., 1986 ) is also present . the alignment of the predicted protein sequences of human and mouse pc1 is depicted in fig2 from which we calculate a 92 . 6 % overall protein sequence identity of hpc1 and mpc1 , with the highest homology ( 98 %) found in the catalytic segment of the molecule comprising residues 84 to 399 . the alignment shown in fig2 also emphasizes the conservation of certain motifs between the human and mouse pc1 sequences , which include : ( 1 ) the presence of 11 pairs of basic residues within the primary sequence of hpc1 , as compared to 12 expected from the mpc1 sequence ( seidah et al ., 1991a ). notice that no pairs of basic residues are found within the catalytic domain of either hpc1 or mpc1 , i . e ., from residues 84 - 399 . ( 2 ) in endocrine cells , the potential cleavage of the basic pairs argarg - within the sequence ( gly / glu ) 625 glyargarg 628 1 ↓ is expected to generate a c - terminal amidated product at gly 625 or glu 625 for hpc1 and mpc1 respectively , be the action of the α - amidation enzyme ( bradbury et al ., 1982 ). ( 3 ) an &# 34 ; rgd &# 34 ; structure is found in the sequence argarg 491 glyasp 493 . this tripeptide sequence which is also found in pc2 ( seidah et al ., 1990a ; smeekens and steiner , 1990 ) and furin ( roebroek et al ., 1986 ) has been implicated in the adhesion of certain extracellular matrix proteins to cell surface receptors , known as integrins ( ruoslahti , 1988 ). the function of this surface exposed sequence ( seidah et al ., 1991a ) in pc1 , pc2 and furin is not yet known . ( 4 ) a conserved amphipatic c - terminal structure is found in residues 713 - 726 , possibly implicating a ph - dependent association of pc1 with membranes , in a similar fashion to carboxypeptidase e ( fricker et al ., 1990 ). ( 5 ) at the n - terminus , we find a pro - segment including residues 1 - 83 , which in mammalian cells is excised ( by cleavage at the lysarg 83 pair ) in the secreted form of mpc1 and mpc2 ( benjannet et al ., in preparation ). a similar pro - segment has also been shown to be removed in the granule associated form of bovine pc1 and pc2 ( christie et al ., 1991 ) and in pc2 isolated from anglerfish pancreatic islets ( mackin et al ., 1991 ). whether such a zymogen activation is performed autocatalytically or by an as yet unidentified proteinase is not yet established . ( 6 ) a putative camp / cgmp - dependent protein kinase phosphorylation site ( glass et al ., 1986 ) is seen at ser 64 within the pro - segment in both hpc1and mpc1 , and at thr 605 only in mpc1 . ( 7 ) different from mpc1 , hpc1 shows a potential tyrosine protein kinase phosphorylation site ( cooper et al ., 1984 ) at tyr 694 . ( 8 ) both hpc1and mpc1 exhibit an atp / gtp - binding site motif &# 34 ; aa &# 34 ; ( also known as the &# 34 ; p - loop &# 34 ;) ( saraste et al ., 1990 ), found at residues gly 242 proasnaspaspglylysthr 249 . the significance of this motif which is also found at equivalent positions in pc2 and furin is not yet understood . an other research group has also published the nucleic acid and the amino acid sequences of hpc1 ( creemers et al ., 1992 ). in their case , the coding sequence of the hpc1 cdna is the same except for one nucleotide ; the adenine at position 1276 of the present sequence is replaced by a guanine which results in a change in the amino acid sequence causing the replacement of ser 330 by a glycine . for northern analysis , we used a human pituitary total rna blot and a human multiple tissue northern blot ( clonetech ) of 2 μg of poly a + rna from 8 different human tissues ( heart , brain , placenta , lung , liver , skeletal muscle , kidney and pancreas ). human pituitary total rna was extracted from isolated pituitaries by a guanidine isothiocyanate extraction immediately followed by lithium chloride precipitation ( cathala et al ., 1983 ). the pellets were incubated at 42 ° c . for 3 hr with proteinase k ( 100 μg / ml ) in 0 . 5 % sds , 50 mm tris , ph 7 . 5 and 5 mm edta ), followed by two phenol chloroform extractions and ethanol precipitation . the samples were run on a horizontal gel apparatus , on a 1 . 2 % agarose gel containing 20 mm hepes ( hp 7 . 8 ), 1 mm edta and 6 % formaldehyde . 10 μg of total rna was loaded per lane and 2 μg of rna ladder ( 9 . 5 , 7 . 5 , 4 . 4 , 2 . 4 , 1 . 4 , 0 . 24 kilobases ) was included in an adjacent lane . the samples were transferred from the gel to a nylon filter ( nytran #) by capillary action , and then uv - fixed to the filters . the three crna probes used for northern analysis were obtained from the segments of hpc1 1 - 278 , 1938 - 2558 , and 2558 - 3284 inserted in the ecor1 site of bluescript # ii ( ks +) in an antisense fashion to either the t7 or t3 promoters and linearized with sali , xbai and bglii , respectively , before reaction with a t7 or t3 rna polymerase . the filters obtained supra were prehybridized at 62 ° c . for 2 hr in 400 mm sodium phosphate buffer ( ph 7 . 2 ) containing 5 % sds , 1 mm edta , 1 mg / ml bsa and 50 % formamide . hybridization began with addition of the 32 p - utp labelled crna probe , which was carried out for 16 hr at 62 ° c . the filters were washed in 0 . 1 × ssc 1 × ssc = 0 . 15m nacl , 0 . 015m na 3 citrate , ph 7 . 0 !, 0 . 1 % sds , 1 mm edta at 75 ° c . for 2 - 3 hr , and then exposed to x - ray film with intensifying screens at - 70 ° c . for various times . the northern blot analysis of the expression of hpc1 mrna is depicted in fig5 and 6 , using different crna probes . as shown in fig5 using the hpc1 1938 - 2558 probe ( seq id no : 7 ), one can see that the human brain and pituitary are the major sources of hpc1transcripts and that the size of the major mrna is estimated to be about 6 . 2 kb ( fig4 a and 4c ). upon over exposure of the blot shown in fig5 a , one notice that other tissues also contain some hpc1 transcripts . notably , as shown in fig5 b , on this poly - a (+) rna blot , the presence of appreciable hpc1mrna in pancreas is noticeable . other tissues such as lung , skeletal muscle and heart show the presence of hybridizing bands of which mrna migrates with apparent sizes either higher ( 8 kb such as in lung and muscle ) or lower 4 . 8 kb in heart and 1 . 3 kb in muscle ) than the 6 . 2 kb transcript . the significance of these bands and whether they are related to hpc1or not is not yet known . in an attempt to answer such a question , the poly - a (+) rna blot was hybridized with two other crna probes derived from the hpc1 sequence , namely hpc1 1 - 278 ( seq id no : 8 ) ( fig5 a ) and hpc1 2558 - 3284 ( seq id no : 9 ) ( fig6 b ). it can be seen that these probes which represent respectively the 5 &# 39 ;- and 3 &# 39 ;- ends of the cdna sequence detect essentially the same 6 . 2 kb in the brain ( fig6 a and 6b ), and in the pancreas ( fig5 b ), but do not seem to detect the other bands in muscle and lung . interestingly , the hpc1 1 - 278 probe ( seq id no : 8 ) ( fig6 a ) detects more clearly the 4 . 8 kb band in the heart than either the hpc1 2558 - 3284 ( seq id no : 9 ) or the hpc1 1938 - 2558 probes ( seq id no : 7 ) ( fig6 a ). since the presented 3 . 3 kb cdna ( estimated molecular weight ) does not account for the major 6 . 2 kb mrna of human pc1 , one was concerned as to the missing sequence which would clarify the 2 . 9 kb difference . also , the size of the 2 . 8 kb smaller band observed for hpc1in brain ( fig6 a ) is too small to account for the sequenced 3 . 3 kb . one possibility would be that a cdna originating from a relatively minor mrna form found in the pituitary cdna bank has been isolated . accordingly , even though the isolated clones all terminated at the same polyadenylation site , alternative polyadenylation sites could be present in hpc1 , as was recently reported to be the case for the large mrna transcripts of rat pc1 and pc2 ( hakes et al ., 1991 ). in agreement , when 5 &# 39 ;- extended forms of hpc1 within the cdna bank by pcr analysis are searched , evidence for the presence of a non - coding 5 &# 39 ;- end much longer than the one we presented in fig1 ( not shown ) was not found . nevertheless , it is interesting to note that , as compared to mpc1 , a crna probe prepared from the extended 3 &# 39 ;- end sequence found in hpc1 ( nts . 2558 - 3284 ( seq id no : 9 )), which hybridized with human pc1 mrnas ( fig5 b ) failed to detect any mpc1 transcript on northern blots of mouse neuroendocrine tissues ( not shown ) known to synthesize large amounts of this enzyme ( seidah et al ., 1990 ; 1991a ). this suggests that in hpc1the extended 3 &# 39 ;- end sequence is species specific . creemers et al . ( 1992 ) have also found a transcript of 5 kb which is 2 . 4 kb longer than the cloned and sequenced hpc1cdna . they concluded that a longer 3 &# 39 ; stretch could increase the stability of the mrna . alignment of the mouse ( seq id no : 5 ) and human ( seq id no : 6 ) pc2 sequences , as shown in fig3 and 4 , revealed a homology of 88 % and 95 . 9 % at the nucleotide and amino acid levels , respectively , with only one gap introduced within the signal peptide sequence of mpc2 . this extraordinary conservation of sequence between mouse and human pc2 allow the use of the antibodies made against the enzyme of one species for the detection of the same enzyme in an other species . the cdnas of human pc1 ( hpc1 ) and mouse pc2 ( mpc2 ) were inserted in the sense orientation in expression vectors which produce large amounts of the enzymes when introduced in mammalian cells . these vectors include pvv ( hruby et al ., 1986 ), pmj - 601 , 602 ( davison and moss , 1990 ) and ptm1 ( moss et al ., 1990 ). the full length hpc1cdna ( of 3284 base pairs bp !) was digested from the recombinant plasmid vector bluescript (+) with the restriction enzymes psti and xho1 . this cleavage produced the fragments 5 &# 39 ; psti . . . xho1 3 &# 39 ; ( length = 3044 bp ). this isolated fragment was then ligated ( using t4 dna ligase ) to the vector ptm1 previously digested with the restriction enzymes ncoi and xhoi with the help of synthetic adaptor consisting of two annealed oligonucleotides , a 27mer ( seq id no : 13 ) and a 19mer ( seq id no : 14 ), the latter having been phosphorylated by t4 polynucleotide kinase . these oligonucleotides have the following sequence : ( ncoi ) 5 &# 39 ; cat gga gcg aag agc ctg gag tct gca 3 &# 39 ; ( psti ) ( seq id no : 13 ) 3 &# 39 ; ct cgc ttc tcg gac ctc agp 5 &# 39 ; ( seq id no : 14 ) recombinant hpc1 vaccinia viruses can be further obtained with the vectors pmj601 , 602 and pvv 3 starting with the plasmid hpc1 : tm1 . for cloning in pmj602 , the latter was digested with nhei , blunted and digested with sali while the plasmid hpc1 : tm1 was digested with the restriction enzyme ncoi , blunted and then digested with xhoi . fragments of pmj602 ( 7 . 1 kb ) and of hpc1 : tm1 ( 2 . 6 kb ) were isolated on 0 . 5 % agarose gel and ligated together . for cloning in pvv , the plasmid hpc1 : tm1 was digested with the restriction enzymes ncoi and ssti . in order to receive hpc1 insert , vector pvv 3 was previously modified by introducing two annealed oligonucleotides between its restriction sites bamhi and clai , these oligonucleotides having the following sequence : 29 mer 5 &# 39 ; pgat cca cgc gtc ccg ggg gta cca tgg at 3 &# 39 ; ( seq id no : 15 ) 27 mer 3 &# 39 ; gt gcg cag ggc ccc cat ggt acc tag c 5 &# 39 ; ( seq id no : 16 ) the resulting plasmid called pvv 4 was digested with the enzymes ncoi and ssti . fragments of 4 . 1 kb from pvv 4 and 2 . 4 kb from hpc1 : tm1 were isolated on 0 . 5 % low melting agarose gel and ligated together . even if the recombinant plasmid hpc1 : mj601 is not described herein , it is under the scope of the present invention because that would be obvious to any person skilled in the art to obtain such a recombinant plasmid by cleaving pmj601 and plasmid hpc1 : tm1 by appropriate enzymes in such a way that these enzymes produce compatible ends for ligation or rendered compatible by using synthetic linkers . the above ligated inserts were then propagated in competent e . coli bacteria , prepared and purified from so transformed bacteria by standard techniques ( sambrook et al ., 1989 ). the full length mpc2 cdna ( of 2212 base pairs bp !) was digested from the recombinant plasmid vector bluescript (+) with the restriction enzyme bsshii , blunted and digested again with the restriction enzyme hindiii . the fragment of interest was ligated to the plasmid pmj601 digested with the restriction enzymes smai and hindiii . the ligation product was used to transform host bacteria and the propagated plasmid was prepared according to standard techniques ( supra ). other recombinant vaccinia viruses ( using vaccinia viruses pvv , pmj602 and ptm1 ) can be obtained by digesting these plasmids and the starting recombinant material ( mpc2 : bluescript ) with suitable and compatible restriction enzymes . c ) transfection of ltk - cells with ptm1 and pmj601 , 602 recombinant plasmids : after their production and isolation from the bacteria , the recombinant vectors were used for transfection of the fibroblasts ltk - cells in order to obtain recombinant vaccinia viruses expressing hpc1or mpc2 . before transfection , 6 cm dishes of ltk - cells grown in 5 ml mem ( minimal essential medium ) containing 10 % fbs ( fetal bovine serum ) and 28 μg / ml gentamycin in 5 % co 2 atmosphere , were infected with 0 . 2 pfu ( plaque forming unit ) per cell of vv : wt ( wild - type vaccinia virus , strain wr ) for pmj601 or 602 recombinants . for ptm1 recombinants , vvmj : β - gal , a vaccinia virus expressing β - galactosidase was used . this virus was obtained upon transfection of the original plasmid pmj601 in vv : wt infected ltk - cells and isolation of a virus producing blue plaques in presence of bluogal ™. for the infection , ltk - cells were washed with pbs - m ( 2 . 8 mm kcl , 1 . 5 mm kh 2 po 4 , 137 mm nacl , 8 mm nahpo 4 and 1 mm mgcl 2 ) before the addition of the virus diluted in 1 ml pbs - mb ( pbs - m + 0 . 01 % bsa ( bovine serum albumin )). after 30 minutes of incubation at room temperature , the virus inoculum was removed and 3 ml of mem was added . for transfection , 50 μl of a dna composition containing 5 μg of recombinant plasmid , 1 μg vaccinia virus dna ( wt or β - gal , depending of which recombinant is used ) and 14 μg salmon sperm dna in water was mixed with 50 μl lipofectin ™. this composition was allowed to stand at room temperature for 15 minutes after what , it was transfered into the culture medium . the so transfected cells were incubated at 37 ° c . overnight after what , 3 ml of mem supplemented with 20 % fbs was added . the cells were incubated again at 37 ° c . for two more days till crude stocks of recombinant virus were obtained . the cells were scraped in the medium , centrifuged at 100 × g for 5 minutes . the pellet was washed in 5 ml pbs - m , centrifuged at 1000 rpm for 5 minutes and resuspended in 1 ml pbs - m . the cells were frozen and thawed three times , vortexed and sonicated six times ten seconds and kept at - 80 ° c . till use . in order to purify the recombinant viruses , 10 cm 2 wells of african green monkey kidney cells ( bsc - 40 ) were infected with crude stocks of viruses at different dilutions made in pbs - mb . after 30 minutes at room temperature , the non - adsorbed viruses were aspirated and 2 ml mem supplemented with 10 % fbs and 28 μg / ml gentamycin were added . after 2 days of incubation at 37 ° c ., the medium was removed , the cells were washed with 1 ml pbs - m and overlaid with 1 . 5 ml mem containing 0 . 1 % triton x - 100 ™, 450 μg bluogal ™ in 150 μl dmso ( dimethyl sulfoxide ) and 1 . 5 % low melting agarose . the cells were incubated at 37 ° c . till blue plaques appeared showing which cells express β - galactosidase gene . the addition of triton x - 100 dramatically accelerated the apparition of blue plaques . when no triton was added , no blue plaques appeared before 24 hours , while the addition of triton expedite the vizualization of positive clones shown by the apparition of blue plaques after 15 minutes of reaction . when blue plaques appeared , plaques of interest were aspirated into the tip of a pipet . in the case of pvv 4 , pmj601 or 602 recombinant viruses , blue plaques were picked up while in the case of ptm1 recombinants , white plaques were chosen among blue plaques ( chakrabarti et al ., 1985 ). those plaques were mixed with pbs - mb ( final volume 0 . 4 ml ), frozen and thawed three times , vortexed and sonicated six times ten seconds and used again to infect bsc - 40 cells using the same protocol as exemplified in section e ). cycles of infection were repeated till all plaques in a well of infected cells were blue or white , meaning that the stocks of virus were pure . large preparations of viruses were obtained by infection of fove 15 cm dishes of bsc - 40 cells at a multiplicity of infection of 0 . 01 pfu per cell . three days post - infection , the cells were scraped , centrifuged at 100 × g for 5 minutes , washed with 10 ml pbs - m , and centrifuged again . the resulting pellet was resuspended in 10 ml of cold tris - hcl ph 9 ( tris ) and homogenized with 25 strokes of a dounce glass homogenizer . the homogenate was then centrifuged 5 minutes at 200 × g . after re - homogenization of the pellet in 10 ml tris and centrigugation , both supernatants were combined and underlaid with 16 ml of a sucrose pad ( 36 % sucrose in tris ), and spinned at 18 , 000 rpm for 80 minutes at 4 ° c . in a sw 27 rotor ( beckman ). supernatant was discarded and the pellet resuspended in 1 . 5 ml tris with the help of seven strokes of a duall teflon homogenizer . the virus preparation was then aliquoted and kept frozen at - 70 ° c . till used . viral dna was prepared from large preparation of viruses according to the method of hruby et al . ( 1986 ). after verifying that recombinant viruses contained hpc1 or mpc2 by restriction mapping of the viral dna and by specific raioimmunoassays , the infected cells were used for their massive production . these viruses were also used to infect other cell types than ltk - and bsc - 40 . in order to obtain the native active convertases , cell lines transfectable by these expression vectors must be able to process the convertases because if they are not , the convertases will be produced in an unprocessed form and inactive state . these cell lines might be chosen , for example , between members of the following group of mammalian cell lines : sommatotroph gh 3 , gh 4 c1 , corticotroph att - 20 , insulinoma βtc3 and pheochromocytoma pc12 . the recombinant vaccinia virus vvtm1 : hpc1 consisting of hpc1 inserted in ptm1 recombined with a vaccinia virus containing a β - galactosidase gene in such a way that the β - galactosidase gene is removed has been deposited at the american type culture collection under number vr - 2589 . the recombinant vaccinia virus vvmj : mpc2 consisting of mpc2 inserted in pmj601 recombined with a wild - type vaccinia virus has been deposited at the american type culture collection under number vr - 2589 . the bsc - 40 , the ltk - or the suitable mammalian cell lines listed supra ( 100 ml to 1 liter cultures ) were infected with the vaccinia virus recombinants for about 0 . 5 - 4 hours and then , the cells were washed and left to incubate overnight according to the protocols detailed in section d ). in the case of ptm1 recombinants , a double infection protocol was used . as the gene coding for the convertases is under the control of the t7 rna polymerase promotor , a second vector encoding the t7 rna polymerase ( vtf7 - 3 ; fuerst et al . ( 1987 )) was used as co - infectant . the secreted material from either the overnight incubation or for a further 1 - 24 hours in incubation medium with gentamycin and bsa and without serum were collected and provided the starting material to purify the enzymes . alternatively , the cells were lysed and hpc1or mpc2 extracted from them . the purification of these convertases was achieved according to a procedure developped by the present inventors ( as described below ). the extracted or secreted products were purified by anion exchange column followed by special affinity columns which were developed using synthetic peptides ending with a reactive group according to the method of basak et al . ( 1990 ). the length and the nature of each immobilized peptide depend upon the specificity of each enzyme , which was determined experimentally using various peptidyl substrates and inhibitors . these substrates and inhibitors were designed on the basis of the sequence of pro - segment of each enzyme . the following sequence was found to be the most potent : i ) x represents a basic amino acid residue , preferably one arg , ii ) y may be lys , arg , ser , val or thr , depending of the nature of the enzyme , iii ) r and k are the one letter code for arginine and lysine , respectively , and the reactive group r a is a c - terminal modified function which is known to bind to serine proteinases either by non - covalent ( reversible ) or covalent binding ( reversible or non - reversible ). the function which has been selected by the present inventors is semicarbazone ( sc : -- ch ═ n -- nh -- conh 2 ). based on earlier work on plasma kallikrein and trypsin ( basak et al ., 1990 and 1992 ), the present inventors have demonstrated that such a function could be adopted to develop affinity ligands , mainly because this function leads to reversible binding , withstands many drastic conditions of ph , ionic strenght , etc . which are sometimes necessary for elution of the bound enzymes , and because columns made of such ligands can be stored for a long period of time at 0 ° c . in appropriate buffer and ph . first , a fully protected tetrapeptide , cbz - arg ( no 2 )- ser ( t - but )- lys ( boc )- argininal - sc wherein : t - but = ter - butyl , was prepared in solution phase following the scheme 1 . it was then hydrogenolysed with h 2 / pd black to furnish h - arg - ser - lys ( boc )- argininal - sc . ## str1 ## wherein : obz : o - benzyl the exemplified peptide argserlysargininal - sc is the prefered substrate for the purification of the convertase hpc1especially . these affinity peptides were immobilized via their n - terminal end on a suitable solid matrix , including affigel - 10 , - 15 , sepharose or other matrices according to a procedure already described by the present inventors ( basak et al ., 1990 ). h - arg - ser - lys ( boc )- argininal sc . 2hoac ( 4 . 5 mg , 5 . 5 μm ) was immobilized to affigel - 15 resin ( 10 ml , packed gel ) by shaking at 4 ° c . in 6 ml of 0 . 1m khco 3 , ph 8 . 2 . the coupling which was monitored by hplc , was found to be about 90 % after about 18 hours . the resin thus obtained was washed with distilled water ( 4 × 10 ml ) and again shaken overnight at 4 ° c . with 15 ml of 1m ethanolamine , ph 9 . 0 used as a capping reagent in order to destroy the excess of active sites of the resin . the resin was again washed repeatedly with distilled water ( about 200 ml ) to free from trace amount of ethanolamine . it was then treated with 10 ml of a mixture of methanol / tfa ( 1 : 1 , v : v ), shaken for 15 minutes at 4 ° c ., filtered , washed with water ( 4 × 10 ml ), and finally equilibrated with 50 mm naoac ph 5 . 5 , before ready to be used . the affinity columns thus prepared consist of the matrix containing the suitable immobilized peptide derivatives . the purified active enzymes are expected to represent the amino acid residues 84 - 726 of human pc1 and 85 - 637 of mpc2 , since both pc1 and pc2 loose their pro - domains ( 1 - 83 and 1 - 84 for pc1 and pc2 , respectively ) before they are secreted from the cells . after obtaining the convertases produced by cells transfected with recombinant vaccinia viruses , these proteins were purified through a serial combination of an ion exchange and affinity columns , using the following protocol : 100 ml of culture medium containing convertases were concentrated and dialyzed against sodium acetate buffer ( naoac ), ph 5 . 5 henceforth called acetate buffer using 30 k centriprep filters . the concentrated material ( about 10 ml ) was passed through an anion exchange column deae sephadex a 50 ™ ( 13 × 1 . 5 cm ). the column was washed with 30 × 3 ml of acetate buffer to remove most of the unwanted activity and protein . the enzymes were eluted in 0 . 6m nacl / acetate buffer together with some amount of bsa ( contained in the medium ). in fact , a ratio of about 20 : 1 ( bsa : convertase ; w : w ) was obtained in the effluent of this first purification column . as bsa probably helps to stabilize the enzymes , separation of the two proteins at this step was not ameliorated . this combined salt effluent was then dialyzed against acetate buffer and passed through the affinity column affigel - 15 - r - s - k - r - sc ( supra ) ( 10 ml , 4 . 5 μm / ml gel ). this affinity column allowed up to 99 % binding of the convertases . the column was then submitted to consecutive steps of washing with the following buffers : a ) acetate buffer , b ) 1m nacl / acetate buffer , c ) 10 mm edta and 1m nacl / acetate buffer , d ) 100 mm sc . hcl , 1m guanidine . hcl and 1m nacl / acetate buffer and e ) 20 % isopropanol / acetate buffer . bsa and other protein impurities were removed in the first three steps while pure convertases were recovered in the last two steps . the percentage of recovery was 50 - 70 %, the loss being mainly caused by degradation . the pure fractions were kept frozen at - 20 ° c . in at least 20 % glycerol . at each purification step , the binding and the elution were determined by different methods : a ) using the fluorogenic peptide substrate acetyl - arg - ser - lys - arg - amc ( amc : 7 - amino 4 - methyl coumarin ) synthesized by the present inventors , for testing the presence of convertase activity , b ) in sds - acrylamide gel electrophoresis and c ) by radioimmunoassay as well as protein assay on each fraction . the fluorogenic substrate recited in a ) was used for testing the enzymatic activity recovered , such test being achieved by the following procedure : 20 μl of sample was mixed to 25 μl of 50 mm cacl 2 , 25 μl of the fluorogenic substrate dissolved in dmso and 230 μl of 50 mm naoac ph 5 . 5 , and incubated at 37 ° c . for 6 - 10 hours . on acrylamide gels , 3 forms of hpc1 were visualized : the major form was the native active form ( 80 - 85 kda ) and the two minor forms apparently coming from degradation , had a molecular weight of 66 and 75 kda , the latter being less abundant . these purified hpc1and mpc2 enzymes were then used as antigens to inject rabbits and hence generate antibodies against the complete native active convertases . antigens generation consisting of fragments of hpc1and mpc2 fused to the c - terminus of glutathione s - transferase ( gst ): for the production of antibodies against specific domains in hpc1 and mpc2 , one method involves the use of synthetic peptide antigens representing sequences at the c - terminus , n - terminus and pro - segment of each proteinase . alternatively , a second approach was used . it involves the production of antibodies against fusion proteins to the glutathione - s - transferase ( gst -) system . this gst is a gene fusion system designed to express a gene or gene fragment as a fusion protein . the protein of interest is fused to the carboxyl terminus of glutathione s - transferase from schistosoma iaponicum ( smith et al ., 1986 ). the fusion protein is then easily purified from bacterial lysates by affinity chromatography using glutathione sepharose 4b ( bought from pharmacia lkb ). cleavage of the glutathione s - transferase domain from the fusion protein is facilitated by the presence of a thrombin recognition site . fusion proteins expressed in the expression vector pgex - 2t ( obtained from pharmacia lkb ) may thus be cleaved by thrombin . the insertion site is as follows : ## str2 ## therefore , the inserted fusion cdna segment must have at its 5 &# 39 ; end a bamh1 site and at its 3 &# 39 ; end an ecor1 site with or without a stop translation codon . if it does not contain a stop codon , the fusion protein will have an extra 2 amino acids ( argasβ - cooh ) at its c - terminus ( see above illustration ). this approach was applied to generate antibodies against the pro - sequence , the catalytic and the c - terminal segments of each enzyme . synthetic oligonucleotides were prepared in order to amplify the specific desired segments of hpc1 and mpc2 by the pcr technique . ______________________________________1 . hpc1 / pro - segment / bamh1 ( sense primer ) nucleotides 288 - 312 ! 5 &# 39 ; caggatcc - aaa agg caa ttt gtc aat gaa tgg g 3 &# 39 ; ( seq id no : 17 ) 2 . hpc1 / junction pro - cat / ecor1 ( antisense primer ) nts . 561 - 541 ! 5 &# 39 ; ttgaattctta - tag tgc tga gtc cct tag agc 3 &# 39 ; ( seq id no : 18 ) 3 . hpc1 / n - term . catalytic / bamh1 ( sense primer ) nts . 538 - 558 ! 5 &# 39 ; gtggatcc - tca gct cta agg gac tca gca 3 &# 39 ; ( seq id no : 19 ) 4 . hpc1 / c - term . catalytic / ecor1 ( antisense primer ) nts . 1755 - 1735 ! 5 &# 39 ; tcgaattctta - gga ata ttc aat tgt tgc ttc 3 &# 39 ; ( seq id no : 20 ) 5 . hpc1 ( 2041 - 2061 )/ bamh1 ( sense primer ) nts . 2173 - 2193 ! 5 &# 39 ; gtggatcc - gat gag ttg gag gag gga gcc 3 &# 39 ; ( seq id no : 21 ) ( hpc1 aa629 - 635 ) 6 . hpc1 ( 2337 - 2317 )/ ecor1 ( antisense primer ) nts . 2469 - 2449 ! 5 &# 39 ; cagaattc - tta att ttc ctc att cag aat 3 &# 39 ; ( seq id no : 22 ) ( hpc1 aa726 - 720 ) ______________________________________ ______________________________________7 . mpc2 / pro - segment / bamh1 ( sense primer ) nts . 165 - 184 ! 5 &# 39 ; cgggatcc - gag aga ccc gtc ttc acg 3 &# 39 ; ( seq id no : 23 ) 8 . mpc2 / junction pro - cat / ecor1 ( antisense primer ) nts . 439 - 419 ! 5 &# 39 ; cagaattctta - ctc att gat gtc cct gta ccc 3 &# 39 ; ( seq id no : 24 ) 9 . mpc2 / n - term . catalytic / sma1 ( sense primer ) nts . 418 - 429 ! 5 &# 39 ; aacccggg - a ggg tac agg gac atc aat gag 3 &# 39 ; ( seq id no : 25 ) 10 . mpc2 / c - term . catalytic / ecor1 ( antisense primer ) nts . 1639 - 16129 ! 5 &# 39 ; cagaattctta - ctc att gat gtc cct gta ccc 3 &# 39 ; ( seq id no : 26 ) 11 . mpc2 ( 1998 - 1978 )/ ecor1 ( antisense primer ) nts . 2008 - 1988 ! 5 &# 39 ; cggaatt - cta gtt ctt tct cag gat act 3 &# 39 ; ( seq id no : 27 ) ( mpc2 aa637 - 631 ) 12 . mpc2 ( 1669 - 1689 )/ bamh1 ( sense primer ) nts . 1679 - 1699 ! 5 &# 39 ; ccggatcc - ggc acc aag tcc att ttg ctg 3 &# 39 ; ( seq id no : 28 ) ( mpc2 aa529 - 535 ) ______________________________________ therefore , in order to produce fusion proteins against various segments of hpc1 and mpc2 , we obtained the desired fragments by applying the technique of polymerase chain reaction ( pcr ) which allows the amplification of a desired sequence using a pair of oligonucleotides one in a sense and the other in an antisense orientation with respect to the sequence one want to amplify ( erlich , 1989 ). therefore , the following pairs of oligonucleotides were used in the pcr reaction : ______________________________________ pair of cdnaantibody oligonucleotides sequence ** amino acids * ______________________________________hpc1 / pro # 1 and # 2 hpc1 ( 288 - 561 ) hpc1 1 - 92 ! ( seq id no : 17 and 18 ) hpc1 / cat # 3 and # 4 hpc1 ( 538 - 1755 ) hpc1 84 - 489 ! ( seq id no : 19 and 20 ) hpc1 / c - term # 5 and # 6 hpc1 ( 2173 - hpc1 629 - 726 ! ( seq id no : 21 2469 ) and 22 ) mpc2 / pro # 7 and # 8 mpc2 ( 165 - 439 ) mpc2 1 - 91 ! ( seq id no : 23 and 24 ) mpc2 / cat # 9 and # 10 mpc2 ( 418 - mpc2 84 - 491 ! ( seq id no : 25 1639 ) and 26 ) mpc2 / c - # 11 and # 12 mpc2 ( 2008 - mpc2 529 - 637 ! term ( seq id no . 27 1679 ) and 28 ) ______________________________________ the numbers refer either to the amino acid * ( after the removal of the signal peptide ) or to the nucleotide sequence positions **, as reported from the cdna sequences of hpc1 and mpc2 . the pcr reaction was performed in a dna thermal cycle ( perkin - elmer / cetus ) genamp ™ pcr system 9600 in a volume of 100 μl containing 10 - 8 g cdna obtained from either the hpc1 or mpc2 in bluescript (+) vector and , 100 pmol of each primer , 2 . 5 units of taq dna polymerase ( cetus ) in 10 mm tris ( ph 8 . 3 ), 50 mm kcl , 1 . 5 mm mgcl 2 , and 200 μm dntps . for 30 repetitive cycles , the denaturation , annealing and elongation times were 10 , 30 and 40 sec ., at temperatures of 94 ° c ., 54 ° c ., and 72 ° c ., respectively . the pcr products were purified on a 2 % agarose gel , and the electroeluted products were doubly digested with the restriction enzymes bamh1 and ecor1 and the digestion products were ligated to the pgex - 2 ™ plasmid which was prior digested with the same restriction enzymes . transformation of e . coli , the isolation and the preparation of recombinant plasmids were done by standard techniques ( sambrook et al ., 1989 ). the orientation and authenticity of the recombinant plasmids were confirmed by dna sequencing at the gst - fusion protein junctions . the bacterial lysates were purified by affinity chromatography column of glutathione sepharose 4b ™ following the manufacturer &# 39 ; s directives ( pharmacia lkb ). the purified gst - fusion proteins were then digested with the enzyme thrombin ( sigma chemical co . ), following the manufacturer &# 39 ; s recommendations . the released fused segments of either pc1 or pc2 ( which sizes are shown in the above table ) were subjected to n - terminal amino acid microsequence analysis by gas phase sequencing on an applied biosystem sequenator to confirm their nature ( seidah and chretien , 1983 ). once the authenticity of each fragment was verified , the proteins obtained by fusion proteins as well as the native proteins obtained in cells transfected by recombinant vaccinia viruses were injected into rabbits for the development of polyclonal antibodies in order to obtain antibodies . a total of 8 antibodies will allow the definition of the enzymes in any fluid , cell or tissue . for example , if the catalytic - and c - terminal antibodies detect the presence of hpc1 in a tissue , such as a tumor , but the pro - segment antibody does not , this will mean that the produced hpc1 lacks the pro - segment , most probably meaning that hpc1 is in an active state , as these enzymes are zymogens requiring the removal of their n - terminal pro - segment for maximal activity . in contrast , if the three antibodies detect the same product , then hpc1 will be presumed to be in an inactive state . this information may be useful in the diagnosis of certain endocrine pathologies . for example , human lung cancer is associated with a high production of pc1 ( creemers et al ., 1992 ). recently titermax ™ # r - 1 was introduced in the market by cytrx corporation ( 150 technology parkway . technological park / atlanta . norcross , georgia 30092 , usa ). titermax ™ # r - 1 is a new adjuvant producing a microparticulate emulsion which has the reliability and effectiveness of freund &# 39 ; s complete adjuvant ( fca ) without the toxic side effects . groups of female new zealand white rabbits ( n = 4 ) were immunized with the native proteins or fragments thereof ( antigens ) as follows : 50 - 100 μg of antigen were injected intramuscularly ( im ) in each hind flank ( 25 μg antigen / 50 μl emulsion x 2 injections ) on day 1 . 50 - 100 μg of antigen were injected intramuscularly ( im ) in each hind flank ( 25 μg antigen / 50 μl emulsion × 2 injections ) on day 28 . on day 28 , 42 and 56 after the first injection , 2 - 5 ml of blood were withdrawn from each rabbit , centrifuged at 4000 × g for minutes and the serum isolated were tested for its antibody titer using 1251 i - radioiodinated antigen labeled by either the chloramine t or the bolton - hunter methods ( langone , j . j ., 1980 ). for titer analysis , the serum was initially diluted 100 , 200 , 500 , 1000 , 2000 , 4000 , 5000 , and 10 , 000 folds and the binding of the radioiodinated ligand tested . the serum which gave the highest amount of binding at the highest dilution was considered to have the best antibody titer . the bound radioiodinated ligand was then displaced with non - radioactive antigen at various concentrations from 1 × 10 - 12 to 1 × 10 - 6 grams / ml . the shape of the displacement curve obtained defines the specificity and the avidity of the antibody . the animal giving the best titer , specificity and avidity was then chosen for the production of large quantities of antiserum . this rabbit which produced the best titer was then periodically boosted and then bled 14 days later ( 20 - 40 ml of blood ) and the antibodies stock thus obtained was aliquoted and frozen for future use at - 20 ° c . for the development of a specific radioimmunoassay , we used similar procedures published for many other proteins ( van vunakis , 1980 ). the specificity of each antiserum was first tested to verify the binding of hpc1 antiserum to mpc2 or mpc1 , for example . the ability of each segment - antiserum to recognize the native protein was also tested . this was done by testing whether the binding of the catalytic segment ( hpc1 / cat ) to the hpc1 / cat antibody could be displaced by the native hpc1protein obtained from vaccinia virus expression vectors , or by another hpc1 segment , hpc1 / pro , for instance . it was very important to optimize the sensitivity of detection of each antibody in order to increase the chances of its ability to recognize the native protein in various tissue extracts and in plasma . the only antibody for which this optimization will be negative is the one directed against the pro - segment of each convertase , because the pro - segment is absent from the native protein . the first priority lies in the purification of the 125 i - labeled antigen . the latter was purified by reverse - phase hplc , as reported previously ( seidah and chretien , 1983 ; linde et al ., 1983 ). the sensitivity of the assay was increased by evaluating the best conditions of optimal antigen - antibody binding ( hales and woodhead , 1980 ). all 8 kits come complete with the following reagents sufficient for 125 assay tubes ready for use after rehydration : i ) instructions for calculating the results and graph paper for plotting the results . the kits should contain all reagents for the preparation of the nucleic acids , preferably mrnas : buffers for the lysis of cells or tissues , salts and solvents for precipitation of the nucleic acids , extraction buffer like phenol , resuspension buffer , dyes and denaturing agents for electrophoresis , buffers for transfer , buffers for hybridization , labelled oligonucleotides , standardized concentrations of hybridization - positive nucleic acids and , optionally detection means . the oligonucleotides can be the oligonucleotides described in example 6 labelled by any means known to the person skilled in the art , radioactive nucleotides or by adding fluorescent molecules or molecules reacting with a substrate giving a signal measurable by photometry . ______________________________________symbols for the amino acids______________________________________a ala alaninec cys cysteined asp aspartic acide glu glumatic acidf phe phenylalanineg gly glycineh his histidinei ile isoleucinek lys lysinel leu leucinem met methioninen asn asparaginep pro prolineq gln glutaminer arg arginines ser serinet thr threoninev val valinew trp tryptophany tyr tyrosine______________________________________ barr et al . 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( 1990 ). human for gene encodes a yeast kex2 - like endoprotease that cleaves pro - β - ngf in vivo . j . cell biol . 111 , 2851 - 2859 . bryan et al . ( 1986 ). site - directed - mutagenesis and the role of the oxyanion hole in subtilisin . proc . natl . acad . sci . usa 83 , 3743 - 3745 . burgess et al . ( 1987 ). constitutive and regulated secretion of proteins . annu . rev . cell biol . 3 , 243 - 293 . cathala et al . ( 1983 ). a method for the isolation of intact , translationally active ribonucleic acid . dna 2 , 329 - 335 . chakrabarti , s . et al . ( 1985 ). vaccinia virus expression vector : coexpression of β - galactosidase provides visual screening of recombinant virus plaques . molecular and cellular biology . 5 ( 12 ), 3403 - 3409 cooper et al . ( 1984 ). phosphorylation sites in enolase and lactate dehydrogenase utilized by tyrosine protein kinases in vivo and in vivo . j . biol . chem . 259 , 7835 - 7841 . creemers , et al . ( 1992 ). expression in human lung tumor cells of the pro protein processing enzyme pc1 / pc3 . febs . 300 ( 1 ), 82 - 88 davison , et al . ( 1990 ). new vaccinia virus recombiantion plasmids incorporating a synthetic late promotor for high level expression of foreign proteins . nucleic acids research . 18 ( 14 ), 4285 4286 erlich , s . a . ( 1989 ). in &# 34 ; pcr technology : principles and applications for dna amplification &# 34 ;. erlich , h . a . ed ., stockton press , new york fricker et al . ( 1990 ). identification of the ph - dependent membrane anchor of carboxypeptidase e ( ec 3 . 4 . 17 . 10 ). j . biol . chem . 265 , 2476 - 2482 , 1990 . fuller et al . ( 1989 ). intracellular targeting and structural conservation of a prohormone - processing endoprotease . science 246 , 482 - 486 . glass et al . ( 1986 ). synthetic peptides corresponding to the site phosphorylated in 6 - phosphofructo - 2 - kinase / fructose - 2 - 6 - biphosphatase as substrates of cyclic nucleotide - dependent protein kinases . j . biol . chem . 261 , 2987 - 2993 . hakes et al . ( 1991 ). isolation of two complementary deoxyribonucleic acid clones from a rat insulinoma cell line based on similarities to kex2 and furin sequences and the specific localization of each transcript to endocrine and neuroendocrine tissues in rats endocrinology ( 129 )( 6 )): 3053 - 3063 . hales , c . n . et al . ( 1980 ). radioimmunoassays : an overview . methods in enzymology . 70 , 334 - 355 hatsuzawa et al . ( 1990 ). structure and expression of mouse furin , a yeast kex2 - related protease . j . biol . chem . 265 , 22075 - 22078 . hruby , d . e . et al . ( 1986 ). use of vaccinia virus as a neuropeptide expression vector . methods in enzymology . 124 , 295 - 309 julius et al . ( 1984 ). isolation of the putative structural gene for the lys - arg - cleaving endopeptidase required for processing of yeast prepro - a - factor . cell 37 , 1075 - 1089 . kozak , m . ( 1989 ). the scanning model for translation : an update . j . cell biol . 108 , 229 - 241 . linde , s . et al . ( 1983 ). preparation of stable radiodinated polypeptide hormones and proteins using polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis . methods in enzymology 92 , 309 - 335 mackin , r . b . et al . ( 1991 ). identification of a somatostatin - 14 - generating enzyme as a member of the kex2 / furin / pc family . endocrinology 129 , 2263 - 2265 mizuno et al . ( 1988 ). yeast kex2 gene encodes an endopeptidase homologous to subtilisin - like serine proteases . biochem . biophys . res . commun . 156 , 246 - 254 . moss et al . ( 1990 ). new mammalian expression vectors . nature . 348 , 91 - 92 roebroek et al . ( 1986 ). evolutionary conserved close linkage of the c - fes / fps proto - oncogene and genetic sequences encoding a receptor - like protein . embo j . 5 , 2197 - 2202 . ruoslahti , e . ( 1988 ). fibronectin and its receptors . annu . rev . biochem . 57 , 375 - 413 . sambrook , j ., fritsh , e . f . and maniatis , t . ( 1989 ). in &# 34 ; molecular cloning . a laboratory manual .&# 34 ; second edition . cold spring harbor labortory press . saraste et al . ( 1990 ). the p - loop - a common motif in atp - and gtp - binding proteins . trends biochem . sci . 15 , 430 - 434 . seidah et al . ( 1990 ). cdna sequence of two distinct pituitary proteins homologous to kex2 and furin gene products : tissue - specific mrnas encoding candidates for pro - hormone processing proteinases . dna and cell biol . 9 , 415 - 424 . seidah et al . ( 1991a ). cloning and primary sequence of a mouse candidate pro - hormoneconvertase pc1 homologous to pc2 , furin and kex2 : distinct chromosomal localization and mrna distribution in brain and pituitary as compared to pc2 . mol . endocrinol . 5 , 111 - 122 . seidah et al . ( 1991b ). chromosomal assignments of the genes of the pro - protein convertases pc1 ( human 5ql5 - 21 ), pc2 ( human 20p11 . 1 - 11 . 2 ) and furin ( mouse 7 d1 - e2 region !). genomics 11 , 103 - 107 . seidah , n . g . and chretien , m . ( 1992 ). pro - protein and pro - hormone convertases of the subtilisin family : recent developments and future perspectives . trends in endocrinol . metab . 3 ( 4 ): 133 - 140 . smeekens , s . p . and steiner , d . f . ( 1990 ). identification of a human insulinoma cdna encoding a novel mammalian protein structurally related to the yeast dibasic processing protease kex2 . j . biol . chem . 265 , 2997 - 3000 . smeekens et al . ( 1991 ). identification of a cdna encoding a second putative prohormone convertase related to pc2 in att20 cells and islets of langerhans . proc . natl . acad . sci . usa 88 , 340 - 344 . thomas et al . ( 1991 ). kex2 - like endoproteases pc2 and pc3 accurately cleave model prohormone in mammalian cells : evidence for a common core of neuroendocrine processing enzymes . proc . natl . acad . sci . usa 88 , 5297 - 5301 . seidah et al . ( 1992 ). the cdna sequence of the human pro - hormone and pro - protein convertase pc1 . dna and cell biol . 11 ( 4 ): 283 - 289 van den ouweland et al . ( 1990 ). structural homology between the human fur gene product and the subtilisin - like protease encoded by yeast kex2 . nucleic acids res . 81 , 664 . van de ven et al . ( 1990 ). furin is a subtilisin - like proprotein processing enzyme in higher eukaryotes . mol . biol . rep . 14 , 265 - 275 . von heijne , g . ( 1986 ). a new method of predicting signal sequence cleavage sites . nucleic acids res . 14 , 4683 - 4690 van vunakis , h . v . ( 1980 ). radioimmunoassays : an overview . methods in enzymology , 70 , 201 - 209 watson , s . j . et al . ( 1987 ). anatomical localization of mrna : in situ hybridization of neuropeptide systems . in in situ hybridization . applications to neurobiolovy . wise et al . ( 1990 ). expression of a human proprotein processing enzyme : correct cleavage of the von willebrand factor precursor at a paired basic amino acid site . proc . natl . acad . sci . usa 87 , 9378 - 9382 . __________________________________________________________________________sequence listing ( 1 ) general information :( iii ) number of sequences : 28 ( 2 ) information for seq id no : 1 :( i ) sequence characteristics :( a ) length : 3284 base pairs ( b ) type : nucleotide ( c ) strandedness : double ( d ) topology : linear ( xi ) sequence description : seq id no : 1 : tgtcgactgtcaggaccgaagcgcttcactgagcgctcgccgccgcccag50cctctcctctcgcgcctcctagctcttcgcagagcaaccaggagccagga100gtggtctagagcccgagggtgggaagggggagtctgtctggcttttctcc150tatcttgcttctttttcctcttcccttcccactcttgttcaagcgagtgt200gtgagctatggagcgaagagcctggagtctgcagtgcactgctttcgtcc250tcttttgcgcttggtgtgcactgaacagtgcaaaagcgaaaaggcaattt300gtcaatgaatgggcagcggagatccccgggggcccggaagcagcctcggc350catcgccgaggagctgggctatgaccttttgggtcagattggttcacttg400aaaatcactacttattcaaacataaaaaccaccccagaaggtctcgaagg450agtgcctttcatatcactaagagattatctgatgatgatcgtgtgatatg500ggctgaacaacagtatgaaaaagaaagaagtaaacgttcagctctaaggg550actcagcactaaatctcttcaatgatcccatgtggaatcagcaatggtac600ttgcaagataccaggatgacggcagccctgcccaagctggaccttcatgt650gatacctgtttggcaaaaaggcattacgggcaaaggagttgttatcaccg700tactggatgatggtttggagtggaatcacacggacatttatgccaactat750gatccagaggctagctatgattttaatgataatgaccatgatccatttcc800ccgatatgatcccacaaacgagaacaaacacgggaccagatgtgcaggag850aaattgccatgcaagcaaataatcacaaatgcggggttggagttgcatac900aattccaaagttggaggcataagaatgctggatggcattgtgacggatgc950tattgaggccagttcaattggattcaatcctggacacgtggatatttaca1000gtgcaagctggggccctaatgatgatgggaaaactgtggaggggcctggc1050cggctagcccagaaggcttttgaatatggtgtcaaacaggggagacaggg1100gaaggggtccatcttcgtctgggcttcgggaaacggggggcgtcagggag1150ataattgtgactgtgatggctacacagacagcatctacaccatctccatc1200agcagtgcctcccagcaaggcctatccccctggtacgctgagaagtgctc1250ctccacactggccacctcttacagcagcggagattacaccgaccagagaa1300tcacgagcgctgacctgcacaatgactgcacggagacgcacacaggcacc1350tcggcctctgcacctctggctgctggcatcttcgctctggccctggaagc1400aaacccaaatctcacctggcgagatatgcagcacctggttgtctggacct1450ctgagtatgacccgctggccaataaccctggatggaaaaagaatggagca1500ggcttgatggtgaatagtcgatttggatttggcttgctaaatgccaaagc1550tctggtggatttagctgaccccaggacctggaggagcgtgcctgagaaga1600aagagtgtgttgtaaaggacaatgactttgagcccagagccctgaaagct1650aatggagaagttatcattgaaattccaacaagagcttgtgaaggacaaga1700aaatgctatcaagtccctggagcatgtacaatttgaagcaacaattgaat1750attcccgaagaggagaccttcatgtcacacttacttctgctgctggaact1800agcactgtgctcttggctgaaagagaacgggatacatctcctaatggctt1850taagaactgggacttcatgtctgttcacacatggggagagaaccctatag1900gtacttggactttgagaattacagacatgtctggaagaattcaaaatgaa1950ggaagaattgtgaactggaagctgattttgcacgggacctcttctcagcc2000agagcatatgaagcagcctcgtgtgtacacgtcctacaacactgttcaga2050atgacagaagaggggtggagaagatggtggatccaggggaggagcagccc2100acacaagagaaccctaaggagaacaccctggtgtccaaaagccccagcag2150cagcagcgtagggggccggagggatgagttggaggagggagccccttccc2200aggccatgctgcgactcctgcaaagtgctttcagtaaaaactcaccgcca2250aagcaatcaccaaagaagtccccaagtgcaaagctcaacatcccttatga2300aaacttctacgaagccctggaaaagctgaacaaaccttcccagcttaaag2350actctgaagacagtctgtataatgactatgttgatgttttttataacact2400aaaccttacaagcacagagacgaccggctgcttcaagctctggtggacat2450tctgaatgaggaaaattaaaataagtgtgtggtcccaagttggaaatatt2500catgcttcttccttaccctgcgattttgcctgtgtctgaagtggttgttt2550tgtcatgaattcttatgcttataatatcctttgtggcaccttttcttttt2600ctccctaaactgtacatgtgaaggggatgagctcaagcaggaagttcaac2650ttccagaattgatcataggtatttcaaaacacatctttcctgtctgcaca2700agtgaagtgttttgttctttctggagtcacagttgacaaaaagctcttac2750actacattagaacactgcattagagcccatttcaattctcaaaagaaaag2800gcaaaacctgggatatcaattaatttgaaaacataatctgcaaagaatga2850gaaggagtcagaaactgtttctgtagcttgttccctgtcttgtccatgtg2900gttcttcaaattttgatgccaagaaagtatttggtaggcctaatgaagga2950gttcactgtaagactcattccctagatctttctattccaaagtgccactc3000attcctgtagtcaaaatctggtcatgttggtcaaaagcctggattattta3050gatctagaaacagatcttgaaatctgaatgctctggtttgagcaattttc3100gaacattctttgcctggtgcactgtgtctgtggtgccagaggcgtccgtg3150gatccagaggtggttatgactcgtgctgcatgcctggtctttcctctgtt3200tctccttctgaaagttttctatacctgtctcctttctcagccacaaaata3250aatgttgggagaaatgatatataccactttccca3284 ( 2 ) information for seq id no : 2 :( i ) sequence characteristics :( a ) length : 753 amino acids ( b ) type : amino acid ( c ) strandedness : single ( d ) topology : linear ( xi ) sequence description : seq id no : 2 : metgluargargalatrpserleuglncys23 - 18thralaphevalleuphecysalatrpcys13 - 8alaleuasnseralalysalalysarggln33phevalasnglutrpalaalagluilepro813glyglyproglualaalaseralaileala1823glugluleuglytyraspleuleuglygln2833ileglyserleugluasnhistyrleuphe3843lyshislysasnhisproargargserarg4853argseralaphehisilethrlysargleu5863seraspaspaspargvaliletrpalaglu6873glnglntyrglulysgluargserlysarg7883seralaleuargaspseralaleuasnleu8893pheasnasppromettrpasnglnglntrp98103tyrleuglnaspthrargmetthralaala108113leuprolysleuaspleuhisvalilepro118123valtrpglnlysglyilethrglylysgly128133valvalilethrvalleuaspaspglyleu138143glutrpasnhisthraspiletyralaasn148153tyraspproglualasertyrasppheasn158163aspasnasphisasppropheproargtyr168173aspprothrasngluasnlyshisglythr178183argcysalaglygluilealametglnala188193asnasnhislyscysglyvalglyvalala198203tyrasnserlysvalglyglyileargmet208213leuaspglyilevalthraspalaileglu218223alaserserileglypheasnproglyhis228233valaspiletyrseralasertrpglypro238243asnaspaspglylysthrvalgluglypro248253glyargleualaglnlysalapheglutyr258263glyvallysglnglyargglnglylysgly268273serilephevaltrpalaserglyasngly278283glyargglnglyaspasncysaspcysasp288293glytyrthraspseriletyrthrileser298303ileserseralaserglnglnglyleuser308313protrptyralaglulyscysserserthr318323leualathrsertyrserserglyasptyr328333thraspglnargilethrseralaaspleu338343hisasnaspcysthrgluthrhisthrgly348353thrseralaseralaproleualaalagly358363ilephealaleualaleuglualaasnpro368373asnleuthrtrpargaspmetglnhisleu378383valvaltrpthrserglutyraspproleu388393alaasnasnproglytrplyslysasngly398403alaglyleumetvalasnserargphegly408413pheglyleuleuasnalalysalaleuval418423aspleualaaspproargthrtrpargser428433valproglulyslysglucysvalvallys438443aspasnaspphegluproargalaleulys448453alaasnglygluvalileilegluilepro458463thrargalacysgluglyglngluasnala468473ilelysserleugluhisvalglnpheglu478483alathrileglutyrserargargglyasp488493leuhisvalthrleuthrseralaalagly498503thrserthrvalleuleualagluargglu508513argaspthrserproasnglyphelysasn518523trpaspphemetservalhisthrtrpgly528533gluasnproileglythrtrpthrleuarg538543ilethraspmetserglyargileglnasn548553gluglyargilevalasntrplysleuile558563leuhisglythrserserglnprogluhis568573metlysglnproargvaltyrthrsertyr578583asnthrvalglnasnaspargargglyval588593glulysmetvalaspproglygluglugln598603prothrglngluasnprolysgluasnthr608613leuvalserlysserproserserserser618623valglyglyargargaspgluleugluglu628633glyalaproserglnalametleuargleu638643leuglnseralapheserlysasnserpro648653prolysglnserprolyslysserproser658663alalysleuasnileprotyrgluasnphe668673tyrglualaleuglulysleuasnlyspro678683serglnleulysaspsergluaspserleu688693tyrasnasptyrvalaspvalphetyrasn698703thrlysprotyrlyshisargaspasparg708713leuleuglnalaleuvalaspileleuasn718723glugluasn ( 2 ) information for seq id no : 3 :( i ) sequence characteristics :( a ) length : 753 amino acids ( b ) type : amino acid ( c ) strandedness : single ( d ) topology : linear ( xi ) sequence description : seq id no : 3 : metgluglnargglytrpthrleuglncys23 - 18thralaphealaphephecysvaltrpcys13 - 8alaleuasnservallysalalysarggln33phevalasnglutrpalaalagluilepro813glyglyglnglualaalaseralaileala1823glugluleuglytyraspleuleuglygln2833ileglyserleugluasnhistyrleuphe3843lyshislysserhisproargargserarg4853argseralaleuhisilethrlysargleu5863seraspaspaspargvalthrtrpalaglu6873glnglntyrglulysgluargserlysarg7883servalglnlysaspseralaleuaspleu8893pheasnasppromettrpasnglnglntrp98103tyrleuglnaspthrargmetthralaala108113leuprolysleuaspleuhisvalilepro118123valtrpglulysglyilethrglylysgly128133valvalilethrvalleuaspaspglyleu138143glutrpasnhisthraspiletyralaasn148153tyraspproglualasertyrasppheasn158163aspasnasphisasppropheproargtyr168173aspleuthrasngluasnlyshisglythr178183argcysalaglygluilealametglnala188193asnasnhislyscysglyvalglyvalala198203tyrasnserlysvalglyglyileargmet208213leuaspglyilevalthraspalaileglu218223alaserserileglypheasnproglyhis228233valaspiletyrseralasertrpglypro238243asnaspaspglylysthrvalgluglypro248253glyargleualaglnlysalapheglutyr258263glyvallysglnglyargglnglylysgly268273serilephevaltrpalaserglyasngly278283glyargglnglyaspasncysaspcysasp288293glytyrthraspseriletyrthrileser298303ileserseralaserglnglnglyleuser308313protrptyralaglulyscysserserthr318323leualathrsertyrserserglyasptyr328333thraspglnargilethrseralaaspleu338343hisasnaspcysthrgluthrhisthrgly348353thrseralaseralaproleualaalagly358363ilephealaleualaleuglualaasnpro368373asnleuthrtrpargaspmetglnhisleu378383valvaltrpthrserglutyraspproleu388393alaserasnproglytrplyslysasngly398403alaglyleumetvalasnserargphegly408413pheglyleuleuasnalalysalaleuval418423aspleualaaspproargthrtrpargasn428433valproglulyslysglucysvalvallys438443aspasnasnphegluproargalaleulys448453alaasnglygluvalilevalgluilepro458463thrargalacysgluglyglngluasnala468473ilelysserleugluhisvalglnpheglu478483alathrileglutyrserargargglyasp488493leuhisvalthrleuthrseralaalagly498503thrserthrvalleuleualagluargglu508513argaspthrserproasnglyphelysasn518523trpaspphemetservalhisthrtrpgly528533gluasnprovalglythrtrpthrleulys538543ilethraspmetserglyargmetglnasn548553gluglyargilevalasntrplysleuile558563leuhisglythrserserglnprogluhis568573metlysglnproargvaltyrthrsertyr578583asnthrvalglnasnaspargargglyval588593glulysmetvalasnvalvalglulysarg598603prothrglnlysserleuasnglyasnleu608613leuvalprolysasnserserserserasn618623valgluglyargargaspgluglnvalgln628633glythrproserlysalametleuargleu638643leuglnseralapheserlysasnalaleu648653serlysglnserprolyslysserproser658663alalysleuserileprotyrgluserphe668673tyrglualaleuglulysleuasnlyspro678683serlysleugluglysergluaspserleu688693tyrserasptyrvalaspvalphetyrasn698703thrlysprotyrlyshisargaspasparg708713leuleuglnalaleumetaspileleuasn718723glugluasn ( 2 ) information for seq id no : 4 :( i ) sequence characteristics :( a ) length : 2217 base pairs ( b ) type : nucleic acid ( c ) strandedness : double ( d ) topology : linear ( xi ) sequence description : seq id no : 4 : attttttatttgcatcttccctcttcgtcccctgctccaccaccctgcgc50gcctcacagccccacttttcactcccaaagaaggatggagggcggttgtg100gatcccagtggaaggcggccgggttcctcttctgtgtgatggtttttgcg150tctgccgagagacccgtcttcacgaatcattttcttgtggagttgcataa200agacggagaggaagaggctcgccaagttgcagcagaacacggctttggag250tccgaaagctcccctttgcagaaggcctgtatcacttttatcacaatggg300cttgcaaaggccaaaagaagacgcagcctacaccataagcggcagctaga350gagagaccccaggataaagatggcgctgcaacaagaaggatttgaccgta400aaaagagagggtacagggacatcaatgagattgacatcaacatgaatgat450cctctctttacaaagcaatggtacctgttcaacactgggcaagccgatgg500aactcctgggctagacttgaacgtggccgaagcctgggagctgggataca550caggaaaaggagtgaccattggaattatggatgatggaattgactatctc600cacccagacctggcctacaactacaacgctgatgcaagttatgacttcag650cagcaatgacccctacccataccctcgatacacagatgactggttcaaca700gccatggaactaggtgtgcaggagaagtttctgctgcagccagcaacaat750atctgtggagtcggcgtagcatacaactccaaggtggcagggatccggat800gctggaccagccctttatgacagacatcatcgaagcctcctccatcagcc850acatgcctcaactgatcgacatctacagtgcaagctggggccccacagac900aatgggaagacggttgatgggccccgagagctcacactccaggccatggc950tgatggcgtgaacaagggccgtgggggcaaaggcagcatctatgtgtggg1000cctctggggacggtggcagctacgatgactgcaactgtgacggctatgct1050tcaagcatgtggaccatctccatcaactcagccatcaatgatggcaggac1100tgccttgtatgatgagagttgctcttccaccttagcatccaccttcagca1150atgggaggaagaggaatcctgaggctggtgtggctaccacagacttgtat1200ggcaactgtactctgagacactctgggacatctgcagctgctccggaggc1250agctggcgtgtttgcattagctttggaggctaacctggatctgacctgga1300gagacatgcaacatctgactgtgctcacctccaagcggaaccagcttcat1350gatgaggttcatcagtggcgacggaatggggttggcctggaatttaatca1400cctctttggctacggagtccttgatgcaggtgccatggtgaaaatggcta1450aagactggaaaactgttccggagagattccattgtgtgggaggctctgtg1500cagaaccctgaaaaaataccacccaccggcaagctggtactgaccctcaa1550aacaaatgcatgtgaggggaaggaaaacttcgtccgctacctggagcacg1600tccaagctgtcatcacagtcaacgcgaccaggagaggagacctgaacatc1650aacatgacctccccaatgggcaccaagtccattttgctgagccggcgtcc1700cagagacgacgactccaaggtgggctttgacaagtggcctttcatgacca1750cccacacctggggggaggatgcccgagggacctggaccctggagctgggg1800tttgtgggcagtgcaccacagaaggggttgctgaaggaatggaccctgat1850gcttcacggcacacagagcgccccatacatcgatcaggtggtgagggatt1900accagtctaagctggccatgtccaagaagcaggagctggaggaagagctg1950gatgaggctgtggagagaagcctgcaaagtatcctgagaaagaactaggg2000ccacgcttccgccttcacctccccttcctccccgtctctgcctctccttg2050ctccacagttctggcagccaccagccacccagcaattcctgttacccccg2100acacaagcaatcccagcctggtctcaagctttgctcgctgtcaatgatta2150ttttcactacaatggaagcaaccgtttttattctgtagcccaaatatagc2200gttcctaccaacatcta2217 ( 2 ) information for seq id no : 5 :( i ) sequence characteristics :( a ) length : 637 amino acids ( b ) type : amino acid ( c ) strandedness : single ( d ) topology : linear ( xi ) sequence description : seq id no : 5 : metgluglyglycysglyserglntrplys20 - 15alaalaglypheleuphecysvalmetval10 - 5phealaseralagluargprovalphethr16asnhispheleuvalgluleuhislysasp1116glyglugluglualaargglnvalalaala2126gluhisglypheglyvalarglysleupro3136phealagluglyleutyrhisphetyrhis4146asnglyleualalysalalysalaargarg5156serleuhishislysargglnleugluarg6166aspproargilelysmetalaleuglngln7176gluglypheasparglyslysargglytyr8186argaspileasngluileaspileasnmet9196asnaspproleuphethrlysglntrptyr101106leupheasnthrglyglnalaaspglythr111116proglyleuaspleuasnvalalagluala121126trpgluleuglytyrthrglylysglyval131136thrileglyilemetaspaspglyileasp141146tyrleuhisproaspleualatyrasntyr151156asnalaaspalasertyrasppheserser161166asnaspprotyrprotyrproargtyrthr171176aspasptrppheasnserhisglythrarg181186cysalaglygluvalseralaalaalaser191196asnasnilecysglyvalglyvalalatyr201206asnserlysvalalaglyileargmetleu211216aspglnprophemetthraspileileglu221226alaserserileserhismetproglnleu231236ileaspiletyrseralasertrpglypro241246thraspasnglylysthrvalaspglypro251256arggluleuthrleuglnalametalaasp261266glyvalasnlysglyargglyglylysgly271276seriletyrvaltrpalaserglyaspgly281286glysertyraspaspcysasncysaspgly291296tyralasersermettrpthrileserile301306asnseralaileasnaspglyargthrala311316leutyraspglusercysserserthrleu321326alaserthrpheserasnglyarglysarg331336asnproglualaglyvalalathrthrasp341346leutyrglyasncysthrleuarghisser351356glythrseralaalaalaproglualaala361366glyvalphealaleualaleuglualaasn371376leuaspleuthrtrpargaspmetglnhis381386leuthrvalleuthrserlysargasngln391396leuhisaspgluvalhisglntrpargarg401406asnglyvalglyleuglupheasnhisleu411416pheglytyrglyvalleuaspalaglyala421426metvallysmetalalysasptrplysthr431436valprogluargphehiscysvalglygly441446servalglnasnproglulysilepropro451456thrglylysleuvalleuthrleulysthr461466asnalacysgluglylysgluasnpheval471476argtyrleugluhisvalglnalavalile481486thrvalasnalathrargargglyaspleu491496asnileasnmetthrserprometglythr501506lysserileleuleuserargargproarg511516aspaspaspserlysvalglypheasplys521526trpprophemetthrthrhisthrtrpgly531536gluaspalaargglythrtrpthrleuglu541546leuglyphevalglyseralaproglnlys551556glyleuleulysglutrpthrleumetleu561566hisglythrglnseralaprotyrileasp571576glnvalvalargasptyrglnserlysleu581586alametserlyslysglngluleugluglu591596gluleuaspglualavalgluargserleu601606glnserileleuarglysasn611 ( 2 ) information for seq id no : 6 :( i ) sequence characteristics :( a ) length : 638 amino acids ( b ) type : amino acid ( c ) strandedness : single ( d ) topology : linear ( xi ) sequence description : seq id no : 6 : metlysglyglycysvalserglntrplys21 - 16alaalaalaglypheleuphecysvalmet11 - 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: ttgaattcttatagtgctgagtcccttagagc32 ( 2 ) information for seq id no : 19 :( i ) sequence characteristics :( a ) length : 29 base pairs ( b ) type : nucleotide ( c ) strandedness : single ( d ) topology : linear ( xi ) sequence description : seq id no : 19 : gtggatcctcagctctaagggactcagca29 ( 2 ) information for seq id no : 20 :( i ) sequence characteristics :( a ) length : 32 base pairs ( b ) type : nucleotide ( c ) strandedness : single ( d ) topology : linear ( xi ) sequence description : seq id no : 20 : tcgaattcttaggaatattcaattgttgcttc32 ( 2 ) information for seq id no : 21 :( i ) sequence characteristics :( a ) length : 29 base pairs ( b ) type : nucleotide ( c ) strandedness : single ( d ) topology : linear ( xi ) sequence description : seq id no : 21 : gtggatccgatgagttggaggagggagcc29 ( 2 ) information for seq id no : 22 :( i ) sequence characteristics :( a ) length : 29 base pairs ( b ) type : nucleotide ( c ) strandedness : single ( d ) topology : linear ( xi ) sequence description : seq id no : 22 : cagaattcttaattttcctcattcagaat29 ( 2 ) information for seq id no : 23 :( i ) sequence characteristics :( a ) length : 26 base pairs ( b ) type : nucleotide ( c ) strandedness : single ( d ) topology : linear ( xi ) sequence description : seq id no : 23 : cgggatccgagagacccgtcttcacg26 ( 2 ) information for seq id no : 24 :( i ) sequence characteristics :( a ) length : 32 base pairs ( b ) type : nucleotide ( c ) strandedness : single ( d ) topology : linear ( xi ) sequence description : seq id no : 24 : cagaattcttactcattgatgtccctgtaccc32 ( 2 ) information for seq id no : 25 :( i ) sequence characteristics :( a ) length : 30 base pairs ( b ) type : nucleotide ( c ) strandedness : single ( d ) topology : linear ( xi ) sequence description : seq id no : 25 : aacccgggagggtacagggacatcaatgag30 ( 2 ) information for seq id no : 26 :( i ) sequence characteristics :( a ) length : 32 base pairs ( b ) type : nucleotide ( c ) strandedness : single ( d ) topology : linear ( xi ) sequence description : seq id no : 26 : cagaattcttactcattgatgtccctgtaccc32 ( 2 ) information for seq id no : 27 :( i ) sequence characteristics :( a ) length : 28 base pairs ( b ) type : nucleotide ( c ) strandedness : single ( d ) topology : linear ( xi ) sequence description : seq id no : 27 : cggaattctagttctttctcaggatact28 ( 2 ) information for seq id no : 28 :( i ) sequence characteristics :( a ) length : 29 base pairs ( b ) type : nucleotide ( c ) strandedness : single ( d ) topology : linear ( xi ) sequence description : seq id no : 28 : ccggatccggcaccaagtccattttgctg29__________________________________________________________________________	2
with reference to fig1 the various methods discussed herein may be implemented within a typical computer system or workstation as illustrated . an exemplary hardware configuration which may be used in conjunction with the present invention includes a cpu ( central processing unit ) 101 connected to a host bus 103 . the bus 103 is also connected to a memory controller unit 105 which , in turn , is connected to system memory 107 . the host bus 103 may be extended to include connections to other system devices , networks or related circuitry . a pci host bridge circuit or phb 109 is shown connected to the host bus 103 . the host bus 103 is shown to include other phb devices such as phb 113 . phb 109 is coupled to a clock control circuit 111 which is capable of selectively delivering either 66 mhz or 33 mhz clock signals 112 to each of a plurality of pci devices which may be inserted into a series of pci slots 117 , 119 , 127 and 129 . the clock line 112 in fig1 represents a separate clock line to each pci evice . as used herein , the terms &# 34 ; pci device &# 34 ; and &# 34 ; pci adapter &# 34 ; or &# 34 ; card &# 34 ; are used interchangeably . the phb 109 is connected to a first segment or portion of a pci bus 115 . the bus 115 is also connected directly to first and second pci slots 117 and 119 , and through a set of isolation switches or series switching devices 123 to additional slots 127 and 129 which are connected to a second segment or portion 125 of the pci bus . the in - line switch 123 illustrated in fig1 although herein referred to in the singular , actually represents a set of switches that are effective to switch the appropriate signal lines of the bus as hereinafter explained . each of the slots 117 , 119 , 127 and 129 is arranged to provide an &# 34 ; m66en &# 34 ; output and a &# 34 ; prsnt #&# 34 ; output to a frequency control logic unit 121 . the isolation switch 123 may be implemented with , for example , so - called &# 34 ; cross - bar &# 34 ; switches which are generally available from semiconductor device manufacturers and others in the open market . the m66en signals are pci specified signals and are representative of the frequency at which a plugged - in pci device is capable of running . for example , if &# 34 ; 1m66en &# 34 ; is at a zero or low logic level with a device plugged - into slot # 1 117 , then the device is capable of running at only 33 mhz . however , if the 1m66en is at a high logic level , then the plugged - in device has not grounded the pci pin which means that the device is capable of running at 66 mhz . the m66en signals from the various slots thereby indicate the speed capabilities of the devices plugged - into the respective slots 117 , 119 , 127 and 129 . although the term &# 34 ; slot &# 34 ; is used to identify a &# 34 ; plug - in &# 34 ; type of connection in the example , it is noted that the term &# 34 ; slot &# 34 ; refers to an interface between an adapter or circuit device and the pci device bus and such connections may also be accomplished with soldered connections in a hard - wired system and still fall within the scope of the present invention . the &# 34 ; prsnt #&# 34 ; outputs from the pci slots 117 , 119 , 127 and 129 are indicative of whether or not there is an adapter or device plugged - into , or &# 34 ; present &# 34 ;, in the respective pci slots . the prsnt # notation actually represents two prsnt # pins per slot in terms of hardware . in the example , when a device is plugged - into a pci slot , two device prsnt # pins ground the prsnt # lines and that signal is representative that there is a card in the slot . the device speed capable signals xm66en and the device present signals prsnt # x are used in the frequency control logic to determine the speed at which the pci bus 115 is run and also whether or not the bus switch 123 is opened or closed . the disclosed embodiment provides a solution to the bus speed / load optimization problem by defining a means to allow three to four slots on a 66 mhz capable pci bus segment for 33 mhz operation when 33 mhz adapters or devices are installed , but also restrict the bus loading to an effective two slots when operated at 66 mhz . the bus switch 123 ( also referred to as a &# 34 ; bus isolation switch &# 34 ; or &# 34 ; isolation switch &# 34 ;) is implemented in - line with the pci bus 115 to isolate a set of slots and their loading effects from the rest of the bus . if no m66en pins are grounded in the first slot 117 or the second slot 119 ( i . e . no 33 mhz adapters are installed in those slots ), and the third and fourths slots 127 and 129 are not occupied ( i . e . no cards installed as indicated by the corresponding prsnt # signals ), then the signal to the clock control circuit 111 will indicate that the bus should be run at 66 mhz . otherwise , the bus will be operated at 33 mhz . the logic and flow for the switching and speed determining functions described above in connection with fig1 is illustrated in flow chart form in fig3 . upon initialization 301 a determination 303 is made as to whether there are any 33 mhz cards or adapters installed in slot # 1 117 or slot # 2 119 . if there are any 33 mhz cards installed in the first two slots 117 and 119 , then the pci bus 115 must be run at 33 mhz . but , at 33 mhz , the bus can operate two additional cards in slot # 3 127 and slot # 4 129 . accordingly , the switch 123 is closed 313 and the frequency control logic effects the operation of the pci bus at 33 mhz 315 , and the process ends 311 . however , if a determination is made that there are no 33 mhz cards installed in the first two slots 117 and 119 ( i . e . 66 mhz cards are installed ), and neither slot # 3 127 nor slot # 4 129 is occupied or has an adapter or card present , then the isolation switch 123 is opened 307 thereby isolating slots 127 and 129 , and the pci bus is operated 309 at 66 mhz . if no 33 mhz cards are installed in the first two slots 117 and 119 , but slot # 3 127 or slot # 4 129 is occupied 305 , then the bus 115 must be operated at 33 mhz . accordingly the switch 123 is closed 313 and the pci bus segments 115 and 125 are operated 315 at 33 mhz . thus , four slots can be provided and the pci bus 115 , 125 will be operated at 33 mhz whenever any cards are installed in slot # 3 127 or slot # 4 129 , or whenever a 33 mhz card is installed in slot # 1 117 or slot # 2 119 . if slot # 3 127 and slot # 4 129 are empty , and slot # 1 117 and slot # 2 129 have only 66 mhz cards installed , then the bus 115 will be operated at 66 mhz and the isolation switch will be open thereby isolating bus segment 125 and the third and fourth slots 127 and 129 from the pci bus 115 . with the switch 123 open , the loading effects of slot # 3 127 and slot # 4 129 , and their &# 34 ; net length &# 34 ; are isolated from the rest of the bus 115 . this allows the bus 115 , when operated at 66 mhz to meet the 66 mhz pci bus loading requirements , while allowing a &# 34 ; fan - out &# 34 ; of up to four slots when the bus 115 , including bus segment 125 , is operated at 33 mhz . 66 mhz cards should be installed in slot # 1 and slot # 2 when 66 mhz operation is desired . 33 mhz cards can be installed in any of the slots and the bus will run at 33 mhz . a second method is illustrated in the fig2 embodiment and is similar to the first approach except that the in - line or isolation switch 123 as shown in fig1 would not be required . as shown in fig2 a cpu ( central processing unit ) 201 connected to a host bus 203 . the bus 203 is also connected to a memory controller unit 205 which , in turn , is connected to system memory 207 . the host bus 203 may be extended to include connections to other system devices , networks or related circuitry . a pci host bridge circuit or phb 209 is shown connected to the host bus 203 . the host bus 203 is shown to include other phb devices such as phb 213 . phb 209 is coupled to a clock control circuit 211 which is capable of selectively delivering either 66 mhz or 33 mhz clock signals 212 to a plurality of pci devices which may be inserted into a series of pci slots 217 , 219 , and 221 . the phb 209 is connected to a pci bus 215 . the bus 215 is also connected directly to the pci slots 217 , 219 and 221 . each of the slots 217 , 219 , and 221 is arranged to provide an &# 34 ; m66en &# 34 ; output and a &# 34 ; prsnt #&# 34 ; output to a frequency control logic unit 223 to determine bus speed in a manner previously explained in connection with fig1 . however , in fig2 there are only three slots instead of four as in fig1 . in fig2 the bus frequency control logic 223 unit is utilized to indicate when the bus 215 could be operated at 66 mhz . if no m66en pins are grounded ( i . e . only 66 mhz cards or adapters are installed ) in the first two slots 217 or 219 , and the third slot 221 is empty ( i . e . no card installed ), then the bus 215 can be operated at 66 mhz . if any 33 mhz cards are installed on the bus or if a card is installed in the third slot 221 , the bus 215 would be operated at 33 mhz . this would allow up to three cards to be installed when the bus 215 is operated at 33 mhz and would also allow 66 mhz operation when only 66 mhz cards are installed in the first two slots 217 and 219 and the third slot 221 is not occupied . the operation of the implementation shown in fig2 is illustrated in flow chart form in fig4 . when the bus speed control function is initiated 401 , a determination is made 403 as to whether or not there are any 33 mhz cards installed in either of the first two slots 217 or 219 . if not , then a determination is made 405 as to whether or not the third slot 221 is occupied . if no 33 mhz cards are installed in either the first or second slots 217 or 219 , and the third slot 221 is not occupied , then the frequency control logic applies a signal to the clock control circuit 211 which is effective to cause the pci bus 215 to operate at 66 mhz 409 and the process ends 411 . if , however , there is one 33 mhz card installed in either slot # 1 217 or slot # 2 , or both , or , slot # 3 221 is occupied ( regardless of the speed capability of the card in slot # 3 221 ), then the bus will be operated at 33 mhz 407 but three slots will be usable . the second approach as implemented in the example of fig2 can also be implemented using microcode . the code implementation would allow the frequency control logic 223 to be a simpler design . for example , as illustrated in the flow chart of fig5 the bus speed control logic 501 would initially configure for 33 mhz operation 503 . during configuration , if it is determined that only 66 mhz cards are installed 505 , and that slot # 3 221 is empty 507 , then the cards could be reset 509 , the clock restarted 511 to 66 mhz , and then the adapters or cards reconfigured 513 and operated at 66 mhz and the process would end 515 . if there are other than 66 mhz cards installed 505 in either of the first two slots 217 or 219 , or if slot # 3 221 is occupied 507 , then the operation would continue at the initially configured 33 mhz and the bus speed control function would terminate . the method and apparatus of the present invention has been described in connection with a preferred embodiment as disclosed herein . although an embodiment of the present invention has been shown and described in detail herein , along with certain variants thereof , many other varied embodiments that incorporate the teachings of the invention may be easily constructed by those skilled in the art , and even included or integrated into a processor or cpu or other larger system integrated circuit or chip . the methodology may also be implemented solely or partially in program code stored on a cd , disk or diskette ( portable or fixed ), or other memory or storage device , from which it may be executed to function as described herein . accordingly , the present invention is not intended to be limited to the specific form set forth herein , but on the contrary , it is intended to cover such alternatives , modifications , and equivalents , as can be reasonably included within the spirit and scope of the invention .	6
the present application discloses methods for preparing neutral flavored ( or unflavored ) high protein (& gt ; 15 %) ingredient systems or additives to be combined with ready to eat food products , including frozen yogurts , that provide a rich and creamy texture with high consumer appeal . the methods described herein are particularly effective in incorporating dairy and non - dairy proteins into such food products without resulting in a gritty or silty texture . for example , non - dairy proteins derived from canola , soy , bean , pea , and even hemp may be used in the food additives described herein . the term “ unflavored ” or neutral flavored refers to a characteristic of the disclosed additives which permits them to be added to various “ base ” components which provide the primary flavor to the resulting product . as such , unflavored does not mean that there is no flavor whatsoever , just that the flavor of the additive does not predominate in the final product . for instance , dairy - based additives may include ingredients such as milk , which has a flavor albeit mild , and various sweeteners may be included in the additive which imparts sweetness . furthermore , an “ unflavored ” additive as described herein may be added to a relatively mildly flavored base component having a similar taste , such as an additive for plain or vanilla yogurt . consequently , the term “ unflavored ” refers to the property that the additive may be combined with numerous differently - flavored base components without substantively changing the taste of the final product . that is , the base component provides the final flavor , not the additive . in the formula examples provided below , the protein content of the liquid versions vary based on the type of protein and on the method of pasteurization used due to process limitations associated with the different proteins and the different temperatures used in each process . for example , whey protein mixtures tend to be lower in viscosity and more heat stable than pea protein mixtures . the different pasteurization processes include vat pasteurization at temperatures of 155 - 165 ° f . high - temperature short - time ( htst ) pasteurization at temperatures of 175 - 185 ° f ., and ultra high - temperature ( uht ) pasteurization at temperatures of 275 - 285 ° f . fig1 is a flowchart of an exemplary process for producing a high - protein liquid food additive of the present application . depending on the particular mix used , as detailed in fig2 a - 2c for dairy additives and 3 a - 3 c for non - dairy additives , the mix will be transferred into different tanks ( vat , htst , or uht ) and pasteurized accordingly . first , water is metered into a high shear liquiverter . high shear mixing conditions may be created using numerous commercial mixing systems , for example , likwifier , liquiverter , etc . after mixing until lump free , the contents of the liquiverter are transferred to a vat , or holding tank . after further agitation for about 10 minutes , the solids of the mix are measured and adjusted to a predetermined target percent . solid levels are typically adjusted by adding water , and consequently a high solid level is generally the initial target to enable adjustment . then the mix is pasteurized via a vat , htst , or uht process . the dairy version should not be homogenized , however , the non - dairy versions can be homogenized . once again , the solids content of the mix are measured via a microwave based moisture analyzer or a nir based analyzer and adjusted to a desired target . optionally the mix is cooled down to about 39 ° f . and aged for at least an hour to de - aerate . at this point the product is complete and is packaged and typically flash frozen . fig2 a - 2c are tables listing preferred ingredients and their properties for forming an exemplary high - protein dairy liquid food additive using the process shown in fig1 . the dairy protein used is primarily whey protein concentrate with some whey protein isolate and skim milk powder . for the formulation of fig2 a , the following parameters are desirable : solids range : 38 . 5 +/− 1 . 0 %; density target : 9 . 7 lbs / gallon , and density range : 137 . 5 g &# 39 ; s +/− 1 . 0 g &# 39 ; s / 4 fl . oz . the formula requires 100 . 0 g &# 39 ; s to deliver 15 g &# 39 ; s protein , and a 4 fl . oz . ( 118 . 28 ml ) serving of unaerated mix ( 137 . 5 g &# 39 ; s ) delivers 20 . 6 g &# 39 ; s protein . for the formulation of fig2 b , the following parameters are desirable : solids range : 42 . 0 +/− 1 . 0 %; density target : 9 . 87 lbs / gallon , and density range : 139 . 9 g &# 39 ; s +/− 1 . 0 g &# 39 ; s / 4 fl . oz . the formula requires 77 g &# 39 ; s to deliver 15 g &# 39 ; s protein , and a 4 fl . oz . serving of unaerated mix ( 139 . 9 g &# 39 ; s ) delivers 27 . 28 g &# 39 ; s protein . for the formulation of fig2 c , the following parameters are desirable : solids range : 43 . 5 +/− 1 . 0 %; density target : 9 . 92 lbs / gallon , and density range : 140 . 6 g &# 39 ; s +/− 1 . 0 g &# 39 ; s / 4 fl . oz . the formula requires 70 . 6 g &# 39 ; s to deliver 15 g &# 39 ; s protein , and a 4 fl . oz . serving of unaerated mix ( 140 . 6 g &# 39 ; s ) delivers 29 . 87 g &# 39 ; s protein . therefore , for the liquid dairy protein formulations , the proposed formulas require between about 70 - 100 g &# 39 ; s to deliver 15 g &# 39 ; s protein . fig3 a - 3c are tables listing preferred ingredients and their properties for forming an exemplary high - protein non - dairy liquid food additive using the process shown in fig1 . the non - dairy protein used derives from peas , though again various non - dairy proteins could be substituted . for the formulation of fig3 a , the following parameters are desirable : solids range : 35 . 1 +/− 1 . 0 %; density target : 9 . 6 lbs / gallon , and density range : 136 . 1 g &# 39 ; s +/− 1 . 0 g &# 39 ; s / 4 fl . oz . a 4 fl . oz . serving of unaerated mix ( 136 . 1 g &# 39 ; s ) delivers 12 . 25 g &# 39 ; s protein , which equates to 166 . 7 g &# 39 ; s to deliver 15 g &# 39 ; s protein . for the formulation of fig3 b , the following parameters are desirable : solids 36 . 3 +/− 1 . 0 %; density target : 9 . 65 lbs / gallon , and density range : 136 . 79 g &# 39 ; s +/− 1 . 0 g &# 39 ; s / 4 fl . oz . a 4 fl . oz . serving of unaerated mix ( 136 . 8 g &# 39 ; s ) delivers 13 . 7 g &# 39 ; s protein , which equates to 149 . 8 g &# 39 ; s to deliver 15 g &# 39 ; s protein . for the formulation of fig3 c , the following parameters are desirable : solids range : 38 . 5 +/− 1 . 0 %; density target : 9 . 74 lbs / gallon , and density range : 138 g &# 39 ; s +/− 1 . 0 g &# 39 ; s / 4 fl . oz . a 4 fl . oz . serving of unaerated mix ( 138 g &# 39 ; s ) delivers 16 . 5 g &# 39 ; s protein , which equates to 125 . 5 g &# 39 ; s to deliver 15 g &# 39 ; s protein . therefore , for the liquid non - dairy protein formulations , the proposed formulas require between about 120 - 170 g &# 39 ; s to deliver 15 g &# 39 ; s protein . fig4 is a flowchart illustrating the general formulation steps for producing a batch of the dry powder high protein additive in accordance with the present application . first , sweeteners such as sugar , dextrose and xylitol are mixed until well blended for good dispersion . various other ingredients such as trisodium citrate and lecithin are then added to the sweet mix , after which the proteins such as whey protein and skim milk in dry form are added . the product is then complete and is packaged according to customer needs . no freezing is needed with the dry additive . fig5 a - 5c are tables listing preferred ingredients and their properties for forming an exemplary high - protein dairy dry food additive using the process shown in fig4 . again , the dairy protein used is primarily whey protein concentrate with some whey protein isolate and skim milk powder . for the formulation of fig5 a , the formula requires about 13 . 25 g &# 39 ; s to deliver 10 g &# 39 ; s protein . for the formulation of fig5 b , the formula requires about 16 . 9 g &# 39 ; s to deliver 10 g &# 39 ; s protein . for the formulation of fig5 c , the formula requires about 21 . 3 g &# 39 ; s to deliver 10 g &# 39 ; s protein . therefore , for the dry dairy protein formulations , the proposed formulas require between about 13 - 22 g &# 39 ; s to deliver 10 g &# 39 ; s protein . fig6 a - 6c are tables listing preferred ingredients and their properties for forming an exemplary high - protein non - dairy dry food additive using the process shown in fig4 . as before , the non - dairy protein used derives from peas , though various other non - dairy proteins could be substituted . for the formulation of fig6 a , the formula requires about 12 . 92 g &# 39 ; s to deliver 10 g &# 39 ; s protein . for the formulation of fig6 b , the formula requires about 24 . 6 g &# 39 ; s to deliver 10 g &# 39 ; s protein . for the formulation of fig6 c , the formula requires about 33 . 2 g &# 39 ; s to deliver 10 g &# 39 ; s protein . therefore , for the dry non - dairy protein formulations , the proposed formulas require between about 13 - 35 g &# 39 ; s to deliver 10 g &# 39 ; s protein . when it comes to processing , low vat pasteurization temperatures of 155 - 165 ° f . enable the addition of the highest level of protein . the moderate high - temperature short - time ( htst ) pasteurization temperatures of 175 - 185 ° f ., results in a slight reduction while the ultra high - temperature ( uht ) pasteurization temperatures of 275 - 285 ° f . reduces the level of protein even further . in the dry examples , the protein levels also vary based on the type of protein . with the dry additives , the protein levels also vary due to changes in the added levels of diluents such as xylitol , sugar or inulin . the addition of these diluents provide for easier dispersion , increased sweetness , and sometimes increased fiber . because of the variations in protein levels between the different systems , a number of ingredient addition charts were created to help determine the amount of each ingredient system needed to provide a specific level of added protein desired . the gram additions for each system are based on the amounts needed per serving to provide the indicated grams of protein . ultimately , the additives described herein may be supplied to the final food product manufacturer with instructions on mixing the liquid or dry additives with liquid or dry flavored base component to form a food product . the instructions may be similar to the proportions given in the charts of fig7 and 8 . the food product will primarily have the flavor of the base component , and have an enhanced protein level above that of the base component . fig7 is a chart showing amounts needed per serving for the various liquid additive formulations to attain particular protein levels . for example , to add 2 g &# 39 ; s of protein per serving to a desired flavored liquid product such as yogurt , 9 . 41 g &# 39 ; s of the liquid dairy additive that has been vat pasteurized is needed . so , if the final yogurt product has a mass of 30 g &# 39 ; s , then 9 . 41 g &# 39 ; s of such an additive is combined with 20 . 59 g &# 39 ; s of a flavored base component liquid product . of course , depending on the flavor desired and the relative proportions of the additive and base component , the flavor concentration of the base component liquid product will be enhanced to accommodate the unflavored liquid dairy additive . to add 15 g &# 39 ; s protein per serving to a yogurt base component , 70 . 59 g &# 39 ; s of the liquid dairy additive that has been vat pasteurized is needed . in that case , the final yogurt product may have a mass of 300 g &# 39 ; s , and 70 . 59 g &# 39 ; s of the additive is combined with 229 . 41 g &# 39 ; s of the flavored yogurt base component . to further clarify using the last example , it should be understood that the addition of 70 . 6 g &# 39 ; s of the vat pasteurized formula will add an additional 15 g &# 39 ; s of protein over and above the level already found in the product it is blended with . in the example used , 300 g &# 39 ; s is larger than a typical serving size . more typically , a total serving size may be 150 g &# 39 ; s in which 70 . 6 g &# 39 ; s of the vat pasteurized additive is blended with 79 . 4 g &# 39 ; s of a customer &# 39 ; s base component which contains 5 g &# 39 ; s of protein bringing the total to 20 g &# 39 ; s of protein . as mentioned , the different pasteurization processes affect the final protein level of the additives , with low vat pasteurization providing the highest level of protein , high - temperature short - time ( htst ) pasteurization less so , and ultra high - temperature ( uht ) pasteurization reduces the level of protein even further . the chart of fig7 illustrates the declining protein levels and concomitantly higher amount of additive needed for a particular protein boost for these pasteurization processes . fig8 is a chart showing amounts needed for the various dry additive formulations to attain particular protein levels . for example , to add 2 g &# 39 ; s of protein per serving to a desired flavored dry product such as a bread mix , 2 . 65 g &# 39 ; s of the concentrated dry dairy additive is needed . so , if the final bread mix product has a mass of 30 g &# 39 ; s , then 2 . 65 g &# 39 ; s of such an additive is combined with 27 . 35 g &# 39 ; s of a base component dry product . here again the amounts must be based on serving size . so , for instance , if the serving size of the bread mix is 30 g &# 39 ; s and the idea is to target 3 g &# 39 ; s of protein / serving but the starting level of a customer &# 39 ; s mix is only 1 . 1 g of protein , then an additional 2 . 65 g &# 39 ; s of the selected dry mix may be added to 27 . 35 g &# 39 ; s of an existing flavored base component to achieve the desired 3 g &# 39 ; s of protein . the powdered version is designed to be easily blended into other dry mixes , batters , dressings , hummus products , breads , and dry dessert mixes . the disclosed methods help offset the detrimental effects of using hard water in high protein mixes . often , manufacturing plants do not use soft water and the mixes and added minerals disclosed herein are able to compensate for hard water conditions . throughout this description , the embodiments and examples shown should be considered as exemplars , rather than limitations on the apparatus and procedures disclosed or claimed . although many of the examples presented herein involve specific combinations of method acts or system elements , it should be understood that those acts and those elements may be combined in other ways to accomplish the same objectives . with regard to flowcharts , additional and fewer steps may be taken , and the steps as shown may be combined or further refined to achieve the methods described herein . acts , elements and features discussed only in connection with one embodiment are not intended to be excluded from a similar role in other embodiments .	0
the essential components of the inventive cleaning compositions comprise tall oil fatty acid esters , organic solvents such as aliphatic hydrocarbons , aromatic hydrocarbons , oxygenated solvents or terpene hydrocarbons , and mixtures thereof and surfactant . the cleaning compositions may comprise a mixture of about 20 - 95 % by weight of tall oil fatty acid ester about 4 - 55 % by weight of an organic solvent , and about 1 - 10 % by weight of a surfactant . preferably , the cleaning composition contains a mixture of about 40 - 90 % by weight of tall oil fatty acid ester , 9 - 40 % by weight of an organic solvent , and 1 - 5 % by weight of a surfactant . cleaning compositions comprising tall oil fatty acid esters and either surfactant or solvent are also contemplated . the tall oil fatty acid ester acts as the base of the ink cleaning composition of the present invention . it is uniquely suited to this application because it is extremely low in volatile compounds . however , used by itself , it is not an efficient or productive product for the application . examples of commercially available tall oil fatty acid esters suitable for use in the cleaning compositions of this invention are nirez 9011 manufactured by arizona chemical company , panama city , fla ., and uniflex 171 manufactured by union camp corporation , wayne , n . j . the compositions of these tall oil fatty acid esters , by way of example , substantially comprise a mixture of alkyl esters , preferably c 1 alkyl or methyl esters , of aliphatic tall oil fatty acids , preferably a mixture of c 18 aliphatic carboxylic tall oil fatty acids , saturated or unsaturated . a preferred composition of the tall oily fatty acid ester according to the invention of c 18 oleic acid and c 18 linoleic acid , other c 18 fatty acids , rosin acids , other fatty acids , and unsaponifiables . the compositional analysis of the tall oil fatty acid methyl ester sold under the trademark nirez 9011 is approximately as shown in table 1 and table 2 : table 1______________________________________nirez 9011 ( 97 . 5 % esterified as a methyl ester ) ______________________________________ fatty acids 92 . 5 rosin acids 1 . 2 unsaponifiables 3 . 8 dimer acids 2 . 5 100 . 0______________________________________ table 2______________________________________fatty acids in nirez 9011______________________________________linoleic acid 24 . 6 c . sub . 18 h . sub . 32 o . sub . 2oleic acid 28 . 5 c . sub . 18 h . sub . 34 o . sub . 2stearic acid 7 . 1 c . sub . 18 h . sub . 36 o . sub . 2 * other c . sub . 18 fatty acids 38 . 0palmitic acid 1 . 8 100 . 0total unsaturated 55 . 1total saturated 44 . 9 100 . 0______________________________________ * other c . sub . 18 fatty acids include : scrambled c . sub . 18 fatty acids chain branched oleic type one double bond structurally hindered and inert therefore , the tall oil fatty acid ester according to the invention is most preferably primarily made of c 1 alkyl esters of tall oil fatty acids primarily comprising c 18 tall oil fatty acids selected primarily from c 18 oleic acid and c 18 linoleic acid , and also including rosin acids , unsaponifiables and other saturated and unsaturated fatty acids . examples of aliphatic hydrocarbons suitable for use in the cleaning compositions of this invention are mineral spirits , aliphatic naptha , such as solvent 140 ( medium aliphatic , c 9 - 12 , hydrocarbons ), solvent 360 , solvent 460 , and v , m , & amp ; p naphtha ( light aliphatic , c 7 - 8 , hydrocarbons ), stoddard solvent , gasoline , kerosene , and the like . examples of suitable aromatic hydrocarbons are toluene , xylene , aromatic 100 , ( petroleum hydrocarbon mixture of c 9 - 11 aromatic hydrocarbons which contain 1 , 2 , 4 - trimethylbenzene , xylene , cumene and ethyl benzene ), aromatic 150 ( petroleum hydrocarbon mixture of c 9 - 11 aromatic hydrocarbons which contain napthalene ), benzene , ethyl benzene and the like . examples of suitable oxygenated solvents are 2 - butoxy ethanol , 2propoxyethanol , dipropylene glycol monomethyl ether , isopropyl alcohol , acetone and the like . examples of suitable terpene hydrocarbons are d &# 39 ; limonine , dipentene , and the like . any of these solvents above , alone or in combination , may be used in the cleaning composition . the surfactant may be a nonionic or anionic surfactant . the surfactant is preferably nonionic such as nonylphenoxypoly ( ethylenoxy ) ethanol which is manufactured by rhone - poulenc under the tradename igepal co - 530 . therefore , in accordance with the broader principles of this invention , materials from the above mentioned categories are suitable for use in blending with the tall oil fatty acid ester , depending upon the cleaning , environmental and safety criteria required by a specific composition . the compositions are made by combining combinations of various aliphatic , aromatic , terpene hydrocarbon or oxygenated solvents and mixtures thereof and surfactant with the tall oil fatty acid ester to achieve a desired result . water may be added to such combinations . aliphatic hydrocarbons are generally used for their ink cleaning solvency . aromatic hydrocarbons are generally used for their ink cutting power . oxygenated solvents are generally used for their wide - range of solvency for both oil and water contaminants . terpene hydrocarbons are generally used for ink cutting power , and in some cases fragrancing . and surfactants are used , in combination with the above solvents and the tall oil fatty acid ester , to make the products water - miscible , i . e ., the ability to link oil and water chemistries together for a short period of time , which enhances the cleaning ability of the ink cleaning product wherein water may be added to the water - active cleaning composition for subsequent removal . this invention will be hereinafter explained in more detail by way of example . however , these examples should not be construed to limit the scope of the invention thereto and are to be understood merely for the purpose of illustration . ( all examples are % by weight ). ______________________________________example 1______________________________________aromatic 100 10 % mineral spirits 20 % igepal co - 530 1 % tall oil fatty acid ester 69 % ______________________________________ this formulation provides for 30 % voc content ( tested by epa method 24 ) and low aromatic content . it is a slow evaporating formula . ______________________________________example 2______________________________________aromatic 100 16 . 4 % mineral spirits 36 . 4 % igepal co - 530 1 % tall oil fatty acid ester 46 . 2 % ______________________________________ this formulation provides faster drying than example 1 and has better cutting power because of higher aromatic content . there is a 49 % voc content . ______________________________________example 3______________________________________dipropylene glycol monomethyl ether 20 % igepal co - 530 1 % tall oil fatty acid ester 79 % ______________________________________ this formulation provides a 20 % voc content . there are no petroleum hydrocarbons and it has a very high flash point . furthermore , the formulation is biodegradable . ______________________________________example 4______________________________________aromatic 150 16 . 4 % solvent 140 ( aliphatic ) 36 . 4 % igepal co - 530 1 % tall oil fatty acid ester 46 . 2 % ______________________________________ this formulation has a higher flash point than example 2 , and has excellent cleaning ability . ______________________________________example 5______________________________________d &# 39 ; limonene 15 % dipropylene glycol monomethyl ether 35 % igepal co - 530 1 % tall oil fatty acid ester 49 % ______________________________________ this formulation is a stronger cleaner than example 3 . furthermore , the formulation is biodegradable .	2
[ 0022 ] fig1 shows an example raid5 array 101 using four disk drives 110 - 113 with partitions configured and allocated according to the invention . the array 101 is configured by allocating user and redundant data partitions 102 - 105 and hot spare space partitions 106 - 109 distributed over all four disk drives in active use . the hot spare space partitions are used in the event of a disk failure . [ 0023 ] fig2 shows block level details of the allocations of various partitions 102 - 109 of the disk drives 110 - 113 . each disk drive has , for example , eighteen physical blocks that are labeled on the right as pb 0 - pb 17 . the raid5 array , presents the data to the user by mapping blocks accessed by the user to the physical blocks on the disk drive . those blocks are known as virtual blocks , each having a virtual block number labeled vbn 0 - vbn 35 for an array of thirty - six virtual blocks . the raid5 array also generates and maintains redundant data in the form of distributed parity blocks for the set of virtual blocks that contain user data at the same physical address as each of the other disk drives . for other raid sets , the redundant data could be duplicated data , or data created with operations other than an xor operation . the raid5 parity data is labeled as par 0 - par 11 in the array 101 . in addition to the virtual and parity blocks , there are also free blocks , which are labeled fbn - 0 through fbn - 5 . in the example shown , the free blocks are the last six physical blocks of each disk drive . note , the total number of free blocks distributed across one fewer than the total number of four disk drives ( 3 × 6 ), is equal to or greater than the number of data and parity blocks on a single disk drive of the array . in other words , if one disk drive fail completely , then the virtual and parity blocks of the failed disk drive can be rebuilt , in a redundant manner , in the free blocks of the remaining disk drives . note , with this configuration and allocation , the system has full use of all four disk drives , and can process disk access request faster than in the case where one disk drive sits aside idle as a “ hot ” spare disk drive as in the prior art . there , according to the invention , the configuration and allocation of the blocks on the disk drives of the array 101 is subject to the following constraints . number of virtual and parity blocks on each disk drive n . number of free blocks used for hot spare space on each disk drive f , where it should be understood that the invention can also be used with other like mappings of physical , virtual , parity , and free blocks that obey the above constraints , and that in practical applications each disk drive has tens of thousands of blocks . [ 0035 ] fig3 shows the data in the array after disk 3 104 has failed . the array is now operating in a degraded state , with no redundant data to protect the user from another disk drive failure . after the failure is detected , a process begins to rebuild a new raid5 array on the remaining disk drives has redundant data . as a feature of the present invention , unlike the prior art , the rebuilt can begin immediately while the array remains accessible for user operation . in fig3 the data 102 - 103 - 105 on the remaining disk drives 110 - 111 - 113 is shown , along with data 301 to be rebuilt from the virtual and parity blocks of the remaining data . data 301 represents the data that was stored on the failed disk drive . after a disk drive failure , the rebuild process begins as shown in fig3 by moving the last virtual block vbn 35 , to the block of free space on the last physical block on the last disk drive 113 labeled fb 4 - 5 . the arrow 302 shows this movement of data . next , the second to last virtual block vbn 34 is moved into the last physical block on the second to last functioning disk drive 111 shown as block fb 2 - 5 . the arrow 303 shows this movement of data . after that , the parity data , i . e ., redundant data is generated from blocks vbn 34 and vbn 35 using an exclusive or ( xor ) operation . the parity data is stored on the first disk 110 in the block labeled fb 1 - 5 . the arrow 304 shows this data generation and movement . [ 0038 ] fig4 shows the data stored on the disk drives 110 - 111 - 113 . specifically data shown on these disk drives is shown in the new partitions 102 - 103 - 402 and in the new free space areas 403 - 404 - 405 . specifically , disk 4 113 , data partition 402 , now has a new free block fb 4 - a where vbn 35 used to be , and block vbn 35 is now on the old free space 404 of that disk . the new generated data 401 , no longer generates the data for block vbn 34 and that block is unused because block vbn 34 is now stored on the free space 403 of disk 2 111 . the new parity data block npr 17 generated from block vbn 34 and block vbn 35 is stored in the partition 405 that used to have only free space . [ 0039 ] fig4 also illustrates the next movement of data in the process . block vbn 33 is moved into block fb 4 - 4 as shown by arrow 406 . block vbn 32 is then moved into block fb 1 - 4 as shown by arrow 408 . a new parity block is generated from blocks vbn 33 and vbn 32 and stored in block fb 2 - 4 . [ 0040 ] fig5 shows the result after the movements described in the above paragraph . the disk drives that are still functioning 110 - 111 - 113 , now store a new set of data 501 - 506 as a result of those movements . specifically , the resulting partitions in the old array 501 - 502 - 503 now have new free blocks fb 2 - a , fb 1 - a and fb 4 - b , and the resulting free space areas 504 - 505 - 506 , which are now partitions used in the new raid5 array , have blocks vbn 33 , npr 16 , and vbn 32 . the process of moving the data continues for each of the remaining blocks in the same manner until all of the data has been built and moved to different physical blocks , on the remaining three functioning disk drives . [ 0042 ] fig6 illustrates the final arrangement of data . the functioning disk drives 110 - 111 - 113 now have all of the data and parity 601 - 602 - 604 required for a level raid - 5 array which still can withstand another single disk drive failure . the resulting raid5 array is at the same raid level as the original array . there is no longer a need for any generated data 603 to be presented to the user . [ 0043 ] fig7 shows the final protected raid5 array 701 at the topmost level . the user and parity data 601 - 602 - 604 are only stored on the functioning disk drives 110 - 111 - 113 , while disk 3 112 remains broken . disk 3 only presents bad blocks 702 to the raid subsystem , and those blocks 702 are no longer used in any array . the description details the step by step process of rebuilding a raid5 set using distributed hot spare space when a single disk drive fails . if , after the rebuild operation , it is desired to have enough hot spare space for another rebuild , then the free space shown in fig1 is large enough to accommodate the necessary additional free space . more specifically , this enables data recovery in the case where a disk drive fails , a rebuild finishes , and then another disk drive fails subsequently . by implementing this additional free space , a subsequent failure can still automatically begin the rebuild operation . thus , an array configured according to the invention can tolerate multiple sequential disk drive failures . sequential disk drive failures is defined as failures which occur after a rebuild completes so that the array is no longer operating in a degraded state at the time of failure . to accommodate the additional hot spare space after a rebuild , the configuration and allocation of the blocks on the disk drives of the array 101 is now subject to the following constraints : number of virtual and parity blocks on each disk drive n . number of free blocks used for hot spare space on each disk drive f , where all of the steps described above are performed for each sequential failure , still leaving a rebuild array with level raid5 redundancy . the blocks are now allocated with the following constraints : where d is now the total number of disk drives used by the new array . the resulting array can go through the rebuild procedure ( m − 1 ) more times . while the procedures above describe the invention in the context of a raid5 set , other raid sets , which allow for more than one disk drive failure , can also be used . some raid levels that can withstand more than one concurrent disk drive failure are raid10 , raid6 , and raid1 with more than two duplicated disk drives . concurrent disk drive failures are defined as disk drive failures that occur before a rebuild completes . for any of these cases , the step by step process for rebuilding the array to a repaired state at the identical raid redundancy level , consists of moving data and generating new multiply redundant data into the free space areas similar to the steps described for raid5 . instead of just one parity block , multiple blocks of redundant information are created . the most important difference is the amount of free space needed to enable for multiple disk drives failing concurrently . to accommodate a rebuild with multiple disk drives failing concurrently , the configuration and allocation of the blocks on the disk drives of array 101 is subject to the following constraints : number of virtual and parity blocks on each disk drive n . number of free blocks used for hot spare space on each disk drive f , where by adding additional free space , the array configured according to the invention can tolerate multiple disk drive concurrent failures , for example , another failure before the rebuild can commence , or a failure during rebuild . [ 0072 ] fig8 shows the steps used by the method for configuring , allocating , and rebuilding a raid subsystem according to the invention . first , the raid array is configured and allocated to hold user data , and redundant blocks are generated from the user data in step 801 . when this configuration takes place , free space is allocated to be used as distributed hot spare space in step 802 . the raid subsystem then detects a failure in step 803 , and a rebuild operation begins in step 804 . the rebuild operation uses the surviving user blocks , and the redundant data to recreate the user blocks of the failed disk drive . the newly generated user data and redundant data are moved into the previously allocated free blocks to result an array at the identical raid level as before the failure that still has full redundancy . detailed descriptions of the preferred embodiment are provided herein . it is to be understood , however , that the present invention may be embodied in various forms . therefore , specific details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting , but rather as a basis for the claims and as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to employ the present invention in virtually any appropriately detailed system , structure or manner .	6
the carry bag 10 shown in fig1 includes a base plate 12 , an airtight bag 14 with a ziplock opening 16 and a suction pump coupling 18 attached to the airtight bag 14 , and a protective outer sleeve 20 with a suction pump 22 attached thereto . air can be evacuated from the bag 14 to compress any contents 24 therein against the base plate 12 in the manner as shown schematically in fig2 by connecting the suction pump 22 to the coupling 18 and operating same . the carry bag 30 shown in fig3 to 5 is used , in a first stage , to receive contents through an outer sealable opening 32 . the opening 32 is then closed to provide an airtight enclosure around the contents , and a hand pump 34 is then operated to evacuate air from the airtight enclosure . flexible walls of the enclosure compress against the contents and hold them tightly in place . the one way valve 36 shown in fig6 ensures that air cannot return into the enclosure during and after the operation of the hand pump 34 . the carry bag 40 shown in fig7 to 10 is similar in structure and function to the carry bags described above , but is adapted specifically for use as a backpack . like features between the carry bags have been assigned like numerals in the drawings . fig1 , in particular , identifies the inner bag 14 evacuated of air and its walls and the contents enclosed therewithin compressed against the rigid support wall 42 . the carry bag 50 shown in fig1 to 13 is adapted specifically for use as a pannier for a motorcycle . again , like features have been assigned like numerals in the drawings . the carry bag 60 shown in fig1 to 18 is used , in a first stage , to receive contents 62 through an outer sealable opening 64 . the opening 64 is then closed to provide an airtight enclosure 66 around the contents , and a hand pump 68 is then operated to evacuate air from the airtight enclosure . flexible walls 69 of the enclosure compress against the contents and hold them tightly in place . the volume of space occupied by the carry bag 60 has thus been significantly reduced and the contents are prevented from movement relative to the bag . the carry bag 70 shown in fig1 and 20 is similar in structure and function to the carry bags described above , but is adapted specifically for use as a backpack . fig2 , in particular , identifies an airtight bag 72 evacuated of air and its walls and the contents enclosed therewithin compressed against a rigid support wall 71 . the backpack 70 includes a stiffened base plate which serves as the support wall 71 , an airtight bag 72 having a flexible wall with a ziplock opening 74 that provides an airtight resealable closure , a one - way air valve 76 mounted to the flexible wall , and a flexible air hose 78 connected at one end to the valve 76 and at the other end to a vacuum pump 80 . air can be evacuated from the bag 72 to compress contents 82 of the bag against the rigid support wall 71 in the manner as shown schematically in fig2 by manually operating the vacuum pump 80 ( according to a reciprocating or pumping motion of the pump ). the outward flow of air from the bag 72 and through the air hose 78 is shown by arrows a , and the inward movement or compression of the flexible wall of the bag against the contents 82 is shown by arrows b . the backpack 70 can thus be worn with the aid of shoulder straps 84 by a user and , as the flexible wall of the airtight bag 72 firmly follows the outermost shape or profile of the contents 82 , the contents will not move relative to the backpack during even violent movement of the user wearing same and the total volume of space occupied by the backpack 70 is significantly reduced . the carry bag 90 shown in fig2 to 23 is similar in structure and function to the carry bags described above , but is adapted specifically for use as a medium sized backpack , also known as a daypack . it has a very light weight structure consisting of an airflow or breathable vest 92 , a cavity 94 for a hydration container , say , for a sports beverage , and dual waterproof independent chambers ( only a single chamber 96 shown ) which are capable of being evacuated of air therewithin by a pump device 98 . the daypack also has foam ribs 97 for back aeration and a waste strap 99 with a foam support . the pump assembly 101 shown in fig2 and 25 may be used in or with any one of the carry bags described above . the pump assembly 101 utilizes two simple one way valves . an inner , smaller valve 102 maintains an airtight seal of the bag when the pump assembly is not in use . to this end , the pump assembly has been designed to close off the inner valve 102 by means of an extension 103 to a top moulding of a valve cap 104 , which clamps down on the inner valve 102 when the pump assembly is shut after use . there is a bayonet style fitting between the top and bottom mouldings . the valves are of a conventional kind found on rubber inflatables and on simple foot pumps used for camping , and have thin rubber sheets that act as a type of diaphragm seal . the concave form of the valves ensures that they remain in a closed state unless forced open by pressure from beneath or within the carry bag it will be readily apparent to persons skilled in the art that various modifications may be made in details of design and construction of the carry bag described above without departing from the scope or ambit of the present invention .	0
the present invention describes photoactive novel compounds that absorb ultraviolet radiation at wavelengths below 350 nm , and after absorption of the radiation these compounds rearrange and react to give compounds that are less absorbing at the irradiation wavelengths , which provides for a very useful photosensitive component for photoresists , especially deep uv photoresists . the invention further provides for a process for preparing these compounds . the photoactive compounds of the invention are 3 - diazo 2 , 4 - quinolinedione compounds , based on the structure : ## str5 ## where , r 1 is h , alkyl , substituted alkyl , aryl or aralkyl , x is a connecting group selected from a group consisting of so 2 , co , o or nr 1 , z is a carbon containing organic ballast moeity that has molecular weight greater than 75 and can form a bond with the connecting group , in the above definition and throughout the present specification , alkyl means linear and branched alkyl having the desirable number of carbon atoms and valence . furthermore , alkyl also includes aliphatic cyclic groups , which may be monocyclic , bicyclic , tricyclic and so on . suitable linear alkyl groups include methyl , ethyl , propyl , butyl , pentyl , etc . ; branched alkyl groups include isopropyl , iso or tert butyl , branched pentyl , hexyl , octyl , etc ; monocyclic alkyl groups include cyclopentyl , cyclohexyl and cycloheptyl ; bicyclic alkyl groups include substituted bicyclo 2 . 2 . 1 ! heptane , bicyclo 2 . 2 . 1 ! octane , bicyclo 2 . 2 . 2 ! octane , bicyclo 3 . 2 . 1 ! octane , bicyclo 3 . 2 . 2 ! nonane , and bicyclo 3 . 3 . 2 ! decane , and the like . examples of tricyclic alkyl groups include tricyclo 5 . 4 . 0 . 0 . 2 , 9 ! undecane , tricyclo 4 . 2 . 1 . 2 . 7 , 9 ! undecane , tricyclo 5 . 3 . 2 . 0 . 4 , 9 ! dodecane , and tricyclo 5 . 2 . 1 . 0 . 2 , 6 ! decane . as mentioned herein the cyclic alkyl groups may have any of the alkyl alkoxy , ester , hydroxyl or halo groups as substituents . other alkyl substituents envisioned as being within the scope of this invention are divalent groups such as methylene , 1 , 1 - or 1 , 2 - ethylene , 1 , 1 -, 1 , 2 -, or 1 , 3 propylene and so on ; a divalent cyclic alkyl group may be 1 , 2 - or 1 , 3 - cyclopentylene , 1 , 2 -, 1 , 3 -, or 1 , 4 - cyclohexylene , and the like . a divalent tricyclo alkyl groups may be any of the tricyclic alkyl groups mentioned herein above . a particularly useful tricyclic alkyl group in this invention is 4 , 8 - bis ( methylene )- tricyclo 5 . 2 . 1 . 0 . 2 , 6 ! decane . aryl substituents include unsubstituted or alkyl , alkoxy , hydroxyl , ester or halo substituted aryl groups , such as , phenyl , tolyl , bisphenyls , trisphenyls , phenylenes , biphenylenes , and others . fluoroalky groups may be linear or branched and can be represented by trifluoromethyl , 1 , 1 , 2 - trifluoroethyl , pentafluoroethyl , perfluoropropyl , perfluorobutyl , and 1 , 1 , 2 , 3 , 3 - pentafluorobutyl . alkoxy substituents can include methoxy , ethoxy , n - propoxy , isopropoxy , n - butoxy , isobutoxy , tert - butoxy , pentyloxy , hexyloxy , heptyloxy , octyloxy , nonanyloxy , decanyloxy , 4 - methyihexyloxy , 2 - propylheptyloxy , 2 - ethyloctyloxy , phenoxy , tolyloxy , xylyloxy , phenylmethoxy , amongst others . the connecting group , x , is a reactive functionality that can link the diazo containing residue to the carbon containing ballast moiety , z , and furthermore , x can be represented by groups such as so 2 , co , nr 1 or oxygen and x can be in 5 , 6 , 7 or 8 position of the diazo residue . in one prefered embodiment of the invention , x is in the 6 position of the diazo residue . the ballast moiety of the photoactive compound described in this invention is a compound that is substantially transparent at the irradiation wavelength and is capable of reacting with the diazo containing residue to give a product that is stable in the photoresist composition and coated photoresist film . the appropriate choice of the ballast moeity is critical to properties of the photoactive compound . in particular , when the photoactive compound of this invention is mixed with an appropriate resin and and an appropriate solvent , and coated onto a substrate and processed to give an image , the solubility and stability of the photoactive compound is essential to the final performance of the photoresist . the carbon containing organic ballast compound , z , may be selected from a group consisting of a polymer having an oxygen or nitrogen pendant group , and a ballast group having a formula : ( r 3 -) n , r 3 -( o ) n , r 3 -( co ) n , r 3 -( co 2 ) n , r 3 -( r 4 n ) n or r 5 ( so 2 ) n , where r 3 to r 5 are independently alkyl having greater than about 6 carbon atom , aryl or aralkyl and n is the degree of diazotization . ballast compounds z - r 6 , where z is the ballast moeity and r 6 is h , oh , cl or br , that are within the scope of this invention , but not limited to , are hydroxybenzophenones , such as 4 , 4 &# 39 ; dihydroxybenzophenone , 2 , 3 , 4 trihydroxybenzophenone , 2 , 3 , 4 , 4 &# 39 ; tetrahydroxybenzophenone , etc . ; phenolic compounds , such as , bisphenol a , trishydroxyphenylalkanes , phenolic oligomers , trischloroformates of trishydroxy phenyl alkanes or , trihydroxy benzophenones , tetrahydroxy benzophenones , polyhydroxyphenylsulphones , pyrogallols , resorcinols , cresols , phenols , phthaloyl halide , 1 , 3 , 5 benzenetricarboxyl halide , etc . ; aliphatic compounds containing hydroxy and / or amino functionality , such as , 4 , 8 - biscarbonyl - tricyclo 5 . 2 . 1 . 0 . 2 , 6 ! decane , 4 , 8 - bis ( chlorocarbonyl )- tricyclo 5 . 2 . 1 . 0 . 2 , 6 ! decane , polymers containing hydroxy or amino pendant groups , such as poly4 - hydroxystyrene , poly ( 2 - hydroxystyrene 4 - hydroxystyrene ), copolymers of hydroxystyrene and a member selected from a group consisting of acrylate , methacrylate and mixtures thereof , poly ( hydroxystyrene - co - t - butylcarbonyloxystyrene ), poly ( hyroxystyrene - co - hydroxymethylstyrene ), poly ( hyroxystyrene - co - acetoxymethylstyrene ), alkyl substituted polyvinylphenols , polymers and copolymers of acrylic acid , vinyl alcohol , maleimide , maleic anhydride etc . the molecular weight of the ballast moeity is greater than 75 and preferably an organic group containing greater than six carbon atoms , more preferably greater than 150 , and most preferably greater than 175 . generally the value of n , that is , the degree of diazotization of the ballast group , is preferably greater than 1 . in a polymer the degree of diazotization can be significantly larger than 1 and is largely dependent on both the solubility of the diazotized polymer in the photoresist solvent and also its lithographic performance . the present invention further provides a process for preparing novel photosensitive 3 - diazo 2 , 4 - quinolinedione compounds comprising the steps of : a ) providing a quinolone compound having the formula : ## str6 ## where , r 1 is h , alkyl , substituted alkyl , aryl or aralkyl , r is independently h , alkyl , alkoxy , aryl , aralkyl , halo or fluoroalkyl , x is a connecting group selected from a group consisting of so 2 , co , o or nr 1 , r 2 is h , oh , alkali oxide or alkali salt , and b ) subjecting the quinolone compound to diazo transfer in the presence of a diazo transfer agent to form a 3 - diazo 2 , 4 - quinolinedione compound ; c ) halogenating the 3 - diazo 2 , 4 - quinolinedione compound using a halogenating agent to give a halogenated 3 - diazo 2 , 4 - quinolinedione compound of a formula : ## str7 ## where , r 1 is h , alkyl , substituted alkyl , aryl or aralkyl , r is independently h , alkyl , alkoxy , aryl , aralkyl , halo or fluoroalkyl , x is a connecting group selected from a group consisting of so 2 , o , nr 1 or co , and d ) reacting the halogenated 3 - diazo 2 , 4 - quinolinedione with z - h , where z is a ballast moeity described below , in the presence of a base to form the photosensitive 3 - diazo 2 , 4 - quinolinedione compound of the formula : ## str8 ## where , r 1 is h , alkyl , substituted alkyl , aryl or aralkyl , r is independently h , alkyl , alkoxy , aryl , aralkyl , halo or fluoroalkyl , x is a connecting group selected from a group consisting of so 2 , co , o or nr 1 , z is a carbon containing ballast moeity having molecular weight greater than 75 and can form a bond with the connecting group , in another embodiment the invention also provides a process for preparing photosensitive 3 - diazo 2 , 4 - quinolinedione compounds comprising the steps of : a ) providing a quinolone compound having the formula : ## str9 ## where , r 1 is h , alkyl , substituted alkyl , aryl or aralkyl , r is independently h , alkyl , alkoxy , aryl , aralkyl , halo or fluoroalky , and b ) providing a ballast compound z - ha , where z is the carbon containing organic moeity having molecular weight greater than 75 and can form a bond with the connecting group , and ha is cl , br , i or anhydride ; c ) condensing the compound from a ) and b ) in the presence of a base to form the product with the formula , ## str10 ## where r 1 is h , alkyl , substituted alkyl , aryl or aralkyl , r is independently h , alkyl , alkoxy , aryl , aralkyl , halo or fluoroalkyl , z is a carbon containing ballast moeity having molecular weight greater than 75 and can form a bond with the connecting group , d ) subjecting the product from c ) to diazo transfer in the presence of a diazo transfer agent to form a 3 - diazo 2 , 4 - quinolinedione compound of the formula : ## str11 ## where , r 1 is h , alkyl , substituted alkyl , aryl or aralkyl , r is independently h , alkyl , alkoxy , aryl , aralkyl , halo or fluoroalkyl , z is a carbon containing ballast moeity having molecular weight greater than 75 and can form a bond with the connecting group , the starting material , as shown below , may be purchased or synthesized by any of the known techniques . ## str12 ## where , r , r 1 , r 2 , and x are as defined above . a specific compound , n - methyl - 4 - hydroxy - 6 - sulpho - 2 - quinolone or its salts can be obtained from dye star , charlotte , n . c . one process step of the invention involves the diazo transfer reaction . this can be done using any reactant capable of transfering the diazo , n 2 , group to the 3 position of the starting quinolonedione compound . a typical diazo transfer reagent is described by w . dorring in journal of american chemical society vol . 75 , page 5955 ( 1953 ) and incorporated herein by reference . the diazo transfer reaction to the quinolone material requires a stoichiometric amount of the diazo transfer reagent ; however , an excess is prefered to take the reaction to completion . additionally , a base is preferably present in the reaction mixture . tosyl azide ( p - toluenesulfonyl azide ) is an example of a diazo transfer reagent . others may be naphthalene sulfonyl azide , p - carboxybenzene sulfonyl azide , 2 , 4 , 6 triisopropyl sulfonyl azide or p - dodecylbenzene sulfonyl azide . bases that can be used are triethylamine , pyridine , piperidine , sodium hydroxide , sodium carbonate , imidazole and others . the reaction solvent may be acetonitrile , benzene , pentanone , dichloromethane , methanol , amongst others . the temperature of the diazo transfer reaction can range from about 10 ° c . to about 50 ° c ., preferably from about 20 ° c . to about 40 ° c . the reaction is normally carried out at atmospheric pressure , but pressures below and above atmosphere may be used . the time of the reaction varies with the other conditions of temperature and pressure , but can range from 30 minutes to 30 hours . the reaction may be carried out under an inert atmosphere , such as nitrogen . the halogenation step converts the group on the benzyl residue that contains the hydrogen or hydroxyl end group , for example , n - methyl 3 - diazo 6 - sulfonic acid 2 , 4 - quinolinedione or its salts , to the corresponding halide . thus n - methyl 3 - diazo 6 - sulfonic acid quinolinedione may be converted to n - methyl 3 - diazo 6 - chlorosulfonate 2 , 4 - quinolinedione . particular chlorinating agents that may be used , although other halogenating agents may also be used , are thionyl chloride , chlorosulfonic acid , phosgene or phosphorus pentachloride or mixtures thereof ; any of these may or may not be in solution . solvents that may be used , but are not limited to , are chloroform or methylene chloride . the reaction temperature can range from 10 ° to about 60 ° c ., preferably from about 20 ° to about 45 ° c ., and the reaction time can range from about 30 minutes to about 4 hours . upon completion of the reaction the mixture is dropped into an excess of ice to precipitate the product . the product is washed well until the water effluent is ph is 6 - 7 , and dried . another step of the process of this invention is the funtionalization of the ballast group to the quinolone or 3 - diazo 2 , 4 - quinolonedione . this is carried out by reacting the ballast compound , which has been described previously , with the quinolone or the dione compound . the amount of ballast compound added is dependent on the degree of functionalization desired . this can range from about 5 % to about 100 %, since the properties of the photoactive compound , especially in a photosensitive composition are determined by the degree of functionalization . the reaction solvent can be any of the typical solvents used for this type of reaction , including butyrolactone , acetone , propyleneglycol monomethyl ether , etc . the reaction time can range from about 30 minutes to about 8 hours . the reaction temperature can range from about 10 ° to about 40 ° c ., preferably 20 ° to 30 ° c . it is prefered that all the reactions be carried out without white light or sunlight , since the products of the reactions are light sensitive . typically yellow fluorescent light is prefered . the following specific examples will provide detailed illustrations of the methods of producing and utilizing the compositions of the present invention . these examples are not intended to limit or restrict the scope of the invention in any way and should not be construed as providing conditions , parameters or values which must be utilized exclusively in order to practice the present invention . materials : the sulfoquinolone ( i ) was obtained from the dye star , charlotte , n . c ., where ( i ) is the sodium salt of methyl , 4 hydroxy 6 - sulfo 2 - quinolone . synthesis of tosyl azide ( synthesis taken from dorring w ., j . am . chem . soc . 75 , 5955 ( 1953 ) in a 250 ml round bottom flask ( rbf ) was added 60 ml of deionized ( di ) water and 21 g ( 0 . 32 mole ) of sodium azide . it was mixed at room temperature for 15 minutes until all the sodium azide was in solution . in a 1 liter round bottom flask was added 300 ml of methanol and 50 . 1 g ( 0 . 26 moles ) of toluenesulfonyl chloride ( tosyl chloride ). the solution was mixed at room temperature until all of the tosyl chloride was dissolved . the sodium azide solution was added to the tosyl chloride solution and let mix for 1 hour . the solution darkened and a second phase formed . after the 1 hour hold the reaction was poured into 1200 ml of 20 ° c . di water . two phases formed and the bottom layer was kept . the bottom layer was washed twice with 100 ml of di water . the yield was 32 . 4 grams . to a 3 necked 1 liter rbf was added 400 ml methanol , 40 . 7 g ( 0 . 16 moles ) of starting material ( i ) and 34 g ( 0 . 34 moles ) of triethylamine . the starting material ( i ) totally dissolved in the methanol . tosyl azide 32 . 4 g ( 0 . 16 moles ) was added with stirring all at one time . the solution started clear and turned a pinkish brown color . a precipitate was formed . the reaction was stirred for 24 hours at room temperature and the precipitate was filtered off and washed well with 200 ml of methanol . the product was then dried under vacuum at room temperature . the yield was 34 g . a 3 necked 250 ml rbf was set up with a thermometer and external water bath for either cooling or heating . to the 250 ml rbf was added 50 ml chlorosulfonic acid . compound 11 ( 10 g , 0 . 027 moles ) was carefully added to the chlorosulfonic acid keeping the reaction temperature below 30 ° c . an external water bath was used for cooling the reaction as needed . the reaction / addition was exothermic . after the addition to the chlorosulfonic acid , the reaction was mixed for 30 minutes at 25 °- 30 ° c . after 30 minutes , to dissolve compound ii , the reaction was warmed to 45 °- 50 ° c . next , 8 . 1 g ( 0 . 063 moles ) of thionyl chloride was added slowly to the reaction using a dropping funnel and maintaining the 45 °- 50 ° c . temperature . this step was exothermic . the rate of addition of thionyl chloride was controlled both by the temperature and by the foaming / gas evolution . the reaction was held with stirring for 30 minutes at 45 °- 50 ° c . after all of the thionyl chloride had been added . next , the reaction was cooled to 20 ° c . the cooled reaction product was carefully and slowly added to 300 g of ice in a 1 liter beaker . as the product was added to the ice / water , the product slurry was stirred . the crude compound iii was filtered and washed well with di water ( 2 liter ) until the ph was 6 - 7 . the product was rinsed with 250 ml of isopropyl alcohol and dried under vacuum at room temperature . the yield was 7 . 9 g . a solution of 2 . 4 g of 1 , 4 - diazabicyclo ( 2 , 2 , 2 ) octane ( dabco ) in 15 ml of gamma butyrolactone ( blo ) was prepared in a 50 ml rbf . to a 100 ml 3 neck rbf was added 3 . 06 ( 0 . 01 moles ) of 1 , 1 , 1 - tris -( 4 - hydroxyphenyl ) ethane ( thpe ), 5 . 7 g ( 0 . 020 moles ) of diazo chloride iii , and 30 ml of blo with magnetic stirring . the reaction was mixed until everything was in solution . the dabco solution was slowly added to the reaction with stirring keeping the temperature below 30 ° c . the reaction was stirred for 1 hour at room temperature after the base addition . after the 1 hour hold , 2 ml of glacial acetic acid was added . the reaction was let stand at room temperature for an additional hour . during the 1 hour hold a 200 ml solution of 10 % aqueous methanol was prepared . the aqueous methanol was cooled to 10 ° c . the reaction was filtered through a whatman # 4 filter . the reaction was then drowned into the cooled aqueous methanol with stirring . the aqueous methanol was maintained at 10 °- 15 ° c . during the drowning step . the product was filtered and washed well with di water to minimum conductivity . the product was redissolved in 40 ml of acetone and then drowned into 400 ml of 9 % concentrated hci at 25 ° c . the product was filtered and washed well until neutrality . it was dried at 40 ° c . under vacuum . the yield was 5 grams . a uv spectrum of the solution of the product in acetonitrile was taken before and after irradiation with deep uv light . the compound was shown to absorb in the wavelength range of 220 nm to 285 nm , and upon irradiation the absorption was reduced due to the decomposition .	2
turning now to the drawings , wherein like parts are indicated throughout the specification and drawings with the same reference numerals , and more specifically to fig1 a typical valve head 10 of an internal combustion engine is shown in a top view . a portion of a variable ratio rocker arm assembly mechanism incorporating the concept of the variable ratio level arm mechanism of the present invention is shown , generally illustrated at 12 , functionally mounted on top of the head 10 . for purposes of simplicity in explanation , the instant invention will be described in terms of its application as a rocker arm assembly utilized in a conventional overhead valve type internal combustion engine . however , it is to be understood that the variable ratio level arm mechanism of the instant invention is not to be so limited in its application and use , but rather may be equally well adapted to use in any mechanical application wherein it is desirable or advantageous to utilize the inventive concept of varying the fulcrum point in a pivoting lever arrangement to thereby alter the ratio of distance of linear travel of connecting rods or the like associated therewith . as utilized in an internal combustion engine , the variable ratio level arm mechanism of the present invention takes the form of a rocker arm 14 mounted for pivotal movement upon a fulcrum rod 16 . the fulcrum rod 16 is maintained in a spaced relationship relative to the valve head 10 by a stationary shaft support 18 , hard mounted to the valve head by bolts 20 or other similar mounting apparatus . the fulcrum rod 16 also includes an operating lever 22 or other similar device for rotating the fulcrum rod in response to changing load conditions on the engine , as will be explained in greater detail hereinbelow . as shown in fig2 the rocker arm 14 is functionally positioned about the fulcrum rod 16 in order to pivot thereabout to cause opening of a valve 24 in response to linear ( upward as shown in the drawings ) movement of a pushrod 26 in a customary manner . the rocker arm 14 comprises an inner sleeve 28 of generally rectangular cross - section , the sleeve being pressfitted into and brazed , tack - welded or otherwise permanently fixed to a rocker arm body portion 30 . the sleeve 28 defines an elongate through passageway or aperture 29 through the rocker arm by which the rocker arm is pivotally mounted to the fulcrum rod . of course , the rocker arm could also be formed of a single piece , with an elongate aperture machined or otherwise formed therein . the body portion 30 includes a first end 32 for engaging the pushrod 26 . as shown , the pushrod 26 includes a semi - spherical end 34 which engages a mating semi - spherical receptacle 36 in the rocker arm body portion first end 32 . those skilled in the art will immediately recognize that such mechanical coupling is commonly utilized in conjunction with hydraulically operated valve lifters , there being no mechanical adjustment necessary for efficient opening of the valve 24 . additionally , of course , the present invention contemplates using standard mechanical &# 34 ; solid &# 34 ; valve lifters , in which case a mechanical adjustment , commonly a screw mechanism carried by the rocker arm body portion first end 32 , is utilized to effect the necessary mechanical adjustment . the rocker arm body portio 30 also includes a second end 38 opposite the first end 32 , the second end having a valve stem engaging surface 42 for engaging the end of a valve stem 40 of the valve 24 . generally , the end of the valve stem 40 is as flat as possible ; therefore , the valve stem engaging surface 42 is slightly arcuate in order that the engagement between the valve stem and the rocker arm will be as much of a surface contact ( theoretically a line contact ) as is possible , across the entire range of pivot of the rocker arm about the fulcrum rod 16 . it is imperative to maintain this surface contact between the rocker arm surface 42 and the top of the valve stem . the instant invention does so in a unique manner , while additionally reducing any side loading on the valve stem created by conventional fulcrum shaft - type rocker arm assemblies . as shown in fig2 the fulcrum rod 16 incorporates a number of axial splines 36 defining axial grooves 44 therebetween . as shown , these grooves and splines 44 , 46 are formed only on essentially the bottom half of the fulcrum rod 16 , the top half thereof retaining the cylindrical shape . these axial grooves and splines 44 , 46 on the fulcrum rod 16 are adapted to engage mating splines and grooves 48 , 50 formed in the bottom of the aperture 29 formed in the rocker arm sleeve 28 . those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the rocker arm and fulcrum rod assembly thus described pivots in a manner different from conventional rocker arm and fulcrum rod assemblies . whereas conventional rocker arms pivot about the geometric centerline axis of the fulcrum rod due to their concentric cylindrical relationship , the rocker arm 14 of fig2 pivots about the fulcrum rod 16 about a pivot point generally along the midpoint of contact between the mating splines , as in other meshing gear mechanisms , this pivot point actually moving as the rocker arm pivots relative to the fulcrum rod . in this regard , it will be apparent that any contact between the upper inner surface 52 of the rocker arm sleeve aperture and the upper surface 54 of the fulcrum rod 16 will be a sliding contact , and the contact between the lower portion of the fulcrum rod and the mating inner surface of the rocker arm sleeve will be a purely gear mesh type contact between splines and grooves on the fulcrum rod and rocker arm sleeve as the fulcrum rod &# 34 ; walks &# 34 ; along the splined surface . as a practical matter , however , the width ( height ) of the rocker arm aperture will be slightly greater than the diameter of the fulcrum rod in order to permit thermal expansion thereof without interference . therefore , there will usually be no actual contact between these surfaces . the rocker arm 14 shown in fig2 functions with the stationary shaft support 18 shown in fig3 to retain the fulcrum rod 16 and rocker arm in functional position relative to the valve head , the pushrod and valve stem . the stationary shaft support includes an aperture therethrough 56 having an upper inner surface 58 and a lower inner surface defined by a series of alternate splines and grooves 60 , 62 that cooperate with the mating grooves and splines 44 , 46 on the fulcrum rod 16 to retain the fulcrum rod in functional position as shown . those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the shaft support aperture upper inner surface 58 and the fulcrum rod upper surface 54 are two of the mating load bearing surfaces in the variable ratio rocker arm assembly utilizing the present invention . in this regard , these mating surfaces are preferably surface - hardened and highly grounded and polished in order to improve the wear characteristics thereof and to decrease any friction between the two surfaces during operation , as will be explained in greater detail hereinbelow . regarding the mating load bearing surfaces of the fulcrum rod and rocker arm , referring again to fig2 these load bearing surfaces are defined by the alternate splines and grooves on the lower portion of the fulcrum rod and lower inner surface of the rocker arm sleeve aperture . therefore , these mating surfaces are additionally surface hardened and highly ground and polished for identical reasons , although , of course , the contact between these latter two mating surfaces is different from that of the former two mating surfaces . the variable ratio rocker arm assembly utilizing the present invention operates similarly to conventional rocker arm assemblies , in that the rocker arm is pivotally mounted on the fulcrum rod for oscillatory pivotal movement thereabout in response to reciprocal linear movement of the pushrod to transfer this reciprocal linear movement and resulting force to the valve stem 40 in order to open the valve 24 . the fulcrum rod 16 is retained in functional position relative to the rocker arm by the action of the axial grooves and splines 44 , 46 thereon intermeshing with the mating grooves and splines 60 , 62 on the shaft support aperture lower inner surface . with the fulcum rod retained in stationary position relative to the stationary shaft support , the rocker arm pivots about the fulcrum rod in a manner to maintain approximately constant the ratios of the linear reciprocal movement of the pushrod relative to the linear reciprocal movement of the valve stem , as in conventional rocker arm assemblies . because the reciprocal linear distance that the pushrod travels in always constant , with the fulcrum rod in stationary functional position , the corresponding linear distance the valve stem travels ( i . e ., the corresponding amount of valve opening ) also remains constant . when it is desirable to increase the amount of valve opening ( i . e ., increase the reciprocal linear distance that the valve stem 40 travels in response to the force transmitted through the rocker arm ), those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that this is easily accomplished by rotating the fulcrum rod in the counterclockwise direction , as viewed in fig2 and 3 . this counterclockwise rotation fo the fulcrum rod is typically accomplished by the fulcrum rod operating lever 22 , which is coupled to an actuator controlled by electronics , vacuum , mechanical or hydraulic pressure , etc ., to rotate the fulcrum rod in response to certain enging parameters . such mechanism for controlling the fulcrum rod operating lever does not constitute a part of the present invention , and therefore will not be discussed in detail herein . those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that as the fulcrum rod is rotated in the counterclockwise direction as viewed in fig2 and 3 , due to the fact that the stationary shaft support is fixed relative to the valve head , pushrod and valve stem , the effect of rotating the fulcrum rod counterclockwise is to translate the geometric centerline axis of the fulcrum rod in the leftward direction . similarly , a clockwise rotation of the fulcrum rod has the effect of translating the geometric axis of the fulcrum rod in the rightward direction . it should now be easily seen that with a counterclockwise rotation of the fulcrum rod resulting in a leftward linear translation of the fulcrum rod centerline axis , the distance between the line of movement of the pushrod relative to the fulcrum rod 16 decreases , and the distance between the line of movement of the valve stem 40 relative to the fulcrum rod correspondingly increases . the combined effect of these two changes in distances is to increase the ratio of moment arms of the valve stem relative to the fulcrum rod pivot point and the pushrod relative to the fulcrum rod pivot point . this , therefore , results in an increase in distance of linear travel of the valve stem for a given constant distance of linear travel of the pushrod . in this manner , it is a simple matter to increase the amount of valve opening in response to increased engine speed or other engine criteria while the engine is in operation , to thereby permit instant increase in fuel / air mixture intake upon demand . in a similar manner , when engine speed or other criteria reverse or decrease , the sensing mechanism mentioned hereinabove but not described in detail causes rotation of the fulcrum rod in the clockwise direction , effecting a linear translation of the axis thereof in the rightward direction as shown in fig2 and 3 . this linear translation in the rightward direction relative to the rocker arm decreases the distance between the line of movement of the valve stem and the fulcrum rod , and correspondingly increases the distance between the line of movement of the pushrod and the fulcrum rod , thereby decreasing the ratio of these moment arms about the fulcrum rod pivot point . this , therefore , has the effect of decreasing the amount of valve opening for a given constant distance of linear travel of the pushrod . this lesser opening of the valve 24 , of course , reduces the intake of fuel / air mixture when high engine torque and power ar not necessary , thereby accomplishing the ultimate desired effect of reducing fuel consumption under decreased engine load conditions . those skilled in the art should immediately recognize that because one of the moment arms about the fulcrum rod increases simultaneously with a decrease in the other moment arm as the fulcrum rod is rotated , the resulting change in ratio of moment arms may be significant for only a slight or moderate degree of rotation of the fulcrum rod . therefore , it will be appreciated that only a very slight rotation of the translatable fulcrum rod is required to effect a significant change in amount of valve opening . the grooves and splines on the fulcrum rod cooperating with the mating splines and grooves on the stationary shaft support and the rocker arm serve two primary functions : ( 1 ) because the splines and grooves of the fulcrum rod mating with cooperating grooves and splines of the stationary shaft support prevent pure rotation of the fulcrum rod relative to the shaft support aperture lower inner surface , any rotation of the fulcrum rod results in a linear translation of the geometric centerline axis of the rod in a plane parallel to the surface of alternating splines and grooves of the shaft support ; and ( 2 ) because the shaft support aperture spline and grooves are stationary relative to the valve head , and therefore relative to the pushrod and valve stem , as the fulcrum rod meshes within these splines and grooves during movement , a &# 34 ; walking action &# 34 ; of the fulcrum rod relative to the shaft support results . because the splines and grooves on the rocker arm mesh with the identical grooves and splines on the fulcrum rod with which the shaft support splines and grooves mesh , this &# 34 ; walking action &# 34 ; of the fulcrum rod relative to the shaft support creates an identical &# 34 ; walking action &# 34 ; of the fulcrum rod relative to the rocker arm . this &# 34 ; walking action &# 34 ; of the fulcrum rod relative to the rocker arm serves to maintain the rocker arm in functional alignment relative to the pushrod and valve stem , while simultaneously translating the actual pivot point of the rocker arm about the fulcrum rod relative to the pushrod and the valve stem . in other words , this rotational and linear movement of the fulcrum rod within the rocker arm , which is determined by the rotational and linear movement of the fulcrum rod within the stationary shaft support , dictates that the rocker arm maintain its position relative to the lines of reciprocating movement of the pushrod and valve stem , and prevents the rocker arm from shifting relative thereto ( either to the right or to the left as shown in the drawings ). it should be noted that the end walls 57 of the shaft support aperture 56 are much closer together than corresponding end walls 31 or the rocker arm aperture 29 . in this manner , the amount of lateral translation of the fulcrum rod within the shaft support , and therefore within the rocker arm , may be easily controlled to prevent excessive opening of the valve which would damage the valve and piston head . this aditional protection against excessive valve opening is provided for instance wherein the mechanism for controlling the fulcrum rod rotation malfunctions and would rotate and shift the fulcrum rod too far to the left , but for the mechanical stop provided by the left shaft support aperture end wall 57 . additionally , it should be noted that , in any given position of the fulcrum rod relative to the rocker arm , as the rocker arm rotates in the clockwise direction in order to open the valve , the actual point of pivot of the rocker arm about the fulcrum rod moves along the periphery of the fulcrum rod in the clockwise direction as the mating splines and grooves intermesh . the effect of this is that the actual rate of valve opening increases slightly as the amount of valve opening increases , due to the fulcrum pivot point &# 34 ; creeping &# 34 ; or &# 34 ; walking &# 34 ; in the clockwise direction around the bottom splined surface of the fulcrum rod . it has been determined that this rate of increase of valve opening is negligible , and can be compensated for in the specific engine design , if so desired . the first alternative embodiment , described hereinbelow , will have the reverse effect due to the reverse position of the splines on the fulcrum rod , rocker arm and shaft support . in some instances , it may be advantageous to utilize this slight change in rate of valve opening to full benefit . turning now to fig4 and 5 , a first alternative embodiment of the variable ratio rocker arm mechanism employing the concept of the instant invention is shown . it should be understood that this first alternative embodiment of the rocker arm assembly ( the shaft support , fulcrum rod and rocker arm ) is interchangeable , as a unit , with the preferred embodiment just described . this alternative embodiment includes a rocker arm 70 basically similar to the rocker arm 14 of the preferred embodiment . this rocker arm 70 includes a genereally rectangular sleeve 72 permanently mounted within a body portion 30 , as in the preferred embodiment , the sleeve defining an aperture 73 through which the fulcrum rod is functionally positioned for oscillatory pivotal movement thereabout . like the rocker arm of the preferred embodiment , this rocker arm body portion includes respective first and second ends 32 , 38 . this embodiment includes a fulcrum rod 74 , which as shown , may be identical to the fulcrum rod 16 of the preferred embodiment functionally positioned 180 ° about its centerline axis from that of the preferred embodiment . as shown , this fulcrum rod 74 includes a series of axial splines 76 defining fulcrum rod axial spline grooves 78 . these splines and grooves 76 , 78 functionally mesh with mating grooves and splines 80 , 82 on the upper inner surface of the rocker arm aperture 73 . it should be obvious to those skilled in the art that , as in the rocker arm of the preferred embodiment , this first alternative embodiment of the rocker arm 70 pivots about the fulcrum rod 74 about a pivot point that moves generally around the periphery of the fulcrum rod splines and grooves 76 , 78 at the point of intermesh with the mating rocker arm grooves and splines 80 , 82 , as opposed to pivoting about the generally geometric center of the rocker arm 70 , as in conventional rocker arm and fulcrum rod assemblies . therefore , the interface between the lower portion of the fulcrum rod 74 and the upwardly facing mating portion of the rocker arm sleeve aperture 73 is a sliding interface as the rocker arm pivots about the fulcrum rod generally at the opposite surface of the fulcrum rod ( i . e ., the meshing splines and grooves ). it should also be readily apparent that in the rocker arm and fulcrum rod assembly of fig4 the load bearing surfaces carrying the frictional force between the rocker arm and fulcrum rod are the just described smooth surfaces opposite the grooves and splines ( i . e ., the lower rounded surface of the fulcrum rod and the essentially planar surface of the rocker arm sleeve 72 defining the aperture 73 therein ). therefore , these mating surfaces should be surface - hardened and highly ground and polished in order to minimize any frictional reaction therebetween due to the sliding motion of the rocker arm relative to the fulcrum rod . fig5 depicts a stationary shaft support 84 for use with the rocker arm 70 and fulcrum rod 74 shown in fig4 . the fulcrum rod 74 is functionally positioned within an aperture 86 provided in the stationary block 84 . the axial splines and spline grooves 76 , 78 on the top surface of the fulcrum rod mesh with mating grooves and splines 88 , 90 formed in the upper surface of the shaft support aperture 86 to retain the fulcrum rod in functional position relative to the valve head 10 in a manner identical to the splines and grooves 60 , 62 in the shaft support 18 of fig3 . the first alternative embodiment of the variable ratio rocker arm mechanism shown in fig4 and 5 operates in a manner almost identical to that of the preferred embodiment shown in fig2 and 3 . however , as should be apparent to those skilled in the art from a reading and undertanding of the operation of the preferred embodiment , rotation of the fulcrum rod 74 in the same direction as that of the fulcrum rod 16 will result in the opposite effect as that in the device of the preferred embodiment . specifically , rotation of the fulcrum rod 74 in the clockwise direction causes a linear translation of the geometric axis of the rod in the leftward direction as the rod &# 34 ; walks &# 34 ; in the grooves and splines of the shaft support aperture . this , of course , causes the fulcrum rod 74 to &# 34 ; walk &# 34 ; along the mating splines and grooves 82 , 80 in the rocker arm rectangular sleeve , effecting a linear translation of the fulcrum rod axis in the leftward direction as viewed in fig4 . the effect of this is to increase the distance between the pivot point of the rocker arm about the fulcrum rod to the line of linear movement of the valve stem , and simultaneously therewith , decrease the distance from the pivot point of the rocker arm about the fulcrum rod to the line of movement of the pushrod , thereby increasing the ratio of moment arms of the valve stem relative to the fulcrum rod pivot point and the pushrod relative to the fulcrum rod pivot point . this , therefore , results in increasing the stroke or amount of valve opening of the valve 24 for a given constant distance of linear displacement of the pushrod . similarly , a counterclockwise rotation of the fulcrum rod has the effect of translating the geometric axis therefore in a rightward direction in both the shaft support 84 and the rocker arm 70 . this counterclockwise rotation of the fulcrum rod therefore has the effect of decreasing the ratio of moment arms of the valve stem and pushrod relative to the fulcrum rod pivot point . therefore , it can be seen that the effect is the same in each of these embodiments of the variable ratio rocker arm mechanism , the difference being the direction of rotation of the fulcrum ord which effects the desired increase or decrease in the ratio of moment arms about the fulcrum rod . those skilled in the art will also readily note that in the shaft support 84 shown in fig5 the frictional force between the fulcrum rod and the shaft support is carried by the mating load bearing surfaces having the intermeshing grooves and splines . therefore , in this embodiment , those particular load bearing surfaces on the upper portion of the fulcrum rod and the upper section of the shaft support aperture having the intermeshing grooves and splines should be surface - hardened and highly ground and polished in order to reduce the effect of any frictional forces therebetween . a second alternative embodiment of the variable ratio rocker arm assembly utilizing the concept of the present invention is shown in fig6 , 8a and 8b . this rocker arm 100 shown in fig6 is functionally identical to the rocker arm 14 of fig2 . the rocker arm 100 includes a body portion 104 having a first end 106 and a second end 108 . in this regard , the second alternative embodiment of the rocker arm 100 is essentially identical to the rocker arm 14 shown in fig2 prior to the grooves being machined therein to define the splines along the bottom surface of the aperture . the second alternative embodiment of the rocker arm 100 further includes a mounting sleeve 110 having a generally rectangular cross - section as in the previous embodiments . additionally , however , this alternative rocker arm sleeve 110 is adapted to receive within a through aperture 112 , a spline insert 114 at each end thereof ( i . e ., at each open edge of the through aperture ). a best shown in fig6 these inserts 114 are formed with alternating splines and grooves 116 , 118 . these inserts 114 are pressed , and otherwise permanently fitted , into receptacles 120 formed within the body of the rocker arm sleeve 110 in a manner that the inside surface 122 of the sleeve aperture is slightly higher than the top surfaces of the insert splines 116 . in this manner , a cylindrical fulcrum rod ( not shown ) is free to slide and rotate within the through aperture 112 against these inside surfaces 122 . this second alternative embodiment utilizes a circular fulcrum rod having no splines thereon . in this manner , the load bearing surfaces of the rod , rocker arm and shaft support are smooth and essentially free of frictional forces . in order to effect the selected translation of the fulcrum rod relative to the rocker arm , the circular fulcrum rod employs splined rings 126 , shown in fig8 a and 8b attached thereto on each side of the rocker arm 100 . the rings 126 include splines 128 formed thereon which mesh with mating grooves and splines 118 , 116 formed in the inserts 114 to effect positioning of the fulcrum rod . these rings 126 are attached to the fulcrum rod during assembly of the rocker arms onto the rod . in this regard , the rings 126 may include keying tabs 130 that engage axial slots ( not shown ) formed in the fulcrum rod in a customary manner . in order to prevent the force transmitted through the fulcrum rod to be across these slots , they should be formed between these load bearing surfaces , as shown by the keying tabe 130 formed in the spline rings 126 . fig8 b shows the relative size and thickness of the spline insert 114 and spline ring 126 . the spline ring is thicker than the rocker arm insert in order to provide access to means for attaching the ring to the fulcrum rod as , for example , by the use of a set screw 132 . it should be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that these inserts 114 impart a structural integrity to the rocker arm sleeve and , more importantly , provide an exceptionally wear resistant surface to the splines and grooves 116 , 118 that cooperate with mating splines 127 of the fulcrum rod spline rings in order to minimize the frictional wear therebetween , maximize the useful life of the rocker arm 100 and optimize the dimensional tolerances of the mating splines and grooves for improved accuracy and increased useful life . those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the load bearing sliding surfaces should be as free from frictional forces as is possible . in conventional rocker arm assembles ( and in the instant rocker arm assembly ), those load bearing mating surfaces are the upper inside surface of the shaft support aperture as it engages the upper cylindrical surface of the fulcrum rod , and the lower inside surface of the rocker arm aperture as it engages the lower surface of the fulcrum rod . in order to eliminate the frictional force created by the rocker arm sleeve in sliding cooperation with the fulcrum rod as the rocker arm pivots or oscillates thereabout , and as the fulcrum rod is rotated in order to effect the desired change in moment arm ratios to increase or decrease the amount of valve opening , these mating , load bearing surfaces should be surface - hardened and appropriately ground and polished . additionally , it should be appreciated that it is common practice to provide one stationary shaft support for every 2 - 4 rocker arms mounted on the fulcrum rod . the upper inside surface of the shaft support aperture must bear the load for each of these 2 - 4 rocker arms . as will be apparent from a study of the previous embodiments , this increased load must , by definition , be carried by the surface defining the grooves and splines in either one or the other of the rocker arms and shaft supports . in the instance wherein the load bearing force carried by the upper surface of the shaft support aperture is a smooth surface ( see fig3 ), it may be advantageous to utilize a roller bearing or roller bearing assembly functionally positioned between the fulcrum rod and the upper inside surface of the shaft support aperture , as shown in fig9 . a roller bearing assembly 134 of the type ahown eliminates any sliding frictional forces between the upper surface of the fulcrum rod and the inside surface of the shaft support aperture by virtue of the single layer roller bearing design . in this embodiment , the roller bearing assembly 134 comprises a housing 136 , carrying two roller bearings 138 . obviously , a roller bearing assembly of this type , when used between the load bearing surfaces of the shaft support and fulcrum rod , cannot also be used between the mating load bearing surfaces of the fulcrum rod and the rocker arm , in that those surfaces are on the lower side of the fulcrum rod , and have the groove and spline arrangement . also , of course , it would not be necessary to incorporate a roller bearing assembly on the upper surface of the fulcrum rod in each of the rocker arms , in that there is no appreciable frictional force between those two mating surfaces . however , in the event the first alternative embodiment of the rocker arm assembly described herein in conjunction with fig4 and 5 is utilized , it could be advantageous to incorporate the use of a roller bearing assembly 134 between the load bearing surfaces of the rocker arm and the fulcrum rod , as shown in fig1 . it should be apparent that when the embodiment of the rocker arm of fig1 is utilized , a roller bearing assembly cannot be used between the load bearing surfaces of the fulcrum rod and the shaft support , in that those mating load bearing surfaces are the surfaces having the splines and grooves formed therein . additionally , in this particular embodiment , it would be unnecessary to utilize a roller bearing assembly between the lower surface of the fulcrum rod and the opposing surface of the shaft support , in that there is no appreciable frictional force between those surfaces . fig1 depicts a fourth alternative embodiment designed to maintain the variable ratio rocker arm utilizing the concept of the present invention in functional relationship relative to the pushrod and valve stem . in this embodiment , a rocker arm 140 comprises a main body portion 142 having a first end 144 and a second end 146 . the body portion has press - fitted or otherwise permanently mounted therewith a sleeve 148 having a generally rectangular cross - section . in this embodiment , a fulcrum rod 150 is utilized , the rod being similar to fulcrum bars utilized in conventional rocker arm assemblies , i . e ., a hollow , round rod having no axial splines formed thereon . in this embodiment , the rocker arm 140 is retained in functional relation relative to the pushrod 26 and the valve stem 40 by a set of cooperating ribs formed on the rocker arm and the top surface of the valve head 10 . as shown , a first rib 152 projects upwardly from the top surface of the valve head 10 in a manner to cooperate with second and third ribs 154 , 156 formed on the rocker arm body portion 142 . these cooperating ribs 152 , 154 , 156 need not be of any specified width , but need be sufficient only to prevent the rocker arm 40 from : ( 1 ) shifting from front to back ( from side to side as shown in fig1 ); and ( 2 ) torquing or otherwise askewing relative to an axis parallel with the line of travel of the pushrod 26 and / or the valve stem 40 . in this embodiment , as in the previous embodiments , the ratio of moment arms of the pushrod and valve stem about the fulcrum bar is controlled by translating the pont of pivot of the rocker arm about the fulcrum rod in an essentially linear path between the pushrod and valve stem . in previous embodiments , the rocker arms were retained in functional relationship relative to the pushrod and valve stem by the action of the cooperating splines and grooves on the rocker arm and fulcrum rod . in this embodiment , the first , second and third ribs 152 , 154 , 156 for retaining the rocker arm in relative functional position are designed to permit the rocker arm 140 to pivot relative to the central axis of the fulcrum rod 150 within the range of transverse linear movement of the fulcrum rod as determined by the engine design characteristics . those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the relative movement between the first , second and third ribs 152 , 154 , 156 is essentially movement about an arc having its center point the axis of the fulcrum rod 150 . to accomplish this , the upper surfaces of the first rib 152 and the mating inner surfaces between the second and third ribs 154 , 156 are appropriately contoured to permit freedom of movement of the rocker arm within tolerance limits dictated by the specific design criteria of the valve head pushrod , valve stem , fulcrum rod and rocker arm interface . such are appropriate design criteria left to those skilled in the art . obviously , the position of the three ribs 152 , 154 , 156 may be reversed , ( i . e ., a single rib depending downwardly from the rocker arm 140 to engage and otherwise mate with ribs extending upwardly on either side thereof from the body of the valve head 10 ), to accomplish the same effect of retaining the rocker arm in functional position relative to the pushrod and valve stem while permitting the fulcrum rod to be translated in order to effect the desired change of moment arm ratios thereabout . it should be noted , however , that in either configuration , the center , single rib 152 should be located essentially in alignment with the center axis of the fulcrum rod when the rod is located in its position of steady - state engine operation , i . e ., at &# 34 ; cruise &# 34 ; when the amount of valve opening is minimal . in this manner , movement and resulting friction between the ribs is held to a minimum during this most frequent steady - state operation . increased friction would result when the fulcrum rod is shifted away from steady - state position ( generally to the left in fig1 ); however , this would be only for brief intermittent times during acceleration , thereafter , the fulrcum rod returning to the steady - state cruise position wherein the friction between the ribs is minimal . those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the fulcrum bar 150 of this embodiment also includes means for translating the bar , as in previous embodiments . for example , splined rings similar to those shown in fig8 a may be affixed to the fulcrum rod and adapted to engage mating splines on the stationary support block shown in fig3 or 9 . fig1 depicts a fifth alternative embodiment that utilizes a different structural form in employing the basic concept of the shiftable fulcrum point of the present invention . a modified rocker arm 160 is rotatably mounted on a fulcrum rod 162 for rotational oscillator movement thereabout . the rocker arm 160 has an elongate first end 164 having a smooth and polished undersurface thereof 166 that engages a rotating cam - shaft 168 having a plurality of lobes 170 thereon . the rocker arm also includes an essentially elongate second end 172 having a surface - hardened and polished contoured valve stem engaging surface 174 for depressing the valve stem in order to open the valve . as in the previous embodiments , the fulcrum rod 162 of this alternative embodiment is adapted to shift laterally ( i . e ., side - to - side as shown in fig1 ) in order to shift the actual pivot point of the rocker arm thereabout relative to the linear line of movement of the valve stem 40 and the effective point of contact of the camshaft 168 as it engages the rocker arm first end undersurface 166 . as in the fifth alternative embodiment , the fulcrum bar of this embodiment may also utilize splined rings ( as shown in fig8 a ) affixed thereto and adapted to engage mating splines on that stationary support blocks shown in fig3 or 9 . it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that this fifth alternative embodiment of the rocker arm shown in fig1 functions to vary the ratio of moment arms about the fulcrum rod 162 of the actual point of contact of the valve stem 40 with the rocker arm second end 72 relative to the point of contact of the valve stem first end 166 with the camshaft 168 . it can be seen that lateral shifting of the fulcrum rod 162 accomplishes the same desired effect . it should be noted that the rocker arm second end contoured surface 174 is elongated sufficiently to permit the rocker arm 160 to shift from right to left as shown in fig1 within the full range of adjustable valve opening in accordance with specific engine design criteria . as previously noted , such design criteria are left to those skilled in the art . fig1 depicts a sixth alternative embodiment of the rocker arm and fulcrum rod mechanism . this embodiment is similar to that shown in fig6 , 8a and 8b , in that the load bearing surfaces of the rocker arm 180 are the lower cylindrical surface of the fulcrum rod 150 as it engages the upward facing inner surface 182 of the aperture formed in the rocker arm . in this manner , the load bearing surfaces are smooth and essentially friction free . in this embodiment , the splines and grooves formed in the lower surface of the rocker arm 180 are replaced by a series of hardened dowel pins 184 that are pressed through the rocker arm to form a series of parallel semi - cylindrical gear type teeth at each open edge of the aperture formed in the rocker arm . as shown in fig1 , these dowel pins 184 extend from each side of the load bearing surface 182 similar to the splines 116 which extend from either edge of the load bearing surface 122 in the embodiment shown in fig6 and 7 . these dowel pins 184 are positioned adjacent the bottom surface of the sleeve 186 formed in the rocker arm in order to provide structural integrity to the rocker arm . the rocker arm shown in fig1 operates with a round , non - splined fulcrum rod 150 . in this embodiment , however , a ring 188 having sprocket type teeth 190 formed on the bottom surface thereof is functionally mounted on the fulcrum rod in a manner similar to that of the spline ring shown in fig8 a . as in the second alternative embodiment , this dowel pin and sprocket arrangement enables the fulcrum rod 150 to rotate / translate within the aperture formed in the rocker arm in order to effect the desired shifting of ratio of moment arms about the fulcrum rod . those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that when utilizing the rocker arm of this sixth alternative embodiment , it is preferable to incorporate a similar sprocket and dowel pin gearing mechanism into the shaft supports in order that the incremental rotations of the fulcrum rod relative to the rocker arm will be identical to incremental rotations relative to the shaft support , thereby retaining the rocker arms in proper alignment relative to the pushrod and valve stem . those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the overall concept of the variable ratio lever arm mechanism as described in conjunction with its application to a rocker arm assembly for an internal combustion engine is particularly advantageous in permitting variations of the valve opening while the internal combustion engine is operating , in response to variations in engine load and torque demand . it should be obvious from the above description and operation , in conjunction with the accompanying drawings , that the variable ratio rocker arm assembly mechanism comprises , in fact , a series of rocker arms functionally mounted on a single fulcrum rod . in this manner , the variable ratio rocker arm mechanism controls the amount of valve opening for each of the valves simultaneously so that uniform amounts of fuel / air mixture enter the combustion chambers , and comparable amounts of exhaust gases exit the combustion chamber in order to maintain the power output of each individual internal combustion cylindr uniform with the other cylinders of the engine . as an example of another application of the instant invention , the fulcrum point of a force or work transmitting lever arm may easily and readily be shifted in one direction to increase the output force of the fulcrum lever arm , or shifted in the opposite direction to increase the length of stroke of the output lever . in such an application , the lever arm could be formed with alternating splines and grooves along the side thereof opposite the side which receives and transmits the input force . the fulcrum rod could be formed with mating grooves and splines aroung the entire circumference thereof to permit drastic variations in output force and reciprocating distance of travel for a constant input force and travel distance . although a preferred embodiment and a number of alternative embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed in detail herein , it will be understood that various substitutions and modifications may be made to the preferred and alternative embodiments described herein without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention as recited in the appended claims .	8
the push on closure container package of the present invention is designated generally at 10 and includes a container 12 and a closure 14 . the container 12 has an elongated generally stepped , cylindrical neck 16 having a base portion 18 attached to the body 20 of the container 12 , as seen in fig2 and 3 . the upper end of the neck 16 has a reduced upper neck portion 22 separated from the base 18 by an annular shoulder 24 . the upper end of the upper necks portion 22 is open to provide a dispensing opening for the container and is provided with an annular lip 26 ( fig3 and 6 ) which forms a sealing surface . the closure 14 has a disc shaped top 28 and a cylindrical skirt 30 which is coaxial with the neck 16 with the outer wall 32 surface of the skirt 30 in alignment with the outer wall surface of the base portion 18 of the neck 16 . in the closed position of the package 10 , a lip 34 formed at the bottom of the skirt 30 is in close proximity to the annular shoulder 24 and the outer wall surface 32 of skirt 30 is aligned with the outer wall surface of base portion 18 making it difficult for a child to get a finger hold or to bite the closure in an effort to remove it from the container 12 . the interior of the skirt 30 is in radially spaced relationship to the exterior of the upper neck portion 22 and in the closed position of the package , the underside of the disc shaped top 28 forms a sealing surface 36 engageable with the annular lip 26 to form a seal between the closure 14 and container 12 . the closure 14 is held in a closed position on the container 12 by means of annular bead 38 having an upper inclined surface 39 and a lower inclined surface 40 formed on the exterior of the neck 16 adjacent to the annular lip 26 . a complementary annular bead 42 is formed on the interior of the skirt 30 adjacent to the disc shaped top 28 . the annular bead 42 has an upper inclined surface 43 and a lower inclined surface 44 . the outside diameter of the annular bead 38 is slightly larger than the internal diameter of the annular bead 40 so that there is an interference fit between the beads 38 and 40 which resists axial movement of the closure 14 relative to the neck 16 . this affords a resilient snap - fit which occurs when the closure 14 is placed on the container 12 and which must be overcome to open the container 12 so that the closure can be removed from the container 12 . in this sense , beads 38 and 42 form latch members which must be disengaged to open the container . also , the lower inclined surface 39 on bead 38 and upper inclined surface 43 on bead 42 engage each other in a closed position of the package 10 to form a seal in addition to the sealing surfaces 26 and 36 . disengagement of the latch members formed by beads 38 and 42 is accomplished by a camming arrangement which includes a plurality of circumferentially spaced cams 46 best seen in fig2 and 6 formed on the exterior of the upper neck 22 and a pair of diametrically opposed cam followers 48 seen in fig4 and 7 and formed in diametrically opposed relation on the interior of the cylindrical skirt 30 . the cams 46 have an upper inclined surface 50 as seen in fig2 and are arranged in slightly spaced circumferential relationship to each other . in the illustrated embodiment of the invention four cams 46 are shown although more or less cams could be similarly arranged . cam followers 48 seen in fig4 have a inclined surface 52 at the lower side which conforms generally to the upper surface 50 of the cams 46 . the inclined surfaces 52 of the cam followers 44 extend radially inwardly from the inner wall surfaces of the skirt 30 and taper axially and circumferentially to blend with the inner wall surfaces of the skirt 30 . in a closed condition of the closure 14 on the container 12 , the cam followers 48 are radially misaligned with the cams 46 so that the closure 14 can be rotated relative to the neck 16 without any interferences between the cams 46 and the cam followers 48 . such misalignment also permits axial movement of the closure relative to the container 12 without any interference when the closure 14 is first snapped on to the container 12 . pressure points or pads 54 are formed opposite to the cam followers 48 on the outer surfaces of the skirt 30 , as seen in fig1 and 3 , which give a ready reference to the areas at which pressure must be applied to deflect the skirt 30 radially inwardly to bring the cam followers 48 into circumferential alignment with the cams 46 . the disc shaped top 28 is provided with arrows 55 or other indicia to give visual and printed instructions for opening . simultaneous with the application of pressure to pads 54 , twisting movement of the closure 14 in an opening direction will cause the inclined surfaces 52 on the cam followers 48 to engage with the upper surfaces 50 on the cams 46 so that the closure 14 is forced axially of the container 12 a sufficient distance so that the annular beads 38 and 42 unsnap or become disengaged from each other permitting removal of the closure 14 from the container 12 . in a closed condition of the container 12 by the closure 14 , the closure skirt 30 is in radially spaced relationship to the outer surface of the neck portion 22 and with the closure in axial alignment with the neck 16 , the sealing surface 36 on the closure 14 is seated on the annular lip seal 26 at the top of the neck portion 22 . also the lip 34 at the lower end of the skirt 30 is in close proximity with the annular shoulder 24 and the exterior walls of the skirt 30 , the base portion 18 of the neck 16 are aligned to give a smooth outer surface . to maintain this relationship , the inner surface of the skirt 30 is provided with guide members 56 in the form of ribs which extend generally axially and are disposed in circumferencially spaced and aligned relationship to each other and the cam followers 48 . in the preferred embodiment , three ribs 56 are disposed in each of the diametrically opposed spaces between the cam followers 48 . as best seen in fig7 the guide members 56 are circumferencially spaced from each other in an amount substantially equal to the spacing of the ribs 56 from the cam followers 48 . the guide members or ribs 56 are disposed to project radially inwardly an amount equal to the radial inward projection of the cam followers 48 so that the ribs 56 are in spaced but close proximity to the cams 46 and the closure 14 is free to be rotated relative to the container 12 without interference in the closed condition of the package . similarly , the guide members 56 are disposed so that they do not interfere with placement of the closure 14 on the closure to obtain the snap connection between the annular beads 38 and 40 which maintains the closure on the container 12 . any effort , deliberate or accidental , which would tend to displace the skirt 30 radially relative to the neck 16 , is opposed by the guide members 56 which will engage the sides of the cams 46 . this prevents axial misalignment of the closure 14 so that the complementary seals 26 and 36 on the container 12 and the closure 14 , respectively , is resisted . also by maintaining the axial alignment of the closure 14 and the container 12 , the lip 34 of the skirt is maintained in its proper uniformly spaced and aligned relationship to the annular shoulder 24 so that no portion of the lip 34 is exposed and leverage cannot be obtained by the use of fingers or teeth to remove the cap except in its intended manner . during placement of the closure 14 on the container 12 , the upper inclined surface 39 of the annular bead 38 acts to engage and align internal portions of the closure 14 so that the cam followers 48 and guide members 56 are free to pass to their closed position . just prior to the closed position the inclined lower surface 44 of the bead 42 comes into engagement with the upper inclined surface 39 of the annular bead 38 . the plastic materials of the closure and container 12 permits sufficient deflection so that the bead 42 passes beyond the annular bead 38 with the lower inclined surface 40 of the annular bead 38 and the upper inclined surface 43 of the bead 42 engaged with each other to act as a seal and also to resist axial opening movement of the closure 14 from the container 12 . these surfaces remain in engagement with each other during any rotation of the closure relative to the container 12 . during such rotation the guide members 56 and the cam followers 46 are free to pass the cams 46 and to prevent tilting of the closure relative to the . any effort to deflect the skirt 30 of the closure 14 radially inwardly is opposed by the guide members or ribs 56 so that radial deflection of the skirt 30 is possible only at the location of the cam followers 48 . to remove the closure 14 from the container 12 , pressure is applied simultaneously to diametrically opposed pressure points 54 causing radial inward deflection of the skirt 30 together with the cam followers 48 . the cam followers 48 are brought into overlapping relationship with the cams 46 and upon simultaneous twisting action of the cap in an opening direction , the inclined surfaces 50 and 52 engage each other to force the closure and axially apart so that the annular beads 38 and 40 unsnap relative to each other permitting a full release of the closure 14 from the container 12 . a snap on , twist off child resistant closure has been provided which permits rotation of the closure relative to the container in a closed condition and which requires simultaneous squeezing and twisting for opening to occur . during any relative movement of the closure and container , axial alignment is maintained so that forceful opening is resisted and so that sealing surfaces remain properly oriented .	1
as we found it desirable to develop the capability of using a asynchronous interfaces in cp and msc organization which allows a manufacturer to breaks the dependency among clocks in cp , sc and msc , and allows them to be optimized to desired clock frequency independently we recognized that this dramatic advantage would not normally come without cost . besides adding design and verification efforts of the asynchronous interface , the designers have to maintain multiple sets of parameters used in system ( system settings ) for different clock ratios instead of just one set as before . moreover , whenever the clock ratios among system clocks change , the system has to go through power - on reinitialization process again , which is a time - consuming procedure . in accordance with our invention we have provided a dynamic clock ratio detector for one or more computer circuits which can be manufactured as asics that constantly monitors system clocks and detects clock ratio on - the - fly . this clock - ratio detector is to detect the clock - ratio between two clock - domains on the fly and output proper system settings . the detector can also report errors if illegal drifting of the clock ratio is detected . fig1 shows the structure of the dynamic clock ratio detector . the detector consists two physical parts : a ratio - clock driver 101 in one circuit clock domain and a ratio - clock receiver 102 for one or more other clock domains of the computer circuit system . the driver and receivers of the computer circuit system are in different clock domains . the ratio - clock driver 101 constantly outputs ratio - clock pulses . the pulse width of this ratio - clock equals to certain number ( m ) of driver &# 39 ; s clock cycles . the number is predefined and known by both driver 101 and receiver 102 . this wide pulse propagates through asynchronous interface and is received by the ratio clock receiver 102 , which is on the opposite side of asynchronous interface where the clock - ratio clock output signal reaches the receiver ratio counter unit 103 . the receiver 102 then counts the width of the pulse based on its local clock cycle time and calculates the clock ratio . fig2 illustrates how this procedure is done . in this example , the receiver &# 39 ; s clock runs at half of the speed of driver &# 39 ; s clock . the pulse width of the ratio - clock driver output signal is 8 driver &# 39 ; s clock cycles . after the pulse of the ratio - clock output signal arrives at receiver 102 , the ratio clock receiver 102 with the ratio counter 103 counts the pulse as 4 receiver &# 39 ; s local clock domain cycles , which brings the result of clock ratio as 4 / 8 = 0 . 5 the number of pulse width m is desired to be powers of 2 . a larger value increases granularity and accuracy but increases the time to detect a clock ratio change ( response time ) as well . the number is programmable , which is chosen as 128 in our preferred embodiment . the ratio - clock receiver 102 has 3 functional units : ratio - counter unit 103 , a parameter generating unit 104 and error - reporting unit 105 . ( ref . to fig1 ) which receives the output of the ratio counter 103 and a delayed output of the ratio counter . the ratio counter unit 103 counts the width of incoming ratio - clock pulse based on the receiver &# 39 ; s local clock cycle , as n . since it knows that the width of this clock pulse is produced based on m remote driver clock cycles , it can deduce the clock ratio by the formula below : the r here usually will be a real number , but the clock ratio output has to be an integer in a digital machine . if we consider a predefined resolution , then the ratio number r in a real machine can be represented as : in our preferred computer circuit application , the resolution is set to be 16 and m is 128 . so that the final formula will be : besides the basic ratio - counting ability , there are some features in clock ratio detector design in our application and we will discuss each in the numbered areas of this description below . a meta - stability effect occurs when the edge of a data signal of a latch is too close to the launching edge of its clock inputs . under this condition , the output of the latch is undetermined . with multiple clock domains , the clock relationship among domains might not be fixed . if a signal is launched from one clock domain and is captured in the other clock domain , the timing relationship between launching a signal and the signal getting captured would not be fixed . that means the capture latch could miss or over - capture a data signal . this uncertainty causes clock ratio receiver 102 to miscount the width of ratio clock pulse and thus output a wrong clock ratio value . fig3 illustrates this potential problem . if the receiver clock edge is very close to the rising and falling edge of ratio clock pulse , then a potential miscount might occur . in the example shown in fig3 , the final counted number could be 3 , 4 or 5 cycles . the ratio counter 103 in our preferred computer circuit application overcomes this problem by giving itself an initial value ( n 0 ). so the formula for r above becomes this will guarantee that count changes due to any meta - stability effect will not affect the final ratio output value . e . g . with the m = 128 given above as in our preferred computer circuit application , if the clock ratio is 1 / 2 , theoretically , the receiver counts pulse width as 64 , and the ratio output would be 64 / 8 = 8 . however , if the receiver 102 misses one cycle , the count would be 63 , and the ratio output would be 63 / 8 = 7 . but if the counter 103 in the receiver 102 had an initial value of 5 , then the final count would be 68 , which will still get the ratio output as 68 / 8 = 8 . at certain ratio of two clocks , the final counter value could be right at the edge of changing to the next one . if clocks fluctuate a bit under this condition , the clock ratio output could oscillate between adjacent values and cause unnecessary changes of system behavior or even errors being reported . the design of this ratio detector would prevent it . the detector will waive the change of output if the newly calculated ratio just increases by 1 . in another word , the threshold to change to adjacent value is dynamically adjusted . since the output clock ratios can only be discrete numbers , but clock cycle time is a real number , each number actually represents a range of clock ratios ( window ). the ratio range of each coverage window is fixed and determined by desired resolution . however , the upper and lower bounds of each range can be adjusted by the initial value of ratio counter 103 in receiver 102 . this gives us the ability to fine - tune the accuracy of the clock ratio detector . although the parameter can be adjusted on - the - fly depending on detected ratio , a system might not allow certain clock frequency changes , e . g . the ratio might only increase , or the clock can not change in the middle of operations . an error could be reported if such illegal change of clock ratio is detected . the changing direction to trigger the error - reporting can be programmed as ratio increasing , ratio decreasing , ratio changing ( both increasing and decreasing are allowed ) and none ( all changes are not allowed ). changing clock ratio when the chip is busy is not allowed and will be reported as an error . this unit alters / optimizes system setting based on clock ratios given by the ratio counter 103 . this dynamic clock ratio detector brings many advantages , especially in a system allowing for asynchronous interfaces between chips . first , the system needs not to be shutdown , reinitialized again when the clock frequency is changed . one application for a dynamic clock ratio detector is that during system - testing , one of objectives of a tester is to find out operational clock - ratio range of a system . with the clock ratio detector implemented , the tester can just simply change clock frequency , and observe system behavior without reinitialize the machine . another application for a dynamic clock ratio detector is computer systems in which the machine is shipped with default settings and yet the machine can easily be modified to adapt the original machine design data to new clock frequencies due to various reasons , such as technology changes . additionally for any application the clock ratio detector automatically outputs proper system settings . this ability can effectively prevent systems from breakdown due to clock drifting . the detector can also bring dynamically changing clocks possible . in the future , a system may be able to run at high - performance , normal and power - saving mode , which needs different clock ratios , and switch itself back and forth within these modes without any reinitialization . the detector provides the ability to automatically adjust system setting without system being stopped , quiesce or reinitialized . further , with the improvements described for dynamic clock ratio detection : 1 . the detector has the ability to be programmed with desired detecting resolution of clock ratio . 2 . the detector has the ability to speed up detector response time . 3 . the detector has the ability to detect and report ratio - change errors during system busy time . 4 . the detector has the ability to report illegal clock - ratio movement / drifting . 5 . the detector can be disabled for backward - compatibility . while the preferred embodiment to the invention has been described , it will be understood that those skilled in the art , both now and in the future , may make various improvements and enhancements which fall within the scope of the claims which follow . these claims should be construed to maintain the proper protection for the invention first described .	6
the following description is presented to enable one of ordinary skill in the art to make and use the invention and is provided in the context of a patent application and its requirements . various modifications to the described embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art and the generic principles herein may be applied to other embodiments . thus , the present invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiment shown but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and features described herein . fig4 is a flowchart illustrating one embodiment of a general work flow 400 in accordance with the principles of the present invention . at step 402 , a powder is provided in the form of a plurality of particles having a metallic core and an oxide layer surrounding the metallic core . as previously mentioned , this metallic core may be a pure metal or a metal alloy . the powder is preferably provided in a dry state . fig5 a illustrates one embodiment of the powder 500 being provided in a container as a plurality of particles having a metallic core 502 and an oxide layer 504 . typically , the dry powder 500 is settled at the bottom of the container as shown . it is to be understood that fig5 a - f are only provided to illustrate the general principles of the present invention and should not be used to limit the scope of the claims with respect to details such as size , shape and quantity . at step 404 , the particles are then etched in situ . this etching serves to remove the oxide layer from each particle in the plurality of particles , leaving only the metallic core . preferably , each one of the plurality of particles retains substantially all of its metallic core . in this fashion , a metallic powder has been produced free of any oxide . in a preferred embodiment , the etching is achieved by disposing the powder in an etching solution . fig5 b illustrates one embodiment of an etching solution 506 being introduced into the container and interacting with the oxide layer 504 of each particle . the powder 500 can be stirred in the etching solution 506 in order to assist with this interaction . the application of the etching solution 506 may cause the particles to become slightly suspended for a period of time before settling . fig5 c illustrates one embodiment of the resulting removal of the oxide layer 504 from the metallic core 502 of each particle . the powder may then go through an in situ coating / dispersion process at step 406 in order to prepare it for its eventual application . the coating process involves coating each particle that has been etched with an organic layer . this coating may be achieved by disposing the etched powder in an organic solvent . the dispersion process involves dispersing the plurality of etched particles . this dispersion may be achieved by disposing the etched powder in a dispersing solution . while the coating and dispersing processes are grouped together at step 406 , they do not necessarily need to occur at the same time . the coating may be performed prior to the dispersing , and likewise , the dispersing may be performed prior to the coating . furthermore , the existence of one does not necessarily depend on the existence of the other . in fact , the achievement of an oxide - free metallic powder may be achieved in the absence of either or both of these operations . however , in a preferred embodiment , the powder is both coated and dispersed in order to attain optimum stability and preparation . fig5 d illustrates one embodiment of a coating and dispersing solution 508 being introduced into the container and interacting with each particle . as a result , the powder is dispersed , and each metallic core 502 becomes coated with an organic material 510 , as seen in fig5 e . at step 408 , the powder may be provided as a dispersion of particles , with each particle having a metallic core and no oxide shell . preferably , the powder is maintained as a dispersion in a storage liquid , with each particle having an organic coating surrounding its metallic core . this storage liquid may simply be the coating / dispersing solution or may be some other type of liquid appropriate for storing the powder . for certain applications , such as sintering , it may not be desirable to provide the powder in a liquid . instead , circumstances may dictate that the powder be provided in a dry state . in these situations , the oxide - free particles can be dried in situ at step 410 . the powder may then be provided at step 412 as dried particles , each having a metallic core , preferably surrounded by an organic coating , and no oxide shell , as seen in fig5 f . in the example of sintering , the dried powder may then be placed in a spark - plasma sintering ( sps ) machine having a reducing atmosphere . the reducing atmosphere matches the organic layer and serves to reduce the organic layer by burning it off , leaving a pure metallic core and a gas by - product . the metallic cores are then fused together , resulting in an ultra - pure block of metal having nano - properties . the present invention may be used for a wide variety of metallic powders . such powders may include , but are not limited to , silicon and copper . fig6 is a flowchart illustrating one embodiment of a work flow 600 for removing the oxide layer from silicon powder in accordance with the present invention . at step 602 , the powder is provided as - produced , with each particle having a silicon core and a silicon - dioxide shell layer . this silicon core may be pure silicon or a silicon alloy . the powder is preferably provided in a dry state . fig7 a illustrates one embodiment of the powder 700 being provided in a container as a plurality of particles having a silicon core 702 and a silicon - dioxide shell 704 . typically , the dry powder 700 is settled at the bottom of the container as shown . it is to be understood that fig7 a - f are only provided to illustrate the general principles of the present invention and should not be used to limit the scope of the claims with respect to details such as size , shape and quantity . at step 604 , methanol 706 a is added to the container and then stirred in order get a dispersion of particles , as seen in fig7 b . at step 606 , a hydrogen fluoride ( hf ) solution ( i . e ., hydrofluoric acid ) is added to the container in order to remove the oxide . as seen in fig7 c , the result is a plurality of silicon cores 702 dispersed in a mixture 706 b of water , hf and methanol . in a preferred embodiment , the solution contains approximately 10 % hf and is applied to the particles for between approximately 1 to 5 minutes at about room temperature . however , it is contemplated that the hf concentration , time applied and environment temperature may vary according to the particular circumstances in which the present invention is being employed . at step 608 , an organic solvent is added to the container . such organic solvents may include , but are not limited to , cyclohexane and toluene . as seen in fig7 d , the addition of the organic solvent produces an organic phase 708 , having the organic solvent , on top of an aqueous phase 709 , having the silicon cores 702 dispersed in the hf / water / methanol mixture , with a sharp interface in between the two phases . due to their hydrophobic properties , the silicon cores 702 then diffuse up into the organic phase 708 , as seen in fig7 e , leaving the hf / water / methanol mixture and any etching products in the aqueous phase 709 . at step 610 , the aqueous phase 709 is drained out of the container , taking most , if not all , of the hf / water / methanol mixture and etching products with it , and leaving behind the organic phase 708 with the silicon cores 702 each coated with an organic layer 710 , as seen in fig7 f . at step 612 , the organic phase 708 may be washed with water in order to remove residual hf and any other undesirable polar material . this washing step may be repeated as many times as necessary in order to achieve optimum residue removal . however , in a preferred embodiment , the organic phase is washed twice with water . at this point , the process may take two separate paths , either drying the particles at step 614 a or dispersing the particles at step 614 b . at step 614 a , the organic phase is dried down to only the powder in the container . the particles are then immediately stored in a storage liquid at step 616 a , where they may be re - dispersed . the storage liquid is either in the polar - organic range , such as tetraethylene glycol or other glycol solvents , or the hydrophobic range . this path allows the powder to be used in water - based applications at step 618 and / or organic coating applications at step 620 . at step 614 b , a dispersant is added to the washed organic phase , thereby dispersing the particles . the dispersant may then be used as a storage liquid at step 616 b . this path allows the powder to be used in organic coating applications at step 620 . fig8 is a flowchart illustrating one embodiment of a work flow 800 for removing the oxide layer from copper powder in accordance with the present invention . at step 802 , the powder is provided as produced , with each particle having a copper core and a copper - oxide shell layer . this copper core may be pure copper or a copper alloy . the powder is black and is preferably provided in a dry state . fig9 a illustrates one embodiment of the powder 900 being provided in a container as a plurality of particles having a copper core 902 and a copper - oxide shell 904 . typically , the dry powder 900 is settled at the bottom of the container as shown . it is to be understood that fig9 a - h are only provided to illustrate the general principles of the present invention and should not be used to limit the scope of the claims with respect to details such as size , shape and quantity . at step 804 , the powder is treated with acetic acid in water . the mixture of acetic acid and water forms an etching solution that is used to remove the oxide layer 904 from the copper core 902 . in a preferred embodiment , the solution contains approximately 0 . 1 % to 1 % acetic acid . however , it is contemplated that a variety of different concentrations may be employed . fig9 b illustrates one embodiment of the acetic acid solution 906 being introduced into the container and interacting with the oxide layer 904 of each particle . the application of the solution 906 may cause the particles to become slightly suspended for a period of time before settling at the bottom of the container . fig9 c illustrates one embodiment of the resulting removal of the oxide layer 904 from the copper core 902 of each particle . the etching products ( removed copper - oxide , etc .) rise to the upper portion of the mixture , while the resulting copper - colored powder resides on the bottom , typically in a non - dispersed arrangement . at step 806 , one or more decantations is performed in order to remove a majority , if not all , of the etching solution and products . as seen in fig9 d , any remaining etching solution 906 and / or etching products is minimal . at step 808 , the powder may then be washed with water 907 , as seen in fig9 e , in order to remove any remaining etching solution or etching products . this washing step may be repeated as many times as necessary in order to achieve optimum residue removal . however , in a preferred embodiment , the powder is washed twice . preferably , a minimal amount of the washing water 907 is left in the container , as seen in fig9 f . at step 810 , the powder is treated with a tetraethylene glycol ( or some other glycol solvent ) and water solution 908 , as seen in fig9 g . the interaction of this solution 908 with the copper cores 902 forms a dispersion of copper cores 902 each having an organic coating 910 , as seen in fig9 h . at step 812 , the resulting copper particles may be stored in the glycol solvent and water solution . this powder can maintain the same copper coloring for weeks without any discoloration . the present invention has been described in terms of specific embodiments incorporating details to facilitate the understanding of principles of construction and operation of the invention . such reference herein to specific embodiments and details thereof is not intended to limit the scope of the claims appended hereto . it will be readily apparent to one skilled in the art that other various modifications may be made in the embodiment chosen for illustration without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the claims .	8
referring now to the fig1 - 15 of the drawing , various aspects of a liquid cooled vehicle brake system are depicted . generally , as shown in fig1 and 2 , a typical vehicle brake assembly , such as a vehicle brake assembly used in automobiles and trucks , includes at least one moveable brake member , such as a brake shoe 20 , which engages a rotating brake member , such as a brake drum 29 . the brake shoe 20 is formed with an arcuate rim 22 , typically of metal , which has a radially inward facing surface 24 and a radially outward facing surface 26 . a layer of a brake friction material 28 is securely fixed or bonded to the outer surface 26 of the rim 22 . the layer of friction material 28 is designed to engage the brake drum 29 . a coolant fluid flow passageway 31 includes an arcuate web 30 extending intermediately between opposed side edges of the radially inward facing surface 24 of the rim 22 . the web 30 has a thin , flange - like shape and can be integrally formed as part of the rim 22 or fixedly joined to the rim 22 by welding , mechanical fasteners , etc . the web 30 adds stiffness to the arcuate rim 22 to resist the forces encountered during movement of the brake shoe 20 into frictional engagement with the rotating vehicle brake drum 29 . according to a first aspect , a coolant passage 40 is formed in fluid flow contact or communication with the inner surface 24 of the rim 22 at a location on the inner surface 24 where the maximum temperature during braking is encountered . the coolant passage 40 extends completely through the web 30 between one side of the web 30 and the opposite side of the web 30 . the coolant passage 40 may have any arcuate length and can be centered at the arcuate center of the rim 22 where maximum braking temperatures are typically encountered . for example , the passage 40 is in the form of a lateral bore 41 formed intermediately between the arcuate ends of the web 30 . connections to a fluid flow system are provided to the coolant passage 40 as described hereafter . another aspect of the liquid cooled brake is shown in fig3 and 4 . in this aspect , the brake shoe 20 and coolant passage 40 are constructed in the same manner as described above and shown in fig1 . in this aspect , the opposite side edges of the coolant passage 40 are closed off and covered by the gussets 42 and 44 . each gusset 42 and 44 has an overall length , width and shape to close off one entire exposed surface or opening of the coolant passage 40 when the gusset 42 or 44 is fixedly mounted to the brake shoe web 30 by means of welding , mechanical fasteners , such as rivets for example , etc . at least one of the gussets 42 or 44 , with gusset 42 being shown by way of example , has a first , inlet aperture 46 and a second , outlet aperture 48 typically located at opposite ends of the gusset 42 . fluid connectors are fixedly mounted in each aperture 46 and 48 to provide fluid flow through the inlet 46 into and through the fluid passage 40 to the outlet 46 for maximum heat transfer from the brake shoe 20 . the fluid connectors can be any connection suitable for fluidically coupling flexible hoses or rigid pipes to the inlet and outlet ends of the passageway 40 , such as pipe unions , quick connectors , etc . referring now to fig5 and 6 , there is depicted yet another aspect of a brake shoe 50 which is constructed similarly to the brake shoe 20 described above and shown in fig1 - 4 in that brake shoe 50 includes an arcuate rim 52 having a first radially inward extending inner surface 54 and an opposed , second radially outward facing , outer surface 56 . a layer of brake friction material 58 is fixedly mounted on the outer surface 56 . the brake shoe 50 includes two spaced webs 60 and 62 . radial inward edges 64 and 66 of the first and second web 60 and 62 , respectively , are closed off by an inner wall or gusset 68 which can be joined to the webs 60 and 62 by welding , mechanical fasteners , or any other joining technique suitable for use in a vehicle brake application . the webs 60 and 62 and the inner wall 68 form a coolant passage 70 adjacent to the rim 52 which extends from an inlet 67 at one end of the webs 60 and 62 to an outlet 69 at the opposite end of the webs 60 and 62 . fluid connectors are mounted to the inlet 67 and the outlet 69 . the coolant passage 70 places the liquid coolant flow at the longitudinal center of the rim 52 and the brake friction lining material 58 which is exposed to the highest braking temperature . the distance between the outer surface of the layer of braking material 58 and the liquid coolant in the passage 70 is minimized so as to maximize heat transfer efficiency . the dual webs 60 and 62 and the inner endwall 68 may also be implemented as an integral part of a cast or molded brake shoe 76 are shown in fig7 . in this aspect , the brake shoe 70 is formed of a one piece molded or cast body having a rim portion 78 and first and second webs 80 and 82 extending radially inward from an inner surface 84 of the rim portion 78 . a brake lining 86 formed of a friction material is fixedly mounted on an outer surface 88 of the rim portion 78 . an inner wall 90 is fixed to the radial inner ends of the ribs 80 and 82 to close off the interior space between the webs 80 and 82 and the rim portion 78 to form a coolant passage 82 extending between opposite ends of the webs 80 and 82 . fluid connectors are coupled to the opposite ends of the coolant passage 82 . in the aspect shown in fig8 , the brake shoe 100 is a one piece cast brake shoe which includes an integral one piece unitary body formed of a brake friction material thereby combining a rim portion 102 , an outer portion of brake friction material 104 , and first and second inner webs 106 and 108 into a unitary body . the radial inner ends of the webs 106 and 108 are again closed off by an inner wall 110 to form a coolant passage 112 extending between opposite ends of the webs 106 and 108 . fluid connectors are coupled to the opposite ends of the coolant passage 112 . a brake shoe 110 shown in fig9 , 10 , and 11 includes an arcuate rim 112 having a layer 114 of a brake lining or friction material bonded or otherwise securely mounted on an outer surface 116 of the rim 112 . a closed web 118 similar to the webs shown in any of fig1 - 8 , extends radially inward from an inner surface 120 of the rim 112 . in this aspect , heat conductive means in the form of one or more heat conductive members , with three circumferentially spaced heat conductive members 124 , 126 , and 128 being shown by way of example only , are mounted within the layer 114 of brake friction material . the heat conductive members 124 , 126 , and 128 may be sintered or integrally cast as part of the friction material layer 114 or fixedly mounted in the layer 114 after the layer 114 has been bonded or otherwise mounted to the outer surface 116 of the rim 112 by forming bores in the layer 114 and then inserting and fixedly securing each of the heat conductive members 124 , 126 and 128 in the layer 114 . the heat conductive members 124 , 126 , and 128 are preferably formed of a highly thermal or heat conductive material , such as copper , copper alloy , etc . the radially outer end or surface of each of the heat conductive members 124 , 126 , and 128 may be covered by an outer portion of the layer 114 of brake friction material or exposed through the outer surface of the layer 114 as shown in fig9 , 10 , and 11 . the heat conductive members 124 , 126 , and 128 function to rapidly transfer heat generated during vehicle braking in the surrounding wheel drum , not shown , and in the brake friction lining or layer 114 to the rim 112 where the heat is transferred to the liquid coolant flowing through the flow passage 121 formed between the one or more webs , with two webs 118 and an inner wall 119 being shown in fig1 by way of example only . fig9 and 10 also depict another feature of this aspect of the liquid cooled brake in which one or more heat radiators or fins 134 are fixed in thermal flow communication with the rim 122 by means of welding , integral casting , etc . each heat radiator or fin 134 projects into the coolant flow passage 121 so as to expose a large surface area for the heat transferred through the heat conductive members 124 , 126 , and 128 in the rim 122 to the coolant flow in the passage 121 for efficient heat removal and brake cooling . the heat radiator or fin 134 is shown in fig9 , may have any shape or length . it is desirable for efficient heat transfer for the heat radiator or fin 134 to have a length that extends at least across the entire arcuate expanse of the heat conductive members 124 , 126 , and 128 . the heat conductive members 124 , 126 , and 128 may have other shapes , lengths , and widths as shown , by way of example only , in fig1 . in this modification , a single heat conductive member 138 is provided in the form of an elongated strip substantially centered about the circumferential center of the brake lining 114 where breaking temperatures are at a maximum . it will be understood that the heat conductive members 124 , 126 and 128 or the heat conductive member 138 may be used independently and separately from the heat radiator or fin 134 . as shown in fig1 , the heat radiator or fin 134 may also be used independently of the heat conductive members 124 , 126 and 128 or 138 . a brake coolant flow control system is depicted in fig1 . an internal combustion engine 210 is coupled to a radiator 212 by means of a first coolant flow loop formed of a first conduit 214 coupling the engine coolant flow passage to the top portion of the radiator 212 and a second conduit 216 connecting the bottom of the radiator 216 to the engine coolant flow passage through the water pump 218 . the engine 210 is also fluidically coupled by a second fluid flow loop to a passenger compartment heater 220 . the second fluid flow loop includes a first conduit 222 coupled between the engine 210 and an inlet of the heater 220 , and a second conduit 224 coupled between an outlet of the heater 220 and a second conduit 216 of the engine / radiator fluid flow loop . a brake coolant flow loop is formed of a first conduit 230 branching off of the first heater conduit 222 . the first conduit 230 is coupled to a diverter valve 232 , such as a normally closed solenoid operated valve . a solenoid coil receives an input signal , as described hereafter , to cause the diverter valve , 232 to open thereby allowing a coolant flow through the brake coolant flow passages 40 , 70 , 92 , 212 or 221 as shown in various aspects of the liquid cooled brake described above . the input signal to the coil of the diverter valve 232 maybe a 12 volt d . c . signal from the vehicle brake stoplight or the brake pedal actuation switch as shown by a signal line 234 . the outlet of the diverter valve 232 is coupled to an inlet conduit 236 which is coupled to the inlet of the brake coolant passages 40 , 70 , 92 , 112 , or 221 shown in the various aspects described above . the outlet of the liquid brake cooling passage is coupled to a conduit 238 which is connected to the first conduit 214 of the engine / radiator coolant flow loop so as to return the heated coolant fluid from the brakes to the top portion of the radiator 212 . a safety feature is also provided in the brake coolant flow circuit shown in fig1 . a pressure switch 240 is coupled to the brake fluid flow conduit 236 . the pressure switch 240 can be a normally opened pressure switch which is adapted to move to a closed position at a certain detected fluid pressure , such as 10 psi , for example . when the pressure switch 240 is open , since the fluid pressure is under 10 psi indicative of good coolant flow , an output signal from the pressure switch 240 can be used to turn on a coolant supply indicator , such as a light 242 located on the vehicle instrument panel , to provide an indication to the vehicle driver that the brake coolant system is operating . when the pressure switch 240 detects a coolant flow pressure in the conduit 236 greater than the set pressure , such as greater than 10 psi , the output signal from the pressure switch 240 can be used to generate an error signal depicted by reference number 244 which can be supplied to the vehicle instrument panel or the vehicle control computer to provide an operational warning that the brake coolant is experiencing an overpressure condition . referring now to fig1 , there is depicted another aspect of a liquid cooled brake coolant flow control circuit . the normally closed diverter valve 232 , in this aspect , is fluidically coupled in parallel with the passenger heater core 220 in the event that the heater core 220 becomes plugged or experiences reduced fluid flow over time . the conduit 222 from the engine branches into sub - conduits 222 a and 222 b which respectively flow to the diverter valve 232 and the heater core 220 . the outlets of the diverter valve 232 and heater core 220 are coupled to sub - conduit 236 a and 236 b , respectively which tee together then flow into the brake line fluid flow conduit 236 .	5
the present invention comprises an emulsion formed from three main components , ( 1 ) water forming a continuous aqueous phase , ( 2 ) the asa occupying the discontinuous phase , and ( 3 ) the emulsification agent , which in the practice of the present invention comprises a starch grafted cationic acrylamide co - polymer . the emulsion of this invention can be used in the same applications which have previously used asa size emulsions . a wide variety of asa size can be used in the practice of the present invention and the invention is not to be limited in the nature of the asa size . the asa size most often contains from about 14 to about 22 carbon atoms , more usually from about 16 to about 18 carbon atoms . blends of asa materials also are useful . such asa sizes are commercially available and / or can be readily prepared by those skilled in the art . examples of asa size are described in u . s . pat . nos . 3 , 102 , 064 , 4 , 040 , 900 , 3 , 968 , 005 , and u . s . pat . no . 3 , 821 , 069 , the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein . a preferred asa size is novasize asa ®, available from georgia - pacific paper chemicals , which essentially is a blend of c 16 - c 18 asa with a minor portion (˜ 0 . 1 wt %) of c 14 asa . the asa size preferably is mixed with a surfactant prior to forming the emulsion . the use of a surfactant significantly reduces energy requirements for preparing the emulsion . the surfactant should be oil - soluble or asa - soluble and can be non - ionic , anionic , or cationic . preferably , the surfactant is anionic . given these criteria , the selection of a suitable surfactant for a particular asa size will be apparent to those skilled in the art with the aid of no more than routine experimentation . a preferred surfactant is sodium dioctyl sulfosuccinate . the surfactant typically is added in an amount of about 0 . 1 to about 5 parts , more typically from about 0 . 5 to about 1 . 5 parts , per 100 parts by weight of the asa size . the emulsification agent comprises a starch grafted cationic acrylamide co - polymer . the starch grafted co - polymer can be prepared by the graft polymerization of an acrylamide monomer onto a starch substrate or backbone . various free radical polymerization methods can be used for grafting acrylamide monomers to starch , e . g ., radiation activated free radical polymerization , redox based free radical polymerization and mechanical fission . one method for carrying out graft polymerization involves preparing an aqueous solution of the starch and acrylamide monomers , adding thereto a water - soluble free radical catalyst , and then carrying out the polymerization at a suitable reaction temperature . typical free radical catalysts which may be used include hydrogen peroxide , solution soluble organic peroxides and hydroperoxides , persulfates , and ceric ion . an activator , which is typically a mild reducing agent , can also be added along with the catalyst . one known activator is sodium formaldehyde sulfoxalate . starches which can be used include various plant carbohydrates , such as corn starch , rice starch , potato starch , and the like , or derivatives thereof . example of starch derivatives , often called modified starches , include oxidized starches , hydroxyalkylated starches , carboxyalkylated starches , various solubilized starches , enzyme - modified starches , etc . many starch derivatives are cationic and / or amphoteric . generally , any starch can be used from which the acrylamide monomers can be polymerized . a preferred starch is hydroxyethylated corn starch . the acrylamide monomer may be acrylamide , acrylamide derivatives , or a combination thereof . non - limiting examples of suitable acrylamide derivatives include n - t - butyl acrylamide , n - methylol acrylamide , and methacrylamide . acrylic acid also can be used in small quantities . in order to prepare the grafted co - polymer of starch and acrylamide , acrylamide monomer is mixed with the starch . the amount of acrylarnide monomer relative to the starch can vary over a wide range , for example from about 1 : 9 to about 9 : 1 by weight . as a result , the grafted starch co - polymer most often will contain from about 10 to about 90 wt % of the starch component , more usually from 25 to about 75 wt %; and most often will contain from about 10 to about 90 % of the acrylamide monomer , more usually from about 25 to about 75 wt %, and even more usually from about 40 to about 60 wt %, based on the total weight of starch and acrylamide . the acrylamide monomer is polymerized in the presence of a cationic monomer to provide the grafted starch co - polymer with cationic charges . examples of suitable cationic monomers include diallylamine and its respective salts , n - alkyl diallylamine and its respective salts , diallyldialkyl ammonium quatemary salts , n , n - dialkylaminoalkyl acrylate and methacrylate and their respective salts , n , n - dialkylaminoalkyl acrylamide and methacrylamide and their respective salts , and ar - vinylbenzyldialkylamine and its respective salts . a preferred cationic monomer is diallyldimethyl ammonium chloride ( dadmac ). the amount of cationic monomer used in making the co - polymer can vary over a wide range and should be at least a minimum amount which improves performance of the emulsification agent . the amount of cationic monomer should not be more than a maximum amount above which emulsion particle size is adversely affected . within these broad parameters , however , the particular amount of cationic monomer used is not critical to emulsion stability . determining an appropriate amount for any specific combination of starch , asa , and cationic monomer is well within the skill of the art using routine experimentation . in a preferred embodiment , the amount of cationic monomer ranges from about 0 . 033 to about 0 . 15 mole per mole of the acrylamide monomer . the starch grafted cationic co - polymer can be prepared by reacting the acrylamide monomer , cationic monomer , and starch in an aqueous medium , in the presence of the water - soluble free - radical catalyst . the grafted starch co - polymers typically are prepared by heating the solution of starch , acrylamide monomer , and cationic monomer to about 75 to 95 ° c . until the starch is gelatinized , and then adding the free - radical catalyst . the reaction then is maintained at a suitable temperature for polymerization , usually at about 90 ° c . alternatively , the starch may be pregelatinized and the reaction mixture thereafter formed . while not wanting to be bound by theory , it is believed that a free radical is generated on the starch backbone , at which site the acrylamide monomer and the cationic monomber are grafted and polymerize . at the time of the grafting and polymerization , the starch essentially is in a gelatinized ( solubilized ) form . typically , the reaction is carried out until all the monomer is consumed . the grafting and polymerization should be conducted in substantially neutral to acidic conditions . preferably , the reaction is run at a ph of about 4 to about 5 . other components also may be blended with the emulsification agent prior to or at the time of forming the asa size emulsion , such as surfactants , dispersants , and the like . such other components , of course , should be compatible with the cationic co - polymer . whether a particular component is compatible with the cationic co - polymer will be apparent to those skilled in the art with the aid of no more than routine experimentation . an asa size emulsion then can be prepared , for example , by combining the starch grafted co - polymer with de - ionized water , followed by blending with the asa ( optionally containing a surfactant ). the amount of water used should be at least a minimum quantity which permits emulsification of the asa particles ( droplets ). the asa size emulsion typically is prepared using a high - shear mixer . however , there is no criticality in the asa particle ( droplet ) size ; even an emulsion having an asa particle size of 3 - 5 microns is stable . no particular upper limit on the amount of water is contemplated ; the emulsion can be made as dilute as desired or needed for particular processing applications . preferably , the emulsion is prepared using from about 25 to about 40 wt % asa , based on total weight , and thereafter is diluted , as necessary , to meet particular metering requirements . the amount of starch grafted co - polymer used in preparing the emulsion can vary over a wide range . the amount should be at least a minimum quantity which helps promote the emulsification of the asa size . the weight ratio of the grafted co - polymer to asa typically will range from about 0 . 01 : 1 to about 1 : 1 , more typically from about 0 . 02 : 1 to about 0 . 2 : 1 , and even more typically from about 0 . 03 : 1 to about 0 . 15 : 1 , by weight on a dry basis . for purposes of emulsifying the asa size , a preferred weight ratio of co - polymer to asa is 0 . 04 : 1 to 0 . 1 : 1 . for many applications , it may be advantageous to use higher amounts of the co - polymer to impart various properties to intermediate or end products . there is no particular maximum amount of co - polymer contemplated ; the practical limiting factor is cost . the following examples are provided for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention . this example illustrates the preparation of a starch grafted cationic acrylamide co - polymer solution having 15 wt % solids , at a 1 : 1 weight ratio ( starch to acrylamide ). the starch used was penford gum 280 , a hydroxyethylated cornstarch commercially available from penford products . a starch grafted cationic acrylamide copolymer was prepared by charging into a reaction vessel at room temperature with agitation : 612 g of deionized water , 120 g of acrylamide ( supplied as a 50 wt % aqueous solution ), 15 g of diallyldimethyl ammonium chloride ( supplied as a 63 wt % aqueous solution , available from ciba specialties ), and 70 g of hydroxyethylated corn starch . the ph of the reaction mass was adjusted to 4 . 0 using dilute sulfuric acid . the reaction mass was de - aerated by sparging with nitrogen gas for 1 hour . a free radical catalyst was prepared by combining 1 . 4 g of potassium persulfate and 52 g of water to form a ˜ 3 wt % aqueous solution of potassium persulfate . the catalyst solution was divided into four equal portions of about 13 . 4 g each . a second catalyst solution to be used as the final catalyst charge was prepared by combining 1 . 4 g of potassium persulfate and 52 g of water . following de - aeration , the reaction mass was heated to 75 ° c . one portion ( 13 . 4 g ) of the potassium persulfate solution was added and the reaction mass exothermed to about 90 ° c . two of the remaining three portions ( 13 . 4 g each ) of the potassium persulfate solution were added on 30 minute intervals , with the temperature of the reaction mass held at 90 ° c . for each initiated charge . after the third portion was added , the reaction mass was held for one hour , after which the final catalyst charge was added . following addition of the final catalyst charge , the reaction mass was held for one hour at 90 ° c ., and thereafter was post - treated with 0 . 0013 wt % of glyoxal for cross - linking . this example illustrates the preparation of asa size emulsions using the starch grafted cationic acrylamide co - polymer of example 1 as an emulsification agent at a weight ratio of 0 . 06 : 1 ( emulsifier to asa on a dry basis ). novasize asa ®( available from georgia - pacific paper chemicals ) containing 0 . 9 wt % sodium dioctyl sulfosuccinate surfactant was used . twenty - four grams ( 24 g ) of the starch grafted cationic acrylamide co - polymer solution of example 1 ( 15 % solids by weight ) and 316 g of deionized water were added to a blender ( 16 speed osterizer ) and stirred at medium speed . sixty grams ( 60 g ) of asa containing 0 . 9 wt % sodium dioctyl sulfosuccinate surfactant were added and the mixture was blended at high speed for four minutes . the resulting 15 wt % asa emulsion was fluid and milk - white . a portion was diluted to 2 wt % asa . both the 15 wt % asa size and the 2 wt % asa size emulsions showed no evidence of breakage , separation , or asa particle clustering after 7 days storage at room temperature . samples also were diluted to 1 . 5 wt % asa and particle size was determined immediately and after 24 hours . using a similar procedure , asa size emulsions also were prepared at a weight ratio of 0 . 2 : 1 ( emulsifier to asa on a dry basis ). this example illustrates the preparation of handsheets using the asa size emulsions of example 2 . handsheets were made with either old newsprint , or old corrugated container ( occ ). a turbulent pulse sheet former ( tpsf , available from paper research materials ) was used to prepare the sheets . stock ( slushed in tap water ) and water were treated with 200 ppm sulfate ion and 150 ppm alkalinity , respectively . ground calcium carbonate ( gcc ) at 1 . 5 wt % on fiber , was added to the stock to provide a stable ph of about 7 . 4 . using white water recirculation , two sheets were made and discarded and two more were then made for testing . the asa size emulsions were diluted with deionized water to 0 . 04 wt % asa for addition to handsheet portions of the papermaking stock , with stirring maintained for 60 seconds before making the sheet . sheets were conditioned overnight and tested using the hercules sizing test ( hst ) ( tappi ) with 1 % formic acid ink . all emulsions gave typical sizing results . this example illustrates preparing asa size emulsions using physical blends of starch and cationic acrylamide co - polymer . penford gum 280 was used as the starch . the starch was solubilized by two different procedures . in the first procedure , “ pg1 , ” a 15 wt % slurry of penford gum 280 was reacted for 3 hours at 75 - 90 ° c . with potassium persulfate ( c . f . example 1 ). the resultant solution is heterogeneous with the top a yellow transparent liquid and the bottom a white opaque liquid or powder . in the second procedure , “ pg2 ,” penford gum 280 was solubilized using a standard starch cook procedure where a 15 wt % solids slurry was heated at 90 ° c . for 30 minutes . emulsions were prepared at 15 wt % asa solids at 0 . 2 : 1 and 0 . 06 : 1 weight ratios of emulsifier to asa ( on a dry weight basis ). the emulsions then were diluted to 5 wt % and 0 . 5 wt % asa solids . these diluted samples then were divided in two . one half of the samples were held at room temperature for 72 hours and the other one - half were held for one hour at 150 ° f . ( 65 . 6 ° c .). particle size was measured immediately after the emulsions were prepared and again after one hour at 150 ° f . ( 65 . 6 ° c .). for comparison , emulsions also were prepared using nalco 7541 , a commercially available cationic acrylamide co - polymer , as an emulsifier . the emulsions were prepared at 15 wt % asa solids at 0 . 2 : 1 and 0 . 06 : 1 weight ratios of emulsifier to asa ( on a dry weight basis ). table 1 summarizes emulsifier composition for the physical blends , for nalco 7541 , and for the grafted co - polymers ( example 1 ), and also particle size of the emulsions . table 2 summarizes the appearance of the emulsions at 15 wt %, 5 wt %, and 0 . 5 wt % asa solids , respectively , each after one hour at 150 ° f . ( 65 . 6 ° c . ), after 72 hours following the 150 ° f . ( 65 . 6 ° c .) treatment , and after 72 hours at room temperature . with the exception of the starch grafted acrylamide ( emulsion nos . 3 and 6 ), emulsions made at a 0 . 2 : 1 weight ratio ( emulsifier to asa ) formed more stable emulsions than did emulsions made at the lower ( 0 . 06 : 1 ) weight ratio . emulsion no . 6 ( made using the grafted co - polymer of the present invention ) had the lowest original particle size , and maintained particle size through the accelerated aging treatment . emulsion no . 6 was found to be the best emulsion after accelerated aging , while emulsion no . 3 was found to be the best when kept at room temperature . emulsions nos . 2 and 5 ( which used physical blends of a cationic polyacrylamide and starch ) had the worst appearance under ambient conditions as well as under accelerated aging . emulsifiers were prepared with physical blends of cationic acrylamide co - polymer ( nalco 7541 ) and starch . the starches used were stalok 600 (“ s600 ”), a pregelatinized cationic potato starch , and stalok 400 (“ s400 ”), a cationic potato starch . both starches are commercially available from a . e . staley . the stalok 600 starch was mixed for 4 hours at room temperature . the stalok 400 starch was cooked for 30 minutes at 90 ° c . asa size emulsions were prepared at a ratio of 0 . 2 : 1 ( emulsifier to asa by weight on a dry basis ) at 15 wt % solids diluted to 1 wt %, and then diluted to 0 . 05 wt %. particle size was measured of the 1 wt % emulsion immediately and then 24 hour later . table 3 summarizes emulsion stability for the emulsions so - prepared . table 4 summarizes emulsion particle size initially and after 24 hours at room temperature . the principles , preferred embodiments and modes of operation of the present invention have been described in the foregoing specification . the invention which is intended to be protected herein , however , is not to be construed as limited to the particular forms disclosed , since they are to be regarded as illustrative rather than restrictive . variations and changes may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention .	3
the present invention may be understood more readily by reference to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the invention and the examples included herein . however , before the preferred embodiments of the devices and methods according to the present invention are disclosed and described , it is to be understood that this invention is not limited to the exemplary embodiments described within this disclosure , and the numerous modifications and variations therein that will be apparent to those skilled in the art remain within the scope of the invention disclosed herein . it is also to be understood that the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing specific embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting . unless otherwise noted , the terms used herein are to be understood according to conventional usage by those of ordinary skill in the relevant art . in addition to the definitions of terms provided below , it is to be understood that as used in the specification and in the claims , “ a ” or “ an ” can mean one or more , depending upon the context in which it is used . described herein are luminal stent devices comprising poly [ bis ( trifluoroethoxy ) phosphazene ] and / or a derivative thereof and one or smooth muscle relaxant active agents capable of in vivo release into the tissues or organs of a mammalian patient upon implantation , deployment , or use of the devices to maintain patency of a desired anatomic lumen . further described herein are methods for the manufacture and use of medical devices comprising poly [ bis ( trifluoroethoxy ) phosphazene ] and / or a derivative thereof and one or more nitrogen compounds or other smooth muscle relaxant active agents capable of release during storage of biological or pharmaceutical containment or administration therein , or in vivo release into the tissues or organs of a mammalian patient upon implantation , deployment , or use of the devices to maintain patency of a desired anatomic lumen . in certain embodiments of the present invention , medical devices are provided with a polymeric coating comprising poly [ bis ( trifluoroethoxy ) phosphazene ] and / or a derivative thereof releasably bonded to compounds capable of producing nitric oxide or other bioactive nitrogen compounds upon release in vivo from the polymer . the present invention further includes methods for the manufacture and use of medical devices comprising a polymeric coating comprising poly [ bis ( trifluoroethoxy ) phosphazene ] and / or a derivative thereof releasably bonded to compounds capable of producing nitric oxide or other bioactive nitrogen compounds upon release from the polymer . referring now to fig1 a , a detail is shown of a vascular stent comprising a plurality of struts . a cross - sectional drawing of an exemplary strut of a vascular stent according to the present invention is shown in fig1 b . in fig1 b , a stent structure 115 is coated with an adherent subcoating of a nitrite compound 110 , which is covalently bonded to an exterior coating 105 comprising a polymer poly [ bis ( 2 , 2 , 2 - trifluoroethoxy ) phosphazene ] or a derivative thereof ( referred to further herein as “ poly [ bis ( trifluoroethoxyphosphazene ]”. the nitrite subcoating 110 as shown in fig1 b may be any nitrogen compound capable of in vivo breakdown to nitric oxide or other smooth muscle relaxant nitrite or nitrate compounds . in alternate embodiments of the present invention , the subcoating may be a non - nitrogen based smooth muscle relaxant agent . in the exemplary fig1 b section , the nitrite subcoating 110 is shown as a separate layer , adherent to the substrate of stent structure 115 and covalently bonded or otherwise adherent to the polymeric coating 105 . in still other embodiments of the present invention , the smooth muscle relaxant agent may be integrated into the polymeric coating 105 . as described herein , the polymer poly [ bis ( 2 , 2 , 2 - trifluoroethoxy ) phosphazene ] or derivatives thereof have chemical and biological qualities that distinguish this polymer from other know polymers in general , and from other know polyphosphazenes in particular . in one aspect of this invention , the polyphosphazene is poly [ bis ( 2 , 2 , 2 - trifluoroethoxy ) phosphazene ] or derivatives thereof such as other alkoxide , halogenated alkoxide , or fluorinated alkoxide substituted analogs thereof . the preferred poly [ bis ( trifluoroethoxy ) phosphazene ] polymer is made up of repeating monomers represented by the formula ( i ) shown below : wherein r 1 to r 6 are all trifluoroethoxy ( och 2 cf 3 ) groups , and wherein n may vary from at least about 40 to about 100 , 000 ′ as disclosed herein . alternatively , one may use derivatives of this polymer in the present invention . the term “ derivative ” or “ derivatives ” is meant to refer to polymers made up of monomers having the structure of formula i but where one or more of the r 1 to r 6 functional group ( s ) is replaced by a different functional group ( s ), such as an unsubstituted alkoxide , a halogenated alkoxide , a fluorinated alkoxide , or any combination thereof , or where one or more of the r 1 to r 6 is replaced by any of the other functional group ( s ) disclosed herein , but where the biological inertness of the polymer is not substantially altered . in one aspect of the polyphosphazene of formula ( i ) illustrated above , for example , at least one of the substituents r 1 to r 6 can be an unsubstituted alkoxy substituent , such as methoxy ( och 3 ) 3 , ethoxy ( och 2 ch 3 ) or n - propoxy ( och 2 ch 2 ch 3 ). in another aspect , for example , at least one of the substituents r 1 to r 6 is an alkoxy group substituted with at least one fluorine atom . examples of useful fluorine - substituted alkoxy groups r 1 to r 6 include , but are not limited to ocf 3 , och 2 cf 3 , och 2 ch 2 cf 3 , och 2 cf 2 cf 3 , och ( cf 3 ) 2 , occh 3 ( cf 3 ) 2 , och 2 cf 2 cf 2 cf 3 , och 2 ( cf 2 ) 3 cf 3 , och 2 ( cf 2 ) 4 cf 3 , och 2 ( cf 2 ) 5 cf 3 , och 2 ( cf 2 ) 6 cf 3 , och 2 ( cf 2 ) 7 cf 3 , och 2 cf 2 chf 2 , och 2 cf 2 cf 2 chf 2 , och 2 ( cf 2 ) 3 chf 2 , och 2 ( cf 2 ) 4 chf 2 , och 2 ( cf 2 ) 5 chf 2 , och 2 ( cf 2 ) 6 chf 2 , och 2 ( cf 2 ) 7 chf 2 , and the like . thus , while trifluoroethoxy ( och 2 cf 3 ) groups are preferred , these further exemplary functional groups also may be used alone , in combination with trifluoroethoxy , or in combination with each other . in one aspect , examples of especially useful fluorinated alkoxide functional groups that may be used include , but are not limited to 2 , 2 , 3 , 3 , 3 - pentafluoropropyloxy ( och 2 cf 2 cf 3 ), 2 , 2 , 2 , 2 ′, 2 ′, 2 ′- hexafluoroisopropyloxy ( och ( cf 3 ) 2 ), 2 , 2 , 3 , 3 , 4 , 4 , 4 - heptafluorobutyloxy ( och 2 cf 2 cf 2 cf 3 ), 3 , 3 , 4 , 4 , 5 , 5 , 6 , 6 , 7 , 7 , 8 , 8 , 8 - tridecafluorooctyloxy ( och 2 ( cf 2 ) 7 cf 3 ), 2 , 2 , 3 , 3 ,- tetrafluoropropyloxy ( och 2 cf 2 chf 2 ), 2 , 2 , 3 , 3 , 4 , 4 - hexafluorobutyloxy ( och 2 cf 2 cf 2 chf 2 ), 3 , 3 , 4 , 4 , 5 , 5 , 6 , 6 , 7 , 7 , 8 , 8 - dodecafluorooctyloxy ( och 2 ( cf 2 ) 7 chf 2 ), and the like , including combinations thereof . further , in some embodiments , 1 % or less of the r 1 to r 6 groups may be alkenoxy groups , a feature that may assist in crosslinking to provide a more elastomeric phosphazene polymer . in this aspect , alkenoxy groups include , but are not limited to , och 2 ch ═ ch 2 , och 2 ch 2 ch ═ ch 2 , allylphenoxy groups , and the like , including combinations thereof . also in formula ( i ) illustrated herein , the residues r 1 to r 6 are each independently variable and therefore can be the same or different . by indicating that n can be as large as ∞ in formula i , it is intended to specify values of n that encompass polyphosphazene polymers that can have an average molecular weight of up to about 75 million daltons . for example , in one aspect , n can vary from at least about 40 to about 100 , 000 . in another aspect , by indicating that n can be as large as ∞ in formula i , it is intended to specify values of n from about 4 , 000 to about 50 , 000 , more preferably , n is about 7 , 000 to about 40 , 000 and most preferably n is about 13 , 000 to about 30 , 000 . in another aspect of this invention , the polymer used to prepare the polymers disclosed herein has a molecular weight based on the above formula , which can be a molecular weight of at least about 70 , 000 g / mol , more preferably at least about 1 , 000 , 000 g / mol , and still more preferably a molecular weight of at least about 3 × 10 6 g / mol to about 20 × 10 6 g / mol . most preferred are polymers having molecular weights of at least about 10 , 000 , 000 g / mol . in a further aspect of the polyphosphazene formula ( i ) illustrated herein , n is 2 to ∞, and r 1 to r 6 are groups which are each selected independently from alkyl , aminoalkyl , haloalkyl , thioalkyl , thioaryl , alkoxy , haloalkoxy , aryloxy , haloaryloxy , alkylthiolate , arylthiolate , alkylsulphonyl , alkylamino , dialkylamino , heterocycloalkyl comprising one or more heteroatoms selected from nitrogen , oxygen , sulfur , phosphorus , or a combination thereof or heteroaryl comprising one or more heteroatoms selected from nitrogen , oxygen , sulfur , phosphorus , or a combination thereof . in this aspect of formula ( i ), the pendant side groups or moieties ( also termed “ residues ”) r 1 to r 6 are each independently variable and therefore can be the same or different . further , r 1 to r 6 can be substituted or unsubstituted . the alkyl groups or moieties within the alkoxy , alkylsulphonyl , dialkylamino , and other alkyl - containing groups can be , for example , straight or branched chain alkyl groups having from 1 to 20 carbon atoms , typically from 1 to 12 carbon atoms , it being possible for the alkyl groups to be further substituted , for example , by at least one halogen atom , such as a fluorine atom or other functional group such as those noted for the r 1 to r 6 groups above . by specifying alkyl groups such as propyl or butyl , it is intended to encompass any isomer of the particular alkyl group . in one aspect , examples of alkoxy groups include , but are not limited to , methoxy , ethoxy , propoxy , and butoxy groups , and the like , which can also be further substituted . for example the alkoxy group can be substituted by at least one fluorine atom , with 2 , 2 , 2 - trifluoroethoxy constituting a useful alkoxy group . in another aspect , one or more of the alkoxy groups contains at least one fluorine atom . further , the alkoxy group can contain at least two fluorine atoms or the alkoxy group can contain three fluorine atoms . for example , the polyphosphazene that is combined with the silicone can be poly [ bis ( 2 , 2 , 2 - trifluoroethoxy ) phosphazene ]. alkoxy groups of the polymer can also be combinations of the aforementioned embodiments wherein one or more fluorine atoms are present on the polyphosphazene in combination with other groups or atoms . examples of alkylsulphonyl substituents include , but are not limited to , methylsulphonyl , ethylsulphonyl , propylsulphonyl , and butylsulphonyl groups . examples of dialkylamino substituents include , but are not limited to , dimethyl -, diethyl -, dipropyl -, and dibutylamino groups . again , by specifying alkyl groups such as propyl or butyl , it is intended to encompass any isomer of the particular alkyl group . exemplary aryloxy groups include , for example , compounds having one or more aromatic ring systems having at least one oxygen atom , non - oxygenated atom , and / or rings having alkoxy substituents , it being possible for the aryl group to be substituted for example by at least one alkyl or alkoxy substituent defined above . examples of aryloxy groups include , but are not limited to , phenoxy and naphthoxy groups , and derivatives thereof including , for example , substituted phenoxy and naphthoxy groups . the heterocycloalkyl group can be , for example , a ring system which contains from 3 to 10 atoms , at least one ring atom being a nitrogen , oxygen , sulfur , phosphorus , or any combination of these heteroatoms . the hetereocycloalkyl group can be substituted , for example , by at least one alkyl or alkoxy substituent as defined above . examples of heterocycloalkyl groups include , but are not limited to , piperidinyl , piperazinyl , pyrrolidinyl , and morpholinyl groups , and substituted analogs thereof . the heteroaryl group can be , for example , a compound having one or more aromatic ring systems , at least one ring atom being a nitrogen , an oxygen , a sulfur , a phosphorus , or any combination of these heteroatoms . the heteroaryl group can be substituted for example by at least one alkyl or alkoxy substituent defined above . examples of heteroaryl groups include , but are not limited to , imidazolyl , thiophene , furane , oxazolyl , pyrrolyl , pyridinyl , pyridinoyl , isoquinolinyl , and quinolinyl groups , and derivatives thereof such as substituted groups . as disclosed herein , smooth muscle relaxant active agents or compounds capable of producing nitric oxide or other bioactive nitrogen compounds in vivo upon release from the present invention further comprise diazeniumdiolates , sodium nitroprusside , molsidomine , nitrate esters , the s - nitrosothiol family , l - arginine , nitric oxide - nucleophile complexes , glyceryl trinitrate , nitric oxide - primary amine complexes , and related compounds , esters , amines , or other compositions thereof . smooth muscle relaxant active agents or compounds capable of producing nitric oxide or other bioactive nitrogen compounds upon release of the present invention may further comprise any other inorganic or organic composition capable of forming nitric oxide upon chemical degradation . in certain preferred embodiments of the present invention , diazeniumdiolates are incorporated into blood - insoluble polyphosphazene polymers that generate molecular no at their surfaces . in other preferred embodiments of the present invention , diazeniumdiolates may be applied to a substrate surface of a medical device as an intermediate coating , which is then coated with the preferred poly [ bis ( trifluoroethoxy ) phosphazene ] polymer of the present invention . in yet other preferred embodiments of the present invention , a substrate surface of a medical device may receive a first coating with the preferred poly [ bis ( trifluoroethoxy ) phosphazene ] polymer of the present invention , followed by an intermediate coating of diazeniumdiolates , followed by a second coating of the poly [ bis ( trifluoroethoxy ) phosphazene ] polymer as described herein . in such embodiments with a first and second coating of the poly [ bis ( trifluoroethoxy ) phosphazene ] polymer , the first and second coatings may each be bioabsorbable or non - bioabsorbable . diazeniumdiolates are now available with a range of half - lives for spontaneous no release . the ability of the diazeniumdiolates to generate copious no at rates that vary widely is largely independent of metabolic or medium effects . other preferred embodiments of the present invention may use other nitric oxide - eluting or other smooth muscle relaxant compounds , including , but not limited to sodium nitroprusside , molsidomine , nitrate esters , the s - nitrosothiol family , l - arginine , nitric oxide - nucleophile complexes , glyceryl trinitrate , nitric oxide - primary amine complexes , and related compounds . in such various embodiments of the present invention , the nitric oxide - eluting or other smooth muscle relaxant compounds may be incorporated into non - bioabsorbable polyphosphazene polymers that generate molecular no at their surfaces . in other preferred embodiments of the present invention , nitric oxide - eluting or other smooth muscle relaxant compounds may be applied to a substrate surface of a medical device as an intermediate coating , which is then coated with the preferred poly [ bis ( trifluoroethoxy ) phosphazene ] polymer of the present invention . in yet other preferred embodiments of the present invention , a substrate surface of a medical device may receive a first coating with the preferred poly [ bis ( trifluoroethoxy ) phosphazene ] polymer of the present invention , followed by an intermediate coating of nitric oxide - eluting or other smooth muscle relaxant compounds , followed by a second coating of the poly [ bis ( trifluoroethoxy ) phosphazene ] polymer as described herein . in such embodiments with a first and second coating of the poly [ bis ( trifluoroethoxy ) phosphazene ] polymer , the first and second coatings may each be bioabsorbable or non - bioabsorbable . the medical devices disclosed herein may comprise the poly [ bis ( trifluoroethoxy ) phosphazene ] polymer represented by formula ( i ) in various forms : as a coating , as a film , or as a solid structural component . when used as a coating or film in embodiments of the present invention , the poly [ bis ( trifluoroethoxy ) phosphazene ] polymer may be provided in varying degrees of porosity , or as a solid surface . coatings of medical devices of the present invention may be accomplished by any known coating process , including but not limited to dip coating , spray coating , spin coating , brush coating , electrostatic coating , electroplating , electron beam - physical vapor deposition , and other coating technologies . similarly , the poly [ bis ( trifluoroethoxy ) phosphazene ] polymer may be provided as either a bioabsorbable or non - bioabsorbable form as most appropriate in various embodiments of the present invention . in various embodiments of the present invention , two or more coatings of the poly [ bis ( trifluoroethoxy ) phosphazene ] polymer may be applied to the surface of a medical device , and the two or more coatings of the poly [ bis ( trifluoroethoxy ) phosphazene ] polymer may be independently provided as bioabsorbable or non - bioabsorbable . in one embodiment of the present invention an adhesion promoter may be provided in a layer between the surface of the substrate and the polymeric coating . in exemplary embodiments of the present invention , the adhesion promoter is an organosilicon compound , preferably an amino - terminated silane or a compound based on an aminosilane , or an alkylphosphonic acid aminopropyltrimethoxysilane is a preferred adhesion promoter according to the present invention . in various exemplary embodiments of the present invention , the adhesion promoter particularly improves the adhesion of the coating to the surface of the implant material through coupling of the adhesion promoter to the surface of the implant material , through , for instance , ionic and / or covalent bonds , and through further coupling of the adhesion promoter to reactive components , particularly to the antithrombogenic polymer of the coating , through , for instance , ionic and / or covalent bonds . it will be appreciated by those possessing ordinary skill in the art that changes could be made to the embodiments described above without departing from the broad inventive concept thereof . it is understood , therefore , that this invention is not limited to the particular embodiments disclosed , but it is intended to cover modifications within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims .	0
with reference now to the figures , and in particular with reference to fig1 a takedown firearm 100 is illustrated . firearm 100 is , in this case , a lever - action rifle . buttstock 102 is generally constructed of non - metal material and is placed against a shooter &# 39 ; s shoulder for shooting . lever 104 is part of a mechanism which cocks the hammer of the rifle , ejects a spent ammunition case , and chambers a live round of ammunition for firing . trigger guard 106 prevents an accidental trigger pull . fore - end 108 is used for holding the rifle . magazine 110 is removably attached to barrel 112 and is used for storing a horizontal column of ammunition which is spring - biased toward the receiver . the live round is inserted into the firing chamber utilizing lever 104 mechanism prior to firing . the spent cartridge is ejected from ejection slot 116 when lever 104 is actuated to load a live ammunition round into receiver 114 . the lever - action rifle illustrated is a takedown rifle showing the connecting mechanism between the barrel and the receiver in fig2 . generally , a takedown rifle utilizes a threaded extension of the barrel to positively connect to the receiver . barrel connector 118 , a threaded portion of barrel 112 , is used to connect to receiver 114 . this feature of easy assembly , by threading barrel 112 to receiver 114 , allows for easy carrying and storage of rifle 100 . however , because of the frequency of use of the takedown feature , the threads become worn over time and the alignment of barrel 112 and receiver 114 changes . referring to fig3 and 4 , a detailed view of a flex - plate adapter for adjusting alignment of a takedown firearm barrel and retaining ammunition in the magazine in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in a rear view ( fig3 ) and a side view ( fig4 ). flex - plate adapter 200 comprises two sections : adjustment section 202 and receiver section 203 . barrel opening 204 and magazine opening 206 are cylindrical and extend through both sections 202 , 203 . the portion of opening 204 in section 203 is shown as having threads 205 , though section 203 may be attached to barrel connector 118 by other means such as , for example , soldering . the front surface of section 203 has a recess 207 shaped for receiving fore - end 108 . though not shown in the figures , magazine opening 206 may have a relief cutout in the forward area when used in larger caliber rifles , the cutout providing sufficient clearance to allow larger cartridges to be loaded into magazine 110 . guide pins 209 protrude from the front surface of adjustment section 202 . when assembled , guide pins 209 are inserted into receiving sockets 211 in receiver section 203 . allen screws 208 , 210 connect the sections and adjust the distance from the front surface of section 202 to the rear surface of section 203 . as allen screws 208 , 210 are turned , the longitudinal length of adapter 200 changes . allen screws 208 , 210 are adjusted until the length of adapter 200 is such that , when assembled , barrel 112 is tightly fitted to receiver 114 . screws 208 , 210 also may be adjusted individually to alter the planar orientation of sections 202 , 203 to each other for adjusting the point - of - impact of a bullet fired from barrel 112 . only slight changes in the planar orientation are required to adjust the vertical or horizontal position of the forward end of barrel 112 ( fig1 ) relative to receiver 114 ( fig1 ). guide pins 209 deflect a small amount if the planar orientation is other than parallel . magazine cutoff 212 is used for retaining ammunition within magazine 110 by partially blocking opening 206 . cutoff 212 is a cylindrical pin extending transversely through section 203 and is shown fully extended in the closed position which prevents ammunition from exiting magazine 110 ( fig1 ). screw 213 engages a translating slot 214 in cutoff 212 for retaining and limiting the travel of cutoff 212 within section 203 . screw 213 preferably has a spring - biased plunger for engaging detents ( not shown ) in slot 214 as cutoff 212 is moved into the open and closed positions . when cutoff 212 is moved to the open position , a cutout 215 aligns with the bottom of opening 206 , permitting ammunition stored in magazine 110 to feed into receiver 114 . when disassembling the rifle , cutoff 212 is pushed to the closed position to move cutout 215 out of alignment with opening 206 , preventing ammunition from exiting magazine 110 . cutoff lock 216 is located above cutoff 212 in section 203 and prevents accidental cutoff of ammunition . lock 216 comprises a vertical plate within section 203 and an attached head external to section 203 . lock 216 is spring - biased in a downward direction by spring 218 , and a lower portion of the vertical plate of lock 216 engages notch 220 in cutoff 212 when cutoff 212 is moved to the open position . to move cutoff 212 to the closed position , lock 216 is pulled upward as cutoff 212 is simultaneously moved to the closed position . though shown in the figures as a sliding type , cutoff 212 may also be rotary . referring now to fig5 and 6 , flex - plate adapter 200 is shown partially assembled to the fore - end portion 113 of a takedown rifle . barrel connector 118 , a threaded portion of barrel 112 , is shown inserted into opening 204 of adapter 200 . threads 205 of receiver section 203 engage threads on barrel connector 118 . allen screws 208 , 210 are shown in an extended position , illustrating the adjustment feature of adapter 200 . gap 302 is a result of the adjustment of allen screws 208 , 210 . guide pins 209 are inserted into sockets 211 for maintaining the alignment of adjustment portion 202 with receiver portion 203 of flex plate 200 . flex - plate adapter 200 is properly fitted and adjusted prior to affixing section 203 to the barrel / fore - end portion 113 of the takedown rifle . receiver section 203 of flex - plate adapter 200 abuts fore - end 108 and receives barrel 112 . to install the combination of flex - plate adapter 200 and fore - end 113 , barrel connector 118 is threaded into receiver 114 until adjustment section 202 abuts receiver 114 and the connection is completely tightened . necessary adjustments in gap 302 are made by removing fore - end 113 and adapter 200 and adjusting allen screws 208 , 210 until proper alignment of fore - end 113 to receiver 114 is achieved when the rifle is reassembled . compensation for any change in travel of barrel connector 118 is made by adjusting gap 302 of flex - plate adapter 200 , thus increasing or decreasing the travel distance of the threads of barrel connector 118 into receiver 114 . to allow ammunition to feed in to receiver 114 , cutoff 212 is moved from the closed position to the open position until lock 216 engages notch 220 . to prevent ammunition from feeding , cutoff lock 216 is moved upward to disengage lock 216 from notch 220 , and cutoff 212 is moved to the closed position . the adapter of the present invention has the advantage of providing a means of compensating for thread wear in the connection between the fore - end and receiver of a takedown firearm . by having multiple screws connecting the front and rear sections of the adapter , an additional advantage is that the point - of - impact can be adjusted vertically and horizontally . also , the magazine cutoff allows for ammunition to be retained in the magazine when the rifle is disassembled . the cutoff lock prevents accidental cutoff of the magazine . while the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to a preferred embodiment , it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and detail may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention .	5
while many differing designs of flexible belts are in use for driving and timing purposes , such belts are normally provided for use in the form of closed loops in particular sizes . because these belts must tightly couple the connected pulleys , it is difficult if not impossible to readily fit the closed loops over the drive pulleys without substantial adjustment of the position of at least one of the driven pulleys . this makes the replacement of such belts difficult in emergency situations or in the field even though a belt of the correct length might be available . additionally , where vehicle or machine use requires belts of a variety of differing sizes , the provision of replacement belts of all sizes becomes expensive and impractical . these problems are overcome by the replacement belt of this invention by the provision of a length of replacement belting sufficiently long for all uses and having a reliable and easily manipulated coupling for forming an effective loop after the belt has been cut to size . in addition , and as will be clear from the following description , it is desirable that the belt sizing and coupling into a loop be done without any particular tools and using only a sharp knife or razor to fix the loop size . fig1 shows a pair of drive belts 1 in accordance with the invention utilized on a vehicle engine 2 . these include the first belt 1 for driving the engine cooling fan 4 and a water pump pulley 5 and a second belt 1 for driving additional auxiliary elements such as a generator or a power steering unit 6 . the replacement belts 1 , in accordance with the invention , are cut to the correct length and wrapped around the engine 2 pulleys to form a loop without requiring a physical displacement of any of the driving or driven pulleys . fig2 illustrates the general form of a preferred embodiment of a belt 1 in accordance with the invention in the form of an elongated molded plastic body 7 with a ratchet tie 8 at one end adapted for securely engaging a cooperating ratchet means 9 on the opposite end of the belt 1 . the belt 1 which will be described more fully below , includes spaced indents or grooves 10 and 11 for increased flexibility and a longitudinal channel 12 which cooperates with the ratchet means 9 and which further increases the flexibility of the molded plastic body 7 . the body portion is preferably molded of polyurethane resin or a resin having similar properties . the preferred design of the body portion 7 of the belt 1 is illustrated in greater detail in fig3 and 7 . the molded body portion 7 has a preferred cross section as shown at the right hand side of fig3 . the outer dimensions of the cross section correspond generally to the corresponding cross section of the drive belt to be replaced . for most applications and particularly for vehicular engine belts , this cross section comprises the usual v - belt form consisting of generally parallel upper and lower surfaces 13 and 14 connected by flared pulley engaging side surfaces 15 . the molded body 7 in accordance with this invention , has its flexibility increased by the provision of the spaced lateral grooves 10 and 11 on both the upper and and lower surfaces of the belt body 7 . additionally , the preferred embodiment includes the longitudinal groove 12 in the upper belt surface for further increasing the belt flexibility and as used for loop forming as will be described below . in order to strengthen the molded plastic belt 1 without any significant reduction of belt flexibility , reinforcing cables 16 are embedded longitudinally of the belt body 7 during the molding process . an adequate and preferred arrangement for the cables 16 comprises the use of a pair of cables 16 located on opposite sides of the belt body 7 as illustrated in fig3 and other figures . the cables 16 are automatically embedded into the belt body 7 as the belt 1 is molded using conventional molding machines . the cables 16 may be formed of synthetic fibers such as braided and coated kelvar or similar plastic cording or cable materials or the cables may be formed of steel having about 400 pounds test strength . in order to maintain the cables 16 in their proper position within the plastic body during the manufacture of the plastic body portion 7 , vertical apertures 17 , which accommodate accomodate cable centering means are formed and remain in the plastic cable body 7 . in order to assure that the belt is practical and is useful for replacement and particularly for emergency replacement use by motorists or others , the lengths of cable must be easily and effectively mounted on the connected pulleys without the use of special tools and without requiring a repositioning of any of the driven pulleys . an improved and effective connector is provided for this purpose . as illustrated in fig3 and 4 , the connector includes the separately formed tongue or ratchet tie 8 having a generally t - shaped cross section which is complimentary to the above described longitudinal channel 12 in the belt top . the longitudinal channel 12 in the belt 1 is formed with continuous ratchet teeth 18 projecting upwardly from the bottom of the channel 12 so that they interlock with cooperating and complementary ratchet teeth 19 formed on the bottom surface of the ratchet tie 8 . the ratchet tie 8 is attached to the belt 1 body 7 by having one end inserted into the channel 12 in one end of the belt with the ratchet teeth 18 and 19 interlocking and with the cross section of the ratchet tie closely fitting the channel 12 cross section as illustrated in fig4 and 5 . after the ratchet tie 8 is inserted into the belt 1 in the position illustrated in fig4 and 5 , the ratchet tie 8 is preferably fastened to the plastic belt body 7 using suitable plastic cement or ultrasonic sealing . preferably , the ratchet tie 8 is also reinforced with embedded plastic or steel cables 20 extending along the lateral flanges 21 of the ratchet tie 8 and embedded therein during the molding of the ratchet ties 8 which are molded in indeterminate lengths and which are then cut to the desired short sections described above . a preferred cross section for the ratchet tie 8 , as seen in fig3 has a generally rectangular lower body portion 22 with the ratchet teeth 19 on its under surface and with an upwardly extending longitudinal flange 23 having flared side walls shaped to engage the correspondingly flared side walls of the cooperating portion of the channel 12 in the belt 1 . in order that the lengths of the belt 1 made available for emergency use may be formed into loops of the desired size , it is necessary that the belt material be furnished sufficiently long enough to be cut to the appropriate length when required and that this cut be made without effecting the connecting operation of the ratchet tie 8 . this is accomplished by forming the longitudinal channel 12 in the belt throughout its entire length and by including the upwarely facing ratchet teeth 18 throughout the entire length of the channel 12 . since a preferred method of manufacturing the belt material is a molding process , the continuous channel 12 together with the continuous ratchet teeth 18 are readily provided . when a belt 1 is to be used on a particular pulley arrangement , the belt material is first cut to the proper length using a knife or razor . this sizing of the belt is done while taking into account that a small space is desirable between the adjacent ends of the completed loop so that the ends of the belt may be tightly fastened with the desired degree of the belt tension without interference between the adjacent belt ends . the connection or fastening to form a loop is illustrated in fig8 through 13 . after the belt has been measured and cut to the desired length for the loop in the manner illustrated in fig8 the ratchet tie 8 is inserted into the cooperating channel 12 in the opposite or cut end of the belt 1 in the manner shown in the fig9 and 11 with the ratchet teeth 19 of the ratchet tie 8 engaging the cooperating teeth 18 in the belt channel 12 . due to the relatively large number of teeth and their fine pitch , it is possible to make a continuous and fine adjustment as the belt ends are drawn together and to eliminate all slack between the belt ends so that the belt tightly engages the connected pulleys in forming a replacement drive as illustrated in fig1 . this connection may be made without requiring any coupling tools or other aids . alternatively , it is possible to employ a simple tool for performing the final tightening of the belt . such a simple tool is illustrated in fig9 comprising a generally u - shaped , rod - like tool 24 , adapted to have one leg 25 inserted into a centering hole 17 on the belt 1 and the end of the opposite leg 26 inserted in a hole 27 formed in the ratchet tie 8 as it was molded or in an adjacent hole 17 on the belt 1 . the legs 25 and 26 are then squeezed toward one another . fig1 illustrates the completed connection and shows a slight gap between the ends 28 and 29 of the connected belt material . this gap which is useful but not essential , permits the tightening to be completed initially as far as possible and permits a possible further tightening after the belt 1 has been tested in use . when the belt 1 is cut for the formation of the loop , the provision of this slight gap is also desirable to prevent a premature abutting of the belt ends which would make the initial or corrective tightening without a further cut . the ratchet tie 8 being reinforced with one or more of the cables 20 is strong and flexible and is capable of transmitting the drive forces present in the mounted belt 1 . it will be seen that an effective and simple replacement drive belt has been provided which is readily mounted when required for belt loops of differing lengths and without the need of any special tool and without requiring the connected pulleys to have their positions adjusted . the replacement belt is inexpensively and effectively manufactured from plastic by known molding techniques and is both flexible and strong so that it meets the requirements of convenience and suitability . as various changes may be made in the form , construction and arrangement of the parts herein without sacrificing any of its advantages , it is to be understood that all matter herein is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense .	8
part a ) of fig1 illustrates the echo signal by quadrupolar resonance of a compound such as paradichlorobenzene or p - c 6 h 4 cl 2 , in the sequence π / 2 - π for a pulse to pulse spacing τ = 0 . 8 ms , for a pure nuclear quadrupolar resonance situation of 35 cl . part b ) of fig1 illustrates an echo signal in double resonance condition , i . e . nuclear quadrupolar resonance ( nqr ) of 35 cl upon the action of a high frequency magnetic field h 1 , and nuclear magnetic resonance of protons 1 h . nuclear magnetic resonance condition of protons is achieved with a weak static field ( known as zeeman field ) h 0 = 21 gauss and an oscillating field h 2 = 8 gauss with a frequency of oscillation of 90 khz ( j . perlo , final paper for the physics degree , college of mathematics , astronomy and physics , universidad nacional de cordoba , argentina ( 2000 )). fig2 a shows with more detail the spin - echo signal corresponding to the quadrupolar signal of part b ) of fig1 , i . e . as from the dor sequence , already exhibiting a strong gain respecting the signal that would be obtained by pure nuclear quadrupolar resonance ( nqr ). fig2 b illustrates the same spin - echo signal as fig2 a but turning off magnetic field h 0 when such detected signal is at its maximum , i . e ., applying the pudor sequence . when compared to fig2 a it can be seen that now echo increases in a relatively short time ( the same as it takes to increase in fig2 a ), and that when magnetic field h 0 is turned off just when the echo is maximum , the echo decreases very slowly , as in this case magnetization freely develops in the condition of pure nuclear quadrupolar resonance ( nqr ). the fourier transform of the second half of the echo possesses a purer spectral content than in the case of dor . that is to say , upon the turning off of field h 0 when the echo is at its maximum , the resonance line broadening effect during the detection period may be decreased . accordingly the minimum volume of the compound to be detected / analyzed remarkably decreases , and at the same time the sensitivity of the detector increases . oscillating evolution of echo amplitude observed in fig2 b is due to the inclusion , upon the detection , of the process of resonant excitation and off resonant detection ( tonrof ). this process consists of the radiation of spins a nuclei groups with a field h 1 , adjusted to its resonance frequence . to such end , the frequency of a direct digital sensor ( sdd ) is previously programmed , which sensor is associated to a spectrometer in resonance condition (“ on resonance ”). then , at the beginning of the detection stage , frequence of said sdd synthetizer is changed by means of a command pulse originating from a pulse programmer . then the signal is digitalized by means of an analog / digital converter , to an externally set frequency , e . g . on the order of 10 to 100 khz out of the resonance condition (“ off resonance ”), whichever is more convenient . a ) due to the fact that the signal - to - noise ratio increases with the digitalized signal frequency , and the detectability threshold for a lower quantity of compound is proportional to the lower signal amplitude which can be separated from noise , an increase of the signal - to - noise ratio directly implies a decrease regarding the volume of compound to be detected and / or analyzed ; and b ) when the digitalized signal frequency content is increased , the noise of the base and / or interference line of the quadrupolar signal produced by turning off of weak magnetic field h 0 may be easily filtered , e . g . by means of a digital filter . this technique , as already stated , is applied in this invention both regarding double resonance dor and double pulsed resonance , pudor , in combination with the previously described steady and non - steady sequences groups . cut time of h 0 is from 10 μs to 100 μs , preferably 10 μs , it is controlled by a mosfet circuit as shown by fig3 , which we will describe below . in order to reduce said cut time of h 0 it may also be used a gto electronic switches circuit such as that described in c . r . rodriguez , “ estudio de la dinamica lenta y la estructura en cristales liquidos liotropicos miscelares mediante la rmn ”, doctorate thesis , college of mathematics , astronomy and physics , universidad nacional de cordoba , argentina ( 2000 ). that coil generating weak magnetic field h 0 may possess any of the generally used geometries : maxwell &# 39 ; s , solenoidal , ellipsoidal , saddle , superficial , etc . the design thereof provides for : 1 ) a uniform magnetic field h 0 at the volume occupied by compound to be detected and / or analyzed ; and 2 ) the lowest possible inductance , in order to reduce on and off times of field h 0 to equally adequate values . in the case of the nuclear magnetic resonance ( nmr ) of spins b nuclei group , magnetic field required uniformity , δh 0 / h 0 , is calculated from the bandwidth δω of spins b resonance and excitation bandwidth δω 2 defined by h 2 ( t ). spins b resonance bandwidth , δω , is a characteristic of the compound to be detected , and for practical purposes and disregarding molecular dynamic effects , it may be expressed in magnetic field terms as δω = γδh , wherein ah mainly refers to local fields sensed by protons in the molecule of the compound to be detected , γ being the gyromagnetic coupling factor . in order to attain the double resonance maximum efficiency , it is required to excite in resonance all of the protons present at the volume occupied by the compound to be detected , thence it is reasonable to require the maximum variation of field δh 0 to be in the order of the dispersion at local fields δh or lower , and that the bandwidth δω 2 = γδh 2 to comply with the maximum excitation condition , i . e . δω 2 & gt ; δω 0 , δω . another requirement as regards weak magnetic field h 0 is its temporal stability . said stability must be controlled so that the bandwidth of said δω 2 = γδh 0 ( t ) remains within the range imposed by δω 2 during the full period of field application . in order to fulfill such purpose there may be used helmholtz coils , built by two assemblies of n turns spaced by a distance equal to the radius thereof , however , in general , depending of the bandwidth of the nuclear magnetic resonance ( nmr ) of the protons of the compound to be detected , the diameter of each assembly should be several times the diameter of the volume occupied by the compound to be detected and / or analyzed . in order to reduce the coil volume generated by h 0 , a solenoidal coil with variable width and pitch turns along the symmetry axis thereof has been developed , which axis is placed along the length of the inspection tunnel . helix width to pitch ratio has been calculated according to the method proposed by e . rommel , k . mischker , g . osswald , k . h . schweikert and f . noack , j . magn . reson . 70 , 219 ( 1986 ). for instance , a 70 cm long solenoidal coil , for a luggage inspection tunnel with 60 cm of free diameter , is built over at least one cylindrical form over which a copper helicoidal strip is deposited , the separation among turns being reduced to a distance shorter than 0 . 5 mm . there are other configurations possible , able to improve magnetic field cut time and / or spacial homogeneity at the volume useful for inspection , which are within the ability of the person technically skilled in the art . this coil should also be shielded against the others comprising the sensor . this shield is done for the electro - magnetic uncoupling among coils to sufficiently attenuate electrical field , but not the magnetic field , at the volume occupied by the compound to be detected and / or analyzed . shield possesses an adequate geometry capable of preventing generation of eddy currents which effect decreases quality factor q of high and low frequency coil ( s ) which generate oscillatory magnetic fields h 1 and h 2 respectively . in order to achieve this effect adequate geometry cuts are made on the metallic film of shield , as for instance with the shape of bars , circles , etc . ; or else , the h 0 generating coil may be built with a “ self - shielded ” geometry , e . g . among others bi - planar ( see d . tomasi , e . c . caparelli , h . panepucci and b . foerster , “ fast optimization of a biplanar gradient coil set ”, journal of magnetic resonance , 140 , 325 ( 1999 ), e . c . caparelli , d . tomasi and h . panepucci , “ shielded biplanar gradient coil design ”, journal of magnetic resonance imaging , 9 , 725 ( 1999 )). as a preferred but not limitative embodiment of the present invention , fig3 illustrates a first solenoidal coil 1 , with variable width and pitch turns along the symmetry axis thereof , interiorly surrounded by an inner shield 2 made from at least a preferably cylindrical epoxy layer with a copper film deposit , on which there have been constructed copper film sticks which are co - linear to said solenoidal coil 1 axis , and electrically grounded at one of their ends . as discussed below , in the case of those compounds which only exhibit nuclear quadrupolar resonance , solenoidal coil 1 and internal shield 2 will not be necessary . an external shield 3 , which construction is similar to that of internal shield 2 , has the purpose of insulating sensor assembly from external electromagnetic pollution . between internal shield 2 and tunnel free volume through which the luggage passes , there are positioned a second coil 4 , which generates an oscillatory magnetic field of high frequency range h 1 , and a third coil 4 ′ which generates an oscillatory magnetic field of low frequency range h 2 . this high and low frequency definition , applied to dor and pudor , is merely intended to mean , for instance , that the first one is within the megahertz range ( nuclear quadrupolar resonance ), and the second one within the range of the tens or hundreds of khz ( nuclear magnetic resonance in the presence of a weak magnetic field h 0 . there could be a case in which both signals are within the mhz range ). a low - pass filter 5 , connected to one of the ends of said first solenoidal coil 1 , prevents the introduction of interferences between the high and low frequency coils 4 and 4 ′ respectively . electric power is delivered through a first power supply v 1 , which is conveniently protected against countercurrents , preferably by means of a diode d 1 . the other end of said solenoidal coil 1 is connected to a regulated circuit 16 ′ consisting of a proportional controller which controls current circulating through a mosfet &# 39 ; s chain 10 ( for example buz 48 ) which operation in time is commanded by a first command pulse of field 6 , from a pulse programming circuit 44 ( see fig7 ). current intensity is controlled by a control device 7 from h 0 . this control device 7 from h 0 senses current on a resistance 8 which is connected in parallel to said mosfet &# 39 ; s chain 10 and , through a proportional integrator - derivator ( pid ), commands a controller (“ driver ”) comprised of transistors 9 ( for example bc - 546 ), to deliver the appropriate command current to said mosfet &# 39 ; s chain 10 . a starting circuit 16 consisting of a pair of diodes d 2 and d 3 , a capacitor c , a second power supply v 2 and tiristor gto 11 , provides the extra power for the connection of current to solenoidal coil 1 , in order to reduce connection time . energy provided with power supply v 2 is stored in capacitor c . diodes d 2 and d 3 perform protection functions for the countercurrents generated upon turning on and off that current generated by weak magnetic field h 0 . a second command pulse 12 , which we shall call “ short pulse ” 12 , originating from pulse programming circuit 44 ( see fig7 ) commands said tiristor gto 11 through another controller 11 ′. short pulse 12 occurs immediately before the field command pulse 6 , begins , connecting capacitor c to the solenoidal coil 1 circuit generating magnetic field h 0 , and thus delivering to the solenoidal coil 1 all of the energy accumulated in said capacitor c . voltage in v 2 is regulated until the desired h 0 intensity is achieved . it is convenient to remark that regulated circuit 16 ′ may be replaced by a switch composed of a tiristor and its respective controller , which simply operates as a on / off switch , as stated in the above mentioned doctorate thesis of c . r . rodriguez . this circuit is simpler and easier to implement , although it requires an excellent control on power supply v 1 in order to attain stability of field h 0 , which is necessary for the experiments . characteristic parameters of each particular application will dictate the implementation of either circuit . fig4 a and 4b illustrate two prior art models of birdcage coils 18 . coil 18 shown by fig4 a has its metallic turns e connected in series by means of capacitors c 1 , this being a configuration known as “ low - pass ”, and it generates oscillatory magnetic fields circularly polarized within the low frequency range . when the time - varying magnetic field bears circular polarization it can be also visualized as a rotary magnetic field with constant intensity or modulus . also , coil 18 on fig4 b has its metallic turns connected in parallel by means of capacitors c 2 and , as compared to fig4 a , this coil generates magnetic fields within the high frequency range . this configuration is known as “ high - pass ”. in both cases , couplings with excitation and detection circuits are inductively carried out , as known from the prior art and as illustrated by fig4 c , which shows the birdcage coil 18 of fig4 a coupled by mutual induction to two induction coils 60 - 61 which respond to a same excitation frequency , positioned in quadrature , and their coupling circuit 62 to transmitter - receiver is illustrated on the right . sensor elements described hereinafter comprise a number of coils capable of generating said three fields h 0 , h 1 and h 2 . more specifically , and with the purpose of reducing volume of said sensor element , a first embodiment of said sensor element will comprise a coil in order to generate said field h 0 , and a birdcage coil , in order to simultaneously generate said fields h 1 and h 2 . a second embodiment of said sensor element will comprise helmholtz coils in order to generate said field h 0 and a solenoidal coil in order to simultaneously generate said fields h 1 and h 2 . on the other hand , spatial location of the different coils verifies what is known as a “ filling factor ”, that is to say , that coil responsible for the generation of high frequency field h 1 affecting spins a nuclei group should be as close as possible to the volume of the compound to be detected and / or analyzed . this is already known in the art and we will not discuss it further . accordingly , in the first embodiment of the sensor element , said birdcage coil 18 is surrounded by said solenoidal coil 1 ; and in the second embodiment , said solenoidal coil 1 is surrounded by the helmholtz coils 73 . fig5 a illustrates a sensor element comprising a solenoidal coil 1 which surrounds a birdcage coil 18 . structure of said solenoidal coil 1 and corresponding associated circuits are preferably those mentioned when describing fig3 . birdcage coil 18 , on the other hand , simultaneously operates as a low - pass filter for low frequencies and as a high - pass filter for high frequencies . said birdcage coil 18 is comprised of a series of turns e serially connected by means of capacitors c 1 and in parallel by means of capacitors c 2 . in parallel with capacitors c 1 there are connected multiband coupling circuits , mbc , made up by circuits l 3 c 3 tuned with said capacitors c 1 . when the frequency of the current passing through said turns e is on the order of the low frequency , capacitance of capacitors c 2 is such that they short - circuit at that frequency , and said coil 18 operates as that illustrated by fig4 a . on the contrary , should the frequency of current passing through turns e be on the order of the high frequency , capacitors c 1 , aided by c 3 and l 3 , are short - circuited and said coil 18 operates as in fig4 b . said two high and low frequency currents circulate simultaneously through said coil 18 . any person technically skilled in the art will be able to determinate the values of c 1 , c 2 , c 3 and l 3 according to the required resonance characteristics , which are dictated by the type of compound to be detected and / or analyzed . high frequency coils 63 - 64 and low frequency coils 65 - 66 positioned in quadrature are coupled , by mutual induction , to said birdcage coil 18 . said induction coils 63 - 66 tune said birdcage coil 18 to the respective resonance frequencies of spins a and b , and adapt their impedance regarding a coupling and filtering circuit 20 . high - frequency excitation signals 21 and low - frequency signals 22 reach to said coupling and filtering circuit 20 , from the respective generators . in turn , outlets of said coupling and filtering circuit 20 guide , on the one hand , the signal from receiver rx 23 , and on the other hand the high and low frequency excitation signals 24 - 25 , outphased 90 °, to high frequency and low frequency coils 63 - 64 and 65 - 66 , respectively . outphased 90 ° excitation signals means that for each pair of high frequency or low frequency induction coils , the signal arriving to one of the pair coils is 90 ° outphased respecting the excitation signal arriving to the other . also , the fact that coils are in quadrature means that for each pair of high - frequency or low - frequency coils , one of the coils is located 90 ° as regards the other as can be seen in fig4 c . in those cases in which the excitation frequency of spins a is within the range of a few megahertz , as with the quadrupolar resonance of nitrogen 14 n , computation of capacitors with high - pass configuration results in values of difficult commercial obtention , whereby it is necessary to adopt the low - pass configuration at the birdcage coil , as shown by fig4 a . birdcage coil , as described as follows , complies with such condition . fig5 b shows a birdcage coil 18 , also surrounded by a solenoidal coil 1 ( not shown ) as in fig5 a , adapted to contemplate the resonance low frequency condition of the spins a nuclei group previously discussed . in such a sense , capacitors c 3 connecting in series the different turns e , are calculated for said coil to tune by means of h 1 , within the resonance frequency of the spins a nuclei group , which will be on the order of a few mhz . in parallel with each capacitor c 3 there are connected multiband coupling circuits , mbc , which for this case comprise a high frequency choke element l ch which operates like a high impedance for the spins a resonance frequency and as a short - circuit for the spins b resonance frequency . on the other hand , capacitors c 4 are inversely calculated , i . e . in such a manner that same operate like a short - circuit at the frequency of resonance of spins a and with a high impedance at the lower resonance frequency of spins b . thus , in the case of signals induced at the resonance frequency of spins a , birdcage coil 18 operates under the low - pass configuration ( fig4 a ). in order to excite spins b nuclei group , a magnetic field h 2 is generated in a way which could be assimilated to the rotary field principle of an electric motor . a micro - controller 69 ( or else , a signal digital processor or the like generates sequential current pulses which are transmitted to each of the turns e by means of an assembly of controllers 70 , mosfet &# 39 ; s switches 71 and low - pass filters 71 ′, controllers 70 being connected to the outlet of said micro - controller 69 , low - pass filters 71 ′ to each of the turns e of one end of said coil 18 , and mosfet &# 39 ; s switches between said controllers 70 and said low - pass filters 71 ′. that is to say , we introduce an anti - resonant circuit which operates as a multiplexor which enables the birdcage coil 18 to operate at frequency for h 2 in the order of tens or hundreds of khz . more specifically , the assembly formed by said micro - controller 69 , controllers 70 , mosfet &# 39 ; s chain 71 and low - pass filters 71 ′, operates as a low frequency coupling and filtering circuit similar to the coupling and filtering circuit 20 of fig5 a , but in this case it is a direct and non - inductive coupling on said birdcage coil 18 . there is also contemplated another coupling and filtering circuit for high frequency 67 for the resonance frequency of the spins a nuclei group , which is connected to a transmitter tx and a receiver rx and a pair of coils 65 - 66 , placed in quadrature and coupled by mutual induction to said birdcage coil 18 . said coils 65 - 66 are excited by high - frequency excitation signals which are outphased 90 °. birdcage coil 18 advantage is that it generates circularly polarized fields , thus enabling , in the case of polycrystalline compounds , the collection of signals from crystals with multidirectional orientation regarding axis of coil 18 , thus originating a better signal - to - noise ratio ; and consequently , an increase on the detector sensitivity . on the contrary , quality factor q remarkably decreases as regards that which may be obtained from solenoidal construction coils . when compared to solenoidal coils , this effect generates a worsening of the signal - to - noise ratio , ( y . k . lee , h . robert , d . k . lathrop , “ circular polarization excitation and detection in nqr ”, journal of magnetic resonance , 148 , 355 ( 2001 )). on the other hand a high value of q . produces a spectrometer “ dead time ” which is significantly higher , and should same not be adequately controlled by a q - damper type circuit , it can develop a signal - to - noise ratio of lower quality than that produced by a birdcage coil with lower “ q ”. that is , depending on the available electronic technology and the characteristics of the samples to be detected , it could be more desirable to replace the birdcage coil 18 with a solenoidal coil 72 as that described as follows . fig5 c illustrates a solenoidal coil 72 with double oscillating field generation , h 1 , and h 2 . said coil 72 is constructed with variable width and pitch turns with the object of obtaining homogeneous fields ( see a . f . privalov , s . v . dvinskikh y h . m . vieth , “ coil design for large - volume high - bi homogeneity for solid - state nmr applications ”, journal of magnetic resonance , a 123 , 157 - 160 ( 1996 )). in this case , coil 72 axis coincides with the axis of the tunnel through which the compound to be detected and / or analyzed circulates . in a plane which is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of said coil 72 there is placed the longitudinal axis of a pair of longitudinal helmholtz 73 coils or their biplanar non - gradient variant , as per designs by e . c . caparelli , d . tomasi , y h . panepucci , “ shielded biplanar gradient coil design ”, journal of magnetic resonance , 139 , 725 ( 1999 ) or another with the same function . the exciter signal of the spins a nuclei group is generated at transmitter 74 , passes through a pair of insulating cross diodes 75 and enters said solenoidal coil 72 , after first passing through balanced - unbalanced transformer or “ balum ” 76 . a coupling and filtering circuit 77 for the resonance frequency of spins a is tuned , in a configuration known as “ balanced ”, to the solenoidal coil . said coupling and filtering circuit 77 comprises a serial capacitors assembly 78 through 80 ; one of them being variable in order to attain said tuning in a balanced manner . it is not necessary to include another coupling and filtering circuit , as for this sensor element example , the field is linearly polarized . particularly , this embodiment of the sensor element is also applicable to those cases in which the frequency of resonance of the spins a nuclei group is low , i . e . a few mhz , as in the case shown in fig5 b . on the other hand , the generated nuclear quadrupolar resonance ( nqr ) signal enters the receiver / digitalizer assembly 81 by means of a quarter - wave - guide ( λ / 4 ) 82 . the exciter signal of the spins b nuclei group originates from a pulsed generator , which is synchronized to a pulse generator ( see fig3 ), the frequency , phase and intensity of field h 2 being determined by a control computer 30 ( see fig7 ). a low - pass filter 84 insulates said pulsed generator 83 from solenoidal coil 72 high - frequencies . lastly , a pulsed magnetic field generator 85 generates magnetic field h 0 at the helmholtz 73 coils pair . in this scheme , h 1 and h 2 are again on a plane perpendicular to the direction of h 0 . the general rule is that magnetic fields h 1 , h 2 should be as uniform as possible at the volume occupied by the detectable compound , and further , field h 2 direction should be necessarily arranged perpendicularly to h 0 direction , for the magnetic resonance condition of the spins b nuclei group to possess the maximum efficiency . fig6 shows a block diagram of the apparatus without mechanical parts , i . e . the assemblies , conveyor belt , etc . exciter signal of quadrupolar nuclei of compounds generates from a transmitter and goes to sensor 33 , which may be any of the above described . said sensor element detects the nuclear quadrupolar resonance ( nqr ) signal and guides same to the receiver . the signal enters said receiver through a receiver protecting device 34 . this signal is amplified in several high - frequency amplifiers stages 35 and is filtered at filters 36 and 37 . then , the amplified signal enters the phase - sensitive detector 38 which along with divider and phase - shifter 39 form the spectrometer detector in quadrature . lastly , the analog signal is converted into a digital one at converter a / d 41 , after being filtered once again by filters 40 . digital signal is introduced into the control computer 30 for the analysis thereof and further decision making . receiver amplifiers gain is controlled by the computer via controllers 42 , in order to be able to adequate same to the volume of each particular compound . returning to the issue of how an excitation signal is generated , we begin from the high frequency pulse which is generated at the direct digital synthetizer ( dds ) 43 , which is commanded by computer 30 , and digital pulses originated from pulse programmer 44 , also commanded by computer 30 . both pulses enter the high frequency switch 45 , which signal is amplified at pre - amplifier 46 and power amplifier 47 , and thus there are generated high frequency power pulses which are in charge of exciting quadrupolar nuclei ( nuclei group of spins a , typically 14 n and 35 cl ) pertaining the compound to be detected and / or analyzed by sensor 33 , due to the action of magnetic field h 1 . pulse programmer 44 also commands circuit of quality factor change q 48 . in this manner dead time of spectrometer 29 is substantially reduced ( see fig7 ), increasing the signal - to - noise ratio and thence decreasing the minimum volume of the compound to be detected and / or analyzed . this dead time is defined as that occurring immediately after the high frequency pulse is turned off . in this time energy remains stored at the ( birdcage 18 or solenoidal 72 ) coil , which overlaps the very weak nuclear quadrupolar resonance ( nqr ) signal shielding detection . the change of quality factor q 48 allows a quick decrease of energy stored at the ( birdcage 18 or solenoidal 72 ) coil , thus enabling the signal detection when the finalization of the high frequency pulse is nearest . as the nuclear quadrupolar resonance ( nqr ) signal of some compounds depends on the temperature , it is necessary to maintain a self - tuning process of spectrometer 29 ( illustrated by fig7 ) in order to analyze different resonance frequencies , according to the temperature of the compound in the interior of the luggage to be inspected . to such end it has been introduced the self - tuning circuit 49 . finally , the control computer 30 commands different alarm and information outlets . silent alarm 50 , audio output 52 , visual output at a display 53 , and graphic output 54 . a lights assembly 31 ( see also fig7 ) instructs passenger and operator on the different actions to be taken : for example , a green light means that passenger / luggage must proceed , the inspection having been successfully passed , yellow light means that the inspection must be repeated , red light is a visual alarm for security personnel and white light means out of service . the quality factor q 48 change circuit comprises pin type diodes connected in opposition and commanded by a control pulse from the pulse programmer 44 . the purpose of the assembly of cross diodes and opposing zener is to decrease the low - frequency noise , usually produced by diodes pin . in order to protect receiver against the high - frequency pulses from the transmitter high - frequency pulses , usually a quarter - wave line ( not shown ) is included with the sole purpose of preventing manipulation of a coaxial cable which produces the same effect but that at a frequency of a few mhz its length makes its handling difficult . lastly , the self - tuning device 49 consists on adding or subtracting capacitance to the syntony capacitor ( s ) ( according to the type of coil to be used ) via one or more coaxial type relays . lastly , the low - frequency excitation signal generated by magnetic field h 2 is generated at the generator or respective micro - controller 55 , which is commanded by computer 30 , through the low frequency amplifier 56 , before entering sensor 33 . this block diagram of the apparatus is applicable to compounds exhibiting quadrupolar double resonance . it should be supplemented with the block diagram of the apparatus for the h 0 generation , described by fig3 , in those cases in which the compound to be detected and / or analyzed simultaneously possesses nuclear quadrupolar resonance and nuclear magnetic resonance . as an application example , fig7 shows a schematic view of an arrangement using a sensor element . external housing 32 may have the same aspect of the inspection apparatuses typically used at airports and operating by radiation of luggage with x - rays . this housing 32 bears in its interior the sensor element . luggage 27 is introduced into the tunnel of cross dimensions x and y , via conveying belt 28 . external dimensions , represented by a , b , and c , depend on the sensor volume , which in turn depends on the size of the luggage to be inspected . such dimensions are on the order of the typical dimensions of current airports inspection devices . excitation signals for magnetic fields , as well as the detected nuclear quadrupolar resonance ( nqr ) signal are generated the former at the transmitter and the latter at the detector - receiver , both devices located at spectrometer 29 . computer 30 controls all the detection process in a manner such as to render it fully automatic , collecting at the same time the already digitalized nuclear quadrupolar resonance ( nqr ) signal and commanding , among other indicators , visual alarms 31 . should it prove necessary , the low - frequency magnetic field h 2 may be pressed in synchronicity with h 0 pulses , as it is only effective when h 0 ≠ 0 . this possibility is mentioned for those cases in which it is not possible to conveniently insulate nuclear quadrupolar resonance ( nqr ) signal produced by spins a against interferences produced by h 2 . lastly , we will discuss the quadrupolar double resonance of those compounds in which the quadrupolar nucleus is mainly coupled to another quadrupolar nucleus of another resonance frequency , as for example : nitrogen with potassium , sodium , etc . the spins a nuclei group is still directly observable by quadrupolar resonance , e . g . nitrogen or chlorine , and the spins b nuclei group is formed by any of its nuclei , for example , a small constant of quadrupolar coupling , and thence not directly detectable , but strongly coupled to nitrogen . in this particular case , it is not necessary to include static h 0 magnetic field . there will only be necessary two magnetic fields , h 1 and h 2 , the first oscillating at the frequency of the quadrupolar resonance corresponding to the spins a nuclei group and the second at the frequency of the quadrupolar resonance corresponding to the spins b nuclei group , according to the quadrupolar spectrum of said spins b nuclei group . in other words , there will not be necessary neither solenoidal coil 1 of fig5 a and 5b nor helmholtz coils of fig5 c , both generators of weak magnetic field h 0 , as only with a birdcage coil 18 as that shown by fig5 a or 5 b , or a solenoidal coil 72 as that shown by fig5 c there could be generated said two magnetic fields h 1 and h 2 . should both quadrupolar resonance frequencies be high , that is to say , in the mhz range , sensor elements of fig5 a and 5c will be those of preferred application , otherwise there will be preferred sensor elements corresponding to fig5 b and / or 5 c . as previously mentioned , the higher of the two frequencies is defined as high frequency , and the lower of the two frequencies is defined as low frequency . multiband couplings circuits ( mbc ) and coupling and filtering circuits may be calculated by any person technically skilled in the art , in order that they comply with the above functions . allocation of spins a and b is carried out in order to define as spins a nuclei group those bearing the best pure nuclear quadrupolar resonance ( nqr ) signal . quadrupolar resonance frequency of the spins b nuclei group possesses a quadrupolar coupling constant , which is generally small , and that will depend in the quadrupolar spectrum of said spins b nuclei group . magnetic field h 1 , to which spins a nuclei group is subjected , is uniform and oscillates in high frequency , and magnetic field h 2 to which said spins b nuclei group is subjected , is uniform and oscillates in high or low frequency , according to the quadrupolar spectrum of nuclei b . detected quadrupolar resonance signal may be obtained by means of a spin - echo signals sequence . same may also be obtained via the procedure of resonant excitation and off resonant detection ( tonrof ) which will consist of : radiating spins a nuclei group with said first magnetic field h 1 adjusted to its resonance frequency ; programming frequency of a direct digital synthetizer ( dds ) associated to a spectrometer on resonance ; during the detection stage , changing frequency of said synthetizer ( dds ) by means of a command pulse from a pulse programmer in order to increase the signal - to - noise ratio ; and digitalizing the signal by means of an analog / digital converter at a fixed frequency on the order of 10 - 100 khz , as appropriate . also , said tonrof technique may be combined with sequences of single or compound pulses , known as steady and non - steady , as described as follows . said tonrof procedure may be applied to a steady sequence of single pulses known as steady state free precession ( ssfp ) consisting of : radiation of the sample with successive pulses of π / 2 on the spins a nuclei groups ; and the tonrof technique may be also applied to a steady sequence of single pulses known as strong off resonant ( sorc ), wherein both quadrupolar signals are excited and detected in the off - resonant status . lastly , it may also be applied to a non - steady sequence known as spin lock spin echo ( slse ), which maintains the nuclear quadrupolar resonance ( nqr ) echo signal during an effective time t 2 higher than the t 2 decay of the pulses sequence , and consisting of : the application to the compound of a first high frequency from said first magnetic field h 1 with an amplitude such as to reorientate magnetization of quadrupolar nuclei at a 90 ° angle and with a 0 ° phase for said direct digital synthetizer ( dds ); after a period of time τ , the application of a new high - frequency pulse , now of double duration or able to reorientate sample 180 ° and with the phase at 90 ° regarding that of the previous pulse in order that , exactly at the same period τ from the ending of said new high frequency pulse , the spin echo appears ; repeating the previous step until n echoes are collected , and then digitalizing and summing same . as regards sensor elements used for the detection and / or analysis of compounds which simultaneously exhibit double nuclear quadrupolar resonance , it must be borne in mind that the generation of a weak magnetic field h 0 will not be necessary . a preferred sensor element comprises a first coil 4 which generates a first high - frequency oscillating magnetic field h 1 and a second coil which generates a second high or low frequency oscillating magnetic field h 2 4 ′, according to the quadrupolar spectrum of nuclei b . an internal shield 2 is arranged between said coils 4 , 4 ′ and the free volume of the tunnel the compound to be detected / analyzed is to travel through . in turn , said coils 4 , 4 ′ are surrounded by an external shield 3 , as shown by fig3 , not including solenoidal coil 1 or the circuit associated for the generation and control of field h 0 . said first coil 4 and second coil 4 ′ may conform , as in previous examples , a single birdcage coil 18 as shown by fig5 a or 5 b , provided the first magnetic field h 1 oscillates at high frequency , the second magnetic field h 2 being able to oscillate at high or low frequency , according to the quadrupolar spectrum of nuclei b . particularly , a birdcage coil 18 as that illustrated by fig5 a will comprise a plurality of turns e connected in series by means of capacitors c 1 , and in parallel by means of capacitors c 2 , multiband coupling circuits ( mbc ) connected in parallel to said capacitors c 1 , and induction coils 63 - 64 and 65 - 66 for the high - and low - frequencies , respectively , which are placed in quadrature , and excited with signals out - phased at 90 °. said coils are connected to a coupling and filtering circuit 20 as that shown by fig5 a . multiband coupling circuit ( mbc ) is formed by a circuit l 3 c 3 which is tuned to said capacitor c 1 and the high and low frequencies bands simultaneously circulate through said turns e in such a way that , should the current passing through said turns e be in the high frequencies band , capacitor c 1 short - circuits with the aid of the mbc and said birdcage 18 operates as a high - pass filter , and should the current passing through said turns e be in the low frequencies band , capacitor c 2 short - circuits and said birdcage will operate as a low - pass filter . internal shield 2 is constructed from at least a preferably cylindrical sheet made of epoxy material with a copper film deposit with adequate geometry cuts , as for example bars , circles , etc ., over which there are constructed copper film sticks parallel to the longitudinal axis of the luggage inspection tunnel , one of the ends thereof being electrically grounded . another embodiment of a birdcage coil 18 is similar to that shown by fig5 b , which contemplates the condition of low frequency of resonance of spins a nuclei group . in such sense , capacitors c 3 which connect in series different turns e , are calculated so that said coil tunes by means of h 1 at the frequency of resonance of the spins a nuclei group , which will be in the range of a few mhz . in parallel with each capacitor c 3 there are connected multiband coupling circuits which comprise an element by high frequency choke l ch which behaves as a high impedance for the resonance frequency of spins a , and as a short - circuit for the lower resonance frequency of spins b . on the other hand , capacitors c 4 are inversely calculated , that is , in such a way that they operate as a short - circuit at the resonance frequency of spins a , and with a high impedance at the lower frequency resonance of spins b . thus , for signals induced at the resonance frequency of spins a , birdcage coil 18 operates as a low - pass filter ( fig4 a ), a magnetic field h 1 being created which is assimilable to the rotating field principle of an electrical motor . a micro - controller 69 ( or a signals digital processor or similar device ) generates current sequential pulses which are transmitted to each of the turns e by means of a set of controllers 70 , mosfet &# 39 ; s switches 71 and low - pass filters 71 ′, controllers 70 being connected to the outlet of said micro - controller 69 , low - pass filters 71 ′ to each of the turns e of said birdcage 18 , and the mosfet &# 39 ; s switches between said controllers 70 and said low - pass filters 71 ′. that is to say , we introduce an anti - resonant circuit which operates as multiplexor , thereby allowing birdcage coil 18 to operate at a frequency , for h 2 , in the range of tens to hundreds of khz . more specifically , the assembly comprised by said micro - controller 69 , controllers 70 , mosfet &# 39 ; s chain 71 and low - pass filters 71 ′ operates as a coupling and filtering circuit similar to the coupling and filtering circuit 20 of the previous example , but in this case it is a direct and non - inductive coupling on said birdcage coil 18 . another coupling and filtering circuit 67 is further provided for the spins a nuclei group resonance frequency , which is connected to a transmitter tx and a receiver rx . said coupling and filtering circuit 67 excites induction coils 65 - 66 placed in quadrature and mutually induction coupled to said birdcage coil 18 by means of signals out - phased at 90 °. lastly , a sensor element similar to that shown by fig5 c may be used which will only include a solenoidal coil 72 which simultaneously generates a first magnetic field h 1 and a second magnetic field h 2 . said coil 72 comprises turns of variable width and pitch ; a transmitter 74 which generates an excitation signal ; a pair of cross diodes 75 connected at the outlet of said transmitter ; a “ balum ” transformer 76 connected to the outlet of said pair of cross diodes 75 ; a coupling and filtering circuit 77 for the adequately tuned high frequency , connected at the outlet of said transformer 76 , and constituted of a plurality of capacitors 78 to 80 , one of them being variable in order to allow the tuning of the coupling and filtering circuit 77 to solenoidal coil 72 . the inclusion of a further coupling and filtering circuit is not required , because for this example of sensor element the field is linearly polarized . there is also included a receiver / digitalizer assembly 81 into which the signal enters via a quarter - wave - guide ( λ / 4 ) connected between said cross diodes pair 75 and said balanced - unbalanced transformer 76 . digitalized signal is processed by the control computer 30 . block diagram of the apparatus , associated to the above several sensor elements , does not contemplate control and regulating circuits of pulsed field h 0 of fig2 . sensor element will be a birdcage coil 18 which does not include solenoidal coil 1 shown by fig5 a and 5b , or a solenoidal coil 72 which does not include helmholtz coils shown by fig5 c . arrangement which includes the above sensor elements , in order to detect and / or analyze compounds which simultaneously exhibit double nuclear quadrupolar resonance , is similar to that shown by fig7 .	6
the process of the present invention is practiced with equipment and injection procedures substantially in accordance with those described in u . s . pat . no . 3 , 998 , 625 . in the present invention , a solid carbon - containing material is substituted for the magnesium - containing material described in that patent and , of course , different injection rates of carbon - containing material are observed . the use of graphite as the carbon - containing agent offers a number of advantages including low cost and safe handling characteristics . the slag formed in the lime / graphite injection process is granular in form and , therefore , is easier to remove from the molten metal vessel than the slag resulting from the desulfurization process described in u . s . pat . no . 3 , 998 , 625 . graphite also tends to act as a flow stabilizer for lime and thus may permit a decrease in the amount of agent needed to impart flowability to lime . although the process of u . s . pat . no . 3 , 998 , 625 teaches the use of separate dispensers for the two constituents of the injection mixture , the use of graphite as the carbon - containing particulate of the present invention may permit premixing of the lime and graphite , by co - pulverizing , owing to the similarity in grindability exhibited by the two materials . in such case , an operator of the process of the present invention could carry out the process with a single dispenser . the preferred particle size of graphite is that size that permits safe handling and storage of the graphite ; i . e . a non - pyrophoric material . graphite offers the still further advantage of not reacting violently when introduced into molten ferrous metal . accordingly , the slopping often associated with injection desulfurization processes is not promoted by the use of graphite . as alluded to above , however , it is desirable to provide a means for mild stirring of the molten iron bath during the process of the present invention in order to assure that all portions of the bath are exposed to the desulfurizing action of the injected lime . because graphite provides no gas generation upon contact with molten iron , it has been found desirable to use a gas that dissociates upon contact with molten iron , preferably a hydrocarbon gas , still further preferably natural gas , as the carrier gas for the lime / graphite particles . natural gas dissociates to yield hydrogen gas which serves to agitate the bath as the released gas passes upwardly therethrough . the dissociation of natural gas also produces a further source of carbon to supplement the injected graphite . nitrogen gas is also suitable as a carrier gas because it provides some bath agitation , but the use of nitrogen is less desirable because it does not dissociate and , of course , provides no source of carbon . the rate of injection of carrier gas in the process of the present invention should be that rate which provides adequate stirring of the bath but not so much agitation that metal or slag is ejected from the treatment vessel . the requirement for agitating the bath during the process of the present invention is met when the injected carbon - containing particulate itself dissociates to release a gas . thus , a material containing carbon and hydrogen , wherein the relationship of these constituents varies from ch & gt ; 0 to ch 2 , is useful in the present invention . exemplary of these materials are polymeric hydrocarbons such as polypropylene [ ch 3 --( ch 2 ) n -- ch 3 ] and polystyrene [( c 8 h 8 ) n ], certain hydrocarbon resins , e . g . ( c 10 h 9 ) n , ethylcellulose [( c 11 h 2 o 5 ) n ], and polycarbonates [( c 16 h 14 o 3 ) n ]. generally , the shorter the chain length of the foregoing compounds , the better will be the performance of the process . in the use of carbon / hydrogen compounds with the present invention , a practical limit on the rate of hydrogen release compared with the lime rate has been observed to be about 1 % by weight , preferably about 0 . 7 %. for example , when a charge of 160 nt of hot metal is treated with 100 lbs ./ min . of lime , only about 0 . 7 lb ./ min . of hydrogen gas released in the bath may be tolerated . the use of powdered polypropylene as the carbon / hydrogen compound in the present invention offers the advantages of low cost , good availability , excellent flowability and safety . further , the reaction products of the constituents of polypropylene ( co , co 2 and h 2 ) leave the molten bath as gases and thereby do not contribute additional substances to the metal for eventual handling or removal . care must be exercised with polypropylene , however , with respect to its particle size because , as stated above , polypropylene having a grain size below about 75 microns is deemed to be pyrophoric . thus , a preferred grain size for polypropylene is about 100 microns or greater . in carrying out the desulfurization process of the present invention , a submarine ladle of molten pig iron is spotted beneath the injection lance . after any necessary deslagging and testing are completed , the lance is submerged into molten iron to a depth such that the lance tip opening is about 1 ft . above the ladle bottom . lime injection is commenced and brought to the maximum rate permitted by iron splashing . this rate may vary between 80 and 180 lb ./ min . for a pig iron charge of 160 ± 20 net tons in the submarine ladle ; preferably the lime injection rate for that size charge ranges from 90 to 120 lb ./ min . then , the injection of carbon - containing particulate is commenced and brought to a rate that maintains a smooth , splash - free molten metal surface . for graphite , this rate will range up to 20 % of the lime rate , preferably from 5 to 12 %. for powdered polypropylene , the injection rate will range from 1 to 5 % of the lime rate , preferably from 3 to 4 %. after the predetermined amounts of lime and carbon - containing material are delivered to the metal , the injection of carbon - containing material is stopped , the lance is raised and the injection of lime is slowed to stop as the lance mouth breaks through the slag layer on the metal . after any necessary deslagging and testing is completed , the desulfurized hot metal is dispatched to refining operations . in the following tables , the results of a number of desulfurization operations carried out in accordance with the foregoing procedures are tabulated : table i__________________________________________________________________________lime - graphite lime graphite desulf . test sulfur hot metal total lbs . total lbs . efficiencyno . start finish net tons lbs . min lbs . min . of lime , % __________________________________________________________________________543 . 060 . 025 140 2300 92 157 6 . 3 7 . 5540 . 033 . 013 158 1500 71 82 6 . 3 7 . 0546 . 042 . 018 153 2070 94 88 5 . 9 6 . 21011 - 02 . 025 . 018 155 1800 106 0 0 2 . 11211 - 10 . 041 . 021 168 2400 96 120 4 . 8 4 . 92111 - 11 . 026 . 010 153 2100 117 120 6 . 7 4 . 10511 - 09 . 040 . 004 165 2500 109 140 6 . 1 8 . 30111 - 13 . 113 . 045 145 2880 96 144 4 . 8 9 . 21811 - 14 . 087 . 050 155 1750 92 200 10 . 5 2 . 81311 - 13 . 032 . 021 ( 135 ) 1330 89 262 17 . 5 3 . 91411 - 12 . 023 . 012 153 1350 113 40 3 . 3 4 . 30811 - 02 . 028 . 017 160 1900 95 50 2 . 5 3 . 2__________________________________________________________________________ () outside limits reference table ii______________________________________lime - polypropylene desulf . effi - hot poly - ciencysulfur metal lime propylene oftest fin - net total lbs . total lbs . lime , no . start ish tons lbs . min . lbs . min . % ______________________________________049 . 038 . 022 153 2140 116 14 0 . 8 4 . 0054 . 044 . 019 155 1820 126 16 1 . 2 7 . 5058 . 026 . 014 167 930 113 11 2 . 2 7 . 5069 * . 041 . 022 158 3050 139 0 0 3 . 4084 . 052 . 030 156 1660 101 28 2 . 0 7 . 2097 . 022 . 003 156 2530 100 65 2 . 8 4 . 1098 . 026 . 010 151 2050 94 65 3 . 3 4 . 1133 . 047 . 027 148 1850 95 81 4 . 2 5 . 6______________________________________ * reference lime efficiency , as used in the tables above , is a relative measure of how well the carbon - containing material reacted with the lime to effect desulfurization in accordance with formulae ( 1 ) and ( 2 ) above . lime efficiency is calculated by converting the weight of sulfur removed to moles of sulfur removed and then dividing into that figure the moles of lime introduced into the bath . for example , for test no . 543 of table i , 0 . 035 % sulfur was removed from 140 tons of hot metal ; 0 . 035 % sulfur equals 3 . 06 moles of sulfur . the 2300 lbs . of lime consumed in that test equals 41 . 07 moles of lime . therefore : ## equ1 ## it has been found that lime efficiencies ranging between about 5 and 10 % presently offer the best all - around performance in the process of the invention ; the higher the value , of course , the better the performance .	2
the compounds of formula ( i ) can be mixed with the aforesaid active herbicide substances to obtain new selective herbicide compositions for corn cultivations . these herbicide compositions can also contain other selective corn herbicides such as s - triazine herbicides ( for example atrazine , simazine , terbutylazine , cyanazine ), substituted urea herbicides ( for example linuron , metabenzthiazuron ), dinitroaniline herbicides ( for example pendimethalin ), or other herbicides . these herbicide compositions are obtained by mixing and possibly grinding the active substance with inert substances and adjuvants , and can be formulated either as water - emulsifiable liquids or as fluid suspensions ( for example , water - based or organic solvent - based &# 34 ; flowables &# 34 ;). they can also be prepared in the form of granular compounds or as dry or wettable powders . the formulation methods for such herbicide compositions are well known to the expert in the art , as are the type of inert substances ( liquids or solids ) to be used and the various most suitable adjuvants . the ratio between antidote compounds of formula ( i ) and active thiolcarbamate and / or acetanilide herbicide substances , phytotoxic to corn , can vary within very wide limits , but is generally between 1 : 1 and 1 : 160 . herbicide compositions containing compounds of formula ( i ) with thiolcarbamate and / or acetanilide herbicides can be used before sowing the corn generally by incorporation into the soil by means of suitable equipment , whereas herbicide compositions containing compounds of formula ( i ) and herbicide acetanilides can also be used on the soil surface after sowing the corn , without further incorporation , but being careful to use them within a few days from sowing ( and anyhow before emergence of the infesting weeds , i . e . at their initial appearance on the soil surface ). the aforesaid herbicide compositions are distributed over corn fields by suitable equipment , so as to generally apply a total quantity of herbicides plus antidotes , which may vary from 1 to 17 kg . of active substances per hectare . a further method of application of the antidote compounds of formula ( i ) is to treat seed corn before sowing , and then sowing the kernels treated with antidote compounds in fields which have already been deweeded with phytotoxic thiolcarbamate and / or acetanilide herbicides , or in fields which are to be deweeded , after sowing , with phytotoxic acetanilide herbicides . if used for seed corn treatment , the compounds of formula ( i ) are formulated in suitable liquid , fluid or powder compositions comprising active substances mixed with inert liquids or solids and / or adjuvants , well known to experts in the art , the compositions containing from 1 to 99 % of active substances . the preparations obtained in this manner are applied to the seed corn by standard equipment available in agriculture , using from 12 . 5 grams to 400 grams of antidotes per 100 kg of seed corn . the examples given hereinafter allow to better illustrate the invention , but without limiting it in any way . 129 . 2 g of diisobutylamine are reacted for 3 hours at 80 ° c . with 101 . 7 g of epichlorhydrin . after purifying by distillation , 199 . 5 g of n -( 3 - chloro - 2 - ol ) propyl diisobutylamine are obtained . this product is then reacted at 80 ° c . for 10 hours with 166 . 5 g of potassium phthalimide in 450 ml of anhydrous ethanol . after filtering off the formed potassium chloride , the mass is concentrated and left to crystallize . the product obtained is hydrolysed by reaction for 3 hours at 80 ° c . in 1600 ml of ethanol with 44 . 1 g of hydrazine monohydrate . after acidification with hydrochloric acid , the ethyl alcohol is distilled off , adding water . the phthalhydrazide is separated by filtration . the 3 - diisobutyl - 2 - ol - propylamine is recovered from the mother liquors by alkalising with naoh and extracting with toluene . after drying the toluenic mass , 91 g of acetone are added and the mixture is heated to boiling , azeotropically distilling off the water formed in the reaction . in this manner a toluenic solution of 0 , 2 - dimethyl - 5 - diisobutylaminoethyl oxazolidine is obtained , which is reacted with 121 g of dichloroacetylchloride and 110 g of 30 % naoh , at 0 °- 5 ° c ., for 30 minutes . water is added to dissolve the sodium chloride formed . the organic layer is separated from the aqueous layer , and the solvent is removed by distillation to obtain 235 g of 2 , 2 - dimethyl - 3 - dichloroacetyl - 5 - diisobutylamino methyl oxazolidine , in the form of a yellow - brown oil partially solid at ambient temperature . the ir , nmr , elementary and gas chromatography analyses have confirmed the structure of the product obtained . this product is indicated hereinafter by the code number 0134 . the following products were synthesized using the method described in example 1 : ______________________________________technical eptc 95 % 758 gtechnical 0 134 95 % 63 gsoitem * 115 100 gsolvent naphtha to make up to 1 liter______________________________________ * emulsifier produced by soitem milan a water - emulsifiable liquid is obtained , suitable for use as a herbicide in corn fields , for pre - sowing application by incorporation into the soil . ______________________________________technical butylate 96 % 750 gtechnical 0 134 95 % 32 ggeronol * ff4e 75 gsolvent naphtha to make up to 1 liter______________________________________ * emulsifier produced by geronazzo milan a water - emulsifiable liquid herbicide composition is obtained , for pre - sowing application to maize fields by incorporation . ______________________________________technical acetochlor 95 % 532 gtechnical 0 134 95 % 53 gsoitem * 999 20 gsoitem * 101 30 gmonochlorobenzene to make up to 1 liter______________________________________ * emulsifiers produced by soitem milan a water - emulsifiable liquid herbicide is obtained for pre - sowing or post - sowing application , but before appearance of infesting weeds in corn fields . ______________________________________technical 0 134 95 % 263 ggeronol * ff4e 100 gxylol to make up to 1 liter______________________________________ * emulsifier produced by geronazzo milan a water - emulsifiable liquid is obtained , which can be used for seed corn treatment . analogous compositions can be obtained using the compounds of preparation examples 2 - 9 . aqueous emulsions of the herbicides indicated in the following table a are distributed over plastic bowls containing sandy loam soil , the emulsions being mixed before use with aqueous emulsions of compounds of formula ( i ), prepared in accordance with the preceding formulation examples , the quantities being widely varied . after distributing the mixtures of herbicides and compounds of formula ( i ), these products are incorporated by being mixed with the soil to a depth of 10 cm . albion corn is then sown together with infesting weed seeds , the bowls being then kept in a greenhouse at temperatures suited for corn and weed growth , irrigating every two days . 30 days after sowing , one observes the phytotoxicity level on the corn and weed growths emerging from the soil , said level being considered by the e . w . r . s . ( european weed research society ) scale , as follows : ______________________________________level 1 = no phytotoxicity , healthy plantslevel 2 = about 2 . 5 % phytotoxicitylevel 3 = about 5 % phytotoxicitylevel 4 = about 10 % phytotoxicitylevel 5 = about 15 % phytotoxicitylevel 6 = about 25 % phytotoxicitylevel 7 = about 35 % phytotoxicitylevel 8 = about 62 . 5 % phytotoxicitylevel 9 = plants totally destroyed . ______________________________________ ______________________________________ 1 . echinochloa crus galli 2 . setaria viridis 3 . amaranthus retroflexus 4 . chenopodium album______________________________________ results of phytotoxicity levels 1 - 9 , observed 30 days after sowing -- by the e . w . r . s . method -- on albion corn and various infesting weeds sown on soil treated with various mixtures of herbicides and compounds of formula ( i ). ______________________________________ phytotoxicity 1 - 9 e . w . r . s . herb - quantity com - quantity infesting weedsicide kg / ha form . i kg / ha corn 1 . 2 . 3 . 4 . ______________________________________eptc 16 + 0 134 1 . 6 1 9 9 9 9eptc 16 + 0 134 0 . 4 1 9 9 9 9eptc 16 + 0 134 0 . 1 2 9 9 9 9eptc 16 + 0 135 1 . 6 1 9 9 9 9eptc 16 + 0 135 0 . 4 1 9 9 9 9eptc 16 + 0 135 0 . 1 3 9 9 9 9eptc 16 + 0 187 1 . 6 1 9 9 9 9eptc 16 + 0 187 0 . 4 2 9 9 9 9eptc 16 + 0 187 0 . 1 3 9 9 9 9eptc 16 -- -- 8 9 9 9 9eptc 8 + 0 134 1 . 6 1 9 9 9 9eptc 8 + 0 134 0 . 4 1 9 9 9 9eptc 8 + 0 134 0 . 1 1 9 9 9 9eptc 8 + 0 135 1 . 6 1 9 9 9 9eptc 8 + 0 135 0 . 4 1 9 9 9 9eptc 8 + 0 135 0 . 1 2 9 9 9 9eptc 8 + 0 187 1 . 6 1 9 9 9 9eptc 8 + 0 187 0 . 4 1 9 9 9 9eptc 8 + 0 187 0 . 1 2 9 9 9 9eptc 8 -- -- 7 9 9 9 9but - 8 + 0 134 1 . 6 1 9 9 9 9yl - atebut - 8 + 0 134 0 . 4 1 9 9 9 9yl - atebut - 8 + 0 134 0 . 1 1 9 9 9 9yl - atebut - 8 + 0 135 1 . 6 1 9 9 9 9yl - atebut - 8 + 0 135 0 . 4 1 9 9 9 9yl - atebut - 8 + 0 135 0 . 1 1 9 9 9 9yl - atebut - 8 + 0 187 1 . 6 1 9 9 9 9yl - atebut - 8 + 0 187 0 . 4 1 9 9 9 9yl - atebut - 8 + 0 187 0 . 1 1 9 9 9 9yl - atebut - 8 -- -- 5 9 9 9 9yl - atever - 8 + 0 134 1 . 6 1 9 9 9 9no - latever - 8 + 0 134 0 . 4 1 9 9 9 9no - latever - 8 + 0 134 0 . 1 2 9 9 9 9no - latever - 8 -- -- 6 9 9 9 9no - lateaceto - 4 + 0 134 1 . 6 1 9 9 9 9chloraceto - 4 + 0 134 0 . 4 2 9 9 9 9chloraceto - 4 + 0 134 0 . 1 3 9 9 9 9chloraceto - 4 + 0 135 1 . 6 1 9 9 9 9chloraceto - 4 + 0 135 0 . 4 3 9 9 9 9chloraceto - 4 + 0 135 0 . 1 4 9 9 9 9chloraceto - 4 + 0 187 1 . 6 2 9 9 9 9chloraceto - 4 + 0 187 0 . 4 2 9 9 9 9chloraceto - 4 + 0 187 0 . 1 4 9 9 9 9chloraceto - 4 -- -- 6 9 9 9 9chloraceto - 2 + 0 134 1 . 6 1 9 9 9 9chloraceto - 2 + 0 134 0 . 4 1 9 9 9 9chloraceto - 2 + 0 134 0 . 1 2 9 9 9 9chloraceto - 2 + 0 135 1 . 6 2 9 9 9 9chloraceto - 2 + 0 135 0 . 4 3 9 9 9 9chloraceto - 2 + 0 135 0 . 1 3 9 9 9 9chloraceto - 2 + 0 187 1 . 6 1 9 9 9 9chloraceto - 2 + 0 187 0 . 4 2 9 9 9 9chloraceto - 2 + 0 187 0 . 1 3 9 9 9 9chloraceto - 2 -- -- 5 9 9 9 9chlorun - treatedblank -- -- -- 1 1 1 1 1 - sample______________________________________ the results reported in table a clearly indicate that mixtures of formula ( i ) compounds with herbicides , which are normally phytotoxic towards corn when not containing the formula ( i ) compounds , eliminate maize phytotoxicity or reduce it to negligible levels , without reducing effectiveness towards weeds . in plastic bowls containing sandy loam soil -- kept in a greenhouse and irrigated every two days -- one sows corn of the dekalb xl 69 variety and seeds of various infesting weeds , and the next day the soil surface is sprayed with mixtures of aqueous acetochlor emulsions and aqueous emulsions of formula ( i ) compounds , prepared in accordance with the preceding formulation examples , the quantities being widely varied . 30 days after sowing , the phytotoxicity 1 - 9 towards corn and infesting weeds is considered by the e . w . r . s . method ( as described in detail in the preceding example ). the results observed are reported in the following table b , in which the compound code numbers have the same meaning as in the preceding table a . phytotoxicity 1 - 9 considered by the e . w . r . s . method 30 days after sowing , having used herbicide mixtures of acetochlor and formula ( i ) compounds one day after sowing . ______________________________________ phytotoxicity 1 - 9 e . w . r . s . herb - quantity com - quantity infesting weedsicide kg / ha form . i kg / ha corn 1 . 2 . 3 . 4 . ______________________________________aceto - 2 + 0 134 1 . 6 1 9 9 9 9chlor - aceto - 2 + 0 134 0 . 4 1 9 9 9 9chloraceto - 2 + 0 134 0 . 1 3 9 9 9 9chloraceto - 2 + 0 135 1 . 6 1 9 9 9 9chloraceto - 2 + 0 135 0 . 4 2 9 9 9 9chloraceto - 2 + 0 135 0 . 1 4 9 9 9 9chloraceto - 2 + 0 187 1 . 6 1 9 9 9 9chloraceto - 2 + 0 187 0 . 4 1 9 9 9 9chloraceto - 2 + 0 187 0 . 1 3 9 9 9 9chloraceto - 2 -- -- 6 9 9 9 9chloraceto - 1 + 0 134 1 . 6 1 9 9 9 9chloraceto - 1 + 0 134 0 . 4 1 9 9 9 9chloraceto - 1 + 0 134 0 . 1 1 9 9 9 9chloraceto - 1 + 0 135 1 . 6 1 9 9 9 9chloraceto - 1 + 0 135 0 . 4 1 9 9 9 9chloraceto - 1 + 0 135 0 . 1 3 9 9 9 9chloraceto - 1 + 0 187 1 . 6 1 9 9 9 9chloraceto - 1 + 0 187 0 . 4 1 9 9 9 9chloraceto - 1 + 0 187 0 . 1 2 9 9 9 9chloraceto - -- -- -- 5 9 9 9 9chlormeta - 1 + 0 134 1 . 6 1 9 9 9 9zach - lormeta - 1 + 0 134 0 . 4 1 9 9 9 9zach - lormeta - 1 + 0 134 0 . 1 2 9 9 9 9zac - lormeta - 1 -- -- 6 9 9 9 9zac - lor______________________________________ the results reported in table b clearly indicate that compounds of formula ( i ) eliminate phytotoxicity of acetochlor or reduce it to negligible levels when used after sowing , but before appearance of the corn and infesting weeds , without reducing the effectiveness of the herbicide towards weeds . aqueous emulsions of herbicides phytotoxic towards corn are distributed in various quantities -- as reported in the following table c -- over plastic bowls containing sandy loam soil , in which infesting weed seeds have been placed , said herbicides being then incorporated into the soil to a depth of 10 cm . seed corn of the ischia variety is separately treated with aqueous emulsions of formula ( i ) compounds , prepared as indicated in the preceding formulation examples , using decreasing quantities of compounds per weight unit of seed corn . these kernels , treated with antidote compounds , are sown in the bowls treated with the various herbicides , and the phytotoxicity 1 - 9 towards corn and weeds is considered after 30 days by the e . w . r . s . method ( as described in detail in application example 1 ). the results observed are reported in the following table c , in which the compound code numbers have the same meaning as in tables a and b . phytotoxicity 1 - 9 considered by the e . w . r . s . method , 30 days after sowing , using herbicide mixtures of acetochlor and formula ( i ) compounds one day after sowing . ______________________________________ phytotoxicity 1 - 9 e . w . r . s . herb - quantity com - quantity infesting weedsicide kg / ha form . i kg / ha corn 1 . 2 . 3 . 4 . ______________________________________eptc 16 + 0 134 0 . 4 1 9 9 9 9eptc 16 + 0 134 0 . 2 1 9 9 9 9eptc 16 + 0 134 0 . 05 1 9 9 9 9eptc 16 + 0 134 0 . 0125 2 9 9 9 9eptc 16 + 0 135 0 . 2 1 9 9 9 9eptc 16 + 0 135 0 . 05 2 9 9 9 9eptc 16 + 0 135 0 . 0125 3 9 9 9 9eptc 16 + 0 187 0 . 2 1 9 9 9 9eptc 16 + 0 187 0 . 05 2 9 9 9 9eptc 16 + 0 187 0 . 0125 4 9 9 9 9eptc 16 -- -- 8 9 9 9 9eptc 8 + 0 134 0 . 2 1 9 9 9 9eptc 8 + 0 134 0 . 05 1 9 9 9 9eptc 8 + 0 134 0 . 0125 1 9 9 9 9eptc 8 + 0 135 0 . 2 1 9 9 9 9eptc 8 + 0 135 0 . 05 1 9 9 9 9eptc 8 + 0 135 0 . 0125 1 9 9 9 9eptc 8 + 0 187 0 . 2 1 9 9 9 9eptc 8 + 0 187 0 . 05 2 9 9 9 9eptc 8 + 0 187 0 . 0125 3 9 9 9 9eptc 8 -- -- 7 9 9 9 9buty - 8 + 0 134 0 . 2 1 9 9 9 9latebuty - 8 + 0 134 0 . 05 1 9 9 9 9latebuty - 8 + 0 134 0 . 0125 1 9 9 9 9latebuty - 8 + 0 135 0 . 2 1 9 9 9 9latebuty - 8 + 0 135 0 . 05 1 9 9 9 9latebuty - 8 + 0 135 0 . 0125 2 9 9 9 9latebuty - 8 + 0 187 0 . 2 1 9 9 9 9latebuty - 8 + 0 187 0 . 05 1 9 9 9 9latebuty - 8 + 0 187 0 . 0125 2 9 9 9 9latebuty - 8 -- -- 4 9 9 9 9lateverno - 8 + 0 134 0 . 2 1 9 9 9 9lateverno - 8 + 0 134 0 . 05 1 9 9 9 9lateverno - 8 + 0 134 0 . 0125 2 9 9 9 9lateverno - 8 -- -- 6 9 9 9 9lateaceto - 4 + 0 134 0 . 4 1 9 9 9 9chloraceto - 4 + 0 134 0 . 2 1 9 9 9 9chloraceto - 4 + 0 134 0 . 05 1 9 9 9 9chloraceto - 4 + 0 134 0 . 0125 2 9 9 9 9chloraceto - 4 + 0 135 0 . 2 1 9 9 9 9chloraceto - 4 + 0 135 0 . 05 2 9 9 9 9chloraceto - 4 + 0 135 0 . 0125 4 9 9 9 9chloraceto - 4 + 0 187 0 . 2 1 9 9 9 9chloraceto - 4 + 0 187 0 . 05 1 9 9 9 9chloraceto - 4 + 0 187 0 . 0125 3 9 9 9 9chloraceto - 4 -- -- 7 9 9 9 9chloraceto - 2 + 0 134 0 . 2 1 9 9 9 9chloraceto - 2 + 0 134 0 . 05 1 9 9 9 9chloraceto - 2 + 0 134 0 . 0125 1 9 9 9 9chloraceto - 2 + 0 135 0 . 2 1 9 9 9 9chloraceto - 2 + 0 135 0 . 05 1 9 9 9 9chloraceto - 2 + 0 135 0 . 0125 2 9 9 9 9chloraceto - 2 + 0 187 0 . 2 1 9 9 9 9chloraceto - 2 + 0 187 0 . 05 1 9 9 9 9chloraceto - 2 + 0 187 0 . 0125 2 9 9 9 9chloraceto - 2 -- -- 5 9 9 9 9chlor______________________________________ the results reported in table c clearly indicate that the compounds of formula ( i ), when applied directly to maize seeds , eliminate or reduce to negligible levels the phytotoxicity of thiolcarbamate or acetanilide herbicides used before corn sowing and incorporated into the soil , without reducing their effectiveness towards weeds .	2
as is apparent firstly from the graphic depiction in fig1 for the first embodiment but also from fig3 for the second embodiment , a vehicle seat according to the present invention comprises a headrest 1 that is detachably fastenable to a seatback 20 ( depicted in fig3 and 4 ). for that purpose , retaining rods 2 are fastened in known fashion to the underside of headrest 1 . headrest 1 comprises a receiving space 3 for a display screen device 4 integrated into the vehicle seat according to the present invention . upon assembly , this display screen device 4 can be fastened in clamping fashion ( nonpositively ) in receiving space 3 between headrest 1 and seatback 20 . receiving space 3 is advantageously constituted by a recess in headrest 1 that , in the assembled state , positively surrounds display screen device 4 and is open at the front ( toward a viewer of display screen 4 ) and at the bottom ( toward seatback 20 ). in the embodiment depicted in fig1 seatback 20 has associated with it a support part 5 , arranged in an upper part of seatback 20 , for display screen device 4 . fastening sleeves 6 for joining seatback 20 to headrest 1 , through which retaining rods 2 of headrest 1 pass in the assembled state , are arranged in known fashion in seatback 20 . fastening sleeves 6 are joined in bridge fashion to one another by way of support part 5 for display screen device 4 , or are configured integrally with support part 5 . support part 5 with sleeves 6 can advantageously be arranged in a depression of seatback 20 in such a way that it terminates flush with the upper side of seatback 20 , e . g . with an upholstered surface of the back , or projects slightly thereabove . display screen device 4 comprises a flat bottom part 7 on which display screen 8 is arranged projecting vertically upward . the latter can , in known fashion , be surrounded by a housing 9 in which a suitable keypad 10 for operation of display screen device 4 is located . in an advantageous embodiment , display screen 8 can be a flat display screen , in particular an lcd screen . for creation of an optimum nonpositive ( clamping ) connection of display screen device 4 between headrest 1 and seatback 20 of the seat according to the present invention , it is advantageous in this context if the base outline of bottom part 7 is larger than the base outline of display screen 8 ( including the base outline of its housing 9 ), and preferably surrounds said base outline . it is additionally advantageous in this context if the base outline of bottom part 7 corresponds approximately to the base outline of support part 5 in the upper part of the seatback , and approximately to the base outline of a bottom surface 11 of headrest 1 . as a result of this base outline configuration , headrest 1 is advantageously supported on bottom part 7 , and bottom part 7 on support part 5 , over a large area , contributing to optimum clamping . in a particularly advantageous embodiment of the invention , as already mentioned , passthrough openings 12 for retaining rods 2 of headrest 1 can be arranged in bottom part 7 , so that passage of retaining rods 2 through said openings 12 results in additional positive immobilization of display screen device 4 . as a result , the clamping connection described above is additionally reinforced and reliability is increased , since display screen 4 can no longer be taken out of the vehicle seat without removing headrest 1 . with regard to the electrical connection or , for example , also the antenna connection of display screen device 4 , a plug connector part 14 connected to connector lines 13 , for electrical connection to a corresponding plug part ( not depicted ) of display screen 4 arranged in particular in the base of display screen device 4 , can be integrated into support part 5 for display screen device 4 . connector lines 13 of plug connector part 14 can preferably be routed inside seatback 20 . the second embodiment of a vehicle seat according to the present invention illustrated by fig2 through 5 differs from the first embodiment especially in that at least display screen 8 of display screen device 4 is pivotable about an axis x - x extending in the transverse direction of the seat in the upper region of seatback 20 . provision can be made in particular for display screen 8 to be pivotable backward , i . e . usually opposite to direction of travel f if the seat is installed correspondingly in the motor vehicle , upon application of a first torque . this is indicated by the arrow labeled m 1 in fig2 . torque m 1 that is depicted is a resiliently acting return torque which counteracts the pivoting motion and brings the display screen back into its original position . its magnitude can be small . this kind of pivotability of display screen 8 makes it possible , when headrest 1 has been removed , to bring seatback 20 of the motor vehicle seat according to the present invention into a horizontal position by folding it forward , while preventing display screen 8 from being damaged if it collides in the process with , for example , the dashboard or sun visor . provision can furthermore be made for display screen 8 to be pivotable up to 90 degrees forward , i . e . usually in direction of travel f , upon application of a second torque . this is indicated by the arrow labeled m 2 in fig2 which symbolizes the resistance to this pivoting motion . when the corresponding torque , which can be eight to ten times the magnitude of the first torque , is exceeded , the display screen folds down into a stable position . this pivotability of display screen 8 represents a misuse prevention feature . the deflecting pivoting of display screen 8 , and optionally of further parts joined to it , in response to a large mechanical load prevents display screen 8 or other parts of display screen device 4 from breaking , for example if a passenger inadvertently leans on display screen 8 while exiting . the pivoted position assumed by display screen 8 with headrest 1 removed , which could also be called the “ misuse position ,” is depicted in fig4 . lastly , provision can be made for display screen 8 to be slightly pivotable ( less than 90 degrees ) in direction of travel f , in particular upon application of a third torque in the context of the abrupt action of large acceleration forces , such as those that occur in the context of a rear - end impact on the vehicle . this is indicated by the arrow labeled m 3 in fig2 which illustrates a damping resistance torque opposite to the pivoting . the corresponding torque can preferably be greater than first torque m 1 ( e . g . twice as great ), but less than second torque m 2 , as indicated by the differing sizes and thicknesses of the arrows in fig2 . this represents a safety feature in a crash situation . in order to determine the motion sequence upon pivoting of display screen 8 , in particular the forces or torques m 1 , m 2 , m 3 that initiate and inhibit the pivoting motion , a device that preferably comprises at least one spring member and one damper member can be integrated into display screen device 4 . in fig5 for example , a spring 21 is provided as the spring member and a damper 22 as the damper member , located in the assembled state in corresponding associated housing parts , i . e . a spring housing part 23 and damper housing part 24 . spring 21 applies return torque m 1 , while damper 22 counteracts any pivoting of display screen 8 , for example in the event of a crash , while applying torque m 3 . spring housing part 23 and damper housing part 24 constitute , together with a farther housing part 25 that provides cable guidance , a frame part ( not further labeled as a whole ) for display screen 8 which is fastened via a base part 26 to an adapter 27 for connection to an upper part of seatback 20 . the adapter could also , like part 5 depicted in fig1 be referred to as the support part for display screen device 4 . corresponding to the flat bottom part 7 of the first embodiment of the invention shown in fig1 fig5 shown the two bottom segments 7 a , 7 b , of which one ( 7 b ) comprises passthrough openings 12 for retaining rods 2 of headrest 1 ,. in the assembled state , bottom segments 7 a , 7 b surround base part 26 joined to adapter 27 , and conceal adapter 27 . the aforementioned axis x - x extending in the transverse direction of the seat in the upper region of seatback 20 , about which display screen 8 of display screen 4 is pivotable , is depicted in fig5 as being offset because of the exploded depiction . in the installed state it extends in a straight line , beginning at a lower end of housing part 25 for cable guidance , continuing through base part 26 and damper 22 , and ending in damper housing part 24 . in the installed state , spring housing part 23 is arranged parallel to pivot axis x - x ; spring 21 arranged therein can preferably be embodied as a leaf spring and can engage into base part 26 . [ 0036 ] fig5 furthermore shows that advantageously , at least one cover part , but preferably ( as depicted ) a front ( in terms of direction of travel f ) cover part 28 b and a rear cover part 28 a , can be fastenable to display screen 8 of display screen device 4 . cover parts 28 a , 28 b are configured in the manner of half shells so they can surround display screen 8 . rear cover part 28 a comprises a window 29 through which display screen 8 is visible . front cover part 28 b does not possess a window , but instead protectively covers the back panel of the display screen in the installed state . in the installed state , display screen 8 is arranged between the two cover parts 28 a , 28 b and held , together with said parts , in a preferably multi - part frame that corresponds to housing 9 of the first embodiment of the invention depicted in fig1 . this frame ( not further labeled as a whole ) encompasses a front ( in terms of direction of travel f ) frame part 30 b and a rear frame part 30 a . a further special aspect of the second embodiment of the vehicle seat according to the present invention is the fact that display screen 8 ( including its two cover parts 28 a , 28 b ) is mounted rotatably about a further center axis y - y that extends in the transverse direction of the seat and , in particular , is contained in the frame . this makes it possible , before display screen 8 is optionally pivoted forward once headrest 1 has been removed , to bring display screen 8 with cover parts 28 a , 28 b into a protected position in which the originally front ( windowless ) cover part 28 a faces away from direction of travel f and — after display screen 8 ( inclusive of frame parts 30 a , 30 b ) has been pivoted approximately 90 degrees — upward . this non - use position of display screen device 4 is depicted in fig4 . the non - use position of display screen device 4 can be established even if there is no intention to fold down seatback 20 . for example , starting from the use position depicted in fig3 firstly headrest 1 can be removed , then display screen 8 with the two cover parts 28 a , 28 b can be rotated 180 degrees about center axis y - y extending in the transverse direction of the seat , and then the headrest can be put back in place , thus resulting once again in a position similar to that in fig3 except that display screen 8 is protected by front cover part 28 b . the mounting of display screen 8 in frame parts 30 a , 30 b , which permits a rotation of up to 180 degrees , also advantageously makes it possible , in the use position of display screen device 4 depicted in fig3 to perform an individual adaptation of display screen 8 to the needs of a viewer in the context of a smaller rotation angle , by the fact that an optimum viewing angle can be steplessly set by way of a corresponding rotation . to ensure that display screen 8 does not independently rotate forward or backward away from that angle during vehicle operation , a brake mechanism 31 can be provided for locking , as shown in fig5 . in contrast to display screen 8 and its cover parts 28 a , 28 b , spring housing part 23 , damper housing part 24 , and housing part 25 that serves for cable guidance — which also ( as already mentioned ) constitute a frame part — are immovably ( nonrotatably ) joined to , in particular interposed between , front frame part 30 b and rear frame part 30 a . the manner in which assembly , for example fastening with screws 32 , can be accomplished is illustrated in fig5 by the unlabeled dot - dash lines . the invention is not limited to the exemplary embodiments depicted , but instead also encompasses all embodiments of identical function within the meaning of the invention . in particular , for example , the conformation and dimensioning of the parts described may deviate from the embodiments depicted . or , for example , the upper and lower sides of bottom part 7 , headrest 1 , and support part 5 , depicted respectively as being flat , can be equipped with contours that correspond positively to one another , thereby preventing any mutual relative motion of said parts . one skilled in the art may moreover provide further features for the technical configuration of a vehicle seat according to the present invention without leaving the context of the invention . for example , it is possible for an infrared remote control also to be provided for display screen device 4 , as illustrated by infrared window 33 depicted in fig5 . instead of the bearing point of brake mechanism 31 depicted in fig5 provision can also be made that display screen 8 could be mounted laterally ( to the right and left of braking mechanism 31 that is depicted ) in its frame by way of ball joints located in particular in rear cover part 28 , and thus could be adapted to different viewing directions ; in the context of a pivoting motion about a vertical axis also made possible thereby , one or the other of the two ball joints would need in each case to be snapped out . in addition , the invention is not limited to the combination of features defined in the independent claims , but instead can also be defined by any other combination of specific features of all the globally disclosed individual features . this means that in principle , practically any individual feature of the independent claims can be omitted or replaced by at least one individual feature disclosed elsewhere in the application . in this respect , claim 1 is to be understood as merely a first attempt to state an invention , and independent inventive significance is also assigned , as stated , to claims 15 and 24 . priority application 201 19 410 . 4 , filed nov . 28 , 2001 , including the specification , drawings , claims and abstract , is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety . priority application 201 08 701 . 4 , filed may 25 , 2001 , including the specification , drawings , claims and abstract , is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety . [ 0060 ] 12 passthrough openings for 2 in 7 , 7 b while the exemplary embodiments illustrated in the figs . and described above are presently preferred , it should be understood that these embodiments are offered by way of example only . accordingly , the present invention is not limited to a particular embodiment , but extends to various modifications that nevertheless fall within the scope of the appended claims .	1
illustrative embodiments of the rotor assembly are provided below . it will of course be appreciated that in the development of any actual embodiment , numerous implementation - specific decisions will be made to achieve the developer &# 39 ; s specific goals , such as compliance with assembly - related and business - related constraints , which will vary from one implementation to another . moreover , it will be appreciated that such a development effort might be complex and time - consuming , but would nevertheless be a routine undertaking for those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of this disclosure . referring to fig6 in the drawings , a preferred embodiment of an improved extruding machine for extruding randomly shaped cornmeal snacks according to the present application is illustrated . randomly shaped cornmeal snacks sold under the trademark cheetos ® are capable of being extruded from this extruder , however , other extruded snacks could be fabricated . cheetos ® are but one brand of randomly shaped snacks that can be fabricated from extruders according to the present application . other randomly shaped snacks could be fabricated from a material other than cornmeal , such as potato , seaweed , rice , cassava , parsnip , and carrot . an improved extruder machine 201 having a hopper assembly 203 , a conveyer assembly 205 , and an extruding assembly 207 . furthermore , extruding assembly 207 includes a rotor assembly 209 , a stator assemble 211 , and an auger assembly 213 . auger assembly 213 includes an auger motor assembly 223 coupled to a single screw auger assembly 229 . a limitation with single screw auger is their tendency to slip , wear out quickly , and the limited pressure they can apply to the extruder . referring now also to fig7 in the drawings , an enlarged perspective view of improved extruding machine 201 is illustrated . single screw auger assembly 229 is coupled to stator assembly 211 and coupled to an auger interface 230 . as shown in fig6 and fig7 single screw auger assembly 229 retracts from auger interface 230 for maintenance . stator assembly 211 includes a stator die plate 235 and a stator mounting assembly 239 . rotor assembly 209 includes a rotor head assembly 241 coupled to a drive shaft assembly 243 . rotor head assembly 241 is capable of rotating about a center axis and is capable of moving axially in relation to stator assembly 211 . referring now also to fig8 in the drawings , a cross sectional view of improved extruder machine 201 is illustrated and to fig9 , an enlarged view of fig8 is illustrated . material to be extruded , usually cornmeal with selected moisture content , is fed to an auger assembly 213 by hopper assembly 203 . auger assembly 213 feeds cornmeal to the extruder assembly 215 through a chute 214 . extruder assembly 215 includes rotor assembly 209 , stator assembly 211 , and a servicing distance 217 . servicing distance 217 is the spacing between the rotor assembly 209 and the stator assembly 211 . servicing distance 217 is varied by moving the rotor assembly 209 in relation to the stator assembly 211 . typically while the machine 201 is serviced the servicing distance 217 is no more than a few inches . the servicing distance 217 allows a technician to maintain both the stator assembly 211 and the rotor assembly 209 . due to the servicing distance 217 having a limited amount of travel all tooling for maintenance to rotor assembly 209 and stator assembly 211 are limited in travel and therefore it is time consuming to remove a significant number of fasteners for maintenance of rotor assembly 209 and stator assembly 211 . referring now also to fig1 the drawings , an alternative embodiment of extruder machine 301 according to the present application is illustrated . extruder machine 301 includes an extruder assembly 315 , a hopper assembly 303 , a drive assembly 304 , and a servicing assembly 306 . referring now also to fig1 , 12 , 13 , and 14 in the drawings , an alternative embodiment of extruder assembly 315 according to the present application is illustrated . extruder assembly 315 includes a rotor assembly 309 , a stator assembly 311 , and an auger assembly 313 . auger assembly 313 includes an auger motor assembly 323 coupled to a multi screw assembly 329 . multi screw assembly 329 is coupled to stator assembly 311 . in the preferred embodiment multi twin screw assembly 329 includes a first auger screw 330 and a second auger screw 331 that are parallel to each other and rotate in the same direction . in an alternative embodiment the multi auger screws are parallel and rotate in opposite directions . in an alternative embodiment there would be additional augers screws , such as a third auger screw and so forth as long as space in auger assembly would allow . multiple auger screws reduce the slippage and wear associated with single screw augers and allow a greater variety of ingredients to be extruded . stator assembly 311 includes a stator die plate 335 and a stator mounting assembly 339 . stator die plate 335 is fabricated from stainless steel . rotor assembly 309 includes a rotor head assembly 341 coupled to a drive shaft assembly 343 . drive shaft assembly 343 is coupled to drive assembly 304 . rotor head assembly 341 is capable of rotating about a center axis by drive assembly 304 and is capable of moving axially in relation to stator assembly 311 by means of servicing assembly 306 . referring now also to fig1 in the drawings , a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of a rotor assembly 409 is illustrated and to fig1 in the drawings , an exploded view of rotor assembly 409 is illustrated . rotor assembly 409 includes a one - piece finger member 413 , a die plate 417 , cutting assemblies 421 , and a rotor base 425 . rotor base 425 has a first end 427 and a second end 429 . first end 427 of rotor base 425 is secured to extruding machine by tightening set screws 426 . second end 429 of rotor base 425 includes a rotor base flange 428 . in the center of rotor base flange 428 is a finger member receptacle 430 configured for releasable attachment of finger member 413 . finger member receptacle 430 has multi - indexed non - continuous threaded surfaces 431 . in other embodiments the number of indexed threaded surfaces could be greater or less than three . in the preferred embodiment the finger member receptacle 430 includes three indexed threaded surfaces 431 with higher pitch threads . alternatively or in combination with the high pitch of the threading , the pitch of the lead angle is different than the pitch of the threading . the threading is proprietary and serves to reduce imitators duplicating unauthorized replacement parts and aids in the quick removal of parts from the assembly . in alternate embodiments the entire receptacle is threaded . located on the circumference of rotor base flange are cutting assembly slots 433 . cutting assemblies 421 include an external cutter 435 and a cutting screw 437 . external cutter 435 includes a holder portion 439 and a blade portion 441 . a cutter interface 443 is the region where the holder portion 439 and the blade portion 441 intersect . in this embodiment cutter interface 443 is filleted , however , it should be apparent that cutter interface 443 might be curved and non - filleted . external cutters 435 are coupled to rotor base 425 and are secured by cutting screws 437 . external cutters 435 are prevented from rotating relative to rotor base 425 by being located in the cutting assembly slots 433 located on the rotor base flange 428 . additionally , cutting assembly slots 433 ensure blade portion 441 is precisely located axially . die plate 417 has a first end 459 and a second end 457 located at the opposite end . die plate 417 includes a centered aperture 445 to allow the finger member 413 to mount to the rotor base 425 through die plate 417 . die plate 417 is coupled to rotor base 425 by socket cap screws 455 . socket cap screws 455 mount through the rotor base flange 428 and into the second end 459 of the die plate 417 . it is important that first end 457 of die plate 417 does not contain fasteners . first end 457 of the die plate 417 is in constant contact with the ground cornmeal therefore any fasteners that were exposed in first end 457 would be clogged with the ground corn meal . this clogging would inhibit the maintenance of the extruding machine 301 . in the preferred embodiment die plate 417 is fabricated from stainless steel , preferably a 304 stainless steel . in an alternative embodiment die plate 417 b is fabricated from bronze . die plates 417 fabricated from stainless steel require additional surface preparation including bead blasting and coated carbide cutters to machine the part . the additional surface preparation is needed in order for the die plates 417 fabricated from stainless steel to mimic the frictional twisting generated by die plates 417 b fabricated from bronze . die plates 417 fabricated from stainless steel are lasting three times longer or more than dies plates 417 b fabricated from bronze . referring now also to fig1 and fig1 in the drawings , perspective views of a finger member 413 are illustrated . finger member 413 has a first end 461 and a second end 463 . in the preferred embodiment the diameter of the second end 463 is uniform . in alternate embodiments the diameter of the second end could have a taper and or a rubber gasket to minimize the migration of cornmeal . preferably first end 461 has multi - indexed non - continuous threaded flanges 465 ; however the threading could be continuous . the threading is proprietary and serves to reduce imitator duplicating unauthorized replacement parts and aids in the quick removal of parts from the assembly . in the preferred embodiment the pitch of the threading is higher than normal threading and very course . the courser the threading the easier to remove the finger member 413 . the higher pitch allows the finger member 413 to engage with less rotational distance compared to a finger member threaded with lower pitch threads . alternatively or in combination with the high pitch of the threading , the pitch of the lead angle is different than the pitch of the threading . a benefit of the custom threading is reduced unauthorized production of knock - off parts . second end 463 has fingers 467 and a cone 469 . at the top of the cone 469 is a flattened area 471 . finger member 413 is preferable machined from a round bar of 303 stainless steel . finger assemblies fabricated from round bars of 303 stainless steel have more durability than previous fingers made from flat bars of 303 stainless steel due to a different stainless steel manufacturing process or perhaps the arrangement of the grains in the round bar compared to the flat bar . in other embodiments finger member 413 may be fabricated from other metals as long as it was economically feasible to fabricate them and the finger member 413 proved durable . flattened area 471 is critical in adjusting the augers position when there is a single auger screw . the auger is properly engaged with rotor assembly 409 by adjusting auger until contact is made between auger and flattened area 471 . the auger is then backed away from the flattened area a short amount . in the preferred embodiment finger member 413 has three fingers 467 , however , in other embodiments the number of fingers is greater than three and in other embodiments the number of fingers may be less than three but no less than one finger . the orientation and the position of the fingers 467 relative to the finger member 413 may be adjusted . mounting of finger member 413 to rotor base 425 in the preferred embodiment is by a quick releasing threaded coupling 473 . in the preferred embodiment the finger member 413 can be released from the rotor base by rotating finger member approximately only 60 degrees relative to rotor base 425 . this greatly speeds up the removal and replacement of finger member 413 . referring now also to fig1 in the drawings , a perspective view of a finger member wrench 475 is illustrated . removal of finger member 413 from rotor base 425 is assisted by utilizing finger member wrench 475 with cutouts 477 . cutouts 477 are shaped like fingers 467 with extra material removed to protect edges of fingers 467 . finger member wrench 475 has a groove 479 cut into it and a hole 481 located between cutouts 477 . finger member wrench 475 could also used for installing finger member 413 into rotor base 425 . it is apparent that an assembly with significant advantages has been described and illustrated . the particular embodiments disclosed above are illustrative only , as the embodiments may be modified and practiced in different but equivalent manners apparent to those skilled in the art having the benefit of the teachings herein . it is therefore evident that the particular embodiments disclosed above may be altered or modified , and all such variations are considered within the scope and spirit of the application . accordingly , the protection sought herein is as set forth in the description . although the present embodiments are shown above , they are not limited to just these embodiments , but are amenable to various changes and modifications without departing from the spirit thereof .	0
the shape memory alloy supported intraluminal graft 10 of the present invention consists generally of a tubular substrate 12 having a central lumen 13 passing through an entire longitudinal extent of the tubular substrate . the tubular substrate 12 has a luminal wall surface 15 adjacent the central lumen 13 and an abluminal wall surface 17 opposing the central lumen 13 . a support member 14 is provided and is preferably at least partially covered by a polymeric cladding 11 . the polymeric clad support member 14 is circumferentially disposed about and joined to the abluminal wall surface 17 of the tubular substrate 12 , such as by helically winding the polymeric clad support member 14 about the abluminal surface 17 of the tubular substrate 12 . optionally , a second tubular substrate 19 , having an inner diameter sufficiently dimensioned to be concentrically engaged about the abluminal wall surface 17 of the tubular substrate 12 and the polymeric clad support member 14 , may be provided . in accordance with a first preferred embodiment of the present invention , and with particular reference to fig1 - 3 , there is provided the inventive supported intraluminal graft 10 comprised of a tubular 12 made of a biocompatible polymeric material , such as expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (“ eptfe ”), polyethylene terepthalate (“ pet ”) such as that marketed and sold under the trademark dacron , polyethylene , or polyurethane . expanded ptfe substrate materials are preferably made by ram extruding an admixture of polytetrafluoroethylene resin and a hydrocarbon lubricant to form a tubular extrudate , drying off the hydrocarbon lubricant , longitudinally expanding the dried tubular extrudate , then sintering the longitudinally expanded dried tubular extrudate at a temperature above the crystalline melt point of polytetrafluoroethylene . the resulting tubular eptfe material has a microporous microstructure which is composed of spaced - apart nodes interconnected by fibrils , with the fibrils being oriented parallel to the longitudinal axis of the eptfe tube and parallel to the axis of longitudinal expansion . u . s . pat . nos . &# 39 ; 390 and &# 39 ; 566 , both issued to gore , teach processes for making eptfe tubular substrates and are hereby incorporated by reference as teaching processes to make eptfe tubular and planar materials . a tubular substrate may also be made by weaving yarn , made of either polyester or eptfe , into a tubular structure as is well known in the art . additionally , the tubular substrate 12 may have a cylindrical profile having a substantially uniform internal diameter along its longitudinal axis , or may have a tapered sidewall in which the tubular substrate 12 assumes a generally frustroconical shape in which the internal diameter of the tubular substrate 12 increases or deceases along the longitudinal axis of the tubular substrate 12 . alternatively , the tubular substrate 12 may have at least one region of stepped diameter in which the internal diameter of the tubular substrate changes at a discrete longitudinal section of the tubular substrate 12 . in accordance with a first preferred embodiment of the present invention , the tubular substrate 12 is an extruded , longitudinally expanded and sintered eptfe tubular member which has been radially expanded from an initial luminal inner diameter of between about 1 . 5 mm to about 6 mm to a final luminal inner diameter of between about 3 mm to about 18 mm . thus , tubular substrate 12 is initially fabricated at a first relatively smaller diametric dimension , dried of the hydrocarbon lubricant , and sintered , then radially expanded by application of an radially outwardly directed force applied to the luminal wall surface 15 of the tubular substrate 12 , which radially deforms the wall of the tubular substrate 12 from an initial luminal inner diameter , denoted d 1 , to a second , enlarged luminal inner diameter , denoted d 2 . alternatively , tubular substrate 12 may be provided as an extruded , longitudinally expanded and sintered eptfe tubular member having an inner diameter equivalent to the final inner diameter of the supported intraluminal graft , e . g ., extruded to a luminal diameter of between about 3 mm to about 18 mm , and a wall thickness sufficient to acceptably minimize the delivery profile of the supported intraluminal graft . suitable wall thicknesses for the non - radially expanded eptfe tubular member are considered less than or equal to about 0 . 3 mm for delivery to peripheral anatomic passageways . the tubular substrate 12 is preferably radially expanded by loading the tubular substrate 12 , in its fully or partially sintered state , onto an inflation balloon such that the tubular substrate 12 is concentrically engaged upon the inflation balloon , introducing the inflation balloon and tubular substrate 12 into a tubular housing defining a generally cylindrical cavity having an inner diameter corresponding to the maximum desired outer diameter of the final shape memory alloy supported graft , and applying a fluid pressure to the inflation balloon to inflate the inflation balloon and radially deform the tubular substrate 12 into intimate contact with the generally cylindrical cavity . pressure is maintained within the inflation balloon for a period of time sufficient to minimize the inherent recoil property of the eptfe material in the tubular substrate 12 , then the pressure is relieved and the inflation balloon permitted to deflate . the radially deformed tubular substrate , now having an inner luminal diameter d 2 , is removed from the generally cylindrical cavity for subsequent processing . during radial expansion of the tubular substrate 12 from d 1 to d 2 , the node and fibril microstructure of the eptfe tubular substrate is deformed . the nodes , which have an orientation perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the tubular substrate 12 and parallel to the radial axis of the tubular substrate 12 , deform along the longitudinal axis of each node to form elongated columnar structures , while the length of the fibrils interconnecting adjacent pairs of nodes in the longitudinal axis of the tubular substrate 12 , remains substantially constant . the fibril length is also referred to herein as the “ internodal distance .” a support member 14 , which is preferably made of an elastic wire material selected from the group of thermoelastic or shape memory alloys , spring stainless steel , elastic metal or plastic alloys , or composite materials , such as woven carbon fibers . where a shape memory alloy is employed , it is important that the shape memory alloy have a transition temperature below human body temperature , i . e ., 37 degrees celsius , to enable the shape memory alloy to undergo transformation to the austenite phase when the shape memory alloy wire member is exposed to human body temperature in vivo . in accordance with the best mode currently known for the present invention , the preferred shape memory alloy is a near equiatomic alloy of nickel and titanium . to facilitate attachment of the elastic or thermoelastic wire member 14 to the tubular substrate 12 , it is contemplated that a polymeric cladding 11 be provided to at least partially cover the support wire member 14 and facilitate adhesion between the support wire member 14 and the abluminal wall surface 17 of the tubular substrate 12 . in accordance with the best mode for practicing the present invention , it is preferable that the polymeric cladding 11 be selected from the group of biocompatible polymeric materials consisting of polytetrafluoroethylene , polyurethane , polyethylene , polypropylene , polyamides , polyimides , polyesters , polypropylenes , polyethylenes , polyfluoroethylenes , silicone , fluorinated polyolefins , fluorinated ethylene / propylene copolymer , perfluoroalkoxy fluorocarbon , ethylene / tetrafluoroethylene copolymer , and polyvinylpyrolidone . as will hereinafter be described more fully , the polymeric cladding 11 may be coupled to the support wire member 14 by any of a variety of known methodologies . for example , the polymeric cladding 11 may be co - extruded with the support wire member 14 , the polymeric cladding 11 may be extruded with an opening passing through the polymeric cladding 11 along its longitudinal axis and dimensioned to receive the support wire member 14 there through , the polymeric cladding 11 may have a longitudinally extending recess dimensioned to receive and retain the support wire member 14 therein , or the polymeric cladding 11 may be applied onto the support wire member 11 in dispersion form , such as by dipcoating or spraying , and the solvent or aqueous vehicle dried thereby forming a covering on the support wire member 11 . the support wire member 14 in its polymeric cladding 11 is circumferentially joined to the abluminal wall surface 17 of the tubular substrate 12 , such as by helically winding at least one length of polymeric clad support wire member 14 in a regular or irregular helical pattern , or by applying the polymeric clad support wire member 14 as a series of spaced - apart circumferential rings , along at least a portion of the longitudinal axis of the abluminal wall surface 17 of the tubular substrate 12 . it is preferable that the tubular substrate 12 be mounted onto a supporting mandrel [ not shown ] having an outer diameter closely toleranced to the inner diameter of the tubular substrate 12 to permit the tubular substrate 12 to be placed thereupon and secured thereto without deforming the tubular substrate 12 . a second tubular member 19 may , optionally , be concentrically engaged about the tubular member 12 and the polymeric clad support wire member 14 . as more clearly depicted in fig2 - 3 , where the second tubular member 19 is employed and disposed circumferentially about the tubular member 12 and the polymeric clad support wire member 14 , the tubular member 12 and the second tubular member 19 encapsulate the polymeric clad support wire member 14 . where the tubular member 12 and the second tubular member 19 are both made of longitudinally expanded eptfe , each will have a microporous microstructure in which the fibrils are oriented parallel to the longitudinal axis of each of the tubular member 12 and the second tubular member 19 , throughout their respective wall thicknesses . the encapsulation of the polymeric clad support wire member 14 is best accomplished by providing both the tubular member 12 and the second tubular member 19 as unsintered or partially sintered tubes . after wrapping the polymeric clad support wire member 14 about the abluminal surface of the tubular member 12 , and circumferentially engaging the second tubular member 19 thereabout , it is preferable to apply a circumferential pressure to the assembly , while the assembly is on the supporting mandrel [ not shown ]. circumferential pressure may be applied to the assembly by , for example , helically wrapping tetrafluoroethylene film tape about the abluminal surface of the second tubular member 19 along its longitudinal axis , or by securing opposing ends of the assembly on the supporting mandrel , and rolling the assembly to calendar the assembly . after the circumferential pressure is applied to the assembly , the assembly is then introduced into either a convention or radiant heating oven , set at a temperature above the melt point of the material used to fabricate the tubular member 12 , the second tubular member 19 and / or the polymeric cladding 11 , for a period of time sufficient to bond the tubular member 12 , the second tubular member 19 and the polymeric cladding 11 into a substantially monolithic , unitary structure . where polytetrafluoroethylene is used , it has been found that it is preferable to heat the assembly in a radiant heating oven . fig4 a - 4 c depict the method steps for making the inventive shape memory alloy supported intraluminal graft 10 . with a first step 20 , tubular member 12 is concentrically engaged onto a supporting mandrel 22 such that the supporting mandrel 22 resides within the lumen of the tubular member 12 . a helical winding of polymeric clad support wire member 14 is applied about the abluminal wall surface 17 of the tubular member 12 at step 25 . the helical windings have an interwinding distance 27 which is preferably at least one times the distance 29 which represents the width of the polymer cladding 11 , in the case of a planar polymer cladding 11 , or the diameter , in the case of a tubular polymer cladding 11 having a circular transverse cross - section . the helical winding of the polymeric clad support wire member 14 contacts the abluminal wall surface 17 of the tubular member 12 at an interfacial region 28 . according to one preferred embodiment of the present invention there is provided an adhesive material 23 selected from the group consisting of polytetrafluoroethylene , polyurethane , polyethylene , polypropylene , polyamides , polyimides , polyesters , polypropylenes , polyethylenes , polyfluoroethylenes , silicone , fluorinated polyolefins , fluorinated ethylene / propylene copolymer , perfluoroalkoxy fluorocarbon , ethylene / tetrafluoroethylene copolymer , and polyvinylpyrolidone . the adhesive material is preferably applied to the interfacial region 28 of the polymeric clad support wire member 14 , but may also be applied in a pattern directly to a surface of the tubular substrate and the sma wire member 14 brought into contact with the adhesive material . in this manner , as the polymeric clad support wire member 28 is helically applied to the abluminal wall surface 17 of the tubular member 12 , the adhesive material 23 forms an interlayer intermediate the polymeric clad support wire member 28 and the abluminal wall surface 17 of the tubular member 12 . where the selected adhesive material 23 has a melt point less than the crystalline melt point of polytetrafluoroethylene , i . e ., about 327 degrees centigrade , the resulting assembly of step 25 may be introduced into a heating oven set at the melt temperature of the selected adhesive material 23 , for a period of time sufficient to melt the adhesive material 23 and impart an adhesive bond between the polymeric clad support wire member 14 and the tubular member 12 . on the other hand , where the selected adhesive material 23 is polytetrafluoroethylene , an external covering of a second tubular member 26 may be concentrically engaged about the assembly resulting from step 25 , a circumferential pressure exerted to the second tubular member 26 , thereby bringing the second tubular member 26 , the polymer clad support wire member 11 and the tubular member 12 into intimate contact with one another , and the entire assembly introduced into a sintering oven set at a temperature above the crystalline melt point of polytetrafluoroethylene and for a period of time sufficient to meld the second tubular member 26 and the tubular member 12 to one another to form a resultant substantially monolithic structure which is substantially devoid of interfacial demarcations between the second tubular member 26 and the tubular member 12 , with the polymer clad support wire member 14 residing intermediate there between . turning now to fig5 - 12 , there is depicted numerous alternate configurations of the polymer clad support wire member 14 . fig5 and 6 depict a first embodiment of the polymer clad support wire member 34 in which the support wire member is formed as a planar ribbon wire 38 a generally tubular box - like polymer cladding 36 provided about the outer surfaces of the planar ribbon wire 38 . in the transverse cross - sectional view of fig6 it will be seen that both the planar ribbon wire 38 and the polymer cladding 36 have generally quadrilateral cross - sectional configurations . fig7 - 8 depict a second embodiment of the polymer clad support wire member 40 in which the support wire member is formed as a cylindrical wire 44 having a generally tubular polymer cladding 42 provided about the outer circumference of the planar ribbon wire 44 . in the transverse cross - sectional view of fig8 it will be seen that both the cylindrical wire 44 and the polymer cladding 42 have generally circular cross - sectional configurations . fig9 - 12 are provided in the transverse cross - sectional views only , it being understood that like fig5 and 7 , each of the embodiments depicted in fig9 - 12 have corresponding perspective configurations . fig9 depicts a third embodiment of the polymer clad support wire member 46 in which the support wire member is formed as a cylindrical wire having a generally triangular - shaped polymer cladding 48 , with a central longitudinal cylindrical bore to accommodate the cylindrical wire 49 therein , which is provided about the outer surfaces of the cylindrical wire 49 . a fourth embodiment of the polymer clad support wire member 50 is depicted in fig1 . polymer clad support wire member 50 consists generally of a polymer cladding 52 having a plurality of planar surfaces and having a generally quadrilateral transverse cross - sectional shape , while the support wire member 54 is generally cylindrical with a generally circular transverse cross - section . as depicted in fig1 , a fifth embodiment of the polymer clad support wire member 60 is depicted . here , the support wire member 54 has a generally cylindrical shape with a generally circular transverse cross - section , while the polymer cladding 62 has a main body portion having a generally circular transverse cross - section , but has additional projections extending radially outward from the generally circular main body portion to increase the bonding surface area of the polymer clad support wire member 60 . finally , as depicted in fig1 , the sixth embodiment of the polymer clad support wire member 70 is depicted . in accordance with this sixth embodiment there is provided a generally cylindrical support wire member 76 having a generally circular transverse cross - section , while the polymer cladding 72 is provided with a generally triangular cross - sectional shape , with hemispherical recess 74 formed in an apex of the generally triangular cross - sectional shape . the hemispherical recess 74 subtends at least a 180 degree arc and extends along a substantial longitudinal extent of the polymer cladding 72 . the generally cylindrical support wire member 76 is engaged in the hemispherical recess 74 and retained therein by an interference fit , or by other suitable means , such as an adhesive . it will be understood by those skilled in the art , that each of the foregoing embodiments of the polymer clad support wire member may be made by pulltrusion methods in which the shape memory alloy wire member , having a preprogrammed austenite phase , is fed into an extruder during extrusion of the polymer cladding , or by extruding the polymer cladding with a central lumen , dimensioned appropriately to permit engagement of the shape memory alloy wire , then threading the support wire member into the central lumen of the polymer cladding . finally , an alternative embodiment of a shape memory alloy supported intraluminal graft 80 is depicted in fig1 and 14 . the inventive shape memory alloy supported intraluminal graft 80 may be formed by helically wrapping a length of polymer clad 84 shape memory alloy wire 86 about a supporting winding mandrel , such that the polymer cladding 84 has overlapping regions 88 which form seams . the resulting assembly is then heated above the melt point of the polymer cladding 84 to join and seal the overlapping regions 88 to one another . the inventive method 100 for making the inventive wire supported intraluminal graft , described above , is illustrated with reference to fig1 . an elastic or thermoelastic wire member is provided at step 102 along with a shaping mandrel 104 . the shaping mandrel 104 is preferably a solid cylindrical or tubular cylindrical stainless steel member capable of withstanding annealing temperatures of shape memory alloys . at step 106 , the wire member provided at step 102 is wound onto the shaping mandrel provided at step 104 . the wire member is preferably helically wound about the shaping mandrel such that adjacent windings are substantially uniformly spaced from one another . it is also contemplated that the wire member may be wound about the shaping mandrel in any of a wide number of configurations , including non - uniformly spaced windings long portions of the shaping mandrel , such that certain regions of the winding have higher and lower frequency windings than other regions , that the winding be shaped as adjacent circumferential loops such as that shape disclosed in gianturco , u . s . pat . no . 4 , 907 , 336 or wiktor , u . s . pat . no . 4 , 969 , 458 , both hereby incorporated by reference as teaching a shape of winding suitable for use with the present invention , or virtually any other shape which is capable for forming an open tubular structural skeleton , including , without limitation , a helical winding having a plurality of sinusoidal bends along a length thereof , as taught by wiktor , u . s . pat . no . 4 , 886 , 062 or pinchuck , u . s . pat . no . 5 , 019 , 090 , both hereby incorporated by reference as teaching alternative configurations of helical windings of wire members . where a thermoelastic shape memory alloy ( sma ) wire member is utilized , the sma wire member is wound about the shaping mandrel , the shape of the wound sma wire member is programmed at step 108 by annealing the sma wire member at a temperature and for a time sufficient to impart shape memory properties to the sma wire member . at step 110 , the preprogrammed sma alloy wire member is then exposed to temperature conditions below the m f temperature of the sma alloy . while it is maintained below the m f temperature of the sma alloy , the wire member is removed from the shaping mandrel and straightened to a linear shape at step 112 . if the sma alloy wire member is to be covered with a cladding , a polymeric tubular cladding is provided at step 118 and the sma alloy wire member is threaded into the lumen of the tubular cladding at step 120 . it is preferable that steps 118 and 120 be performed while the sma alloy wire member is maintained at a temperature below the m f temperature of the sma alloy to prevent shape recovery of the sma alloy wire member . alternatively , if no polymeric cladding is to be employed , but the sma alloy wire member from step 112 is to be adhered , an adhesive material may be applied to the sma alloy wire member at step 122 . step 122 may be conducted while the sma alloy wire member is at a temperature below the m f temperature , however , due to the fact that most adhesives may not adhere to the sma alloy wire member at such temperatures , the adhesive is preferably applied to the sma alloy wire member while it is in the austenite state . where an elastic wire member , such as a support structure made from stainless steel spring wire , is employed , the shape programming described in the preceding paragraph may , of course , be omitted . after application of the polymeric cladding at steps 118 and 120 , or after the adhesive is applied at step 122 , or where step 122 is conducted at a temperature below the m f temperature of the sma alloy , the sma wire is then exposed to a temperature excursion to above the a f temperature of the sma alloy at step 114 so that the sma alloy wire member recovers its programmed shape at step 116 . where an elastic wire member is employed , it is not sensitive to temperature excursions and the temperature excursion step may be omitted . a tubular substrate , made of , for example , extruded eptfe , preferably extruded eptfe which has been radially deformed from its nominal extruded diameter to an enlarged diameter , or woven polyester , is provided at step 123 . the wire member in its enlarged shape , which in the case of an sma wire member is its programmed shape , or in the case of an elastic wire member , in its unstressed state , is concentrically engaged about the tubular substrate at step 124 , and joined to the tubular substrate at step 126 by thermally bonding the adhesive or the polymeric cladding to the abluminal or luminal surface of the tubular substrate . it is preferable that step 126 be conducted while the tubular substrate is supported by a support mandrel and that the sma alloy wire member is retained in intimate contact with a surface of the tubular substrate with at least a portion of the wire member . the wire member , either in its clad or unclad state , may be retained in intimate contact against either by tension wrapping the wire member or by an external covering wrap of a release material , such as polytetrafluoroethylene tape , to cover at least a portion of the wire member . after the wire member is joined to the tubular substrate , the assembly may optionally be sterilized at step 128 , such as by exposure to ethylene oxide for a time and under appropriate conditions to sterilize the assembly . where an sma alloy wire member is employed , the assembly is then exposed to a temperature below the a s temperature of the sma alloy wire member at step 130 and the assembly is mechanically deformed to a smaller diametric profile at step 132 . where an elastic wire member is employed , the assembly is mechanically deformed to a smaller diametric profile at step 132 largely independent of temperature conditions . step 132 may be performed by any suitable means to reduce the diametric profile of the assembly , such as by drawing it through a reducing die , manually manipulating the assembly to a reduced diametric profile , or folding the device . the reduced profile assembly is then loaded onto a delivery catheter and covered with a restraining sheath at step 134 . once loaded onto a delivery catheter and covered with a restraining sheath to prevent shape recovery . in the case where the wire member is an sma alloy , loading the assembly onto a delivery catheter and covering with a restraining sheath requires that step 134 be performed at a temperature below the a s temperature of the sma alloy wire in order to prevent thermoelastic recovery of the sma alloy wire member . where , however , the wire member is fabricated of an elastic material , the loading step 134 is not largely temperature sensitive and may be performed at room temperature . while the wire member will exert shape recovery forces at room temperature , e . g ., above the a s temperature of the sma alloy wire employed , the restraining sheath of the delivery catheter will prevent the sma alloy wire member from recovering its programmed shape and carrying the tubular substrate to the programmed shape of the sma alloy wire member . optionally , the sterilization step 128 may also be performed after the assembly is loaded onto the delivery catheter at step 134 . while the present invention has been described with reference to its preferred embodiments and the best mode known to the inventor for making the inventive shape memory alloy supported intraluminal graft , it will be appreciated that variations in material selection for the polymer cladding , for the shape memory alloy , or process variations , such as the manner of winding the polymer clad support wire member about either a winding mandrel or a tubular member , or times and conditions of the manufacturing steps , including material selection , may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention which is intended to be limited only by the appended claims .	0
in fig1 of the drawings , a submergible pump installation which is adapted to be anchored or locked within a well conductor by the improved locking assembly l is illustrated . the particular well conductor shown is the usual tubing 10 which extends downwardly within the well casing 11 and the annulus between said tubing and casing is sealed by a suitable packer 13 , whereby the well fluids will flow upwardly into said tubing . although a submergible pump installation is illustrated , it will be understood that other equipment may be anchored or locked within a well conductor by means of the novel locking assembly l . the pump installation which is schematically shown in fig1 includes an electric pump 14 which is disposed at the lower end of the installation when the equipment is positioned within the well . the pump communicates with a discharge head 15 having connection with a motor protector 16 which , in turn , has connection with the electric motor 17 . the pumping equipment is lowered into place by means of a cable 18 secured to the upper end of the motor 17 and said cable is a suspension cable which has both weight supporting and electrical power conducting capabilities . for mounting the pump , motor and associated parts within the tubing , a pump shoe or landing nipple 19 is connected in the tubing string and is adapted to receive the locking assembly l . the assembly l , as will be described , lands and locks within the shoe and both suspends and seals the pump in position . the particular submergible pump and related equipment are all units which are available on the market and are distributed by the reda pump division of trw , bartlesville , oklahoma . the locking assembly provides an improved arrangement for landing and locking equipment within a well conductor and is shown in detail in fig2 a - b and 3a - b . the upper end of the landing nipple 19 is threaded into a joint of the well tubing and has a bore 20 extending entirely therethrough . the intermediate area of the bore 20 is reduced in diameter as indicated at 21 and at the lower portion of this reduced area , a profile of annular grooves 22 are formed . the grooves 22 constitute a patterned set of annular recesses which , as will be explained , provide the locking recesses which will retain the equipment in place within the well tubing . below the locking recesses , the bore 20 has a smooth portion 21a of substantially constant diameter and this surface provides an area upon which sealing can be accomplished . the lower end of the landing nipple is connected to another section of the tubing string 10 and thus , said nipple forms a portion of the tubing string . if desired , a no - go shoulder may be provided in the nipple at the lower end of portion 21a to cooperate with the latch assembly and positively limit downward movement of the assembly as will be understood by those skilled in the art . the locking assembly l has connection with the discharge head 15 which is bolted or otherwise secured to the lower end of the motor protector 16 . an inner tubular support 23 has its upper end threaded to the lower inner bore of the discharge head and said support extends downwardly therefrom for a substantial distance . also threaded onto the exterior lower portion of the discharge head 15 is a collar 24 having its bore spaced from the exterior surface of the tubular support to form an annular space 25 between the members 23 and 24 . the collar 24 has an inwardly directed flange 24a at its lower end and its upper end is further secured to the discharge head by means of a cap screw 26 which also extends through the upper end of the tubular support 23 to securely fasten the support and collar to the discharge head . the upper portion of the collar 24 is formed with a slot 27 within which the head 28 of a second cap screw 29 extends to define the sliding limit of the screw . cap screw 29 is threaded into the upper end of an expander member or mandrel 30 . the upper end portion of mandrel 30 is slidable in the annular space 25 formed between the inner tubular support 23 and the collar 24 and is connected to the support through the cap screw 29 and slot 27 . by reason of this connection , the expander mandrel may undergo movement , as determined by the length of the slot 27 , with respect to the inner tubular support . an outer sleeve or tubular body 31 surrounds both the expander mandrel and the tubular support and is mounted to slide with respect to both the expander mandrel and the inner tubular support . a plurality of windows 33 which extend entirely through the wall of said sleeve are cut in the wall of the sleeve or body and mounted to move radially within each window is an arcuate locking key or dog 34 having external projections 35 formed thereon . a spring 36 having its upper end retained within the upper portion of the sleeve has its lower end engaging a recess 37 in the inner surface of the locking key and said spring exerts its pressure to constantly urge the locking key radially outwardly with respect to the tubular support . as will be explained , when the assembly is being lowered into the well , the expander 30 will be in the position shown in fig2 and 7 , and its lower portion will not be behind the locking keys or dogs 34 . at such time , the spring 36 would be urging the locking dogs 34 outwardly and until such time as the dogs move opposite the locking recesses 22 , the peripheral surfaces of the dogs will be riding the interior wall of the well conductor or tubing . when the parts move to the position shown in fig3 the lower end of the expander mandrel 30 will move behind the dogs to lock the dogs into firm engagement with the locking recesses 22 . obviously , when the dogs are engaged in the recesses , the axial displacement of the assembly will be prevented . for preventing any rotative force to be applied to the dogs after the motor and pump are started in operation , the lower portion of the expander mandrel is formed with longitudinal grooves 52 ( fig4 ), which , as will be explained , are adapted to receive cam means such as ribs 50 formed on the internal surface of each locking key . obviously , rollers held in place by suitable springs or elastomers may be used as cam means . the details of the cam ribs 50 which have inclined sides 51 and the groove 52 which has inclined side surfaces 53 will be hereinafter explained in connection with the operation of the assembly . suffice it to say that any rotative force which is applied to the expander 30 will be transmitted through surfaces 53 and 51 to each locking dog , and by reason of the structure , these forces are converted into a radial force which will urge each locking dog in a radial direction and into very tight frictional contact with its respective groove . therefore , if there be any rotative force applied to the expander by reason of the inertia torque applied as the motor shaft operates , the dogs or keys 34 will not be displaced but will be moved into tighter frictional contact with their respective grooves . connected to the lower end of the outer sleeve or body 31 is a packing assembly which includes a main tubular body 38 having suitable packing members 39 mounted on its exterior and adapted to seal with the bore 21a of the landing nipple 19 . an equalizing passage 40 is formed in the lower portion of the packing assembly body 38 and its upper end 41 communicates with the bore of the inner tubular support when such support is in a raised position with respect to the packing assembly . when the inner tubular support is in a lowered position relative to the outer housing 31 and the packing assembly secured to the lower end of said housing , the passage 40 is sealed by a pair of o - rings 42 mounted on the outer surface of the tubular support member . to frictionally maintain the inner tubular support in a lowered position with respect to the outer housing , the packing assembly body 38 has an internal groove 38a adapted to be engaged by a detent ring 43 carried within the groove of the inner tubular support . the detent ring 43 has its upper and lower surfaces inclined so that it may be disengaged from groove 38a upon a predetermined pull . the lower end of the packing assembly 38 is connected through a suitable coupling 44 with the pump housing , a portion of which is shown in fig2 . extending axially within the locking assembly is a drive shaft 45 having splines 46 at its upper end for connection through the usual coupling with the motor shaft thereabove . similar splines 46a are provided at the lower end of the shaft and provide for a connection with the pump . alignment of shaft 45 which will transmit rotation from the motor to the pump is provided by suitable bearing sleeves 47 and 47a located within brackets on the discharge head 15 and the lower packing assembly 38 , respectively . the operation of the locking assembly is illustrated in the schematic sections in fig7 through 10 . when the assembly is to be run into the well , the parts are in the position shown in fig7 and at this time , the expander mandrel 30 is connected to the upper end of the outer housing 24 through shear pins 48 . in this position , the expander mandrel is elevated with respect to the locking keys 34 which are spring loaded outwardly against the tubing well by spring 36 and said mandrel is in a lowered position with respect to the inner tubular support 23 . the tubular support is in a raised position with respect to the outer sleeve or housing 31 as well as with respect to the packing assembly 38 . this position of the parts is illustrated in fig7 and the equipment , together with the locking assembly is lowered downwardly into the well tubing 10 with the locking keys riding the wall of the tubing . when the locking keys move opposite to the annular recesses 22 , which are formed within the landing nipple 19 , the spring of each locking key urges it outwardly into engagement with the locking recesses . the weight of the assembly which includes the pump , motor protector and associated parts , is then placed on the shear pins 48 and said pins are sheared to permit the parts to move to the position shown in fig8 . in this position , the inner support 23 moves downwardly to close the passage 41 in the packing assembly by moving the o - rings 42 on either side thereof and causes the detent ring 43 which is carried by the tubular support to snap into the groove 38a provided in the bore of the packer assembly . at the same time that the expander mandrel is moved to the position of fig8 its lower portion moves behind each of the locking keys 34 so that said keys cannot be retracted from their respective locking recesses . in this set position of the parts , any axial displacement of the equipment is prevented . for preventing any rotation of the keys within their respective annular recesses , the inwardly extending cam rib 50 ( fig4 ) of each key has its inclined faces 51 projecting into the vertical or longitudinal recesses 52 which are formed on the outer face of the annular expander mandrel 30 . since the sides of each groove are inclined as indicated at 53 , such inclined surfaces engage and coact with the inclined surfaces 51 of the cam ribs to urge the locking keys outwardly . when the parts are in the position of fig8 which is the set position , the motor will be started to operate the pump . at such start - up , there is an inertia torque which builds up and which can be transmitted through the motor housing and then through the inner tubular support to the expander mandrel . this torque might apply a rotative movement to the various parts , but by reason of the cam ribs and the cam grooves , any torque applied to the expander mandrel in a circumferential direction will be immediately transmitted to the cam ribs . because of the inclined engaged surfaces 51 , 53 , this torque will convert to a radial force which will urge each locking key into a tight frictional contact with the annular recesses . thus , the arrangement of the cam ribs and coacting cam grooves convert a rotative force into a radial force and function as an anti - rotative device which assures that the locking keys will be maintained in firm frictional engagement with the walls of the locking recesses . when it is desired to remove the pumping equipment from the well , it is only necessary to lift the cable to thereby move the inner tubular support upwardly to the position shown in fig9 . by reason of the pin and slot connection 27 , 29 , the lower end of the inner tubular support will move upwardly with respect to the main body 38 of the locking assembly to thereby move the lower end of support 23 above the equalizing port 40 and all pressure will be equalized around the particular equipment . it is noted that the equalization of pressures occurs before the expander mandrel is lifted from behind the locking keys so that release of the keys from their recesses is easily accomplished . following the equalization of pressures , continued upward movement results in the parts moving to the position shown in fig1 which removes the expander mandrel from behind the locking keys , thereby allowing said keys to retract from their respective recesses . the foregoing disclosure and description of the invention is illustrative and explanatory thereof and various changes in the size , shape and materials , as well as in the details of the illustrated construction may be made within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit of the invention .	5
the following examples further describe the present invention in details but do not limit the scope of the present invention . one of ordinary skill in the art knows how to make modifications based on the examples without departing from the scope of the present invention . 3 -( 3 -( trifluoromethyl ) phenyl ) propyl methanesulfonate ( 4 g ), toluene ( 57 ml ), r -(−)- 1 - naphthyl ethylamine ( 2 . 91 g ) and potassium carbonate ( 1 . 96 g ) were added into the reactor , the mixture was refluxed for 7 hours , the mixture was cooled to 20 ° c .- 25 ° c ., water ( 100 ml ) and toluene ( 10 ml ) were added . the organic phase was separated , and washed with hcl ( 1 m , 20 ml × 3 ) at 50 ° c ., then organic phase was stirred at 5 ° c .- 10 ° c . for one hour . filter and obtain 4 . 58 g cinacalcet hydrochloride , the yield is 82 %. the aqueous layer was combined , adjusted to ph = 14 with naoh ( 10 %) and extracted with toluene ( 30 ml ). the organic phase was dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate , filtered and concentrated to afford recovered r -(−)- 1 - naphthyl ethylamine , 0 . 33 g . hplc purity ( purity ): 99 . 0 %; chiral purity ( purity ): 99 . 0 %; ms ( esi ): m / z = 358 [ m + h + ]; 1 hnmr ( 400 mhz , cdcl 3 ): δ = 1 . 97 - 1 . 99 ( d , 3h ), 2 . 21 - 2 . 32 ( m , 2h ), 2 . 46 - 2 . 57 ( m , 2h ), 2 . 72 - 2 . 79 ( m , 2h ), 5 . 17 - 5 . 21 ( t , 1h ), 7 . 16 - 7 . 27 ( m , 3h ), 7 . 33 - 7 . 31 ( d , j = 7 . 2 hz , 2h ), 7 . 54 - 7 . 65 ( m , 3h ), 7 . 88 - 7 . 98 ( m , 3h ), 8 . 23 - 8 . 25 ( d , j = 7 . 2 hz , 1h ), 10 . 07 - 10 . 09 ( d , j = 7 . 2 hz , 1h ), 10 . 61 ( s , 1h ); 13 c nmr ( 400 mhz , cdcl 3 ): δ = 21 . 32 ( ch 3 ), 27 . 30 ( ch 2 ), 32 . 51 ( ch 2 ), 45 . 49 ( ch 2 ), 53 . 53 ( ch ), 121 . 26 , 122 . 62 , 123 . 09 , 124 . 88 , 125 . 03 , 125 . 33 ( cf 3 ), 126 . 13 , 126 . 27 , 127 . 35 , 128 . 04 , 128 . 85 , 129 . 51 , 129 . 56 , 130 . 19 , 130 . 69 , 131 . 55 , 132 . 10 , 133 . 87 , 140 . 78 . the structure of r -(−)- 1 - naphthyl ethylamine as recovered is confirmed by the test result of ms ( esi ): m / z = 172 [ m + h +]. r -(−)- 1 - naphthyl ethylamine ( 0 . 33 g recovered from example 1 , + 2 . 58 g ), toluene ( 57 ml ), 3 -( 3 -( trifluoromethyl ) phenyl ) propyl methanesulfonate ( 4 . 0 g ), and potassium carbonate ( 1 . 96 g ) were charged and refluxed for 10 hours . the mixture was cooled to 20 ° c .- 25 ° c ., water ( 20 ml ) and toluene ( 20 ml ) were added . organic phase was separated and washed with hydrochloric acid ( 1 mol / l , 20 ml × 3 ) at 50 ° c ., chilled and stirred at 0 ° c .- 5 ° c . for one hour . solid was collected by filtration to afford cinacalcet hydrochloride at 4 . 50 g , and confirmed as example 1 to have hplc purity ( purity ) at 99 . 2 % and chiral purity ( purity ) at 99 . 0 %. r -(−)- 1 - naphthyl ethylamine ( 4 g ), toluene ( 65 ml ), 3 -( 3 -( trifluoromethyl ) phenyl ) propyl methanesulfonate ( 4 . 86 g ), and potassium carbonate ( 1 . 96 g ) were charged and refluxed for 16 hours . the mixture was cooled to 20 ° c .- 30 ° c ., water ( 150 ml ) and toluene ( 10 ml ) were added . organic phase was separated and washed with hydrochloric acid ( 2 mol / l , 20 ml × 3 ) at 60 ° c ., chilled and stirred at 10 ° c .- 15 ° c . for one hour . solid was collected by filtration to afford cinacalcet hydrochloride , 4 . 4 g , 79 %, and confirmed that hplc purity ( purity ) is 99 . 0 % and chiral purity ( purity ) is 99 . 0 %. the aqueous layer was combined , adjusted to ph = 13 with naoh ( 10 %) and extracted with acetonitrile ( 12 ml × 3 ). the organic phase was dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate , filtered and concentrated to afford recovered r -(−)- 1 - naphthyl ethylamine , 2 . 0 g . the results were confirmed as in example 1 ms ( esi ): m / z = 172 [ m + h +]. 3 -( 3 -( trifluoromethyl ) phenyl ) propyl methanesulfonate ( 5 . 1 g ), dimethylbenzene ( 32 ml ), r -(−)- 1 - naphthyl ethylamine ( 2 . 91 g ), and potassium hydroxide ( 0 . 80 g ) were charged and refluxed for 5 hours , the mixture was cooled to 20 ° c .- 30 ° c ., water ( 20 ml ) and dimethylbenzene ( 32 ml ) were added , organic phase was separated and washed with hydrochloric acid ( 2 mol / l , 10 ml × 3 ) at 40 ° c ., chilled and stirred at 0 ° c .- 5 ° c . for one hour . solid was collected by filtration to afford cinacalcet hydrochloride , 4 . 24 g , 76 %. cinacalcet hydroxide obtained in this example was tested and confirmed with the same method as used in example 1 : the aqueous layer was combined , adjusted to ph = 12 with naoh ( 10 %) and extracted with acetonitrile ( 20 ml × 4 ). the organic phase was dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate , filtered and concentrated to afford recovered r -(−)- 1 - naphthyl ethylamine , 3 . 8 g . the r -(−)- 1 - naphthyl ethylamine recovered in this example was tested and confirmed with the same method as used in example 1 . 3 -( 3 -( trifluoromethyl ) phenyl ) propyl trifluoromethanesulfonate ( 4 . 8 g ), toluene ( 16 ml ), r -(−)- 1 - naphthyl ethylamine ( 2 . 91 g ), and potassium hydroxide ( 1 . 14 g ), was charged and refluxed for 6 hours , the mixture was cooled to 20 ° c .- 25 ° c ., water ( 20 ml ) and toluene ( 20 ml ) were added , organic phase was separated and washed with hydrochloric acid ( 1 mol / l , 20 ml × 3 ) at 50 ° c ., chilled and stirred at 20 ° c .- 25 ° c . for 1 hour . solid was collected by filtration to afford cinacalcet hydrochloride , 4 . 4 g , 79 %. cinacalcet hydrochloride obtained in this example was tested and confirmed with the same method as used in example 1 : hplc purity ( purity ): 99 . 0 %; chiral purity ( purity ): 99 . 0 %. the aqueous layer was combined , adjusted to ph = 14 with naoh ( 10 %) and extracted with toluene ( 30 ml × 4 ). the organic phase was dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate , filtered and concentrated to afford recovered r -(−)- 1 - naphthyl ethylamine , 0 . 34 g . the r -(−)- 1 - naphthyl ethylamine recovered in this example was tested and confirmed with the same method as used in example 1 . 3 -( 3 -( trifluoromethyl ) phenyl ) propyl trifluoromethanesulfonate ( 4 . 0 g ), toluene ( 50 ml ), r -(−)- 1 - naphthyl ethylamine ( 7 . 28 g ), and potassium hydroxide ( 1 . 96 g ), was charged and refluxed for 16 hours , the mixture was cooled to 20 ° c .- 25 ° c ., water ( 50 ml ) and toluene ( 50 ml ) were added , organic phase was separated and washed with hydrochloric acid ( 3 mol / l , 20 ml × 3 ) at 80 ° c ., chilled and stirred at 0 ° c .- 5 ° c . for 1 hour . solid was collected by filtration to afford cinacalcet hydrochloride , 4 . 9 g , 89 %. cinacalcet hydrochloride obtained in this example was tested and confirmed with the same method as used in example 1 : hplc purity ( purity ): 99 . 0 %; chiral purity ( purity ): 99 . 0 %. the aqueous layer was combined , adjusted to ph = 13 with naoh ( 10 %) and extracted with ethyl acetate ( 15 ml × 5 ml ). the organic phase was dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate , filtered and concentrated to afford recovered r -(−)- 1 - naphthyl ethylamine , 4 . 4 g . the r -(−)- 1 - naphthyl ethylamine recovered in this example was tested and confirmed with the same method as used in example 1 . 3 -( 3 -( trifluoromethyl ) phenyl ) propyl methanesulfonate ( 4 g ), toluene ( 32 ml ), r -(−)- 1 - naphthyl ethylamine ( 4 . 86 g ), and potassium carbonate ( 3 g ) was charged and refluxed for 16 hours , the mixture was cool to 20 ° c .- 25 ° c ., water ( 30 ml ) and toluene ( 30 ml ) were added , organic phase was separated and washed with hydrochloric acid ( 1 mol / l , 50 ml × 3 ) at 70 ° c ., chilled and stirred at 0 ° c .- 5 ° c . for 1 hour . solid was collected by filtration to afford cinacalcet hydrochloride , 4 . 7 g , 85 %. cinacalcet hydroxide obtained in this example is tested and confirmed with the same method as used in example 1 : hplc purity ( purity ): 99 . 0 %; chiral purity ( purity ): 99 . 0 %. the aqueous layer was combined , adjusted to ph = 14 with naoh ( 10 %) and extracted with toluene ( 15 ml × 2 ). the organic phase was dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate , filtered and concentrated to afford recovered r -(−)- 1 - naphthyl ethylamine , 2 . 1 g . the r -(−)- 1 - naphthyl ethylamine recovered in this example was tested and confirmed with the same method as used in example 1 . 1 -( 3 - bromopropyl )- 3 -( trifluoromethyl ) benzene ( 3 . 8 g ), toluene ( 30 ml ), r -(−)- 1 - naphthyl ethylamine ( 2 . 91 g ), and potassium carbonate ( 3 . 92 g ) was charged and refluxed for 7 hours , the mixture was cooled to 20 ° c .- 25 ° c ., water ( 100 ml ) and toluene ( 30 ml ) were added , organic phase was separated and washed with hydrochloric acid ( 1 mol / l , 40 ml × 3 ) at 50 ° c ., chilled and stirred at 5 ° c .- 10 ° c . for 1 hour . solid was collected by filtration to afford cinacalcet hydrochloride , 4 . 6 g , 83 %. cinacalcet hydroxide obtained in this example was tested and confirmed with the same method as used in example 1 : hplc purity ( purity ): 98 . 7 %; chiral purity ( purity ): 99 . 0 %. the aqueous layer was combined , adjusted to ph = 13 with naoh ( 10 %) and extracted with toluene ( 15 ml × 3 ). the organic phase was dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate , filtered and concentrated to afford recovered r -(−)- 1 - naphthyl ethylamine 0 . 33 g . the r -(−)- 1 - naphthyl ethylamine recovered in this example was tested and confirmed with the same method as used in example 1 . 1 -( 3 - chloropropyl )- 3 -( trifluoromethyl ) benzene ( 3 . 15 g ), toluene ( 50 ml ), r -(−)- 1 - naphthyl ethylamine ( 2 . 91 g ), and potassium carbonate ( 1 . 96 g ) was charged and refluxed for 15 hours , the mixture was cooled to 15 ° c .- 20 ° c ., water ( 50 ml ) and toluene ( 50 ml ) were added , organic phase was separated and washed with hydrochloric acid ( 2 mol / l , 10 ml × 3 ) at 60 ° c ., chilled and stirred at 5 ° c .- 10 ° c . for 1 hour . solid was collected by filtration to afford cinacalcet hydrochloride , 4 g , 73 %. cinacalcet hydroxide obtained in this example was tested and confirmed with the same method as used in example 1 : hplc purity ( purity ): 97 . 0 %; chiral purity ( purity ): 98 . 0 %. the aqueous layer was combined , adjusted to ph = 12 with naoh ( 10 %) and extracted with toluene ( 20 ml × 1 ). the organic phase was dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate , filtered and concentrated to afford recovered r -(−)- 1 - naphthyl ethylamine 0 . 3 g . the r -(−)- 1 - naphthyl ethylamine recovered in this example was tested and confirmed with the same method as used in example 1 . 3 -( 3 -( trifluoromethyl ) phenyl ) propyl methanesulfonate ( 4 . 0 g ), toluene ( 50 ml ), r -(−)- 1 - naphthyl ethylamine ( 2 . 42 g ), and sodium bicarbonate ( 1 . 53 g ) was charged and refluxed for 16 hours , the mixture was cooled to 20 ° c .- 25 ° c ., water ( 50 ml ) and toluene ( 50 ml ) were added , organic phase was separated and washed with hydrochloric acid ( 2 mol / l , 10 ml × 3 ) at 80 ° c ., chilled and stirred at 0 ° c .- 5 ° c . for 1 hour . solid was collected by filtration to afford cinacalcet hydrochloride , 4 . 1 g , 73 %. cinacalcet hydroxide obtained in this example was tested and confirmed with the same method as used in example 1 : hplc purity ( purity ): 99 . 0 %; chiral purity ( purity ): 99 . 0 %. the aqueous layer was combined , adjusted to ph = 14 with naoh ( 10 %) and extracted with toluene ( 20 ml × 1 ). the organic layer was dried with anhydrous sodium sulfate , distill and remove toluene , basically no r -(−)- 1 - naphthyl ethylamine was recovered . 3 -( 3 -( trifluoromethyl ) phenyl ) propyl methanesulfonate ( 4 . 0 g ), toluene ( 50 ml ), of r -(−)- 1 - naphthyl ethylamine ( 2 . 0 g ), and sodium carbonate ( 3 . 0 g ), was charged and refluxed for 16 hours , the mixture was cooled to 5 ° c .- 10 ° c ., water ( 50 ml ) and toluene ( 50 ml ) were added , organic phase was separated . extract water phase with toluene 30 ml × 3 , combine the organic phases and dry with anhydrous sodium sulfate , filter and distill the solvent , then cinacalcet is obtained . add 30 ml of 2 mol / l hydrochloric acid , stir to formulahydrochloride , distill the solvent , afford cinacalcet hydrochloride , 3 . 0 g , 55 %. cinacalcet hydroxide obtained in this example was tested and confirmed with the same method as used in example 1 : hplc purity ( purity ): 88 . 0 %; chiral purity ( purity ): 99 . 0 %. the result of the example shows that the contents of dialkylation compound ( formula iv compound ) and carbamate impurity ( formula iii compound ) in the product are respectively 10 . 0 % and 1 . 5 %, the cause is that the excessive amount of formula ii compound will result in the large amount of dialkylation impurity ( formula iv compound ) existing in end product of alkylation reaction , which is hard to be separated from cinacalcet because it &# 39 ; s an alkaline substance . in another aspect , excessive formula ii compound results in the formation of large amount of carbamate impurity ( formula iii compound ), finally increase the hardship of separation and purification in the post treatment , the yield decreases .	2
the method of the invention will be more particularly described with reference to two other embodiments which are included for comparison but are not part of the claimed invention . the first comparative embodiment is a sensor system which preferably includes an optical fiber having a distal end and a proximal end , in which a combination of fluorescent indicators is attached to said distal end and said proximal end is adapted to receive excitation radiation from a source of excitation radiation . the first fluorescent indicator , which is insensitive to ph , is preferably 6 , 7 - dimethoxycoumarin or a ph - insensitive coumarin derivative . a typical coumarin derivative is beta - methylumbelliferone , particularly in the form where it chemically bonded to an acrylic polymer . the ph sensitivity of the umbellilferone polymer may be retarded by reacting the polymer solution with an excess of cross - linking agent such as poly ( acrylic acid ). the particularly preferred indicator for this embodiment is 6 , 7 - dimethoxycoumarin which , when excited by excitation radiation having a wavelength of 337 nm emits fluorescent radiation at a wavelength of 435 nm . the characteristic excitation and emission spectra of 6 , 7 - dimethoxycoumarin are illustrated in the accompanying drawings as described hereinafter . it is to be understood that when reference is made herein to a particular wavelength , for example with respect to excitation or emission , it is intended to mean that wavelength which is most representative of the condition being described ; most typically the peak of a curve illustrating the spectrum which fully represents said condition . thus , as shown by the curve for the excitation spectrum , 6 , 7 - dimethoxycoumarin is excited by radiation over a spectrum of wavelengths from 310 to 380 with an optimum excitation at the peak wavelength of 337 nm . for convenience , unless otherwise defined , the wavelengths quoted herein are the peak wavelengths for the phenomenon in question . the preferred second indicator used in the first embodiment is hpta . in the preferred first embodiment excitation radiation having a wavelength , i . e . a peak wavelength , λo , of 337 nm , for example from a nitrogen gas laser , is transmitted from the proximal end of an optical fiber through the distal end where it excites a first indicator , preferably 6 , 7 - dimethoxycoumarin , which emits fluorescent radiation having a wavelength , λ 1 , of 435 nm . this fluorescence emission , in turn , excites the second indicator , preferably hpta , to emit fluorescent radiation having a wavelength , λ 2 , of 510 nm . the intensity of the fluorescence emission of wavelength λ 2 ( 510 nm ) is dependent upon the intensity of the excitation emission of wavelength λ 1 and upon the ph of the surrounding liquid medium , so that measurement of the ratio of the intensities of the emitted radiation of wavelengths λ 1 / λ 2 gives a highly accurate , stable determination of the ph of said liquid medium . it is to be noted that although the intensity of the fluorescence emission of wavelength λ 1 , derived from the ph - insensitive first - indicator , is itself independent of the ph of the medium , the fact that this intensity is affected by energy absorbed by the second indicator , which is ph - sensitive , means that the ratio derived from the peak of the emission spectrum curve of the first indicator and the isobestic point between the two emission curves ( as described in detail hereinafter with reference to the drawings ) also may be used to give an accurate , stable determination of the ph of the liquid medium . the second comparative embodiment is a sensor system which preferably includes an optical fiber having a distal end and a proximal end , in which a combination of fluorescent indicators , bicarbonate solution and membrane is attached to said distal end and said proximal end is adapted to receive excitation radiation from a source of excitation radiation . as in the first embodiment , the preferred first fluorescent indicator is 6 , 7 - dimethoxycoumarin or a ph - insensitive coumarin derivative , with 6 , 7 - dimethoxycoumarin being particularly preferred . in a particularly preferred form of the second embodiment the 6 , 7 - dimethoxycoumarin is directly bonded to the distal end of an optical fiber and hpta is suspended in a gel of carboxymethyl cellulose containing a bicarbonate solution , preferably aqueous sodium bicarbonate solution , which gel is bounded by a silicone rubber membrane . the method of the second embodiment is preferably carried out by transmitting excitation radiation having a wavelength λo , of 337 nm from a nitrogen gas laser through the optical fiber from its proximal end to its distal end where it excites the 6 , 7 - dimethoxycoumarin to emit fluorescent radiation having a wavelength λ 1 , of 435 nm . this fluoresence emission , in turn , excites the hpta to emit fluorescent radiation at a wavelength , λ 2 , of 510 nm . when the sensor is immersed in a liquid medium containing carbon dioxide , the latter permeates through the silicone rubber membrane and reacts with the bicarbonate solution thereby altering the ph of the solution around the sensor . the intensity of the fluorescence emission of wavelength λ 2 ( 512 nm ) is dependent upon the intensity of the excitation emission of wavelength λ 1 and upon the ph of said surrounding solution . therefore , measurement of the ratio of the intensities of the emitted radiation of wavelengths λ 1 / λ 2 provides an indication of the solution ph within the membrane and thus a highly accurate , stable determination of the concentration of carbon dioxide ( pco 2 ) in the liquid medium . the accompanying drawings comprise graphs illustrating excitation and emission spectra of the indicators used in the sensors of the invention . fig1 illustrates excitation spectra for hpta at varying ph levels . fig2 illustrates ph - insensitive excitation and emission spectra of dimethoxycoumarin in a solution of bicarbonate and ethylene glycol . fig3 illustrates spectra for hpta in ethylene glycol at different ph levels . fig5 is a graph showing hpta fluorescence as a function of the water content of the system . fig6 and fig7 illustrate spectra indicating pco 2 by a sensor system according to the invention . fig8 illustrates spectra for varying carbon dioxide concentrations using hpta in a 50 / 50 ethylene glycol / water solution . fig9 is a graph showing the relationship between the ratio of fluorescence intensity and carbon dioxide concentration . the excitation spectra for hpta illustrated in fig1 of the drawings taken over a wavelength range of 300 to 485 nm show that the intensity of the excitation radiation , which is a function of the area under the curve and is proportional to the height of the curve in each case , varies according to the ph of the surrounding medium . in this case the ph was varied from 6 . 66 to 8 . 132 . isobestic points were observed at 337 nm and 415 nm . the peak wavelength of the emission from hpta subjected to the said excitation radiation was 510 nm ( not shown ). fig2 of the drawings illustrates excitations and emission spectra for dimethoxy coumarin in a solution of sodium bicarbonate and ethylene glycol . the concentration of dimethoxy coumarin is about 10 - 2 m . the excitation spectrum exhibits a peak at a wavelength of about 340 nm and the emission spectrum has a peak at a wavelength of about 427 nm . the emission fluorescence is ph insensitive . it will be noted that the wavelength of the fluorescence emission for dimethoxycoumarin overlaps the wavelength of the excitation radiation for hpta as illustrated in fig1 . fig3 illustrates spectra for hpta in ethylene glycol at ph 8 . 0 and ph 4 . 0 , respectively . the hpta is dissolved in ethylene glycol , one drop of ph 8 . 0 buffer is added and the solution is irradiated from a nitrogen laser with radiation of wavelength 337 nm . two fluorescent emissions at wavelengths 440 nm and 510 nm are observed . one drop of ph 4 . 0 buffer is then added and the intensity of the spectra changes as illustrated in fig3 . a peak at 510 nm appeared with the addition of water to the system , regardless of the ph . fig4 illustrates spectra of hpta in different mixtures of ethylene glycol and water . 10 - 3 m hpta was dissolved in solution mixtures comprising , respectively , 100 % ethylene glycol , 80 % glycol / 20 % water and 50 % glycol / 50 % water . drops of each solution in turn were put on the tips of optical fibers and the hpta was excited to fluoresce at a wavelength of 510 nm . the results are shown graphically in fig4 . additional results were obtained in a similar manner for solutions comprising 20 % glycol / 80 % water and 100 % water . the results for all runs are given in the following table i . table i______________________________________ relative relative intensity intensity i ( blue ) i ( green ) solvent λ = 440 nm λ = 510 nm ratio 1 / ratio______________________________________100 % ethylene 85 . 63 11 . 66 7 . 34 0 . 1362glycol80 / 20 69 . 97 49 . 64 1 . 41 0 . 7092glycol / water50 / 50 16 . 33 92 . 30 0 . 177 5 . 65glycol / water20 / 80 5 . 33 83 . 30 0 . 064 15 . 63glycol / water100 % water 5 . 33 111 . 96 0 . 048 20 . 83 . ______________________________________ the fluorescence of hpta as a function of the water content of the solvent system is illustrated graphically in fig5 . using excitation radiation of wavelength - 337 nm the ratio of the fluorescence peaks i ( green )/ i ( blue ) at λ = 510 nm and λ = 440 nm , respectively , was graphed for hpta in ethylene glycol / water solutions of varying concentrations . the resulting graph indicates that the ratio of intensities increases substantially linearly as the water content of the solution increases . fig6 and 7 illustrate results obtained by performing the invention as illustrated in the following examples . a mixture of 1 : 1 dimethoxycoumarin : hpta both at a concentration of 10 - 3 m was dissolved in carboxymethylcellulose ( cmc ) and 5 mm of sodium bicarbonate with the addition of 0 . 25 ml ethylene glycol to dissolve the dimethoxycoumarin . a carbon dioxide sensor was formed by depositing the resulting gel on the tip of an optical fiber formed by fused silica having a diameter of 400 μm , and enveloping the gel in a carbon dioxide permeable silicone rubber membrane . the sensor was irradiated with excitation radiation of wavelength 337 nm from a nitrogen laser firing at 2 pulse / second . the fluorescence emission was detected with a linear array photodiode and monitored with an oscilloscope set to 0 . 1 volt / div at 2 ms / div . a number of runs were conducted at varying carbon dioxide concentrations and the results for 0 % co 2 and 100 % co 2 are illustrated graphically in fig6 and are set out numerically in the following table ii . table ii______________________________________ % co . sub . 2 i ( blue ) i ( green ) ratio______________________________________ 0 5 . 66 53 . 97 9 . 53100 30 . 32 20 . 99 0 . 69______________________________________ a gel containing mixture of 1 : 1 dimethoxycoumarin : hpta at a concentration of 10 - 3 in cmc and 5 mm of sodium bicarbonate was made up in a similar manner to that described in example 1 and this gel was used to form a carbon dioxide sensor also as described in example 1 . a number of runs were conducted at varying carbon dioxide concentrations and the results are illustrated graphically in fig7 and set out numerically in the following table iii . table iii______________________________________ ratio baseline baseline im im ( hpta /% co . sub . 2 ( coum ) ( hpta ) ( coum ) ( hpta ) ( coum ) ______________________________________0 % 9 . 5 10 . 5 20 . 99 150 . 93 12 . 227 % 9 . 5 10 . 5 40 . 65 97 . 29 2 . 79100 % 8 . 5 10 78 . 63 57 . 64 0 . 68______________________________________ the results given in the above examples show the accuracy with which quantitative results can be obtained using the sensor system according to the invention . this example illustrates a carbon dioxide sensor utilizing the relationship between the water content of the system and the carbon dioxide concentration . hpta was dissolved in a 50 / 50 mixture of ethylene glycol and water and the solution embedded in a carboxymethylcellulose gel . this gel was deposited on the tip of an optical fiber and enveloped in a carbon dioxide permeable silicone rubber membrane to form a carbon dioxide sensor . the sensor was irradiated with radiation of wavelength 337 nm from a nitrogen laser at varying concentrations of carbon dioxide . the results are shown in fig8 . it will be seen that the ratio of intensities of the fluorescence emissions at peak wavelengths of 440 to 460 nm and 510 nm is dependent upon the carbon dioxide concentration . the spectra exhibit an isobestic point at 485 nm . the fluorescence ratio as a function of carbon dioxide concentration is illustrated in fig9 . this example illustrates the way in which a carbon dioxide determination can be obtained as a function of the water content of the sensor .	6
referring to fig1 , the pavement breaker comprises a body 2 comprising a middle housing 4 connected to an upper housing 6 using bolts 8 . two handles 10 are moveably mounted on the upper housing via a vibration dampening mechanism 12 . a tool holder 14 is attached to the opposite end of the middle housing to that of the upper housing 6 using bolts 16 . the tool holder 14 comprises a body 90 , a pivotal clamp 16 having a u shaped bracket 18 which holds a cutting tool 22 , such as a chisel , when the pivotal clamp 16 is pivoted to the position shown in fig1 . the design of such pivotal clamps is well known in the art and therefore will not be described in any further detail . referring to fig2 , the pavement breaker comprises an electric motor 24 mounted within the upper housing 6 . the motor comprises a rotor 32 rotatably mounted within a stator 36 in well known manner . the motor 24 is powered by a mains electricity supply which is provided via an electric cable 26 which connects to the motor 24 via an electric switch 28 . when the cable is connected to an electricity supply , operation of the electric switch 28 activated the motor causing the rotor 32 together with an output spindle 30 to rotate . the output spindle 30 is comprises splines which mesh with the teeth of a first gear 40 . the first gear 40 is rigidly mounted on a rotatable shaft 42 . a second gear 44 is also rigidly mounted on the rotatable shaft 42 . the second gear 44 meshes with a third gear 46 which is rigidly mounted on a rotatable crank shaft 48 . the crank shaft 48 comprises a disk 50 formed at one end on which is rigidly mounted an eccentric pin 52 . rotation of the spindle 30 of the motor 24 results in rotation of the crank shaft 48 via the gears , which in turn results in rotation of the eccentric pin 52 around the axis of rotation 54 of the crank shaft 48 . a tubular cylinder 58 is rigidly mounted within housing 2 . a piston 60 is slideably mounted within the cylinder 58 and is capable of sliding in a direction parallel to longitudinal axis 74 of the cylinder 58 . a con rod 56 is rotationally attached at one end to the eccentric pin 52 via a bearing . the piston 60 is pivotally connected to the other end of the con rod 56 . rotational movement of the eccentric pin 52 around the axis of rotation 54 of the crank shaft 48 , results in a reciprocating sliding movement of the piston 60 inside the cylinder in well known manner . each single rotation of the eccentric pin 52 around the longitudinal axis 54 of the crank shaft 48 results in a single back and forth movement of the piston in the cylinder and is referred to as a hammer cycle . as such , rotation of the spindle 30 results in a reciprocating movement of the piston 60 within the cylinder 58 . the piston comprises piston rings 66 which form an air tight seal between the sides of the piston 60 and the inner wall of the cylinder 58 . located inside of the cylinder 58 , forward of the piston 60 , is a ram 64 . the ram 64 can freely slide within the cylinder 58 in a direction parallel to the longitudinal axis 74 of the cylinder 58 . the ram 64 comprises sealing rings 68 which form an air tight seal between the sides of the ram 64 and the inner wall of the cylinder 58 . the ram 64 is connected to the piston 60 via an air spring 62 formed inside of the cylinder 58 between the piston 60 and the ram 64 . as such , the reciprocating movement of the piston 60 , when driven by the motor , is transferred to the ram 64 . a bleed hole 94 is formed through the side wall of the cylinder 58 which enables the air spring to be refreshed . the bleed hole is circular in cross section and has a diameter of 2 mm . the maximum amount by which the piston can slide within the cylinder away from the motor is indicated by l3 which shows the position of the front of the piston at this position . the bleed hole is located 151 rearward of this position by 38 mm so that the piston 60 passes over the bleed hole 94 as it is reciprocatingly driven . as such , the piston 60 repeatedly opens and closes the bleed hole 94 when it is to the rear of the bleed hole 94 or when it is covering the bleed hole 94 respectively . the ram 64 comprises a recess 100 formed in its front end . mounted inside of the housing , in front of the cylinder 58 , is a beat piece support structure 70 . slideably mounted within the beat piece support structure 70 is a beat piece 72 . the beat piece 72 comprises a tubular body 82 with a radially extending flange 84 formed at the front end of the beat piece 72 . the beat piece support structure 70 comprises a tubular section 92 which slidingly engages with the sides of the tubular body 82 . the beat piece 72 can slide in a direction parallel to the longitudinal axis 74 of the cylinder 58 . the rear end of the beat piece projects into the cylinder 58 and is repetitively struck by the base of the recess 100 of the ram 64 when it is reciprocatingly driven by the piston 60 via the air spring 62 . this in turn results in the front end of the beat piece repetitively striking the end of the cutting tool 22 when held in the tool holder 14 . a tubular counter mass 76 surrounds the outside of the cylinder 58 and is capable of sliding in a direction parallel to the longitudinal axis 74 of the cylinder 58 along the outside of the cylinder . the tubular counter mass is sandwiched between two helical springs 78 , 80 which wrap around the cylinder 58 and which are each held in position at one end by the housing . the counter mass 76 oscillates in response to vibrations in the housing . the weight of the counter mass 76 and the strength of the springs 78 , 80 are set to predetermined values so that oscillation of the counter mass 76 counteracts the vibrations in the housing , thus acting as a vibration dampener . the beat piece support structure 70 abuts against the rear of the tool holder 14 . a circular washer 86 is sandwiched between beat piece support structure 70 and the body 90 of the tool holder 14 . the circular washer 86 has an inner diameter which is greater than that of the tubular body 82 of the beat piece 72 but the same as that of the periphery of the flange 84 , thus forming a inner washer space 87 in which the flange 84 can freely slide inside of the washer 86 . a forward facing chamfer 88 is formed on the forward part of the beat piece support structure 70 . the chamfer 88 tapers from the inner surface , which faces towards the beat piece 72 , of the washer 86 towards the inner wall of the tubular section 92 of the beat piece support structure 70 which slidingly engages the side of the tubular body 82 of the beat piece 72 . the body 90 of the tool holder comprises a tubular recess 96 which extends forward from the rear of the body 90 until a rearward facing chamfer 98 formed inside of the body 90 . an elongate tubular space formed by the tubular recess 96 of the tool holder 14 and the washer space 87 , and which is terminated at one by forward facing chamfer 88 on the beat piece support structure 70 and rearward facing chamfer 98 inside the body 90 of the tool holder 14 . the flange 84 of the beat piece 72 can axially slide within the elongate tubular space 96 , 87 between a second position where the rear side of the flange 84 abuts the forward facing chamfer 88 on the beat piece support structure 70 and a first position where the forward side of the flange 84 abuts the rearward facing chamfer 98 inside of the body 90 of the tool holder 14 . the cutting tool 22 can axially slide in a direction parallel to the longitudinal axis 74 of the cylinder 58 . the cutting tool 22 comprises a rib 102 which limits the range of axial movement of the cutting tool within the tool holder when the pivotal clamp 16 is in the locked position as shown in fig1 . the cutting tool 22 can slide between a first position ( shown in dashed lines 102 ′ in fig2 ) where the rib 102 ′ abuts against the u shaped bracket 18 and a second position where the rib 102 abuts against the body 90 of the tool holder as shown in fig2 . referring to fig4 which shows an enlarged view , during use , the working end ( not shown ) of the cutting tool 22 is place against a work piece to be cut . the ram 64 strikes the beat piece 72 which in turn strikes the end of the cutting tool 22 which strikes the work piece . when the cutting tool 22 is struck by the beat piece 72 , the cutting tool 22 is pushed forward ( left in fig2 ) out of the tool holder 14 and into the work piece . however , its average position within the tool holder 14 is determined by the hardness of the work piece being cut by the cutting tool . if the work piece is made from hard material , the cutting tool will penetrate the work piece to a lesser extent during each impact of cutting tool and therefore will rebound ( to the right in fig2 ) from the work piece to a greater extent after it has struck it . in this situation , the rib 102 will be located in close proximity to the body 90 of the tool holder 14 as shown in fig4 . if the work piece is made from soft material , the cutting tool 22 will penetrate the work piece to a greater extent during each impact of cutting tool 22 and therefore the cutting tool 22 will rebound from the work piece to a lesser extent after it has struck it . in this situation , the rib 102 ′ will be located in close proximity to the u shaped bracket 18 of the pivotal clamp 16 ( shown in dashed lines 102 ′ as shown in fig4 ). during each impact cycle ( i . e . the impact of the cutting tool followed by its rebound ) by the cutting tool 22 , whilst the position of the rib 102 will maintain an average position relative to the body 90 of the tool holder 22 ( close to the body 90 of the tool holder 14 for hard material ; close to the u shaped bracket 18 of the pivotal clamp 16 of the tool holder for soft material ), the actual position of the rib 102 will move across a small range of positions whilst it is located at that average position during each impact cycle . referring to fig5 a which shows the position of the cutting tool 22 and beat piece 72 when the cutting tool 2 is cutting a hard material , the average position of the rib 102 of the cutting tool 22 within the tool holder 14 is in close proximity to the body 90 of the tool holder 14 . during each impact , the rib 102 will move axially during the impact and subsequent rebound ( the impact cycle ). the rib 102 will move between positions 104 and 106 . the centre point 108 of the rib 102 will travel over the range of movement indicated by arrow r1 as rib 102 moves between its two end positions 104 , 106 . however , the rib 102 will remain generally in close proximity to the body 90 of the tool holder 14 and is referred to as the average position 110 . referring to fig5 b which shows the position of the cutting tool 22 and beat piece 72 when the cutting tool 22 is cutting a soft material , the average position of the rib 102 ′ of the cutting tool 22 within the tool holder is in close proximity to the u shaped bracket 18 of the pivotal clamp 16 of the tool holder . during each impact cycle , the rib 102 ′ will move axially during the impact and subsequent rebound . the rib 102 ′ will move between positions 104 ′ and 106 ′. the centre point 108 ′ of the rib 102 ′ will travel over the range of movement indicated by arrow r1 as rib 102 ′ moves between its two end positions 104 ′, 106 ′. however , the rib 102 ′ will remain generally in close proximity to the u shaped bracket 18 of the pivotal clamp 16 of the tool holder and is referred to as the average position 110 ′. the average position of the cutting tool 22 within tool holder 14 effects the average position of the beat piece 72 within the beat piece support structure 70 . when the cutting tool 22 is cutting hard material , the average position of the rib 102 is close to the body 90 of the tool holder 14 which in turn results in the beat piece 72 being moved to a position where the flange 84 is located in close proximity to the forward facing chamfer 88 formed within the beat piece support structure 70 as shown in fig5 a . when the cutting tool 22 is cutting soft material , the average position of the rib 102 ′ is close to the to the u shaped bracket 18 of the pivotal clamp 16 of the tool holder 14 which in turn results in the beat piece 72 being moved to a position where the flange 84 is located in close proximity to the rearward facing chamfer 98 formed within the body 90 of the tool holder 14 as shown in fig5 b . during each impact cycle , whilst the position of the flange 84 of the beat piece 72 will maintain an average position relative to the beat piece support structure 70 , the actual position of the flange 84 will move across a range of positions whilst it is located at that average position during each impact cycle . referring to fig5 a , the average position of the flange 84 is in close proximity to the forward facing chamfer 88 within the beat piece support structure 70 . during each impact cycle , the flange 84 will move axially during the impact and subsequent rebound . the flange 84 will move between positions 112 and 114 . the centre point 116 of the flange 84 will travel over the small range of movement indicated by arrow r2 as the flange 84 moves between its two end positions 112 , 114 . however , the flange 84 will remain generally in close proximity to the forward facing chamfer 88 within the beat piece structure 70 and is referred to as the average position 118 . referring to fig5 b , the average position of the flange 84 ′ is in close proximity to the rearward facing chamfer 98 within the body 90 of the tool holder 14 . during each impact cycle , the flange 84 ′ will move axially during the impact and subsequent rebound . the flange 84 ′ will move between positions 112 ′ and 114 ′. the centre point 116 ′ of the flange 84 ′ will travel over the range of movement indicated by arrow r2 as the flange 84 ′ moves between its two end positions 112 ′, 114 ′. however , the flange 84 ′ will remain generally in close proximity to the rearward facing chamfer 98 within the body 90 of the tool holder 14 and is referred to as the average position 118 ′. the average position of the beat piece 72 within the beat piece support structure 70 effects the amount by which the ram 64 can slide within the cylinder 58 away from the piston 60 . when the cutting tool 22 is cutting hard material , the average position of the beat piece 72 within the beat piece support structure 70 is such that the maximum forward position of the front 120 of the ram 64 away from the piston 60 is limited to the position indicated by l1 as shown in fig3 . when the cutting tool 22 is cutting soft material , the average position of beat piece 72 within the beat piece support structure 70 is such that the maximum forward position of the front 120 of the ram 64 away from the piston 60 is limited to the position as indicated by l2 as shown in fig3 , which is closer to the tool holder 14 . it will be appreciated by the reader that the characteristics of the performance of the pavement breaker will be effected by the type of material that is being work on as the internal average positions of the beat piece 72 and cutting tool 22 will alter together with the maximum amount of travel of the ram 64 . fig6 shows a graph showing the properties of the pavement breaker shown in fig2 dependent on the hardness of the material it is working on . the piston is being reciprocatingly driven at 15 . 2 hz by the motor . the horizontal axis ( x axis ) 130 is the restitution coefficient and is an indicator of the harness of the material being work on . the restitution coefficient is the return speed of the ram 64 ( after it has impacted the material ) divided by the impact speed of the ram ( restitution coefficient ( rc )= return speed ram ( v re )/ speed ram ( v ) [ m / s / m / s ]). the harder the material , the faster the ram 64 will bounce back . for example , for a soft material such as lime stone , the restitution coefficient , vre / v , is 2 / 20 = 0 . 1 ( when the impact speed is 20 ms − 1 ). for a hard material , such as granite , the restitution coefficient , vre / v is 10 / 20 = 0 . 5 ( when the impact speed is 20 ms − 1 ). the higher the value of the restitution coefficient , the harder the material being worked on . four graphs are shown in fig6 , each having a different y axis . the first y axis 132 is the eta which ranges from 0 to 1 . 0 . the eta is the number of watts of energy delivered by the ram to the cutting tool divided by the amount of energy in the connecting rod driving the piston . as such , it is a measure of the efficiency of the hammer mechanism . this varies depending on the hardness of the material being worked on and produces the graph 134 when the eta is compared with the restitution coefficient . the second y axis 136 is power delivered by the hammer in watts . this varies depending on the hardness of the material being worked on and produces the graph 138 when the power is compared with the restitution coefficient . the third y axis 140 is the impact speed of the ram in meters per second . this varies depending on the hardness of the material being worked on and produces the graph 142 when the impact speed is compared with the restitution coefficient . the fourth y axis 144 is the amount of compression of the air spring 62 in cylinder 58 . the amount of compression is determined by the maximum air pressure of the air spring 62 divided by the pressure of the atmosphere . this varies depending on the hardness of the material being worked on and produces the graph 146 when the amount of compression is compared with the restitution coefficient . the characteristics of the performance of the pavement breaker are effected by the size and axial location of the bleed hole 94 in the cylinder 58 relative to the piston 60 . fig7 shows a second design of pavement breaker which is identical to that shown in fig2 except that the size and axial position of the bleed hole 150 has been altered . where the same features are present in the second design shown in fig7 are present in the first design as shown in fig2 , the same reference numbers have been used . the bleed hole 150 is a circular in cross section and 4 mm in diameter and has been located 152 further forward ( 80 mm ) of the bleed hole 150 shown in fig2 and forward of the maximum amount l3 by which the piston 60 can slide within the cylinder 58 away from the motor . the larger diameter allows more air to pass through it . the ram 64 passes over the bleed hole 150 as it is reciprocatingly driven by the piston 60 . as such , the ram 64 repeatedly opens and closes the bleed hole 150 when it forward of the bleed hole 150 or when it is covering the bleed hole respectively . this results in the timing of when the bleed hole 150 is open and closed within a hammer cycle being altered when compared to that disclosed in fig2 . again , it will be appreciated by the reader that the characteristics of the performance of this hammer will be effect by the type of material that is being work on . fig8 shows a graph showing the properties of the pavement breaker shown in fig7 dependent on the hardness of the material it is working on . the piston 60 is being reciprocatingly driven at 15 . 2 hz by the motor . the same reference numbers for the restitution coefficient , eta , impact speed , power and compression used in fig6 have been used for the same features in fig8 . as can be seen when comparing fig6 with fig8 , when the bleed hole 150 is of the size and is located in the position shown in fig7 , the performance of the pavement breaker on hard material is greatly improved when compared to a bleed hole 94 of the size and position shown in fig2 . however , when the bleed hole 150 is of the size and is located in the position shown in fig7 , the performance of the hammer on soft material is reduced when compared to a bleed hole 94 of the size and position shown in fig2 . a first embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to fig9 . the design of the embodiment is the same as the hammer described previously with reference to fig2 except for the provision of two bleed holes 200 , 202 and a switching mechanism for opening and closing the bleed holes 200 , 202 depending on the average position of the beat piece 72 within the beat piece support structure 70 . where the same features are present in the first embodiment are present in the pavement breaker described with reference to fig2 , the same reference numbers have used . please note the vibration dampener is not shown in fig9 to aid clarity . referring to fig9 , the cylinder comprises two bleed holes 200 , 202 formed through the side of the cylinder 58 . the position and size of the first bleed hole 200 is the same as the bleed hole shown in fig2 . the position and size of the second bleed hole 202 is the same as the bleed hole shown in fig7 . surrounding the cylinder is a sleeve 204 having two apertures 206 , 208 formed through it . the sleeve 204 is cable of axially sliding along the cylinder 58 in a direction ( arrow a ) parallel to the longitudinal axis 74 of the cylinder 58 but is prevented from rotating around the longitudinal axis 74 . each aperture 206 , 208 is capable of aligning with a corresponding bleed hole 200 , 202 on the cylinder 58 . the length of each of the apertures 206 , 208 ( in a direction parallel to the longitudinal axis 74 of the cylinder 58 ) is greater then the diameter of its corresponding bleed hole 200 , 202 enabling the each aperture 206 , 208 to align with its corresponding bleed hole 200 , 202 whilst the sleeve 204 is in a range of axial positions . the width ( in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal axis 74 of the cylinder 58 ) of each of the apertures 206 , 208 is slightly greater than the diameter of the corresponding bleed hole 2002 , 202 . a lubricating grease is sandwiched between the cylinder 58 and the sleeve 204 to form an air tight seal between the two . the positions of the apertures 206 , 208 in a direction parallel to the longitudinal axis 74 of the cylinder 58 is greater than the distance between the bleed holes 200 , 202 and is such that when one first aperture 206 is aligned with the first bleed hole 200 , the second aperture 208 is located away form the second bleed hole 202 , the sleeve 204 sealing the second bleed hole 202 . as the sleeve 204 slides along the cylinder 58 away from the beat piece support structure 70 , the first aperture 206 ceases to be aligned with the first bleed hole 200 , the second aperture 208 becoming aligned with the second bleed hole 202 . in this location , the sleeve 204 seals the first bleed hole 200 . during the transition , the positions of the apertures 206 , 208 on the sleeve 204 are such that both bleed holes 200 , 202 can not be open at the same time . as such , only one bleed hole is open at any one time depending on the axial position of the sleeve 204 on the cylinder 58 . the amount of sliding movement of the sleeve 204 is limited so that the sleeve 204 can slide between two positions , a first position where the first aperture 206 is aligned with the first bleed hole 200 , with the second bleed hole 202 being sealed by the sleeve 204 , and a second position where the second aperture 208 is aligned with the second bleed hole 202 , with the first bleed hole 200 being sealed by the sleeve 200 . a spring 210 is sandwiched between the housing 4 and a bar 212 attached to the sleeve 204 which urges the sleeve 204 forward towards its first position where it is closest to the beat piece support structure 70 . movement of the sleeve 204 from its first position to its second position , away from the beat piece support structure 70 , is against the biasing force of the spring 210 . a rod having three sections 214 , 216 , 218 is attached to the sleeve 204 . the third section 218 is located inside and capable of sliding within a passage 220 formed through the beat piece support structure 70 . the end 222 of the rod projects in to the inner washer space 87 in which the flange 84 of the beat piece 72 can slide . the maximum amount by which the end 222 can project into the space 87 is limited by the middle section 216 of the rod abutting against the rear of the beat piece support structure 70 under the biasing force of the spring 210 . when the end 22 of the rod extends by its maximum amount into the inner washer space 87 , the sleeve 204 is in its first position . when the pavement breaker is working on a soft material , the beat piece 72 is located in its forward average position . the flange 84 ′ ( indicated by dashed lines in fig9 ) of the beat piece 72 is in front of the end 222 of the rod and makes no contact with the rod . as such , the end 22 of the rod is allowed to extend by its maximum amount into the space 87 . when the rod is in this position , the sleeve 204 is located in its first position . in this position , the first aperture 206 is in alignment with the first bleed hole 200 allowing the first bleed hole 200 to be functional . the second aperture 208 is located forward of the second bleed hole 202 and as such , the second bleed hole 202 is sealed closed by sleeve 204 . as such , only the first bleed hole 200 is operational . this results in an improved performance of the pavement breaker for soft material as the pavement breaker will have the performance characteristics shown in fig6 . when the hammer is working on a hard material , the beat piece 72 is located in its rearward average position ( indicated by solid lines in fig9 ). in this position , the flange 84 of the beat piece 72 is located adjacent the forward facing chamfer 88 formed in the beat piece support structure 70 and engaged with the end 222 of the rod which is pushed rearward by the flange 84 . when the rod is in this position , the sleeve 204 is pushed to its second rearward position by the rod . in this position , the second aperture 208 is in alignment with the second bleed hole 202 allowing the second bleed hole 202 to be functional . the first aperture 206 is located rearward of the first bleed hole 200 and as such , the first bleed hole 200 is sealed closed by the sleeve 204 . as such , only the second bleed hole 202 is operational . this results in an improved performance of the pavement breaker for hard material as the pavement breaker will have the performance characteristics shown in fig8 . during each impact cycle , the flange 84 moves axially over a small range of movement during the impact and subsequent rebound . when the flange 84 is in its rearward position in engagement with the end 222 of the rod , this small range of movement will be transferred to the rod which in turn will be transferred to the sleeve 204 . this movement is accommodated by the fact that the length of the first aperture 206 ( in a direction parallel to the longitudinal axis 74 of the cylinder 58 ) is not only greater then the diameter of the first bleed hole 200 , but is sufficiently greater than small range of axial movement of the sleeve to enable the aperture 206 to remain aligned with the first bleed hole 200 whilst the sleeve 204 moves over the small range of axial positions . it will be appreciated by the reader that a dampener could be added to limit the movement of the sleeve 2004 caused by the limited movement of flange 84 over the impact cycle , the sleeve 204 only moving in response to the movement of the average position of the flange 84 . a second embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to fig1 . the design of the second embodiment is the same as the first embodiment except that the mechanism comprising the rod 214 , 216 , 218 for moving the sleeve 204 in response to the position of the beat piece 72 within the beat piece support structure 70 has been replaced by a manual switching mechanism . where the same features are present in the second embodiment are present in the first embodiment , the same reference numbers have used . please note the vibration dampener is not shown in fig1 to aid clarity . referring to fig1 , the slideable sleeve 204 with the apertures 206 , 208 function in the same manner as in the first embodiment to open and close the two bleed holes 200 , 202 . however , the use of the rod 214 , 216 , 218 has been removed and replaced with a manual switch . the manual switch comprises a rigid arm 300 attached to the sleeve 204 and which extends from the sleeve 204 in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal axis 74 of the cylinder 58 from the sleeve 204 and through an aperture 302 formed through the wall of the middle housing 4 . attached to the end of the arm 300 is a finger pad 304 which can be engaged by an operator . a catch comprising a rib 306 mounted on the end of a leaf spring 308 which is attached to and extends side ways from the arm 300 is biased towards a slide pad 312 which comprises two notches 314 , 316 . an operator can engage the finger pad 304 and slide it ( arrow a ) between a first position ( shown in dashed lines ) where the rib 306 engages the first notch 316 to a second position ( shown in solid lines ) where it engages the second notch 314 , or vice versa . the sliding movement of the finger pad results in a corresponding sliding movement of the sleeve 204 . in the first position , the first aperture 206 of the sleeve 204 is in alignment with the first bleed hole 200 , with the second bleed hole 202 sealed by the sleeve 204 . in the second position , the second aperture 208 of the sleeve 204 is in alignment with the second bleed hole 202 , with the first bleed hole 200 sealed by the sleeve 204 . the range of movement of the finger pad 304 is limited by the end stops 320 limiting the range of movement of the rib 306 . when an operator knows that he is going to use the pavement breaker on a soft material such as limestone , he slides the finger pad 304 to its first position so that only the first bleed hole 200 is operative . when an operator knows that he is going to use the pavement breaker on a hard material such as limestone , he slides the finger pad 304 to its second position so that only the second bleed hole 200 is operative . the spring 210 biases the finger pad 304 to its first position where the performance characteristics of the pavement breaker are more uniform when used on materials with a range of hardness . however , the leaf spring 308 has sufficient strength to hold the rib 306 within the second notch 314 against the biasing force of the spring 210 when it is moved to this position . whilst the embodiments described above relate to a pavement breaker , it will be appreciated by the reader that the invention can be utilized on any type of hammer drill having a cylinder , inside of which is a piston and ram , where the reciprocating movement of the piston reciprocatingly drives the ram via an air spring . a third embodiment will now be described with reference to fig1 a to 11d . the third embodiment is similar to the previous embodiments except that the two bleed holes in the previous embodiments have been replaced with a single bleed hole and a valve . fig1 a to 11d show a schematic diagram of a hammer comprising a cylinder 504 , a piston 502 slidingly mounted within the cylinder 504 which is reciprocatingly driven by a con rod 506 within the cylinder . a ram 508 is mounted within the cylinder and is reciprocatingly driven by the piston 502 via an air spring 510 . the ram 508 repetitively strikes a beat piece 512 which in turn strikes a cutting tool held in the tool holder . a single bleed hole 524 is formed through the wall of the cylinder 504 for proving air to replenish the air spring 510 . a valve 526 controls the timing and volume of the air flow through the bleed hole . fig1 a to 11d show the positions of the component parts of the hammer mechanism over the course of a hammer cycle . the valve 526 is opened and closed electronically . the timing of the opening and closing of the valve 526 is related to the position of the piston which is measured using a sensor 528 which produces a signal for use by the valve which is indicative of the position of the piston . by controlling when the valve is opened and closed versus the position of the piston 502 , it is possible to mimic the position of the bleed holes shown in the previous embodiments . furthermore , by controlling the volume of the air which passes through the bleed hole 524 , it can also mimic the sizes of the bleed holes in the previous embodiments . the determination of the timing of the opening and closing of the valve relative to the piston position and volume can be preset by an operator dependent on the hardness of the material the hammer is intended to be used upon , or by sensing the position of the beat piece 512 , which is dependent on the position of the cutting tool , which in turn is dependent on the hardness of the material the hammer is working on , in a similar manner as described in the first embodiment . a fourth embodiment is shown in fig1 . the fourth embodiment is similar to the third except for the fact that the piston 502 is a hollow piston , the ram 508 being slidingly mounted within the piston , the air spring 510 being located between the ram 508 and the piston 502 . a bleed hole 600 is formed through the end of the piston 502 to connect between the air spring 510 and the surrounding atmosphere . a valve 602 is attached to the bleed hole 600 . a cable 604 attaches between the valve 602 and the sensor 528 . the timing of the air flow and the amount of air allowed to pass through the bleed hole 600 can be controlled by the valve 602 in the same manner as the third embodiment .	1
the embodiments discussed herein are merely illustrative of specific manners in which to make and use the invention and are not to be interpreted as limiting the scope of the instant invention . while the invention has been described with a certain degree of particularity , it is to be noted that many modifications may be made in the details of the invention &# 39 ; s construction and the arrangement of its components without departing from the spirit and scope of this disclosure . it is understood that the invention is not limited to the embodiments set forth herein for purposes of exemplification . referring to the drawings in detail , fig1 illustrates one proposed embodiment deploying the present invention 10 . multiple collectors 16 , 18 , 20 and 22 would be located and mounted on a known walk - through metal detector 12 , such as shown in fig1 . each collector would include an air vacuum or be attached to an air vacuum 26 which would gather and pull in air surrounding the collector . accordingly , as an individual 14 ( shown in outline form ) passed through the walk - through detector 12 , air would be sampled in the immediate vicinity of the individual passing therethrough . by way of example and not by way of limitation , the collectors might be located approximately 25 to 50 cm away from the individual . the particular location would vary depending on the mounting location and depending on the sensitivity of the collector . each collector would be connected by a tube or passageway to a sensor 40 or sensor located nearby . accordingly , an airborne specimen is obtained . once the collectors have gathered an airborne specimen or sample , the particulate matter in the specimen will be analyzed by the sensor or sensors . as the scanned for information is obtained , it will be transmitted to a central location . a transmitting system central processing unit 28 will communicate information to a central information gathering location . at the central information gathering location , a monitoring system cpu validates the information , and provides for historical , or precipitating event analysis . by way of example but not limitation , the present invention might incorporate the teachings of applicant &# 39 ; s alert monitoring u . s . pat . no . 6 , 275 , 855 entitled “ system , method and article of manufacture to enhance computerized alert system information awareness and facilitate real - time intervention services ”. the process to collect data may follow a process having a number of steps . in an initialization step , alert monitoring software will be retrieved from memory of the monitoring system cpu . thereafter objects or events to be monitored will be determined . the monitoring system cpu will thereafter be in a ready state awaiting communication from a transmitting system cpu . a benefit of the present invention is that it could be employed with existing metal detectors in place which would be in close proximity to those passing into and through airports and government buildings . accordingly , the structure for deploying such a system is already in place . a biological or chemical sensor is broadly defined as an analytical device which converts a biological response into an electrical signal . fig2 illustrates a sequential diagram illustrating the operation of one type of biological or chemical sensor that might be employed with the present invention . for each chemical , radiation or biological threat to be identified , a specific molecule or . molecules will be identified . an antibody 30 capable of recognizing a target substance will then be generated for each specific molecule and these antibodies will be bound to the sensor . a sample of entrained air will be delivered to the sensor and moved past the antibodies . the antibodies 30 will bind to the target molecules to be identified in the solution . thereafter , magnetic microbeads 32 will be brought past the sensor . the beads 32 have covalently bound antibodies that attach to the target molecules . the number of beads may be counted by known cantilever beam force transducers . a tip is located at the end of a flexible cantilever which will bend in response to a magnetic force . the number of beads will indicate the concentration of the target molecules . other types of biosensors will employ a transducer which makes use of a physical chain accompanying the reaction . in another type of biosensor , the chemical or biological agent will generate a reaction . these may take the form of : 1 . heat output ( or heat absorption ) by the reaction ( callimetric biosensor ) 2 . changes in distribution of charges causing an electrical potential to be produced ( potentiometric biosensor ) 3 . movement of electrons produced within a redox ( reduction oxidation ) reaction ( amperometic biosensor ) 4 . light output during a reaction or a light absorbance difference between the reactants and products ( optical biosensors ) or 5 . effects observed due to the mass of the reactants ( piezo electric biosensor ) it will be understood that various other types of biological or chemical sensors may be employed within the scope of the present invention . fig3 illustrates a diagrammatic view of one arrangement showing the components of a system 10 to monitor , detect and analyze as set forth in the present invention . a structure such as a known metal detector 12 may have incorporated thereon a number of sensor collectors 16 , 18 , 20 , and 22 which would be mounted thereon . once the collectors have gathered an airborne specimen by means of a vacuum , the specimen will be analyzed by a sensor or sensors 40 . the sensors 40 are replaceable so that a failure of any sensor could be addressed by simple replacement of the sensor . the sensors may be so - called “ plug and play ”, allowing simple and robust connection with other devices by common protocols and procedures following universal standards , so that devices may be connected without additional programming . the sensor 40 will generate electronic signals or alerts which will be delivered to a transmitting or monitored central processing unit 42 . the transmitting or monitored central processing unit 42 will be connected to a network , such as the internet 44 or standard telecommunication networks , and thereafter the data will be delivered to a central site cpu 46 . levels of encryption are applied to all data transfer . user authentication must occur before the connection between the transmitting central processing unit and central site cpu 46 will be established . this requires the user to enter a unique id and password , which must be approved by the target machine . the system &# 39 ; s embedded security features inhibits the possibilities for intrusion and the willful interjection of false positives . the central site cpu 46 will , in turn , be in contact with a government agency 48 or a responder such as the center for disease control . an additional sensor collector 60 will have sensor collectors 62 , 64 , 66 and 68 . each of the collectors is in communication with a sensor 70 . once the collector has gathered an airborne specimen by means of a vacuum , the specimen will be analyzed . the analysis will result in sending alert data to a central processing unit 72 . the central processing unit 72 is a transmitting or monitored central processing unit which is connected through the internet 44 to a central site cpu 46 . in this way , multiple sensors can gather data from multiple locations such as large office buildings and airports . each of the transmitting or monitored system cpus 42 and 72 operate under the control of an operating system , such as a linux operating system , which facilitates requests made by central site cpu software . the operating system will also have application programs in a client - server format . various types of alert monitoring software are known to those skilled in the art and may include any number of third party offerings . examples of such third party alert monitoring programs include , but are not limited to , omegan , tivoli or tng . one type of alert monitoring system is disclosed in applicant &# 39 ; s u . s . pat . no . 6 , 275 , 855 entitled “ system , method and article of manufacture to enhance computerized alert system information awareness and facilitate real - time intervention services ”. software resident in the monitoring system cpu 46 determines objects to be monitored . the system will remain in a ready state and await communication from a monitored system cpu indicating that an alert object event has taken place . having received an alert notification , the monitoring system next determines if the received alert is valid . if found invalid , the system advises an operator that an error has occurred and returns to await the next alert notification from a monitored system cpu . after alert information passed from the monitored system is deemed to be valid , the system will determine if a representative icon warrants an object status modification . the modification may take the form of changing of an icon color to reflect the transition from one status state to another . by way of example and not limitation , the normal operating state might be displayed in the color green . should a critical event occur , the icon would change the color from green to red due to the critical nature of the alert . it will be understood herein that while the description of an alarm is made , no physical , visual or audible alarm may be made . accordingly , the sensors operate transparently to those passing by . data will be correlated by the central site cpu 46 for analysis . the data will also be subject to a number of tests . for example , the data may be tested for redundancy . the data may also be checked for reasonableness . communication between the monitored system cpus 42 and 72 and the monitoring system central site cpu 46 is also known to those skilled in the art . communication can be facilitated by a network , such as the world wide web , or any other network configuration supporting inter - computer communication . a secure connection can be established in various ways . for example , in one arrangement contemplated herein , the transmitting or monitored cpu 42 will retrieve a dynamic address by contacting a secure name server utilizing a unique combination id / password which is itself encrypted . the transmitting or monitored cpu is then able to present an authorized user id / password to a mail server and securely logon . the central site or monitoring cpu system 46 will also obtain a dynamic address by contacting the secure name server utilizing a unique combination id / password which is itself encrypted . the monitoring cpu is then able to present an authorized user id / password to the mail server and log on . communication between the monitored cpus 42 and 72 and the monitoring system 46 is further facilitated by way of a remote maintenance monitoring and control system 74 . the purpose of the remote maintenance monitoring control system 74 is to provide for historical event data analysis and assumption of monitored system command input capabilities . disclosure of such analysis and command technology is described in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 689 , 637 entitled “ console simulator multi - console management system and console management distribution system ”, issued to applicant nov . 18 , 1997 and is cited and incorporated herein by reference for purpose of providing a full detailed and enabling disclosure . though the invention allows for remote system connectivity to a monitored system as a command console , the invention also allows for a non - console oriented response . for example , in the event a sensor was replaced , it would be possible for the monitoring system 46 to assume command input capabilities in order to program the sensor with the desired commands . various objects may be monitored at the monitoring system cpu . the objects may be defined to alert event monitoring systems as input control parameters (“ parm . fields ”) to alert event software , which is a practice known to those skilled in the art . relevant object information may be retained in repository in the form of a database server whereby entries associated with each monitored object are created , referenced and maintained . it is also possible to interface with each of the transmitting system cpus from the central site monitoring system cpu . a computer program executing within the monitoring system 46 receives computer generated alert information and , upon operator action , is capable of connecting to the transmitting system and emulating console display screens of the transmitting system as well as updates thereto . the operator at the central site may retrieve a history of activity of the display screens of the transmitting system to permit the operator to interactively analyze the transmitting system screens , to analyze dynamic event history and to input remedial actions . in one deployment of the present invention , the system would be non - intrusive and non - invasive . for example , an individual passing a metal detector at an airport would not be specifically identified . at the same time , data gathered can be correlated and analyzed . again by way of example , the number of airline passengers traveling from hong kong to san francisco carrying influenza could be identified . whereas , the present invention has been described in relation to the drawings attached hereto , it should be understood that other and further modifications , apart from those shown or suggested herein , may be made within the spirit and scope of this invention .	8

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