Split (3)

train · 25k rows

text stringlengths 1.55k 332k	label int64 0 8
referring first to fig1 , it shows in schematic form the overall organization . upper and lower bodies 100 and 101 have convex surfaces 100a and 101a to be hand grasped . the bodies are movable toward and away from one another , in directions indicated by arrows 102 . force is applicable as indicated by arrows f 1 and f 2 . a vertical guide 104 projects upwardly between the bodies from lower body 101 . it slidably guides in bore 105 in body 100 . an enlarged stop 106 on the guide is movable in bore 107 , and the stop engages upper body shoulder 108 to limit relative separation of the bodies . a spring , for example a compression spring 110 , extends between the bodies , and has an upper end that engages upper body shoulder 111 . the spring lower end 110a is carried by an adjuster 112 which has relatively long - lead , threaded engagement with body 101 , at 114 . ( one 360 ° turn of the adjuster lifts the spring lower end by amount x .) as the adjuster is rotated , the spring is tightened or loosened to vary the spring force acting to separate the bodies 100 and 101 . therefore , the amount of force f 1 and or f 2 required to urge the bodies relatively together may be adjusted . the user can determine the position of the adjuster , as by observing the rotary position of a marker 115 on the lower end of the adjuster . if desired , the adjuster rotary position can be electrically indicated as by on or off indication of leds 117 - 119 on body 100 . control of the leds is afforded by a potentimeter 120 and circuitry 121 . the potentimeter annular wiper 122 is carried by adjuster 112 , and vertical resistor 123 by upper body 100 . as the adjuster is rotated , the wiper moves upwardly or downwardly against the resistor , to vary the voltage input to circuit 121 , which in turn controls varied illumination of the leds , prior to urging of the bodies 100 and 101 toward one another . the extent of squeeze displacement of the bodies toward one another can also be detected , and indicated . note the contact 126 carried by the upper body for successive engagement with contacts 127 - 129 carried by the lower body 101 , contacts 127 - 129 arranged in a row in the direction of relative body movement . the intensity of illumination output of the leds can , for example be indicated , in response to such body movement and stepwise engagement of contact 126 with contacts 127 - 129 . annunciators can be substituted for the leds , to provide desired audible pulsing or vibration . elements 127 - 129 can be mechanical &# 34 ; click &# 34 ; producing , audible sounders , such as spring arms that are released to produce sound . referring next to fig1 - 4 , the exerciser 100 in its preferred form incorporates a longitudinally horizontally elongated upper handle part 10 extending parallel to , over , and spaced from a longitudinally horizontally elongated bottom handle part 11 , so that the two parts can be squeezed , one toward the other , for example vertically . part 10 has an elongated , upwardly convex surface 10a merging with side surfaces 10b and 10c , for ease of manual grasping , and a flat lower surface 10d facing lower part 11 . that lower part 11 is elongated beneath part 10 , and has a horizontally flat local upper surface 11a , and downwardly rounded , i . e . convex sides 11b and 11c . there are upwardly projecting longitudinally spaced end flanges 10e and 10f on upper part 10 , and longitudinally spaced downwardly spaced end flanges 11e and 11f on lower part 11 . these provide device support surfaces as at 10g and 11g , and which are downwardly flat . a bottom 11d &# 39 ; between end flanges 11g is shown and is downwardly convex , for ease of hand grasping . opposite ends of bodies 10 and 11 appear at 10h and 10i , and 11h and 11i . the force f ( squeeze ) with which the top part 10 is forced toward the bottom part 11 is the force exerted by the operator . ( note that directional words &# 34 ; top , bottom , up , down , left , right &# 34 ; are used here to clarify the figures , not to indicate a preferred orientation of use .) a slide 12 is movable longitudinally left or right in a body recess 13 , by the operator , to select relative to scale 14 the desired value of f where feedback to the operator occurs . note slide marker 12a , and a block 83 connected to the slide to vary the effective length of a cantilever spring beam 28 . the flat bottom surfaces 11g of flanges 11e and 11f facilitate use when the force relates to that occurring when the human user pushes down on 10 while 11 is set against a flat surface . when the exerciser is used for squeezing by a hand , the hand ( either palm or finger ) fits on the curved , downward convex bottom 11d &# 39 ; between the square end flanges , and also over the upward convex top 10a , i . e . the device is hand held . fig4 and 7 show the interconnection and operation of the parts . the moving levers 15 and 16 pivot about fulcrums 17 and 18 on the top surface 11a of lower part 11 . the pushers 22 and 23 on upper part 10 move downwardly onto lever extensions 24 and 25 carried by levers 15 and 16 , and thereby transmit force from 10 to the ends of levers 15 and 16 , which are upwardly and downwardly movable with part 10 . at 26 and 26a the overlapping other ends of the levers , the force on each lever has been substantially reduced , as for example by a factor of 8 to 10 , and the vertical motion increased correspondingly , because of the proportions of the levers . a short wire 27a is loosely held in holes at the lever ends 26 and 26a so that the vertical force on a tab 27 is the sum of the vertical forces exerted by levers 15 and 16 where they overlap . the distance that tab 27 moves up is that amount permitted by restraining cantilever beam 28 mounted to part 10 at 21 as shown . tab 27 and beam 28 may consist of a spring wire , configured with a u - bend as shown . as selector slide 12 is moved left and right , the spring characteristic of cantilever restraining beam 28 is modified because the effective length of the free bending part of the restraining beam is altered . thus , the slide is operatively and variably coupled to 28 . when the restraining beam 28 is moved up by the levers to cause a contact 27 on lever 15 to touch the electric contact 27a on part 10 , an electric circuit connects the batteries 30 to a motor 31 . rotation of an eccentric weight 31a on the shaft of 31 causes a vibration throughout the exerciser , as readily felt by the operator , i . e . indicated , until the squeeze force is decreased enough to disconnect the contact at 27a . note that with the geometry as shown , the summing of forces by the linked levers 15 and 16 causes the completion of the electric circuit for a specific position of slide 12 wherever the forces are applied to 10 : left end of 10 , right end of 10 , or distributed across 10 , as long as the positions are no further out than shafts 22 and 23 . fig2 shows use of guides 81 , like guide 104 in fig1 . parts 10 and 11 are hollow , to contain the mechanism shown . fig1 shows another way to move a force sensor 32 ( affixed to a top body 33 ) downward to where it contacts a bottom body 34 when the selected compressive force i . e . squeeze is applied to 33 and 34 . flexible cantilever arms 35 and 36 are rigidly mounted at their right ends to lower body 34 . when adjustment knob 37 is turned , the attached screw 38 , through nut 38a affixed to upper body 33 , moves body 33 with its contact pawls 39 to the right , where a greater force is required to be exerted via supports 39 to bend spring beams 35 and 36 enough to allow 32 to touch 34 . the scale marks at 111 on body 33 , that line up against the indicator arrow 112 on 34 , are positioned by calibration , to show the applied force needed for contact . fig1 shows a symmetrical alternative to fig1 . instead of moving the top body 45 left and right along or lengthwise of the bottom body 46 , the pawls contact the flexible lever arms 113 and 114 ( extending oppositely ) closer to or further from their rigid supported ends , and thus change the effective force vs vertical distance sensitivity of the force sensor . in fig1 the pawls 41 and 42 are moved symmetrically oppositely toward or away from the center by rotating knob 43 that connects to the long screw 44 that has clockwise threads on its left half to move pawl 41 , and anti - clockwise threads on its right half to move pawl 42 . the position of one or both pawls on upper body 45 can be seen from the outside , and correspond to a particular sensitivity for the force required to make the force sensor operate . note that the principles behind the fig1 and 17 units are that the relationship between the applied force and the vertical displacement of the force sensor 32 is varied by the position variation of the pawls along the flexible arms , such as 35 and 36 . by way of contrast , in fig1 - 4 , the two beams or levers 15 and 16 amplify the downward motion transmitted by the upper body 10 as it descends toward the lower body 11 to become a much larger vertical motion exerted against beam 28 . there are two advantages : displacement of the sensor is increased so manufacturing tolerances become less tight , and the force on slender beam or arm 28 is much less then the direct pawl forces on the rugged flexible arms of fig1 and 17 , and so there is less danger of permanent set of the flexible arm or beam 28 . also shown in fig2 are vertical guide or guides 80 and 81 to guide relative movement of bodies 10 and 11 . fig3 and 8 show sliding at 84 of block 83 along the beam 28 . fig5 and 6 show frictional sliding of a bowed part 86 associated with block 83 , and connection at 89 to the slide 12 , to locate the slide and block , at selected positions . fig9 and 10 show optional use of a second beam or wire 28a operatively connected to the slider block 83 and optionally connectible to the levers 15 and 16 . therefore , if a stepwise greater spring resistance to closing together of the parts 10 and 11 is desired , wire 28a is rotated about its axis as by a bent end 28aa of that wire , to bring arm 28aa &# 39 ; of the wire into slots 89 in the ends 26 and 26a of the two levers . now both wires 28 and 28a resist upward deflection of the lever ends . bent end 28aa may protrude at the rear wall 10h , for rotation between positions a and b , as indicated . fig1 shows an alternate form of the device in which one elongated spring arm 120 is substituted for levers 15 and 16 . arm 120 has downward protrusions at 121 and 122 to engage the bottom part 11 at 121a and 122a , and upward protrusions 123 and 124 to engage the upper part 10 at 123a and 124a . as upper handle part 10 is pushed downwardly , the arm 120 flexes downwardly at 125 and 126 , and upwardly at mid - extent 127 , where a strain gauge ( as represented at 160 ) may be employed , with output connected to 130 ( see below ). alternatively a contact 128 on 127 may be used to engage contact 129 on upper part 10 , causing circuitry 130 to activate an annunciator or vibrator 131 as referred to above . fig1 shows three different contacts 140 - 142 to be successively engaged by a contact 143 , as the parts 10 and 11 move relatively together . ( see in this regard , fig1 , contacts 127 - 129 engagable by contact 126 , to offset output .) fig1 is a circuit diagram as also seen in fig1 . fig1 shows two clips 54 and 55 that fit snugly on the flange portions 11e and 11f of the bottom body 11 of the inverted unit as seen in fig1 . strap 56 is connected to the clips via strap extensions 56a and 56b . by holding a foot 57 on the loop 57a at the bottom of strap 56 , the upward force exerted by hand 113 &# 39 ; on body 10 can be applied at a convenient location i . e . 10 and 11 can be swung to alternate positions at seen at 10 &# 39 ; and 11 &# 39 ;. strap 56 can be flexible or non flexible . fig1 a shows a modification in which ears 11e &# 39 ; and 11f &# 39 ; are provided on 11e and 11f , to support flexible lines 56a &# 39 ; and 56b &# 39 ; corresponding to 56a and 56b in fig1 , simplifying the arrangement , as by eliminating need for clips 54 and 55 and straps 56a and 56b . fig1 a - 15c clarify and depict typical uses to which the isometric experience can be put . fig1 a shows the bottom part 11 of the exerciser 100 mounted on a carrier 120 so that the user can squeeze body parts 10 and 11 via the carrier , as via squeeze force application shown at f 2 and f 3 . the carrier can , for example be one of the following : i ) a steering element 150 &# 39 ; of a craft such as a vehicle , boat , aircraft , etc . ii ) a briefcase strap , as seen at 151 &# 39 ; in fig1 c iii ) the handle 152 &# 39 ; of a tennis racket , as seen in fig1 b v ) a headrest ( in which case f 2 represents head force , the carrier being fixed ). the exerted force can be a function of velocity of upward pull , i . e . f = f ( v n ), where &# 34 ; n &# 34 ; is a variable determined by the mechanism . for example , a device such as a roller may be interposed between strap 56 and loop 57 , with a return spring attached to the roller . see elements 160 , 56 &# 39 ; and 57 &# 39 ;. fig1 shows use of the device 100 in a warning system indicated at 150 , in block diagram form . a user 151 , such as a vehicle driver , has his hand in a position to squeeze the device 150 . that device is adjusted to effect production of a warning signal , indicated at output 152 , if the user fails to exert sufficient squeeze force after a suitable time interval , say five seconds . if he does not exert sufficient squeeze force , no warning is produced , as indicated at 153 . an input signal is provided or generated at 154 . that signal may for example be an audible &# 34 ; beep &# 34 ; produced at repetitive intervals , say every six seconds . thus , the sleepy operator is reminded to squeeze the device every six seconds at a squeeze force level consistent with being awake . if he fails to do so , a loud warning is produced , as at 152a to awaken him . fig1 a shows a circuit to provide the fig1 functions . when signal generator 154 provides an audible beep signal to the user 151 , it also sends a pulse at 156 to a delay circuit 157 . after a time interval t , say six seconds , delay circuit 157 sends a pulse on line 158 to activate the warning producing device 152a . a switch 159 in line 158 can be opened by squeezing of device 150 above a selected squeeze force level . if the user fails to sufficiently squeeze device 150 , switch 159 is not opened , and the warning is produced , at repetitive intervals t . small , fits in pocket or purse so user always has close access to device , with convenience of not having to go to an exercise facility ; device can be the handle of a briefcase , to give the traveling user an exercise opportunity ; device is adaptable to a vehicle steering wheel , a tennis racket handle , and to a neck rest in a vehicle . user has many feedback options : sound , light , telemeter signal to a tv at which user is already looking , vibration ( or jolt or sudden slip ); exercise involves at least one user &# 39 ; s body part touching the device , and therefore the vibration feedback can always be detected by that body part ; note that simple vibration is quieter than audible sound , and thus less annoying to others . ( vibration is of course always related to some sound .) provision for many mechanism options : springs , levers , on - off switch , strain gauges ; more sophisticated electronics can for example give a special identity to the tenth repetition at one strength setting , ( such as stronger vibration , or rapid on - off - on - off - etc .). the device can be combined with a pull cord whose rate of pulling determines its force level as referred to in fig1 ; i . e . f = f ( v n ). the device itself can be the puller handle . the user pulls at a rate that resists the pull at the device force setting . this simple mechanism can substitute for weight lifts ( mechanism held down by user &# 39 ; s foot ) or weight pull down ( mechanism bracket attached to top of a door ). a curtain roller is a good starting point . many feedback options , beside on - off . for use with a tennis racket , device is &# 34 ; off &# 34 ; when zero or small force is applied ; full on when inadequate force is applied ; zero again when force is correct . for basic exerciser , 400 hz pulses can start at 80 % of a selected force , with a pulse on 0 . 1 sec ., off 0 . 9 , or 0 . 1 sec ., etc . at 88 % attainment of selected force , a pulse is on 0 . 5 sec ., off 0 . 5 sec . ; at 96 % of exertion force , device is on continually ; above 100 %, vibrator operates at 800 hz , and above 104 % vibration interrupted every 1 second as , with the 80 % to 96 % realm but now with shorter &# 34 ; on &# 34 ; periods . no signal provided above 120 or 125 %. this is by way of example , only . force selection can be made by push button or other device ; an output display can be alphanumeric , or by means of length of an electronic bar display . for the unit connected to the electric cable , for some exercises , the cable can be non - elastic ( standard rope or cord ). the unit rounded shape is comfortable to hold or to press one side against a human body / arm / leg / or other internal or external surface . flat sections or flanges at opposite ends stabilize the unit when it is pressed against a flat surface such as a wall or table . the flat sections may be omitted . an alternative would be to eliminate the flats at each end , and to flatten the base ( underside ) of the oval cross - section to permit stable pushing against a flat surface . the squared ends provide a convenient structure onto which to clip the ends of an elastic cord that sometimes is employed during exercising . other simple attachment options are available . there can be multiple scales or ranges for the selected forces on the exerciser . there can be supplementary equipment such as a stretchable cord whose ends clip onto an exerciser that provides a resistive force against which the device , as a &# 34 ; handle &# 34 ;, is moved . the exerciser can be built into the steering wheel of a car so that exercises can be conducted while driving : hand squeezes of the two units on the right and left segments of the steering wheel ; compression or separation forces between the two units . note that the hands must be firmly holding onto the steering wheel for this application , for applying the forces and receiving vibration feedback -- and the firm grip can improve driving safety . exercisers can also be integrated into the car seat or headrest , to quantify other in - car exercises . there are also various approaches to the technical specifics of the device . it is important that the compressive force be sensed accurately wherever it is applied laterally along the device . linkages bring the applied force to a common point where the sensing takes place ( or , more expensive , multiple sensing at the periphery is summed ). the simple device employs two levers that meet in the middle of the unit where the compressive forces from the ends are summed ( after being decreased by , say 10 times ). the force is monitored by the displacment at the center against a spring . the spring tension is typically adjustable , in a non - linear manner , by the spring being a wire or beam whose effective length is adjusted by a slide guide . ( the amount of non - linearity is readily adjusted by adjusting the percentage of wire length through which the slide moves . the force for a specific deflection of the beam end varies as the cube of beam length . decreasing the beam length by 50 % gives a convenient non - linearity . to have a desirable long slide adjustment results in a long wire , but the free end is doubled back to reach the swing point and so the overall length is left small enough to fit in the unit .) instead of a two - lever system a single sensing bean connecting to the two ends can be used , with a strain gauge at mid - beam sensing the summed loads from each end . ( actually , the strain gauges are used , one above and one below the beam , to compensate for temperature effects .) the strain gauge output can be compared against the output of a user adjustable resistor ( conveniently built into one end of the unit ) calibrated so the selected force is indicated by position of a knob . the resistor can be a non - linear type . with a more flexible beam , the single beam approach can be substituted for the two levers of the simple or reference device . referring again to fig8 and 11 , the circuitry shown at 121 and 131 may include pulse producing circuitry operable to produce a series of detectable pulses which have durations that increase or decrease as the amplitude of squeeze increases . such pulse durations may have maximum duration when a predetermined threshold level of squeeze is exerted . each pulse may comprise a series of vibrating oscillations at a first predetermined frequency f 1 . i ) a first group of pulses each of which comprises a series of vibrating oscillations at a first predetermined frequency f 1 the pulses of this first group having maximum duration when a predetermined threshold level of squeeze is exerted , and j ) a second group of pulses each of which comprises a series of vibrating oscillations at a second predetermined frequency f 2 , the pulses of the second group produced only after said squeeze exceedsd the threshold level .	0
greater detail of the illustrated embodiments of the current invention may be had by turning to fig1 and 2 which shows the current neck brace denoted generally by reference numeral 10 . fig1 shows a frontal view of the brace 10 which comprises of a body 12 that is substantially rectangular in shape . the body 12 itself comprises a neck cutout 14 and a plurality of shoulder cutouts 16 . the neck cutout 14 and shoulder cutouts 16 are sized and defined in the body 12 at the appropriate locations so that when the neck brace 10 is applied to a patient &# 39 ; s neck region , the neck cutout 14 appropriately accommodates the jaw and head of the patient while the shoulder cutouts 16 accommodate the shoulders and chest region of the patient as is known in the art . the body 12 itself is comprised of soft vinyl or other flexible material and is filled with a plurality of foam micro beads known in the art . the body 12 further comprises a coupling portion 18 joined to the remainder of the body 12 via a flexible region 20 . like the main part of the body 12 , the coupling portion 18 is also filled with a plurality of foam micro beads . the flexible region 20 however does not have any micro beads . the coupling portion 18 is used to join the opposing ends of the body 12 together when the neck brace 10 is placed around the neck of the injured patient . specifically , as seen in the rear view of the neck brace 10 in fig2 , the back surface of the coupling portion 18 comprises a hook and latch fabric pad 24 so that when the neck brace 10 is placed on the patient , the coupling portion 18 is brought around to the opposing end of the front of the body 12 where an opposing hook and latch fabric pad 22 is disposed . the medical professional secures the neck brace 10 in place by aligning the hook and latch fabric pad 24 on the back surface with the opposing pad 22 on the front surface and adhering the pad 24 and opposing pad 22 together . the pads 24 , 22 are brought together relative to one another according to the width or circumference of the patent &# 39 ; s neck and shoulder region . to release the neck brace 10 , the coupling portion 18 is pulled away from the patient which in turn pulls the pad 24 away from the opposing pad 22 of hook and latch fabric thus releasing the ends of the body 12 from each other . with the opposing ends of the body 12 separated , the neck brace 10 may be removed from the neck and shoulder region of the patient . also seen in fig1 is a vacuum hand pump 26 which is disposed on the front surface of the body 12 . while the vacuum hand pump 26 is shown as being disposed substantially beneath the neck cutout 14 , it is to be expressly understood that the vacuum hand pump 26 may located anywhere on the body 12 of the neck brace 10 without changing the overall function or scope of the claimed invention . greater detail of the vacuum hand pump 26 may be seen in the magnified views of fig3 and 4 . the vacuum hand pump 26 comprises a housing 30 with a frame 28 disposed around it . coupled to the housing 30 is a bellows 32 which may be compressed against the housing 30 as detailed further below . coupled to a distal end of the bellows 32 is a plunger 34 . the plunger 34 is sufficiently sized and shaped so that a medical professional may easily grip and press the plunger 34 with his or her fingers . the plunger 34 itself comprises a shuttle 36 disposed on either lateral side of the plunger 34 . each shuttle 36 is disposed in a corresponding track 38 formed within the lateral sides of the frame 28 . also disposed in each track 38 is a tension spring 40 which is coupled to the frame 28 at one end and coupled to the shuttle 36 at the opposing end . greater detail of the housing 30 and the components contained therein may be seen in fig6 . the housing 30 comprises an internal chamber 44 for passing a volume of air from the body 12 of the neck brace 10 to the outside environment . also disposed within the housing 30 is a body valve 46 which is fluidly coupled to an internal volume of the body 12 . as is known in the art , the body valve 46 is a one - way directional valve which allows for air to flow in substantially only one direction , namely from the body 12 to the internal chamber 44 of the housing 30 . disposed in the top surface of the housing 30 is a housing valve 42 , which like the body valve 46 , is a one - way directional valve which allows air to flow in only one direction from the internal chamber 44 of the housing 30 to the ambient environment . detail of the housing valve 42 may been seen in fig9 which shows the housing valve 42 comprising a substantially annular or ring shaped valve seat 48 and a flexible diaphragm 50 . as seen in the cross sectional view of fig9 , the diaphragm 50 is disposed within the center of the valve seat 48 with outer circumference of the diaphragm 50 resting on an inner radius of the valve seat 48 . after disposing the neck brace 10 around the neck of the patient and securing it in place , the user or medical professional operates the vacuum hand pump 26 by first placing his or her hand on top of the vacuum hand pump 26 seen in fig4 and 7 with the heel of his or her hand at or near the back of the housing 30 and fingers in front of the plunger 34 . the user then compresses the vacuum hand pump 26 by squeezing the plunger 34 and bringing it back towards the stationary housing 30 . as the user squeezes the plunger 34 , the bellows 32 are compressed which drives air within the internal chamber 44 out of the housing 30 through the housing valve 42 in the direction of the arrows seen in fig9 . specifically , air is driven towards the diaphragm 50 which lifts the outer circumference of the diaphragm 50 upward and off of the valve seat 48 and allowing the air to exit the housing 30 . after the air pressure is equalized between the ambient environment and the internal chamber 44 , the diaphragm 50 returns to its original position on the valve seat 48 , thus preventing any air from reentering the internal chamber 44 of the housing 30 . as the movement of the plunger 34 compresses the bellows 32 , the shuttles 36 on either side of the vacuum hand pump 26 move through their respective tracks 38 and stretch each of the respective tension springs 40 coupled to each shuttle as seen in fig5 and 8 . after the bellows 32 has been fully compressed and the air driven from the internal chamber 44 of the housing 30 , the user releases his or her grip on the plunger 34 . the tension springs 40 then begin to compress and draw the plunger 34 away from the housing 30 , thus expanding the bellows 32 . the expanding bellows 32 in turn then draws air out of the body 12 of the neck brace 10 through the body valve 46 and into the internal chamber 44 of the housing 30 . once air has entered the internal chamber 44 , the body valve 46 prevents its reentry back into the body 12 as is known in the art . with air now back in the internal chamber 44 of the housing 30 , the user once again may repeat the pumping process by compressing the plunger 34 and driving the air out of the housing 30 and into the ambient environment through the housing valve 42 . it is in this manner that air is quickly and efficiently removed from the body 12 of the neck brace 10 . with each subsequent stroke of the vacuum hand pump 26 , a higher and higher vacuum is created within the body 12 which in turn removes air from the plurality of micro beads disposed within the body 12 which collapses under ambient exterior air pressure and presses the beads closer and closer together , thus making the body 12 more rigid and conforming the contours of body 12 to the shape of the patient &# 39 ; s neck and shoulder region . the user continues to operate the vacuum hand pump 26 until the neck brace 10 is sufficiently rigidly set about the patient &# 39 ; s neck and effectively immobilizes the patient &# 39 ; s neck . with the neck brace 10 firmly in position , the patient may be moved as needed to receive further treatment without fear of further aggravating the patient &# 39 ; s injuries . to remove the neck brace 10 from the patient , the user opens a release valve 52 disposed on the back surface of the body 12 as seen in fig2 . the release valve 52 is a one - way valve known in the art which allows air to rush into the evacuated interior of body 12 previously pumped out by the vacuum hand pump 26 . the reinserted air inflates or expands the neck brace 10 and relaxes the body 12 . when the body 12 has sufficiently softened and has regained a certain amount of flexibility , the user may uncouple the ends of the body 12 from each other as disclosed above , unfold body 12 and remove the neck brace 10 from neck and shoulder region of the patient . while fig2 shows the release valve 52 as being substantially disposed in a corner on the back surface of the body 12 , it is to be expressly understood that this is for illustrative purposes only and that the release valve 52 may in fact be located anywhere on the front or back surface of the body 12 without significantly departing from the original intent and purpose of the current invention . in a separate embodiment , the hand pump 26 of the neck brace 10 may be replaced with a syringe pump 102 coupled to a neck brace 100 as seen in fig1 and 11 . the syringe pump 102 is coupled to the neck brace 100 through a syringe aperture 104 . the syringe aperture 104 is permanently coupled to an internal volume of the neck brace 100 at its proximal end . disposed at a distal end of the syringe aperture 104 is a coupling portion 110 which is configured to accommodate a distal end of the syringe pump 102 . the syringe aperture 104 further comprises a one - way directional valve 106 disposed within the coupling portion 110 . to use the syringe pump 102 , a user wraps the neck brace 100 around the neck and shoulder region of a patient 114 as disclosed above . the syringe pump 102 is coupled to the syringe aperture 104 by inserting the distal end of the syringe pump 102 into the coupling portion 110 until the syringe pump 102 snaps or clicks into place via a friction fit or pressure fit as is known in the art . alternatively , the neck brace 100 may be placed about the patient 114 in a pre - assembled state , namely with the syringe pump 102 already coupled to the syringe aperture 104 . once coupled , the user activates the syringe pump 102 by repeatedly manipulating a plunger disposed in the proximal end of the syringe pump 102 ( not seen ) as is known in the art . specifically , as the plunger is drawn back , air from within the internal volume of the neck brace 100 is drawn out through the syringe aperture 104 . as air exits the syringe aperture 104 it passes through the first one - way directional valve 106 and into the syringe pump 102 . a second one - way directional valve 108 disposed within the syringe pump 102 directs air which has been drawn from the neck brace 100 into the ambient environment . the user then pushes the plunger of the syringe pump 102 back in the distal direction , the first and second one - way directional valves 106 , 108 preventing air from flowing back into the neck brace 100 as is well known in the art . the user continues to manipulate the syringe pump 102 further drawing out air from the neck brace 100 and further contracting the neck brace 100 about the neck and shoulders of the patient 114 and creating a rigid neck brace as seen in fig1 and 11 . once the neck brace 100 has reached a sufficient level a rigidity , the user may stop manipulating the syringe pump 102 and let the syringe pump 102 hang down from the neck brace 100 in front of the patient 114 . alternatively , the user may detach the syringe pump 102 from the neck brace 100 by releasing the syringe pump 102 from the coupling portion 110 of the syringe aperture 104 . greater functional detail of the neck brace 100 may also be had from fig1 and 11 . specifically , the neck brace comprises a plurality of shoulder cutouts 116 and a face cutout 112 which are sized and shaped within the neck brace 100 at the appropriate locations so that when the neck brace 100 is applied to the patient &# 39 ; s 114 neck region , the face cutout 112 appropriately accommodates the jaw and chin of the patient while the shoulder cutouts 116 accommodate the shoulders and upper chest region of the patient 114 . the face cutout 112 is a substantially half - moon shape cutout or aperture defined within a body portion 120 of the neck brace 100 . as best seen in fig1 , the face cutout 112 is configured or defined to leave the nose and mouth 122 of the patient 114 open to the ambient environment while encompassing or enclosing the jaw and chin 188 of the patient 114 within the neck brace 100 when the neck brace 100 is wrapped about the patient 144 as disclosed above . unlike prior neck braces , the neck brace 100 seen in fig1 and 11 explicitly allows for the disposition of the chin 118 within the neck brace 100 itself , thus dramatically increasing the overall comfort for the patient 114 wearing the neck brace 100 while still maintaining a sufficient level of immobilization required for effective medical treatment . specifically , as is discussed above in relation to the previous embodiment , the neck brace 100 is placed or wrapped around the neck and chin 118 of the patient 114 while the body 120 of the neck brace 100 is in a soft or pliable state . with the patient &# 39 ; s chin 188 still within the enclosed space formed by the applied neck brace 100 , the user activates the neck brace 100 by removing air from within the neck brace 100 as disclosed above , thus contracting the neck brace 100 and forming a rigid three dimensional structure about the patient &# 39 ; s neck and chin 118 . because the neck brace 100 contracts and forms to the specific contours of the patient &# 39 ; s neck , shoulders , jaw , and chin 118 , the patient 114 or the user do not need to remove the patient &# 39 ; s chin 118 from within the enclosed space of the neck brace 100 . instead , the neck brace 100 forms a rigid structure which not only limits the relative movement of the patient &# 39 ; s neck , but also prevents the patient &# 39 ; s chin 118 from any undesired relative movement as well . in other words , as the user is wrapping the neck brace 100 about the patient 114 , a comfortable and relaxed fit for the patient 114 is achieved since the neck brace 100 is initially soft and extremely pliable and does not place the patient in the discomfort of a near traction like state normally associated with neck braces or collars . the comfortable fit achieved by the neck brace 100 is then maintained upon its activation since the contracting movement and increasing rigidity of the neck brace 100 does not alter the position of the chin 118 of the patient 114 but rather “ locks ” it into an immobilized position . an alternative embodiment of the invention may be seen in fig1 a - 17 where the neck brace is denoted generally as reference numeral 200 . fig1 a shows a frontal view of the neck brace 200 which comprises a front panel 202 , a back panel 218 , and internal volume defined there between . both the front panel 202 and the back panel 218 are substantially rectangular in shape with the exception of a neck contour 204 and a plurality of shoulder contours 206 defined within its overall structural form . the neck contour 204 and shoulder contours 16 are substantially “ u ” or “ v ” shaped definitions within the neck brace 200 that are defined along an upper edge 208 and a lower edge 210 of the front panel 202 , respectively . when the neck brace 200 is applied to a patient &# 39 ; s neck region as is described in further detail below , the neck contour 204 appropriately accommodates the jaw and head of the patient while the shoulder contours 206 accommodate each of the shoulders and the chest region of the patient as is known in the art . the neck brace 200 itself is comprised of soft , expandable fabric or other flexible material and is filled with a plurality of foam micro beads known in the art . the neck brace 200 further comprises a strip 212 joined to a lateral edge of the front panel 202 . unlike the remaining portions of the neck brace 200 , the strip 212 is not filled with a plurality of foam micro beads , thus allowing the strip 212 to remain flexible regardless of the state of rigidity of the remaining portions of the neck brace 200 . the reverse side of the strip 212 seen in fig1 b comprises a first coupling portion 214 used to join the opposing ends of the neck brace 200 together when the neck brace 200 is placed around the neck of the injured patient . the first coupling portion 214 preferably comprises a hook and latch fabric pad , however other means such as adhesive surfaces or other mechanical means for coupling may be used so that when the neck brace 200 is placed on the patient , the strip 212 is brought around to the opposing end of the front panel 202 where a second coupling portion 220 is disposed . the medical professional secures the neck brace 200 in place by aligning the first coupling portion 214 on the back surface of the strip 212 with the second coupling portion 220 disposed on the opposing lateral edge of the front panel 202 . the first coupling portion 214 and the second coupling portion 220 are brought together relative to one another according to the width or circumference of the patent &# 39 ; s neck and shoulder region . in instances where the patient has a relatively small chest and shoulder region , for example when the patient is a child , the neck brace 200 may be further tightened by bringing a supplemental coupling portion 216 disposed on the back panel 218 of the neck brace 200 seen in fig1 b into contact with the second coupling portion 220 . to release the neck brace 200 , the first coupling portion 214 or the supplemental coupling portion 216 is pulled away or disengaged from the second coupling portion 220 thus releasing the lateral ends of the front panel 202 from each other . with the opposing ends of the front panel 202 separated , the neck brace 200 may be removed from the neck and shoulder region of the patient . as also seen in fig1 a - 12c , the neck brace 200 further comprises a detachable or removable single hand vacuum pump assembly 222 . the detachable pump assembly 222 is removably coupled to an input valve 224 which is disposed within the front panel 202 , preferably at a position within the front panel 202 that is beneath the second coupling portion 220 as seen in fig1 a and in fig1 where the detachable hand pump assembly 222 has been removed . as also seen in fig1 , the front panel 202 may further comprise graphics 226 or text 228 printed on its outward surface which preferably directs or shows the medical professional how to properly apply the neck brace 200 to a patient . further detail of the input valve 224 may be had by turning to fig1 a - 14c . fig1 a shows the front panel 202 of the neck brace 200 when the input valve removed and showing a filter mesh or screen 230 defined within the surface of the front panel 202 . the input valve 224 is then coupled or incorporated into the front panel 202 directly over the filter screen 230 as seen in fig1 b . a distal end of a vacuum line 232 is then in turn coupled to the input valve 224 as shown in fig1 c . when the detachable pump assembly 222 is in use , the filter screen 230 allows air trapped within the neck brace 200 to pass through the front panel 202 and into the vacuum line 232 through the input valve 224 while simultaneously preventing any of the plurality of foam micro beads from escaping the neck brace 200 and thus possibly jamming or blocking the input valve 224 or vacuum line 232 . greater detail of the detachable pump assembly 222 may be had from fig1 - 17 . fig1 is a detailed view of the pump unit 234 which comprises a handle portion 236 , a plunger 238 , a chamber 240 , and a nozzle 242 . specifically , the handle 236 is preferably rectangular in shape and coupled to the chamber 240 . the plunger 238 is disposed within an internal portion of the chamber 240 along with a spring as is known in the art so that when the plunger 238 is pulled in the distal direction away from the chamber 240 , air is drawn in from the nozzle 242 disposed at the opposing end of the chamber 240 . the handle 236 and plunger 238 are configured or arranged so that the distal edge of the handle 236 may be pressed against the medical professional &# 39 ; s thumb or palm while their fingers are wrapped or hooked around the plunger 238 . the medical professional actuates the pump unit 234 by pulling the plunger 238 towards their palm , thus expanding the internal volume within the chamber 240 and drawing air in from the nozzle 242 . the medical professional then relaxes their grip , allowing a spring within the chamber 240 to expand and push the plunger 238 back towards the chamber 240 . fig1 shows how the pump unit 234 may be coupled to the vacuum line 232 . coupled between the nozzle 242 of the pump unit 234 and the vacuum line 232 is a coupling sub assembly 254 which comprises a collar 246 bonded to the nozzle 242 , a flexible connecting line 244 bonded to the collar 246 , and a female luer lug style to barb 248 which is in turn bonded to the distal end of the flexible connecting line 244 . the collar 246 comprises a one - way valve that is configured to allow air to flow in one direction so that when the plunger 238 is returned to its original starting position , air is not pushed back out of the nozzle 242 and subsequently into the neck brace 200 . the vacuum line 232 further comprises a male luer integral lock ring 250 disposed at its distal tip as seen in fig1 . to connect the pump assembly 222 , the medical professional couples the female luer lug 248 to the male luer lock 250 as is known in the art . to detach the pump assembly 222 from the neck brace 200 , the medical professional simply decouples the female luer lug 248 from the male luer lock 250 . as also seen in fig1 , a hose clamp 252 is coupled to the vacuum line 232 . after actuating the pump assembly 222 and removing the air from within the neck brace 200 , the hose clamp 252 may be actuated so that no air reenters the neck brace 200 , thus allowing the medical professional to decouple the pump assembly 222 via the female luer lug 248 and male luer lock 250 . to re - inflate the neck brace 200 , the medical professional can open the hose clamp 252 , thus allowing ambient air to rush into the neck brace 200 through the vacuum line 232 and input valve 224 . alternatively , the medical professional may instead open a release valve that is structural distinct from the vacuum line and which is disposed within the front panel 202 of the neck brace . to use the neck brace 200 , the neck brace 200 is first placed or wrapped around the neck and chin 262 of a patient 260 while the neck brace 200 itself is in a soft or pliable state . with the patient &# 39 ; s chin 262 still within the enclosed space formed by the applied neck brace 200 , the user activates the detachable pump assembly 222 by squeezing the plunger 238 and handle 236 for four to six seconds as disclosed above , thus removing air from the neck brace 200 and contracting it to form a rigid three dimensional structure or mold 264 about the patient &# 39 ; s neck and chin 262 . because the neck brace 200 contracts and molds to the specific contours of the patient &# 39 ; s neck , shoulders , jaw , and chin 262 , the patient 260 or the medical professional do not need to remove the patient &# 39 ; s chin 262 from within the enclosed space of the neck brace 200 . instead , the neck brace 200 forms a rigid structure which not only limits the relative movement of the patient &# 39 ; s neck , but also prevents the patient &# 39 ; s chin 262 from any undesired relative movement as well . the comfortable fit achieved by the neck brace 200 is then maintained upon its activation since the contracting movement and increasing rigidity of the neck brace 200 does not alter the position of the chin 262 of the patient 260 but rather “ locks ” it into an immobilized position . additionally , because the neck brace 200 is initially soft and extremely pliable , it may be placed on the patient 260 in the same condition the medical professional finds the patient in , thus negating the need to first put the patient in traction or otherwise distract the patient &# 39 ; s neck . for example , many conventional cervical collars require the patient &# 39 ; s head and chin to first be lifted upwards in order for the permanently rigid collar or brace to be wrapped about the patient &# 39 ; s neck . if the patient has suffered an unknown neck injury however , the last thing a first responder should do is to distract the patient &# 39 ; s neck and possibly exacerbate or further worsen the patient &# 39 ; s injury . the neck brace 200 of the current invention is instead applied to the neck region of the patient while it is in a pliable or malleable state , therefore the specific relative position of the injured patient &# 39 ; s head , chin , or neck does not need to be altered or distracted in order to place the neck brace 200 into its proper position . furthermore , because the neck brace 200 forms a mold 264 about the patient &# 39 ; s neck and shoulders , the neck brace 200 may be placed around the patient &# 39 ; s neck region regardless of the patient &# 39 ; s clothing or hair which typically impedes or blocks the placement of a traditional permanently rigid cervical collar or brace . in short , the current neck brace 200 does not place the patient in the discomfort of a near traction like state normally associated with neck braces or collars and instead forms a patient - specific mold 264 which prevents further distraction of the patient &# 39 ; s neck . furthermore because the current neck brace 200 forms a patient - specific mold 264 and does not need to be applied directly to the surface of patient &# 39 ; s neck in order to immobilize the patient &# 39 ; s movement , the current neck brace 200 does not restrict or alter the patient &# 39 ; s blood flow while the neck brace 200 is in use . as is well known , a number of veins are disposed within the neck region of the patient including the internal jugular vein . when a traditional permanently rigid brace or collar is placed about the patient &# 39 ; s neck and then tightened , this can press upon the internal veins of the patient and detrimentally effect the patient &# 39 ; s venous return . slowing the patient &# 39 ; s venous return can cause discomfort to the patient at a minimum , and depending upon the nature and extent of the patient &# 39 ; s condition or injury , a slowing or restriction of the venous return can dramatically worsen the patient &# 39 ; s condition by restricting blood flow back to the heart . when the neck brace 200 is to be removed from the patient , the medical professional may decouple the pump assembly 222 from the male luer lock 250 disposed on the vacuum line 232 and then disengage the hose clamp 252 , thus allowing ambient air to reenter the internal volume of the neck brace 200 . as air enters the neck brace 200 , its rigidity decreases and the neck brace 200 once again regains its malleable , deformable shape . the medical professional may then decouple the strip 212 from the second coupling portion 220 as described above and then remove the neck brace 200 from around the neck of the patient . many alterations and modifications may be made by those having ordinary skill in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the embodiments . therefore , it must be understood that the illustrated embodiment has been set forth only for the purposes of example and that it should not be taken as limiting the embodiments as defined by the following embodiments and its various embodiments . therefore , it must be understood that the illustrated embodiment has been set forth only for the purposes of example and that it should not be taken as limiting the embodiments as defined by the following claims . for example , notwithstanding the fact that the elements of a claim are set forth below in a certain combination , it must be expressly understood that the embodiments includes other combinations of fewer , more or different elements , which are disclosed in above even when not initially claimed in such combinations . a teaching that two elements are combined in a claimed combination is further to be understood as also allowing for a claimed combination in which the two elements are not combined with each other , but may be used alone or combined in other combinations . the excision of any disclosed element of the embodiments is explicitly contemplated as within the scope of the embodiments . the words used in this specification to describe the various embodiments are to be understood not only in the sense of their commonly defined meanings , but to include by special definition in this specification structure , material or acts beyond the scope of the commonly defined meanings . thus if an element can be understood in the context of this specification as including more than one meaning , then its use in a claim must be understood as being generic to all possible meanings supported by the specification and by the word itself . the definitions of the words or elements of the following claims are , therefore , defined in this specification to include not only the combination of elements which are literally set forth , but all equivalent structure , material or acts for performing substantially the same function in substantially the same way to obtain substantially the same result . in this sense it is therefore contemplated that an equivalent substitution of two or more elements may be made for any one of the elements in the claims below or that a single element may be substituted for two or more elements in a claim . although elements may be described above as acting in certain combinations and even initially claimed as such , it is to be expressly understood that one or more elements from a claimed combination can in some cases be excised from the combination and that the claimed combination may be directed to a subcombination or variation of a subcombination . insubstantial changes from the claimed subject matter as viewed by a person with ordinary skill in the art , now known or later devised , are expressly contemplated as being equivalently within the scope of the claims . therefore , obvious substitutions now or later known to one with ordinary skill in the art are defined to be within the scope of the defined elements . the claims are thus to be understood to include what is specifically illustrated and described above , what is conceptionally equivalent , what can be obviously substituted and also what essentially incorporates the essential idea of the embodiments .	0
referring to fig1 , a block diagram of a conventional menu presentation in an ivr system is shown . in the conventional menu presentation , the ivr system comprises a greeting 100 , presenting a menu 110 , and presenting requested item 120 where the presenting the menu 110 is repeated once the requested information 120 has been presented . the menu 110 comprises a play message 104 of “ press & lt ; key & gt ; for & lt ; name of item & gt ;”, which is repeated for each item until a key press of a key number for the desired item is detected 116 , there upon a user is sent to next task 118 . the next task may be a new list of items for play message 104 to play , but in due course , the requested item 120 is presented . referring to fig2 , a block diagram of a menu presentation in an ivr system in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown . the menu presentation of the ivr system comprises a greeting 200 , presenting a menu 210 , and presenting requested item 250 where presenting the menu 210 is repeated once the requested information 250 has been presented . the menu 210 comprises a play message 220 “ please press any upon hearing the item you desire ”, a play message 225 for a & lt ; name of item & gt ; is presented , and wait x seconds ( audio space ) 230 for any key press . after waiting x seconds ( audio space ) 230 , the play message 225 for the next item is presented . when a key press is detected 235 during the play message 225 and the associated audio space 230 , the item just played or being played by the play message 225 system is selected and the system goes to next task 240 . the next task 240 may be a new list of items for the play message 225 , but in due course , the requested information 250 is presented . an example menu presentation of fig2 is described , solely for purposes of illustration and is not intended to limit the scope of the invention , as follows : “ please press a key when you hear the service that you desire ” & lt ; item 1 & gt ; audio space & lt ; item 2 & gt ; audio space & lt ; item 3 & gt ; audio space & lt ; item 4 & gt ; audio space & lt ; repeat from item 1 & gt ; and present an option to exit the system or to transfer to a live operator after a set number of repetitions & lt ; requested item & gt ;. the audio space may be one second in length or other suitable time period . any key press during “& lt ; item #& gt ; audio space ” indicates selection of the “ item #”. thus , a user does not have to look at a keypad to press the right key , as there is no right key or wrong key ; every key is a right key . the keypad of a handset thus behaves as a computer mouse controller and selecting is accomplished by clicking . it is preferable that presentation of a menu be optimized to present more popular items first . an optimization algorithm may further use any identifying information of the caller , such as that from caller id or clid service , to present the items first which are mostly likely to be selected by the particular caller . the algorithm may be generated by collecting data on user selections and then statistically analyzing the collected data . further optimization for menu presentation include setting time to wait periods for audio spaces . the time to wait depends largely on expected user recognition of menus presented . this variable is tuned to meet the following criteria : giving users enough time to recognize and make a decision on a menu item just presented , and reducing the time it takes to present the menu so as to cover all items as quickly as possible . the goal is not to force the users to wait a long time before hearing the service he / she desires . the two criteria are somewhat diametrically opposed , the variable time to wait , x , may be tuned empirically . one possible way of tuning x is to deploy the service with a default value for x . then , each time a menu item is selected , the time it takes for the user to make his / her decision is collected . after many such samples as desired are collected , then the optimal value for x is statistically calculated for each menu item on the menu . thus , there may be a number of time to wait , x , settings for the menu items . in a further embodiment of the present invention , internet web pages are converted into audio format to facilitate access by devices without any display means . the links and hyperlinks are items in a web page to be presented with an audio space after each item . the links and hyperlinks are selected during their presentation and the audio space thereafter by any key press on the input device of the caller . an example of internet web page conversion is described and shown in fig3 solely for purposes of illustration and is not intended to limit the scope of the invention . as shown in fig3 , html hyperlinks are converted to ivr menu items programmatically with a conversion program where the program looks for html key words such as & lt ; title & gt ; or & lt ; a href . . . & gt ; and converts them to equivalent ivr function calls . as most html key words are followed by the text or label of that key word , which text is displayed on the web page for such things as the title of the page or the wording of a hyperlink , these texts are then translated into ivr phrases or messages . referring to fig4 , there is shown a block diagram of a menu presentation in an ivr system in accordance with a further embodiment using voice recognition . the menu presentation of the ivr system comprises a greeting 400 , presenting a menu 410 , and presenting requested item 450 where presenting the menu 410 is repeated once the requested information 450 has been presented . the menu 410 comprises a play message 420 “ please press any key or say yes upon hearing the item you desire . please say no to skip service ”, a play message 425 for a & lt ; name of item & gt ; is presented , and wait x seconds ( audio space ) 430 for any key press or voice detection of yes or no . after waiting x seconds ( audio space ) 430 or upon voice detection of a no , the play message 425 for the next item is presented . when a key press or a yes voice detection is detected 435 during the play message 425 or the associated audio space 430 , the item just played by the play message 425 system is selected and the system goes to next task 440 . the next task 440 may be a new list of items for the play message 425 , but in due course , the requested information 450 is presented . thus , by using a no to skip items , the speed of menu presentation can also be increased by users . alternately , selection of an item can on detection by a speech recognition device on recognition of a “ yes ” only or of any sound from a caller , which indicates a selection . alternately , an ivr system according to the present invention may also provide for pressing of a certain key to skip a play message and its audio space to the next play message . alternately , an ivr system or web page may also include a command to play back the last item . such a selection may be made by a caller pressing the * or # key of a touch - tone telephone and , in an embodiment with a speech recognition device , on recognition of the word “ back ” or similar command . although preferred embodiments of the invention have been described herein , it will be understood by those skilled in the art that variations may be made thereto without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims .	7
the present invention relates generally to solar energy techniques . in particular , the present invention provides a method for fabricating integrated concentrator photovoltaic elements molded together within one or more substrate members and a resulting device fabricated from the integrated concentrator photovoltaic elements . more particularly , the present invention provides a method and system for manufacturing photovoltaic cells with lowered costs and increased efficiencies . merely by way of example , the invention has been applied to solar panels , commonly termed modules , but it would be recognized that the invention has a much broader range of applicability . according to an embodiment , the present invention provides a method and system for manufacturing arrays of integrated molded concentrator element photovoltaic cells . an exemplary method and system includes molding and coupling an array of solar concentrators to an array of photovoltaic cells or modules . the descriptions and diagrams provided in this document show the invention through specific embodiments merely by way of examples , and should not be taken unduly to limit the scope of the invention . for example , merely by way of example , the invention has been applied to solar panels , commonly termed modules , but it would be recognized that the invention has a much broader range of applicability . one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize many variations , modifications , and alternatives . fig1 shows a simplified diagram illustrating a solar panel 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention . as shown , the solar panel includes a front cover 101 overlaying a plurality of photovoltaic component 150 . the photovoltaic component can include a back cover , an array of photovoltaic strips or photovoltaic elements , and an encapsulant . details on the encapsulant is described throughout the present specification and specifically in fig5 . in a preferred embodiment , front cover 101 includes an array of concentrating elements 105 coupled to each of the respective photovoltaic elements . an exemplary array of concentrating elements 105 may be characterized by a first length characterizing a dimensional extent of a unit along a first direction 107 and a second length characterizing the size of the gap separating each unit of concentrating element from each other along a second direction 108 . according to an aspect of the current invention , a portion of front cover 101 includes light concentrators that may be molded onto an array of photovoltaic cells to form an array of integrated concentrator photovoltaic cells . depending upon the specific embodiments , the front cover member may be created rigid and made of a polymer material , a glass material , a multilayered construction , etc . according to an embodiment , a rigid front cover member can be manufactured by one of a variety of processes including injection , transfer , compression , or extrusion . according to a specific embodiment , the front cover member is optically transparent and can be characterized by an index of refraction . in a specific embodiment , the front cover member can have an index of refraction of about 1 . 4 or greater . an exemplary front cover member may be provided by a material with a light transmissivity of 88 % or greater . according to another specific embodiment , a front cover member may be provided by a material with a light absorption of 4 % or less . other variations , modifications , and alternatives as contemplated by a person of ordinary skill in the art also exist . fig2 shows a simplified diagram illustrating several perspectives of the front cover member and the array of concentrating elements . according to a current embodiment , the front cover is illustrated by a side view v 1 , a top view v 2 , and a cross section view v 3 across section “ b - b ,” and a close - up profile view v 4 including two concentrating elements . of course there can be other variations , modifications , and alternatives . fig3 shows a simplified diagram illustrating a view of a front cover 101 with a plurality of concentrating elements 105 according to an embodiment of the present invention . this figure also includes a close - up of side profile of a concentrating element 200 . as shown , an exemplary concentrating element includes a trapezoidal shaped member , where the trapezoidal shaped member has a bottom surface 201 coupled to a pyramidal shaped region that defined by a lower surface 205 and an upper surface 207 . according to the embodiment , the trapezoidal shaped member has an upper surface region 209 which may be co - extensive of front cover 101 . in a specific embodiment , each concentrator element 200 may be spatially disposed to be parallel to each other , according to a specific embodiment . an exemplary concentration element 200 also includes a first reflective side 207 and an aperture region 209 . according to an embodiment , a “ trapezoidal ” or “ pyramidal ” shaped member includes embodiments with straight , curved , or a combination of straight and curved walls . for example , the trapezoidal or pyramidal surfaces defined by surfaces 205 and 207 may be curved and not necessarily straight as illustrated in fig3 . also , depending upon the specific embodiment , the concentrating elements may be located near the front cover , integrated as part of the front cover , or be coupled to the front cover . according to a preferred embodiment , the front cover and concentrating elements are molded and integrated with photovoltaic members , where the integrated unit is adapted to convert light energy into electrical energy . fig4 shows a simplified diagram of a concentrator element according to an embodiment of the present invention . the concentrator element has an aperture region 220 where light enters the concentrator element and an exit region 230 where light exists . it shows how light rays entering a concentrator may be reflected and directed toward exist region 230 . due to inefficiencies , some of the energy of light entering aperture region 220 may not exit the concentrator through exit region 230 . in a specific embodiment , the efficiencies of a concentrator element to direct light from the aperture toward the exist region can be 90 % or higher . according to a specific embodiment , the concentrating element is characterized by a light entrance aperture area 220 and a light exit area 230 where the ratio of light exit area to light entrance aperture area is about 0 . 8 or less . by way of example , a concentrating element may have light exit area to light entrance aperture area ratio of about 0 . 5 . according to an embodiment , a concentrating element has a height . an exemplary concentrating element has a height of about 7 mm or less . according to another embodiment , the concentrating element may be characterized by a surface roughness that correlates with the reflectivity of the surface . according to a specific embodiment , a first reflective side 240 and a second reflective side 260 of a concentrating element may be characterized by a surface roughness of about 120 nanometers rms and less . according to another specific embodiment , the surface roughness can have a dimension value of about 10 % of a wavelength of a light entering the aperture regions . an exemplary first reflective side and the second reflective side may be adapted to provide for total internal reflection of light entering the aperture region . of course there can be other variations , modifications , and alternatives . according to another specific embodiment , an exemplary concentrating element is characterized by reflectivity , durability , and refractivity of one or more coatings on one or more of its surface regions . an exemplary concentrating element includes an anti - reflective coating for improved efficiency . another exemplary concentrating element includes coatings for improving durability of the concentrating element . another exemplary concentrating element includes coatings having a refractive index of about 1 . 45 or greater . of course , there can be other variations , modifications , and alternatives . fig5 shows a simplified diagram of a concentrator unit integrated with a photovoltaic unit according to an embodiment of the present invention . according to an exemplary embodiment , an integrated molded concentrator photovoltaic element includes a molded concentrator 200 , an encapsulant 305 , an energy conversion element ( or photovoltaic element , for example , a photovoltaic strip ) 310 , and a bus bar 320 . in a preferred embodiment , the concentrator 200 is molded directly onto the photovoltaic element . an exemplary integrated concentrator is preferably adapted to efficiently concentrate the light collected at aperture region 220 to exit region 230 coupled to the photovoltaic member , for example a photovoltaic strip in a specific embodiment . the bus bar 320 is provided to conduct electric energy generated to an external load in a preferred embodiment . according to an embodiment , an encapsulant layer 305 may be provided to compensate for a difference in thermal expansivity between the concentrator material and the photovoltaic material . encapsulant layer 305 may also provide an improved transmission efficiency of light from the concentrator element 200 to the photovoltaic strip 310 . an exemplary concentrator additionally include one or more pocket regions facing a first reflective side or a second reflective side characterized by a refractive index of about 1 in a specific embodiment . according to a specific embodiment , the pocket regions can be configured to allow a total internal reflection of light within a volume of the concentrator element and an efficient transmission of light from the aperture region to the exit region . depending upon the embodiment , the concentrator element may be made of one of several suitable materials . the concentrator element can be made of a polymer , glass , or other optically transparent materials , or a combination of all these materials . a suitable material can be one that is environmentally stable , a material that can preferably withstand environmental temperatures , weather , and other “ outdoor ” conditions . of course there can be other variations , modifications , an alternatives fig6 a is a simplified diagram illustrating a method for manufacturing an integrated concentrator photovoltaic element using a mold member according to an embodiment of the present invention . fig6 b - 6d illustrate the results of an exemplary photovoltaic member being manufactured following the steps of fig6 a . fig6 b shows an exemplary photovoltaic member 300 before a concentrator is molded and integrated . according to an embodiment , the photovoltaic member includes an encapsulant layer 305 , a photovoltaic strip or element 310 for converting light energy into electrical energy , and a bus bar or conducting element 320 for conducting electrical energy away from the photovoltaic strip or element 310 . as shown , each of the photovoltaic member is separated by an isolation material 330 . fig6 c shows a simplified diagram of the structure of an integrated concentrator as it is being manufactured . fig6 d shows a simplified diagram of a product manufactured by the exemplary process . according to an exemplary embodiment , an exemplary method for manufacturing an integrated concentrator photovoltaic element includes providing a first mold member 350 and photovoltaic member 300 coupled to the first mold member . the method includes coupling photovoltaic member 300 to first mold member 350 and forming a volume 360 bounded in part by photovoltaic member 300 and first mold member 350 . the method includes transferring an optical material 370 to volume 360 to substantially fill volume 360 . the method includes a step for curing optical material 370 transferred to the volume to cause the formation of one or more concentrator elements 200 coupled to each of the photovoltaic element 310 , as shown in fig6 d . an exemplary integrated molded concentrator photovoltaic element 390 produced from the method described above is illustrated . the method includes a step for releasing photovoltaic member 300 and optical material 370 from first mold member 350 . depending on the specific embodiment , the step for releasing may come before , after or during the process of curing the optical material . depending on the specific embodiment , the releasing of the photovoltaic member from the first mold member may involve one of several approaches . according to a preferred embodiment , a vacuum can be applied to a top surface of the integrated concentrator photovoltaic device whereby the vacuum is used to pull the concentrator photovoltaic device from the first mold member . in a specific embodiment , the vacuum may be applied using a plurality of suction cups . preferably , the vacuum is applied uniformly across the entire top surface . of course there can be other variations , modifications , and alternatives . fig6 d shows two units of an integrated molded concentrator photovoltaic element after the device has been released . an exemplary integrated molded concentrator photovoltaic unit may include a light concentrator component 200 , an encapsulant layer 305 , a photovoltaic element 310 , a conducting element or bus bar 320 , and a non - optical component 330 separating the integrated concentrator photovoltaic units from each other . fig7 a shows a simplified diagram illustrating a method for manufacturing an integrated concentrator photovoltaic element using two mold members according to an embodiment of the present invention . fig7 b shows a simplified diagram of an exemplary molding apparatus that can be used for practicing the exemplary process described in fig7 a . fig7 b also represents a simplified diagram of an exemplary photovoltaic member undergoing the exemplary process described in fig7 a . according to an embodiment , a method for manufacturing integrated concentrator photovoltaic elements includes providing a first mold member 350 and a second mold member 352 . the method includes providing a photovoltaic member 390 coupled to first mold member 350 . as shown in fig7 b , the method includes forming a volume 362 bounded in part by photovoltaic member 390 , first mold member 350 , and second mold member 352 . according to the embodiment , the method includes a step for transferring optical material 370 to volume 362 to substantially fill volume 362 . the method includes a step for curing optical material 370 transferred to volume 362 to cause the formation of a concentrator element 200 coupled to photovoltaic member 390 . the method includes a step for releasing a photovoltaic member 390 including the concentrator element from first mold member 350 and second mold member 352 . depending on the specific embodiment , the step for releasing may come before , after or during the process of curing optical material 370 . according to a specific embodiment , isolation material 330 is provided to separate units of an integrated molded concentrator photovoltaic element . isolation material may or may not be released or removed depending on the application . if isolations material 330 is not released or removed , an integrated molded concentrator photovoltaic element similar to the one illustrated in fig6 d is produced , according to an embodiment . if isolations material 330 is released or removed , an integrated molded concentrator photovoltaic element similar to the one illustrated in fig7 c is produced , according to another embodiment . of course there can be other variations , modifications , and alternatives . fig7 c shows a simplified diagram illustrating two integrated concentrator photovoltaic units separated by a gap region 334 separating according to an embodiment of the present invention . an exemplary unit of integrated molded concentrator photovoltaic element 390 includes a light concentrator component 200 , an encapsulant layer 305 , a photovoltaic strip or element 310 , a bus bar or energy conducting element 320 , and a gap region 334 separating the integrated concentrator photovoltaic units . an exemplary gap region may be created when isolating material 330 is released or removed in a specific embodiment . of course , there can be other variations , modifications , and alternatives . depending on the specific embodiment , the releasing of the photovoltaic member may involve one of several approaches . according to a preferred embodiment , a vacuum may be applied to a top surface of the integrated concentrator photovoltaic device whereby the vacuum is used to pull the concentrator photovoltaic device from the first mold member . in one embodiment , the vacuum may be applied using a plurality of suction cups . in a specific embodiment , the vacuum is applied uniformly across the entire top surface . of course , there can be other variations , modifications , and alternatives . fig8 shows a simplified diagram illustrating a method for manufacturing an integrated concentrator photovoltaic element using a two - stage molding process to create a plurality or array of photovoltaic units according to an embodiment of the present invention . fig9 a - 9f show a series of simplified diagrams illustrating the various stages of manufacturing an array of photovoltaic units using an exemplary two - stage molding process . according to an embodiment , an exemplary method includes providing a first mold member 410 , a second mold member 420 , and a third mold member 430 . the method includes providing a photovoltaic member 440 coupled to first mold member 410 . the method includes coupling third mold member 430 with first mold member 410 to form a first volume 450 bounded by photovoltaic member 440 , first mold member 410 , and third mold member 430 . the method includes transferring an isolations material 375 to first volume 450 to substantially fill first volume 450 . the method includes releasing third mold member 430 and coupling second mold member 420 with first mold member 410 to form a second volume 460 . the method includes transferring an optical material 370 into the second volume 460 to substantially fill the second volume 460 . the method includes curing the optical material 370 to cause the formation of a concentrator element 200 coupled to the photovoltaic member and releasing the integrated concentrator - photovoltaic member 480 from the first mold member 410 and from the second mold member 420 . the order in which the curing and the releasing may differ depending on the specific embodiment . for example , according to one embodiment , releasing and curing steps may occur concurrently . according to another embodiment , the releasing step occurs before the curing process . according to yet another embodiment , the curing process occurs before the releasing step . whether the isolations material is released or removed also depends on the specific embodiment . for example , according to an embodiment where the isolations material is not released or removed , a device 480 similar to one depicted in fig9 e results . according to another embodiment where the isolations material is released or removed from structure 480 , an integrated concentrator - photovoltaic device 485 similar to one depicted in fig9 f results . other variations of the processes are possible . for example , instead of providing photovoltaic member 440 for the process , a photovoltaic member 300 ( of fig6 b ) with pre - built isolating units 330 may be provided instead . in that case , a first step to for preparing an isolations layer 375 may not be needed . depending on the specific embodiment , the releasing of the photovoltaic member may involve one of several approaches . according to a preferred embodiment , the approach may involve the application of a vacuum to a top surface of the integrated concentrator photovoltaic device whereby the vacuum is used to pull the concentrator photovoltaic device from the manufacturing mold . in one embodiment , the vacuum may be applied through a plurality of suction cups . according to another embodiment , the vacuum may be applied by uniformly across the entire top surface . the invention disclosed here have been described in terms of specific embodiments and examples . additional details and variations regarding the method may be provided without deviating from the spirit and scope of the invention . for example , regarding the embodiment shown in fig9 a , an exemplary photovoltaic member 440 needs not have an encapsulant layer 305 prefabricated . encapsulant layer 305 may be introduced onto photovoltaic member 440 as part of the process . for example , before the introduction of an optical material shown in fig9 c , an encapsulant material may be introduced to form an encapsulating layer . alternatively , an encapsulant layer may be introduced and physically bonded to the photovoltaic member before the introduction of the optical material . other variations may be made in the methods to manufacture integrated molded concentrator photovoltaic devices without deviating from the spirit and scopes of the embodiments disclosed . according to a specific embodiment , various steps may be added to the method to incorporate additional components to an integrated concentrator photovoltaic device . for example , in the method disclosed in fig6 a , fig7 a , and fig8 , a series of steps may be added to integrate a sheet of specialized optical glass and / or environmental shield after the step to transfer an optical material and before curing the optical material . according to an exemplary embodiment , a sheet of glass such as a solite asahi glass is provided for and bonded to a yet to be uncured optical material before the curing step . an exemplary sheet of solite asahi glass may be between 3 . 2 and 4 mm . according to the embodiment , when the optical material is cured , the sheet of solite asahi glass become permanently bonded and integrated into the molded concentrator photovoltaic device . still other variations exist . as additional examples , the curing process may include any of several types of curing including thermal , chemical , mechanical , and radiation based curing . according to a specific embodiment , the curing processes disclosed in application ser . no . 11 / 753546 filed may 24 , 2007 are herein incorporated by reference . it is understood that the examples and embodiments described herein are for illustrative purposes only . various modifications or changes in light thereof will be suggested to persons skilled in the art . all these are considered to be included within the spirit and purview of this application and scope of the appended claims	7
in fig1 appears a relatively simple , two - dimensional embodiment of the sensor of the present invention . an inner body 1 is supported by means of piezoelectric foils ( i . e ., a support structure ) 3 in a frame 2 , and non - appearing signal wires connected to respective sides of a foil 3 ( which are oppositely polarizable ) are able to deliver electrical signals generated when the foils are subject to deformation due to a shift of the inner body 1 relative to a relaxed center position . the figure shows three foils tautened in a hexagonal opening , but one single foil may be used , or a larger number of foils may be used . the choice of inner body will depend on the use field of the sensor . the inner body may , in uses including recording from soft surfaces , consist of plastic or silicone rubber with various shore values . in other applications , industrial diamond material may be used . combinations of material and geometrical shapes of the inner body are important . the inner body may also include openings to provide a possibility for air passage therethrough , for example in microphone applications . the foils may be attached between two metallic frame parts that are insulated from each other and possibly from other frame parts along the periphery , so that signals can be collected from the metallic frame parts . when foils 3 are used as indicated in fig1 the stretch directions of the foils may be along the longitudinal direction for each foil strip . this provides an opportunity to collect a higher , summed total signal compared to the case of only one single foil , either as a strip across the opening , or as a complete “ diaphragm ” covering the whole opening . centering of the inner body 1 is not necessary , and one may visualize embodiments with an inner body arranged in an eccentric ( non - centered ) position as shown in fig7 . in addition , the shape of frame 2 is not crucial , as long as the frame is rigid and suitable for attaching the piezoelectric foils . such a two - dimensional sensor will clearly be most sensitive with regard to force or vibratory influence in a direction perpendicular to the plane spanned by the sensor . however , it will also be possible ( when using several foils with separate signal wires ) to sense a force in the support plane , i . e ., lateral movement of the inner body . thus , “ two - dimensional ” as used herein means that the sensor extends in a two - dimensional geometric plane , as shown in fig1 - 4 . in contrast , the term “ three - dimensional ” as used herein refers to a sensor that extends in three dimensions , such as those shown in fig5 and 6 . fig2 shows the same embodiment as in fig1 but the whole basic sensor is suspended in an ( second ) outer frame 5 . the suspension is by means of elastic elements 4 , such as rubber elements , and such an embodiment of the invention will be particularly favorable when using the sensor as a sensor element in a microphone . the main purpose of the outer frame 5 is noise attenuation , i . e ., attenuation of noise in the form of vibrations that may bring the piezo elements of the sensor into oscillation . when the sensor is attached to an outer frame 5 , there will be two oscillatory systems , of which the inner system is the sensor itself . the design must then give the outer system a resonant frequency that is low relative to the resonant frequency of the inner system comprising inner ( first ) frame / piezoelectric suspension structure / inner body . the frame - will then work as a low pass filter . this relates primarily to the two - dimensional solution . further , it will be of great importance whether it is the first frame 2 or the inner body 1 that is supposed to oscillate in relation to the surroundings . ideally , it is desirable to maintain the first frame 2 at rest in relation to the surroundings , while the inner body oscillates relative to the frame . in practice , the suspension of the sensor frame will normally provide “ good ” acoustic coupling between the surroundings and the sensor elements , and normally this is not desirable . generally , the mass of the inner body will influence the characteristic ( the frequency response ) most strongly , but design and material choice will also be of importance regarding the coupling between the “ sensed medium ” and the sensor . due to the coupled oscillatory systems , the characteristic must be optimized as a function of mass ratios , stiffnesses etc . in an application in a microphone that is supposed to be good at high frequencies , the oscillations in the air will bring the suspension diaphragms ( see fig4 ) into oscillation , and the frame 2 will then oscillate around the inner body 1 . in such a case , the vibrating part of the sensor must be as light as possible . fig3 shows an alternative embodiment of the sensor in accordance with the invention , still in a two - dimensional version . an inner body 1 is suspended in a number of sector - shaped ( wedge - shaped ) piezoelectric foils 3 constituting a support structure . preferably , the stretch direction for every foil sector is arranged in the same manner in relation to the radius in the respective position ( for example , pointing substantially in a radial direction ). there are small openings ( i . e ., gaps ) between foils in this case , which in connection with use in a microphone , for example , may be favorable regarding air passage through the openings . moreover , connection of signal leads is made in a similar manner as mentioned regarding fig1 and it appears that it may be possible to achieve high sum voltages with appropriate coupling of signal leads from each respective foil sector , if this is desirable . alternatively , separate signals can be collected from each respective sector . fig4 shows suspension in an outer ( second ) frame 5 in the same manner as in fig2 . however , in this case the suspension structures are elastic , sector - shaped diaphragms made of , for example , rubber . fig5 shows an embodiment of a three - dimensional type . the inner body 1 is held suspended at the center of a spherical frame 2 by means of piezoelectric foil pieces ( i . e ., a support structure ) 3 arranged in such a manner that a relative shifting of the inner body 1 , or a rotation for that matter , will be detectable by means of voltages created in the foils 3 . the voltages can be collected by means of ( not shown ) signal wires connected to the two sides of the foil pieces projecting out through the frame . of course , frame 2 does not have to be spherical , nor does it need to be closed , but it is important that it is rigid , in order to constitute a reference for the position of the inner body . fig6 shows a similar design , but the piezoelectric foils have been replaced by filaments . the filaments are either a piezoelectric type with a function corresponding to the foil pieces in fig5 or the filaments are taut and substantially inelastic , but attached to piezoelectric areas 6 of the frame 2 . in other words , the frame itself has respective piezoelectric areas at suspension positions on the frame for the taut filaments ( which constitute the support structure ). these piezoelectric areas generate voltages depending on the translation or rotation of the inner body relative to frame 2 . such a three - dimensional force / vibration sensor as shown in fig5 and fig6 is based upon a rigid coupling between the frame and the body for which force or possibly acceleration shall be measured . thus , the inertia of the inner body will create the measurable voltages in the suspension structures 3 ( foil or filaments ) or in their piezoelectric attachment areas . hence , with signal leads coupled to suitable processing equipment , such an acceleration / vibration sensor may constitute a main element in , for example , an inertia navigation system . also the three - dimensional embodiments shown in fig5 and 6 can be suspended in an outer framework via an elastic material ( such as rubber ) in two or three dimensions . the foil pieces shown in the embodiment of fig5 may come in other shapes , such as sector - like or possibly as approximations to full circle areas , and the planes to be spanned do not necessarily have to be orthogonal like in the figure . in addition , foil materials or filament materials are not the only possible materials in this application , and the suspension structures between the inner body and fumes may possibly be piezoelectric bimorph elements or similar elements . the invention is also intended to accommodate the variant that has already been mentioned , namely the variant with suspension structures that are not piezoelectric , but attached to piezoelectric areas of the framework .	1
to increase dynamic range in charge amplifiers , three methods are proposed : a multiple - gain method , a current charge - pump method , and a capacitive charge - pump method . this method includes progressively reducing the gain by adding in parallel to c one or more capacitors c j through switches s j , as shown in fig2 and described in greater detail in v . bonvicini , g . orzan , g . zampa , “ casis10 : a prototype vlsi front - end asic with ultra - large dynamic range and integrated adc for silicon calorimetry in space experiments ,” nucl . instrum . methods , a 572 , pp . 340 - 344 , 2007 , which is incorporated herein by reference . if the output voltage v exceeds a threshold v th , a logic circuit 12 enables a first capacitor c 1 to reduce the gain from 1 / c to 1 /( c + c 1 ). if after enabling c 1 , v does not fall below the threshold , the logic circuit 12 enables connects a second capacitor c 2 , reducing the gain to 1 /( c + c 1 + c 2 ). this sequence continues for an arbitrary number of capacitors until v falls below the threshold . the closed switches preferably define the charge - to - voltage conversion gain to be applied to the resulting voltage v . the values of the capacitors c j are preferably chosen to cover the dynamic range of interest . when the switch s j is open , the terminal of the capacitor c j can be connected either to the input or to ground , the latter is preferred to avoid charge injection from switches connected to the input . the disadvantage of this method is that the reduction in gain limits the signal - to - noise ratio to that achievable with the configuration shown in fig1 . accordingly , with one capacitor , the maximum signal - to - noise ratio is given by likewise , with n capacitors , the maximum dynamic range is identically given by this method includes subtracting charge by enabling a controlled current source of value i p for fixed time intervals δt j , as shown in fig3 and described in greater detail in e . kraft , p . fisher , m . karagounis , m . koch , h . krueger , i . peric , n . wermes , c . herrmann , a . nascetti , m . overdick , and w . ruetten , “ counting and integrating readout for direct conversion x - ray imaging : concept , realization and first prototype measurements ,” ieee trans . nucl . sci ., vol . 54 , pp . 383 - 390 , 2007 , which is incorporated herein by reference . if the output voltage v exceeds a threshold v th , the logic circuit 14 generates a first control pulse having a duration δt 1 , which subtracts a fixed charge q p1 = i p δt 1 . if after the first control pulse v does not fall below the threshold , the logic circuit 14 generates a second control pulse of duration δt 2 , which subtracts another fixed charge q p2 = i p δt 2 . this sequence continues until v falls below the threshold . the number and duration of pulses defines the charge to be added to that measured from the resulting voltage v . the disadvantage of this method is the length of time required for the entire integration to be performed , which is derived from the requirement concerning the accuracy of δt . if q p = i p δt is the subtracted charge and σ t is the time jitter on δt , the noise associated with the charge subtraction is given by σ q = σ t i p = σ t q p / δt . the noise can then be reduced by increasing δt , but the duration of the integration increases accordingly . this method includes subtracting amounts of charge by charging and discharging a capacitor c p , as shown in fig4 and described in further detail in g . mazza , r . cirio , m . donetti , a . la rose , a . luparia , f . marchetto , and c . peroni , “ a 64 - channel wide dynamic range charge measurement asic for strip and pixel ionization detectors ,” ieee trans . nucl . sci , vol . 52 , pp . 847 - 853 , 2005 , which is incorporated herein by reference . the reference voltage v ref is assumed to be equal to the amplifier input voltage . if the output voltage v exceeds a threshold v th , a logic circuit 16 generates a first cycle of control pulses that opens switches s 1 and s 2 and closes switches s 3 and s 4 , which subtracts a fixed charge q = v dd / c p . if after the first cycle of control pulses , v does not fall below the threshold , the logic circuit 16 generates a second cycle of control pulses , which subtracts another fixed charge q . this sequence continues for an arbitrary number of control pulses until v falls below the threshold . the number of control cycles defines the charge to be added to that measured from the resulting voltage v . the disadvantage of this method is that it requires a switch connected to the input node of the charge amplifier . as a consequence , parasitic charge is injected during the switching activity . fig5 shows a preferred embodiment of a charge amplifier formed in accordance with the present invention . the charge amplifier includes an operational amplifier 20 , which is responsive to an applied charge source 22 and outputs a voltage to a signal processing circuit 24 . a capacitor 26 is electronically coupled in parallel with the operational amplifier 20 , that is , the capacitor 26 is connected across the anode and cathode of the operational amplifier 20 . another capacitor 28 is electronically coupled in series between the anode of the operational amplifier 20 and a bank of switches s 1b 32 and s 1a 30 with common input . yet another capacitor 34 is shown connected ( similarly to capacitor 28 ) electrically in series between the anode of operational amplifier 20 and a bank of switches s 2a 36 and s 2b 38 . the logic circuit 18 preferably controls each of the switches s 1a 30 , s 1b 32 , s 2a 36 , and s 2b 38 . one input of a comparator 40 is preferably connected to the cathode of the operational amplifier 20 , and a remaining input of comparator 40 is connected to a threshold voltage v th . the output of comparator 40 is then provided to the logic circuit 18 . the method in accordance with the present invention subtracts amounts of charge by using a number of additional capacitors c j controlled through switches s ja and s jb , as shown in fig5 . if the output voltage v exceeds a threshold voltage v th , the logic circuit 18 , by opening s 1a and closing s 1b , routes the terminal of a first capacitor c 1 from a first fixed voltage v 1 ( which is preferably ground , as shown in fig5 ) to a higher fixed voltage v 2 ( preferably the supply v dd shown in fig5 ), thereby subtracting a charge c 1 ( v 2 − v 1 ) ( c 1 v dd in the case of fig5 ). if after the first subtraction v does not fall below the threshold , the logic circuit 18 preferably performs a second subtraction c 2 ( v 2 − v 1 ) through a second capacitor c 2 . this sequence continues until v does fall below the threshold . the number of subtractions , along with the associated c j , defines the charge to be added to that measured from the resulting voltage v . the values of the capacitors c j are chosen to cover the dynamic range of interest . the configuration shown in fig5 is intended for measuring positive charges . a configuration for measuring negative charges can also be realized by inverting vdd and ground at each of the switches s ja and s jb in fig5 ). for example , switch s 1a 30 is connected to the higher fixed voltage v 2 , which is preferably v dd , and switch s 1b 32 is connected to the lower fixed voltage v 1 , which is preferably ground , as shown in fig6 . fig7 shows a flow chart of the method for use in accordance with a charge amplifier configuration shown in fig5 . each of these switches , as designated by j = 1 to n , where n is the total number of s a switches and total number of s b switches , is initiated by closing the s ja switches for j = 1 to n and opening the s jb switches for j = 1 to n in step 42 . j , an index variable , is then initialized to 0 in step 44 and the charge to be determined is inputted in step 46 . if v is greater than v th in step 48 , then j is incremented by 1 instead of 50 . vs a switch corresponding to the current value of j is then opened , and the vs b switch corresponding to the current value of j is closed in step 52 and the voltage v is then checked against the v th in step 48 . if the voltage v is not greater than v th in step 48 , the measured charge is applied to the signal processing circuit in step 54 . the subtracted charged is then calculated in step 56 using the following equation : the subtracted charge calculated in step 56 is then added to the measured charge determined in step 54 to determine the total charge in step 58 . as an example , if the total charge were q = 1 . 1 pc ( picocoulombs ), cj = 0 . 1pf , and v2 − v1 = 2 . 5v , then four ( 4 ) subtractions would be required , each being of 0 . 25 coulombs , yielding a subtracted charge of 1 . 0 picocoulombs and a measured charge of 0 . 1 picocoulombs . thus , the method of the present invention advantageously increases the dynamic range of a charge amplifier without requiring accurate timing signals or switches connected to the input of the charge amplifier . the present invention also provides the advantage of a signal - to - noise ratio that is not limited to that achievable using the configuration shown in fig1 . in the case of fig5 and assuming identical cj , for a given charge q , the resulting voltage is given by v = q / c − nv dd where n is the number of subtractions . the maximum signal - to - noise ration or dynamic range is then effectively given by although illustrative embodiments of the present invention have been described herein with reference to the accompanying drawing , it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to those precise embodiments , and that various other changes and modifications may be effected therein by one skilled in the art without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention .	6
referring to fig1 the numeral 10 generally designates a flush sprinkler head assembly of the present invention especially suitable for side wall mounting . sprinkler head assembly 10 mounts in an opening 11 provided in a side wall s and includes an improved movable deflector assembly 22 ( fig3 ) and trigger assembly 24 ( fig3 ) which results in a quicker response when the sprinkler is exposed to a temperature of a preselected value which is associated with a fire and an improved trajectory of a fire extinguishing fluid , for example water . henceforth , reference will be made to water as the fire extinguishing fluid , but it will be understood by those skilled in the art that other fire extinguishing fluids or fire suppressants may be used . referring to fig2 sprinkler head assembly 10 includes a housing 12 and a sprinkler head body 12 a to which housing 12 is mounted , for example by welding or other suitable means . housing 12 and sprinkler head body 12 a are preferably metal components and , more preferably , brass components . sprinkler head body 12 a includes a first threaded portion 14 for coupling to a pressurized water supply system and a second threaded portion 18 which defines a cavity 20 for housing deflector assembly 22 and trigger assembly 24 ( fig3 ). body 12 a further includes a transverse passage 16 which extends through body 12 a and defines an inlet opening 16 a at first threaded portion 14 and an outlet opening 16 b recessed in cavity 20 ( fig6 and 7 ). deflector assembly 22 and trigger assembly 24 are mounted to sprinkler head body 12 a and recessed within cavity 20 during a non - activated state , as will be more fully described below . mounted to threaded portion 18 is a cover 26 which threadingly engages threaded portion 18 . cover 26 provides a mounting flange and conceals opening 11 when sprinkler head assembly is mounted to side wall s . preferably , body 12 a also includes a pair of mounting members or tabs 29 which abut against the inner surface of side wall s ( fig2 ). thus , when cover 26 is threaded on to threaded portion 18 , sidewall s is compressed between tabs 29 and cover 26 to secure sprinkler head assembly 10 in place . referring to fig3 - 11 , deflector assembly 22 is movably mounted to sprinkler head body 12 a along a horizontal axis and includes a deflector 30 . similar to housing 12 and body 12 a , deflector assembly 22 is preferably a metal assembly , with deflector 30 preferably comprising a brass deflector . when sprinkler head assembly 10 is installed , deflector 30 moves generally horizontally between a retracted or inactive position within cavity 20 in which deflector 30 is preferably completely contained or recessed in cavity 20 and an extended or active position in which deflector 30 is spaced from outlet opening 16 b to disperse the water which flows from outlet opening 16 b . deflector 30 includes a body 35 with a plurality of radially of extending legs or arms 36 which disperse the water and alter the trajectory of the water as it flows from outlet opening 16 b when deflector 30 is moved to its extended position . also projecting outwardly from body 35 of deflector 30 are a pair of radial mounting arms 38 a , 38 b , and 38 c ( fig5 and 8 ) to which a corresponding plurality of guide pins 40 are mounted for movably mounting deflector 30 to body 12 a of sprinkler assembly 10 . in preferred form , deflector 30 is movably mounted to body 12 a by at least three guide pins in order to provide increased support and stability of deflector 30 . as best seen in fig6 and 7 , guide pins 40 extend into respective passages 41 formed in body 12 a and include stops 40 a to limit their movement through passages 41 from the fully retracted position wherein deflector assembly 22 is fully recessed in cavity 20 to the fully extended position wherein deflector 30 is spaced from outlet opening 16 b . as best seen in fig8 and 11 , radially projecting arms 38 a and 38 b are interconnected by a semi - annular support member 42 . support member 42 includes a pair of arms 43 a and 43 b , which extend upwardly from arms 38 a and 38 b when sprinkler head assembly 10 is installed , and a first blade member 44 which projects outwardly from arms 43 a and 43 b , away from outlet opening 16 b . blade member 44 includes a deflecting surface 44 ′ which is spaced from the outlet opening 16 and is oriented generally parallel to the longitudinal or central axis 16 c of passage 16 to direct the flow of water outwardly and downwardly from outlet opening 16 b . furthermore , blade member 44 is preferably spaced from and oriented generally parallel to arms 38 a and 38 b . in the illustrated embodiment , blade member 44 is generally rectangular and preferably includes a straight free edge 44 a and a rearwardly projecting portion 44 b which extends toward outlet opening 16 b to improve the downward deflection of the water ; however , it should be understood that blade member 44 can have other shapes and / or configurations to produce a similar downward redirection of the water from the outlet opening . in preferred form , blade member 44 is formed from a segment of support member 42 which is rotated , for example by stamping , to a position generally parallel direction to the flow of water in passage 16 . in addition , blade 44 is sized to permit deflector assembly 22 to be fully recessed within sprinkler head body 12 a . in this manner , when water flows from outlet opening 16 a and is initially dispersed in a radial manner , as will be more fully described below , the water will impinge on deflector surface 44 ′ and be redirected downward from sprinkler assembly 10 . supported on body 35 is a second blade member 46 which includes a deflection surface 46 ′ for similarly redirecting the flow of water from outlet opening 16 b outwardly and downwardly . together with projecting arms 36 , blade members 44 and 46 alter the trajectory of the water as it flows out of outlet opening 16 b in a generally outwardly and downwardly direction which is particularly desirable in a side wall mounting application . referring to fig8 , and 11 , blade member 46 includes a blade element 46 a and a mounting portion 48 for mounting blade member onto deflector 30 . mounting portion 48 preferably includes a pair of locating members 48 a and 48 b which straddle a central portion 35 a of body 35 and abut upper sides 38 ′ of radially extending legs 38 a and 38 b . when mounted to body 35 , mounting portion 48 positions blade element 46 a of blade member 46 spaced from longitudinal axis 16 c and in a generally parallel orientation to the direction of flow of fluid from outlet 16 b similar to blade member 44 and , further , is preferably spaced from axis 16 c on the same side as blade member 44 . in preferred form , blade element 46 a includes a generally rectangular body which defines deflecting surface 46 ′ and which includes a radiused notch or central cut - out portion 49 at its free edge 46 a ′ ( fig1 ) and , further , is sized to permit deflector assembly 22 to be fully recessed within sprinkler head body 12 a . when mounted to central portion 35 a of deflector body 35 , end portions 46 b and 46 c of blade member 46 extend over support member 42 of deflector 30 . preferably , when seated on body 35 , blade member 46 extends between arms 43 a and 43 b , and positioning members 48 a and 48 b align blade element 46 a generally parallel to and spaced from blade member 44 so that together blade members 44 and 46 redirect the flow of water outwardly and downwardly from sprinkler assembly 10 . as best seen in fig8 - 11 , projecting legs 36 of deflector 30 are bent and twisted in a manner to disperse or divert the flow of water from the outlet opening 16 b in a generally radial pattern so that sprinkler assembly 10 will disperse water over a large area and yet provide sufficient coverage to extinguish a fire . preferably , outermost projecting members 36 a are twisted about their respective longitudinal axes such that their inner edges 36 a ′ are twisted into the plane defined by body 35 whereas outer edges 36 a ″ are twisted to project out of the plane defined by body 35 . inner projecting legs 36 b are bent into the plane defined by body 35 as viewed in fig5 and 8 . it should be understood to those skilled in the art that the number of legs 36 can be increased or decreased as desired and , further , that legs 36 can be arranged in many different configurations . the preferred form is for illustrative purposes only . referring again to fig1 , central portion 35 a of body 35 includes a central circular opening 35 b . positioned in opening 35 b is a spring and button assembly 50 ( fig1 ). when mounted to body 12 a , spring and button assembly 50 extends rearwardly of deflector 30 toward outlet opening 16 b . referring again to fig1 , spring and button assembly 50 comprises a mounting base 52 which includes an annular flange 53 and a projecting mounting member 54 a . projecting mounting member 54 a extends into and through opening 35 b ( fig1 ) of deflector body 35 . extending from an opposed side of flange 53 is a second projecting mounting member or collar 54 b , in which a button assembly 58 is positioned . button assembly 58 includes a shaft 59 , which extends into collar 54 b , and a bullet - shaped button body 60 . slidably mounted on collar 54 b is an annular spring sealing or closure member 62 , which seals outlet opening 16 b of sprinkler head assembly 10 when deflector assembly 22 is retracted into cavity 20 in its closed position as shown in ( fig1 and 14 ). as best understood from fig6 and 14 , when deflector assembly 22 is in its closed position , button body 60 extends through outlet opening 16 b and is positioned in passage 16 . in addition , spring sealing or closure member 62 is positioned over outlet opening 16 b and positioned on an annular sealing surface 64 provided on sprinkler head body 12 a which extends around or circumscribes outlet opening 16 b . as will be described in greater detail in reference to trigger assembly 24 , when in the unactivated state , deflector assembly 22 is biased toward body 12 a in cavity 20 and spring sealing member 62 sealingly engages annular sealing surface 64 thereby closing outlet opening 16 b . however , when trigger assembly 24 is activated to open by exposure to temperatures associated with a fire , deflector assembly 22 being no longer biased towards body 12 a moves to its extended position with deflector 30 spaced from outlet opening 16 b under the force of the water pressure of the water in passage 16 . the water pressure pushes on spring sealing member 62 and the rearward side of deflector 30 to push deflector assembly 30 to its extended position until stops 40 a of guide pins 40 engage bearing surface 451 a of body 12 a . the initial water pressure from outlet opening 16 b is increased by button body 60 , which restricts the initial flow of water from passage 16 through outlet opening 16 b . however , once deflector assembly 22 is in its fully extended position and button body 60 is fully removed from passage 16 , rather than restricting the flow of water button body 60 provides an initial dispersion of the water flowing from outlet opening 16 b . once in the extended position , deflector 30 further disperses the flow of water from outlet opening 16 b with arms 36 and blades 44 and 46 dispersing and directing the flow of water generally downward ( as viewed in fig3 - 5 ). as previously described , deflector assembly 22 is biased in its non - activated or retracted position by trigger assembly 24 . referring again to fig3 trigger assembly 24 includes a fusible plate assembly 70 , a pair of levers or arms 72 , and a lever support and guide member 74 . fusible plate assembly 70 includes a first fusible plate member 70 a and a second fusible plate member 70 b which are joined by heat fusible or heat sensitive material . heat fusible materials are generally known in the automatic sprinkler industry and is generally recognized as a material used in the art possessing the requisite degree of bonding strength and thermal sensitivity such that when the fusible plate assembly 70 is exposed to temperatures associated with a fire the heat fusible material melts releasing the connection between plates 70 a and 70 b . referring to fig1 - 14 , trigger assembly 24 is mounted to sprinkler assembly 10 by a spring assembly 71 . spring assembly 71 includes a pair of levers 72 , lever support 74 , and an ejector 76 . levers 72 are supported by lever support 74 and extend into an annular groove 80 formed an inner surface of second threaded portion 18 in cavity 20 to releasably mount trigger assembly 24 to sprinkler head body 12 a . as best seen in fig1 , each lever 72 includes a groove engaging portion 92 for engaging groove 80 and fusible link engaging portion 94 for engaging fusible plate assembly 70 . fusible link engaging portions 94 of levers 72 extend through apertures 96 and 98 which are provided in plate members 70 a and 70 b , respectively . together groove engaging portion 92 and fusible link engaging portion 94 form a generally inverted l - shaped cross - section which will provide a biased lever type action more fully described below . lever support 74 is positioned beneath levers 72 and biases levers 72 outwardly from cavity 20 . as best seen in fig3 lever support 74 is generally channel - shaped and includes a webbed portion 82 and a pair of opposed flanges 84 and 86 which define side walls . extending upwardly from web portion 82 are a pair of lever support members 88 and 90 which are preferably punched out from web portion 82 to define openings 82 b . as shown in fig1 , lever support members 88 and 90 provide support for levers 72 when trigger assembly 24 is mounted to groove 80 of sprinkler head body 12 a . lever support 74 further includes a central opening 100 in web portion 82 which is threaded for receiving a threaded set screw 102 . referring again to fig1 , when groove engaging portions 92 of levers 72 are positioned in groove 80 and fusible link engaging portions 94 are extended through apertures 96 and 98 , set screw 102 is tightened such that distal end 102 a of set screw extends into a pocket 104 provided on button and seal mounting member 54 a . in this manner , sealing member 62 is biased against sealing surface 64 to cover and seal outlet opening 16 b . in addition , levers 72 are biased outwardly from sprinkler head 12 a by the force of set screw 102 on lever support 74 as it bears against seal and button mounting member 54 a and lever support 74 pushes on levers 72 . as best seen in fig1 , support members 88 and 90 contact levers 72 inwardly of groove engaging portions 92 and inwardly of fusible link engaging portions 94 which causes levers 72 to apply a tension force to fusible plate members 70 a and 70 b in the direction of the arrows shown in fig3 . thus , when fusible link 70 is exposed to temperatures associated with fires and the fusible material between plate members 70 a and 70 b melts , levers 72 will urge plates 70 a and 70 b to separate in the directions indicated by the arrows in fig3 and will further rotate about groove engaging portions 92 and to disengage from groove 80 . to improve the injection of levers 72 and lever support 74 from sprinkler head body 12 , ejector member 76 is positioned beneath lever support 74 , between lever support 74 and deflector assembly 22 . in the illustrated embodiment shown in fig3 ejector member 76 preferably comprises an “ e ” shape member with a base 105 and two outer leg portions 106 and 108 . leg portions 106 and 108 are generally aligned in a common plane with base 105 . a middle leg portion 110 of ejector member 76 is bent inwardly from legs 106 and 108 toward deflector assembly 22 ( fig3 and 14 ). when trigger assembly 24 is mounted to sprinkler head body 12 a , ejector member 76 is positioned between lever support 74 and deflector assembly 22 , with legs 106 and 108 of ejector member 76 engaging groove 80 . further , ejector member 76 is positioned such that body 105 is positioned beneath the lower side 82 a of web 82 . in this manner , when sprinkler head assembly 10 is exposed to temperatures associated with a fire and the fusible material between plates 70 a and 70 b melt , levers 72 will urge plates 70 a and 70 b to separate along the line of direction shown in fig3 and ejector member 76 will pivot about legs 106 and 108 to urge lever support 74 and levers 72 to eject outwardly from sprinkler head body 12 a . as a result , trigger assembly 24 is quickly ejected from the path of the deflector assembly 22 , and deflector assembly is quickly moved to its extended position under the pressure of the water . referring to fig1 , a second embodiment of sprinkler assembly 210 is illustrated . sprinkler 210 is of similar construction to the previous embodiment and includes a base 212 , with threaded portions 214 and 218 , and a transverse passage 216 which defines an inlet opening 216 a on one end of base 212 and an outlet opening 216 b . similar to the previous embodiment , sprinkler 210 includes a deflector assembly 222 and a trigger assembly 224 , which includes an ejector member 276 to improve the ejection of trigger assembly 224 and , more particularly , of levers 272 and lever support 274 when heat sensitive assembly 270 is triggered . ejector member 276 includes an e - shaped portion 305 , with outer leg portions 306 and 308 and a medial leg portion 310 , similar to the previous embodiment . in addition , ejector member 276 includes a connector portion 312 which includes a central opening 314 to permit set screw 202 of lever support 274 to engage recessed opening 204 of deflector assembly 222 in a similar manner to set screw 102 of the previous embodiment . positioned on opposed sides of the central opening 314 are a pair of arms 316 and 318 which extend through openings 282 b of base portion 282 of lever support 274 and are preferably bent to provide a snap fit coupling between ejector member 276 and lever support 274 . in this manner , when heat sensitive assembly 270 is triggered by exposure to temperatures associated with a fire , and the fusible members 270 a and 270 b are decoupled , levers 272 urge fusible members 270 a and 270 b to separate along the line of direction indicated by the arrows in fig1 . once separated , the pressure of the set screw 202 on the deflector assembly 222 is released , thus permitting deflector assembly 222 under the pressure of the water from outlet opening 216 b to move from its retracted position within cavity 220 to an extended position which urges ejector member 276 to pivot about legs 306 and 308 . ejector member 276 in turn urges lever support 274 and levers 272 to eject outwardly from sprinkler head body 212 . it should be understood that the foregoing is a description of the preferred embodiments . those skilled in the art will recognize that variations , modifications , and improvements may be made with out departing from the spirit or scope of the invention disclosed herein . for example , a person of having ordinary skill in the art will readily understand that other trigger or fusible links or spring assemblies may be used with this sprinkler head assembly and , further , that sprinkler heads having varying internal components which differ from those depicted in fig6 , 13 , and 14 may employ the improved deflector assembly , trigger assembly , and / or ejector of the present invention . in addition , the overall shape of the ejector member and blade members may be varied to achieve a similar effect . for example , the ejector member and lever support may be formed as a single member with the ejector member arms being formed , for example , as part of the lever support base portion . furthermore , the deflector assembly ( 22 or 222 ) may include a single blade member or more than two blade members . consequently , the scope of protection afforded the present invention is to be measured by the claims which follow in the breadth of interpretation which the law allows .	1
fig1 discloses a partial , perspective and longitudinal view of an electrical cable system 1 according to a preferred embodiment of the invention . an electrical cable 10 containing a conductor core which is preferably a large copper core 2 ( typically of 630 mm 2 - 1200 mm 2 ) and preferably covered by a polymer insulation sheath 4 , a hose 3 with a high internal pressure provided by filling with compressed fluid ( not shown ) such as oil , water or the like , preferably a common outer sheath 5 ( partly cut in fig1 ) surrounding the stranded electrical cable 10 and the hose 3 and made of polyethylene or other material ( s ). the hose 3 is a high pressure hydraulic hose preferably with a synthetic braiding ( not shown ). the inner liner is flexible and the braiding is not tight at one atmosphere . when pressurized , the hose 3 is radially expanded , and the synthetic braiding tightened . the stranded electrical cable 10 is able to withstand high tension without stretching or elongating . while manufacturing said electrical cable system 1 , the hose 3 is pressurised , then said hose 3 and the electrical cable 10 are stranded together in a helical - like or spiral - like shape and the common outer sheath 5 is providing . the purpose of this common outer sheath 5 is to protect the electrical cable 10 and the hose 3 during transportation , during installation of the electrical cable system 1 over a subsea pipeline . the wavy form of the electrical cable 10 , consists of undulations 100 attached by the stranded hose 3 , creating an additional length as compared to the length of a straight electrical cable . the electrical cable 10 is substantially prevented from moving . the dimension of the additional length is set by the lay length and the relation between the diameters of the copper core 2 and the hose 3 . the polymer insulation sheath 4 preferably comprises an inner semi - conductor layer as inner screen , an insulation layer and an outer semi - conductor layer as outer screen , in fig2 , a heating system which comprises the electrical cable system 1 is schematically illustrated . an insulated metal tube ( i . e . the pipeline ) connects a template 20 , such as a gas or oil well - head , on the seafloor 30 with a processing unit 40 installed on a platform 50 . the tube 1 ′ has an outer thermal insulation ensuring that fluid such as crude oil coming from the template has a sufficiently low viscosity until it reaches platform 50 . if the oil flow is stopped , formation of hydrate plugs and wax deposits occur which can block the pipeline when oil transportation is to be resumed again . to avoid this problem , the tube 1 ′ can be heated . one or several sections 6 of the tube 1 ′ are connected to a power supply unit 70 installed on the platform 50 with a riser cable 8 containing one or more conductor pairs with an insulated feeder and return conductor . the riser cable 8 is protected by an armoring and an outer sheathing . at the lower end of the riser cable 8 , connecting elements 11 , 12 are proposed respectively to connect the electrical cable system 1 and a single conductor cable 9 to a return conductor and a feeder conductor in the riser cable 8 . more over , the electrical cable system 1 and the single conductor cable 9 are connected with the section 6 of tube 1 ′. insulating flanges 13 , 14 insulate the section ( s ) 6 of a pipeline from each other . during installation , the electrical cable system 1 is clamped parallel to the pipeline axis and at more or less regular intervals in the heated section 6 by a series of clamps 7 and preferably straps . the power supply unit 70 generates an electrical ac current , preferably in the range of 500 to 2000 a , and a voltage which is preferably in the range of 5 to 40 kv . the current is fed via riser cable 8 , the electrical cable of the electrical cable system 1 and the conductor cable 9 through a section 6 of the tube 1 . the ac current causes a heating of the tube 1 ′ in section 6 and ensures a sufficiently low viscosity of the material inside . fig3 a is a schematic drawing ( not in scale ) showing partially and in a longitudinal section the electrical cable system 1 during clamping to the subsea pipeline in section 6 . of course , the electrical cable system 1 extends to both sides from straps 7 a and 7 b . the distance between the two straps is by way of example some six to ten meters . the hose 3 and the electrical cable 10 are stranded together in a helical like configuration . d 1 is the distance between the two straps 7 a and 7 b . the attached undulations 100 of the electrical cable 10 within the common sheath 5 created by the helical like configuration , obviously provide the electric cable 10 additional actual length relative to the actual spanned longitudinal distance d 1 . the section 6 of the pipeline 1 ′ is cold and has its minimal elongation . fig3 b discloses schematically ( not in scale ) a cross section of the electrical cable system 1 of fig3 a . the pressurised hose 3 has a circular - like cross section . the center b of the electrical cable 10 with the copper core 2 and the polymer insulation sheath 4 is shifted from the center a defined by the common protective sheath s . after the clamping , the internal pressure of the hose 3 is removed ( step not shown ) giving the hose a cross section as illustrated in fig4 b . the hose 3 now is flexible both in radial and longitudinal direction consequently , the built - in additional length is therefore converted in a “ free to be used ” excess length since the undulations of the electrical cable 10 are no more attached and the electrical cable may act as a centre element . fig4 a is a schematic drawing ( not in scale ) showing in a longitudinal section the electrical cable system 1 during hot fluid transportation in the subsea pipeline 1 ′. the depressurised hose 3 is just laid around the electrical cable 10 . the straps 7 a , 7 b followed the expansion of the pipeline 1 ′ ( symbolized by the arrows x - x ′) as shown by the dotted lines indicating the position of said straps before the flowing of hot fluid . the distance d 2 separating said straps has increased . the electrical cable 10 by using a part of the defined excess length has attenuated undulations 110 within the common outer sheath 5 . if required , the electrical cable 10 may become a straight electrical cable at the maximal temperature of the subsea pipeline . the excess length is adjusted to extension - contraction of the pipeline 1 ′ caused by the temperature variations . preferably , the outer sheath 5 is easily expandable at low level of tension thanks to a good elasticity and a relatively low module . fig4 b discloses schematically ( not in scale ) a cross section of the electrical cable system 1 when the internal pressure in the hose is released ,— regardless of whether the pipeline is hot or not . the center b of the electrical cable 10 is nearer to the center a of the outer protective sheath 5 . the depressurised hose 3 has a oval — like cross section . according to the invention , the electrical cable 10 is able to withstand pulling forces of 20 - 30 kn before and during clamping . after depressurisation , the tension from installation is removed . the electrical cable 10 extends instead of physically elongating , without transferring too much force , to the straps 7 a and 7 b , estimated around 3 kn . therefore , during length fluctuations of the pipeline 1 ′, the 7 a and 7 b straps will not suffer excessive tension and the electrical cable 10 is not damaged .	5
the compounds described herein exhibit broad spectrum activity against a variety of viruses in vivo when administered parenterally ( subcutaneously , intramuscularly , intraperitoneally ), intranasally ( e . g . by inhalation or spray ), or topically to vertebrate animals . this usefulness is primarily one of prophylactic rather than of therapeutic control of virus infections . although the present invention is not to be construed as limited by such a theory , it is possible that the compounds of this invention function in combating viral infections by virtue of their ability to induce the production of endogeneous interferon . they induce interferon in vivo , but they cannot do so directly in cell cultures . they , therefore , can be considered as stimulators of host defense mechanisms . further , these compounds stimulate the animal body to produce interferon when administered alone or in combination with an otherwise inactive substance , for example , single - stranded ribonucleic acid , such as highly polymerized ribonucleic acid from yeast , yeast nucleic acid ( calbiochem 55712 , calbiochem , los angeles , california ). those compounds which induce interferon when administered alone are given at considerably lower doses when given in combination with the single - stranded ribonucleic acid or other such material . the compounds of formula ii are conveniently prepared by the following novel routes of synthesis : in one synthesis , 3 , 4 - dihyroxybenzaldehyde is employed as a starting material . it is reacted with two moles of an alkyl halide , preferably an alkyl bromide in the presence of a base such as potassium carbonate . the reaction is conducted in the presence of an inert organic solvent such as acetone . the 3 , 4 - dialkoxybenzaldehyde thus formed is further reacted with ethanolamine in the form of a salt , such as a hydrochloride , in the presence of sodium or lithium cyanoborohydride to form an n -( 2 - ethanol )- 3 , 4 - dialkoxybenzylamine salt . the compound may be purified by standard means such as chromatography . in a second synthesis , the compounds of formula ii are prepared using 3 , 4 - dihydroxy phenylethylamine as a starting material . this compound is reacted with benzylchloroformate and this derivative is reacted with two moles of an alkyl halide in the presence of a base such as potassium carbonate . the compounds of formula i are prepared by the following novel synthetic routes . one synthesis employs 3 , 5 - dihydroxybenzamide as a starting material . this compound is reacted with an alkyl halide , preferably an alkyl bromide , in the presence of a base such as potassium carbonate and an inert organic solvent such as ethanol . the product is a 3 , 5 - dialkoxy benzamide . this product is reduced using any of a wide variety of reducing agents such as aluminum hydride , lithium aluminum hydride or preferably na - bis - 2 -( methoxyethoxy ) aluminum hydride ( 70 % solution in benzene ) to form a 3 , 5 - dialkoxy benzylamine which is then purified by standard means . another synthesis of the compounds of formula i employs the same starting material and also uses an alkyl halide to form the 3 , 5 - dialkoxy benzamide followed by reduction to the corresponding benzylamine . then the 3 , 5 - dialkoxy benzylamine is reacted with a carbonyl halide , preferably a carbonyl chloride , to form a n - carbonyl - 3 , 5 - dialkoxy benzylamine . this is then reduced by reducing agents such as aluminum hydride or na - bis - 2 -( methoxyethoxy ) aluminum hydride ( 70 % solution in benzene ) to form a n - alkyl - 3 , 5 - dialkoxy benzylamine which may be purified by standard means . acid addition salts of the compounds described herein are prepared by conventional procedures as by mixing the amine compound in a suitable solvent with the required acid and recovering the salt by evaporation or by precipitation by addition of a non - solvent for the salt . hydrochloride salts are readily prepared by passing dry hydrogen chloride through a solution of the amine compound in an organic solvent such as ether . the antiviral activity of the above - described materials is determined by the following procedure . the test compound is administered to mice by the intraperitoneal route eighteen to twenty - four hours prior to challenging the mice with a lethal dose of encephalomyocarditis virus and determining the survival rate ten days after challenge . the procedure in which the drug is given eighteen to twenty - four hours before and at a distinctly different site from virus injection is designed to eliminate local effects between drug and virus and select only compounds which produce a systemic interferon response . the test compounds are administered alone and in combination with from about 2 to about 20 times by weight of an otherwise inactive ( non - inducer of interferon and nonantiviral ), singlestranded , highly polymerized ribonucleic acid from yeast , yeast nucleic acid . table i below gives the results of such tests on mice . __________________________________________________________________________ ## str2 ## dosecompound ( mg / bg body weight ) % survivors__________________________________________________________________________1 . formula ii r . sup . 1 and r . sup . 2 are each 15 50 hydrogen , r . sup . 3 and r . sup . 4 are 5 30 each octadecyloxy , and m is 2 1 . 5 402 . formula i r . sup . 1 and r . sup . 2 are each hydrogen , 15 70 r . sup . 3 and r . sup . 4 are each hexadecyloxy , 5 50 and n is 1 . 1 . 5 03 . formula i r . sup . 1 is hydrogen , r . sup . 2 is ethyl , 15 70 r . sup . 3 and r . sup . 4 are each hexadecyloxy , 5 60 and n is 1 . 1 . 5 504 . formula i r . sup . 1 and r . sup . 2 are each hydrogen , 15 80 r . sup . 3 and r . sup . 4 are each octadecyloxy , 5 10 and n is 1 . 1 . 5 105 . formula i 50 70 r . sup . 1 is hydrogen , r . sup . 2 is ethyl , 15 50 r . sup . 3 and r . sup . 4 is octadecyloxy , and 5 40 n is 1 . 1 . 5 06 . formula ii 50 70 r . sup . 1 is hydroxyethyl r . sup . 2 is 15 60 hydrogen , r . sup . 3 and r . sup . 4 are each 5 30 hexadecyloxy , and m is 1 . 1 . 5 10__________________________________________________________________________ parenteral , topical and intranasal administration of the abovedescribed amines to an animal , including man , before exposure of the animal to an infectious virus provide rapid resistance to the virus . the resistance engendered is non - specific and is effective against a great number of viruses . such administration is effective when given as much as five days prior to exposure to the virus . preferably , however , administration should take place from about three days to about one day before exposure to the virus , although this will vary somewhat with the particular animal species and the particular infectious virus . the compounds of the present invention may be employed effectively in a range of from 0 . 1 to 20 mg / kg body weight on a daily basis and a preferred range is from 0 . 1 to 5 . 0 mg / kg body weight . when administered parenterally , the materials of this invention are used at a level of from about 0 . 1 mg / kg of body weight to about 20 mg / kg of body weight . the favored range is from about 0 . 1 mg / kg to about 5 . 0 mg / kg of body weight . the dosage , of course , is dependent upon the animal being treated and the particular amine compound involved and is to be determined by the individual responsible for its administration . generally , small doses will be administered initially with gradual increase in dosage until the optimal dosage level is determined for the particular subject under treatment . intramuscular injections are the preferred method of parenteral injection for several reasons such as simplicity and convenience . vehicles suitable for parenteral injection may be either aqueous such as water , isotonic saline , isotonic dextrose , ringer &# 39 ; s solution , or non - aqueous such as fatty oils of vegetable origin ( cottonseed , peanut oil , corn , sesame ) and other non - aqueous vehicles which will not interfere with the efficacy of the preparation and are nontoxic in the volume or proportion used ( glycerol , ethanol , propylene glycol , sorbitol ). additionally , compositions suitable for extemporaneous preparation of solutions prior to administration may advantageously be made . such compositions may include liquid diluents , for example , propylene glycol , diethyl carbonate , glycerol , sorbitol . when the materials of this invention are administered , they are most easily and economically used in a dispersed form in an acceptable carrier . when it is said that this material is dispersed , it means that the particles may be molecular in size and held in true solution in a suitable solvent or that the particles may be colloidal in size and dispersed through a liquid phase in the form of a suspension or an emulsion . the term &# 34 ; dispersed &# 34 ; also means that the particles may be mixed with and spread throughout a solid carrier so that the mixture is in the form of a powder or dust . this term is also meant to encompass mixtures which are suitable for use as sprays , including solutions , suspensions or emulsions of the agents of this invention . in practicing the intranasal route of administration of this invention any practical method can be used to contact the inducer with the respiratory tract of the animal . effective methods include administration of the inducer by intranasal or nasopharyngeal drops and by inhalation as delivered by a nebulizer or an aerosol . such methods of administration are of practical importance because they provide an easy , safe and efficient method of practicing this invention . for intranasal administration of the inducer , usually in an acceptable carrier , a concentration of inducer between 0 . 1 mg / ml and 20 mg / ml is satisfactory and convenient . for topical application the inducers are most conveniently used in an acceptable carrier to permit ease and control of application and better absorption . here also concentrations in the range of from about 0 . 1 mg / ml to about 20 mg / ml are satisfactory . in general , in the above two methods of administration a dose within the range of about 0 . 1 mg / kg to about 20 mg / kg of body weight and , preferably , from about 0 . 1 mg / kg to about 5 . 0 mg / kg of body weight will be administered . the compounds employed in this invention may be employed alone , i . e ., without other medicinals , as mixtures of more than one of the herein - described compounds or in combination with other medicinal agents , such as analgesics , anesthetics , antiseptics , decongestants , antibiotics , vaccines , buffering agents and inorganic salts , to afford desirable pharmacological properties . further , they may be administered in combination with hyaluronidase to avoid or , at least , to minimize local irritation and to increase the rate of absorption of the compound . hyaluronidase levels of at least about 150 ( u . s . p .) units are effective in this respect although higher or lower levels can , of course , be used . those materials of this invention which are water - insoluble , including those which are of low and / or difficult solubility in water , are , for optimum results , administered in formulations , e . g ., suspensions , emulsions , which permit formation of particle sizes of less than about 20μ . the particle sizes of the formulations influence their biological activity apparently through better absorption of the active materials . in formulating these materials various surface active agents are the partial esters of common fatty acids , such as lauric , oleic , stearic , with hexitol anhydrides derived from sorbitol , and the polyoxyethylene derivatives of such ester products . such products are sold under the trademarks &# 34 ; spans &# 34 ; and &# 34 ; tweens ,&# 34 ; respectively , and are available from the atlas powder co ., wilmington , delaware . cellulose ethers , especially cellulose methyl ether ( methocel , available from the dow chemical co ., midland , michigan ) are highly efficient as protective colloids for use in emulsions containing the materials of this invention . in some cases , the compositions of the present invention are desirably administered by aerosol spray . for such application , a halogenated hydrocarbon propellant of up to 2 carbon atoms is employed . the propellant may be any of the conventional propellants used in aerosol formulations , for example halogenated hydrocarbons of the fluorohydrocarbon or fluorohalohydrocarbon type such as trichloromonofluoromethane , dichlorodifluoromethane , dichlorotetrafluoroethane , monochlorotrifluoromethane , monochlorodifluoromethane and mixtures of any of these together or with other propellants . typical of suitable propellants are those disclosed in , for example , u . s . pat . no . 2 , 868 , 691 and sold under the trademark freon . the examples to follow are illustrative and in no way limit the scope of the appended claims . 20 . 7 g . ( 0 . 15 m ) 3 , 4 - dihydroxylbenzaldehyde , ( aldrich ), 91 . 5 g . ( 0 . 30 m ) -- hexadecyl bromide ( humphrey chem ), and 41 . 1 g ( 0 . 30 m ) potassium carbonate were combined in 750 ml acetone , and refluxed overnight . the material was filtered hot and washed well with acetone . a precipitate formed upon cooling . this was filtered , washed with acetone and air dried to a white solid ( 38 . 3 g ). 3 , 4 -( dihexadecyloxy ) benzaldehyde ( 4 . 40 g ), sodium cyanoborohydride ( 0 . 284 g ), methanol ( 20 ml ) and tetrahydrofuran ( 80 ml ) were combined and the ph adjusted to 5 . 0 with 5n methanolic hcl . the mixture was stirred at room temperature , and when the reaction was complete ( 9 days ), the ph was adjusted to 2 . 0 with concentrated hcl , and the solvent was removed on a rotary evaporator . the resulting material was treated with chcl 3 / h 2 o ( 1 / 1 ; 100 ml ) and 10 % naoh ( adjusted ph of solution to 10 . 0 ). the aqueous phase was separated and extracted with chcl 3 ( 3 × 50 ), and the combined organic extracts were washed with h 2 o ( 50 ml ) and a solution of saturated nacl ( 2 × 50 ) and dried over na 2 so 4 . this mixture was filtered and the resulting solution evaporated to give the crude product . column chromatography on silica gel eluting with chcl 3 and ethyl acetate provided pure n - 2 - hydroxyethyl - 3 , 4 -( dihexadecyloxy ) benzylamine . the hcl salt was prepared by standard methods ( m . p . 190 °- 192 °). 7 . 65 g ( 0 . 05 m ) of 3 , 5 - dihydroxybenzamide ( aldrich ), 33 . 3 g . ( 0 . 1 m ) 1 - bromooctadecane , and 13 . 8 g ( 0 . 1 m ) potassium carbonate were slurried in 100 ml ethanol and refluxed overnight . the reaction was cooled to room temperature , and the solid was extracted with benzene . the extracts were dried over sodium sulfate , filtered and evaporated in vacuo to a yellowish solid . this was recrystallized from ethanol to yield 24 . 7 g of a white solid , m . p . 100 °- 102 . 5 ° c . 20 g ( 0 . 03 m ) of the product above was slurried in 200 ml benzene and 54 ml na - bis -( 2 - methoxyethoxy ) aluminum hydride ( 70 % solution in benzene ) was added . a clear greenish - yellow solution resulted which when refluxed for 7 hours gradually turned deep red . the solution was allowed to stand at room temperature overnight and it became cloudy while 50 ml of 10 % naoh was added dropwise and the mixture was treated with water and benzene . the benzene extracts were dried over sodium sulfate and evaporated in vacuo to a white solid ( 22 . 3 g ). this was dissolved in chloroform and hcl was bubbled in for 10 minutes . it was again evaporated in vacuo and dried to yield 13 . 6 g of a white solid , m . p . 82 . 5 °- 85 ° c . ______________________________________compound melting point ° c . description______________________________________c . 3 , 5 -( dihexadecyloxy ) 73 - 74 . 5 white solid benzylamine ( hcl ) ______________________________________ the production of example ii , part b ( 3 . 4 g , 0 . 005 m ) was slurried in 80 ml methylene dichloride . then 1 . 26 g ( 0 . 0125 m ) tri - ethylamine was added followed by 0 . 98 g ( 0 . 0125 m ) acetyl chloride in 10 ml methylene dichloride . the resulting clear solution was stirred at room temperature overnight and a fine precipitate formed . the reaction was washed with ( 3 × 100 ml ) and the methylene dichloride phase was dried over sodium sulfate , filtered , and concentrated in vacuo to a white semi - solid . this was slurried in acetone , filtered , and dried to yield a white solid ( 2 . 4 g , m . p . 77 °- 78 ° c .). 2 . 0 g ( 0 . 0029 m ) n - acetyl - 3 , 5 ( dioctadecyloxy )- benzylamine was slurried in 65 ml benzene . the 5 . 16 ml sodium - bis - 2 - methoxyethoxy - aluminum hydride ( 70 % solution in benzene , aldrich ) was added . the resulting clear solution was heated to reflux for 5 hours and then held at room temperature overnight . the reaction was cooled to 15 ° c . and 20 ml 10 % naoh was added dropwise . the benzene phase formed was washed 2 × 20 ml 10 % naoh and dried over sodium sulfate , filtered , and concentrated in vacuo to 1 . 99 g of a viscous oil . this was chromatographed on silica gel and eluted with ethyl acetate to yield 1 . 06 g of product . this was dissolved in chloroform , and 10 ml ethyl acetate / hcl was added . the resulting solution was concentrated in vacuo to a white solid ( 0 . 960 g , m . p . 97 °- 101 ° c .). ______________________________________compound melting point (° c .) description______________________________________3 , 5 -( dihexadecyloxy )- 99 - 102 white solidn - ethylbenzylamine hcl ( hcl ) ______________________________________ 3 - hydroxytyramine hydrochloride ( 8 . 05 g 0 . 0425 mole ) dissolved in n , n - dimethylformamide ( 25 ml ) was purged with nitrogen and then treated with triethylamine ( 6 ml ). after stirring for 15 mins ., carbobenzyloxy chloride ( 3 . 6 g ) and triethylamine ( 3 ml ) were added and the reaction was stirred for 15 minutes . further portions of carbobenzyloxy chloride ( 3 . 6 g ) and triethylamine ( 3 ml ) were added and the reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature for 1 hour . ether ( 500 ml ) and water ( 125 ml ) were added and the ether layer was washed with water ( 125 ml ) and dried ( na 2 so 4 ) and then evaporated . the residual oil was dissolved in boiling benzene ( 150 ml ) and then cooled to room temperature . the white crystals were collected and dried to yield the product 4 . 69 g m . p . 129 °- 130 ° c . ( j . med . chem ., ( 1973 ) 16 , p . 630 m . p . 128 ° ). the product from part a ( 2 . 87 g ) was dissolved in ethanol ( 50 ml ) and treated with octadecyl bromide ( 6 . 66 g ) and potassium carbonate ( 2 . 76 g ). this mixture was refluxed and stirred 18 hours and then cooled and treated with benzene ( 500 ml ) and water ( 300 ml ) and a small amount of ethyl acetate to aid separation . the organic layer was washed with water , dried ( na 2 so 4 ), and evaporated . the resulting solid was dissolved in chloroform and chromoagraphed on silica with chloroform elution . the first fractions were evaporated to yield the product , 5 . 39 g . m . p . ( 72 °- 73 ° ( structure confirmed by proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy ). the product from part b ( 2 . 96 g 0 . 00375 mole ) and 10 % palladium on charcoal ( 1 . 58 g ) and benzene ( 200 ml ) were mixed and shaken on a parr shaker with hydrogen at an initial pressure of 59 lbs ./ sq . in . shaken 11 / 2 hours , and pressure dropped to 56 lbs ., filtered and filtrate evaporated to yield a white semi - solid . this was dissolved in chloroform , saturated with hydrogen chloride gas and evaporated to yield the product . 2 . 31 g ( 89 %) m . p . 75 °- 77 ° ( structure confirmed by proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy ). ______________________________________nasal spray or nasal solution mg / ml3 , 5 - dihexadecyloxy - 51 . 0benzylamine hclpolysorbate 80 usp 50 . 0glycerin usp 50 . 0phenyl ethyl alcohol nf 2 . 5sodium metabisulfite usp 1 . 0sodium phosphate monobasic hydrous 1 . 4sodium hydroxide usp 0 . 2sodium chloride usp 7 . 9water for injection usp 842 . 0 1006 . 0______________________________________ the resulting solution is packaged into a suitable plastic nebulizer or a suitable dropper bottle . 3 , 5 -( dioctadecyloxy ) benzylamine in powder form is used in filling ampules , each ampule containing 1 mg . each ampule is flushed with nitrogen and sealed . before use the ampule is filled with 0 . 9 % saline solution for injection .	2
the present invention implements a data processing system and method for sharing inputs and outputs between a provider assistive technology applications on a host operating system and a user assistive technology application running in a virtual machine resident on the host . the invention may be run on a variety of computers or collection of computers under a number of different operating systems . the computer could be , for example , a personal computer , a mini computer , mainframe computer or a computer running in a distributed network of other computers . although the specific choice of computer is limited only by disk and disk storage requirements , computers in the ibm pc series of computers could be used in the present invention . one operating system which an ibm pc computer may run is ibm &# 39 ; s os / 2 ( tm ). in the alternative , the computer system might be in the ibm risc system / 6000 ( tm ) line of computers which run on the aix ( tm ) operating system . the various models of the risc system / 6000 is described in many publications of the ibm corporation . the aix operation system is described in other publications of the ibm corporation . a microprocessor in the ibm pc series of computers is one of the intel family of microprocessors including the 386 , 486 or pentium microprocessors . however , other microprocessors including , but not limited to , motorola &# 39 ; s family of microprocessors such as the 68000 , 68020 or the 68030 microprocessors and various reduced instruction set computer ( risc ) microprocessors such as the powerpc chip manufactured by ibm may be used . other risc chips made by hewlett packard , sun , motorola and others may be used in the specific computer . fig1 illustrates a data processor 200 be utilized to implement a host computer system that executes the methodology of the present invention . the data processing system 200 comprises a central processing unit ( cpu ) 210 such as a microprocessor . cpu 210 is coupled to various components by a system bus 212 . read - only memory ( rom ) 216 is coupled to the system bus 212 and includes a basic input / output system ( bios ) that control certain basic functions of the data processing system 200 . random access memory ( ram ) 214 , input / output adapter 218 , and communications adapter 234 are also coupled to system bus 212 . input / output 218 may be a small computer system interface ( scsi ) adapter that communicates with a disk storage device 220 or tape unit 240 or other device . communications adapter 234 interconnects bus 212 with an outside network enabling the data processing system to communicate with other such systems . input / output devices are also connected to system bus 212 via user interface adapter 222 and display adapter 236 . keyboard 224 , trackball 232 , mouse 226 , speaker 228 and braille output box 230 are all interconnected to bus 212 via user interface adapter 222 . display monitor 238 is coupled to system bus 212 by display adapter 236 . in this manner , a user is capable of inputting to the system through keyboard 224 , trackball 232 , or mouse 226 , and receiving output from the system via speaker 228 and display 238 . some embodiments of the invention include implementations as a computer system program to execute the method or methods described herein , and as a computer program product . according to the computer system implementation , sets of instructions for executing the method or methods are resident in ram 214 of one or more computer systems configured generally as described above . until required by the computer system , the set of instructions may be stored as a computer program product in another computer memory . for example , in disk drive 220 ( which may include a removable memory such as an optical disk or floppy disk for eventual use in disk drive 220 ). further , the computer program product can also be stored at another computer and transmitted in a computer readable medium when desired to the user &# 39 ; s work station by a network or by an external network such as the internet . one skilled in the art would appreciate that the physical storage of the sets of instructions physically changes the medium upon which it is stored so that the medium carries computer - readable information . the change may be electrical , magnetic , chemical , or some other physical change . while it is convenient to describe the invention in terms of instructions , symbols , characters , or the like , the reader should remember that all of these and similar terms should be associated with the appropriate physical elements . note that the invention describes terms such as providing , loading , monitoring , or other terms that could be associated with the human operator . however , at least for a number of the operations described herein which form a part of the present invention , no action by a human operator is desirable . the operations described are , in large part , machine operations processing electrical signals to generate other electrical signals . a description of operation of the present invention will now be provided in greater detail . shown in fig2 is an organizational illustration of a data processing system having a java environment operating as a virtual machine environment in a host os / 2 host computer area . the java programming language is adaptable to many different platforms . java is a powerful object oriented language that allows for an external application to perform “ introspection ” on another application &# 39 ; s objects . introspection allows an application to iterate an object &# 39 ; s methods and its signatures to then call the application &# 39 ; s methods even though such methods and signatures are not built into an application . in an object oriented programming language , a class is a collection of data and methods that operate on that data . the data and methods describe a state and behavior of an object . java includes a large number of classes , arranged in packages , that may be used in a program . for example , java provides classes that create graphical user interface components , classes that handle input and output to a program and classes that support networking . a teaching of java capabilities is discussed in u . s . patent application ser . no . 08 / 971 , 256 entitled “ a data processing system and method for creating application extensions ”, filed nov . 17 , 1997 , to schwerdtfeger et al ., now u . s . pat . no . 6 , 085 , 120 , and is commonly assigned . the teachings therein are hereby incorporated by reference . it should be noted that java is a network programming language that is somewhat similar to the c and the c ++ programming languages . however , unlike the c programming language , java is an object - oriented programming language . in addition to being an object - oriented programming language , java is an interpreted language . this means that the java compiler generates byte - codes for a java virtual machine rather than native machine codes such as that typically implemented . it should be noted that the jvm may be implemented as a hardware integrated circuit or as a software emulation program . to actually execute a java program , the jvm is used to execute the compiled byte - codes . because java byte - codes are platform - independent , java programs can be run on any platform that the jvm has been ported to . illustrated in fig2 is a host data processing system which may be running an ibm os / 2 operating system , 300 , and has running on it a virtual machine such as a java virtual machine , 302 . this java virtual machine is non - native to the host system . the host system has an assistive technology application such as ibm screen reader / 2 , 304 , with an input / output manager , 305 , with input , 306 , and output , 308 , for interfacing with input and output devices such as an ibm screen reader keypad or braille inputs and synthesized speech or braille outputs . resident in the java virtual machine is an assistive technology application such as the ibm screen reader for java , 310 , which has a need for inputs 312 , and outputs , 314 . it is the task of the 110 manager , 305 , to specify and determine when input from the physically attached device is directed to the input interface , 312 , and when output , 314 , received from the “ client ” assistive technology is directed to the physically attached output device . the java native invocation ( jni ) interface , 309 , is resident in the java programming language . the jni is used to bridge between the input , 312 , and output , 314 , methods of the “ client ” assistive technology and the input , 306 , and output , 308 , methods of the “ host ” assistive technology . it would very expensive and inefficient to require additional hardware devices for providing inputs and outputs to and from the java virtual machine separate from the host computer , or to share devices by closing and opening them as needed . illustrated in fig3 is a host data processing system which may be running microsoft windows 98 , 400 , and has running on it a windows application such as netscape navigator , 402 . the illustration shows a separate application making use of input / output objects connected to the host assistive technology input / output manager . in this illustration , the “ client ” environment is native to the host operating system . the host system has an assistive technology application such as the henter joyce jaws screen reader , 404 , with an input / output manager , 405 , with input , 406 , and output , 408 , for interfacing with similarly specialized input and output devices . running on the host , but specifically in association with the client environment , is a specialized assistive technology such as ibm home page reader , 410 , which has a need for inputs , 412 , and outputs , 414 . a windows sharable module , a dynamic link library , 409 , is the bridge between the input , 412 , and output , 414 , methods of the “ client ” assistive technology and the input , 406 , and output , 408 , methods of the “ host ” assistive technology . illustrated in fig4 is a series of steps that lead to the sharing of inputs and outputs between the assistive technology application running in the host operating system and the assistive technology application running in a virtual machine . in one embodiment of the present invention , the operating system is started in a step 496 . next , the host screen reader is initiated in step 498 . the sharing of the input / output devices will be instigated when a java virtual machine is initialized , step 500 , upon a host computer . by initializing java , an application such as the ibm screen reader for java is made available to an end user and is initialized , step 502 . as part of this initialization , sr / java establishes the connection to the host assistive technology &# 39 ; s i / o manager using the java native invocation interface , step 504 . other than input / output requests normal processing is carried out as shown in step 505 . when input is received by the host assistive technology &# 39 ; s i / o manager , step 506 , a decision , step 508 , is made whether to direct the input to the java assistive technology . the input will then be sent to the java screen reader , step 510 , or to process input “ normally ” within the native screen reader , step 512 . when output is sent by the java screen reader using java native invocation , step 514 , a decision in the host assistive technology &# 39 ; s i / o manager , step 516 , is made whether to send the output to the attached device , step 518 , or to ignore the output , step 520 . what has been shown is the creation of an assistive technology device input / output object subsystem that allows the host systems assistive technology application to generate command events to an assistive technology application running in the java virtual machine and allows output from an assistive technology application running in the java virtual machine to generate output events to an assistive technology application running on the host . the foregoing has provided an example of operation of the present invention . furthermore , while there have been provided here in the principals of the invention , it is to be clearly understood to those skilled in the art that this description is made by way of an example only and is not a limitation to the scope of the invention . for example , the use of the application as described should not be limited and the host operating system may be any of a number from available host operating systems . having thus described the present invention and its preferred embodiments in detail , it will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that further modifications to the invention may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as presently claimed .	6
after considering the following description , those skilled in the art will clearly realize that the teachings of the present invention can be utilized to improve performance and availability in substantially any system that allocates space for datasets . the invention is integrated as a component in a database management system . alternately , the invention may be integrated in an operating system . to simplify the following discussion and facilitate reader understanding , the present invention will be described in the context of use in a database management system . a technique allocates space for a dataset . in one embodiment , when the size of a dataset is small , the size of a new additional area for that dataset is also small so that space is not wasted . as the size of the dataset increases , the size of the additional areas also increases until , for large datasets , an additional - area clipping threshold is reached at which the size of the additional areas remains constant . in this way , a maximum number of additional areas is not likely to be used prior to reaching the maximum size of the dataset and allocating very large area sizes is avoided . in another embodiment , a dataset is associated with an initial or primary area to provide space for initially storing the dataset . each additional area is associated with an area number , and the size of the additional areas is based on the area number . the term “ area ” refers to a unit of space for storing , at least in part , a dataset or file . in one embodiment , the term “ area ” refers to an extent . however , the term “ area ” is not limited to extents and may refer to other allocation units for storing datasets or files . although the invention will be described with respect to extents , those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the invention may be used with areas other than extents . fig2 depicts an illustrative computer system 30 that utilizes the teachings of the present invention . the computer system 30 comprises a processor 32 , display 34 , input interfaces ( i / f ) 36 , communications interface 38 , memory 40 , disk memories 44 such as hard disk drive 46 and optical disk drive 48 , and output interface ( s ) 50 , all conventionally coupled by one or more busses 52 . the input interfaces 36 comprise a keyboard 54 and mouse 56 . the output interface is a printer 58 . the communications interface 38 is a network interface card ( nic ) that allows the computer system 30 to communicate via a network , such as the internet . the memory 40 generally comprises different modalities , illustratively semiconductor memory , such as random access memory ( ram ), and disk drives . the memory 40 stores operating system 60 and application programs such as the database management system 62 . the operating system 60 may be implemented by any conventional operating system , such as z / os ® ( registered trademark of international business machines corporation ), aix ® ( registered trademark of international business machines corporation ), unix ® ( unix is a registered trademark in the united states and other countries licensed through x / open company limited ), and windows ® ( registered trademark of microsoft corporation ), and linux ( registered trademark of linus torvalds ). the database management system 62 is a db2 ® system ( db2 ® is a registered trademark of international business machines corporation ). however , the inventive technique is not meant to be limited to a db2 ® database management system , and may be used with other database management systems . a database engine 64 allows a user to execute commands to add data to , delete data from , update data within or search the database tables . in one embodiment , the commands are structured query language ( sql ) statements that conform to a structured query language standard as published by the american national standards institute ( ansi ) or the international standards organization ( iso ). in alternate embodiments , languages other than sql may be used . in one embodiment , the specific software modules that implement the present invention are incorporated in the database management system 62 . alternately , the software modules that implement the present invention are incorporated in the operating system 60 . generally , the software modules are tangibly embodied in a computer - readable medium , for example , memory 40 or , more specifically , one of the disk drives 44 , and are comprised of instructions which , when executed , by the computer system 40 , cause the computer system 40 to utilize the present invention . in the memory 40 , the database management system 62 is comprised of the software modules and data . in one embodiment , the memory 40 may store a portion of the software modules and data making up the database management system 62 in semiconductor memory , while other software modules and data are stored in disk memory . in some embodiments , the memory 40 is comprised of the following : the operating system 60 ; the database management system 62 ; a database engine 64 to read data from , add data to , update data within , and delete data from a database table that is stored in a dataset ; one or more datasets 66 to store respective database information ; a primary extent size ( pqty ) 68 that may contain a value equal to the value of a system default size ( pqty_def ) 70 or a user - specified size ( pqty_user ) 72 to define the size of the primary extent for a dataset ; a secondary extent size ( sqty ) 74 that contains a value representing the size of a new secondary extent ; a user - specified secondary extent size ( sqty_user ) 78 ; an adaptive allocation module 80 that determines the size of a new additional area , for example , a secondary extent , and allocates space for a dataset using a determined additional area size , for example , a secondary extent size , in accordance with an embodiment of the present inventive technique ; and an extent allocation look - up table 82 that stores a set of predefined secondary extent sizes based on the maximum size of a dataset and the secondary extent number and , in one embodiment , is used by the adaptive allocation module to determine the size of a new secondary extent . fig3 depicts a high - level flowchart of an embodiment of a portion of the database engine which invokes the adaptive allocation module of fig2 . in step 90 , a command is received to add data to a dataset . for example , a sql insert command may be received to add new data to a table associated with the dataset . step 92 determines whether the dataset is full , in other words , whether the dataset has sufficient allocated space to store the new data . if not , in step 94 , the database engine invokes the adaptive allocation module to determine the size of a new additional area to be added , and allocates space for the new additional area based on the determined size . in step 96 , the database engine adds the data to the dataset . if step 92 determines that an additional area does not need to be allocated , step 92 proceeds to step 96 . fig4 depicts a high - level flowchart of an embodiment of a technique of the adaptive allocation module of fig2 . the dataset has an initial area and may have zero or more additional areas . the additional areas are associated with area numbers . in step 100 , the size of a new additional area is determined to provide additional space for the dataset . the new additional area is associated with a new additional area number . the size of the new additional area is based on the new additional area number . in a more particular embodiment , when the additional area number is low for a small dataset , the size of the new additional area is small . as the number of additional areas increases , the size of the new additional area increases until , for large datasets , an additional area clipping threshold is reached at which the size of the additional areas remains constant . in step 102 , additional space for the dataset is allocated based on the determined size of the new additional area . in another exemplary embodiment , the initial area is a primary extent , the additional areas are secondary extents , and the additional area numbers are secondary extent numbers . some rules for determining the size of a new additional area are shown below . by way of example , the rules will be described with respect to extents . the term “ primary quantity ” refers to the variable called “ pqty ” that contains the size of the primary extent . the system contains a default value for the size of the primary extent ( pqty_def ). a user , for example , the system administrator , may override the system default value by specifying a primary extent size which is stored in a variable called “ pqty_user .” the term “ sqty_user ” refers to a variable that contains a user - specified value for the size of a secondary extent . the term “ sqty ” refers to a size of the new secondary extent . the variable “ ss_extent ” refers to a sliding scale extent value which is an intermediate value of the size of the new secondary extent that is determined based on the new secondary extent number and the maximum size of the dataset prior to applying at least a subset of the rules described below . the term “ maxalloc ” refers to a variable that contains the maximum size of a secondary extent for a dataset . in one embodiment , the values of pqty , pqty_user , pqty_def , sqty , sqty_user , ss_extent and maxalloc are specified in cylinders . alternately , pqty , pqty_user , pqty_def , sqty , sqty_user , ss_extent and maxalloc are specified using any one of the following : bytes , kilobytes , gigabytes , and pages . for simplicity , this specification will describe the invention in terms of specifying pqty , pqty_user , pqty_def , sqty , sqty_user , ss_extent and maxalloc in cylinders ; however , in alternate embodiments , units other than cylinders may be used . the following are rules used by the adaptive allocation module to determine the size of the new secondary extent in one embodiment of the present inventive technique . ( 1 ) to determine the size of the primary extent , if a user specifies a primary extent size ( pqty_user ), the adaptive allocation module uses the user - specified primary extent size , that is , pqty = pqty_user ; otherwise , the adaptive allocation module uses the default primary extent size , that is , pqty = pqty_def . ( 2 ) if the user does not specify a value for the secondary extent size , then the size of the new secondary extent can be no smaller than ten percent of the size of the primary extent for that dataset . in other words , for example , in one embodiment , the value of maxalloc is equal to 127 cylinders for a dataset having a maximum dataset size less than thirty - two gigabytes , and the value of maxalloc is equal to 559 cylinders for a dataset having a maximum dataset size greater than or equal to thirty - two gigabytes . alternately , the size of the new secondary extent , sqty , is determined as follows : sqty = max ( 0 . 1 * pqty , min ( ss _extent , 559 or 127 cylinders if the maximum dataset is size is greater than or equal to thirty - two gigabytes , or less than thirty - two gigabytes , respectively )). ( 3 ) if a user specified that no secondary extents are to be allocated , that is , the specified value of sqty_user is equal to zero , then sqty is also equal to zero , and no secondary extents are allocated . ( 4 ) if the user specified a value for the size of a secondary extent ( sqty_user ) and if the specified value of sqty_user & gt ; 0 , then the size of the new secondary extent is no smaller than that specified size in sqty_user . in other words , for example , in one embodiment , described above , the value of maxalloc is equal to 127 cylinders for a dataset having a maximum dataset size less than thirty - two gigabytes , and the value of maxalloc is equal to 559 cylinders for a dataset having a maximum dataset size greater than or equal to thirty - two gigabytes . alternately , the size of the new secondary extent , sqty , is determined as follows : sqty = max ( min ( ss _extent , 559 or 127 cylinders if the maximum dataset is size is greater than or equal to thirty - two gigabytes , or less than thirty - two gigabytes , respectively ), sqty _user ). in an alternate embodiment , one or any combination of the rules may be applied in the adaptive allocation module . table 1 , below , depicts , for various maximum dataset sizes , the maximum number of secondary extents to store the dataset at the maximum dataset size , and the maximum secondary extent size . for example , for a dataset that can store up to eight gigabytes , the maximum number of secondary extents to store that dataset is equal to 154 , and the maximum secondary extent size is equal to 127 cylinders . in one embodiment of the present inventive technique , for at least a subset of secondary extents for a dataset , the size of the secondary extents of the subset increases according to a sliding scale so that the maximum dataset size can be reached within the maximum number of secondary extents allowed for that dataset size . the maximum secondary extent size is equal to a first predetermined maximum size for datasets having a maximum dataset size that is less than a predetermined dataset size threshold . in one embodiment , the predetermined dataset size threshold is equal to thirty - two gigabytes and the predetermined maximum size is equal to a first predetermined size limit . in one embodiment , the first predetermined size limit is equal to 127 cylinders . for datasets having a maximum dataset size that is greater than or equal to the predetermined dataset size threshold , the maximum secondary extent size is equal to a second predetermined size limit . in one embodiment , the second predetermined size limit is equal to 559 cylinders . when the size of the secondary extents reaches the maximum secondary extent size at a secondary extent clipping threshold , all subsequently allocated secondary extents have a size equal to the maximum secondary extent size . in general , this technique improves disk space utilization , reduces the likelihood that the maximum number of extents is reached prior to the maximum dataset size , and can improve performance when adding data . using the present inventive technique , space for small datasets is allocated efficiently because the size of the secondary extents is small when the number of secondary extents is low . for large datasets , the secondary extent size does not continue to increase beyond the maximum secondary extent size . therefore the technique avoids very large secondary extent sizes . contiguous space to allocate a very large extent may be difficult to find on a logical volume . using a maximum secondary extent size increases the likelihood that sufficient space will be found on a logical volume to allocate to the new secondary extent . in one embodiment , the predetermined secondary extent clipping threshold is the midpoint of the maximum number of secondary extents . choosing the midpoint as the predetermined secondary extent clipping threshold helps to reduce the maximum secondary extent size and reduces the potential for wasting disk space . the midpoint is determined by dividing the maximum number of secondary extents for a full - size dataset by two . for example , if 255 secondary extents are used to reach the full size for a dataset , the midpoint is equal to 127 or 128 , depending on the embodiment . alternately , the midpoint is not used . for example , for small datasets having a maximum number of fifty - four secondary extents , the maximum size allowed for a secondary extent may not be reached . in yet another alternate embodiment , the predetermined secondary extent clipping threshold is not at the midpoint but is at a different point . fig5 depicts a flowchart of an embodiment of the adaptive allocation module of fig2 that implements the rules described above . the following variables may be supplied to the adaptive allocation module . the size of the primary extent ( pqty ) either specified by a user ( pqty_user ) or a default value ( pqty_def ) rounded up to the nearest cylinder is provided . the size of a user - specified secondary extent ( sqty_user ) may be provided . the maximum size of the dataset is provided . in one embodiment , a dataset may have any of the following maximum dataset sizes : 1 , 2 , 4 , 16 , 32 or 64 gigabytes . however , the invention is not meant to be limited to 1 , 2 , 4 , 16 , 32 or 64 gigabyte datasets and may be used with other maximum dataset sizes . in fig5 , in step 108 , the adaptive allocation module determines whether a user specified that the secondary extent size is equal to zero . in particular , the adaptive allocation module determines whether the user - defined variable , called sqty_user , is equal to zero . if so , the adaptive allocation module exits ( step 110 ), and a new secondary extent is not allocated . if , in step 108 , the user - specified secondary extent size is not equal to zero , in step 112 , the adaptive allocation module determines a calculated size of the new secondary extent , ss_extent , based on the new secondary extent number and the maximum size of the dataset . the value of ss_extent represents a number of cylinders . in step 114 , a variable , called maxalloc , stores a maximum size of a secondary extent for a dataset , and is set equal to a first maximum value ( firstmaxvalue ). in one embodiment , the value of the first maximum value ( firstmaxvalue ) is equal to 127 ( cylinders ). step 116 determines whether the maximum dataset size is greater than or equal to a dataset size threshold ( sizethreshold ). if so , in step 118 , the maximum size of the secondary extent for the dataset ( maxalloc ) is set equal to a second maximum value ( secondmaxvalue ). in one embodiment , the value of the second maximum value is equal to 559 ( cylinders ). step 118 continues to step 120 . if , in step 116 , the maximum dataset size is less than the dataset size threshold ( sizethreshold ), step 116 proceeds to step 120 . in step 120 , the adaptive allocation module determines whether a user specified the size of the secondary extents . in particular , in step 120 , the adaptive allocation module determines whether the variable called sqty_user is specified . in step 122 , the adaptive allocation module determines the size of the new secondary extent ( sqty ), in cylinders , as follows : in this way , the size of the new secondary extent in sqty is not less than the value of a user - specified secondary extent size in sqty_user . in step 124 , the adaptive allocation module allocates a new secondary extent with the number of cylinders specified by sqty . in step 126 , the adaptive allocation module exits . if step 120 determined that the user did not specify a secondary extent size , in step 128 , the adaptive allocation module determines the size of the new secondary extent as follows : in this way , if a user did not specify the size of a secondary extent , the size of the new secondary extent is equal to at least ten percent of the size of the primary extent . step 128 then proceeds to step 124 to allocate the new secondary extent based on the value of sqty . fig6 depicts a more - detailed flowchart of determining a calculated size of the new secondary extent , ss_extent , based on the new secondary extent number and the maximum size of the dataset of step 112 of fig5 . a variable called “ extent no .” represents the new secondary extent number about to be allocated . based on whether the maximum size of the dataset is less than or greater than or equal to thirty - two gigabytes , the adaptive allocation module will use either a first sliding - scale or a second sliding - scale to determine the calculated size of the new secondary extent , ss_extent , for at least a subset of secondary extent numbers . in step 130 , the adaptive allocation module determines whether the maximum size of the dataset is greater than or equal to thirty - two gigabytes . if not , step 132 determines whether the value of the new secondary extent number ( extent no .) is less than one hundred twenty - eight , a first secondary extent clipping threshold . if so , in step 134 , the calculated size of the new secondary extent , ss_extent is set equal to the extent number . in this way , the intermediate value of the size of the new secondary extent is determined using a first sliding scale . the adaptive allocation module continues to step 138 which proceeds to step 116 of fig5 . if step 132 determined that the value of the new secondary extent number is greater than or equal to 128 , in step 136 , the calculated size of the new secondary extent , ss_extent , is set equal to 127 , and step 136 proceeds to step 138 . if , in step 130 , the adaptive allocation module determined that the maximum dataset size is greater than or equal to thirty - two gigabytes , a second sliding scale will be used to determine the size of the new secondary extent . in step 140 , the adaptive allocation module determines whether the new secondary extent number is less than sixteen . if so , in step 142 , the adaptive allocation module sets the value of ss_extent equal to the extent number and proceeds to step 138 . if step 140 determined that the new secondary extent number is not less than sixteen , in step 144 , the adaptive allocation module determines whether the new secondary extent number is less than sixty - four . if so , in step 146 , the value of ss_extent is determined as follows : if , in step 144 , the adaptive allocation module determined that the value of the new secondary extent number is not less than sixty - four , in step 148 , the adaptive allocation module determines whether the value of the new secondary extent number is less than ninety - six . if so , in step 150 , the value of ss_extent is determined as follows : if , in step 148 , the adaptive allocation module determined that the value of the new secondary extent number is not less than ninety - six , in step 152 , the adaptive allocation module determines whether the value of the new secondary extent number is less than one hundred twenty - eight . if so , in step 154 , the adaptive allocation module determines the value of ss_extent as follows : if , in step 152 , the adaptive allocation module determined that the value of the new secondary extent number is not less than one hundred twenty - eight , another secondary extent clipping threshold , in step 156 , the adaptive allocation module sets the value of ss_extent equal to 559 , and the adaptive allocation module proceeds step 138 . in the embodiment described above with respect to fig6 , the technique has two sliding scales . a first sliding scale is used for datasets which can grow up to sixteen gigabytes , and a second sliding scale is for datasets that can grow up to thirty - two gigabytes and sixty - four gigabytes . in another embodiment , a single sliding scale is used for all dataset sizes . in yet another alternate embodiment , three or more dataset size thresholds may be provided and three or more respective sliding scales may be used . in fig6 , the second sliding scale applies one or more linear functions of the form y = mx + b to the extent number , where x represents the new secondary extent number , y represents the calculated size of the new secondary extent , where m represents the slope of the function , and b represents the y - intercept , to different ranges of values of secondary extent numbers . the slope of the function m represents the change in the size of the secondary extent divided by the change in the secondary extent number . the slope of the second sliding scale starts at one and increases to two , four and ten as the secondary extent numbers increase . in yet another embodiment , the following exemplary pseudo - code is used to determine the size of the new secondary extent in cylinders . the variable ss_extent contains a calculated size of the new secondary extent in cylinders . /* calculate the size of the secondary extent , in cylinders , using a sliding scale / if maximum_dataset_size & gt ;= 32 gigabytes then do / large dataset sliding scale / maxalloc = 559 select when extent_no & lt ; 16 then ss_extent = extent_no when extent_no & lt ; 64 then ss_extent = 15 + 2 ( extent_no − 15 ) when extent_no & lt ; 96 then ss_extent = 111 + 4 * ( extent_no − 63 ) when extent_no & lt ; 128 then ss_extent = 239 + 10 * ( extent_no − 95 ) otherwise ss_extent = 559 end end else do /* small dataset sliding scale / maxalloc = 127 if extent_no & lt ; 128 then ss_extent = extent_no else ss_extent = 127 end / calculate 10 % of the size of the primary extent ( pqty ) but limit by the maximum size of the dataset of the sliding scales / if no user - specified secondary extent size ( sqty_user ), then sqty = max ( 0 . 1 pqty , min ( ss_extent , maxalloc )) end if there is a user - specified secondary extent size ( sqty_user ) & gt ; 0 , then /* use the greater of the sliding scale and the catalog secondary quantity / / allows a user to override with a larger sqty_user to reach 64gb faster / sqty = max ( min ( ss_extent , maxalloc ), sqty_user ) allocate a new secondary extent having a size of sqty fig7 depicts a graph 160 illustrating the size of secondary extents for datasets having a maximum dataset size up to and including sixteen gigabytes that was generated in accordance with the technique of fig6 . the x - axis 162 represents the extent number which ranges from one to a maximum number of secondary extents 164 which , in one embodiment is equal to 246 . the y - axis 166 represents the size of the secondary extents in cylinders ( cyls ). the size of the secondary extents increases linearly until reaching a maximum secondary extent size 168 at a secondary extent clipping threshold 170 , which , in this example , is equal to one hundred twenty - eight . for small datasets , for example , one gigabyte datasets , the sizes of the secondary extents increase with respect to the extent number , and the secondary extent clipping threshold is not reached . fig8 depicts a graph 180 illustrating the size of secondary extents for datasets having a maximum dataset size of sixty - four gigabytes that was generated in accordance with the technique of fig6 . the x - axis 182 represents the extent number . the y - axis 184 represents the size of the secondary extents in cylinders . initially , the size of the secondary extents increases slowly , and continues to increase more rapidly as the secondary extent numbers increase until a secondary extent clipping threshold 186 is reached , at which point , the size of the secondary extents remains constant at the maximum secondary extent size 188 until the maximum number of secondary extents 190 is reached . in this example , the secondary extent clipping threshold 186 is equal to one hundred twenty - eight . the following relationship describes the relationship of the sum of the secondary extent sizes to the maximum size of the dataset : maximumsizeofthedataset ≤ sizeofprimaryextent + ∑ i = 1 maximumnumberofsecondaryextents ⁢ ⁢ sizeofsecondaryextent ⁡ ( i ) the secondary extent clipping threshold , the sliding scale , the maximum number of secondary extents and the maximum size of the secondary extents are chosen in accordance with the above relationship . ideally , in one embodiment , the maximum size of the dataset is equal to the sum of the primary extent size and all secondary extent sizes . alternately , the maximum size of the dataset is less than , but close to , the sum of the primary and secondary extent sizes . in yet another embodiment , the secondary extent size , ss_extent , monotonically increases . fig9 depicts an exemplary dataset 200 having a maximum dataset size of sixty - four gigabytes , in which its secondary extents were allocated using the technique of fig6 . the dataset 200 has a primary extent 202 . the first secondary extent s 1 204 has a size of one cylinder . the second secondary extent s 2 206 has a size of two cylinders . the size of the secondary extents continues to increase up to the 127 th secondary extent s 127 208 which has a size of 559 cylinders . the size of the secondary extents remains at 559 cylinders until the 255 th secondary extent number s 255 210 is reached . fig9 shows the primary and secondary extents as contiguous blocks of memory . in practice , the primary and secondary extents may not be contiguous . in addition , the primary and secondary extents may reside on different volumes , that is , hard disk drives . fig1 depicts a flowchart of a more general embodiment of the technique of determining a size of an additional area , for example , a secondary extent , of step 112 fig5 . in fig1 , the term “ area no .” refers to a number of an additional area , such as , for example , a secondary extent number , and the term “ ss_area ” refers to the calculated size of the additional area , such as , for example , the calculated size of a secondary extent . in step 222 , the adaptive allocation module determines whether the maximum ( max ) dataset size is greater than or equal to a dataset size threshold ( datasetsizethreshold ). if not , in step 224 , the adaptive allocation module determines whether the new additional area number is less than a lowdatasetthreshold , that is , a first additional area clipping threshold . if so , in step 226 , the value of ss_area is determined as follows : in one embodiment , the function f 0 is linear and is of the form : the value of ss_area is rounded to the nearest whole cylinder . alternately , the function f 0 is linear and is a polynomial of the form : ss _area = a n ( area no .) n + a ( n − 1 ) ( area no .) ( n − 1 ) + . . . + a 1 ( area no . )+ a 0 , where a n , a ( n − 1 ) , . . . , a 1 and a 0 are real numbers . the value of ss_area is rounded to the nearest whole cylinder . in another embodiment , the polynomial is monotonically increasing . if step 224 determined that the new additional area number is not less than the lowdatasetthreshold , in step 228 , the value of ss_area is set equal to a low dataset maximum allocation value ( lowdatasetmaxalloc ). step 228 proceeds to step 230 and exits . if step 222 determined that the maximum dataset size is greater than or equal to the dataset size threshold , step 232 determines if the new additional area number ( area no .) is less than a first threshold . if so , in step 234 the adaptive allocation module determines a value for the size of the additional area in accordance with a function f 1 as follows : the function f 1 can take any of the forms described above for f 0 . in another embodiment , the first , second , . . . , nth thresholds have the following relationship : the adaptive allocation module may have any number n thresholds at which the function that is used to determine the size of the additional area changes . similarly , steps 236 and 238 , and 240 and 242 , determine the size of the additional area , as in steps 232 and 234 , except that the functions f 2 and f n , respectively , may differ . in another embodiment the functions f 1 to f n may be linear functions of the form y = mx + b , in which the slope m increases for each function such that the m 1 & lt ; m 2 & lt ; . . . & lt ; m n . if step 240 determines that the value of the new additional area number is not less than the nth threshold , in step 244 , the adaptive allocation module is set equal to a high dataset maximum allocation value ( highdatasetmaxalloc ). the nth threshold is a second additional area clipping threshold . the first and second additional area clipping thresholds may be the same . alternately , the first and second additional area clipping thresholds may differ . step 240 proceeds to step 230 and exits . in yet another embodiment , when the general technique of fig1 is used with fig5 , fig5 is modified and the terms of fig5 are used more generally . for example , the term “ ss_extent ” of fig5 is replaced with the term “ ss_area .” the term “ sqty_user ” refers to a user - specified additional area size , the term “ pqty ” refers to an initial area size , and the term “ sqty ” refers to the size of the new additional area . step 112 of fig5 determines a calculated size of a new additional area based on the new additional area number and the maximum size of the dataset . step 124 of fig5 allocates a new additional area based on sqty . fig1 depicts a high - level flowchart of a process to allocate a secondary extent using an extent allocation look - up table that was generated in accordance with the technique of fig6 . in step 260 , an extent allocation look - up table is created with secondary extent sizes that were calculated in accordance with fig6 , for predetermined ranges of extent numbers for a set of maximum dataset sizes . in step 262 , the size of a new secondary extent is determined based on the look - up table . in step 264 , a secondary extent is allocated based on the size of the new secondary extent that was retrieved from the look - up table . alternately , more generally , the extent allocation look - up table may be applied to areas . fig1 depicts a block diagram of the format 270 of an exemplary extent allocation look - up table entry of fig1 . each record of the lookup table has an extent number 272 , a maximum ( max ) dataset size to which dataset can grow 274 , and a secondary extent size 276 . fig1 depicts a block diagram of portions of an exemplary extent allocation look - up table 280 that is populated with values that were generated in accordance with the technique of fig6 . for datasets having a maximum size of one gigabyte , the number of secondary extents ranges from 1 to 54 . the value of the secondary extent is equal to the extent number . fig1 depicts a more - detailed embodiment of a technique to determine a size of a secondary extent based on an extent number and a maximum dataset size using the extent allocation look - up table of step 120 of fig5 . in step 290 of fig1 , the adaptive allocation module determines a size of the new secondary extent , ss_extent , by looking up the size of the new secondary extent in the look - up table based on the value of the new secondary extent number and the maximum dataset size . fig1 depicts a graph 300 of an alternate embodiment of the technique to determine the size of a secondary extent using an exponential function 302 . the x - axis 304 represents the secondary extent number . the y - axis 306 represents the size of the secondary extent . the exponential function 302 is of the form : in the exponential function above , a and b are real numbers . the value of ss_extent is then rounded to the nearest whole cylinder value . in one embodiment , the value of b is equal to 1 . 05 . at a first secondary extent clipping threshold 308 , the value of ss_extent is set equal to a maximum secondary extent size 310 . in an alternate embodiment , a linear function 312 is used to initially determine the size of the new secondary extent then , at a function change threshold 314 , the exponential function 302 is used to determine the size of the new secondary extent before reaching the maximum secondary extent size 310 at the first secondary extent clipping threshold 308 . in another alternate embodiment , the exponential function 302 is initially used to determine the size of the new secondary extent . at the function change threshold 314 , the linear function ( darkened line ) 312 is used to determine the size of the secondary extent before reaching the maximum secondary extent size 310 at a second secondary extent clipping threshold 316 . referring back to fig1 , in yet another embodiment , at least one of the functions , f 0 to f n , to determine the size of the additional area is of the form : in the function above , a and b are real numbers . the value of ss_area is then rounded to the nearest whole cylinder value . in yet another embodiment , at least one of the functions , f 0 to f n , comprises a trigonometric function , for example , an inverse tangent function , of the form : ss _area = m ( tan − 1 ( a ( area no . )− x _offset )+ y _offset ). the variable “ m ” is a scaling factor to scale the function to the maximum additional area size . the variable “ a ” is a factor to expand or contract the inverse tangent function along the x - axis . the value of x_offset is used to place the inverse tangent function at a desired point on the x - axis when the value of the extent number is equal to one . the value of y_offset is used to raise the inverse tangent function so that , at its limit , the value of the inverse tangent function approaches three . the value of m is chosen such that the maximum secondary area size is reached as the additional area number becomes very large . in yet another alternate embodiment , at least one or any combination of the linear , polynomial , exponential or trigonometric functions described above are used , at least in part , to determine the size of a new additional area . in another alternate embodiment , the additional area sizes increase in steps for groups of additional areas . for example , the first five additional areas may have a size of one , and the next seven additional areas may have a size of three . the look - up table may be used to implement any of the above - described functions , and embodiments for determining the size of the additional area . the invention has been described by way of specific embodiments , but those skilled in the art will understand that various changes in form and detail may be made without deviating from the spirit or scope of the invention .	8
in the following detailed description preferred embodiments of the invention will be described . however , it is to be understood that features of the different embodiments are exchangeable between the embodiments and may be combined in different ways , unless anything else is specifically indicated . it may also be noted that , for the sake of clarity , the dimensions of certain components illustrated in the drawings may differ from the corresponding dimensions in real - life implementations of the invention , e . g . the length of the catheter , etc . catheters may be used for many different purposes , and for insertion into various types of body - cavities . however , the following discussion is in particular concerned with the preferred field of use , hydrophilic urinary catheters , even though the invention is not limited to this particular type of catheters . a catheter 1 as illustrated in the drawings , e . g . in fig3 , comprises a flared rearward portion , forming a flared connector 2 , and an elongated shaft 3 , connected to the flared connector 2 , and in the opposite end having a catheter insertion end 31 . the flared connector 2 forms a catheter connector end 21 . an open - ended internal lumen ( not shown ) extends from the catheter connector end 21 to a drainage aperture 32 in a rounded tip 33 of the elongate tube 3 . the flared connector 2 may function as a connector of the catheter 1 , being connectable to other devices , such as a urine collection bag , a drainage tube or the like . it may have any size and form , forming a flared extension in relation to the elongate shaft , as is per se well known in the art . further , the flared connector 2 may be connected to the elongate shaft 3 by means of welding , adhesion or the like , or form an integrated part of the elongate shaft . at least a part of the elongate shaft 3 forms an insertable length to be inserted through a body opening of the user , such as the urethra in case of a urinary catheter . by insertable length is normally , in the context of a hydrophilic catheter , meant that length of the elongate shaft 3 which is coated with a hydrophilic material , for example pvp , and which is insertable into the urethra of the patient . typically , this will be 50 - 140 mm for a female patient and 200 - 350 mm for a male patient . even though pvp is the preferred hydrophilic material , other hydrophilic materials may be used , such as hydrophilic polymers selected from polyvinyl compounds , polysaccharides , polyurethanes , polyacrylates or copolymers of vinyl compounds and acrylates or anhydrides , especially polyethyleneoxide , polyvinyl - pyrrolidone , heparin , dextran , xanthan gum , polyvinyl alcohol , hydroxy propyl cellulose , methyl cellulose , copolymer of vinylpyrrolidone and hydroxy ethylmethyl acrylate or copolymer of polymethylvinyl ether and maleinic acid anyhydride . the coating may also comprise an osmolality - increasing compound , as is e . g . taught in ep 0 217 771 in addition , the catheter comprises a gripping sleeve 4 surrounding and being fixedly connected to the flared connector 2 , and arranged to enclose essentially the whole flared connector , apart from the catheter connector end 21 . the gripping sleeve 4 preferably has an axial length significantly longer than the axial length of the flared connector 2 . the gripping sleeve is preferably connected to the flared connector end by means of a friction fit . alternatively or additionally , the gripping sleeve may be connected to the flared connector by means of at least one of welding and adhesion . in order to further enhance the attachment of the gripping sleeve to the flared connector , the flared connector 2 is preferably provided with an outwardly facing corrugation 22 , and the gripping sleeve 4 is preferably provided with a corresponding inwardly facing corrugation 41 . further , it is preferred that the flared connector 2 comprises an outwardly protruding flange 23 in the vicinity of the catheter connector end , providing an abutment for the gripping sleeve 4 . the gripping sleeve is a tubular part , with a first opening with an inward diameter preferably essentially corresponding with the corresponding external diameter of the flared connector , and a second opening with an inward diameter preferably corresponding with the corresponding external diameter of the elongate shaft . the gripping sleeve preferably has a cylindrical shape , and it could be circular or non - circular in a cross - sectional view . the outer surface of the gripping sleeve 4 may be provided with various means for improve the gripping and handling . for example , the gripping sleeve may be provided with an outwardly facing corrugation 42 . the gripping sleeve may also be provided with outwardly protruding gripping means , such as wings ( not shown ). the catheter components can be made from a large number of feasible materials , as is per se well known in the art . the elongate shaft , the flared connector and the gripping sleeve may further be made of the same material , or by two or more different materials . in the latter case , the parts may be made from materials with different characteristics towards softness and / or rigidity . the gripping sleeve may e . g . be made from a low frictional material , or it may have a surface coating preventing sliding between the fingers of the user , or it may have a surface pattern facilitating a better grip . the gripping sleeve could be made from a material which is rigid compared to the insertable part of the catheter . the various catheter parts , or at least a part of one or several of said parts , could be made from a thermoplastic elastomer or other thermoplastic materials , or from a curable elastomer material , or from any mixture or combination thereof . thermoplastic elastomer materials may comprise materials like polyurethane elastomers , polyetherblockamide elastomers , polyester elastomers , polyolefin elastomers and polystyrene elastomers and sebs . other thermoplastic materials may comprise pvc , e . g . plasticized pvc , polyethylene homo - or co - polymers , polypropylene homo - or co - polymers , polyamide types , polyester types , fluorine - containing thermoplastic materials such as fluorine - containing elastomers among others . curable elastomer material may comprise silicone elastomers and curable polyurethane elastomers among others . latex rubbers and other rubbers are also feasible . each of the parts can be made e . g . by extrusion , injection moulding , blow moulding etc . a method of manufacturing the above - discussed catheter preferably comprises the steps of first producing a base catheter comprising an elongate shaft and a flared connector with a catheter connector end connected to one end of said elongate shaft , as is per se known in the art . subsequently , the gripping sleeve is arranged over the flared connector , to enclose essentially the whole flared connector , apart from the catheter connector end , and fixedly connecting the gripping sleeve to said flared connector . this is illustrated in fig3 . the invention has now been described by means of preferred embodiments . however , many further variations are possible . for example , the griping sleeve may be attached to the flared connector in other ways , such as by means of mechanical interlocking , the gripping sleeve may be provided with various forms of external gripping means , etc . such and other obvious modifications must be considered to be within the scope of the present invention , as it is defined by the appended claims . it should be noted that the above - mentioned embodiments illustrate rather than limit the invention , and that those skilled in the art will be able to design many alternative embodiments without departing from the scope of the appended claims . in the claims , any reference signs placed between parentheses shall not be construed as limiting to the claim . the word “ comprising ” does not exclude the presence of other elements or steps than those listed in the claim . the word “ a ” or “ an ” preceding an element does not exclude the presence of a plurality of such elements . further , a single unit may perform the functions of several means recited in the claims .	0
considering fig1 there may be seen apparatus for fabricating a fiber optic sensor in accordance with the invention . the apparatus is based around a polymerization chamber 2 , at the bottom of which is an optional reservoir of water 4 . the chamber is supplied , by means of a gas supply duct 6 , with nitrogen gas from a controlled temperature and humidity source 8 . the optical fiber 10 on which the sensor is to be formed passes through a sealed aperture in the side of the chamber 2 . the fiber 10 is supported on a micrometer stage 12 which permits it to be accurately advanced and retracted . a standard optical fiber coupling 14 is provided at the end of the fiber 10 and to connect it to another fiber 16 in turn coupled to an opto - electronic unit 18 containing a broadband source , a spectrometer for spectral analysis and digital signal processing for generating an interrogation optical signal and detecting the signal coming back down the fiber . the opto - electronic unit is connected to a pc 20 . a second optical fiber 22 enters the chamber 2 from the other side so as to be aligned with the first fiber 10 . the second fiber 22 is a large diameter multi - mode fiber and is coupled to an ultra - violet light source 24 . a syringe 26 has a needle 28 which also passes into the chamber 2 so as to allow a drop of pre - gel solution to be applied to the end of the fiber 10 . a general description of the fabrication of a sensor probe in a gas environment will now be given followed later by a specific example . first the end of the optical fiber 10 is cleaved using a precision cleaver to give a high quality optical beam coupling to the sensor . the end of the fiber 10 is then silanized to ensure a covalent bond between the glass surface of the fiber end and the hydrogel sensor . if a plastic fiber is used a cross - linking agent may be applied instead . for example plastic optic fibers are commonly made from polymethylmethacrylate ( pmma ). a pmma fiber can be prepared for cross - linking by oxidizing the surface by ultraviolet / ozone exposure . the activated pmma surface is then reacted with 3 - methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane , a cross - linking agent , forming pendant methacrylate groups that can act as polymerization anchor points for acrylamide monomers during the uv polymerization . the fiber 10 is then inserted into the chamber 2 using the micrometer stage 12 to control precisely the separation between the fiber 10 and the multimode fiber 22 coupled to the uv light source 24 . a droplet of hydrogel pre - gel solution containing the hydrogel monomer is then put onto the end of the fiber 10 . this is done by firstly depressing the plunger of the syringe 26 in order to express a droplet of solution 30 using the syringe 26 . this may be seen in the detail enlargement of fig1 . the tip of the fiber 10 is then advanced towards the droplet 30 until it contacts it . the fiber 10 is then retracted thereby forming a liquid bridge between the needle 28 and the tip of the fiber 10 . eventually this separates leaving a drop of hydrogel pre - gel solution on the end of the fiber 10 . the size and shape of the hydrogel is determined by the source droplet &# 39 ; s volume , the surface tension , interface tension and surface free energy . the uv source is then energized so as to expose the droplet at the end of the fiber 10 to uv light . this causes rapid polymerization which ensures an optical quality finish and a high degree of homogeneity of the hydrogel . during the polymerization process the end surface quality , droplet volume and volume rate of change are monitored by the opto - electronic unit 18 using a spectrometer to analyse the interference signal generated by passing a near - infra - red signal down the fiber 10 . these are used to control one or more parameters of the process such as the timing of the uv exposure , the humidity in the chamber ( controlled by adjusting the proportion of dry nitrogen ), gas flow rate and the temperature of the chamber . the gas flow rate and humidity control the evaporation of solvent from the monomer solution . after polymerization is complete the fiber probe 10 is placed in a stabilizing buffer solution . thereafter it may be stored in buffer solution or rapidly dehydrated in a dry atmosphere or ethanol ; and stored in a dry atmosphere . although the fabrication of only one sensor is described , many may be produced in parallel . in these circumstances it may only necessary to interferometrically monitor the quality of one fiber in each chamber . furthermore when fabrication is achieved of a hydrogel sensor having an optical quality dome - shaped surface , exhibiting a high degree of homogeneity , covalently bound to the end of the fiber and porous ; the process parameters used to achieve it can be reproduced repeatedly in order to fabricate further sensors in the same or a similar chamber . thus the initial production carried out using monitoring can in some senses be seen as setting up or calibrating the process . thereafter fabrication can be carried out in the chamber in accordance with the invention under controlled conditions of temperature , humidity , gas flow rate etc . corresponding sensors forming part of respective feedback control systems are employed in order to effect the aforementioned control . fig2 shows schematically a second embodiment of the invention where the polymerization is carried out in oil . this embodiment is very similar to the first except of course that the chamber 2 ′ contains oil 32 in this case . the fiber 10 on which the sensor is formed enters the chamber 2 ′ from one side as in the first embodiment . either the fiber 10 or the uv fiber 22 is mounted so as to horizontally translatable . the procedure followed is similar to that for the gas phase procedure and thus only the differences are described . again a specific example follows later . in the liquid phase procedure solvent and photoinitiator loss is controlled by using oil 32 as the liquid in which the fiber 10 is immersed since the solvent and photoinitiator have very low solubilities in the oil . photoinitiator is also dissolved in the oil , e . g . to a concentration of five times that of the pre - gel solution , to give further control of photoinitiator loss and a high quality optical gel surface . the oil has good optical qualities and so does not excessively scatter the uv light which is incident from above . the pre - gel solution is added to the end of the fiber from a syringe 26 which is used to express a blob of solution 30 that is then contacted with the end of the fiber . acryl silanization of a clean and dry optical fiber end ( fiber diameter 125 microns ) was done by first incubating the fiber in 1 molar ( m ) of naoh for 20 minutes followed by washing in water and drying . in the next step the fiber was incubated in 0 . 01 m hcl for 20 minutes followed by washing in water . the silanization step was performed in a mixture of water ( 4 . 9 ml ) having a ph of 3 . 5 ( adjusted with 0 . 1 m hcl ) and [ γ -( methacryloxy )- propyl ] trimethoxysilane ( 100 μl ) for 1 hour at room temperature . the water [ γ -( methacryloxy )- propyl ] trimethoxysilane mixture was stirred vigorously for 15 minutes prior to use . after silanization the fiber was washed with water and dried . although an naoh incubation step is carried out if the fiber has been handled or otherwise contaminated , it can be avoided by cutting the fiber just before silanization . a stock solution of 30 % acrylamide ( aam ) and 2 mol % n , n ′- methylenebisacrylamide ( bis ) was made by mixing 3 . 00 g aam and 0 . 1328 g bis in 0 . 02 m phosphate buffer ph 7 . 4 to a total volume of 10 ml . the photoinitiator solution , 100 mm 1 - hydroxycyclohexyl phenyl keton , was made by dissolving 0 . 0102 g 1 - hydroxycyclohexyl phenyl ketone in 500 μl ethyleneglycol . the stock and photoinitiator solution were stored cold ( 4 ° c .) and dark for maximum three months and two weeks , respectively . from the stock and the photoinitiator solutions a 10 % gel solution , containing 98 mol % aam , 2 mol % bis and 0 . 125 mol % photoinitiator was mixed and stored dark . the polymerization of the hydrogel sensor head was done inside a plexiglas chamber containing a moistened n 2 atmosphere . the bottom of the chamber was filled with distilled water . in addition , the chamber humidity was adjusted by varying the portion of dry to moistened n 2 gas flowing into the chamber so the size of a droplet of gel solution was held constant ( no swelling or shrinking ). the light guide from the uv lamp , a 400 micron multimode optical fiber , entered the chamber horizontally , and from the opposite direction a silanized optical fiber ( diameter 125 microns ) for the sensor head was centered end - to - end towards the multimode fiber . the distance between these two fibers was set to 500 micron . with a pipette ( 20 μl ) and a syringe needle ( 25 g ), gel solution was deposited on the end of the optical fiber forming a dome - shaped droplet . uv radiation ( medicure mc 4000 lamp ) was used for polymerization . exposure time was 130 seconds . the uv flux was set by measuring the relative uv power of an approx . 1 w / cm 2 high pressure mercury lamp coupled to the optical fiber , using an optical detector at the proximal end of the optical ( sensor ) fiber . the axial length of the droplet / hemisphere ( in μm ), the axial length change ( in μm ) and the amplitude of the signal reflected from the surface of the hemisphere , were all recorded during the polymerization step . these are shown in fig3 a to 3 c . immediately after the uv exposure was ended , the optical fiber with sensor head at the end was placed in a physiological phosphate buffer with 0 . 138 m nacl and ph 7 . 40 . acryl silanization of a clean and dry optical fiber end ( fiber diameter 125 microns ) was done by first incubating the fiber in 1 m naoh for 20 minutes followed by washing in water and drying . in the next step the fiber was incubated in 0 . 01 m hcl for 20 minutes followed by washing in water . the silanization step was performed in a mixture of water ( 4 . 9 ml ) having a ph of 3 . 5 ( adjusted with 0 . 1 m hcl ) and [ γ -( methacryloxy )- propyl ] trimethoxysilane ( 100 μl ) for 1 hour at room temperature . the water [ γ -( methacryloxy )- propyl ] trimethoxysilane mixture was stirred vigorously for 15 minutes prior to use . after silanization the fiber was washed with water and dried . a stock solution containing 30 % acryl amide ( aam ) and 2 mol -% n , n ′- methylenebis - acrylamide ( bis ) was prepared by mixing 3 . 00 g aam and 0 . 1328 g bis in 0 . 02 m phosphate buffer ph 7 . 4 to a total volume of 10 ml . in 500 ml ethylene glycol 0 . 0102 g hydroxycyclo - hexyl phenyl ketone ( photo initiator ), was dissolved giving a 100 mm solution . the stock and photo initiator solutions were stored in the dark at low temperature ( 4 ° c .) for maximum three months and two weeks respectively . the polymerization of the hydrogel sensor head was done in a small beaker filled with hexadecane ( oil ). in particular the oil used was squalane , product number 234311 from the aldrich chemical company , inc . the oil had the same photoinitiator used to prepare the pre - gel solution dissolved in it . the concentration of photoinitiator in the oil was five times that in the pre - gel solution . this was found to prevent loss of photoinitiator into the oil and allowed the production of a high quality gel surface . the applicant has found that the photoinitiator in the oil helps in defining a high quality gel surface . the light guide from the uv lamp , a 400 - micron multimode fiber , was directed horizontally , and from the opposite direction the acryl silanized optical fiber for receiving the sensor head was centered end - to - end towards the multimode fiber . the distance between these two fibers was set to 500 micron . from the stock and the photo initiator solutions a 20 % gel solution was prepared , containing 98 mol -% aam , 2 mol -% bis and 0 . 125 mol -% photo initiator . with a 2 . 5 μl pipette gel solution was deposited on the end of the optical fiber immersed in squalane forming a dome - shaped droplet . uv radiation ( medicure mc 4000 lamp ) was used for polymerization . exposure time was 90 seconds . the axial length of the droplet / hemisphere ( in μm ), the axial length change ( in nm ) and the amplitude of the signal reflected from the surface of the hemisphere , were all recorded during the polymerization step . after the uv exposure was ended , the optical fiber fp sensor head was placed in physiological phosphate buffer with 0 . 138 m nacl and ph 7 . 40 . as previously described , the hydrogel probe preparation process is monitored by analyzing the interferometric signal from the fabry - perot hydrogel sensor by coupling a near - infrared source and a spectrometer to the optical fiber . the following parameters were logged for preparation of a 10 % polyacrylamide gel with 2 mol % crosslinker : the amplitude of the reflected signal , plotted in fig3 b , which is a measure of the hydrogel surface quality , curvature , and symmetry of the dome ; the dc component of the reflected signal plotted in fig3 a which is a measure of the fiber end quality or the polymer fraction in the hydrogel ; the axial length of the hydrogel droplet dome , plotted in fig3 c ; and the axial length change of the hydrogel droplet dome , plotted in fig3 d . interferometric monitoring of the hydrogel preparation process was carried out in the following stages listed below . a ) before the monomer solution is placed at the fiber end a dc signal of 1500 ( at time − 200 sec ) was measured as may be seen in fig3 a . this demonstrates a high optical quality fiber cut . b ) prior to polymerization the chamber conditions were adjusted to result in a stable droplet volume and high quality hydrogel . the chamber conditions are set to give an initial length change during polymerization ( after the uv light is turned on ) of around − 4 μm / 10 sec ( fig3 c and d , time interval from 0 - 20 sec ), and a length change of around + 1 μm / 10 sec after the polymerization is completed and the uv light is turned off ( time interval from 130 - 150 sec ). these conditions are set during one or more test runs prior to the polymerization runs shown here . c ) at time − 2 seconds , after the droplet is positioned at the fiber end , an amplitude of 320 was measured ( fig3 b ) which confirms that a symmetric droplet is positioned at the fiber end . d ) at the same time the length of the droplet was measured as 55 μm ( fig3 c ). e ) during the uv exposure , starting at time 0 sec , the droplet shrinks due to heat generation from the polymerization reaction . ( fig3 c and d ). f ) after the polymerization reaction is complete at 130 seconds , the rate of shrinkage is decreased ( fig3 c and d ) demonstrating the equilibrium in the chamber under uv exposure , i . e . a high water vapor pressure to control evaporation . this chamber condition is set at the start of the procedure ( point ( b ) above ). g ) after the uv exposure is turned off at time 130 sec , the hydrogel volume increases to reach a new equilibrium ( fig3 c and d ). h ) the amplitude after polymerization is maintained high at 245 ( fig3 b ), i . e . the hydrogel dome - shape is symmetric with respect to the axis of the optical fiber axis and the hydrogel is homogeneous . i ) at time 146 seconds the fiber with the hydrogel dome sensor at the end is placed in a buffer solution as seen by the instantaneous drop in dc and amplitude . ( fig3 a and 3 b ). j ) after about one minute the hydrogel volume is in a stable equilibrium with the buffer , with a length of 66 μm , dc level of 68 , and amplitude of 9 . ( fig3 a , 3 b and 3 c ). ( this parameter set corresponds to a high quality hydrogel fabry - perot interferometer probe .) a further embodiment is shown in fig4 . in this embodiment the polymerization reaction also takes place in oil . however rather than being received in a container forming the polymerization space , the oil is in the form of a droplet of oil 30 immobilised at the end of a rod 32 . the fiber 34 forming the sensor probe and the fiber 36 supplying the uv radiation which promotes polymerization are inserted into opposite sides of the droplet . the polymerization reaction may therefore take place as described in relation to the second embodiment . however in this embodiment the very low volume of the oil droplet 30 means that only a small absolute amount of photoinitiator need be provided in the droplet 30 to give a sufficient concentration to prevent excess loss of photoinitiator from the pre - gel material . the oil 30 can therefore be replaced regularly to ensure that sufficient concentration of photoinitiator is maintained . in one example the rod 32 used is 4 mm in diameter giving an oil droplet of 25 microliters ; the sensor fiber 34 is 125 microns in diameter ; and the uv irradiation fiber 36 is 400 microns in diameter . while the present invention has been illustrated and described with respect to a particular embodiment thereof , it should be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that various modifications to this invention may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention .	6
referring to fig1 and 2 , a device 10 in accordance with this invention is illustrated . the device includes a first support member 12 , and a second support member 14 , connected to each other by a pair of hinges 16 and 18 . the first support member 12 is formed with a generally rectangular flat surface 20 having height and width dimensions slightly larger than those of the documents or prints 22 to be supported thereon . in the embodiment of the invention illustrated in the figures of the drawings the support members 12 and 14 are formed of sheets of translucent or clear plastic material . the first support member 12 is formed of a sheet of material the width of which is sufficiently greater than that of the prints 22 such that the top and bottom edges may be bent at right angles to form side members 24 and 26 to confine and protect the top and bottom edges of the prints . on the right half of the first support member 12 , the side members 24 and 26 are provided with retaining portions 28 and 30 which are bent at right angles to the side members 24 and 26 to form u - shaped channels 32 and 34 to retain the loose ends of the prints 22 . the second support member 14 is approximately one half as long as the first support member 12 . the upper and lower edges of support member 14 are also provided with side members 36 and 38 and retaining portions 40 and 42 at right angles thereto so as to form u - shaped channels 44 and 46 . as illustrated in fig5 each of the hinges 16 and 18 consist of two portions , 48 and 50 , one of which , 50 , includes a stem and the other of which , 48 , includes an aperture for receiving the stem . the abutting surfaces of hinged portions 48 and 50 are provided with saw tooth like surfaces as shown in fig6 . by varying the positions in which the saw tooth like surfaces engage each other , the relative angular positions of the first and second support members 12 and 14 with respect to each other may be adjusted . the portion of the first support member 12 on which the hinge portions 48 are mounted is bent at 49 and 51 at an obtuse angle to the flat surface 20 of the first member . because of the bends , portions of the fastening means located on the back side of the first support member 12 ( not shown ) will not engage the surface on which , the first support member is resting . further , with the particular type of hinges shown in the figures , the angular position of the portion of the first support member 12 on which the hinged portions 48 are mounted permits the members 12 and 14 to close upon each other as shown in fig1 . referring again to fig1 a plurality of prints 22 are shown to be clipped to the first support member 12 by a spring loaded clip 52 positioned between the hinges 16 and 18 with their top and bottom edges retained in the u - shaped channels 32 and 34 . with the second support member 14 rotated to be positioned over and parallel to the first support member 12 , as shown in fig1 the device 10 and the prints 22 retained thereon may be readily carried by a user engaging his hand in a hand hole 54 provided in the first support member 12 . referring to fig2 and 3 , to view a print other than the top one , the prints above the print to be viewed are pulled out of the u - shaped channels 32 and 34 on first support member 12 and folded over outer edge 56 of the second support member 14 and directed into the u - shaped channels 44 and 46 formed on the second support member . as illustrated in fig2 several of the prints are retained by the u - shaped channels 32 and 34 on the first support member 12 , while other prints are shown retained by the u - shaped channels 44 and 46 on the second support member 14 . referring to fig4 it will be observed that prints are positioned on each side of the second support member 14 , and are retained on the left side by the u - shaped channels 44 and 46 at the bottom and top of member 14 . a print 58 is shown to be free from the u - shaped channels on both support members and positioned to be moved in the direction of the arrow a in fig2 and 3 to be supported by the second support member 14 . the device 10 as shown in fig2 is readily self - supporting in a vertical position on a flat horizontal surface for viewing the top print retained on the first support member 12 . the first support member 12 is also provided with apertures 60 and 62 which may be utilized to receive pins or nails extending from a vertical surface , such as a wall in an office or at a construction site , to hang the device 10 in a vertical position , whereby the prints may be retained and the top print on the first support member 12 observed . the device 10 for retaining and displaying prints may also be supported on an easel , with the lower side member 24 of the first support member 12 resting on the shelf of the easel . however , due to the weight of the second support member 14 and of the documents wrapped around it , it is necessary that the top of the first support member 12 be secured to the easel such that the print device 10 does not tip off of the easel . in an alternate embodiment of the invention it may be desirable to more securely hold the prints on support members 12 and 14 . this may be accomplished by extending the retaining portions 28 and 30 on support member 12 and retaining portions 40 and 42 on support member 14 toward each other as shown by the phantom lines in fig5 . while the u - shaped channels 32 and 34 on the first support member 12 and 44 and 46 on the second support member 14 are shown to be formed by bending flat sheets forming those members , they may also be formed as separate channels which are secured to the flat portions of the support members 12 and 14 by rivets , adhesive or other fastening means . while in the preferred embodiment , the support members 12 and 14 are formed from transparent plastic sheets , it may be desirable , particularly when the device is intended for use on construction sites , to form the support members of a metal such as aluminum or magnesium , which are desirable because of their lighter weight . while a particular type of spring loaded clip 52 and a particular type of hinge , 16 and 18 , are illustrated , it is of course within the purview of the invention to use other types of clips and hinges . since it is desirable that prints be retained in the channels at both the top and the bottom of the first and second support members , it is desirable to provide a device of suitable size for each document size which is to be supported . while it is preferable that the length of the second support member 14 be one half of that of the support member 12 , such that the documents will extend the full length of the u - shaped channels 44 and 46 , but not project beyond the channels , it is of course within the purview of this invention to vary the relative length of the second support member 14 with respect to the first support member 12 . in a particular embodiment of this invention , that is one intended to support documents which are approximately 24 &# 34 ; wide by 36 &# 34 ; long , i . e . the previously mentioned architectural d size document , the first support member 12 is made 37 inches long and the height between the bases of the u - shaped channels 32 and 34 is made 241 / 4 &# 34 ;. further , the u - shaped channels 32 and 34 on the first support member are made approximately 151 / 4 &# 34 ; long . the u - shaped channels 32 , 34 and 44 , 46 on the top and bottom edges of the first and second members are typically made 3 / 4 &# 34 ; wide and 3 / 4 &# 34 ; deep . it should also be noted that the hand hole 54 is located closer to the left end of the first support member 12 than to the right , so as to balance the weight of the device to the right and left of the hand hole . this takes into consideration the additional weight of the clip hinges and second support member 14 . while in accordance with the u . s . patent statues , the preferred embodiment of the invention has been shown and described , various changes may be made in the device of this invention without parting from the true spirit and scope of this invention . the appended claims are intended to cover all such changes and modifications which fall within the true spirit and scope of this invention .	0
in fig1 there is illustrated a fishing reel generally designated 10 . the reel 10 includes a pair of conventional side plates 12 and 14 separated by one or more support posts 16 and a frame base 18 . the frame base 18 includes a bridge which extends between the side plates 12 and 14 . the frame base 18 fits on a fishing pole and the reel 10 is held on the pole by a clamp 20 which surround the pole and is screwed or otherwise secured to the base 18 . also rotatably mounted between the side plates 12 and 14 is a spool of the present invention generally designated 22 on bearings not shown . in addition , the reel 10 includes a conventional line star brake and drag mechanism 24 . attached to the mechanism 24 through gearing not shown is a power handle 26 to rotate the spool 22 and wind the fishing line on or of the spool 22 . the spool 22 is preferably made of an engineering polymer such as a plastic where graphite is added to strengthen the softer plastic and achieve the desired material . the spool 22 is preferably unitary and includes an annular elongated core 28 extending between a pair of annular end plates designated 30 . however , without departing from the scope of the invention the spool 22 could be made in two identical end mating portions . each annular end plate includes an interior angled surface 34 and 36 . on the exterior of the plates 28 and 30 there are provided interior projecting annular recesses 38 and 40 respectively . radiating outwardly from a hub 42 and 44 to the rims 46 and 48 respectively are a plurality of strengthening ribs 50 . the spool 22 is formed around a shaft generally designated 50 preferably made of metal . one of the keys to the marriage of the spool 22 and shaft 60 is a locking means or various interruptions or protrusions 62 that break up the smooth annual surface of the shaft core 64 . in the case of the protrusions 62 in fig3 and 6 they are annular rings 66 that include sides 68 and 70 that are angles inwardly toward each other , see fig5 to the annular crown or top surface 72 . the angle as represented by the arrow in fig5 is advisable when forming the spool 22 on the shaft 60 to assure the flow of plastic and coating the entire shaft 60 and to prevent plastic shrinkage . in fig3 and 6 there are a number of annular rings 66 that extend around the shaft core 64 for the length of the spool 22 as represented by the arrow in that figure . conventionally the shaft core 64 projects into a threaded shank 74 to receive a conventional ratchet , not shown , for engaging a pawl , not shown , when the spool 22 is mounted in bearings not shown inside plates 12 and 14 . at the other end of the shaft core 64 a conventional flattened locking lug 76 is formed to engage the appropriate drag mechanism 24 . the shaft core 64 projects therebeyond in a bearing receiving shank 78 . in fig7 and 9 there are illustrated other shafts 60 &# 39 ; and 60 &# 34 ;. in the case of shaft 60 &# 39 ;. fig7 the rings 66 are as shown in fig3 and 6 . the difference resides in the spacing of the rings . in the case of fig7 there are a greater number of rings 66 &# 39 ; to the left of center than there are to the right of center . the space 80 is greater than with equadistance rings 66 &# 39 ;. in addition to the annular shapes of the protrusions 62 or rings 66 and 66 &# 39 ; it may be advantageous to further assure that the core 64 does not break away and turn around the spool 22 during use and rotate independently of the core . to achieve a proper locking against rotation , one or more of the annular protrusions 62 may be made out of round , fattened or upset . an easy way to accomplish this is to file flat a portion of the annular top surface 72 or ring 66 forming a flat surface 67 , see fig6 a . in this way rotation of the spool independent of the core 64 is prevented . with regard to shaft 60 &# 34 ; of fig8 the surface is preferably knurled therearound and therealong to create the bonding surface for the engineering polymer . the end parts 74 &# 39 ; and 76 &# 39 ; remain the same . in fig9 another form of protrusion 62 &# 39 ; is shown . in this view there are a number of course annular pitched threads 82 formed around the periphery of and along the shaft 60 &# 34 ;&# 39 ;. it is now important to understand the force or mono - compaction which may be exerted on the end plates 30 during use of the reel 10 . fig1 and 11 illustrate a fishing line 90 which is wrapped in a series of rows 92 around the annular core 28 of the spool 22 . normally when using a fishing line 90 particularly of the monofilament type the line tends to stretch as it is used . in other words , wrapped on top of the first layer 92 on the core 38 is a second layer 92 wherein the line is nested between two sided by side convolutions . as the upper convolution is wrapped and tightened downward in the direction of the vertical arrows in fig1 against the shaft cord 28 there is pressure exerted and the convolution of line 90 in the second layer will try to urge the lower convolution laterally apart , see horizontal arrows in fig1 . this will exert outward pressure against the interior angled surfaces 34 and 36 of the spool . this pressure is repeated with each succeeding layer of convolutions until the pressure or compaction builds up and tries to move the end plates 30 outward or create a &# 34 ; blow out &# 34 ;. with the present unitary spool structure and the shaft 60 there is assured a tight , non - slip fit and bond . also the interlocking of shaft 60 and spool 22 allows the end plates 30 , particularly with the reinforcement ribs 50 and steep interior angled surface , to resist distortion by the mono - compaction . in addition , the one piece structure of the spool 22 will assist and prevent the outward pressure or at least restrict it and prevent interference with the rotating action of the spool . further , with the spool 22 being formed of plastic , if a selection is made wherein the plastic has a memory , any minor distortion of the spool end plates 30 would be relined when the pressure was stopped by stopping the winding in the line onto the spool . in the embodiments of fig1 and 15 the elongated shaft 50 &# 39 ; includes a pair of annular strengthening end plates 110 which radiate from the shaft core 64 &# 39 ;. the end plates 110 are preferably formed with a series of holes 112 . when the shaft 50 &# 39 ; is molded to the spool 22 plastic will flow through the holes 112 , see fig1 and assure a proper bonding . as can be seen from fig1 the annular strengthening end plates 110 are molded into the respective annular end plates 30 &# 39 ; between the interior angled or curved surface 34 &# 39 ; and the exterior annular recess 38 &# 39 ;. these strengthening end plates 110 and the ribs 50 &# 39 ; will insure adequate protection from lateral &# 34 ; blow out &# 34 ; of the spool 22 &# 39 ; by the mono - compaction of line 90 . fig1 illustrates another form of locking means 62 &# 34 ; that can be used . it may be desired to separately form the plastic spool 22 &# 39 ; and mount it on the shaft 60 &# 34 ;&# 34 ; that may or may not have interruptions . if the spool 22 &# 39 ; is formed as in the previous paragraph it may be sweged or press fitted on the shaft 60 &# 34 ;&# 34 ; and locking means 62 &# 34 ; may hold the parts together . the locking means would preferably include threaded ends 116 and 118 and nuts 120 and 122 to bear against hubs 42 &# 39 ; and 44 &# 39 ;. as the nuts 42 &# 39 ; and 44 &# 39 ; are tightened the shaft 60 &# 34 ;&# 34 ; will be cinched to the spool and independent lateral movement of the shaft from the spool is prevented . in the manufacture of the spool 22 the preferred practice is to form a mold 100 , see fig1 and 13 , to the dimensions of the annular core 28 , end plates 30 , interior angled surface 34 and 36 , recess 38 and 40 , hubs 42 and 44 , rims 46 and 48 and ribs 50 . the shaft 60 is then mounted within the mold 100 and held in place . the mold 100 also has a gate 102 communicating with the central area of the annular core to receive the plastic . as the engineering polymer is injected into the mold 100 it will flow in both directions toward the respective end plates 30 . with the protrusions 62 on the shaft 60 there is a greater area of contact with the flowing plastic as it is inserted through the gate 102 . these interruptions help to prevent the plastic from shrinking as it is cooling . this in turn will prevent malformations of spools 22 and assure an even distribution of plastic along the shaft 60 . in addition , with the rings 66 or other protrusions a better lock of the plastic annular core 28 around the shaft 60 is achieved . this will prevent the shaft 60 from slipping or working its way loose from the spool and also hold the plastic against end plate &# 34 ; blow outs .&# 34 ; it has also been found that in the manufacture of the completed spool 22 the use of a bonding agent to bond metal to plastic is advantageous . in order to accomplish this the shaft 60 just prior to mounting in the mold 100 may be coated with a conventional bonding agent so that as the plastic is injected a greater bond between metal and plastic is created . this will prevent independent rotational movement of the spool 22 from the shaft 60 or core 64 during use of the spool in a reel 10 . while the exact positioning of the protrusions 62 is not critical it has been found that having them spaced thoughout the area to be covered by the plastic annular core will assure the lock and prevent the lateral distortion and shrinkage . as the plastic flows into the mold 102 the entire spool is formed as one integral unitary piece with the shaft embedded therein . the invention and its attendant advantages will be understood from the foregoing description and it will be apparent that various changes may be made in the form , construction and arrangements of the parts without departing from the spirit and scope thereof or sacrificing its material advantages , the arrangements herein before described being merely by way of example . i do not wish to be restricted to the specific forms shown or uses mentioned , except as defined in the accompanying claims , wherein various portions have been separated for clarity of reading and not for emphasis .	0
the following description supplies specific details in order to provide a thorough understanding . nevertheless , the skilled artisan will understand that the described sensors and associated methods of making and using the sensors can be implemented and used without employing these specific details . indeed , the sensors and associated methods can be placed into practice by modifying the described systems and methods and can be used in conjunction with any other apparatus and techniques conventionally used in the industry . for example , while the description below focuses on sensors used for monitoring electrical circuits , they could also be used to monitor or record electrical power systems , monitor and determine when a fuse has been blown , use as a smart meter for electrical customers ( measure and send metering data back to centralized location ), provide analog or digital signaling to protective or metering devices and / or allow fast and easy indication for various mass transit applications such as traffic light failure . as the terms on , attached to , or coupled to are used herein , one object ( e . g ., a material , a layer , a substrate , etc .) can be on , attached to , or coupled to another object regardless of whether the one object is directly on , attached , or coupled to the other object or there are one or more intervening objects between the one object and the other object . also , directions ( e . g ., above , below , top , bottom , side , up , down , under , over , upper , lower , horizontal , vertical , “ x ,” “ y ,” “ z ,” etc . ), if provided , are relative and provided solely by way of example and for ease of illustration and discussion and not by way of limitation . in addition , where reference is made to a list of elements ( e . g ., elements a , b , c ), such reference is intended to include any one of the listed elements by itself , any combination of less than all of the listed elements , and / or a combination of all of the listed elements . in some embodiments , intelligent electronic sensors ( ies ) may perform several important functions in monitoring the state of electric circuits and providing data of the state of the electric circuits being monitored , including data to comply with nerc dme requirements . ies devices may offer a novel solution which allows for acceptable monitoring of legacy , analog equipment . this may permit the legacy equipment to stay in place by providing the same monitoring capability featured in ieds , without the need for expensive replacement of the legacy analog equipment . this result can be obtained by supplementing existing , reliable analog infrastructure with iess and marshaling their contact outputs to existing or new ieds . embodiments of iess disclosed herein may exhibit one or more advantageous characteristics that may facilitate ied monitoring of vintage analog infrastructures without the need for extensive and costly electrical outages , and may require minimal new equipment . first , iess may be non - intrusive . accordingly , they can be installed on live wires without taking outages and are therefore deployable in a fraction of the time / cost as compared to typical ied replacement programs . second , iess may include intelligent on - board programmable microprocessors or microcontrollers that allow the ies to independently decide to either refrain or act on incipient failures . traditional ied systems , on the other hand , concentrate processing functions at a central controller level ( the central controller being fed data from multiple non - intelligent sensors ). moving intelligence from the device to the sensor level may provide flexibility for numerous potential specialized applications for monitoring electrical power systems , some of which are described below . third , iess may be multipurpose . in such embodiments , each sensor can be configured to monitor and act upon single or multiple parameters such as voltage , current , temperature , and / or geographic position . in some configurations , the sensors can be used to provide analog inputs to ieds to monitor performance of major substation equipment such as circuit breakers , power transformers , and protective relay systems under power system fault and disturbance conditions in compliance with nerc dme standards . fourth , iess can comprise standalone architecture , meaning that in such embodiments , the iess may not require interfaces to specialized equipment such as ieds . in such embodiments , iess may be capable of reporting their decisions and data independently by connecting to a computer cloud using an internal communications device or antenna . for example , the ies may include capability to access wi - fi , cellular , 3g or 4g wireless data networks , radio , or any other suitable wireless communications network and / or protocol . fifth , some embodiments of iess can comprise an open architecture , such that they can interface to existing ieds . providing interfaces at the sensor level to connect to existing ied infrastructure such as numerical relays , fault recorders , events recorders , remote terminal units , and station alarm panels may be highly advantageous in simplifying , speeding up , and reducing the cost of ongoing upgrades , replacement projects , and new installations . sixth , some embodiments of iess may be submersible and / or weather resistant that will continue to operate properly even under extensive flooding conditions , extreme weather , and other adverse conditions such as those incurred during super storm sandy . and seventh , in some embodiments , iess can be utilized to digitize analog quantities such as ac current and ac voltage to provide usable data to ieds and other data and event recording infrastructure . some embodiments of iess 100 having one or more of the features described above are shown in fig1 - 5 . ies &# 39 ; s 100 may monitor current flow through a conducting line 10 and may be placed externally on the conducting line 10 and oriented substantially parallel to the conducting line 10 . as such , an ies 100 may be installed without compromising the insulation 12 or directly contacting the conductive element 14 of the conducting line 10 . an ies 100 may include a sensor housing 110 , a sensor 122 , a conductor stabilizer 130 , a shield 140 , a data cable 150 , and a securement device 160 . the sensor housing 110 may be formed from a non - conductive , weather resistant material such as plastic , epoxy , or any other suitable material . the sensor housing 112 may be formed in a generally cylindrical shape with a conductor slot 112 to accommodate conducting line 10 to be positioned generally coaxially within the cylindrical shape of the sensor housing 110 . the sensor housing 110 may be formed with the sensor 122 , a microcontroller 124 , and a portion of data cable 150 embedded within the sensor housing 110 to protect the electronic components from weather or environmental damage . the sensor housing 110 may be formed in different sizes with different sizes of conductor slots 112 to accommodate various sizes of conducting lines 10 to be monitored . for example , the sensor housing 110 and the conductor slot 112 may sized to appropriately accommodate a 16 gauge dc conducting lines . another embodiment may be sized to accommodate a large gauge ac high voltage conducting line 10 . other embodiments may be manufactured to accommodate any other size of conducting line 10 in need of monitoring . in other embodiments , the sensor housing may have shapes other than the cylindrical shape depicted in fig1 . one example of such a shape is shown in fig6 where the sensor housing can contain one flat edge . in fact , the sensor housing may have any shape , including containing grooves or lines . in some embodiments , the sensor housing can have a shape ( like that in fig6 ) that is used to properly align and install the sensor in the desired location . the sensor 122 may be a hall - effect sensor , or any other type of sensor capable of non - contact monitoring of current in the conducting line 10 . the ies may also include a microcontroller 124 to evaluate input from the sensor 122 . the microcontroller 124 may be programmable for different monitoring applications . the microcontroller 124 may be a microprocessor , a programmable logic controller , a programmable logic device , or any other suitable device to process and evaluate data from the sensor 122 as described herein . additionally , the microcontroller 124 may include memory or other components to achieve the functionality as described herein . for example , the ies 100 may be include additional sensors , such as accelerometers to provide indication of a downed wire , temperature sensors , or other desired sensors , depending on the desired application . some sensors that may be desirable for use with the ies 100 are described in u . s . pat . nos . 7 , 746 , 055 , 8 , 193 , 803 , and 8203328 , the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety . similarly , the microcontroller may also include a radio or other wireless antenna , and a wire connection to provide connectivity to an ied or other data collection or processing infrastructure through data wire 150 . the data wire 150 may include several different conductors for transmitting data to an ied . in some embodiments , such as is shown in fig7 , which is described in more detail below an ies 200 may include any or all of the features of the ies 100 , along with a second data wire 150 to provide serial linking of iess 100 , 200 for communication between various iess 100 , 200 in different applications . in other embodiments , embodiments of an ies 300 ( fig8 ) may also include one or more leds to provide a visual status of the ies 300 . the conductor stabilizer 130 may be provided to fit into the conductor slot 112 or the sensor body 110 to securely attach the ies 100 to the conducting line 10 when properly installed . the conductor stabilizer 130 may be sized such that when the conducting line 10 is in the conductor slot 112 and the securement device 160 is applied , the securement device 160 presses the conductor stabilizer into the conductor slot 112 such that the conductor stabilizer 130 squeezes the conducting line 10 between the bottom of the conductor slot 112 and the conductor stabilizer 130 . the resulting compressive squeezing between the sensor body 110 , the conductor stabilizer 130 , and the conducting line 10 may provide sufficient friction to hold ies 100 as a desired linear position on conducting line 10 . the shield 140 may be provided to reduce any interference with the sensor 122 from external influence of conductors other than conducting line 10 , or from emf or other magnetic field influences from other devices that may give a false reading to the sensor 122 . the shield 140 may be generally tubular in shape and closely covering an exterior portion of the generally cylindrical sensor body 110 with an opening for attachment of ies 100 to the conducting line 10 . the shield 140 may be formed of a conductive metal or other suitable shielding material , such as carbon fiber . the shield 140 may be held in place around the sensor body with securement device 160 . securement device 160 may be one or more wire ties conventionally used in the industry for securing conductors to each other or to other devices . turning now to embodiments of the functionality of iess , iess may collect live data in a non - intrusive manner , which may substantially enhance the capability to detect and respond to anomalies on the grid . the iess 100 , may thereby bring legacy infrastructure up to information protocol standards demanded by nerc without upgrading the legacy infrastructure itself . in some embodiments , the iess can considerably reduce time and cost of rollout and can be used for deployment in and beyond the substation environment . fig7 and 8 illustrate different applications of iess 100 , 200 in a functional environment . fig7 illustrates a system of ies devices 100 used to independently monitor secondary current transformer inputs to protective relay systems and control circuits and provide an alarm or data signal to an ied upon discovery of ac faults and / or dc targets . in this example , three different conducting lines 10 a , 10 b , 10 c are being monitored . for example , when an ies 100 detects a fault or target in any of the conducting lines , the ies detecting the fault or target may operate a contact to indicate the duration and type of fault . the contact is designed to connect to existing or new ieds to report the event , for example , to a sequence of event recorder , a remote terminal unit ( rtu ), or a station alarm panel . turning now to fig8 , ies devices 100 , 200 may be placed in series to collaboratively monitor secondary potential transformer inputs to three phase protective systems , shown as conducting lines 10 a , 10 b , and 10 c in fig8 . the iess 100 , 200 may alarm upon occurrences of low or loss of potential conditions in one or more of the phases , which may lead to relay misoperations if left uncorrected . when a low potential condition is detected at one or more phases , the sensors may operate a contact for the duration of the condition and provide an indication of the faulted phases . in some embodiments , this may be done visually using a panel mount monitor equipped with three lights designated a , b , and c , corresponding to the three phases . the contact may also be designed to connect to existing or new ieds . with respect to the use of any plural and / or singular terms herein , those having skill in the art can translate from the plural to the singular and / or from the singular to the plural as is appropriate to the context and / or application . the various singular / plural permutations may be expressly set forth herein for sake of clarity . in addition to any previously indicated modification , numerous other variations and alternative arrangements may be devised by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of this description , and appended claims are intended to cover such modifications and arrangements . thus , while the information has been described above with particularity and detail in connection with what is presently deemed to be the most practical and preferred aspects , it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that numerous modifications , including , but not limited to , form , function , manner of operation and use may be made without departing from the principles and concepts set forth herein . also , as used herein , the examples and embodiments , in all respects , are meant to be illustrative only and should not be construed to be limiting in any manner .	6
with initial reference to fig1 a refrigerator constructed in accordance with the present invention is generally shown at 2 . refrigerator 2 is shown to include a freezer door 6 having an associated handle 7 and a fresh food door 10 having an associated handle 11 . in the embodiment shown , refrigerator 2 is of the recessed type such that , essentially , only freezer and fresh food doors 6 and 10 project forward of a wall 15 . the remainder of refrigerator 2 is recessed within wall 15 in a manner similar to a plurality of surrounding cabinets generally indicated at 18 - 23 . refrigerator 2 also includes a plurality of peripheral trim pieces 28 - 30 to blend refrigerator 2 with cabinets 18 - 23 . one preferred embodiment employs trim pieces 28 - 30 as set forth in u . s . patent application entitled “ fastening system for appliance cabinet assembly ” is filed on even date herewith and which is incorporated herein by reference . finally , as will be described more fully below , refrigerator 2 is preferably designed with main components of a refrigeration system positioned behind an access panel 32 arranged directly above trim piece 29 . as shown in fig2 refrigerator 2 includes a cabinet shell 38 defining a freezer compartment 40 and a fresh food compartment 43 . for details of the overall construction of cabinet shell 38 , reference is made to u . s . patent application entitled “ fastening system for appliance cabinet assembly ” filed on even date herewith and incorporated herein by reference . shown arranged on a rear wall 44 of fresh food compartment 43 are a plurality of elongated metal shelf rails 46 . each shelf rail 46 is provided with a plurality of shelf support points , preferably in the form of slots 47 , adapted to accommodate a plurality of vertically adjustable , cantilevered shelves ( not shown ) in a manner known in the art . since the structure of shelves can vary and is not considered part of the present invention , the shelves have not been depicted for the sake of clarity of the drawings and will not be discussed further here . preferably mounted behind access panel 32 are components of the refrigeration system employed for refrigerator 2 . more specifically , the refrigeration system includes a variable speed compressor 49 which is operatively connected to both an evaporator 52 through conduit 55 , and a condenser 61 through conduit 63 . arranged adjacent to evaporator 52 is a variable speed evaporator fan 70 adapted to provide a variable airflow to evaporator 52 . similarly , arranged adjacent to condenser 61 is a condenser fan 75 adapted to provide an airflow across condenser 61 . in addition to the aforementioned components , mounted to an upper portion of fresh food compartment 43 is an air manifold 90 for use in directing a cooling airflow through fresh food compartment 43 of refrigerator 2 . more specifically , a first recirculation duct 94 having an inlet 95 exposed in a lower portion of fresh food compartment 43 , a second recirculation duct 96 having an inlet 97 exposed at an upper portion of fresh food compartment 43 , and an intake duct 100 establishing an air path for a flow of fresh cooling air from freezer compartment 40 into manifold 90 . arranged in fluid communication with air manifold 90 is a variable speed fresh food stirring fan 110 . stirring fan 110 is adapted to receive a combined flow of air from recirculation ducts 94 and 95 , as well as intake duct 100 , and to disperse the combined flow of air into the fresh food compartment 43 . with this arrangement , stirring fan 110 draws in a flow of air , which is generally indicated by arrows a , through inlets 95 and 97 of ducts 94 and 96 , and intake duct 100 , while subsequently exhausting the combined flow of cooling air , represented by arrow b , through outlet 125 . most preferably , outlet 125 directs the air flow in various directions in order to generate a desired flow pattern based on the particular configuration of fresh food compartment 43 and any additional structure provided therein . the exact positioning of inlets 95 and 97 also depend on the particular structure provided . in one preferred embodiment , inlet 95 of duct 94 is located at a point behind at least one food storage bin ( not shown ) arranged in a bottom portion of fresh food compartment 43 . the air flow past the storage bin is provided to aid in maintaining freshness levels of food contained therein . for this purpose , an additional passage leading from freezer compartment 40 into fresh food compartment 43 can be provided as generally indicated at 128 . while not part of the present invention , the details of the storage bin are described in u . s . pat . no . 6 , 170 , 276 which is hereby incorporated by reference . in order to regulate the amount of cooling air drawn in from freezer compartment 40 , a variable position damper 130 is provided either at an entrance to or within intake duct 100 . as will be discussed more fully below , when the cooling demand within fresh food compartment 43 rises , variable position damper 130 opens to allow cooling air to flow from freezer compartment 40 to fresh food compartment 43 and , more specifically , into intake duct 100 to manifold 90 and stirring fan 110 . a flow of air to be further cooled at evaporator 52 is lead into an intake 135 of a return duct 137 . in the embodiment shown , return duct 137 is preferably located in the upper portion of fresh food compartment 43 . this overall refrigeration system synergistically operates to both maintain the temperature within fresh food compartment 43 at a substantially uniform temperature preferably established by an operator and minimizes stratification of the temperature in fresh food compartment 43 . the particular manner in which the refrigeration system described above operates does not form part of the present invention . instead , the operation of the refrigeration system is covered in u . s . patent applications entitled “ variable speed refrigeration system ” and “ temperature control system for a refrigerated compartment ” filed on even date herewith and incorporated herein by reference . the above description of the refrigerator 2 has basically been provided for the sake of completeness . the present invention is actually directed to the inclusion of a pressure relief system , generally indicated at 200 in this figure , in refrigerator 2 . in general , pressure relief system 200 functions to equalize a pressure differential developing between both freezer and fresh food compartments 40 and 43 and the surrounding environment . that is , due to operation of the refrigeration system , air within refrigerator 2 will be cooled which can create a vacuum , particularly within fresh food compartment 43 . for instance , when door 6 is opened , warm air enters refrigerator 2 . thereafter , upon attempting to open fresh food door 10 , a created vacuum can increase the force needed to open door 10 . the present invention addresses this potential problem as will be detailed fully below with particular reference to fig3 and 4 . in accordance with the most preferred embodiment of the invention , pressure relief system 200 includes a pressure relief valve 210 , a mounting adapter 213 and an air return housing 216 . more specifically , as best shown in fig4 pressure relief valve 210 includes a main body portion 220 provided with a central bore 222 and a peripheral flat 224 . at an upper portion 226 of main body portion 220 is arranged a truncated , conical port 228 leading into central bore 222 . preferably , port 228 is formed with a flexible membrane 231 that defines a check valve . more specifically , flexible membrane 231 is connected about a significant portion of central bore 222 to automatically open an air passage defined by central bore 222 when a differential pressure develops across pressure relief valve 210 as will be discussed more fully below . at a lower portion 233 of pressure relief valve 210 is defined an air director 235 including an arcuate deflector 238 having an associated opening 240 which leads into central bore 222 . as shown , mounting adapter 213 includes a peripheral flange 245 formed with a plurality of mounting apertures 248 . more particularly , peripheral flange 245 extends about an adapter housing 253 . adapter housing 253 is preferably integrally molded of plastic and includes side wall portions 254 - 257 , with side walls 254 and 256 being generally triangular in shape so as to taper upwardly . side wall 255 is formed with an enlarged , generally rectangular opening 259 , while a bottom 260 of adapter housing 253 is open . air return housing 216 includes a peripheral plate 263 which has extending therefrom opposing side tabs , one of which is indicated at 266 . air return housing 216 is actually defined by an enlarged body section 271 which extends from plate 263 and leads to a tapered body section 272 . preferably , air return housing 216 is also integrally molded of plastic and defines an internal passage generally indicated at 275 . pressure relief system 200 is preferably mounted at an upper rear portion of fresh food compartment 43 of refrigerator 2 . more specifically , through an upper right rear portion of fresh food compartment 43 and cabinet shell 38 is provided a passage 290 ( see fig3 ) within which main body portion 220 of pressure relief valve 210 is positioned prior to the injection of foam insulation for cabinet shell 38 such that pressure relief valve 210 is mounted in situ . passage 290 is generally circular but includes a flat section ( not shown ) to align with peripheral flat 224 to assure proper positioning of air director 235 . in any case , pressure relief valve 210 is fixed in position with truncated conical port 228 extending above cabinet shell 38 behind access panel 32 , while arcuate deflector 238 is positioned in fresh food compartment 43 . as shown in fig3 arcuate deflector 238 is actually arranged with opening 240 being exposed to rear wall 44 . on the other hand , mounting adapter 213 is secured to cabinet shell 38 with truncated conical port 28 leading to and sealing about opening 261 . that is , peripheral flange 245 of mounting adapter 213 rests upon cabinet shell 38 and is secured thereto with mechanical fasteners ( not shown ) extending through apertures 248 and into cabinet shell 38 . in addition , air return housing 216 is attached to mounting adapter 213 , with tabs 266 extending behind side wall 255 . therefore , internal passage 275 is in fluid communication with bore 222 and preferably opens laterally of refrigerator 2 . with this arrangement , fresh food compartment 43 will be fluidly connected to the environment surrounding refrigerator 2 , at least when check valve 231 is open . in accordance with the invention , check valve 231 will automatically open when the differential pressure between inside and outside of refrigerator 2 is greater than a sealing force associated with check valve 231 . when this occurs , an equalization process will be performed . in this way , the force needed to open either of doors 6 or 10 will be maintained substantially constant . as indicated above , air director 235 opens toward rear wall 44 against a metal liner ( not labeled ) of fresh food compartment 43 , which will generally be the warmest zone in refrigerator 2 , for moisture condensation purposes . in addition , internal passage 275 of air return housing 216 is preferably provided with a flexible membrane 280 , such as a mylar or a polymeric sheet , ( see fig3 ) adjacent opening 259 for filtering purposes . in any case , to relieve the pressure differential , pressure relief assembly 200 defines a duct which serves as a pathway for pressure relief from one chamber of refrigerator 2 to the surrounding environment . by incorporating check valve 231 , the pressure relief function is performed automatically as needed . 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 the most preferred form of the invention incorporates the structure and arrangement set forth above , it would be possible to incorporate other valve structure to perform the pressure equalization function and / or reposition pressure relief assembly 200 . in any event , the invention is only intended to be limited by the scope of the following claims .	5
referring to the several figures in the drawing , the pneumatic nuclear fuel powder blender 4 of the present invention comprises a plurality , four being exemplified in the drawing , of thin flat rectangular slab - tank - type blending chambers 5 extending radially outward from a common spouting tube 6 . the chambers 5 are disposed within a cone - bottomed cylindrical shell 7 and are defined thicknesswise by parallel side walls 8 extending radially inward from the outer wall of the shell 7 to a transverse wall 9 that forms a side wall of the spouting tube 6 at the center of the shell . the spouting tube walls 9 have powder inlet ports 10 adjacent to the lower ends of downwardly tapering porous bottom walls 11 of the blending chambers 5 and powder outlet ports 12 opening into such chambers at an effective working height above the bottom walls 11 and at some overhead clearance distance beneath the top wall 14 of the shell 7 which closes the tops of the blending chambers 5 . a flow diverter member 15 closes the top of the spouting tube 6 immediately above the outlet ports 12 . powder - inlet filler tubes 16 open through the outer wall of the shell 7 into the chambers 5 at a site about equal to the height of the diverter member 15 in the spouting tube 6 for introduction of fissile material powders to be blended . the downwardly slanting porous bottom walls 11 of the blending chambers 5 are disposed slightly above and parallel to the conical bottom wall 17 of the shell 7 to form pneumatic supply chambers 18 for the porous walls 11 . partitions 19 segregate the chambers 18 one from the other . three chambers 18 distributed along the length of each bottom wall 11 is exemplified in the illustrative embodiment . more or fewer numbers of these chambers may be found to be necessary . each chamber 18 is availed of compressed air via a pneumatic supply line 20 and branches thereof , together with respective valves 21 for controlling flow and admission of compressed air to the chambers 18 . near the top of each blending chamber 5 are located a number of filtered exhaust members 22 connected to vacuum exhaust duct means 23 . at the bottom of the spouting tube there is a combination exhaust valve and spouting nozzle member 25 . in one operative position of member 25 , compressed air is directed upwardly through the spouting tube 6 at a high velocity , and in a second operative position of such member the bottom of such spouting tube is opened to a blended powder outlet spout 26 continuing downwardly from such spouting tube . between the blending chambers 5 and confined within the shell 7 there is disposed a neutron isolator material 30 , one containing hydrogen atoms , for example , capable of slowing down neutrons from fissile material in the blending chambers . such neutron absorbing material being concrete 31 as shown , or , water , paraffin , polyethylene beads , etc . such material , by dint of its rigidity or density , assists in support of the side walls 8 against the pneumatic pressurization within , which pressurization , although slight , less than five p . s . i . may , for example , tend to create a considerable force on such walls due to their relatively large area of exposure to such pressure . with such external support from the neutron absorbing material , the walls 8 may be made somewhat thinner and / or less rigidizing structure employed than otherwise would be found necessary . where the neutron absorbing material is in the form of loose fill , such as polyethylene beads , for example , a pneumatically - availed porous bottom may be disposed beneath such fill to effect pressurization of the exterior of the respective walls 8 into equality with the chamber 5 pressure on the other side . in operation , the blending chambers 5 are filled with powdered fissile material , such as uranium dioxide , plutonium dioxide , etc ., to a maximum level of slightly below the powder outlets in the spouting tube 6 by introducing powders through the filler tubes 16 assisted by such as withdrawal of air from such blending chambers via the filters 22 and vacuum exhaust duct means 23 at the top of the shell 7 . the width of the chambers will be designed to be no greater than the safe layer thickness for the fissile component of the material to be blended , in accord with well - known practice , and this may be in the order of five and one - half inches when working with such as four percent enriched uranium dioxide . the width and useful height dimensions may be made to accomodate a considerable volume in excess of the so - called safe volume amount by virtue of abiding by the safe - layer - thickness limitation . for example , the four - chamber embodiment exemplified in the drawing may have a working height within chambers 5 of three feet , for example , and a shell diameter of four and one - half feet to give a working capacity of seven hundred kilograms . once filled with the fissile material powder to be blended , the filler tubes will be closed , and the spouting tube 6 brought into play by turning of the rotary valve 25 to the position in which it is shown in fig2 wherein such valve becomes a spouting nozzle to cause high velocity compressed air to travel upwardly through such spouting tube , while an equal amount of air is quiescently withdrawn from the tops of the blending chambers via the exhaust duct means 23 and the filter members 22 . the high velocity upward flow of compressed air through the spouting tube 6 past the powder inlet ports 10 at the bottom inner regions of the blending chambers 5 will cause withdrawal of the powdered fissile material therefrom into and upwardly through such spouting tube to the diverter member 15 at the top of the mixing region and into the blending chambers 5 via the exit ports 12 . such powder flow into the bottom and out of the top of the spouting tube causes downward circulation and mixing of the powdered fissile material through the several blending chambers 5 simultaneously . after a period of time sufficient to complete such mixing or blending , the valve member 25 may be turned to a cutoff position to terminate supply of spouting air to the spouting tube 6 . the blended powdered fissile material may be stored in the chambers 5 until needed , if desired , whereupon the valve member will be turned to a position connecting the bottom of the spouting tube 6 , hence the inner bottom portions of the blending chambers 5 via ports 10 , to the blended powder outlet 26 below the valve . the powder will thereby exit such chambers via such valve 25 and outlet 26 , either by influence of gravity , and / or by pneumatic inducement , which can be brought about by flow of compressed air upwardly through the porous bottom walls 11 of the blending chambers 5 during a time , for example , when withdrawal of air via the exhaust ducts 23 is diminished or ceased momentarily . flow via the porous bottom walls 11 also may be employed during the blending operation by the spouting tube to further aerate the powder and aid flow through the blending chambers 5 and prevent any adherence of powder to the chamber surfaces which would act to bypass the mixing action . the pneumatic flow through the several regions of the porous bottom walls 11 fed from the different chambers or supply regions 18 can be regulated by the several control valves 21 to optimize the action , which may be enhanced by flow pulsation , for example , or local flow differentials . it will be appreciated that the number of blending chambers 5 may be greater than four exemplified , five or six , for example , to further expand the working volume while preserving the compactness of the overall dimensions of the shell 7 . it also may be possible to employ one filler tube 16 for all blending chambers 5 , rather than a filler tube for each as shown in the drawing . in the case of a single filler tube 16 , powder introduced via the one filler tube to one chamber will become distributed to all chambers 5 by operation of the spouting tube 6 .	1
first , in order to eliminate the aforementioned extension portion bl &# 39 ; which projects from the bit line bl and which surrounds the bit line contact hole bh , it is the best way to arrange the bit line contact hole bl so that the center thereof is positioned on the center line of the bit line bl . second , it is advantageous to arrange the storage electrode contact hole sh so that the center thereof is positioned at an equal distance from the adjacent bit lines bl and at an equal distance from the adjacent word lines wl . third , an imaginary line which connects the bit line contact hole bh and the corresponding storage electrode contact hole sh crosses the bit line bl at an angle with respect to the direction in which the bit line bl extends , that is , the center line thereof . active regions such as source and drain regions are arranged on the basis of the imaginary line . in addition , the shape of each word line wl is determined , taking into consideration the pattern of the active regions . referring to fig3 there is illustrated the principle of the present invention based on the above - mentioned first to third considerations . in fig3 those parts which have the same names of structural elements as those shown in fig1 are given the same reference characters . cl indicates a center line of the bit line bl &# 39 ; and c bh indicates the center of the bit line contact hole bh . c sh indicates the center of the storage electrode contact hole sh , and 0 indicates an angle formed between the center line cl and an imaginary line which connects the center c bh and c sh . a distance a between the center c bh of the bit line contact hole bh and the center c sh of the storage electrode contact hole sh , that is , the length a of the imaginary line therebetween is described as follows . the distance between the center line cl of the bit line bl and the center c sh of the storage electrode contact hole bh is written as follows . it can be seen from fig3 that two right - angled isosceles triangles ta are formed . thus , the angle θ is written as follows . the memory cell pattern is determined so that formula ( 1 ) is satisfied . it is possible to determine the memory cell pattern so that the angle θ is nearly equal to the right term of formula ( 1 ). referring to fig4 there is illustrated a layout of a dram according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention . in fig4 those parts which have the same names as those shown in the previous figures are given the same reference characters . in fig4 a letter b denotes the width of the bit line bl &# 39 ; and ar , indicates a bent portion of the active region ar . z is a bent portion of the word line wl . z1 , z2 and z3 indicate areas of the word line wl which form the bent portion z of the word line wl . the center c bh of the bit line contact hole bh is positioned on the center line cl of the bit line bl . although the bit line bl shown in fig4 has an extension portion for forming the bit line contact hole bh , it is smaller than that shown in fig1 . thus , the distance between the extension portion of the bit line bl and the adjacent bit line bl is increased so that the occurrence of short circuiting therebetween can be reduced . the length a of the imaginary line which connects the center c bh of the bit line contact hole bh and the center c sh of the storage electrode contact hole sh is equal to a + c + d + 2e , as described previously . the angle θ of the line with respect to the center line cl of the bit line bl is selected , as defined by formula ( 1 ). the minimum distance between the center c sh of the storage electrode contact hole sh and the center line cl of the bit line bl is equal to 1 / 2b + c + e . the active area ar extends along the imaginary line which connects the center c bh of the bit line contact hole bh and the center c sh of the storage electrode contact hole sh . that is , the active area ar is arranged obliquely with respect to the bit line bl . the active area ar has a bent portion ar &# 39 ; which is symmetrically bent or curved with respect to a line which passes through the center c sh of the storage electrode contact hole sh and which is perpendicular to the center line cl of the bit line bl . the bent portion ar &# 39 ; of the active area ar reduces the influence of bird &# 39 ; s beaks . referring to fig5 a , there is illustrated a silicon nitride ( si 3 n 4 ) film used for selectively oxidizing the si substrate to thereby produce an oxide layer ( field insulating layer ) for element - to - element isolation . oxygen is supplied with a short end of the si 3 n 4 film along various directions , as shown by arrows in fig5 a . thus , the bird &# 39 ; s beak occurs at the short end of the si 3 n 4 film and an si substrate surface portion in the vicinity of the short end is oxidized , as indicated by arrow ox shown in fig5 b . although an si substrate surface portion in the vicinity of a long end of the si 3 n 4 is also oxidized , as indicated by arrow oy shown in fig5 b , it is smaller than that indicated by the arrow ox . the bent portion ar , of the active region ar is provided for taking into account the occurrence of the above - mentioned bird &# 39 ; s beak . it should be noted that it is impossible to provide a bent portion which straight extends from the active area ar because of the presence of the bit line contact hole bh . the direction in which each word line wl extends is perpendicular to the direction in which each bit line bl extends . each word line wl has the bent portion z , which is composed of the areas z1 , z2 and z3 . the area z1 is orthogonal to the center line cl of the bit line cl . the areas z2 and z3 are located on both sides of the area z1 . each of the areas z2 and z3 is orthogonal to the corresponding line which connects the center c bh of the bit line contact hole bh and the center c sh of the storage electrode contact hole sh . the areas z2 and z3 are arranged symmetrically with the area z1 . according to the layout shown in fig4 the length l of each memory cell measured in the direction in which the bit line bl extends is as follows . ## equ2 ## it can be seen from the above formula that the length l of memory cell is not based on the distance wl &# 39 ; between the adjacent word lines . as a result , it is possible o to increase the distance wl &# 39 ; and reduce the possibility of the occurrence of short circuiting . when the minimum distance between the adjacent lines is 0 . 5 [ μm ], the parameters are selected as follows . in this case , the length of each memory cell in the direction in which the bit line bl extends is 3 . 29 [ μm ]. on the other hand , the length of each memory in the same direction according to the aforementioned prior arrangement shown in fig1 is 3 . 35 [ μm ] when the distance between the adjacent word lines is set equal to 0 . 5 [ μm ]. the distance between the adjacent word lines according to the arrangement shown in fig4 is 0 . 8 [ μm ]. on the other hand , the distance between the adjacent word lines according to the prior arrangement shown in fig1 is 0 . 5 [ μm ]. the distance between the adjacent bit lines according to the arrangement shown in fig4 is 1 . 0 [ μm ]. on the other hand , the distance between the adjacent bit lines according to the prior arrangement shown in fig4 is 0 . 5 [ μm ]. the area of each memory cell according to the arrangement shown in fig4 is slightly less than that shown in fig1 . the distance between the adjacent bit lines bl and the word lines wl in the memory cells is 1 . 6 - 2 times that of the prior arrangement . the cross section taken along line ii &# 39 ;- ii &# 39 ; is almost the same as that shown in fig2 . the stacked capacitor is not limited to the structure shown in fig2 . for example , it is possible to form the stacked capacitor so that the storage electrode se has a single fin . it is also possible to form the stacked capacitor so that the single fin or the lowermost fin from among a plurality of fins is separated from the insulating layer and the opposed electrode is also provided between the single fin or the lowermost fin and the insulating layer . fig6 is a diagram showing the layout of four memory cells . in fig6 those parts which are the same as those in the previous figures are given the same reference numerals . it will be noted that the bent portion ar &# 39 ; of each active area ar shown in fig6 is greater than that shown in fig4 . that is , the bent portion ar &# 39 ; of each active area ar is located under the corresponding word line wl . it will also be noted that a curved part z &# 39 ; of each word line wl which crosses the bit line bl is curved without having the areas z1 , z2 and z3 . even in the arrangement shown in fig6 the imaginary line connecting the center c bh of the bit line contact hole bh and the center c sh of the storage electrode contact hole c sh is perpendicular to the curved part z &# 39 ; of the word line wl . all of memory cell patterns can be formed by repeatedly arranging the layout shown in fig6 . fig7 a , 7b and 7c are diagrams illustrating how the present invention was made . in fig7 a through 7c , those parts which have the same names as those described previously are given the same reference letters . referring to fig7 a , the dot line illustrates the pattern of the conventional word line wl as shown in fig1 . a contact hole formed in a fine pattern is approximately of a circle shape due to the intensity distribution of light . thus , it is possible to consider each contact hole as a circle on the pattern layout drawing . the word lines are required to be separated from the bit line contact holes bh at a predetermined distance . thus , it is possible to partially shape each word line wl into a circular arc in order to keep away from the bit line contact holes bh at the predetermined distance . as a result , dot areas between the adjacent word lines wl become available . thus , as shown in fig7 b , it becomes possible to obliquely shift the positions of the storage electrode contact holes sh . due to the positional change in the storage electrode contact holes sh , it becomes possible to shift the positions of the bit lines bl so that the bit line contact holes bh are located at the center thereof , as shown in fig7 b . thereby , it is possible to substantially eliminate the bit line extension portions as shown in fig1 or fig7 a so that each bit line bl is substantially straight . in addition , it is possible to increase the distance between the adjacent bit lines bl from gp ( fig7 a ) to gp &# 39 ; ( fig7 b ). further , due to this positional change of the storage electrode contact holes sh , it becomes possible to shift the positions of the word lines wl &# 39 ; as illustrated in fig7 c . as a result , it becomes possible to increase the distance between the opposite edges of the adjacent word lines wl from w1 to wi &# 39 ;, as shown in fig7 c . on the other hand , the distance between the other opposite ends of the adjacent word lines wl is decreased , as shown in fig7 c . it is possible to arbitrarily determine the distances w1 &# 39 ; and w2 &# 39 ; on the basis of various requirements . moreover , fig8 is a block diagram of a folded bit line type dram . a plurality of pairs of bit lines , such as bl1 and bl1 , extend from corresponding sense amplifiers s / a . a plurality of word lines extend so as to cross the bit lines , as described previously . a memory cell mc is coupled between one of the bit lines and one of the word lines . the pattern arrangements according to the present invention are suitable for the folded bit line type dram as shown in fig8 . however , the arrangements are also applied to an open bit line type dram . the present invention is not limited to the memory cell shown in fig2 but includes memory cells as disclosed in u . s . pat . nos . 4 , 641 , 166 , 4 , 649 , 406 , 4 , 754 , 313 and 4 , 190 , 566 and u . s . ser . nos . 206 , 791 filed on june 15 , 1988 and 274 , 279 filed on nov . 21 , 1988 , the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference . the present invention is not limited to the specifically disclosed embodiments , and variations and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention .	7
the following detailed description will be provided with reference to all three figures . the system according to the invention is composed essentially of a dilatation and embolic blocking catheter 12 and a surrounding , movable suction catheter 14 , which may be in the form of a hypo tube . catheter 12 is provided with a central guidewire lumen 20 that is preferably coaxial with the longitudinal axis of catheter 12 , a blood bypass flow lumen 22 that surrounds lumen 20 and is separated therefrom by a cylindrical wall 24 , a proximal inflation lumen 26 and a distal inflation 28 . lumen 20 extends the full length of catheter 12 and in open at the distal end thereof , which is the right - hand end in fig1 . lumen 20 is provided to receive a guidewire 32 that serves to guide catheter 12 to a desired treatment site . catheter 12 is provided with a plurality of blood flow inlet openings 36 and a plurality of blood flow outlet openings 38 , each set of openings 36 , 38 being distributed circumferentially around the outer lateral wall of catheter 12 . openings 36 and 38 extend through the lateral wall of catheter 12 into communication with lumen 22 . lumen 22 does not extend through the full length of catheter 12 . the proximal end of lumen 22 extends to a point upstream of openings 36 , while the distal end of lumen 22 extends downstream of openings 38 . according to the present invention , all openings 36 , 38 communicating with lumen 22 extend through the lateral wall of catheter 12 . catheter 12 is completed by two inflatable members 40 and 42 carried on the outer wall of catheter 12 and each communicating with a respective one of inflation lumens 26 and 28 . according to preferred embodiments of the invention , member 40 is a low compliance angioplasty balloon , or sleeve , or sheath , and member 42 is a high compliance blocking balloon . balloons 40 and 42 are located between openings 36 , 38 . it is particularly important that the blood flow path defined by lumen 22 extend across balloon 42 because that balloon remains inflated for a longer period of time , of the order of several minutes , than does balloon 40 , of the order of a few seconds . in further accordance with the invention , balloon 40 carries a stent 46 that is to be expanded and deployed against the inner wall of a body passage to be treated . catheter 12 can also be provided with circular radiopaque bands adjacent to the proximal and distal edges of both balloons to assist in proper positioning of the catheter . in practical embodiments of the invention , catheter 12 can have a size of 2 - 3 fr ( fr is a notation indicating outside diameter ; n fr = n / 3 mm ), with a tapered tip , as shown , that helps to allow the catheter to traverse large obstructions . the above - described device is manipulated to perform an angioplasty treatment in the following manner . firstly , guidewire 32 is introduced into the blood vessel past the site where a treatment is to be performed . this can be achieved by any conventional procedure that allows guidewire 32 to be advanced through the vessel in the direction of blood flow , i . e . so that the distal end of guidewire 32 points downstream . after the guidewire has been advanced to a point beyond the location of the obstruction to be treated , for example with the aid of radiographic fluoroscopic monitoring , catheter 12 is placed over the guidewire so that the guidewire extends through lumen 20 . catheter 12 is then advanced over the guidewire to the site where the treatment is to be performed , specifically by bringing balloon 40 and stent 46 , if provided , to a location opposite the obstruction . then , tube 14 is inserted in the blood vessel around catheter 12 and brought to a location substantially as shown in fig1 upstream of the treatment site . then , balloon 42 is expanded by supplying a fluid at a suitable pressure , usually less than 1 atm , via lumen 28 to block the flow of blood between the outer wall of catheter 12 and the blood vessel wall . after balloon 42 has been thus inflated , blood continues to be supplied to the portion of the blood vessel downstream of catheter 12 by flowing through openings 36 , lumen 22 and openings 38 . after balloon 42 has been inflated , balloon 40 is inflated by supplying a fluid at a suitable pressure via lumen 26 to press the obstruction outwardly and to expand and deploy stent 46 . this operation generally results in the creation of debris consisting of material that has broken off from the obstruction . this debris will be prevented from flowing downstream of catheter 12 by inflated balloon 42 and will be trapped against the upstream side of balloon 42 . as soon as balloon 40 has been deflated , tube 14 is advanced in the downstream direction toward balloon 42 while suction is applied from an external suction source through tube 14 . during this suctioning step , tube 14 can be moved back and forth along the axis of catheter 12 to aid the removal of debris . as a result , debris that has been trapped upstream of balloon 42 will be drawn into tube 14 and removed from the patient &# 39 ; s body , where it can be inspected , possibly with the aid of a microscope . after suction has been performed for a sufficient time to assure removal of all debris , or at least all potentially dangerous debris , balloon 42 is deflated and tube 14 and catheter 12 are removed from the blood vessel . a second embodiment of the a system according to the invention is shown in fig4 - 7 and is composed essentially of a dilatation and embolic blocking catheter 112 and a surrounding , movable suction catheter 114 , which may be in the form of a hypo tube . according to this embodiment , catheter 112 is a thin - walled body that is hollow , except for balloon inflation lumens , to be described below , to provide a blood bypass flow lumen 122 having a maximum cross section . catheter 112 is provided with a proximal balloon inflation lumen 126 and a distal balloon inflation 128 . lumens 126 and 128 are the only structures within catheter 112 and thus the only structures that reduce the cross section of lumen 122 . lumen 122 can , but need not , extend the full length of catheter 112 and has a small diameter opening at the distal end thereof for passage of a guidewire 132 that serves to guide catheter 112 to a desired treatment site . preferably , the opening is made only slightly larger in diameter than guidewire 132 to allow more accurate guidance of catheter 112 . if lumen 122 does not extend through the full length of catheter 112 , the proximal end of lumen 22 may be located at a point upstream of openings 136 , while the distal end of lumen 22 may be located downstream of openings 38 , in the same manner as lumen 22 of fig1 - 3 , while a guidewire lumen will be provided both proximally and distally of lumen 122 . catheter 112 is provided with a plurality of blood flow inlet openings 136 and a plurality of blood flow outlet openings 138 , each set of openings 136 , 138 being distributed circumferentially around the outer lateral wall of catheter 112 . all openings 136 and 138 extend through the lateral wall of catheter 112 into communication with lumen 122 . a balloon or stent deployment sleeve or sheath 140 and a balloon 142 are carried on the outer surface of catheter 112 at locations between openings 136 and 138 . it is particularly important that the blood flow path defined by lumen 122 extend across balloon 142 because that balloon remains inflated for a longer period of time , of the order of several minutes , than does balloon 140 , of the order of a few seconds . balloon or sleeve 140 communicates via openings in the wall of catheter 112 with inflation lumen 126 and balloon 142 communicates via other openings in the wall of catheter 112 with inflation lumen 128 . according to preferred embodiments of the invention , balloon 140 is a low compliance angioplasty balloon , sheath , or sleeve , and balloon 142 is a high compliance blocking balloon . in further accordance with the invention , balloon 140 carries a stent 146 that is to be expanded and deployed against the inner wall of a body passage to be treated . catheter 112 can also be provided with circular radiopaque bands adjacent to the proximal and distal edges of both balloons to assist in proper positioning of the catheter . in practical embodiments of the invention , catheter 112 can have the following dimensions , identified in fig7 : however , the diameter of the catheter can have other values , for example between about 2 fr and 5 fr . according to another feature of the invention , dimension b can vary along the length of the catheter and can , for example have a greater value in a region aligned with balloon 140 than in a region between balloon 140 and the distal end of the catheter . a greater thickness in the region aligned with balloon 140 will help to keep the catheter from being compresses radially by the forces generated by balloon 140 during artery wall dilation , while a lesser thickness in the region between balloon 140 and the distal end of the catheter will give lumen 122 a larger cross section . the provision of a tapered distal end , as shown , helps to allow the catheter to traverse large obstructions . a modified version of the second embodiment is shown in fig5 ′. this version differs from the embodiment of fig5 - 7 only in that one inflation lumen , such as , for example , lumen 128 of fig4 - 7 , is replaced by a lumen 128 ′ that extends outwardly from the outer lateral wall of catheter 112 . this serves to enlarge the flow path provided by lumen 122 . a third embodiment of the invention is illustrated in fig8 . this embodiment differs from those previously described in two basic respects : balloons 140 and 142 are mounted directly adjacent to one another ; and the outer diameter of catheter 212 changes along the length of the catheter , having a larger value , d 1 , at least in the region aligned with balloon 140 and a smaller diameter , d 2 , over all or a part of its length between balloon 140 and the distal end of the catheter . this configuration will act as a sump that increase blood flow through lumen 122 . in addition , as described above with respect the embodiment of fig4 - 7 , the wall thickness of catheter 212 in the region between balloon 140 and the distal end can be smaller than in the region aligned with balloon 140 . in practical embodiments of the catheter of fig8 d 1 can have a value between 3 and 5 fr and d 2 can have a value between 2 and 4 fr , with d 1 always being greater than d 2 . by placing balloon 142 directly adjacent balloon 140 , it becomes possible to better prevent the escape of debris at locations that are directly adjacent to a side branch of the artery being treated . balloon 140 and 142 can be mounted so that their facing edges abut one another . according to other possibilities , the catheter system can be constructed so that balloons 140 and 142 are movable longitudinally relatively to one another , for example as disclosed in issued u . s . pat . no . 5 , 342 , 306 . according to another possibility , balloon 142 can be spaced from balloon 140 and can be constructed in a manner to expand parallel to the axis of the catheter in a direction toward balloon 140 , as disclosed in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 380 , 284 . the contents of these patents are incorporated herein by reference . both of these alternatives allow the practitioner to better deal with situations in which the region on which an angioplasty treatment is to be performed is located directly adjacent a side branch of the artery being treated . embodiments of the invention can possess one or both of the features described above with reference to fig8 the above - described device is manipulated to perform an angioplasty treatment in the same manner as described earlier herein with respect to the embodiment shown in fig1 - 3 . the foregoing description of the specific embodiments will so fully reveal the general nature of the invention that others can , by applying current knowledge , readily modify and / or adapt for various applications such specific embodiments without undue experimentation and without departing from the generic concept , and , therefore , such adaptations and modifications should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalents of the disclosed embodiments . it is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation . the means , materials , and steps for carrying out various disclosed functions may take a variety of alternative forms without departing from the invention . thus the expressions “ means to . . . ” and “ means for . . . ”, or any method step language , as may be found in the specification above and / or in the claims below , followed by a functional statement , are intended to define and cover whatever structural , physical , chemical or electrical element or structure , or whatever method step , which may now or in the future exist which carries out the recited function , whether or not precisely equivalent to the embodiment or embodiments disclosed in the specification above , i . e ., other means or steps for carrying out the same functions can be used ; and it is intended that such expressions be given their broadest interpretation .	0
preferred embodiments of the present invention is to be described with reference to the drawings . in the subsequent descriptions for the embodiments , identical constituent factors carry identical reference numerals for which descriptions will be omitted or simplified . fig1 shows a state of using an inter - labial pad 100 according to a first embodiment of the present invention . as shown in fig1 , the inter - labial pad 100 has a substantially rectangular shape as a whole and is attached to labia so as to be put between wearer &# 39 ; s labia 10 a and 10 b . the inter - labial pad 100 comprises a substantially rectangular absorbent body 110 . the absorbent body 110 is constituted with fibers capable of absorbing menstrual blood and the direction of the fibers are aligned , in a state of wearing , along the direction 10 a to 10 b in which the inter - labial pressure is caused , that is , in the direction of an arrow in fig1 . fig2 and fig3 are views showing an example for a method of manufacturing the absorbent body 110 in which fig2 is a schematic view of an apparatus for fiber opening and laminating fibers and fig3 is an enlarged perspective view for a portion of the laminating device shown in fig2 . as shown in fig2 , the apparatus 200 mainly comprises a fiber opening device 200 a for opening fibers , and a conveyor belt 208 for conveying opened fibers at a predetermined speed and sheeting them . at first , the fiber aggregate before fiber opening is taken up as a take - up roll 201 . then , a fiber aggregate sheet 202 is delivered therefrom and conveyed by a pair of rolls 203 to the fiber opening device 200 a . the fiber opening device 200 a has a garnet type fiber opening roll 204 in which corrugating blades are arranged in plurality and the fiber aggregate sheet 202 is passed over the fiber opening roll 204 to be opened . in this case , for enhancing the fiber opening performance , it is more preferred that a plurality of rolls 205 , 205 ′ in which tips of corrugating blades arranged in plurality and adjacent with each other are disposed alternately in a zigzag manner are combined such that they rotate in the direction opposite to the rotational direction of the fiber opening roll 204 for passing the fiber aggregate . the method for fiber opening the fiber aggregate is not particularly restricted but selected , for example , from a garnet type and a hammer mill type . it is preferred to conduct fiber opening by the garnet type in which the corrugating blades less fracturing the fibers are arranged in plurality . further , for enhancing the fiber opening performance more , a plurality of rolls may be combined such that they rotate in the directions opposite to each other . further , they may be disposed in a zigzag manner such that the tips of corrugating blades arranged in plurality and adjacent with each other are arranged alternately . a fiber aggregate 206 fibers of which have thus opened is drawn under suction from a suction device 207 disposed to the inner surface of a mesh - shaped conveyor belt 208 and laminated as the fiber aggregate 206 on the conveyor belt 208 . then , a collection speed is given to the opened fiber aggregate 206 by suction soon after the fibers have left from the corrugating blades of the fiber opening roll 204 . in a case where the conveying speed of the conveyor belt 208 is relatively higher than the collection speed of the fiber aggregate 206 , fibers are oriented in the md direction which is the direction of the arrow in fig2 to form an oriented fiber aggregate 215 and , finally , passed through the rolls 210 , 210 ′ to form a sheet . the md direction is an advancing direction of the conveyor belt 208 , that is , the advancing direction of the fiber aggregate 206 . as described above , the fiber orientation of the fiber aggregate collected by the conveyor belt 208 can be mainly controlled by the relative difference between the collection speed and the conveying speed . as shown in fig3 , fibers are oriented in the md direction and an absorbent body 110 is cut into a rectangular shape as shown by dotted lines in fig3 , that is , so as to have a width w and a height h in the state of wearing the inter - labial pad 100 in fig1 . then , when it is inserted as in the illustrated state between the labia as shown in fig1 , the fiber directions can be aligned in the direction of 10 a to 10 b in which the inter - labial pressure is caused , that is , in the direction of the arrow shown in fig1 , in the state of wearing . fibers constituting the absorbent body 110 preferably have a fiber rigidity for obtaining appropriate compressibility and bulk recoverability . the fiber rigidity is generally expressed by young &# 39 ; s modulus (= load / strained amount ). in this invention , it is preferred to use fibers having young &# 39 ; s modulus in a range from 100 to 1500 kg / mm 2 and , more preferably , in a range from 300 to 1000 kg / mm 2 . further , the fiber rigidity can also be controlled by changing the fiber denier and , specifically , it is preferably selected in a range from 1 . 1 to 8 . 8 dtex . for the materials of the fibers , natural pulp , chemical pulp , rayon , acetate , natural cotton , super absorbent polymer , super absorbent polymer fiber , synthetic fiber , etc . are used . they may be used alone or a plurality of them may be mixed . further , it is preferred that they are bulky , less deforming and giving less chemical stimulations . among those described above , it is preferred that at least a portion of the fibers constituting the absorbent body is synthetic fibers . since the synthetic fibers are poor in the water absorbability , they tend to easily maintain fiber rigidity even when they absorb menstrual blood in a state of wearing the inter - labial pad . accordingly , compressibility and bulk recoverability can be maintained during wearing . the synthetic fibers include , for example , polyethylene ( pe ) fibers , polypropylene ( pp ) fibers , polyethylene terephthalate ( pet ) fibers , polyamide ( pa ) fibers , acrylic fibers , etc . with no particular restriction to them . in order to provide compressibility without giving a foreign - body sensations to a wearer , “ bulky ” materials are preferred . for example , it is preferred to use physically embossed rayon or acetate . as the “ bulky ” materials , crimped fibers having crimped structure are also preferred . the crimped fibers include chemical pulp crimped by cross linking using a cross linker , composite fibers such as of pe , pp , pet , etc . described above , which are composite fibers of a core - sheath type , core - sheath eccentric type or side - by - side type by utilizing the difference of the heat shrinkage of respective resins , and those physically crimped spun fibers by engagement , embossing , etc . further , those enhanced for the molecular orientation by stretching in a state of spinning , or fibers having a profiled cross section such as y - or c - type cross sectional shape may also be mixed . furthermore , fibers having the young &# 39 ; s modulus within the range described above and in the form of crimped fibers are more preferred since the fiber orientation partially tends to be directed rightward and leftward , which is substantially the direction of the arrow in fig1 , they tend to be compressed easily so as to be crimped and tend to recover the original shape . further , for improving the slipping property between the fibers , an oil agent may be coated on or contained in the fibers . for the fiber length , longer fibers are more likely to be entangled for sheeting the collected fiber aggregate , that is , for entangling fibers to each other with the fiber orientation being aligned . specifically , it is preferred that the fiber length is within a range from 10 to 51 mm and it is more preferred to use mainly those fibers with the average fiber length of from 25 to 50 mm . specific examples of the fibers described above include mixed fibers comprising ( a ) from 5 to 100 % of synthetic fibers which are of a core - sheath eccentric type of pe and pp , having a fiber denier of 4 . 4 dtex , a fiber length of 51 mm , and a fiber crimping ratio of 60 %, with 0 . 2 % of a hydrophilic oil agent being deposited and ( b ) from 95 to 0 % of rayon having a fiber denier of 3 . 3 dtex , a fiber length of 51 mm , and a fiber crimping ratio of 50 %, with 0 . 2 % of a hydrophilic oil agent being deposited . they are formed into an oriented fiber aggregate 215 in fig2 by relatively increasing the conveying speed to be more than the collection speed . then , they may be embossed by a dot - shaped emboss pattern , for example , by constituting the rolls 210 , 210 ′ as dot - shaped emboss rolls . in addition to the synthetic fibers and rayon , it is also preferred to incorporate super absorbent polymer or highly compressed fiber lumps . since this expands the volume after absorbing a body fluid , etc . the volume can be increased relative to the volume before absorbing the body fluid to obtain a further high bulk recoverability . further , as other highly bulky and less deforming oriented fiber aggregate 215 than described above , non - woven fabric sheeted by a through air method using a plurality kinds of synthetic fibers may also be used alone or being stacked by plural sheets . fig4 shows another manufacturing method for aligning the direction of fibers constituting an absorbent body 110 as shown in fig1 . in this method , contrary to fig3 , the conveying speed of the conveyor belt 208 is relatively lower than the collection speed of the fiber aggregate 206 . in this case , the fiber orientation of the oriented fiber aggregate 216 is in the direction of the thickness of the oriented fiber aggregate 216 which is the direction of the arrow in fig4 . in this case , as shown by dotted lines in fig4 , an absorbent body 111 is cut in a rectangular shape such that the width w corresponds to the direction of the thickness for the oriented fiber aggregate 216 and the height h corresponds to the md direction of the oriented fiber aggregate 216 in fig1 . then , when this is put between labia in a state being inverted from the state shown in fig4 by 90 °, the direction of the fibers can be aligned in the direction of 10 a to 10 b in which the inter - labial pressure is caused , that is , in the direction of the arrow shown in fig1 in a state of wearing . fibers of oriented fiber aggregate 216 can be directed to the direction of the thickness by selecting the suction pressure caused to the collected fibers aggregate by way of the mesh - like conveyor belt 208 within a range from 1500 to 15000 pa , for example , in a case where the conveying speed is within a range from 20 to 200 m / min . when the suction pressure is lower than 1500 pa , the fibers tend to be directed in the md direction by the conveying speed . on the other hand , when it is higher than 15000 pa , the fibers are excessively entangled to the mesh of the conveyor belt , making it difficult to hand the fiber aggregate to the succeeding step . in a case where the suction pressure is selected within a range from 1500 to 15000 pa , since a collection speed of 4 to 20 m / sec ( 240 to 1200 m / min ) is given to the fibers , and the conveyor belt is conveyed in a range of a speed from 20 to 200 m / min , so that the collection speed given to the fibers becomes relatively higher and the fiber orientation is less directed to md . further , after collection , it is necessary that the fiber aggregate is not stretched but conveyed in a state where the fiber orientation in a collected state is substantially maintained as it is . it is preferred not to stretch the fiber aggregate , 216 particularly before embossing step ( by rolls 210 , 210 ′) provided for controlling the degree of freedom for the collected oriented fiber aggregate 216 . this is because the fiber orientation of the fiber aggregate is easily directed to the md direction when the fiber aggregate has been stretched in any steps before embossing , since the degree of freedom of the fiber aggregate is excessively high . accordingly , it is necessary not to excessively increase the surface speed of the emboss rolls ( 210 , 210 ′) for conducting embossing relative to the surface speed of the conveyor belt 208 on which the fiber aggregate is collected and , specifically , it is preferred that the ratio between the surface speed of the emboss roll and the surface speed of the conveyor belt ( surface speed of emboss roll / surface speed of conveyor belt ) is preferably within a range from 0 . 9 to 1 . 2 and , more preferably , within a range from 1 . 0 to 1 . 1 . on the other hand , as shown in fig3 , for directing the fiber orientation of the fiber aggregate mainly to the md direction , the condition may be set in the manner opposite that described above . fig5 shows the state of using an inter - labial pad 300 according to a second embodiment of the present invention . as shown in fig5 , the inter - labial pad 300 is constituted such that an absorbent body 310 is folded in two along a crease 311 and a portion along the crease 311 being put between the labia 10 a and 10 b . fig6 shows an example for the method of manufacturing an absorbent body 310 . in the same manner as shown in fig4 , the conveying speed of a conveyor belt 208 is relatively lower to the collection speed of fibers 206 . accordingly , the fiber orientation of an oriented fiber aggregate 216 is in the direction for the thickness of the oriented fiber aggregate , which is the direction of an arrow shown in fig6 . in this case , the absorbent body 310 is cut into a rectangular shape by the dotted lines as shown in fig6 such that the width w ′ in fig5 corresponds to the direction of thickness for the oriented fiber aggregate 216 in fig6 , doubled height for h ′/ 2 in fig5 corresponds to the lateral direction h ′ of the oriented fiber aggregate 216 . then , when it is folded along the crease 311 and put between the labia , the fiber direction can be aligned along the direction of 10 a to 10 b in which the inter - labial force is caused in a state of wearing . that is , fibers may be aligned in the direction of the arrow in fig1 . fig7 shows a state of using an inter - labial pad 400 according to a third embodiment of the present invention . as shown in fig7 , the inter - labial pad 400 is different from that shown in fig5 in that a convex portions 415 and a concave portion 416 are formed alternately along the direction vertical to a crease 411 on the surface of an absorbent body 410 . the absorbent body 410 can be obtained by the manufacturing method as shown in fig8 . that is , as shown in fig8 , a plate 250 that gradually restricts the thickness of the fiber aggregate 206 is located above a conveyor belt 208 . since the plate 250 constitutes resistance to the fiber aggregate 206 being conveyed and the fiber aggregate 206 is conveyed being deformed in a corrugated shape , the fiber orientation of the fiber aggregate is directed to the direction of the thickness as a whole . in the succeeding step , the absorbent body 410 is cut into a substantially rectangular shape having a corrugated surface by the dotted lines as shown in fig8 . then , when it is folded along a crease 311 , and put between the labia , the fiber direction can be aligned along the direction of 10 a to 10 b in which the inter - labial pressure is caused , that is , in the direction of the arrow in fig7 . in addition to the method described above , the conveyor belt 208 may be previously formed into a corrugated shape upon collecting the fiber aggregate 206 . also in this constitution , the fiber aggregate 206 is collected profiling the shape of the conveyor belt 208 . fig9 shows a fourth embodiment of an inter - labial pad according to the present invention . an inter - labial pad 500 is different from the embodiment shown in fig5 in that embossing 512 is applied to the surface of an absorbent body 510 . reference numeral 511 denotes a crease . such embossing can be conducted , for example , by constituting rolls 210 , 210 ′ in fig2 as emboss rolls . that is , by embossing , since the fiber orientation at the portion is partially aligned in the direction of the thickness of the fiber aggregate , the same effect as that of the embodiment described above can be obtained . an emboss pattern is not particularly limited so long as the fiber orientation is directed to the direction of the thickness of the fiber aggregate and it may be a dot - shape or lattice - shape , as well as a corrugated shape causing deformation as shown in fig8 . among them , a dot - shape emboss pattern is preferred considering a flexibility giving less foreign - body sensation to a wearer . specifically , embossing can be applied , for example , by a dot - shape emboss pattern arranged in a zigzag manner with an embossing area ratio of 0 . 5 %, a pin diameter of 1 . 0 mm and a pitch of 12 . 5 mm . with this constitution , since the fiber orientation is partially directed to the direction of the thickness at the instance the fibers are collected and , in addition , fibers at the periphery of the dot - like embossing are enforced by the pins in the direction of the thickness and joined by hot melting , the fiber orientation at the periphery of the dot - shape embossing is further directed to the direction of the thickness and becomes more firm . the dot - shape embossing area ratio is , preferably , within a range from 0 . 3 to 60 %. as other examples than the embossing as described above of controlling the fiber orientation upon sheeting the collected fiber aggregate , a needle punching manufacturing method of directing the fiber orientation at the needled portion to the direction of the thickness by applying needling in the direction of the thickness thereby entangling the fibers to each other , and a spun lace manufacturing method of hitting a water jet in the direction of the thickness thereby directing the fiber orientation at the portion undergoing a water pressure to the direction of the thickness and entangling the fibers to each other by the water jet , etc . may also be used . fig1 shows a fifth embodiment of an inter - labial pad according to the present invention . further , fig1 shows a perspective view showing a state of attaching the inter - labial pad according to the fifth embodiment , fig1 is a cross sectional view taken along line x 1 - x 2 in fig1 and fig1 is a cross sectional view taken along line y 1 - y 2 in fig1 . an inter - labial pad 600 comprises , as shown in fig1 , a surface side sheet 620 in contact with labia 10 in the state of wearing , a back face sheet 630 disposed so as to stack over the surface side sheet 620 and not in contact with the labia 10 , an absorbent body 610 interposed between the surface side sheet 620 and the back face sheet 630 , and a pair of portions 650 a , 650 b of at least one elastic sheet member 650 is disposed vertically centered between the longitudinal crease and bottom fold of the interlabial pad , each portion of the pair of portions 650 a , 650 b being interposed between the absorbent body 610 and the back face sheet 630 in symmetry with respect to the longitudinal center axis of the inter - labial pad 600 . the absorbent body 610 prevents each portion 650 a , 650 b of the at least one elastic sheet member 650 from contacting the surface side sheet 620 . the inter - labial pad 600 is in substantially a longitudinal shape having a longitudinal direction and a shorter direction as a whole and folded along the longitudinal crease such that a pair of portions 630 a , 630 b of the back face sheet 630 are opposed to each other , and put with a portion along the crease being put between the labia . the fiber direction of the absorbent body 610 is aligned along the direction of the arrow in fig1 like that in fig5 . each portion of the pair of portions 650 a , 650 b is opposed to the other portion and each portion of the pair of portions 650 a , 650 b is in contact with a respective one of the pair of portions 630 a , 630 b of the back face sheet . the location where the elastic sheet 650 is disposed is not particularly limited and it may be disposed between the surface side sheet 620 and the absorbent body 610 , may be disposed in the absorbent body 610 or at the back of the back face sheet 630 . the back face sheet 630 per se may be the elastic sheet 650 . in view of the liquid absorbability and flexibility , the elastic sheet 650 is preferably disposed on the side of the absorbent body 610 at the back face sheet 630 . further , the elastic sheet 650 is preferably disposed in symmetrical with the crease as an axis of symmetry . furthermore , it may be disposed so as to override the crease . the size of the elastic sheet 650 is not particularly limited and it is preferably equal with or less than the size of the absorbent body 610 in view of the flexibility . further , for the thickness , it is preferably within a range from 0 . 5 to 5 mm in view of the flexibility . as specific examples of the elastic sheet 650 , laminates of elastic fibers , films , foamed materials having air cells , etc . can be mentioned . the elastic fibers include thermoplastic materials such as pe , pp , pet , etc ., and each of the resins is preferably used alone or as composite fibers of core - sheath type , core - sheath eccentric type , side - by - side type . further , fibers applied with secondary crimping , for example , by mechanical crimping or heat are preferred because of more elasticity . in view of the feeling of wear with respect to elasticity and rigidity , those fibers controlled to a fiber denier of 0 . 5 to 88 dtex and a fiber length of 3 to 64 mm are used preferably . a laminate of elastic fibers include non - woven fabrics . in this case , non - woven fabrics obtained by laminating fibers by carding , and being formed by a through air manufacturing method of bonding by hot melting of thermoplastic fibers can provide repulsive elasticity and can be used preferably . generally utilized point bonding , spun bonding or spun lace method can also be utilized . spun bonded non - woven fabrics of spinning continuous filaments and bonding them by heat embossing can also be utilized . further , sms ( spun bonded layer / melt blown layer / spun bonded layer ) non - woven fabrics bonded by blowing melt - blown fibers to spun bonds can also be utilized , and chemical bonding or an air laid method by coating a binder to the surface after the fiber lamination can also be utilized . the materials described above may be used in a single layer or may be multi - layered and fixed by an adhesive material or embossing . further , those materials controlled for the compressibility or bulk recoverability to a predetermined direction by an embossing pattern can also be utilized preferably . as the film , those materials obtained by extruding resins such as elastic pe , pp , pet or further higher elastic urethane or rubber by t - die or inflation method can be utilized . in the extrusion , a single material may be used , plural materials may be extruded as a multi - layered form , or plural layers may be laminated into a composite form . as the foamed materials having air cells , those materials obtained by foaming resins such as elastic pe , pp or higher elastic urethane or rubber and , further , cellulose sponge having absorbability can be utilized . the foamed materials may be of open cell or closed cell type . the elastic sheet 650 and the absorbent body 650 described above are preferably used in combination while aligning the fiber direction , but they may be used alone respectively . as shown in fig1 , since the shape of female labium minus pudendi is thicker and longer in the forward portion compared with the backward portion , the inter - labia pressure is higher and the fluctuation of the inter - labia pressure is also greater in the forward portion . in fig1 , the direction a shows the forward direction of the labia and the direction b shows the backward direction of the labia . accordingly , it is also preferred to control the compressibility and the bulk recoverability between the forward portion and the backward portion . that is , it is preferably constituted such that the compression ratio and the bulk recoverability are higher in the forward portion than those in the backward portion . further , as shown in fig1 and fig1 , the elastic sheet 650 may be disposed only in the forward portion . fig1 is a cross sectional view along line x 1 - x 2 in fig1 , that is , for the forward labial portion , while fig1 is a cross sectional view along line y 1 - y 2 in fig1 , that is , for the backward labial portion . as can be seen from fig1 and fig1 , the elastic sheet 650 is disposed only at the forward portion of the inter - labial pad 600 ( fig1 ) and the elastic sheet 650 is not disposed in the backward portion thereof . further , one or plural slits may also be disposed along the shorter direction of the inter - labial pad 600 from the forward to the backward portions . thus , since the external pressure applied strongly to the forward portion of the inter - labial pad 600 is separated by the slit portions , the external pressure is less propagated backward of the inter - labial pad . specifically , as shown in fig1 , for example , it is preferred that perforated slits 660 a , 660 b and 660 c are formed in a zigzag slit pattern such that the slit length is from 5 to 20 mm along the longitudinal direction of the inter - labial pad 600 , and the slit pitch is from 5 to 20 mm along the longitudinal direction of the inter - labial pad 600 . the direction a shows the forward direction of the labia while the direction b shows the backward direction of the labia . for the surface side sheet 620 , those materials which are water permeable and give less stimulations to skins are used . they include , for example , those non - woven fabrics obtained by a manufacturing method such as a point bonding or through air method , which are used alone or in a composite form . among the materials , those mainly comprising at least hydrophilic cellulosic fibers are preferred in view of the affinity with the inter - labial inner walls so that deviation is not caused between the inter - labial pad and the labial inner wall to give a foreign - body sensation to a wearer . specifically , spun laced non - woven fabrics obtained by mixing from 5 to 30 % of natural cotton and from 70 to 95 % of rayon or acetate , conditioning to a range from 20 to 50 g / m 2 , then entangling fibers to each other by water jet entanglement followed by drying and conditioning the thickness within a range from 0 . 3 to 1 . 0 mm are preferred . the thread material used in this case is selected materials having a fiber denier of within a range from 1 . 1 to 6 . 6 dtex and a fiber length from a range of 15 to 60 mm for natural cotton and from a range of 25 to 51 mm for rayon or acetate . further , they may be also films having perforated apertures or fiber layers laminated with films and having perforated apertures . as the back face sheet 630 , any material capable of preventing menstrual blood kept in the absorbent body 610 from leaking to the outside of the inter - labial pad may be used . further , by the use of moisture permeable materials , steaming during wearing can be decreased and uncomfortable feeling during wearing can be reduced . the materials of the less water permeable sheet include polyethylene , polypropylene , polyethylene terephthalate , polyvinyl alcohol , polylactic acid , polybutyl succinate , non - woven fabric , paper and laminate materials thereof at a thickness from 15 to 60 μm . further , the materials may also be an air permeable film obtained by filling inorganic fillers and applying stretching . specifically , they include films mainly comprising low density polyethylene resin and conditioned within a range of basis weight per unit area of from 15 to 30 g / m 2 , and further , air permeable films controlled within a range of an open pore area percentage of from 10 to 30 % and an aperture diameter of from 0 . 1 to 0 . 6 mm . example of the non - woven fabrics include spun bonded non - woven fabric , point bonded non - woven fabric , and through air non - woven fabric , etc . which may be applied with a water repelling treatment . among them , sms ( spun bond / melt - blown / spun bond ) non - woven fabrics containing melt - blown fibers constituted with ultrafine fibers and with extremely small inter - fiber distance are preferred . in this case , it is preferred to constitute within the range of basis weight per unit area of from 5 to 15 g / m 2 for the spun bonded layer , from 1 to 10 g / m 2 for the melt - blown layer and from 5 to 15 g / m 2 for the spun bonded layer . & lt ; example for bonding absorbent body and surface side and back face sheets & gt ; as the specific method for bonding the absorbent body and the surface side sheet and the back face sheet , known - techniques such as adhesives or embossing seal can be used . the adhesive coating pattern includes , for example , spiral coating , controlled seam coating , coater coating , curtain coater coating and summit gun coating . among them , the summit gun coating capable of making the pitch finer between bonded portion and non - bonded portion is preferred . the basis weight per unit area of the adhesive is within a range from 1 to 30 g / m 2 , preferably , from 3 to 10 g / m 2 . further , in a pattern where the adhesive is coated linearly , the line width is preferably within a range from 30 to 300 μm . in a case where the basis weight is 1 g / m 2 or less , or the line width is less than 30 μm , when the surface side sheet 620 is constituted with a fiber aggregate , the adhesive is buried between the fibers failing to provide a sufficient bonding force . on the other hand , in a case where the basis weight per unit area is more than 30 g / m 2 or the line width is more than 300 μm , the peripheral portion becomes rigid . there is no particular restriction for the portion coated with the adhesive and it is preferred that the adhesive is coated at least between the absorbent body and the back face sheet . the emboss pattern may be a lattice - shape , dot - shape , corrugated shape , etc . with no particular restriction . the location for emboss sealing also has no particular restriction and it is preferred that emboss sealing is applied for the surface side sheet and the back face sheet extending along the peripheral edge of the absorbent body together . while the depth of the labia is different depending on the individual since it is about 14 mm as an average value , a region put between the labia is in a region within 14 mm from the vestibular floor in the vertical direction attached to the labia . further , in an inter - labial pad in which the shape changes before and after attachment in the labia , for example , an inter - labial pad folded along the longitudinal center line as an axis of fold such that the portions of the back face sheet are opposed to each other during wearing , the region is within 14 mm in both outward directions from the longitudinal center line respectively . further , the region put between the labia along the longitudinal direction is 50 mm forward and 5 mm backward to the ostium vaginae since the length of the labia is generally 55 mm as the average value . accordingly , the region put longitudinally between the labia is a region within 50 mm for the forward and within 5 mm for the backward from the position in contact with the ostium vaginae . the shape of the inter - labial pad is not particularly limited so long as it is a shape that conforms the female labia such as elliptic shape , hour glass shape or droplet shape . the total size for the outer profile is preferably from 40 to 180 mm and , more preferably , 80 to 120 mm in the longitudinal direction . further , it is preferably from 20 to 100 mm and , more preferably , from 50 to 80 mm in the lateral direction . the inter - labial pad may be contained entirely in the labia or may have a region exposing out of the labia . the inter - labial pad according to the invention is preferably contained further in an individual wrapping container . the materials for the individual wrapping container include polyethylene , polypropylene , polyethylene terephthalate , polyvinyl alcohol , polylactic acid , polybutyl succinate , non - woven fabric , and paper , as well as laminate materials thereof , at a thickness of from 15 to 60 μm . specifically , they include films , formed by mixing low density polyethylene ranging from 0 to 80 % and high density polyethylene ranging from 100 to 20 % and controlling the basis weight per unit area within a range from 15 to 35 g / m 2 . further , films applied with stretching for improving the resin orientation may also be used . examples of non - woven fabrics include spun bonded non - woven fabrics , point bonded non - woven fabrics , and through air non - woven fabrics , which may be applied with a water repelling treatment . among them , sms non - wove fabrics containing melt - blown fibers constituted with ultrafine fibers with extremely small inter - fiber distance are preferred . in this case , it is preferred that they are constituted with the basis weight per unit area within a range from 5 to 15 g / m 2 for a spun bonded layer , from 1 to 10 g / m 2 for a melt - blown layer and from 5 to 15 g / m 2 for a spun bonded layer . further , it is preferred that the individual wrapping container can shield the color of the menstrual blood absorbed in the inter - labial pad and may be mixed with a pigment in a range from 0 . 2 to 10 %, or applied with printing on the surface , for example , with an ink . further , the inter - labial pad or the individual wrapping container may comprise a water disintegratable material or biodegradable material so that the pad can be flushed away . the compressibility and the bulk recoverability in the present invention can be estimated by the following method . at first , predetermined compressibility and bulk recoverability in the present invention are preferably the compressibility and the bulk recoverability in a moistened state of absorbing a body fluid . as an evaluation method for the compressibility in the moistened state of absorbing the body fluid , the thickness of the inter - labial pad after pressurization at 50 g / cm 2 for 3 min in a state where the inter - labial pad absorbs an artificial body fluid seven times as much as the mass of the absorbent body is measured and the ratio relative to the thickness of the inter - labial pad before absorption of the artificial body fluid is measured . this is defined as a compression ratio . in the inter - labial pad according to the invention , the compression ratio is , preferably , 30 % or more and , more preferably , 30 % or more and 80 % or less . as an evaluation method for the bulk recoverability in the moistened state of absorbing the body fluid , the thickness of the inter - labial pad after pressurization at 50 g / cm 2 for 3 min and further leaving under no pressure for 2 min in a state where the inter - labial pad absorbs an artificial body fluid seven times as much as the mass of the absorbent body is measured and the ratio relative to the thickness of the inter - labial pad before absorption of the artificial body fluid is measured . this is defined as a bulk recovery ratio . in the inter - labial pad according to the present invention , the bulk recovery ratio is preferably 60 % or more and , more preferably , 60 % or more and 150 % or less . the artificial body fluid used for the evaluation described above includes an artificial menstrual blood prepared as follows . an example of specific composition in a case of using the artificial menstrual blood includes , for example , a solution of a composition comprising 32 mass parts of sodium carboxymethyl cellulose , 320 mass parts of glycerin , 40 mass parts of sodium chloride , 16 mass parts of sodium hydrogen carbonate , 32 mass parts of food pigment preparation red no . 102 , 8 mass parts of food pigment preparation red no . 2 , and 8 mass parts of food pigment preparation yellow no . 5 , with no restriction thereto . the present invention is to be described more specifically with reference to examples and comparative examples . the compressibility and bulk recoverability in the present invention concern not only the absorbent body but also the entire inter - labial pad . however , in the following examples and comparative examples , the values for the compressibility and bulk recoverability of the entire inter - labial pad after releasing compression were measured only for the absorbent body . this is because most of the factors giving an influence on such physical values are attributable to those of the absorbent body occupying a major portion of the weight for the entire inter - labial pad . using 100 % of pulp with a fiber length of 1 to 8 mm , as shown in fig4 , fibers were fiber - opened by an air laid method using a garnet type fiber opening method while increasing the collection speed relative to the conveying speed , amending them by suction such that the basis weight per unit area was 700 g / m 2 , conveying them so as not to apply excess tension during the conveying step and then applying embossing at an embossing ratio of 0 . 5 % with a dot - shape emboss pattern , to manufacture an absorbent body . the lamination conditions were at an attraction pressure under suction of 7000 pa , at a conveying speed of 80 m / min , and at an emboss roll circumferential speed / conveyor belt circumferential speed of 1 . 2 . further , in the dot - shape emboss roll , pins each of 1 . 0 mm diameter are arranged in a dot - pattern ( 1 . 0 mm diameter means a diameter at the pin tip and the diameter at the pin bottom was 2 . 6 mm ) at a pitch of 12 . 5 mm and arranged in a zigzag manner . an absorbent body was manufactured under the same conditions as those in example 1 except for using fibers formed by mixing 85 % of rayon with a fiber denier of 3 . 3 dtex having a fiber length of 51 mm , fiber crimping ratio of 50 %, and deposited with 0 . 2 % of a hydrophilic oil agent , and 15 % of natural cotton . using 100 % synthetic fibers of pe - pp core - sheath eccentric type with a fiber denier of 4 . 4 dtex having a fiber length of 51 mm , fiber crimping ratio of 60 % and deposited with a hydrophilic oil agent of 0 . 2 %, the synthetic fibers were sheeted into a non - woven fabric of 20 g / m 2 by a through air method , the non - woven fabric was stacked by 35 sheets so as to be 700 g / m 2 and then embossing was applied in the same manner as in example 1 . ( a ) using the same 100 % synthetic fibers as in example 3 , the synthetic fibers were fiber - opened by an air laid method using a garnet type fiber opening method while increasing the collection speed relative to the conveying speed , and they were collected by suction such that the basis weight per unit area was 100 g / m 2 as shown in fig4 . ( b ) on the other hand , a non - woven fabric formed by sheeting the synthetic fibers described above by a through air manufacturing method into 20 g / m 2 was stacked by 13 sheets so as to be 260 g / m 2 . ( a ) was placed over ( b ) and the same embossing as in example 1 was applied . then , it was folded with the central axis as the start point . as the lamination conditions , the suction pressure was set to 4 , 000 pa and other conditions were set in the same manner as in example 1 . articles , trade name of : “ envive ” manufactured by procter & amp ; gamble co . in the prior art described above were used as they were . compression ratio and bulk recovery ratio were measured for the absorbent bodies of examples 1 to 4 and comparative example 1 . table 1 shows the results . the measurement for the compression ratio and the bulk recovery ratio were evaluated in accordance with the test method as described in [ compressibility and bulk recoverability ] and , as an artificial menstrual blood , a solution of a composition comprising 32 mass parts of sodium carboxymethyl cellulose , 320 mass parts of glycerin , 40 mass parts of sodium chloride , 16 mass parts of sodium hydrogen carbonate , 32 mass parts of food pigment preparation red no . 102 , 8 mass parts of food pigment preparation red no . 2 and 8 mass parts of food pigment preparation yellow no . 5 was used . from the result of table 1 , the bulk recovery ratio was 61 % and the volume after releasing compression was 3 . 98 mm in example 1 , and the bulk recovery ratio was 67 % and the volume after releasing the compression was 4 . 58 mm in example 2 , all of the values were higher compared with the bulk recovery ratio of 59 % and the volume of 3 . 52 mm after releasing the compression in comparative example 1 . this is because , in comparative example 1 , since the direction of the fibers of the absorbent body was aligned in front - to - back direction , in a state where pressure was added and menstrual blood was absorbed , other fibers were further intruded between fibers to shorten the distance between the fibers , and this reduced the thickness of the absorbent body to result in lowering of bulk recoverability . on the other hand , in example 1 and example 2 , since the fiber orientation was partially directed to the direction of the thickness upon collection , the bulk recoverability was increased by the rigidity of the fibers . further , the values in example 2 were higher than those in example 1 , this is because , since the fiber length was longer than that in example 1 , other fibers were less intruded between fibers . in example 3 , the bulk recovery ratio was 79 % and the bulk after releasing compression was 6 . 72 mm . it is considered that since the fibers were crimped synthetic fibers , the fiber rigidity was scarcely lowered and the fiber tended to recover the original shape even in a moistened state and , in addition , the embossed portions were press - bonded by heating , and the fiber orientation directing to the direction of the thickness was more firm . in addition , since the sheet per se was a through air non - woven fabric being melted by heat at entangling points between each of fibers , the bulk recovery ratio was high even in a more moistened state . in example 4 , the compression ratio was 55 % and the bulk recovery ratio was 85 %. the compression ratio was high because the fibers at the upper layer were bonded only at embossed portions and , accordingly , the degree of freedom of the fibers with each other was high , which gave less foreign - body sensation to a wearer . in addition , it is considered that the bulk recovery ratio was higher than that in example 2 because repulsive force tending to return to the original shape was applied due to folding at the center axis . the present invention can be used as an inter - labial pad which is put at a portion thereof between the female labial space and abutting it at the inner surface of the labia in wearing .	0
fig1 is a schematic illustration of a motor vehicle 1 with a hybrid drive . the vehicle 1 has an internal combustion engine 2 , an electric motor generator 3 , a control device 4 , an electrochemical energy accumulator 5 ( battery ) and an electrostatic energy accumulator 6 ( one or more capacitors ). the control device 4 is connected to the motor generator 3 and the electrical energy accumulators 5 , 6 via electric leads . the motor vehicle 1 can be driven solely by the internal combustion engine 2 , solely by the motor generator 3 or by both at the same time , depending on the driving situation . for this purpose , the internal combustion engine 2 is connected via a drive train 7 to the drive wheels 8 , with the result that a torque which is generated by the internal combustion engine 2 can be transmitted to the drive wheels . in the exemplary embodiment , the motor generator 3 is coupled to the internal combustion engine 2 in such a way that a torque which is generated by the motor generator 3 can drive the internal combustion engine 2 , which is passed on in turn via the drive train 7 to the drive wheels . the motor generator 3 can act as an electric drive or as a generator , with the result that a torque which is generated by the internal combustion engine 2 can be converted by the motor generator 3 into electric current . this preferably takes place in an overrun mode of the motor vehicle . the motor generator 3 is supplied in its function as an electric drive motor with electrical energy by the electrochemical energy accumulator 5 and / or the electrostatic energy accumulator 6 . in its function as a generator , the electrical energy which is generated by the motor generator 3 is stored in the electrochemical energy accumulator 5 and in the electrostatic energy accumulator 6 . the intermediately connected control device 4 controls the flow of current between the motor generator 3 and the electrical energy accumulators 5 , 6 . the current flowing in the process can have current strengths of several 100 amperes to 1000 amperes . for this reason , very high requirements in terms of operational reliability are made of the electronic circuitry contained in the control device 4 . in the text which follows , a circuit board and a circuit board system are presented which is a component of the control device and which are capable of coordinating the flow of electrical energy between the motor generator 3 and the electrical energy accumulators 5 , 6 with a high level of operational reliability . fig2 is a schematic illustration of a cross section through an exemplary embodiment of a circuit board 9 for electric components . such a circuit board 9 can be used in the control device 4 of the motor vehicle 1 ( see fig1 ) to switch the current flowing between the motor generator 3 and the electrical energy accumulators 5 , 6 . the circuit board 9 has a carrier body 10 made of electrically insulating material ( for example glass fiber mats steeped with epoxy resin ). the carrier body 10 is illustrated individually in fig4 a and 4b . the cutouts 11 for accommodating a current conductor are formed in the carrier body 10 . the latter can be formed , for example , by subsequent milling of the carrier body 10 . the cutouts can be embodied either as recesses ( fig4 a ) or as complete breakthroughs ( fig4 b ). the circuit board ( see fig2 ) also has three current conductors 12 and two unhoused electric components 13 which are each provided directly on one of the current conductors 12 or attached directly thereto . the provision or attachment of the unhoused electric components 13 on the current conductors 12 is preferably carried out , depending on the application , by means of a highly thermally conductive and / or good electrically conductive intermediate layer 14 . for example , the unhoused electric components 13 can be positioned on the current conductors 12 by means of a very good thermally conductive and electrically conductive solder or conductive adhesive or a thermally conductive adhesive film which is adhesive on both sides , and can be directly attached to said current conductors 12 . fig3 a and 3b show such a current conductor 12 with an unhoused electric component 13 which is positioned thereon , in a side view ( fig3 a ) and in a cross - sectional view ( fig3 b ) along the sectional line a - a in fig3 a . the current conductor 12 is manufactured as a solid molded part composed of a material which is a very good conductor of current , preferably copper or a copper alloy . said current conductor 12 preferably has a rectangular or square cross section and is dimensioned in such a way that it can conduct current with a current strength over 500 amperes . as is apparent in fig2 , the current conductors 12 are inserted with the unhoused electric component 13 into the cutouts 11 of the carrier body 10 . in the process , the cutouts 11 are advantageously adapted to the shape of the respective current conductor 12 in such a way that the current conductor 12 can be fitted into the cutouts 11 virtually without joints . the circuit board 9 which is illustrated in fig2 also has an electrically insulating layer 15 which at least partially covers the carrier body 10 , the current conductors 12 and the unhoused electric components 13 . this electrically insulating layer 15 , which is also referred to as a “ prepreg ” in the specialist jargon , is preferably composed of continuous fibers which are integrated in a plastic matrix . they can be pressed under high pressure and at high temperature onto the carrier body 10 with the current conductors 12 and the unhoused electric components 13 inserted therein , wherein the plastic matrix hardens in the process . a very reliable and electrically insulating layer is produced . the circuit board 9 also has a layer 16 made of electrically conductive material which is embodied as a conductor structure . the electrically conductive layer 16 is preferably composed of a thin copper layer , wherein the conductor track structure is formed by an etching process . the electrically conductive layer 16 is applied to the electrically insulating layer 15 , with the result that the electrically insulating layer 15 is arranged between the electrically conductive layer 16 and the carrier body 10 . further electric components 17 of the circuit board 9 can be placed in electrical contact with one another via this electrically conductive layer 16 which is embodied as a conductor track structure . the circuit board 9 can have a multiplicity of further electric components 17 which are provided , by an equipping process , on the side on which the electrically conductive layer is also located . the electric components are connected here to the electric layer which is embodied as a conductor track structure and can be connected to one another . one or more of these components can be embodied as an electronic control system 18 . this may be , for example , a microprocessor with a memory element . in the electrically conductive layer 15 , breakthroughs 19 are embodied in such a way that electrical contact can be formed between the unhoused electric components 13 and at least some of the current conductors 12 through these breakthroughs 19 . in the exemplary embodiment , electrical contact can be formed between two unhoused electric components 13 and the central and the right - hand current conductors 12 ( see fig2 ) via the breakthroughs 19 . the breakthroughs 19 can be milled over a large area or drilled as holes or microvias , depending on the application case . in the exemplary embodiment in fig2 , the unhoused electric components 13 and the current conductors 12 are electrically connected to the electrically conductive layer 16 via the breakthroughs 19 . this can be implemented , for example , in that during the application of the electrically conductive layer 16 to the electrically insulating layer 15 , which is usually done by means of a galvanic process , the electrically conductive material also penetrates the breakthroughs . in this way , the current conductors 12 and the unhoused electric components 13 , which are largely covered by the electrically insulating layer 15 , can be electrically connected via the breakthroughs 19 to the electrically conductive layer 16 and also to any components 17 , 18 on the surface of the circuit board 9 . in the exemplary embodiment in fig2 , the unhoused electric components 13 are semiconductor switches ( for example power mosfets ) which are connected , on the one hand , to the associated current conductor 12 via the thermally conductive and electrically conductive layer 14 , but also to a further current conductor 12 of the current conductors 12 via the breakthroughs 19 and the electrically conductive layer 16 . furthermore , the unhoused electric components 13 are electrically connected to the electronic control system 18 of the circuit board via the breakthroughs 19 and the electrically conductive layer 16 , with the result that the electronic control system 18 can vary the switched states of this semiconductor switch 13 , depending on requirements . it is therefore possible , for example , for the left - hand current conductor 12 to be connected to the electrostatic energy accumulator 6 ( see fig1 ), the central current conductor 12 to the motor generator 3 ( see fig1 ) and the right - hand current conductor 12 to the electrochemical energy accumulator 5 ( see fig1 ). depending on the requirements , the electronic control system 18 can accordingly switch the unhoused semiconductor switches in such a way that the flow of current reaches the desired receiver . fig5 illustrates a first exemplary embodiment of a circuit board system 20 as can be used , for example , in the control device 18 of the motor vehicle 1 ( fig1 ). the circuit board system 20 has a first circuit board 9 such as is illustrated , for example , in fig2 , and a second circuit board 21 with electric components 17 , wherein the two circuit boards 9 , 21 are connected to one another via a connecting section 22 made of electrically insulating material . in the exemplary embodiment in fig5 , the connecting section 22 is embodied as an electrically insulating layer between a main face 24 of the first circuit board 9 and a main face 25 of the second circuit board 21 . main face 24 or 25 is to be understood as a surface of the first circuit board 9 or of the second circuit board 21 which can be or is equipped with electric components 17 . the connecting section 22 can be embodied as a prepreg ( continuous fiber embedded in a plastic matrix ), and therefore connects the two main faces 24 , 25 of the first circuit board 9 and of the second circuit board 21 in a fixed and reliably electrically insulating fashion . in the exemplary embodiment in fig5 , the second circuit board 21 is equipped on both sides and embodied as a multi - layer circuit board ( this is indicated purely schematically by multi - layer equipment of the underside of the second circuit board 21 with components ). the second circuit board 21 has its own carrier body 23 made of electrically insulating material ( glass fibers steeped with epoxy resin ). in each case electrically conductive layers 16 ( preferably copper ) are applied to the main faces 25 of the circuit board 21 and are embodied as a conductor track structure . the electric components 17 are applied to the main faces 25 of the second circuit board 21 and connected to the conductor track structure . the individual layers are separated by a further electrically insulating layer 26 which has breakthroughs 19 . some electric components 17 of different layers are electrically connected to one another via the breakthroughs 19 . the connecting section 22 , which is composed of electrically insulating material , between the first circuit board 9 and the second circuit board 21 also has breakthroughs 19 , with the result that the electric components 17 of the first circuit board 9 and the electric components 17 of the second circuit board 21 are at least partially electrically connected to one another . in this way it is possible that , for example , the electronic control system 18 for the semiconductor switches of the second circuit board is arranged and electrically connected via the breakthroughs to the unhoused semiconductor switches 13 of the first circuit board 9 . a further exemplary embodiment of the circuit board system is illustrated in fig6 . this exemplary embodiment differs from the exemplary embodiment in fig5 in that the connecting section 22 is not embodied as an electrically insulating layer arranged between the main faces 24 , 25 . instead , the first circuit board 9 and the second circuit board 21 have a common carrier body 10 , wherein the connecting section 22 constitutes a section of the common carrier plate 10 which is located between the first circuit board 9 and the second circuit board 21 . the connecting section 22 is shaped here in such a way that two main faces 24 and 25 of the first circuit board 9 or of the second circuit board 21 face one another . for this purpose , the connecting section 22 is bent through 180 ° degrees . in order to facilitate the bending process , the cross section of the connecting section can be tapered and heated for the bending process . this configuration of the circuit board system 20 provides very good electrical insulation between the two circuit boards 24 and 25 along with a small space requirement . furthermore , this circuit board system 20 in fig6 differs from the circuit board system 20 in fig5 in that the electronic control system 18 for the semiconductor switches are arranged only on the first circuit board 9 . this electrical separation of the two circuit boards 24 , 25 allows the first circuit board 9 to be embodied , for example , for high current applications and the second circuit board for low current applications .	7
in the preferred method , a raw polymeric material such as uhmwpe is obtained by , for example , ram extrusion , compression molding , or other forming processes . these methods use virgin polymer powder as a starting material . however , virgin polymer resin powder may contain air or moisture , which may exist in the resin micro - structure or simply deposited on the resin surfaces . if air or moisture is not removed from resin powder prior to the forming process , it can be trapped in the plastic matrix after forming and can not escape . this is true even with the use of vacuum or gas flushing techniques . during the sterilization radiation process , the trapped air or moisture or both will react with free radicals generated in the plastic to cause oxidation . the trapped moisture can also absorb radiation energy and dissociate into oxygen and hydroxyl free radicals which will also react with the plastic to cause oxidation . therefore , by removing air and moisture prior to the forming process , oxidation during sterilization radiation can be avoided . the preferred method for eliminating air and moisture is to apply a vacuum of less than 3 &# 34 ; of mercury ( 76 torr ) to the polymer resin for a prescribed time to reduce the levels of air and moisture to a minimal or acceptable value . the level for oxygen is preferably 0 . 5 % ( volume by volume and no more than 1 %). the moisture level is preferably 10 % of relative humidity ( and no more than 20 % relative humidity ). then sufficient amounts of deoxidizing agents , such as oxygen absorbents and moisture desiccants , are placed together with the polymer resin in a sealed container to reduce the levels of air and moisture to the minimal or acceptable value . an example of an oxygen absorbent is ageless ® which is an iron oxide compound and commercially available from cryovac division , w . r . grace & amp ; co ., duncan , s . c .. an example of moisture desiccant is silica gel which is commercially available . these materials are placed with the resin in the sealed container for approximately 10 hours . alternately , or in combination , an inert gas , such as nitrogen , argon , helium or neon is used to flush the container , holding the polymer resin powder , until the levels of air and moisture are reduced to the accepted value . of course , any combination of the above methods can also be used . in order to ensure a raw material for an orthopedic implant with no oxygen , not only must the uhmwpe resin powder be free of air and moisture , but the entire forming operation of , for example , ram extrusion , compression molding , or other forming process should be carried out in an inert or low oxygen atmosphere as well . during the forming process , due to high temperature and high pressure applied in the process , uhmwpe polymer chains may be broken to generate free radicals and cross - links . while cross - links generated in the forming process have no adverse effects on material properties , the free radicals produced , as described above , can react with air or other oxidants . therefore , it is important to maintain the inert atmosphere during the forming process to minimize oxidation . any free radicals generated should be eliminated as soon as the forming process is completed by annealing . if the formed uhmwpe contains free radicals and is exposed to air or other oxidants after the forming process , oxidation will occur . the polymer should be annealed at an elevated temperature in an inert atmosphere for a prescribed time . this is because the rate of free radical reactions ( reactions 10 through 12 ) increase with increasing temperature , according to the following general expressions : ## equ1 ## compared to room temperature , an elevated temperature not only increases the reaction rate constants , k 1 and k 2 , but also helps free radicals r . and p . to migrate in the plastic matrix to meet other neighboring free radicals for cross - linking reactions . in general , the desired elevated temperature is between the room temperature and the melting point of the polymer . for uhmwpe , this temperature range is between about 25 ° c . and about 140 ° c . however , the preferred annealing temperature range is from about 37 ° c . to about 135 ° c . the preferred time and temperature is 130 ° c . for 20 hours with the minimum annealing time being about 4 hours ( requiring a temperature at the high end of the range ). it is to be noted that the higher the temperature used , the shorter the time period needed to combine free radicals . additionally , due to the high viscosity of an uhmwpe melt , the formed uhmwpe often contains residual ( internal ) stress caused by incomplete relaxation during the cooling process , which is the last step of the forming process . the annealing process described herein will also help to eliminate or reduce the residual stress . a residual stress contained in a plastic matrix can cause dimensional instability and is in general undesirable . in applications such as for orthopedic implants , the formed uhmwpe is further machined into desired shapes . in general , the machining is done at room temperature and no damage to the plastic will occur . however , certain machine tools , when operated at a high speed , may generate local heat and cause thermal breakdown of uhmwpe polymer chains . in this case , the above described annealing process may be employed to eliminate any newly formed free radicals prior to packaging . after machining , the polymeric component is packaged in an air tight package in an oxidant - free atmosphere . thus , all air and moisture must be removed from the package prior to the sealing step . machines to accomplish this are commercially available , such as from orics industries inc ., college point , n . y ., which flush the package with a chosen inert gas , vacuum the container , flush the container for the second time , and then heat seal the container with a lid . in general , less than 0 . 5 % ( volume by volume ) oxygen concentration can be obtained consistently . an example of a suitable oxidant impermeable ( air tight ) packaging material is polyethylene terephthalate ( pet ). other examples of oxidant impermeable packaging material is poly ( ethylene vinyl alcohol ) and aluminum foil , whose oxygen and water vapor transmission rates are essentially zero . all these materials are commercially available . several other suitable commercial packaging materials utilize a layer structure to form a composite material with superior oxygen and moisture barrier properties . an example of this type is a layered composite comprised of poly - propylene / poly ( ethylene vinyl alcohol )/ polypropylene . in general , the sterilization radiation step for the packaged implant may take a few hours to complete . as described above , it is imperative that during this time period , the transmission of oxidants , such as oxygen and moisture , into the package be kept to a minimal or at an acceptable value to avoid oxidation . following sterilization radiation , a heat treatment step should be performed in an inert atmosphere and at an elevated temperature to cause free radicals to form cross - links without oxidation . if proper packaging materials and processes are used and oxidant transmission rates are minimal , then the oxidant - free atmosphere can be maintained in the package and a regular oven with air circulation can be used for heat treatment after sterilization . to absolutely ensure that no oxidants leak into the package , the oven may be operated under a vacuum or purged with an inert gas . in general , if a higher temperature is used , a shorter time period is required to achieve a prescribed level of oxidation resistance and cross - linking . in many cases , the relationship between the reaction temperature and the reaction rate follows the well - known arrhennius equation : k 1 and k 2 are reaction rate constants from reactions 13 and 14 however , the temperature should not exceed the distortion temperature of either the packaging material or the plastic components . for uhmwpe , the temperature range is between about 25 ° c . and about 140 ° c . however , considering the distortion of the packaging material , the preferred temperature is 37 ° c . to 70 ° c . it is very important to ensure that the number of free radicals has been reduced to a minimal or an accepted level by the heat treatment . this is because the presence of an oxidant causes not only the oxidation of pre - existing free radicals , but also the formation of new free radicals via reactions 2 through 7 . when the number of free radicals grows , the extent of oxidation and the oxidation rate will increase according to the following equations : ## equ2 ## where free radicals r . and p . can grow in number in the presence of oxidants and in turn increase the oxidation rates . it is also to be noted that the oxidation reaction rate constants k 3 and k 4 increase with increasing temperature , similar to k 1 and k 2 . therefore , to determine if a certain level of residual free radicals is acceptable or not , it is required to evaluate specific material properties after the plastic sample is stored or aged at the application temperature for a time period which is equal to or longer than the time period intended for the application of the plastic component . an alternative to the method to assess the aging effect is to raise the aging temperature of the plastic sample for a shorter time period . this will increase the reaction rate constants k 3 and k 4 significantly and shorten the aging time . it has been found that an acceptable level of residual free radicals is 1 . 0 × 10 17 / g for uhmwpe use for orthopedic implants . after heat treatment , the irradiated packaged plastic component is now ready to use . the package can be opened and exposed to air or moisture without causing oxidation . the oxidation resistance of the sterilized plastic component to other oxidants is similar to that of the virgin , unirradiated polymer . a surgical grade uhmwpe rod produced by ram extrusion was machined into samples of desirable shapes . four sets of samples were prepared using these machined samples by the following methods : method b : an uhmwpe sample was heat sealed in a glycol - modified polyethylene terephthalate ( petg , made by eastman plastics , inc ., kingsport , tenn .) blister in air with an aluminum lid of 0 . 1 mm in thickness . the sealed blister containing the uhmwpe sheet was sterilized by irradiation of gamma - rays in a dose of 2 . 5 mrad . the package was then opened and exposed to room air . method c : an uhmwpe sample was placed in a petg blister and heat sealed in dry nitrogen with an aluminum lid of 0 . 1 mm in thickness by the orics vacuum gas flush heat seal machine ( model sls - vgf - 100m for modified atmosphere packaging , made by orics industries inc ., college point , n . y .) which went through the following cycles : ii ) vacuum to a pressure of equal to or below 3 inches of mercury the oxygen concentration in the sealed blister was measured by a mocon oxygen analyzer to be 0 . 325 % ( volume by volume ). the sealed blister containing the uhmwpe sample was sterilized by irradiation of gamma - rays in a dose of 2 . 5 mrad . the oxygen concentration in the sealed blister after sterilization radiation was measured to be 0 . 350 %. the package was then opened and exposed to room air . method d : same as method c , except that after gamma - ray irradiation , the sealed blister containing the uhmwpe sample was heat treated at 50 ° c . for 144 hours in an oven , then transferred from the oven to room temperature for cooling . after the package was cooled to room temperature , the oxygen concentration was measured by a mocon oxygen analyzer to be 0 . 360 %. the package was then opened and exposed to room air . samples prepared by the above methods were used in the following examples for evaluation . two sets of 1 - mm - thick uhmwpe sheets prepared by methods a through d above were oven aged in air at 80 ° c . for 11 and 23 days respectively . after these sheets were cooled in room temperature , a thin film specimen of about 100 microns in thickness was cut from each of the 1 - mm - thick aged uhmwpe sheets and placed in an ir window for a standard ftir ( a nicolet 710 ftir system was used ) transmission run . a total of 32 spectra ( scans ) were collected and averaged . to determine the extent of oxidation , the ir absorption peaks in the frequency range of between 1660 and 1800 cm - 1 , corresponding to carbonyl ( c - o ) functional groups , were integrated for the peak area . the peak area is proportional to the amount of oxidized uhmwpe in the specimen . to correct for difference in specimen thickness , the integrated peak area was then normalized to the specimen thickness , by dividing by the area of the 1463 cm - 1 ( methyl ) peak which is proportional to the specimen thickness . the obtained ratio was defined as oxidation index . a third set of 1 - mm - thick uhmwpe sheets prepared by methods a through d , but without oven aging , were also evaluated by the same ftir method for comparison . oxidation indices obtained are shown in table 1 : table 1______________________________________sample oxidation index______________________________________method a / not oven aged ca . 0 . method a / 11 day oven aging ca . 0 . method a / 23 day oven aging ca . 0 . method b / not oven aged 0 . 02method b / 11 day oven aging 0 . 06method b / 23 day oven aging 0 . 11method c / not oven aged 0 . 01method c / 11 day oven aging 0 . 04method c / 23 day oven aging 0 . 08method d / not oven aged 0 . 01method d / 11 day oven aging 0 . 01method d / 23 day oven aging 0 . 01______________________________________ from table 1 results , it can be seen that the unirradiated uhmwpe sample ( method a ) was free of oxidation ( below the ftir detectable level ), even after 23 days of oven aging in air at 80 ° c . on the other hand , the uhmwpe sample irradiated in air ( method b ) showed considerable oxidation and the extent of oxidation ( as indicated by the oxidation index ) increased with increasing aging time . after 23 days of oven aging , the oxidation index reached 0 . 11 . for the uhmwpe sample irradiated in nitrogen ( method c ), the initial oxidation index before oven aging was 0 . 01 which was not significant . however , during the oven aging , the oxidation index increased to 0 . 04 for 11 days and 0 . 08 for 23 days respectively . the results indicate that while irradiation in an inert atmosphere is an improvement over oxidation in air , the irradiated plastic component will oxidize further over time once it is exposed to air or other oxidants . in contrast , the uhmwpe sample irradiated in nitrogen followed by heat treatment at 50 ° c . for 144 hours ( method d ), showed an initial oxidation index of only 0 . 01 which did not increase after 11 or 23 days of oven aging , indicating that this sample has superior oxidation resistance than the samples prepared by method b or c . two sets of 1 - mm - thick uhmwpe sheets prepared by methods b through d cited in the sample preparation were oven aged in air at 80 ° c . for 11 and 23 days respectively . after these sheets were cooled in room temperature , six tensile specimens with a dumbbell shape according to astm d638 ( type iv ) were cut from each of the 1 - mm - thick aged uhmwpe sheets . a standard tensile test was performed for each specimens at a speed of 2 inches / min . another set of 1 - mm - thick uhmwpe sheets prepared by methods b through d cited in the sample preparation , but without oven aging , were also evaluated by the same tensile test method for comparison . tensile breaking strength results ( average of six tests for each condition ) are shown in table 2 : table 2______________________________________sample tensile breaking strength , psi______________________________________method b / not oven aged 6510method b / 11 day oven aging 5227method b / 23 day oven aging 3192method c / not oven aged 6875method c / 11 day oven aging 6400method c / 23 day oven aging 6004method d / not oven aged 6941method d / 11 day oven aging 7113method d / 23 day oven aging 6904______________________________________ from table 2 , tensile breaking strength shows the most deterioration for the sample irradiated in air ( method b ). the sample irradiated in nitrogen ( method c ) shows some improvement over the sample prepared by method b . however , the decrease in tensile breaking strength upon oven aging still occurs . in contrast , the sample irradiated in nitrogen followed by heat treatment ( 50 ° c . for 144 hours , method d ), shows no change in tensile breaking strength , indicating a superior oxidation resistance . two sets of 1 - mm - thick uhmwpe sheets prepared by methods b and method d cited in the sample preparation were oven aged in air at 80 ° c . for 11 and 23 days respectively . after these sheets were cooled in room temperature , samples cut from sheets were characterized by a high temperature gel permeation chromatograph ( gpc ) column for molecular weight distribution . the samples were dissolved in hot trichlorobenzene ( tcb ). they were then run in the aforementioned solvent at 1 . 2 ml / min . using a jordi gel mixed bed column , 50 cm × 10 . 0 mm id ., at a column oven temperature of 145 ° c . on the waters 150c chromatograph . the injection size was 250 ul of a 0 . 1 % solution . an antioxidant ( n - phenyl - 2 - naphthylamine ) was added to all high temperature gpc samples to prevent polymer deterioration . prior to sample runs , the column was calibrated using narrow mw polystyrene standards . since the samples were only partially soluble in the solvent due to cross - linking , the so - determined molecular weight distribution was for the soluble portion only . to determine the extent of cross - linking ( solubility ), a two hundred milligram sample cut from sheets were dissolved in 100 cc of 1 , 2 , 4 - trichlorobenzene . each sample was then heated to approximately 170 ° c . with n - phenyl - 2 - naphthylamine antioxidant added for 6 hours . the samples were then hot filtered at approximately 170 ° c . using separate preweighed high temperature filters for each sample . after filtration , the filters were cooled to room temperature and washed individually with dichloromethane . they were then placed in a convection oven at 105 ° c . for 6 hours to dry and then reweighed . the weight fraction of the undissolved ( cross - linked ) portion was then determined based upon the initial weight of 200 mg . to determine the low molecular weight fraction present in each sample , the weight fraction of molecular weight below 10 5 in the soluble portion , determined by gpc , was multiplied by the percent solubility to give weight percent of low molecular weight fraction in each sample . results are shown in table 3 : table 3______________________________________ weight percent of soluble percent weight percent of portion solubility entire samplesample below 10 . sup . 5 in solvent below 10 . sup . 5______________________________________method b / without 28 . 0 98 . 2 27 . 5oven agingmethod b / 11 day 36 . 2 100 . 0 36 . 2oven agingmethod b / 23 day 48 . 1 100 . 0 48 . 1oven agingmethod d / without 22 . 7 80 . 9 18 . 4oven agingmethod d / 11 day 20 . 5 73 . 6 15 . 1oven agingmethod d / 23 day 24 . 2 74 . 7 18 . 1oven aging______________________________________ from table 3 , it can be seen that the sample made by method d contains more cross - linking ( i . e . less soluble ) than one made by method b . upon oven aging , the low molecular weight fraction ( defined as below 10 5 ) in the sample made by method b increases from 0 . 275 to 0 . 481 while that of the sample made by method d remains virtually unchanged at about 0 . 18 after 23 days of oven aging . the increase in low molecular weight fraction was due to chain scission caused by oxidative reactions . the results indicate that the process of method d can produce an irradiated polymer with a superior oxidation resistance . uhmwpe samples of 0 . 5 inch cubes prepared by methods b and method d cited in the sample preparation were evaluated for deformation under load ( creep resistance ). testing procedures according to astm d 621 ( a ) ( 24hr / 23 ° c ./ 1000 psi / 90 min recovery ) were used . results are summarized in table 4 : table 4______________________________________ deformation undersample load , % ______________________________________method b 0 . 80method d 0 . 60______________________________________ from table 4 , it is concluded that the sample prepared by method d , the invention , possesses a superior creep resistance ( 0 . 6 %) to one prepared by method b ( 0 . 8 %). two 1 - mm - thick uhmwpe samples were annealed in a oven filled with air and dry nitrogen ( oxygen concentration is below 0 . 2 %) respectively at 130 ° c . for 20 hours in order to remove residual stress on the samples . after the sheets were cooled to room temperature in the oven , they were removed from the oven and cut into dumbbell shaped tensile specimens ( astm d 638 , type v ) for evaluation . a standard tensile test according to astm d 638 was performed at a speed of 2 inches / min for each of six specimens annealed in air and in dry nitrogen respectiveiy . results are shown in table 5 : table 5______________________________________ toughness , sample eab , % tys , psi tbs , psi lbs - in / in . sup . 3______________________________________air annealed 414 3547 6257 10 , 210nitrogen 485 3517 8917 18 , 960annealed______________________________________ note : eab elongation at break tys tensile yield strength tbs tensile breaking strength from the above table , it is seen that the sample annealed in nitrogen exhibits a higher elongation at break , a higher tensile breaking strength , and a higher toughness , compared to one annealed in air , while the tensile yield strength is similar between the two samples . the results indicate that the sample annealed in nitrogen is more ductile than the one annealed in air . the loss of ductility in the sample annealed in air is due to oxidative chain scission . to determine oxidation indices in these two samples , a thin film specimen of ca . 100 microns in thickness was cut from each of the 1 - mm - thick annealed uhmwpe sheets and placed in an ir window for a standard ftir ( a nicolet 710 ftir system was used ) transmission run , using the procedures and calculations employed in the sample preparation . oxidation indices obtained are shown in table 6 . from the above results , it is seen that the uhmwpe sample annealed in air after ram extrusion showed significant oxidation due to free radicals generated in the forming process . in contrast , the uhmwpe sample annealed in nitrogen showed no oxidation ( below the ftir detectable level ). it is concluded that annealing in nitrogen can prevent the polymer from oxidation and produce a polymer with superior ductility . while several examples of the present invention have been described , it is obvious that many changes and modifications may be made thereunto , without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention .	8
fig1 shows a preamplier write driver 10 according to the present invention in a symmetrical write driver application . the outputs of the write driver 10 are outp and outn , which are driven by transistors q 0 - q 3 and some impedance match circuitry forming an h - bridge driver circuit . transistors q 0 and q 3 are the top output devices , and transistors q 1 and q 2 are the bottom output devices . transistors q 1 and q 2 are driven by respective transresistance amplifiers 12 , which each receive an input current at respective input 14 and drive an output voltage at respective output 16 . the transresistance amplifiers 12 are driven by transistors q 4 and q 5 . it is through this path from transistors q 4 , q 5 to the respective transresistance amplifiers 12 to transistors q 1 , q 2 that the bottom output devices , transistors q 1 , q 2 , are driven to match and follow the top output devices , transistors q 0 , q 3 . as mentioned earlier , the principles of the first embodiment described here applies in a second embodiment ( opposite situation ) where the top output devices transistors q 0 , q 3 are driven to match and follow the bottom output devices , transistors q 1 , q 2 . for power savings , the current output from transistors q 4 and q 5 to respective inputs 14 can be reduced compared to the current output q 0 and q 3 , with the transresistance amplifiers 12 providing gain such that the currents of transistors q 1 and q 2 are identical to the currents of transistors q 0 and q 3 . transistors q 4 , q 0 , q 3 , and q 5 are driven by the write data input voltages vinn and vinp . in one aspect of the invention , a key component in fig1 is the variable resistor r 2 . by increasing the resistance value of resistor r 2 , the drive current to the bottom output devices , transistors q 1 and q 2 is reduced . by reducing the value of resistor r 2 , the drive current to the bottom output devices , transistors q 1 and q 2 , is increased . the present invention advantageously compensates for and counteracts the effects of ic process variations and modeling errors allowing the drive currents from the top output devices ( q 0 , q 3 ) and the bottom output devices ( q 1 , q 2 ) to be nearly identical , even in the presence of these variations and errors . this , in turn , keeps the common - mode voltage close to gnd , and minimizes the amount of coupling to the mr head . fig2 shows one implementation used to make resistor r 2 variable . this is just one possible implementation . sym 1 , sym 0 are cmos digital signals from a preamplifier serial interface ( not shown , and these 2 bits of programmability provide 4 different resistance values for resistor r 2 . this number of bits is arbitrary and could be set higher if desired for more selectivity of the resistor r 2 resistance value . the programmable bits sym 1 , sym 0 control the respective pmos devices transistors m 0 and m 1 , which are in series with resistors r 3 and r 4 , respectively . if a high voltage is placed on transistor m 0 &# 39 ; s gate ( or m 1 ), then transistor m 0 ( or m 1 ) is turned off and resistor r 3 ( or r 4 ) is not placed in parallel with resistor r 2 ′, leaving the overall resistance unchanged . when a low voltage is placed on transistor m 0 &# 39 ; s gate ( or m 1 ), then transistor m 0 ( or m 1 ) is turned on which places resistor r 3 ( or r 4 ) in parallel with resistor r 2 ′. this selective enabling of transistors m 0 and m 1 changes the overall resistance of the resistor r 2 and provides the ability for selecting variable resistance . the default power - up value of bits sym 1 , sym 0 is low . thus , upon resistor power up , transistor m 1 is off and transistor m 0 is on , which places resistor r 3 in parallel with resistor r 2 . having the nominal default resistance include a programmable path that is on allows the overall resistance to be varied in either direction should the common - mode voltage or coupling need to be adjusted due to process variations or modeling errors . with transistor m 1 off in the default state , turning transistor m 0 off by programming bit sym 1 high increases the overall resistance . with transistor m 0 on in the default state , turning transistor m 1 on by programming bit sym 0 high decreases the overall resistance . the last remaining state is when both bits sym 0 and sym 1 are programmed high . the values of resistors r 4 and r 3 can be chosen such that one has a greater effect than the other , providing an even spread of 4 different possible programmable values . there are 3 states that each write data input voltage will cycle through continuously . these states are off , overshoot ( pulse ), and settled dc write data . when one input write data voltage is in the off state , the other will go through the overshoot and settled dc write data states . the point is that there is ac performance as well as dc performance , with the ac performance having more importance since this is when the coupling to the mr head will occur . the invention described here affects both ac and dc performance , since both ac ( overshoot ) and dc ( settled ) current flow through variable resistor r 2 and transistors q 4 and q 5 to drive the bottom output devices . though the invention has been described with respect to a specific preferred embodiment , many variations and modifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading the present application . it is therefore the intention that the appended claims be interpreted as broadly as possible in view of the prior art to include all such variations and modifications .	7
referring first of all to fig1 this illustrates diagrammatically the two pipe elements 1 , 2 made of plastic , for example polyethylene , which are to be joined together by means of a fitting 3 , likewise made of polyethylene , which will be thermally welded astride to the ends of the elements 1 and 2 abutting one another . in a conventional way , the fitting 3 possesses an electrical winding ( not shown ) in the vicinity of its inner wall , the ends of the winding being accessible via two supply terminals 4 and 5 . in a known way , the thermal welding of the fitting 3 to the elements 1 , 2 is carried out by passing between the terminals 4 , 5 an electrical energy supplied by a source 6 and calculated exactly for a specific duration , in order to obtain the appropriate rise in temperature of the parts so as to ensure good thermal welding . these data depend essentially on the parameters of part 3 , especially the following parameters : the diameter of the fitting , the thickness of its wall , the resistance of the built - in electrical winding , the length of the fitting , the quality of the plastic , the estimated welding time t s , etc . as illustrated , these parameters are stored in an internal memory 8 of the logic stage 9 of the machine 7 . however , according to the invention , in order to make it possible , during the welding phase , to maintain the temperature at the winding in the immediate vicinity of the welding interface strictly between minimum temperature t 1 , below which the parts 1 , 2 and 3 cannot be welded to one another , and a maximum temperature t 2 , corresponding to the temperature of damage or excessive fusion of these same parts , the memory 8 also contains information relating to the value t of the maximum ( t m ) permitted winding temperature ( t 1 & lt ; t & lt ; t 2 ). it will be seen that other data , to which reference will be made later , will also be sorted in the memory 8 . on the basis of the information read in the memory 8 by any known means and transmitted by the wire 11 , and as a function of a preset data - processing welding program within the machine , a processing unit 10 will determine , at the logic stage 9 , the energy which must be supplied by the power stage 12 to the supply wire 13 of the heating winding between the terminals 4 , 5 of the fitting 3 . as illustrated , the electrical energy introduced into the wire 13 via the power stage 12 is supplied by the electrical energy source 6 which can consist , for example , of the electrical current of the network or of a site generator . more specifically , the source 6 is connected by means of the wire 14 to a unit 15 for regulating the electrical energy ( effective voltage u or current i ) supplied to the winding , this unit 15 itself being connected to the abovementioned processing unit 10 by means of the wire designated by 25 . thus , the processing unit 10 , in which the settings of the electrical energy to be supplied by machine 7 are determined and which can be controlled by a built - in microprocessor , will be capable of addressing the control signals to the regulating unit 15 of the power stage 12 . hitherto , in known welding processes , the supply of electrical energy to the winding has often been such that a constant effective voltage or current has been supplied between the terminals 4 , 5 of the latter for the entire welding time t s , that is to say for the entire duration recommended by the manufacturer in order to obtain a &# 34 ; suitable &# 34 ; welding of the parts 1 , 2 , 3 ( see fig5 ). the rise in temperature of the winding has therefore been continuous during the entire time interval t s ( fig4 ). in the invention , the regulating unit 15 , under the control of the processing unit 10 , will vary and adapt , during the entire welding time t s , the value of the electrical energy which will be supplied to the winding , so that the temperature of the latter is maintained between the abovementioned temperatures t 1 and t 2 during the welding phase . in practice , the temperature at the winding in the immediate vicinity of the interface between the parts will be regulated for a time interval t which is such that ## equ2 ## where a and b are constants corresponding to welding parameters to be adapted as a function of the plastic materials used . to be more specific , constants a and b are actually representative of the following well known equations ( 2 ) and ( 3 ), from which the equation log ( t )≧ a / t + b was derived . d o = diffusion coefficient ( depending on the particular microstructure of the plastic material ); equations ( 2 ) and ( 3 ) are well known and are respectively taught , for example , in the articles entitled &# 34 ; dynamics of entangled polymer chains &# 34 ; by degennes et al . amer . res . phys . chem . vol . 33 p . 49 - 61 ( 1982 ); and &# 34 ; polymer communications &# 34 ; by fletcher et al ., polymer communications , vol . 26 : january 1985 , published by butterworth and co . ( publisher limited ). further , in section 19 . 1 . 1 of the &# 34 ; handbook of plastics test methods &# 34 ; third edition , by roger p . brown , published by john wiley & amp ; sons , inc ., 1988 ( first edition 1971 ), it is taught that r is the gas constant in the arrhenius equation ( 3 ). the degennes , et al . publication , per its relevant pages , teaches that the viscoelastic properties of polymers , along a tube , can be associated with equation ( 2 ). the fletcher , et al . publication teaches that the diffusion coefficients of polyethylene - like molecules , when diffusing linearly , are found to obey the arrhenius equation ( 3 ). thus , by substituting equation ( 3 ) into equation ( 2 ), the following calculations are obtained : ## equ4 ## for the present invention , equation ( 4 ) has been adapted by the inventors for effecting welding of thermo - weldable plastic elements . it should be noted that the above mentioned publications only refer to results of physics research which show the temperature dependence of the diffusion coefficient ( d or d o ) and the dynamic properties of polymers . no application for welding together plastic or polymer materials is described or suggested by these publications . in such a welding application , equation ( 4 ) expresses in fact the minimal time interval t during which the temperature of the welding t is to be maintained between t 1 and t 2 , equation ( 1 )-- which illustrates that log ( t )≧ a / t + b ; see also fig1 -- can thus be deduced therefrom . thus , for temperature t of the material which is then between t 1 and t 2 , this temperature will be maintained substantially for a time t , so that the molecules at the interfaces of the parts to be joined together shift and become sufficiently interlocked to result in a high - quality weld . a graph representative of the characteristics of equation ( 1 ) is shown in fig1 . the winding will therefore substantially obey this law of change during the welding phase . fig6 and 7 illustrates two characteristic examples of the trend of the temperature of the winding according to the abovementioned law , during the time interval t s . fig6 shows that the temperature first increases progressively and is then stabilized at a substantially constant specific value between t 1 ( the limiting welding temperature ) and t 2 ( the temperature of damage of the material ), until the time interval t s has elapsed . in contrast , in fig7 the temperature increases for a longer duration up to a limiting value , likewise between t 1 and t 2 , after which it decreases progressively up to the end of the time t s . in practice , three methods of regulating the effective voltage or current supplied to the winding can be adopted . first of all , as illustrated in fig8 and 9 , the processing unit 10 can command the regulating unit 15 first to supply an effective voltage u ( or an effective current i ) of a substantially constant value u 1 for a time t 1 ( less than t s ), and then to cause it to decrease either linearly ( fig8 ) or non - linearly ( fig9 ), until the welding time t s has elapsed . of course , if it proved necessary , the time interval t 1 could be virtually zero . the value of the energy supplied ( u , i ) would then be set accordingly . as illustrated in fig1 , it is also possible to choose to maintain the effective voltage ( or the effective current ) supplied to the winding at a , for example , constant value u 2 during this same time t s , for specific successive time intervals interspersed with periods when the electrical energy supplied by the source 6 will , in contrast , be substantially zero . there will therefore then be a change in the energy in the form of rectangular pulse trains . if appropriate , the energy levels u , i reached could be different for each pulse train ( not shown ). as will be appreciated , the duration of the successive time intervals of each step will be determined and set so as to result in the desired limited temperature of the winding ; the same applies to the values u 1 , u 2 and to the gradients and equations of curves representing a decrease in the energy supplied . depending on the method used for changing the effective value of the energy supplied to the winding , these data necessary for carrying out the welding will be entered in the memory 8 , so that they are taken into account by the processing unit 10 . depending on the particular case , the data will be , in particular , the time t 1 during which a substantially constant energy is supplied , the energy fall gradient β ( see fig8 ) or the non - linear decrease curve ( fig9 ), or successive time intervals δt i of each regulating step ( fig1 ). referring now to fig2 this illustrates another embodiment of the welding machine according to the invention . this embodiment differs from the preceding one in that there is , in addition , a thermal sensor 16 , the temperature pick - up 17 which is put in contact with the fitting 3 in order to determine the effective temperature of the part at the start of welding . the thermal probe 16 , which is connected to the machine 7 by means of a cable 18 , makes it possible to enter this additional temperature parameter in the logic stage 9 of the machine . more specifically , the sensor 16 transmits its signals to an amplifier 19 , and the amplified signals arrive at a measuring stage 20 , such as an analog / digital converter , which applies the corresponding measuring signal to the processing unit 10 . on the basis of this measuring signal on the information contained in the memory 8 and transmitted to it , the processing unit 10 is capable of addressing the control signals to the power stage 12 via the abovementioned wire 25 . in this case , the memory unit 8 will store not only the essential data supplied by the manufacturer ( diameter of the fitting , resistance of the winding , etc . ), but also the necessary information ( t 1 , t s , gradient β or δt i , maximum temperature t m of the winding , etc .) to ensure that the electrical energy supplied to the winding changes during the welding time t s in the way adopted ( see fig8 , 10 ), in such a way that the temperature at this winding is maintained within the range in question , between the limiting regulating temperatures t 1 ( lower limiting welding temperature ) and t 2 ( limiting temperature , before damage , of the parts to be welded ). if reference is now made to fig3 a third embodiment of the welding machine 7 of the invention will be seen . in this alternative version , at a computation unit 21 of the logic stage unit 9 , the machine 7 will calculate the temperature t reached by the winding during the welding time t s , in order to adjust the change in the effective value supplied to this same winding , so as to obtain a temperature , limited at the latter , of between t 1 and t 2 . such a computation procedure is currently used on such a type of welding machine . the main operations will nevertheless be recalled briefly . the additional parameter of the temperature t 0 of the fitting 3 before welding is first recorded by the sensor 16 , and the corresponding information is supplied to the computation unit 21 belonging to the processing unit 10 . the electrical resistance r 0 of the winding is then calculated . for this purpose , it is possible to use the first values u 0 and i 0 of the voltage and current supplied at the very start of heating by the source 6 ( it will be recalled as a reminder that the resistance r 0 is calculated by means of relation r 0 = u o / i o ). these values are recorded , for example , by means of a voltmeter / ammeter 27 and transmitted to the computation unit 21 via the unit 15 by means of the wire 26 making a connection with the logic stage 9 . it would also be possible to use the values of the voltage and the current arising from a test conducted before the start of welding on the sleeve 3 which would have been supplied with voltage ( or current ) of low effective value . since the resistance r 0 of the winding is known and the memory 8 contains all the data necessary for carrying out the welding and , in particular , in this case the value of the coefficient α of variation in the electrical resistance of the winding is a function of the temperature , the unit 21 of the current stage 9 calculates the temperature t of the winding during welding ( it will be recalled that this calculation can be carried out by using the relation r = r 0 [ 1 + α ( t - t 0 )], that is to say , because of the relation r = u / i , t = 1 / α ( u / r o i - 1 )+ t 0 . since the temperature t of the winding during the welding of the parts to one another is known , the machine will in fact be capable of adjusting the change in the effective value of the voltage or current supplied by the source 6 and regulated by the unit 15 of the power stage 12 , so as to result in a limited temperature of the winding allowing very high - quality welding of the parts to one another , without the fear of an excessive rise in temperature risking damaging them . as will be appreciated , the invention is not strictly limited to the embodiments which have just been described . in particular , a memory 8 outside the machine 7 could have been provided , this memory taking the form , for example , of an identification card ( not shown ) associated with the parts to be welded . means for reading this card ( optical , magnetic pencil , etc .) would then be provided in order to record the parameters contained in the card and transmit them to the logic unit 9 of the machine . likewise , any other type of regulation could be adopted , even though the foregoing description refers only to regulation of voltage or current . in particular , a thermal sensor ( such as 16 ) could have been used , in order , during welding , to record the temperature at the interface of the parts to be welded . in conclusion , it may be noted that french patent fr 2 , 572 , 326 filed on 18th oct . 1984 had provided a welding machine having a structure comparable to that just described in terms of the means for processing the information supplied by the memory 8 or , if appropriate , by the probe 16 . since the machine of the invention can be operated by the means described in this patent , discussion of the means for processing is not given herein .	1
various apparatuses or methods will be described below to provide an example of an embodiment of each claimed invention . no embodiment described below limits any claimed invention and any claimed invention may cover apparatuses or methods that are not described below . the claimed inventions are not limited to apparatuses or methods having all of the features of any one apparatus or method described below or to features common to multiple or all of the apparatuses described below . it is possible that an apparatus or method described below is not an embodiment of any claimed invention . the applicants , inventors and owners reserve all rights in any invention disclosed in an apparatus or method described below that is not claimed in this document and do not abandon , disclaim or dedicate to the public any such invention by its disclosure in this document . the teachings of this specification have the potential to decrease dose to patients by concentrating image quality on desired regions of interest ( rois ) or distributions of image quality . an iterative optimization process is utilized to design patterns of modulation to be applied during imaging to acquire images as near as possible to those desired . this optimizing process can account for numerous parameters of the imaging ct system , including the efficiency of the detector , the presence of x - ray scatter reaching the detector , and the constraints of the modulator used to form the intensity modulated fluence patterns . reference is first made to fig1 , which illustrates an imaging ct system 10 . imaging ct system 10 can be any method of ct imaging , such as a cone - beam ct system or a scanning - beam ct system . it can also be an inverse - geometry volumetric system , as disclosed in the paper by t . g . schmidt et al . noted above . note that configurations of the present specification are not limited to x - ray sources or x - ray radiation and are applicable to other imaging systems , although the configuration of ct imaging systems , utilize an x - ray source and x - ray radiation . imaging ct system 10 comprises of an x - ray source 12 , a modulator 14 , an object to be imaged 16 , an array of detectors 18 , and a computer 20 . both x - ray source 12 and array of detectors 18 are placed on a rotational gantry ( not shown ) and are able to continuously rotate around the object to be imaged 16 , so that the angle at which x - ray beam 13 intersects with the object to be imaged 16 constantly changes . the modulator 14 is a device placed between the x - ray source 12 and the object to be imaged 16 for effecting the desired fluence pattern as determined by computer 20 . detector array 18 is formed by a plurality of detector rows ( not shown ) including a plurality of detector elements ( not shown ) which together sense the radiation that passes through the object to be imaged 16 . in operation , x - ray source 12 emits x - ray beams 13 through modulator 14 towards the object to be imaged 16 so that the array of detectors 18 can detect the x - ray fluence passing through the object to be imaged 16 . the resulting signals at the array of detectors 18 are then sampled by a data measurement system ( not shown ) to build up a projection , and subsequently a reconstructed volume . note that the optimized aperture selection ct system and method can be implemented for any number of imaging geometries , source - detector trajectories , or reconstruction algorithms , such as cone - beam ct or scanning - beam ct . computer 20 is the computational engine of imaging ct system 10 which generates the operational parameters of modulator 14 to control the pattern of fluence to be applied during image acquisition based on a desired distribution of contrast - to - noise - ratio ( cnr ) ( as will be discussed further below ). computer 20 makes use of either previously acquired patient images 22 to define regions of interest ( rois ) or a library of population models 24 to define a distribution of desired image quality . referring now to fig2 and 3 , the general process steps 100 for determining optimized fluence patterns through modulation will be described for the imaging geometry 50 shown . both the theory behind the design of imaging ct system 10 and its practical applications will be described in detail below . at step 102 , the process begins with an estimate of the object to be imaged 16 provided to computer 20 . object to be imaged 16 is described by attenuation function μ ({ right arrow over ( r )}) 52 where { right arrow over ( r )} is the position of the voxels in the volume . projection images of the object 52 are acquired by first directing a two - dimensional x - ray beam i o ( u , v ) 54 towards the object at each angle θ i , 58 to determine the detected x - ray fluence i θ i ( u , v ) 56 after passage through the object . the variables u and v represent the pixel matrix of the x - ray detector in use . in this work v = v ( z ) and u = u ( x , y ) where x , y , and z are the dimensions of the object being imaged . the x - y plane , or imaging plane , is the plane where the x - ray beam 54 projected by x - ray source is collimated to lie . the projections , without any modulation applied to the x - ray beam , are given by the following : p θ i ( u , v )=− in ( i θ i / i o ) ( 1 ) the detector has an exposure dependent detective quantum efficiency ( dqe ) given by the function φ ( θ , u , v ), where the v = v ( z ) and u = u ( x , y ), with x , y and z being the dimensions of the object being imaged . in the present system and method , a modulation function m θ i ( u , v ) is introduced to provide modulated fluence patterns during imaging , and is effected in imaging ct system 10 through modulator 14 . the modulation function , with values in the interval [ 0 , 1 ], describes the percentage of the incident two - dimensional x - ray beam 54 to be directed at the scanned object for each pixel ( u , v ) and each angle θ i 58 . where the modulation factor is 1 , this would be equivalent to imaging without any modulating filter placed in the beam . introduction of this modulation factor causes the x - ray fluence incident on the scanned object 54 to be m θ i ( u , v ) i o ( u , v ), and the detected fluence through the object 56 to be m θ i ( u , v ) i θ i ( u , v ). from these values the modulated projection images can be determined as : p θ i m ( u , v )= in ( m θ i ( u , v ) i o ( u , v ))− in ( m θ i ( u , v ) i θ i ( u , v ))=— in ( i θ i / i o ) ( 2 ) and it is seen that imaging with modulated fluence patterns has no effect on the expected value of the projections for this idealized case . the effect of the modulation is only seen when the noise in the projections is investigated . assuming that the x - ray fluence is poisson distributed , then the variance of the x - ray fluence through the object 52 will be given by the expected value of the fluence , ī θ i ( u , v ). for the modulated fluence patterns the variance will be m θ i ( u , v ) ī θ i ( u , v ). this leads to variances in the projections of for the modulated fluence patterns . so , although the modulation function does not affect the expected value of the projections , it does affect the noise in the projections . the projections can be used to form volumetric reconstructions . for a parallel beam geometry with no scatter or energy dependence the reconstructed image can be found with the formula where m proj is the total number of projection images , t is the sampling interval of the object , and h is the inverse fourier transform of the filtering function . the filtering of the projection takes place in the u ( x , y ) dimension of the projections , and is performed for each value of v ( z ). the expected value of the reconstruction is not affected by the modulation function , but the variance of the reconstructed image depends on the variance of the projections , given by the formula : so it is evident that depending on the selection of the modulation function m θ i ( u , v ) there can be a variation in noise across a reconstructed volume . as such , an object of the present teachings is then to determine the modulation function that is optimal for a desired imaging task . at step ( 104 ), the desired distribution can be defined . given some metric c ({ right arrow over ( r )}) describing image characteristics ( e . g . contrast - to - noise ratio ( cnr ) or signal - to - noise ratio ( snr ) in a volumetric image , computer 20 determines a modulation function m θ i ( u , v ) which can be applied to x - ray intensities incident on the scanned object 52 to obtain an image which falls within a specified range from c ({ right arrow over ( r )}) . an example of an image characteristic is the contrast - to - noise ratio ( cnr ), where the cnr distribution in the body for ct is dependent upon both the constraints of the object 52 and the fluence pattern applied 54 in the generation of the ct image , namely cnrc ({ right arrow over ( r )}) = f ( μ ({ right arrow over ( r )}), i θ i ( u , v )). the cnr ({ right arrow over ( r )}) would be designed according to the object 52 and the anticipated location of the object 52 at the time of imaging . the necessary modulation can be found by solving the inverse problem m ( u , v ) i ( u , v )= g − 1 [ c ({ right arrow over ( r )})] ( 7 ) where g is an operator which relates the image metric c ({ right arrow over ( r )}) to the applied radiation intensities . this will result in a reconstructed image { circumflex over ( f )}({ right arrow over ( r )}) where c ({ right arrow over ( r )})≦{ circumflex over ( f )}({ right arrow over ( r )})≦ c ({ right arrow over ( r )}) ( 8 ) with c ({ right arrow over ( r )}) and c ({ right arrow over ( r )}) being the lower and upper bounds respectively desired of c ({ right arrow over ( r )}) at each point { right arrow over ( r )}. this accounts for the fact that the desired c ({ right arrow over ( r )}) may not be obtainable with the possible modulation combinations . for example , if a matrix containing the desired image quality was 65 × 65 pixels , and 180 projections were desired , this would result in a modulation factor matrix of size 65 × 180 ( a total of 11 , 700 values to be optimized ). however , it is noted that one could cut the amount of processing required by using the symmetry of the desired image quality patterns optimized for the number of angles required to determine the modulation factor , reducing the problem to only 5 , 850 values . an upper bound on c ({ right arrow over ( r )}) is necessary to limit the dose applied during image acquisition , while the lower bound is necessary if sufficient image quality is to be obtained . variable image quality can be defined in different regions of the image depending on the imaging task . careful characterization of the imaging ct system 10 is necessary to find the relationship between m θ i ( u , v ) and c ({ right arrow over ( r )}). in order to plan the fluence patterns that will lead to the desired image , it is necessary to take various quantities , that are also modulated by m θ i ( u , v ), into account such as : the dose in the scanned object where d ({ right arrow over ( r )})= d ( μ ({ right arrow over ( r )}), i o ( u , v ), m θ i ( u , v )), the scattered radiation inherent to imaging ct systems i s ( μ ({ right arrow over ( r )}), i o ( u , v ), m θ i ( u , v )), and the exposure dependent detective quantum efficiency of the detector dqe ( v , μ ({ right arrow over ( r )}), d / proj , i o ( u , v ), m θ i ( u , v )). the computational engine of computer 20 comprises a model for dependence of cnr ({ right arrow over ( r )}) and d ({ right arrow over ( r )}) on i θ i ( u , v ), including the above mentioned quantities . it is not expected that it will be possible to determine an analytical solution to the inverse problem when taking account of the numerous dependencies . the constraints of the problem will be satisfied by computer 20 determining a numerical solution to the problem at step ( 106 ). min {∥ c ({ right arrow over ( r )})− c i ({ right arrow over ( r )})∥} ( 9 ) where with each step i the image metric c i ({ right arrow over ( r )}) is calculated from the given properties of the imaging ct system 10 and compared to the desired quantity c ({ right arrow over ( r )}). changes to the fluence modulating function m θ i ( u , v ) can be applied so that c i ({ right arrow over ( r )}) approaches c ({ right arrow over ( r )}) . for every iterative step this process will require determining the value of c i ({ right arrow over ( r )}) given appropriate inputs . the determination of c i ({ right arrow over ( r )}) can be accomplished by applying pre - determined look - up tables which contain information involved in the relationship between m θ i ( u , v ) and c ({ right arrow over ( r )}) . with more flexibility available for the choice of m θ i ( u , v ) it becomes necessary to create more complicated look up tables . additionally it is possible to optimize multiple properties of the imaging ct system 10 . for example , a modulation function could be found to achieve both an optimal image quality , ∥( c ({ right arrow over ( r )})− c i ({ right arrow over ( r )})∥ and an optimal patient dose , ∥ d ({ right arrow over ( r )})− d i ({ right arrow over ( r )})∥, and an appropriate weighting could combine the two to determine the optimal modulation to apply to the fluence patterns , resulting in an iterative solution of the form min {∥ c ({ right arrow over ( r )})− c i ({ right arrow over ( r )})+ w ∥ d ({ right arrow over ( r )})− d i ({ right arrow over ( r )})∥} ( 10 ) another possible addition to this optimization would be to not only weight the relative importance of image quality and dose across the entire image , but to also weight the importance of dose and image quality in individual voxels . this would require a matrix of weights for image quality , w c ({ right arrow over ( r )}), and for dose , w d ({ right arrow over ( r )}), giving a final form for the iterative solution of min {∥ w c ({ right arrow over ( r )})( c ({ right arrow over ( r )})− c i ({ right arrow over ( r p )}))∥+ w ∥ w d ({ right arrow over ( r )})( d ({ right arrow over ( r )})− d i ({ right arrow over ( r )}))∥} ( 11 ) although the parameters of x - ray scatter reaching the detector and the energy dependence of the x - rays used for imaging have been let out of the formulation discussed above , it should be apparent to one skilled in the art on how to modify the above formulas to account for these parameters . in alternate embodiments , computer 20 of imaging ct system 10 could potentially use a small library of general modulation factors that are designed for certain anatomical regions . this would shorten the optimization process 100 as described above when performed for specific patients . finally , at step ( 108 ), once the proper modulation function is determined by computer 20 using the method described above , modulation can be applied during image acquisition . there are various possibilities for the construction of the modulator 14 . a main consideration is whether to use a modulator 14 that operates with spatial modulation or temporal modulation . a modulator 14 that spatially modulates would consist of a shaped material that uses differing thicknesses of the material to absorb differing percentages of the primary x - rays . one example of a simple spatially modulating filter is a cu compensator , where the modulator has a shape that is thicker for outer detector rows and thinner for inner detector rows . as a result of this shape the x - rays corresponding to the outer detector rows undergo greater filtering than the x - rays corresponding to the inner detector rows ( see u . s . pat . no . 6 , 647 , 095 , jiang hsieh ). for imaging ct system 10 the modulator 14 would ideally be able to have a different optimized shape for each angle that a projection image is acquired at . one of the potentially problematic aspects of the spatially modulated approach is the energy dependent absorption of the x - rays by the modulator 14 . as has already been shown ( see s . a . graham , d . j . moseley , j . h . siewerdsen , and d . a . jaffray , “ compensators for dose and scatter management in cone - beam ct ” med phys ( submitted )) spectral hardening from shaped filters placed in the beam can cause artifacts in reconstructed volumetric images . if this problem cannot be addressed it may be necessary to investigate alternate approaches . temporal modulation is a possibility for avoiding problems associated with the energy dependent properties of the x - rays used for imaging . rather than consisting of a material that partially absorbs incident x - rays a temporal modulator would be constructed of a material that absorbs most , if not all , of the incident photons . the modulation would be provided by having the modulator 14 block the x - rays for different amounts of time while moving across the projection image . fig1 illustrates an embodiment of a temporal modulating filter , called a louvre compensator , where the material contains louvres that can be independently turned to create small field sizes during imaging . a combination of many of these small fields would provide the intensity - modulated pattern . fig1 illustrates another embodiment , namely a multi - leaf compensator , where the material is made of small individual ‘ leaves ’ that slide across the field - of - view to create intensity modulated patterns . this approach would be similar to dynamic mlc imrt ( see p . keall , q . wu , y . wu , and j . o . kim , “ dynamic mlc imrt ,” in intensity - modulated radiation therapy : the state of the art . edited by j . r . palta and t . r . mackie . medical physics publishing , madison , 2003 ), the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference . it should be noted that both compensator examples could be constructed with any number of louvres or leaves depending on how coarse or fine a modulation pattern is desired . although temporal modulation removes the complication of the energy dependent x - ray spectrum , there are other possible obstacles to be addressed . one possible issue is that the edges of the leaves in the modulator 14 may cause artifacts in the images that cannot be easily removed . there may also be difficulties in constructing a modulator 14 capable of moving the leaves with speeds high enough to modulate the fluence pattern during a projection , which takes place in a time on the order of 10 ms . a demonstration of the ability to optimize fluence patterns to arrive at a desired image was performed in matlab ™. optimized fluence patterns were determined for a circular mathematical phantom containing three simulated ‘ nodules ’ 30 of slightly different attenuation , in a body 32 , as shown in fig4 . the optimization for determining the optimized fluence patterns was performed on a mathematical phantom without any simulation of surrounding soft tissue structure . this was done because when using this technique on patients we would not know the exact location of all soft tissue structures . it was decided that the optimization should be performed on a uniform object to avoid the changes in snr that would be introduced by the change in attenuation . if the imaged area was to include regions with large variation in attenuation ( i . e . bone or lung tissue ) it is expected that these tissues would need to be included in the optimization . the optimization routines available in matlab were not able to manage the large number of variables to be optimized , requiring an alternative method to be used . a simple simulated annealing code was written to find modulated fluence patterns that provided low values of the cost function being minimized . the simulated annealing algorithm proceeds towards an optimized solution by randomly selecting a new solution that is near the current solution , and then comparing the two . if the cost function that is being minimized decreases with the new solution it is accepted and the algorithm can proceed to the next iteration . if , on the other hand , the cost function increases , the new solution is accepted with a probability : where δcf is the change in the cost function , and t is the current unitless “ temperature ” of the system ( if the cost function were a measure of the energy of the system , then unitless temperature would be replaced by kbt where kb is the boltzmann constant and t is a temperature measured , for example , in kelvin ). for the simulations shown here a geometric temperature decrease was used so that the unitless temperature for an iteration i + 1 was given by : where ti is the temperature in the previous iteration , and a is a constant with a value between 0 and 1 . this constant was chosen to be 0 . 9998 to provide very slow cooling of the system . two different examples of the desired snr , snr d are shown in fig5 a and 5 b . both figures have snr values of 30 , 15 , 5 , and 0 . the snr value of 30 is represented by the lightest nodule 40 a in the phantom and the snr value of o is represented by the dark area 46 a outside the phantom . in fig5 a the snr was designed to be 15 at the skinline 42 a and 5 throughout the rest of the phantom , indicated at 44 a . while in fig5 b most of the phantom is defined as an snr 15 , indicated at 42 b , with a region at the bottom of the phantom designed to be a region where less dose is desired , indicated at 44 b . both desired snr images were used to determine optimal fluence patterns for the mathematical phantom . the matrices containing the desired snr values were 65 × 65 pixels , and 180 projections were desired of the phantom , resulting in a modulation factor matrix of size 65 × 180 ( a total of 11 , 700 values to be optimized ). using the symmetry of the snr patterns optimized for the number of angles required to optimize the modulation factor over could be cut in half , reducing the problem to 5 , 850 values to be optimized . the initial value of the modulation factor was chosen to be one everywhere , which would be equivalent to imaging without any modulating filter placed in the beam . the cost function for iteration i was described by the matrix w snr weighted the snr difference in each pixel differently before the sum in each pixel was calculated . although the dose across the image could be similarly weighted , in this case only the total dose absorbed by the phantom was used . the dose and totalled snr difference were normalized by their initial values to facilitate comparison between the values . the value of w to weight the sum of the two normalized values was set at one to provide equal weighting between reducing dose and providing the desired snr . this also results in a cost function with an initial value of two , as shown in fig6 . as illustrated in fig6 the cost functions tended to have an initial sharp decrease followed by a slow decrease . the cost function , which began with a value of two , was reduced to a value of 0 . 5 in approximately 20 iterations . this is because the initial modulation provided the highest dose possible . beginning the optimization with a solution that is nearer to an optimized solution removes the sharp decrease at the beginning of the optimization process . implementing oasct could potentially use a small library of general modulation factors that are designed for certain anatomical regions . this would shorten the optimization process when performed for specific patients . for the snr distribution shown in fig5 a the optimization process determined a value for m θ i ( u , v ) ( fig7 ) using equal weighting on all snr values ( w snr equal to one ). the right hand portion of fig7 indicates a scale indicative of the value of the modulation function , m θ i ( u , v ) in the range [ 0 , 1 ]. the main portion of fig7 shows the variation of the modulation function as a function of gantry angle , shown on the horizontal axis , and positioned across the image , shown along the vertical axis . as shown in fig7 , the value of m θ i ( u , v ) corresponding to where low snr is desired had a value of approximately 0 . 04 . for other positions , there is a band of higher value modulation function , which shifts following a sine waveform as shown in fig7 . thus , at either side of fig7 , for gantry angles of 0 degrees and 180 degrees , this higher value modulation function is found at approximately kτ = 0 . it shifts downwards towards kτ = approx . 10 , for the gantry angle 90 degrees . this is so that the desired snr values will be achieved as closely as possible . applying this modulation gave images with distinct patterns of snr ( fig8 a , 8 b , 8 c , 8 d ). fig8 a illustrates the theoretical snr in an unmodulated case . fig8 b illustrates the snr after the optimization process with uniform w snr . fig8 c illustrates the image acquired with no modulation and fig8 d illustrates the image acquired using the modulated pattern . the theoretical snr shown is based on the evaluation of equations 5 and 6 . the desired snr was not achieved , likely because what was defined as the desired snr was impossible to achieve given the constraints of the system . fig8 b shows snr values of approximately 19 , 8 . 3 , and 6 . 5 at the locations where the snr was defined to be 30 , 15 , and 5 . fig8 a , with no modulation applied , had an snr of approximately 30 across the image . the relative doses in the unmodulated and modulated cases were 1 and 0 . 15 respectively . the cnr of the nodules was 6 . 6 ± 1 . 2 in the unmodulated case , and decreased to 3 . 2 ± 0 . 9 when modulation was applied . the cost function was decreased from 2 to 0 . 082 . if the weighting w snr is changed on the snr a different m θ i ( u , v ) will be found . performing the same optimization , but changing w snr to be 3 where the snr is desired to be 30 , and keeping it as 1 everywhere else , provides a optimization with higher dose , and less noise where we desire high snr . fig9 a shows the snr distribution when w snr is tripled and in this case the relative dose is increased to 0 . 21 , the snr ( where it had a desired value of 30 ) was approximately 24 , and the cnr of the nodules was 3 . 9 ± 0 . 7 . fig9 b shows the image acquired when the w snr is tripled in the region of higher snr . for the optimization using the snr from fig5 b , w snr was set at 3 for the areas where snr was desired to be 30 and 5 . w snr was one where snr was desired to be 15 . fig9 c shows the snr distribution when w snr is tripled and for this case the snr achieved was approximately 21 , 7 . 8 , and 5 . 9 for the regions that were desired to be 30 , 15 , and 5 . the relative dose was 0 . 18 and the cnr of the nodules was 3 . 7 ± 0 . 7 . fig9 d shows the image acquired when the w snr is tripled for the desired snr shown in fig5 b . oasct has the potential to greatly decrease dose to patients by concentrating image quality on desired regions of interest ( rois ). it will allow the prescription of desired image quality and dose throughout a volume , and an iterative optimization process will design patterns of modulation to be applied during imaging to acquire images as near as possible to those desired . this optimization process can account for numerous parameters of the imaging system , including the efficiency of the detector , the presence of x - ray scatter reaching the detector , and the constraints of the modulator used to form the intensity modulated fluence patterns . as mentioned above , there are various possibilities for constructing the modulator , using either a spatial or temporal compensating filter . for oasct a spatial modulator would ideally be able to have a different optimized shape for each angle that a projection image is acquired at . the simulation detailed above demonstrates the potential of this method , but more advanced work may be needed to be performed to determine how a real system may respond to the application of oasct . the use of monte carlo methods ( see g . jarry , s . a . graham , d . j . moseley , et al . “ characterization of scattered radiation in kv cbct images using monte carlo simulations ,” med phys . ( submitted )) is a possibility for investigating oasct . this would allow realistic modeling of oasct , with the additional benefit of being able to choose which properties are included so that they may be studied individually ( as opposed to experimental imaging ct measurements where it may be difficult to separate the causes and effects of different properties ). the mathematical formulation helps to demonstrate how modulation can be used to alter the noise in projections and reconstructed volumes . however , the formulas used are for parallel beam geometry , but the oasct imaging system can be implemented for any number of imaging geometries , source - detector trajectories , or reconstruction algorithms . also left out of the formulation are quantities such as the x - ray scatter reaching the detector and the energy dependence of the x - rays used for imaging . although these omissions may affect the results in equations 5 and 6 it is expected that modulated fluence patterns still have the ability to provide the desired optimized images . the optimization process to determine the modulated fluence patterns will be a mathematical optimization rather than an exact inversion so that equations similar to 5 and 6 are not necessary to implement oasct . reference will now be made to fig1 and details of a louvre compensator . this compensator comprises two sets of louvres 110 , 112 extending perpendicularly to one another and overlapping so that rotation of individual louvres may be used to select a desired opening . the louvres are formed from a material that absorbs substantially all the x - rays incident on them , so that the effective x - ray beam is the opening in the louvre compensator . fig1 b shows one simple opening scheme where one louvre 110 a in the first set of louvres and another louvre 110 b in the second set are both rotated through 90 degrees so as , in effect to provide two open slots running perpendicularly to one another . the individual louvres 110 a , 110 b will be located in the middle of these slots but their dimensions are such that they will have no significant effect on the x - ray beam as it passes through each slot thus formed . as indicated in fig1 c , an x - ray beam originates as a cone - beam from source 114 and is instant on the louvre compensator 110 , 112 . due to the open configurations of the individual louvres 110 a , 112 a , an approximately square aperture is provided , that permits an x - ray beam 116 of square , conical shape to extend towards and through a body indicated schematically at 118 . the beam passes through the body and is detected at a detector . referring to fig1 , this shows an alternative compensator scheme , with a compensator indicated schematically at 130 . here , the compensator 130 includes a plurality of individual pairs of elements indicated for one pair 132 a , 132 b . these elements 132 a , 132 b are movable in and out from a central plane as indicated by the arrows 136 , so as to define the shape and area of an aperture 134 . referring to fig1 b , with a selected aperture 134 set for the compensator 130 , an x - ray source 138 is then arranged , to pass a beam through the aperture 134 . this generates a beam of the desired shape as indicated at 140 . the shaped beam 140 then passes through a body indicated schematically at 142 , to impinge on a detector 144 . it will be understood that , either instead of or as well as , the temporal modulators shown in fig1 and 11 , one or more spatial moderators can be used . a spatial moderator will provide some fixed modulation , and may result in some beam hardening . accordingly , it is shown that it is possible to design an imaging ct system with gantry angle dependent compensation , capable of achieving desired image quality in defined rois and distributions . while the above description provides examples of one or more processes or apparatuses , it will be appreciated that other processes or apparatuses may be within the scope of the accompanying claims .	6
fig1 shows a decoder according to a first embodiment of the invention . to simplify the description , this example uses a memory with four word lines lm0 to lm3 and , hence , with two address bits a0 and a1 . a first logic circuit a of the decoder is used to obtain the complements na0 , na1 of the address bits a0 and a1 , in using an inverter inv0 , inv1 for each address bit a0 , a1 . a second logic circuit b of the decoder uses the address bits a0 , a1 and their complements na0 , na1 , to decode the address and select the corresponding word line . in the example , this circuit is made up of four nand gates : b0 to b3 which implement the following four equations : ______________________________________decoding of the address 0 ( a0 = 0 , na0 = 1 , a1 = 0 , na1 = 1 ): sel0 = nand ( na0 , na1 ) decoding of the address 1 ( a0 = 1 , na0 = 0 ; a1 = 0 , na1 = 1 ): sel1 = nand ( a0 , na1 ) decoding of the address 2 ( a0 = 0 , na0 = 1 ; a1 = 1 , na1 = 0 ): sel2 = nand ( na0 , a1 ) decoding of the address 3 ( a0 = 1 , na0 = 0 ; a1 = 1 , na1 = 0 ): sel3 = nand ( a0 , a1 ) ______________________________________ se10 , se11 , se12 and se13 are the respective outputs of the gates b0 , b1 , b2 , b3 which respectively correspond to the selection of the word lines lm0 , lm1 , lm2 and lm3 . these are active - low signals : it is when the level of se10 is at 0 that the word line lm0 is said to be selected . in a first embodiment of the invention , a memorization logic circuit m is placed after the logic circuit b : a memorization element is placed in series , after each of the outputs of the nand gates of the logic circuit b . thus , the signals se10 , se11 , se12 and se13 are respectively an input ema , emb , emc and emd of the memory elements mema , memb , memc and memd . each memorization element further receives a clock input ck given , in the example , by a selection enabling signal vs common to all the memory elements mema to memd , and a reset input r , given in the example by a block reset signal rb , common to all the memory elements mema to memd . each memorization element delivers an output , sma to smd . upon an activation of the reset signal r , the output sma goes to the state 1 , irrespectively of the states of the clock ck and of the input ema ; when the output sma is in the state 1 , at each clock signal , the state of the output sma changes if the state of the input ema is 1 , and does not change if the state of the input ema is 0 ; if the output sma is gone to 0 , it remains in this state for as long as there is no activation of the reset signal r . ______________________________________ck r ema sma sma______________________________________x 1 x x 11 0 1 1 11 0 0 1 01 0 0 / 1 0 0______________________________________ an operation such as this can be easily carried out with a flip - flop , as shall be seen in the second exemplary embodiment of the invention . in the invention , the clock signal ck and reset signal r are , for example , given by a selection enabling signal vs and a block reset signal rb . the signals vs and rb are , for example , active in the high - level state ( fig3 ). the selection enabling signal vs is activated after each positioning of a new address so that this new address can be memorized . in effect ( fig3 ), when an address has been positioned , for example the address 0 , the corresponding selection signal , se10 , goes to the state 0 . if the memorization element has been initialized beforehand ( activation of the reset ), and if there is an activation of the selection enabling signal ( vs goes to the high - level active state in the example ), then the selection se10 is memorized , according to the above - described operation ( se10 comes to the input ema ). it is possible then to position an address , and then to activate the selection enabling signal vs , and then to position another address , etc . at each time , the selection is memorized . when all the addresses have been positioned , it is then possible to activate an erasure control signal ef ( fig3 ) which will trigger the erasure of all the word lines for which the selection has thus been memorized . advantageously , the memorization is used only in a particular mode of block erasure : for , it is hardly necessary to use the memorization element in reading mode for example . thus a block erasure mode signal is available . it is , for example , the activation of this signal eb that prompts the activation of the block reset signal rb ( fig3 ) to reinitialize all the memorization elements : the outputs sma to smd all go to the state 1 . when the block erasure mode signal is active , it is the output of the memorization element that is used . if not , it is the input of the memorization element . in fig1 lines 112 , 122 , 132 and 142 are indeed respectively connected to the outputs se13 , se12 , sell and se10 of the nand gates . then , as a function of the state of the block erasure mode signal eb , a switch - over logic circuit c selects either the output of the memorization element ( sma , smb , smc , smd ) or its input ( ema , emb , emc , emd ). this logic circuit c is a kind of switch that connects a word line , for example lm3 , either to the corresponding selection signal , se13 , out of the block erasure mode , or to the memorized selection signal , smd , in block erasure mode . in the example of fig1 for each word line , this logic circuit c consists of three logic gates : if we take the word line lm3 , we thus have the logic gates c1 , c2 and c3 . the gate c1 is an and gate having , as inputs , the inverted signal neb of the block erasure mode eb , inverted by the inverter inv2 , and the memorized selection output smd . the gate c2 is an and gate having , as inputs , the block erasure mode signal eb and the selection output se13 . the outputs c10 and c20 of the and gates c1 and c2 are the inputs of the gate c3 . the gate c3 is an or gate and its output c30 is connected to the word line lm3 . the operation is then as follows : the state of the output c30 of the gate c3 is given by the following logic equation : in block erasure mode , eb = 0 and neb = 1 : c30 is the copy of smd ; out of the block erasure mode , eb = 1 and neb = 0 : c30 is the copy of se13 . in the first embodiment of the invention described , by successively positioning the addresses of the word lines to be erased , it is possible , prior to the erasure , to select a block of information formed by all the word lines , the selection of which has been memorized , then to simultaneously erase all these word lines , namely this entire block of information . there is only one erasing operation and , therefore , a great deal of time is gained as compared with prior art techniques . fig3 shows the timing diagram corresponding to the block erasure of the two word lines lm0 and lm3 : the address 0 is positioned ( a0 = a1 = 0 ), the selection enabling signal is emitted and the corresponding selection is memorized : se10 which was at the level 1 ( after the block reset activated by rb = 1 ) goes to the level 0 . then the address 3 is positioned ( a0 = a1 = 1 ), the enabling signal vs is emitted and the corresponding selection is memorized : se13 which was at the level 1 goes to the level 0 . an erasure signal ef may be emitted ( fig3 ): the lines lm0 and lm3 will be erased simultaneously . in the example of fig3 the signal ef again becomes passive ( level 0 ) at the end of the erasure , and it then makes the block erasure mode signal eb rise again . this operation is but a nonrestrictive example of the invention . in a second embodiment of the invention , shown in fig2 it is no longer the selection of a line word but the positioned address bits and their logic complements that are memorized : the logic circuit of the memorization is therefore located herein between a logic circuit a for the obtaining of complements of address bits and a decoding logic circuit b . the advantage of this second embodiment , as shall be shown hereinafter , lies in the fact that it gives the user the possibility of reducing the number of addresses to be positioned to define an information block . however , let us first describe fig2 . a first logic circuit a of the decoder shown has an inverter inv0 , inv1 for each address bit a0 , a1 . these inverters make it possible to obtain the logic complements na0 , na1 of the address bits a0 , a1 . after the first logic circuit a , there is the already described memorization logic circuit m , with a memory element mema , memb , memc , memd for each address bit and complement , respectively na0 , a0 , na1 , a1 . the memory elements work like those of the first embodiment . this operation shall therefore not be recalled here . however , a possible constitution of a memorization element such as this is specified herein . let us take the example of the element memd : its input emd and its output smd are the two inputs of a nand gate , p1 , the output p10 of which is the input d of a flip - flop bd . this combination makes it possible to obtain the desired operation of the memorization element with an output smd at 1 after reset and an output smd that changes its state ( only once ) upon the activation of the clock signal , if the input emd is equal to 0 , or again if the input d of the flip - flop is equal to 1 . thus sma equal to 0 corresponds to the memorization of na0 = 0 , smb equal to 0 corresponds to the memorization of a0 = 0 , smc equal to 0 corresponds to the memorization of na1 = 0 and smd equal to 0 corresponds to the memorization of a1 = 0 . a switch - over logic circuit c &# 39 ; placed after the memorization logic circuit makes it possible , in a manner similar to the switch - over logic circuit c of the first embodiment , to avoid the use of the memorized outputs outside the block erasure mode . the only difference with the logic circuit c &# 39 ; is that the or gate c3 in the logic circuit c ( fig1 ) is a nor gate c3 &# 39 ; in the logic circuit c &# 39 ; ( fig2 ). thus : the outputs of the nor gates of the logic circuit c &# 39 ;, s0 , ns0 , s1 , ns1 are : in the block erasure mode : the inverted copies of the memory outputs sma , smb , smc , smd . they are therefore equal to 1 respectively if na0 = 0 , a0 = 0 , na1 = 0 and a1 = 0 have been memorized . out of the block erasure mode : the inverted copies of , respectively , na0 , a0 , na1 , a1 . they are therefore equal to 1 respectively if na0 = 0 , a0 = 0 , na1 = 0 and a1 = 0 have been positioned . s0 , ns0 , s1 , ns1 are the inputs of the decoding logic circuit b identical to that of the first embodiment , based on nand gates b0 , b1 , b2 , b3 . the corresponding logic equations are therefore : se10 , se11 , se12 , se13 are the respective outputs of the gates b0 , b1 , b2 , b3 . __________________________________________________________________________as s0 = 1 corresponds to na0 = 0 , s0 = 1 corresponds also to a0 = 1ns0 = 1 corresponds to a0 = 0 , ns0 = 1 corresponds also to na0 = 1s1 = 1 corresponds to na1 = 0 , s1 = 1 corresponds also to a1 = 1ns1 = 1 corresponds to a1 = 0 , ns1 = 1 corresponds also to na1 = 1__________________________________________________________________________ if the address 0 ( a0 = 0 ; a1 = 0 ) and the address 3 ( a0 = 1 ; a1 = 1 ) are positioned in block erasure mode , we will therefore memorize : thus , by positioning two addresses , four of them are selected : not only lm0 ( a0 = 0 ; a1 = 0 ) and lm3 ( a0 = 1 ; a1 = 1 ) are selected , but also lm1 ( a0 = 1 ; a1 = 0 ) and lm2 ( a0 = 0 ; a1 = 1 ). more generally , if we have four address bits , to select all the addressing having the bit with a weight 2 equal to 0 , it is enough to position two addresses for all the other bits , each bit as well as its complement , to be memorized . in the example , to select all the addresses of the type : ______________________________________xoxx , it is enough to position : 0000 and 1011 or 1010 and 0001 or 0011 and 1000 . . . ______________________________________ there are several possible choices . in this way , and by judiciously distributing the data in the memory , it is possible to select an information block by positioning only two addresses instead of all the addresses of the word lines of the information block , as in the first embodiment . in the case of a memory circuit , the block erasure mode eb , selection enabling vs , block reset rb and erasure ef signals may be available at the output / input pads of the memory . if the memory is associated in one and the same integrated circuit to a processor or a sequencer of instructions , these signals could be controlled directly by the sequencer or the processor .	6
with reference to the drawings , there is shown in fig1 - 3 a jewelry armoire 10 which includes a generally cylindrical cabinet 12 , an upper shelf 14 which supports an adjustable mirror 16 , an intermediate shelf 18 which supports a folding shelf or folding table assembly 20 and a lower shelf 22 which supports a plurality of rotatably mounted storage drawers 24 . an oval mirror 26 which forms a key feature of the present invention is mounted on slides 27 , 28 which in turn are mounted on the upper shelf 14 and the lower shelf 22 , respectively . the slides 27 , 28 enable a user to move the mirror 26 in the directions shown by the arrows 30 , 32 in fig2 from the closed position shown in fig1 to the open position shown in fig2 . as is best shown in fig3 , the plane 34 which is defined by the mirror 26 is inclined relative to the vertical and the cylindrical cabinet 12 is truncated to mark the angle of inclination 36 of the mirror 26 . as is shown in fig1 and 2 , the mirror 26 is oval in configuration and the resulting opening 38 in the wall 40 of the cylindrical cabinet 12 is also oval . the surface 42 of the mirror 26 includes a rectangular handle 44 . as is shown in fig3 , the angle of inclination of the mirror 26 as defined by the letter a is in the preferred range of ten degrees to twenty degrees . the angle of inclination of the mirror 26 has been selected to optimize the following parameters . the angle of inclination enables a user to stand relatively close to the mirror 26 within one or two feet and observe his or her entire stature . this relatively close distance to the mirror 26 facilitates careful inspection of a user &# 39 ; s clothing and facial makeup . for a fixed distance between the user and the mirror 26 , increasing the angle of inclination of the mirror 26 outside of the preferred range would decrease the portion of the user &# 39 ; s body which can be observed in the mirror 26 . similarly decreasing the angle of inclination of the mirror 26 outside of the preferred range thus making the mirror 26 move nearly vertical also decreases the portion of the user &# 39 ; s body which can be observed in the mirror 26 . the oval shape of the mirror 26 optimizes the size and shape of the mirror 26 allowing the user &# 39 ; s reflected image to fill the mirror 26 and allows the user to observe his or her image without unmeshed portions of the mirror 26 . this optimization minimizes the weight of the mirror 26 and reduces the load imposed on the slides 27 , 28 thereby promoting ease of operation . as is shown in fig2 and 12 , the upper shelf 14 supports the adjustable circular mirror 16 which is mounted on two arms 48 , 50 . the angle formed by the arms and the surface 52 of the shelf and the angle formed by the arms 48 , 50 and the surface 52 of the circular mirror 16 can be adjusted as shown by the arrows 54 , 56 , 58 , 60 in fig1 thereby allowing the position of the circular mirror to be adjusted to suit the convenience of the user . the intermediate tray supports the folding shelf or folding table assembly 20 which is best shown in fig7 - 10 . the folding table assembly 20 includes a pair of panels 60 , 62 which include straight sides 64 , 66 , 68 , 70 and rear edges 72 , 74 and curved forward edges 76 , 78 . the two panels 60 , 62 are generally equal in size . adjacent side edges 66 , 68 of panels 60 , 62 are connected by hinges 80 , 82 and the rear edge 74 of panel 62 is connected to the intermediate shelf 18 by hinges 84 , 86 . the unfolded configuration of the table assembly 20 is shown in fig1 . the hinges 80 , 82 allow the panel 60 to be folded to overlie the panel 62 as is shown in fig9 . when the panel 60 overlies the panel 62 , the hinges 84 , 86 allow the panels 60 , 62 to be folded to a vertical position as is shown in fig7 and 8 . in the folded configuration , the table assembly 20 fits conveniently within the envelope of the cylindrical cabinet 12 as is shown in fig2 . as is shown in fig8 and 13 , the intermediate shelf 18 includes a tray 88 with a plurality of apertures 90 for the convenient storage of lipstick containers or similar products . fig2 and 6 show the plurality of storage drawers 34 which are rotatably mounted on a shaft 92 which extends between the lower shelf 22 and the bottom support plate 93 . as is shown ion fig5 and 6 , the front walls 94 of the drawers 24 is straight and the rear walls 96 of the drawers 24 are curved to generally conform to the curvature of the inner wall 98 of the cylindrical cabinet 12 . each of the drawers 24 may be rotated about the shaft 92 to reveal the contents stored therein . the drawers 24 include divided compartments 100 , 102 as shown in fig5 . the overall truncated shape of the cabinet 12 contributes to the overall stability of the cabinet 12 which is of prime importance since the cabinet 12 has a generally slender configuration . a slender cabinet of the same overall size as the cabinet 12 of the present invention of conventional construction would have a center of gravity which would be near the vertical midpoint of the cabinet . this relatively high center of gravity would tend to allow a conventional cabinet to easily tip and fall over . in accordance with the present invention , the cylindrical cabinet 12 is truncated such that the upper portion 104 of the cabinet 12 forms a narrow edge 106 and the lower portion 108 of the cabinet 12 is cylindrical . the upper portion 104 of the cabinet 12 is lighter than the lower portion 108 . the configuration of the present invention results in a center of gravity which is relatively close to the cylindrical lower portion 108 of the cabinet 12 thereby resulting in a safe and stable configuration . the various specific embodiments of the present invention are for illustrative purposes only . various changes and modifications may be made within the spirit and scope of the present invention .	0
the drawing figures and the detailed descriptions provided later make a number of simplifying assumptions for clarity of exposition . it will be appreciated , however , that these should not be taken to limit the scope of the invention . the possible configuration and functionality of the present invention exceeds the configurations and functionality of the presently preferred embodiments described below , at least to the extent that certain arbitrary choices have been made . reference numbers in the drawing figures consist of two parts -- the two rightmost digits are the index number of an item in a figure , and the other digits are the number of the drawing figure in which the item was introduced . finally , some known general cryptographic techniques , like techniques for providing and verifying authentication and encrypting and decrypting data , are assumed without presenting the details of these techniques . turning to fig1 an exemplary embodiment of the present invention is shown , using existing computer hardware and operating systems , specifically configured , and extended with some specific programs . obviously , numerous alternative configurations may be used , as well as different hardware , operating systems , database programs , physical communication channels and communication protocols . data is entered into the system , and also updated , by means of one of the update terminals 100 . an update terminal 101 is a standard pc ( with an intel 80486 or intel pentium processor ), running under the microsoft windows 95 operating system . this terminal 101 splits the data , performs the appropriate encryption , and sends the resulting data to the mapper . to connect to the mapper 130 , this pc is equipped with a standard asynchronous modem 110 . this modem 110 connects with a cable 111 to the public telephone network 120 . when storing or updating data , the update terminal 101 dials up the mapper 130 . the mapper 130 consists of 132 , a sun sparc 20 , equipped with a sybase database ( used to store the corresponding fragment - identifiers and pseudonyms ). to allow multiple terminals to connect simultaneously , the mapper 130 is equipped with 131 , a modem - pool and a transpac x25 isdn data switching network , connecting the incoming lines from 120 to 132 . the mapper 130 processes the message from the update terminal ( by performing the necessary decryption and mapping of identifiers ) and sends the data - fragments to the appropriate partial - databases of the group of partial databases 150 . the mapper 130 connects to a database 151 by means of an isdn modem 140 . data is transferred using a dedicated isdn line 141 . the database 151 is also equipped with a modem 140 . depending on the amount of data to be stored and retrieved , and the desired response time , the database 151 can range from a standard pc ( intel pentium processor and 32 mb of ram ), equipped with the microsoft windows nt operating system , running a microsoft sql server database engine , to a sun sparc 2000 station and a sybase database engine . the database 151 stores the received data - fragments on a disk medium . data is retrieved by means of one of the query terminals 160 . a query terminal 161 is similar to the update terminal 101 . it transfers the query to the mapper 130 . this mapper retrieves the data from the appropriate databases , and returns an answer . the query terminal connects to the mapper 130 by calling in , over the public telephone network 120 , with a modem 110 . all machines mentioned use dec messageq to communicate . the grouping of identifiers ( pseudonyms ) may additionally be performed by the mapper , or a machine configured similar to a mapper , placed in between modem pool 131 and mapper 132 . in the following drawings , for reasons of clarity , the physical apparatuses involved are shown in an abstract manner . in the accompanying text , they are sometimes referred to as entities or parties . lines and arrows in the drawing figures represent the apparatuses and / or methods for effecting the transfer of data , which may be held initially or delayed on their way , passed through various apparatuses , encoded and decoded , cryptographically or otherwise , to provide their authenticity and / or secrecy and / or error detection and / or error recovery . in the text , the transfer of data is referred to as sending a message and receiving a message , without referring to the actual physical process . all apparatuses involved in the presented embodiments have a suitable means for retaining and retrieving data , on some physical media ( e . g . tape or disk ). for clarity , in the text below , this is referred to store data and retrieve data , without referring to the actual physical process . furthermore , it is assumed that each of the parties has a means of protecting their equipment against abuse , by restricting access to the relevant apparatuses to authorized persons -- either physically , by locking these apparatuses , or logically , by means of requiring passwords and / or storing data in an encrypted form . in the last case the decryption keys will be supplied only to authorized persons . the way this functionality is achieved can be either manual or automated , or in some mixed form . turning to fig2 the general mapping mechanism performed by mapper 200 is described . the mechanism starts when the mapper receives a message 201 . this message consists of n groups of three data - elements , each of the form : where n is an integer value , and x is an integer value between 1 and n . furthermore , enc pk . sbsb .-- map ( d x ) is some arbitrary data d x , encrypted with the public key of the mapper , a x is the addressee of the data , and p x is an identifier , used by the sender of message 201 to refer to data d x . upon receipt of this message , the mapper verifies whether it has received the identifiers p 1 , . . . , p n previously , by searching the first field 203 of a list of data - elements 202 in a suitable data representation physical medium . in the case p 1 , . . . , p n is found , in the next step of the mechanism the mapper uses the identifiers p &# 39 ; 1 , . . . , p &# 39 ; n stored in the second field 204 of the data - element . otherwise , if p 1 , . . . , p n is not found , n unique and so far unused identifiers p &# 39 ; 1 , . . . , p &# 39 ; n are chosen by the mapper to be used in the next step . in the next step , using his private key , the mapper decrypts the n pieces of encrypted data to reveal d 1 , . . . , d n . it then sends these results in n messages ( 206 ) to the appropriate addressees ( as specified in a 1 , . . . , a n ). each of the n messages has the following form : the receiver a x will associate the identifier p &# 39 ; x with the received data d x . when new p &# 39 ; 1 , . . . , p &# 39 ; n were chosen by the mapper , the mapper adds to the list a data - element 202 containing p 1 , . . . , p n in field 204 , the identifiers p &# 39 ; 1 , . . . , p &# 39 ; n in field 203 , and addressees a 1 , . . . , a n in field 205 . it will be obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art that the chosen identifiers can be generated by the mapper , or be generated in cooperation with other apparatuses . this fragment identifier should be chosen so it cannot be linked to the data by anything other than the mapper . in this respect , for instance , a unique , unused , randomly generated integer may be used . when multiple data - fragments are presented in one message 201 ( in other words , when the value of n is greater than 1 ), by storing the identifiers together , the mapper records the correspondence between these fragments . this is referred to as linking identifiers . the mechanism of replacing the identifiers p x with p &# 39 ; x is referred to as mapping identifiers . we continue with a detailed description of a first preferred embodiment of the inventive techniques . turning to fig3 the respective apparatuses of a database system and their interconnections are shown . the apparatuses that are used to supply and refresh information ( to be ) stored in the system will be referred to as update terminals . box 300 represents one or more update terminals . two update terminals , labelled 301 and 302 , are shown here for illustrative purposes . the number of update terminals is denoted by k . it will be appreciated that the precise number of update terminals is not essential to the present inventive techniques . 200 is an instance of the mapper , as described in fig2 . it controls the access to all the information stored in the database system . it will be understood that although the mapper is referred to as a single entity , it need not actually be so . the mapper may actually correspond to an entire network of entities that are all in charge of controlling the access to the information stored in the system . it is envisioned that in most applications the mapper will be operated by a trusted third party . this trusted third party can be a part of the organization operating the database , but also a government body or , for example , a consumer interest group . the apparatuses that are used to store ( parts of ) the information will be referred to as partial - databases . box 320 represents one or more partial - databases . two partial - databases , labelled 321 and 322 , are shown here for illustrative purposes . the number of partial - databases is denoted by m . although a system should consist of at least two , the precise number of partial - databases is not essential to the present inventive techniques . all relevant apparatuses contain data about what type of data is stored by which partial - database . access to the data stored in partial - databases is assumed to be restricted to the respective partial - databases . it will be appreciated that access can be restricted physically -- by controlling the area in which the partial - database is stored -- and / or logically -- by , for example but without limitation , encryption of the stored data or password protection schemes . such access - control methods are well known , and will not be further discussed here . the goal of the separation of the system into partial - databases is that the partial - databases contain no , or very limited , information that is sensitive when considered in isolation , or even when combined . the apparatuses that are used to retrieve the information will be referred to as query terminals . box 330 represents one or more query terminals . two query terminals , labelled 331 and 332 , are shown here for illustrative purposes . the number of query terminals is denoted by n . it may be noted that the number of query terminals is not essential to the present inventive techniques . it is not excluded that an update terminal and a query terminal correspond to the same entity , and neither is it excluded that the same entity is represented by more than one update terminal and / or query terminal . each of the update terminals can send information directly to the mapper through a communication channel , represented by arrows 340 and 341 for update terminals 301 and 302 respectively . each of the partial - databases can exchange information directly with the mapper through a communication channel , shown here as 342 and 343 for partial - database 321 and 322 respectively . each of the query terminals can exchange information directly with the mapper through a communication channel , shown here as 344 and 345 for query terminal 331 and 332 respectively . when requested by a neighbor apparatus , all apparatuses will forward messages to enable apparatuses that are not directly connected to exchange information . the communication channels presented here are not necessarily the physical connections between the apparatuses . messages may be routed arbitrarily , the only restriction being that messages have to travel in the right order through the apparatuses relevant to the mix mechanism . three basic operations are supported by the system : adding a new record , updating an existing record and performing a query . it will be appreciated that , depending on the application of the invention and / or on the jurisdictional domain in which it is operated , certain legal restrictions may apply to the operations and / or results thereof . additional restrictions may be laid down in agreements between the update terminals , the mapper and the partial - databases . turning now to fig5 the process of adding a record , in which an update terminal 301 or 302 , the mapper 200 , and the partial - databases 320 participate is shown . fig4 shows a data - element subjected to this process . when one of the update terminals has new information to store it starts the process in step 501 . the update terminal in question separates the input record into m data - fragments d 1 , . . . , d m ( n of fig2 equals m ). we will refer to the fragmentation of single data records as vertical fragmentation . the update terminal in question furthermore assigns each of the fragments to one of the partial - databases ( the addressees mentioned in fig2 ). the way in which an input record is separated into fragments may vary between different applications of the inventive techniques , ( i . e . each piece of information in the record may occur in none of the fragments , one of the fragments , several fragments or even in all fragments ). it is envisioned that in some cases the separation into fragments and assignment to partial - databases will vary from record to record , but in many situations the separation and assignment will be similar for all records . although in this preferred embodiment the data is divided over all partial - databases in the system , in other respects this division is to be considered an example , and not intended to limit the scope of the present invention . the update terminal constructs a message 201 ( as described in relation to fig2 ) by assigning fragment identifiers p 1 , . . . , p m to the fragments , and encrypting the fragments with the public key of the mapper . it will be obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art that the update terminal can encrypt the data - fragment beforehand in such a way that the assigned partial - database can decrypt the data - fragment while some or all other parties in the system cannot decrypt the data . this prevents the mapper from collecting a copy of all data stored in the partial databases . it is envisioned that most embodiments will use such an encryption . the last action of 501 is the sending of message 201 to the mapper , in message 502 , using the communication channel . upon receipt of 201 , the mapper starts execution of step 503 . as described in relation to fig2 it constructs message 206 , by decrypting the data - fragments , and records a data element 202 . as the concluding action of step 503 , the m messages of 206 are sent to the assigned partial - databases , using the respective communication channels . of these m messages , two are shown here , 504 and 508 . the other messages are depicted by 506 . only the partial - databases that correspond to messages 504 and 508 are shown , the others are omitted from the diagram for clarity . upon receipt of the message 504 the first partial - database starts execution of step 505 . the partial - database stores a data - element 400 , containing the received data - fragment d x in field 401 and identifier p &# 39 ; x in field 402 . this ends step 505 , after which the actions to be performed by these partial - databases in the update process are executed . the process step 509 , executed by the other partial - database shown here is similar to step 505 , as are the steps executed by the other databases . when all partial - databases have executed their respective steps , the process terminates at step 510 . application of this process not only fragments the data vertically . since each record is stored without any reference to other associated records , data is also fragmented horizontally . we refer to this database system as fully fragmented . updating a record works along similar lines to the process of adding a record as described in fig5 . it starts with an update terminal wishing to update one of the previously submitted records . the update terminal separates the new record into fragments using the same method used for separating the old record . it then forms a message 201 , similar to that described above . however , instead of assigning new identifiers , the same identifiers p 1 , . . . , p m are used as in the add - record process for this record . when it receives the message , the mapper retrieves the associated p &# 39 ; 1 , . . . , p &# 39 ; m and a 1 , . . . , a m . using the received update fragments d &# 39 ; 1 , . . . , d &# 39 ; m , and the retrieved information , the mapper then constructs m update messages ( 206 ), and sends them to the respective partial - databases , the same way as described in 503 . each partial - database then searches in the data - elements 400 for the d x it stored with the fragment identifier p &# 39 ; x and updates the fragment with the received d &# 39 ; x . deleting a record can thus be considered a special case of updating a record . finally , we consider query operations . we proceed by giving a general description of the process , as performed by the mapper , a query terminal and the partial - databases . fig6 shows a data - element related to this process . a detailed description of an example of a query will be given later in relation to fig7 . a query operation is performed by one of the query terminals 330 . it also involves the mapper 200 and the partial - databases 320 . the query terminal starts a query by submitting a query request to the mapper . a query request , of which the structure is shown in 600 , consists of a data - independent part 601 that is called the query template , and of zero or more data - holding parts called the query felds . two query fields , 602 and 604 , are shown . the other query fields are denoted by 603 . the query template consists of a question ( or command ), formally phrased in some query language . the query template may contain references to data stored in the query fields . the number of query fields and the type of the data in these fields are determined by the query template . the concept of query languages is well known to persons of ordinary skill in the art . an example is however given . the query &# 34 ; give the names of all men aged 99 &# 34 ; is described by a query template with value &# 34 ; give all name for which gender = 1 and age = 2 &# 34 ;, in which the term shown in underlined italic describes the requested output of the query and the terms shown in italic ( whether or not underlined ) describe data types . the digits are placeholders for the value of query fields 1 and 2 . the example query request consists of two query fields , field 1 with value &# 34 ; male &# 34 ; and field 2 with value &# 34 ; 99 &# 34 ;. the contents of the query fields can be hidden from the mapper . to this end , the query terminals encrypt these fields for the relevant partial - databases . if a field is relevant to more than one partial - database , it is encrypted for each of these partial - databases separately . given only the query template in a form readable by the mapper , the mapper may generally be assumed to be able to process the query , for a large class of queries . when the mapper receives a query request , it first analyses the query template to determine if the query request is allowed by relevant agreements and applicable legislation . in determining which types of queries are allowed , the mapper may also takes into consideration , among possibly other things , related query requests that have been allowed in the past , and related query requests that will be allowed in the future . finally it considers which kind of data needs to be communicated to and from the partial - databases involved . it is believed that a large class of queries can be processed in this way . in some cases it may be necessary to know the value of one or more query fields to be able to determine if a query - request is allowed . if it is undesirable that the mapper should learn the value of the query - fields , then it is envisioned that the query - request , the relevant query fields , and additional information regarding the database - system are submitted to an independent party that has no access to any of the information stored in the system , and that is trusted by both query terminal and mapper . this independent party can then determine for the mapper if the query is allowed . the mapper responds to allowed queries by sending back a query answer . to solve a query request , the mapper processes the query template , and constructs query sub - requests . these query sub - requests are based on the data types used in the query template , the logical structure of the query template , and the fragmentation of the data in the partial - databases . each query sub - request , like a query request 600 , consists of a query template and zero or more query fields . the mapper submits these query sub - requests to the appropriate partial - databases . each partial - database solves the received sub - query request locally ( meaning : by only using locally - stored data ), and sends a query sub - answer back to the mapper . depending on the query template and the fragmentation of the data in the partial - databases , it is possible that the mapper has to construct query sub - requests using query sub - answers received as a response to previously submitted query sub - requests . when the result of the last submitted query sub - request is received by the mapper , it constructs the final query answer , based on the data types used in the query template , the logical structure of the query template , and the received query sub - answers , and sends this answer to the query terminal . data in a query sub - answer can be hidden from the mapper . to this end , in the case that the data is used by the mapper in subsequent query sub - requests , the partial - databases hereto are requested to encrypt these fields for the respective partial - databases . in the case that the data is used by the mapper to construct the query answer , the partial - database is requested to encrypt the data for the appropriate query terminal . to enable the partial - database to encrypt data for a certain entity , the mapper supplies entity - identifying information to the partial - database . encrypting data for the assumed recipient also ensures that no entity can successfully assume the identity of another entity and request data in that entity &# 39 ; s name . depending on operational and legal relations between mapper and partial - database , each partial - database may decide to answer a request or not when it receives a query sub - request , based on the query sub - request , using the same method as the mapper . also , in cases where no encryption of data was requested by the mapper , the partial - database may still decide , ( again , possibly based on the query sub - request ), to encrypt the data . turning to fig7 we will now give an example of the query process as performed in the first preferred embodiment . it will be appreciated that the example was chosen so that it can be used by a person of ordinary skill in the art as the basis for generalization to other queries . by applying a total of p add - record processes shown in fig5 the update terminal has stored p records in the system . these records hold identifying information of a set of people . the records were fragmented in two parts . one fragment , holding the name information , is stored by partial - database 321 . the other fragment , holding the address information , is stored by partial - database 322 . information regarding the fragmentation ( who stores what type ) is public . as a result of the add processes , the mapper has stored p data - elements 202 , and the partial - database 321 and 322 each have stored p data - elements 400 . in fig7 the process steps executed by the apparatuses involved in the example query are shown . the process starts with step 701 . the query terminal first constructs the query request . we consider the following query template : &# 34 ; for person name = 1 : does the name occur in the address ?&# 34 ;. we assume that this query is expressed correctly in the query language used by all parties , as we do for all following queries . the template is accompanied by one query field , holding two values : the value &# 34 ; smith &# 34 ; encrypted by the query terminal 331 for partial - database 321 , and the same value (&# 34 ; smith &# 34 ;) encrypted by the query terminal 331 for partial - database 322 . next , the query template and query field are sent to the mapper 200 , in message 702 . upon receipt of the message , the mapper starts execution of step 703 . it analyses the validity of the query ( for accordance with relevant query policy , agreements and legislation ). in this example we assume that the query is allowed . the mapper continues with step 704 in which it constructs the first query sub - request . this request consist of a query template with value &# 34 ; give the fragment identifier of name = 1 &# 34 ; and a query field , copied from the original query request , with value &# 34 ; smith &# 34 ; encrypted for partial - database 321 . it then sends this query sub - request to partial - database 321 , in message 705 . upon receipt of this message the partial - database 321 starts the execution of step 706 . it analyses the validity of the query sub - request . in this example we assume that the query sub - request is allowed . it continues with step 707 in which it constructs the query sub - answer . it decrypts the query field to reveal the value &# 34 ; smith &# 34 ; and searches the set of locally - stored data - elements 400 , until it finds a data - element with a field 401 that has the value &# 34 ; smith &# 34 ;. we assume that it finds such a data - element . from the field 402 of this data - element it copies the fragment - identifier , say p &# 39 ; x , and sends it to the mapper 200 in message 708 . upon receipt of this message the mapper starts execution of step 709 . it processes the query sub - answer , and stores the received fragment - identifier . next it continues in step 710 by constructing a second query sub - request . this request consists of a query template with value &# 34 ; give all fragment identifier of which name = 1 occurs in address &# 34 ; and a query field , copied from the original query request , with value &# 34 ; smith &# 34 ; encrypted for the partial - database 322 . it then sends this query sub - request to partial - database 322 , in message 711 . upon receipt of this message , the partial - database 322 starts the execution of step 712 . it analyses the validity of query sub - request . in this example we assume that this query sub - request is allowed . it continues with step 713 in which it constructs the query sub - answer . it decrypts the query field to reveal the value &# 34 ; smith &# 34 ; and searches the set of locally stored data - elements 400 , until it finds a data - element that has a field 401 in which &# 34 ; smith &# 34 ; occurs . we assume that it finds three of such data - element . from the field 402 of these data - elements it copies the fragment - identifiers , say p &# 39 ; 1 , p &# 39 ; 2 and p &# 39 ; 3 , and sends them to the mapper 200 in message 714 . upon receipt of this message the mapper 200 starts the execution of step 715 . it processes the query sub - answer , and stores the received identifiers . it continues in step 716 by constructing the query answer . the mapper searches the locally - stored data - elements 202 for an occurrence of p &# 39 ; x and one of p &# 39 ; 1 , p &# 39 ; 2 and p &# 39 ; 3 in the same fields 204 . if an occurrence is found , it can be concluded that the answer to the query is &# 34 ; yes &# 34 ;, otherwise the answer is &# 34 ; no &# 34 ;. the query - answer is sent to query terminal 331 in message 717 , and the received fragment identifiers are discarded by the mapper . upon receipt of this message the query terminal 331 starts execution of step 718 , in which it processes the query - answer . finally , the query process terminates in step 719 . in the above exposition of the example query some assumptions are made regarding validity of request and occurrences of data in the databases . the alternative flow of the process in cases where one or more of the assumptions are not met , will be obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art . as illustrated in the example given above , the mapper fully controls de - fragmentation of stored data . however , it may be noted that the data can be accessed in fragmented form , without involvement of the mapper . this is no threat to protection of sensitive information offered by the system , since the data fragmentation is chosen with this in mind ( preventing each partial - database from holding sensitive data ). moreover , the information stored in a partial - database may be of value in providing statistical information . as will be appreciated the fragmentation of data can be altered , when stored according to the descriptions given above . if all involved parties ( that operate partial - databases and mapper ) cooperate , and only then , data can be retrieved from the system de - fragmented , and subsequently stored in non fragmented form or re - fragmented differently . it will be clear to persons of ordinary skill in the art that each party operating a partial - database , by itself , can apply the present inventive techniques to further fragment the data stored at that party . the inventive techniques described above can be applied when merging existing databases . when databases are merged , certain relations between records in the respective databases are identified . these identified relations can subsequently be used in queries in the new database ; they form the surplus value of the merged database over the two individual databases . however , for legal reasons , reasons of security and privacy or other reasons it may not be allowed or desired to merge the databases into one database in a straightforward way . these restrictions can be overcome by distributing the access - control over multiple parties ( i . e . introducing one or more mappers ) and storing the fragmented data as proposed above . after the new database system is started and the desired fragmentation is decided , all data from both databases is stored unaltered , but fragmented , in the new system . both databases perform the role of update terminal , and execute the above - described add - record process for all records . secondly , data - fragments originating from the respective databases have to be linked according to one or more relations . hereto the mapper of the new system initiates queries over the stored fragments regarding these relations , to which the partial - databases respond in a similar way as in the query - record process described above . the responses of the partial - databases are used by the mapper to store links between the corresponding fragment - identifiers . the process , ( referred to as grouping of data - fragments ), of performing certain fixed queries , by the mapper , prior to queries from the query terminal , will be described in detail below . to process query - requests submitted by the query parties of the new system , the mapper will use the links that resulted from the pre - queries when constructing query sub - requests and interpreting the query sub - answers . it will also be appreciated that databases that are constructed using the present inventive techniques can only be totally merged when all involved partial - databases and the mapper agree to such a merge . to prove authenticity of messages and to allow disputes to be resolved , all messages may be supplied together with digital authentication ( signatures ). additionally , a digital receipt may be supplied to the sender of a message by the receiving party . digital signatures and receipts are well - known types of public key signatures well - known in the art . in the description of the three processes above , the update , query and partial - databases apply encryption to hide data from the mapper . if no countermeasures are taken , encrypted data may be recognized when it passes a party . although encrypted data cannot be read , recognizing occurrences of the same data can reveal information . various methods to hide both the content , and the occurrence of data , are known in the literature , such as for example the addition of some varying , redundant information (` noise `) to the data before encryption , in a way that allows removal of the noise after decryption . instead of sending data ( encrypted ) via the mapper , it may be preferable in some instances , for reasons of efficiency and security , to send the data ( to be hidden ) over an alternative channel directly to the recipient . when , additionally , the ( encrypted ) data in the data fields of the above - mentioned messages is replaced by placeholders , it is believed that the same functionality as described above can be achieved . in the same way that mixes can be replaced by mix - cascades , the mapper 200 can be replaced by a mapper - cascade . fig8 shows such a mapper - cascade . the box 800 represents two or more mappers 200 . for clarity , only two are shown . each mapper can communicate with its neighbors in the cascade . for clarity , only two communication channels are shown , 811 and 812 . the communication channel 810 of the first mapper in the cascade corresponds to the communication channels 340 , 341 , 344 and 345 of the original ( replaced ) mapper . the communication channel 813 of the last mapper in the cascade correspond to the communication channels 342 and 343 of the original ( replaced ) mapper . the functionality of each of the mappers in the cascade is identical to the functionality the original ( replaced ) mapper 200 described above . it is envisioned that each mapper in a mapper - cascade is operated by a different trusted third party . the cascading of mappers allows the introduction of the desired number of data protecting parties . it will be obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art how to extend the operations described above to a system that includes a mapper - cascade . to ensure that none of the mappers is by - passed , the data submitted by the update terminals may be encrypted successively for all respective mappers . it will be appreciated that some efficiency improvements , obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art , can be applied . for instance , instead of sending all fragments from a single record in a single message , to identify records ( when presented fragmented ) record identifiers can be introduced . the correspondence between the fragment identifiers p x and p &# 39 ; x does not have to be stored , if the mapper constructs p &# 39 ; x from p x in a fixed , reproducible and reversible way . we continue with a detailed description of a second preferred embodiment of the inventive techniques , that builds on techniques described above . this embodiment is believed to be an efficient implementation of a special case of the first preferred embodiment , extended to offer additional functionality . we describe a dossier system in which dossiers on individuals are stored . in this example each dossier contains medical records relating to an individual , which are updated and used by various physicians and / or other doctors . it will be appreciated that the choice of a medical dossier - system is arbitrary . it is chosen to expose the present inventive techniques and should not be viewed as any limit of their scope . other applications in which the inventive techniques can be applied are easily envisioned , such as systems that store dossiers holding information other than medical information , and systems that store dossiers on entities other than individuals , for example , but without limitation , groups of individuals , organizations or legal entities . turning now to fig9 a description of the respective entities and their interconnections in a proposed medical dossier - system is given . the entities that supply , refresh and use information stored in dossiers are referred to as local terminals . box 900 represents one or more local terminals . the number of local terminals is denoted n . only two are shown for illustrative purposes , numbered 901 and 902 . each local terminal fulfills a role corresponding to both an update terminal 300 and a query terminal 330 ( see fig3 ). data access is controlled jointly by three entities . the functionality of each of these entities will be clear from the descriptions of various processes given below . the first entity 910 is referred to as mapper a , the second entity 920 is referred to as mapper b , and the entity 940 is referred to as the grouper . as will be clear from the exposition below , their joint functionality can be seen as an extension to the functionality of the mapper 200 . it is envisioned that these three entities are operated by one or more trusted third parties . in this second preferred embodiment , the stored information is again fragmented vertically . the system comprises two partial - databases , each with a distinct functionality . the first partial - database 930 ( the matcher ) holds individuals &# 39 ; identifying information ( the part of a medical record that refers to the real - life identity of an individual ), the other partial - database 950 ( the central - database ) holds only medical information ( the actual medical data without reference to real - life identities ). the functionality of these entities corresponds to functionality of the partial - databases 320 of fig3 . each of the n local terminals 900 can exchange messages directly with the grouper 940 . for clarity , only the communication channels for local terminals 1 and n are shown , numbered 993 and 994 . mapper a 910 can exchange messages directly with matcher 930 using communication channel 981 , and with grouper 940 using communication channel 984 . mapper b 920 can exchange messages directly with grouper 940 using communication channel 983 , and with the central - database 950 using communication channel 982 . when requested , all apparatuses will forward messages to enable apparatuses that are not directly connected to exchange information . three basic operations are supported : link - dossier , update - dossier and query - dossier , shown in fig1 , fig1 and fig1 respectively . fig1 shows the data - objects related to the link - dossier and update - dossier operations . fig1 shows the data - objects related to the query - dossier operation . as already mentioned in relation to the first preferred embodiment , depending on the application of the invention and on the jurisdictional domain in which it is operated , certain legal restrictions may apply to the operations and / or results thereof . additional restrictions may be laid down in agreements between the local terminals , the grouper , the mapper a , the mapper b , the matcher and the central - database . the local terminal has to perform the link - dossier operation for a certain individual before it can perform any other operation regarding that individual . turning to fig1 , the link - dossier operation is described in detail . when a local terminal wants to create a link to the dossier of a certain individual , it starts the process at 1100 . we assume that this local terminal obtained identifying information from the individual beforehand . prior to this operation , agreements have been made within the system that define the form of acceptable identifying information . this identifying information consist of , but is not limited to : for example the name , the address , the date of birth , the place of birth and / or the social security number of the individual . we will refer to the obtained identifying information as id . in step 1101 , the local terminal assigns to id a new , unique , identifier which we will refer to as pseudonym p . this pseudonym should be chosen so it cannot be linked to the identity by anything other than the local terminal . in this respect , for instance , a previously unused , randomly generated integer can be used . the local terminal constructs a data - object consisting of two fields , from now on referred to as a tuple , that has a structure shown in 1001 . the field 1002 is assigned the value id and the field 1003 is assigned the value p . it then stores this tuple . next the local terminal constructs a data - object that has a structure shown in 1010 . the field 1012 is assigned the value p . the field 1011 of this tuple is assigned the value id , a doubly encrypted version of id . the value id is created as follows . to hide it for the grouper and mapper a id is encrypted with the encryption key of the matcher . to ensure that mapper a is not by - passed , the result id * is encrypted again , this time with the encryption key of the mapper a , resulting in id *. finally , this tuple 1010 is sent to the grouper in message 1102 . before the current link - dossier operation started , the grouper will have stored a set of zero or more data - objects . these data - objects are of a structure shown in 1050 . this is a set holding one or more pseudonyms previously accepted from one of the local terminals . for clarity , two pseudonyms are shown , 1051 and 1053 . field 1052 represents the remaining pseudonyms . upon receipt of the message 1102 the grouper executes step 1103 . it checks if the pseudonym p , taken from field 1012 of the received tuple 1010 , is a new pseudonym , unique to the grouper , by verifying if it does not occur in any of the stored sets 1050 . if it does occur , the operation is aborted . otherwise , the grouper forwards the tuple 1010 to mapper a , in message 1104 . before the current link - dossier operation started , the mapper a will have stored a set of zero or more data - objects of a structure shown in 1020 . the field 1021 holds a pseudonym previously accepted from one of the local terminals . the field 1022 holds a pseudonym previously assigned by mapper a . upon receipt of message 1104 the mapper a executes step 1105 . it checks whether the pseudonym p , taken from field 1012 of the received tuple 1010 , is a new pseudonym , unique to mapper a , by verifying that it does not occur in any field 1021 of all tuples 1020 stored by the mapper a . if it does occur , the operation is aborted . otherwise , mapper a generates a new , unique pseudonym pa . similar to the creation of pseudonym p this pseudonym should be chosen so that it cannot be linked to the identity by anything other than the mapper a . this pseudonym is linked to the received p by creating and storing a data - object 1020 . the field 1021 is assigned the value p , and the field 1022 is assigned the value pa . next , mapper a constructs a data - object of a structure shown in 1030 . the field 1031 is assigned the value id , which mapper a re - creates from the received tuple 1010 by decrypting the value id ** of field 1011 . field 1032 is assigned the value pa . finally , mapper a sends the tuple 1030 to the matcher in message 1106 . before the current link - dossier operation started , the matcher has stored zero or more data - objects . these data - objects are sets of a structure shown in 1040 . each set 1040 contains zero or more tuples . two of these tuples , 1041 and 1043 , are shown for clarity . the remaining tuples are denoted by 1042 . each tuple has a structure shown in 1046 , consisting of a field 1045 holding a pseudonym previously accepted from the mapper a , and a field 1044 holding corresponding identifying information previously received from one of the local terminals ( via the mapper a ). upon receipt of message 1106 the matcher executes step 1107 . it verifies if pa ( taken from field 1032 of the received tuple 1030 ) is a new pseudonym , unique to the matcher , by checking if it does or does not occur in any of the pseudonym fields 1045 of all the tuples 1046 of all sets 1040 stored by the matcher . if it does occur , the operation is aborted . otherwise , the matcher re - creates id from message 1106 , by decrypting id * taken from field 1031 of the received tuple 1030 . next , for all stored sets 1040 the matcher compares the retrieved id with the values of all the identifying information fields 1044 of all tuples 1046 of that set . if id matches with a set of identifying information fields 1044 , a tuple 1046 is added to that set . the identifying information field 1044 of this added tuple is assigned the value id , and the pseudonym field 1045 is assigned the value pa . otherwise , if id does not match with any of the sets 1040 , a new set 1040 is created , holding one tuple 1046 of which the identifying information field 1044 is assigned the value id , and the pseudonym field 1045 is assigned the value pa . ( it may be noted that identifying information does not have to be equal to match . the definition of a ` match ` falls outside the scope of the present invention . many matching techniques that can be automated are known in the literature . it is envisioned that for some applications manual matching may be needed in ambiguous situations .) next , the matcher constructs a data - object of a structure shown in 1060 . this is a set that holds one or more pseudonyms . for clarity , two fields are shown , 1061 and 1063 . the remaining fields are denoted by 1062 . the set 1060 is constructed by copying all the pseudonyms stored in the fields 1045 of all tuples 1046 into the set 1040 that contains id . after it is constructed , set 1060 consists of m pseudonyms , denoted by pa1 , . . . , pam , all relating to id . finally , the matcher sends set 1060 to mapper a , in message 1108 . upon receipt of this message the mapper a executes step 1109 . it constructs a data - object of a structure shown in 1070 . this is a set that holds one or more pseudonyms . for clarity two fields are shown , 1071 and 1073 . the remaining fields are denoted by 1072 . the set 1070 , that is initially empty , is constructed as follows . for each of the pseudonyms pa1 , . . . , pam ( from the received set 1060 ) the mapper a searches all stored tuples 1020 . when it finds a tuple 1020 that holds the searched pseudonym in field 1022 , it adds to set 1070 the pseudonym held in the field 1021 of this tuple . this search will result in a set 1070 holding m pseudonyms , denoted by p1 , . . . , pm . finally , this set 1070 is sent to the grouper in message 1110 . upon receipt of this message the grouper executes step 1111 . the grouper updates its set of data - objects 1050 . if pseudonym p is the only element in the received set 1070 , a new set 1050 is created and stored , with one field that is assigned the value p . otherwise , if p is not the only element in the received set 1070 , the grouper searches the stored sets 1050 for a set of pseudonyms that matches the set p1 , . . . , pm , except for p . it is assumed that this set is always found in this case . this set is then replaced by a set p1 , . . . , pm , which includes the new pseudonym p . with the operation described above , the local terminal that initiated the operation has created a link to the dossier stored in the system of the individual described by id . the pseudonym p is the handle of this link . as will be clear from the detailed descriptions of the update - dossier and query - dossier operations below , updates of medical data regarding the individual , submitted to the system by the local terminal using the pseudonym p will subsequently be available to all local terminals , barring applying regulations . also , in subsequent query - dossier operations regarding the individual submitted to the system by the local terminal using the pseudonym p , all medical data regarding the individual submitted to the system by all local terminals will be available to the local terminal , barring applying regulations . it may be noted that an individual cannot be expected to give exactly the same id on different occasions , for various reasons , including the fact that an id is expected to change over time . matching techniques are available , and well - known in the art , that are powerful enough to match various identifications of the same individual to each other , and to not match various identifications of different individuals to each other , both with a high degree of precision . using these matching techniques , it is believed that multiple executions of the above described link - dossier operation regarding the same individual will result in linking to the same dossier , and that multiple executions of the above - described link - dossier operation regarding different individuals will not result in linking to the same dossier , both with an equally high degree of precision . for a local terminal to be able to execute an update - dossier operation regarding an individual , it first must have performed the link - dossier operation , shown in fig1 , regarding this individual . turning now to fig1 , the update - dossier operation will be described . this operation comprises updating the central - database by a local terminal by adding medical data to an individual &# 39 ; s dossier . it will be appreciated that in many applications other update operations will be supported by the central - database as well ( changing , merging and / or removing of data ). it is believed that all types of update - operations can be performed in a way similar to the mechanism given below . the process starts at step 1200 , executed by the local terminal . it is assumed that this local terminal has obtained the right real - life identity id of the individual , and that it wants to update this individual &# 39 ; s medical dossier with information to which we will refer to as data . in step 1201 the local terminal searches the stored tuples 1001 to find the pseudonym p corresponding to id . if a link - dossier operation has been performed previously for that id , such p is normally found among the stored tuples . to hide it from the grouper and mapper , the local terminal encrypts data with the encryption key of the central - database . to ensure that mapper b is not by - passed in the update - dossier operation , the result of this encryption , data , is encrypted again , this time with the encryption key of mapper b , resulting in data . next , the local terminal constructs a data - object of a structure shown in 1075 . field 1076 of this tuple is assigned value data , and field 1077 is assigned the value p . finally , the local terminal sends the tuple 1075 to the grouper 940 in message 1202 . upon receipt of this message the grouper executes step 1203 . it first verifies if p is an allowed pseudonym , by searching all stored sets 1050 for an occurrence of p . if a link - dossier operation has been performed previously for this id , such p is normally found in the stored tuples . if no occurrence is found , the operation is aborted . otherwise , the grouper forwards the message containing the tuple 1075 to mapper b in message 1204 . it will be clear from the exposition below , that in update operations that affect data already stored in the dossier , the grouper will concatenate to the tuple 1075 ( part of ) the set of pseudonyms related to p , that is , ( part of ) the set of pseudonyms stored in the set 1050 that contains p . this extension , as will be obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art , allows all common types of updates to a dossier . before execution of the update - dossier operation the mapper b will have stored a set of zero or more data - objects of a structure shown in 1080 . the fields 1081 of these tuples contain pseudonyms previously received from the grouper . the fields 1082 of these tuples contain corresponding pseudonyms previously assigned by the mapper b . upon receipt of the message 1204 the mapper b executes step 1205 . it first verifies if the pseudonym p , received in message 1204 , has been previously received , by searching the fields 1081 of all stored tuples 1080 . if it finds a tuple with an occurrence of p , it reads the corresponding pseudonym pb from the field 1082 . otherwise , it creates and store a tuple 1080 of which the field 1081 is assigned the value p , and the field 1082 is assigned a new pseudonym pb , unique to mapper b . similar to the creation of pseudonym p this pseudonym should be chosen so it cannot be linked to the identity by anything other than the mapper b . next , it constructs a tuple of a structure shown in 1085 . it assigns the pseudonym pb to field 1087 . it then decrypts data , from the received tuple 1075 , and assigns the result data to field 1086 . finally , it sends tuple 1085 to the central - database in message 1206 . before execution of the update - dossier operation the central - database will have stored a set of zero or more data - objects of a structure shown in 1090 . the field 1092 of this tuple contains a pseudonym previously received from the mapper b . the field 1091 of this tuple contains medical data , corresponding to the pseudonym , received during an update - dossier operations previously performed by a local terminal . upon receipt of the message 1206 , the central - database executes step 1207 . it retrieves data by decrypting data *, received in tuple 1085 . it then verifies if the pseudonym pb , received in message 1206 , has been previously received , by searching the fields 1092 of all stored tuples 1090 . if it finds a tuple with an occurrence of pb , it will add data to the corresponding medical data stored in the field 1091 of this tuple . otherwise , it will construct and store a new tuple 1090 , and assign the value pb to the field 1092 , and the value data to the field 1091 . it will be appreciated that the medical data is stored at the central - database linked to a pseudonym , and that a patient will have a different pseudonym at each physician . as a result this database has a degree of horizontal fragmentation . for a local terminal to be able to execute a query - dossier operation regarding an individual , it must first have performed the link - dossier operation , shown in fig1 , regarding this individual . turning now to fig1 and 14 , the query - dossier operation is described . this operation comprises querying of an individual &# 39 ; s medical dossier , by one of the local terminals , a medical dossier regarding an individual . the process starts at step 1300 , executed by the local terminal . it is assumed that this local terminal has obtained the real - life identity id of the individual . the local terminal queries this individual &# 39 ; s medical dossier by submitting a query - request to the grouper . this query - request consist of a query template and zero or more query fields . for brevity we omit these details here , and refer to the description given in relation to fig7 . during the query - dossier operation , the query template and respective query fields are handled in a way similar to the process described in relation to fig7 . the query - request is referred to as q . in step 1301 the local terminal searches the stored tuples 1001 to find the pseudonym p corresponding to id . if a link - dossier operation has been performed previously for that id , such p is normally found in the stored tuples . next , the local terminal constructs a data - object of a structure shown in 1400 , and assigns the value q to field 1401 , and the value p to field 1402 . ( not shown here for clarity is the hiding for the grouper and mapper of the data in the query - fields . a description of the hiding mechanism has already been given above in relation to fig7 .) finally , the local terminal sends the tuple 1400 to the grouper , in message 1302 . upon receipt of this message the grouper starts execution of step 1303 . it first verifies if p is an existing pseudonym , by searching all stored sets 1050 for an occurrence of p . if one of more link - dossier operations have been performed previously for id , one such p is normally found in the stored tuples . if no occurrence is found , the operation is aborted . otherwise , the grouper starts analyzing the query . it first verifies the validity of the query , in a fashion similar to that described in relation to fig7 . it will be appreciated that , as a result of the above described link - dossier and update - dossier operations , each of the pseudonyms stored in the set 1050 that contains p corresponds to a part of the dossier on individual id stored in the central - database by the local terminals . based on , ( among other things ), which local terminal stored a part of a dossier and the type of that part , the grouper determines which parts of the dossier are relevant to the submitted query - request . it is believed that a large class of queries can be analyzed this way by the grouper . the grouper constructs a data - object of a structure shown in 1410 , and assigns the value q to the field 1411 . we assume that there are m relevant parts , and refer to the corresponding pseudonyms as p1 , . . . , pm . field 1412 is assigned this set . finally , the tuple 1410 is sent to mapper b in message 1304 . upon receipt of this message the mapper b executes step 1305 . we assume that it accepts all submitted query - requests . alternatively , it can perform a validity check on the query - request as described in relation to fig7 . the mapper b constructs a data - object of a structure shown in 1420 , and assigns the query - request q to the field 1421 . it constructs an , initially empty , set of pseudonyms by replacing all pseudonyms from the field 1412 of the received tuple 1410 with the corresponding pseudonyms . for each of p1 , . . . , pm , it searches the fields 1081 of the set of stored tuples 1080 . if an occurrence of a pseudonym in a field 1081 is found , the mapper b adds the corresponding pseudonym , read from the field 1082 , to the set in construction . this results in a set of m pseudonyms , referred to as pb1 , . . . , pbm . this set is assigned to the field 1422 of tuple 1420 . finally , it sends the tuple 1420 to the central - database , in message 1306 . upon receipt of this message the central - database executes step 1307 . the central - database searches in the set of stored tuples 1090 , to find the tuples 1090 that have as value in the field 1092 , one of the pseudonyms pb1 , . . . , pbm , received in message 1306 . the medical data stored in the fields 1091 of these tuples is used to construct a query - answer to the query - request q , received in message 1306 . a data - object of a structure shown in 1430 is constructed to hold the query - answer . to hide the content of the query - answer for the mapper b and the grouper , it is encrypted for the local terminal , and the result is assigned to 1430 . finally , the central - database sends 1430 to the mapper b , who forwards it to the grouper , who forwards it to the local terminal . this message flow is depicted by 1308 . upon receipt of the message 1308 the local terminal executes step 1309 . it decrypts the query - answer , and processes it . as will be clear from the description of the query - dossier operation given above , the matcher is not involved in the process . considering that the matcher is the only entity other than the local terminal that contains identifying information , no party other than the party operating the local terminal knows the identity of the person whose dossier is queried . the information which local terminals may accumulate regarding query frequencies is limited to the queries which they submit . it is believed that , unless multiple parties collude , no party accumulates information regarding the query frequency related to an individual . since it is the object of the presented system to store records fragmented , and subsequently control de - fragmentation , the system can be considered successfully attacked when part of the records are de - fragmented without appropriate authorization . two types of attacks against the system are envisioned . in a static attack ( part of ) the stored data is used by one or more parties outside the system and / or some colluding parties within the system . since the problem of protecting ( physically or logically ) a single database against unauthorized access is not particular to the present invention we will not discuss it here . however , it is believed to be more difficult to gain unauthorized access to all data in a database when the data is divided over multiple ( physically or logically ) different partial - databases , as in the present invention . in the case that information from the grouper or one of the mappers is not available , no data can be de - fragmented at all . it is believed that by selecting a specific number of trusted third parties to run the grouper and mappers any desired degree of protection against static attacks can be achieved . in a dynamic attack an adversary tries to gain information by observing or modifying the operations performed by the apparatuses of the system . however , the apparatuses of the involved parties are considered to be protected against abuse , and messages between various apparatuses are encrypted to shield their content from eavesdroppers , leaving only the observation of message - activity between various parties to the adversary . the above - referenced paper by chaum , describes counter measures against such observations ( referred to as traffic analyses ). these measures include processing messages in batches and introducing dummy messages . it will be obvious to persons with ordinary skill in the art , how to modify the operations described above ( link - dossier , update - dossier and query - dossier operations ) to include these protection mechanisms . in addition to the improvements and extensions already mentioned in relation to the first preferred embodiment and security issues , the following improvements and extensions are envisioned . by regarding the mapper b 920 as both an update terminal ( 300 , see fig3 ) and query terminal ( 330 , see fig3 ), the mechanisms disclosed in the description of the first preferred embodiment can be applied to the central - database 950 of the second preferred embodiment , resulting in vertically fragmented storage of the medical data . as will be appreciated , if a local terminal wants to use a new pseudonym for a certain individual known already to that local terminal under a different pseudonym , the local terminal may execute another link - dossier operation as described above with the new pseudonym . all future accesses by the local terminal to the medical dossier of this person can be done using either the old or the new pseudonym . by using more pseudonyms for an individual , the horizontal fragmentation of the central - database is enhanced . in principle , every update of the central - database could be done using a new pseudonym , thereby achieving a maximum degree of horizontal fragmentation . furthermore , the grouper may create a ` super - pseudonym ` for each set 1050 of corresponding pseudonyms . as a consequence , each access to the central - database requires only that a single pseudonym is communicated from the grouper to the central - database through the mapper b , instead of a list of pseudonyms . although this increases efficiency , this is believed to destroy the horizontal fragmentation in the central - database . in certain applications it may be acceptable to remove one of the mappers , mapper a or mapper b . if both mappers are removed , no third party would be able to prevent the matcher and central - database from de - fragmenting the stored data ( link the identifying information to the medical records ). it is believed that removal of mapper a , and the corresponding changes obviously required in the operations described above , will not affect the described functionality and features of a system constructed in accordance with the present inventive techniques , except in the case of a collusion between the grouper and the matcher , in which the query frequency relating to an individual may be revealed . similarly , it is also believed that removal of mapper b , and the corresponding obvious changes required in the described operations need not affect the described functionality and features of a system constructed in accordance with the present inventive techniques , except in the case of collusion between the grouper and the central - database , in which circumstances existing horizontal fragmentation in the central - database may be removed . while these descriptions of the present invention have been given as examples , it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that various modifications , alternate configurations and equivalents may be employed without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention .	8
the invention defines a format of frame control blocks that is both flexible and efficient in a communication system . an fcb is associated with each packet handled by the network processor and contains all the control information needed to describe and manage the packet ( e . g . chaining pointer , packet length , etc . . . ). the frame control block may contain a next pointer field that gives the address of the next fcb in the queue . it does not , however , include any additional information relating to the next frame in a queue , but to the current frame that it defines and over which it exercises control . turning now to the drawings , fig1 and 2 show two ( 2 ) templates , fig1 being used for a smaller system configuration supporting up to one million packets , and fig2 used for a system configuration supporting up to two million packets . this is a flexibility feature that is built into the invention , recognizing that less memory area is needed to handle a template having one million packets instead of two million packets . fig1 shows an fcb generic format wherein the 36 - bit wide memory is sufficient for one million frames while in fig2 , a template with two million frames ( packets ) relies on a 48 - bit wide control memory . the names of the fields are only typical examples . some fields are used in different ways as shown in the other drawings . the efficiency of the fcb flexible format is achieved by storing different types of information in some fields of the fcb , depending on where the associated frame is located . for example , in the mo ( mode ) field , a binary ‘ 00 ’ means that the rfcba field is not in use ; a ‘ 01 ’ means that the frame control block is being used as an atm segmentation control block ; and a ‘ 10 ’ means that the frame control block is a reference fcb of a multicast frame . on the other hand , the ty ( type ) field is a two - bit field , wherein ‘ 00 ’ indicates a unicast non - static frame ; a ‘ 01 ’ represents a multicast non - static frame ; a ‘ 10 ’ is a unicast static frame ; and a ‘ 11 ’ refers to a multicast static frame . by “ static ” is meant that the frame must be retained after transmission , whereby its frame control block must not be released to the free queue of the frame control blocks . the network processor includes buffering and queueing structures . a packet can be chained in one of several queues , or it can be totally outside of any queue , for example when it is owned by some control logic that works on the packet ( look - up , modification . . . ). depending on the location of the packet , different control information may be relevant or not . this is why the fcb format is organized so that some fields can be used in different ways as shown in fig3 , and 6 - 15 . fig3 and 4 show an fcb format wherein the associated packet is in the tp queue which is an output queue of the network processor . in that case , word # 3 contains rfcba for egress tpq to line port , and mcid for ingress tpq to switch port . rfcba and mcid both handle packet multicast in different ways because the switch has built - in multicast capability while the line port does not . it should be understood that rfcba / mcid field is used only if the frame will be multicast on the output line port or switch port . if the frame is just unicast ( which is the most frequent case ), then this field is not used . fig5 shows an fcb format in which the associated packet is in the g queue which is an input queue of the network processor . here , there is no need for any multicast feature . therefore , the rfcba or mcid features are not needed . also , the dequeuer of this queue just needs to read the beginning of the packet and does not care about the exact position of the last byte in the packet . accordingly , the ebp is not needed . similarly , the ty , tb , and lwm fields are not used there . thus , the format of the fcb is such that when the frame is dequeued from the g queue , the third word of the fcb is not accessed , and bandwidth of the control memory is optimized . fig6 and 7 show an fcb format having the associated packet in either a “ reference frame ” or a “ static frame ”. in both cases , the packet is not queued in any queue , it is only pointed at by a specific pointer stored in other fcbs , such as the rfcba . thus , there is no need for chaining pointers . on the other hand , a specific function is performed on such packets . a multicast function relies on a counter that manages the replication of a packet . this counter is then conveniently stored in the unused chaining field . the mcic occupies the area in word # 1 that is used by nfa ( next fcba address ) in regular packets . fig1 and 15 show an fcb format in which the associated packet is in the free queue of an fcb . the free queue holds all fcbs not assigned yet to any frame . an incoming frame is associated to an fcb leased from the free queue . an outgoing frame gives back its fcb by releasing it into the free queue . the management of fcbs in the free queue is very simple since it has to deal only with the chaining function . this is why only nfa is shown . then , bandwidth efficiency is achieved because only word # 1 is accessed when leasing or releasing an fcb . another important feature of the fcb format is that fcbs can be used for other purposes . this is efficient because the same control structure is used for other functions . in particular , no additional free queue is needed ( only manage a single free queue of fcbs ). the functions that are contemplated are atm segmentation and reassembly , and ip reassembly . fig8 and 9 show an fcb format when a packet is being segmented for atm aal5 . when the segmentation logic has been given a packet , it re - uses its fcb so that it can maintain the crc ( in word # 1 ) and the atm cell header ( in word # 3 ). fig1 and 13 show an fcb format with a packet being reassembled for atm aal5 . the reassembly logic maintains in word # 1 the address of the cell buffer where the previous aal5 cell has been received ( lba ). fig1 and 13 show an fcb format when a packet is being reassembled for ip . the reassembly logic maintains in word # 3 the fragment offset of the packet reassembled so far . fig1 and 15 show the two different templates wherein the fcb format is used in a free queue . fig1 shows a computer - readable medium in the form of a floppy disc 110 for containing the software implementation of the program to carry out the various steps of frame manipulation according to the present invention . other machine readable storage mediums are fixed hard drives , optical discs , magnetic tapes , semiconductor memories , such as read - only memories ( roms ), programmable ( proms ), etc . the article containing this computer readable code is utilized by executing the code directly from the storage device , or by copying the code from one storage device to another storage device , or by transmitting the code on a network for remote execution . the present invention can be realized in hardware , software , or a combination of the two . 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 that , when 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 instructions or a computer program in the present context mean any expression , in any language , code ( i . e ., picocode instructions ) 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 occur : ( a ) conversion to another language , code or notation ; ( b ) reproduction in a different material form . while the invention has been described in combination with specific embodiments thereof , there are other alternatives , modifications , and variations that are likewise deemed to be within the scope thereof . accordingly , the invention is intended to embrace all such alternatives , modifications and variations as fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims .	7
in general terms , the invention firstly relates to a microlaser cavity having a solid active medium , between an input mirror and an output mirror , as well as a saturable absorber making it possible to passively switch the microlaser . means are also provided for permitting the introduction of a beam for starting or initiating the saturation of the saturable absorber . the starting beam can e . g . be obtained by a laser diode . this laser source type is compact and perfectly compatible with the reduced size of the microlaser . moreover , the power emitted by a laser diode can be very easily modulated by means of the diode supply current . in the case of the envisaged application ( starting a saturable absorber ) it will preferably be ensured that the diode satisfies length and power conditions . from the wavelength standpoint , the starting source preferably excites the saturable absorber on the same transition as the laser beam . the absorption of the latter is due to said transition and is consequently what is to be saturated . it is therefore possible to use a wavelength equal to the laser wavelength or a shorter wavelength corresponding to more energetic photons . in the latter case , it is preferably ensured that the excited centres are deexcited so as to drop to the correct energy level ( in the case of a discreet distribution of the energy levels , or so that the wavelength chosen remains within the absorption band limit ( in the case of an absorption band in the saturable absorber medium ). in the example of a saturable absorber , whose impurities are constituted by cr 4 + ions , a diode emitting at 980 nanometers is suitable for obtaining a starting beam . with regards to the emitted power , only a small power quantity is necessary for initiating the absorption of the saturable absorber . if it is considered that the path in the laser medium and in the saturable absorber is short and that the losses on the starting beam power are limited , it is sufficient to have a starting or initiating source with a power of a few dozen milliwatts ( between approximately 10 and 100 mw ). this order of magnitude is compatible with commercially , low power diodes , such as iii - v semiconductor diodes , which also have a low cost . when using such diodes , the wavelength adjustment is possible by adjusting the iii - v semiconductor materials used in the laser diode . these adjustment processes are well known and will not be described in detail here . reference can also be made to the article by pocholle in spectra 2000 , no . 164 , april 1992 , p 27 . the invention will now be described in the case where the saturable absorber is in the form of a film . in particular , it can be advantageous to deposit the saturable absorber film directly on the amplifier medium , as illustrated in fig4 a and 4b . the reference 36 therein designates the active laser medium , the reference 38 a saturable absorber film and these two elements are located between two mirrors 42 , 44 which close the laser cavity . reference 40 designates the complete cavity . optionally and as illustrated in fig4 b , it is possible to manufacture by a prior art method ( a . eda et al ., cleo &# 39 ; 92 , paper cwg33 , p 282 ( conf . on laser and electro - optics , anaheim , usa , may 1992 )) a microlens array 45 of transparent material ( e . g . silica ) on the surface of the laser material 36 . the typical microlens dimensions are a diameter of 100 to a few hundred microns and a radius of curvature of a few hundred micrometers to a few millimetres . these microlenses are used for obtaining &# 34 ; stable &# 34 ; cavities ( the plane - plane cavity is not stable ) and which are of the planoconcave type . in the case of optical pumping , they also make it possible to focus the pumping beam . the material from which the active medium 36 is made will e . g . be doped with neodymium ( nd ) for a laser emission of around 1 . 06 μm . this material could e . g . be chosen from among one of the following materials : yag ( y 3 al 5 o . sub . 12 ), lma ( lamgal 11 o 19 ), yvo 4 , yso ( y 2 sio 5 ), ylf ( ylif 4 ), gdvo 4 , or sys ( sry4 ( sio 4 ) 3 o ), etc . this choice will be conditioned by the following criteria , but will obviously be dependent on the particular applications . if the laser cavity is optically pumped , preferably with one or more laser diodes , the material must have a high absorption coefficient at the pump wavelength ( e . g . iii - v laser diode emitting at about 800 nm ) to increase the pumping efficiency , whilst retaining a low material thickness (& lt ; 1 mm ). a wide absorption band at the wavelength of the pump , e . g . 800 nm , in order to satisfy the problem of wavelength stabilization of the laser diode , so as to simplify the choice and electrical control of the pumping laser diode . a considerable effective , stimulated emission cross - section , in order to obtain high efficiencies and high output powers . a limited emission band width so as to easily obtain a monofrequency laser , or conversely a wide emission band to bring about a frequency - tunable laser emission . good thermomechanical properties in order to simplify the machining of the material and limit the prejudicial thermal effects by a good dissipation of the heat produced by the absorption of the pump ( said excess heat depending on the energy efficiency of the laser ). a long life in the excited state for a high energy storage , or a short life for a rapid switching rate . large dimensions so as to be able to simultaneously mass produce the largest possible number of microlasers with a single laser crystal . among the known materials , the most appropriate for the operation of the microlaser are ( with comparable life periods of a few hundred microseconds ): yvo 4 , which has a good coefficient and a wide absorption band , together with a good effective cross - section , yag , whose absorption coefficient and effective stimulated emission cross - section are average and whose absorption and emission band widths are low , being in the form of large dimensions and with a good thermal conductivity , lma , which offers low absorption coefficient and effective cross - section , the absorption and emission bands being wide , whilst it can also have large dimensions . with respect to the active ions ( dopants ), they are generally chosen from among : er or an erbium - ytterbium er + yb codoping for an emission around 1 . 5 μm , tm or ho or a thulium and holmium codoping for an emission around 2 μm . another decisive parameter is the thickness e of the active medium 36 . the thickness e conditions the characteristics of the microlaser : on the one hand , the absorption of the pumping beam will be greater as the thickness e increases , on the other , the number of longitudinal modes of a fabry - perot cavity increases with the thickness and if it is wished to obtain a longitudinal monomode laser this thickness must be small . if dg is the width of the gain band ( laser emission ) of the material , the number of modes n will be given by : ## equ1 ## in which c is the speed of light and n the refractive index of the material . for a monofrequency laser , generally a minimum thickness is chosen for n = 1 , provided that said thickness is & gt ; 100 μm . typical thicknesses for obtaining a single mode are : in practice , the thickness e will vary between 100 μm and 5 mm . in the embodiments illustrated in fig4 a and 4b , the saturable absorber 38 is in the form of a thin film . two types of film can be used : a polymer containing saturable absorber molecules and typically for a 1 . 06 μm microlaser use is made for the saturable absorber of an organic dye such as bis ( 4 - diethylaminodithiobenzyl ) nickel ( bdn , kodak , cas no . 51449 - 18 - 4 ) in a solution containing by weight 6 % polymethyl methacrylate ( pmma ) in chlorobenzene . variants are described hereinafter in conjunction with the description of a preparation process . this type of solution will be deposited using a trammel directly onto the laser material ( cf . hereinafter for the preparation process ). this leads to films with a thickness of approximately 1 to 5 μm , e . g . 2 , 3 or 4 μm . another type of film will be obtained by liquid phase epitaxy ( lpe ), directly on the laser material or any other process making it possible to obtain the same deposit ( same material , same doping , same properties ). thus , the film will generally have been obtained by lpe . the lpe preparation process is described hereinafter and makes it possible to obtain , on the substrate 36 constituted by the active solid medium , a film of thickness between 1 μm and 500 μm ( e . g . 100 , 200 , 300 and 400 μm ). it is constituted by a basic material identical to that of the active solid medium ( e . g . yag ), but it is doped with ions giving it saturable absorber properties , e . g . cr 4 for a 1 . 06 μm laser or er 3 + for a roughly 1 . 5 μm laser or ho 3 + for a roughly 2 μm laser . the type of dopant is adapted to the laser which it is wished to switch , so that the epitaxied film has a saturable absorption at the emission wavelength of said laser . therefore , in this case , the active laser material and the saturable absorber film have the same crystalline structure and only differ through the different dopants which affect the crystalline and optical properties of these two media . the properties of the film in the two cases will differ very widely . thus , definition takes place for each film type of the damage threshold . beyond a certain power density present in the laser cavity , it is possible to destroy the saturable absorber film . this limiting power density , known as the damage threshold , will be lower in the case of the polymer with the organic dye than in the case of the lpe - deposited film . therefore in the first case it is necessary to operate with lower energy levels in the cavity than in the second case . moreover , in one case the index difference between the laser material 8 and the polymer 12 introduces an optical interface between the two media . in the other case , it is only possible to carry out lpe on the same material ( e . g . yag on yag , only the doping differing ), which limits the extent of the applications , but makes it possible to adjust the index of the epitaxied film to that of the active laser material serving as the epitaxy substrate , so as to avoid the formation of an optical interface between the two media . finally , the nature of the film will influence the time form of the emission or laser pulse train . in the case of an organic dye dissolved in a polymer , the dye decline time is very short (˜ 1 ns ), whereas in the case of the epitaxied film the ions constituting the impurities ( cr 4 + , er 3 + , ho 3 + ) have much longer decline times of approximately 1 microsecond or more . these properties will obviously condition the choice of the film as a function of the intended use . in order to obtain a complete laser cavity , the active medium with its saturable absorber film or films will be located between two mirrors 42 , 44 . the input mirror , deposited by known methods , is preferably a dichroic mirror having a maximum reflectivity ( as close as possible to 100 %) at the laser wavelength and the highest possible transmission (& gt ; 80 %) at the pump wavelength ( generally 800 nm for nd doped materials , 980 nm for er doped materials and 780 nm for tm doped materials ). the output mirror is then also of the dichroic type , but allows the passage of a few percent of the laser beam . this gives a laser cavity with structures as shown in fig4 a and 4b . it is immediately clear what is the advantage of such a structure , because at no time does it require an optical alignment of the different components and also introduces no optical adhesive , whilst avoiding the problems associated with a structure , where the active medium is codoped with active laser ions and saturable absorber ions . the pumping of such a cavity is preferably an optical pumping . thus , iii - v laser diodes are particularly suitable for pumping a microlaser cavity . according to the invention , a microlaser of the aforementioned type can be switched in controlled manner by starting the saturation of the saturable absorber with the aid of a starting beam provided for this purpose . variants will now be described in conjunction with fig5 , 7a and 7b . in fig5 reference 46 designates the active laser medium , 48 a saturable absorber film , 50 and 52 the input and output mirrors of the microlaser cavity . an active laser medium pumping beam is diagrammatically represented by an arrow 54 , whilst 56 designates a beam for starting the saturation of the saturable absorber 48 . the configuration shown in fig5 is a so - called transverse configuration , i . e . the starting beam 56 is propagated in the saturable absorber film perpendicular to the axis of the pumping beams 54 of the laser cavity and the laser beam 58 emitted by the microlaser . thus , in the case of a saturable absorber in thin film form , said transverse configuration is particularly advantageous to the extent that the film will serve as a guide for the starting beam . the latter will thus propagate to the level of the zone indicated by the letter a in fig5 i . e . the zone where the laser beam in the cavity encounters the saturable absorber . in preferred manner , within , the saturable absorber film , it is desirable for the starting beam propagation to take place over the shortest possible distance d , because the latter is absorbed throughout its propagation in the film . however , the distance d is determined by the size of the microoptical componets used for injecting the pumping and starting beams into the microlaser cavity . moreover , the index of the saturable absorber film can be adapted to the guided propagation mode ( codoping with gadolinium ( ga ) and lutetium ( lu ), the first serving to adapt the index and the second making it possible to compensate the widening of the crystal lattice due to the introduction of the first ). in this embodiment , in order to inject the starting beam 56 into the microlaser cavity , it is possible to have recourse to microoptical methods . thus , the film 48 can be etched so as to obtain a planar or non - planar face 60 making it possible to reflect the starting wave . the inclination of said etched surface 60 is preferably such that there is a total reflection of the starting wave . if there is no total reflection , it is possible in a variant to carry out a reflecting treatment of the surface 60 . for a saturable absorber film of limited thickness ( approximately below 10 μm ), the etched surface can be obtained by photolithography and a variable density mask . for greater thicknesses ( above 10 μm ) a bevel polishing can be used for obtaining the surface 60 . the starting beam 56 can be focussed as from its entry into the laser medium , e . g . with the aid of a microlens 62 etched on the microlaser input face in an area adjacent to the pumping beam axis . in the configuration shown in fig5 the laser medium pumping beam 54 and the saturable absorber starting beam 56 are located on the same side of the microlaser . the focussing function of the starting beam 56 can also be obtained by any other means , such as e . g . a diffractive lens , fresnel lens , etc . in the embodiment of fig6 the references 64 , 66 , 68 , 70 respectively designate the laser amplifier medium , a saturable absorber film , the output and input mirrors of the microlaser cavity . the pumping , starting and laser beams are designated by the same references as in fig5 . the embodiment of fig6 is quasi - longitudinal , i . e . the starting beam 56 is propagated towards the saturable absorber film in a direction not contained in the plane of said film . this embodiment requires no etching of the saturable absorber film , unlike in the embodiment described in conjunction with fig5 . once again the starting beam can be supplied parallel to the pumping beam 54 in the direction of the microlaser cavity input face . at said input face it is deflected towards an area a of the saturable absorber film on which the pumping beam is incident . the deviation can be obtained by an off - axis microlens portion 72 obtained by etching the active laser medium 64 with the aid of a variable density mask in an area close to the axis of the pumping beam . in the cases described hereinbefore , the starting 54 and pumping 56 beams are parallel to the laser beam 58 obtained at the microlaser cavity output . another embodiment will now be described in conjunction with fig7 a and 7b . in said drawings , a thin saturable absorber film is designated by the reference 80 and is deposited on an amplifier medium 74 , the means being located between an input mirror 78 and an output mirror 76 of the thus obtained microlaser cavity . a groove or notch 82 is made in at least part of the saturable absorber and optionally , as illustrated in fig7 a and 7b , in the output mirror and in part of the amplifier medium , so as to be able to position the end of an optical fibre 84 permitting the injection of the saturable absorber starting beam 80 directly into the same without making it pass through the amplifier medium . here again the geometry is transverse and the starting beam is propagated in the film 80 serving as a guide for the same . an advantage of this configuration is that it also makes it possible to reduce the distance d over which the starting beam will propagate in the film 80 between the output end 86 of the fibre 84 and the area of the saturable absorber 80 on which the pumping beam 54 is incident . the size of the groove 82 is a function of the diameter of the starting fibre 84 , which can be a multimode fibre . it can also be a monomode fibre because , as explained hereinbefore , the power which has to be transmitted to the saturable absorber is relatively low being a few dozen milliwatts . the choice of a monomode fibre also makes it possible to minimize the overall dimensions , because it has a smaller diameter than a multimode fibre . moreover , in the case of saturable absorber films with a thickness of a few micrometers , a monomode fibre will also be suitable , as a result of its small core diameter . for all the embodiments described hereinbefore and with respect to the choice of the source supplying the starting beam 56 , the conditions to be respected for the wavelength and power are preferably the same as described hereinbefore . thus , a iii - v semiconductor diode , whose spectral emission properties are adjusted by the choice of the semiconductor material , can also be suitable for the different embodiments described . moreover and once again for all the embodiments described hereinbefore , it is clear that the presence of means able to permit the introduction of a beam for initiating the saturation of the saturable absorber does not prejudice the compact character of the microlaser structure . moreover , each element is not introduced into the microlaser , which requires an optical setting of the latter . finally , no parasitic element of the optical adhesive type is required . in particular , the benefit of a saturable absorber structure in the form of a film directly deposited on the active laser medium is retained . the operation of a device according to the invention will now be described in conjunction with fig8 a and 8b . these drawings show the time evolutions and the different operating conditions for the loss levels and gain of a microlaser cavity , as well as a laser pulse obtained by switching the cavity . fig8 a corresponds to the case where the microlaser cavity is of the conventional type , i . e . without any means for initiating or starting the saturation of the saturable absorber . it is firstly possible to see a phase i in which the system has no laser effect , because the saturable absorber imposes within the microcavity a loss level p higher than the gain g obtained by pumping ; however , said gain increases , because the solid amplifier medium stores the energy of the pumping beam ( with a saturation effect due to the reemission of the energy by fluorescence ). as from a certain stored pumping power value , the gain g reaches and exceeds the total loss level of the cavity ( residual loss + output transmission + high saturable absorber loss ), i . e . phase ii ( cf . fig8 a ). during phase ii , the few photons emitted by fluorescence at the laser wavelength start to be amplified by the highly pumped laser medium despite the still high losses . then , at the start of phase iii , the absorber is saturated until it becomes transparent and the laser pulse i is emitted . this phenomenon is very fast , the absorber being suddenly saturated under the avalanche of amplified photons in the laser amplifier medium . the losses switch to their lowest level , whereas the gain has remained at a high level , so that a laser pulse is emitted . thus , the gain will decrease very rapidly until it drops below the threshold imposed by the loss level p . then ( phase iv ), the saturable absorber returns to its starting state , because its active centres are deexcited in various ways ( by spontaneous emission of photons , phonons , etc .) and the modulator constituted by the saturable absorber closes again . in the case of a microlaser cavity according to the present invention , the time evolution of these same quantities ( loss p , gain g , laser pulse i ) is shown in fig8 b . in a first phase i &# 39 ;, the loss level p exceeds the gain g within the microlaser cavity , said gain level being a rising function of time . the maximum loss level p is fixed by the saturable absorber ( composition , thickness , spectral characteristics ), whilst the gain level g is determined by the intensity of the microlaser cavity pumping beam . thus , this pumping level will be regulated in such a way that the gain does not reach the loss level p ( otherwise the saturable absorber would enter phase ii according to the standard fig8 a ). the introduction of the starting or initiating beam at time t 0 ( e . g . with the aid of the synchronization means for the laser cavity pumping source and the starting beam source ), corresponds to the introduction of a power p a in light form into the saturable absorber , said power being adequate to bring the loss level p within the cavity beneath the gain level . as soon as the saturable absorber saturation is initiated in this way , it rapidly decreases the loss level ( phase iii &# 39 ; in fig8 b ), which thus becomes well below the gain level and a laser pulse i is emitted . finally , in phase iv &# 39 ;, the gain level rapidly decreases to below the threshold imposed by the losses and the saturable absorber returns to its starting state , its active centres being deexcited , so that a cycle can recommence . the time at which the starting beam is switched can be chosen by the user , so that in fig8 b it can be chosen at t 1 , t 2 or t 0 . by comparing these two diagrams , it is possible to consider the saturable absorber as a controlled loss modulator : in the conventional diagram ( fig8 a ), by a light source within the laser microcavity , the latter being very noisy and this high noise level leads to indetermination on the microcavity switching time , in the diagram according to the invention ( fig8 b ), by an external starting source , which makes it possible to obtain freedom from the random character inherent in the standard operating diagram . a process for the production of a microlaser according to the invention will now be described . the following stages occur in this process . 1 ) the first stage consists of choosing the active laser material and conditioning the chosen laser crystal , the latter being oriented and cut into plates with a thickness between 0 . 5 and 5 mm . 2 ) the following stage is a stage of grinding and polishing the plates and serves to remove the surface cold working coating due to the cutting and brings the thickness of the plates to a level slightly exceeding the microlaser specification . the ground plates close to the final thickness e are polished on both faces with an optical quality . the cutting , grinding and polishing are carried out using known processes and known machines . 3a ) in the case of a conventional saturable absorber , various processes are known making it possible to obtain a switched microlaser cavity . it is in particular possible to carry out a codoping of the basic material of the active laser medium in order to give active laser medium and saturable absorber properties ( e . g . yag doped with neodymium nd 3 + and chromium cr 4 + ions ). 3b ) in the case of the saturable absorber deposited in thin film form , two deposition types can be implemented . 3b1 ) first deposition type : deposition of a saturable absorber organic dye dissolved in a polymer . typically , for a microlaser operating at 1 . 06 μm , it is possible to use as the saturable absorber an organic dye such as bis ( 4 - diethylaminodithiobenzyl ) nickel ( bdn , kodak , cas no . 51449 - 18 - 4 ) in a polymethyl methacrylate ( pmma ) solution . for this purpose preparation takes place of a solution containing 6 % by weight polymethyl methacrylate ( polyscience mean weights ) in chlorobenzene ( prolabo ) stirring for 24 hours . to it is added 0 . 2 wt . % bdn , followed by stirring for a further 2 hours . the solution is then filtered and deposited on the substrate on its output face ( opposite to the input face having the dichroic mirror ), this taking place in dropwise manner with a circular centrifugal movement . it is possible to use for this purpose a trammel , which is a standard machine such as that used in microelectronics for the deposition of resins used in lithography operations . the substrate is previously cleaned with respect to all traces of impurities resulting from the polishing operation . it is rotated for 20 seconds at 2000 r . p . m . and then 30 seconds at 5000 r . p . m . the film is then dried for 2 hours in an oven at 70 ° c . this gives a 1 μm thick film containing 3 % of active molecules ( bdn ) and whose optical density is 0 . 13 at 1 . 06 μm ( 74 % transmission ) before saturation . such a saturable absorber has a relaxation time close to 10 ns and is saturated at an intensity close to 1 mw / cm 2 . by varying the concentration parameters of the polymer , its molecular weight or solvent , the dye proportion and the trammel rotation speed , it is possible to adjust the saturable absorber performance characteristics . the specifications typically obtained are : other polymers , such as polyvinyl alcohol or polyvinyl acetate or even polystyrene can be used in their respective solvents in place of pmma . it is also possible to use as the dye bis ( 4 - dimethylaminodithiobenzyl ) nickel ( bdn , kodak , cas no . 38465 - 55 - 3 ). the dye can also be incorporated into a silica gel or grafted to the polymer chain . numerous other dithiene metal complexes can be used as the dye for other wavelengths , as described in the articles of k . h . drexhage et al , optics communication 10 ( 1 ), 19 , 1974 and mueller - westerhoff , mol . cryst . liq . cryst . 183 , 291 , 1990 . the method can also be used for switching lasers operating at wavelengths other than 1 . 06 μm . for example switching will take place of er or er + yb lasers ( er or er + yb doped materials where the active ion is er ) emitting at about 1 . 5 um using tetraethyloctahydrotetraazapentaphene - dithiolato - nickel ( cf . article by mueller - westerhoff indicated above ). 3b2 ) second deposition type : deposition of a film by liquid phase epitaxy ( lpe ). the saturable absorber film is obtained by soaking the substrate on which it is deposited in an appropriately chosen , supersaturated solution . this solution or epitaxy bath is a mixture of a solvent and a solute constituted by different elements forming the final material . the substrate and film have the same crystalline structure and only differ through the different dopants affecting the crystalline and optical properties of the film . the active ions such as nd , er and yb make the material amplifying , whilst other ions ( cr and er ) give it saturable absorber properties , whilst certain other ions can be used for varying the refractive index or crystal lattice of the material ( e . g . ga , ge , lu , etc .). it is thus possible to control the properties of the films produced . this process can be used for any material in the form of monocrystals ( for producing substrates ) and which can be prepared by liquid phase epitaxy . this is the case of the aforementioned materials for the basic material of the active laser medium : y 3 a 15 o 12 ( yag ), y 2 sio 5 ( yso ), yvo 4 , ylif 4 ( ylf ) or gdvo 4 or sry 4 ( sio 3 ( sy ). the bath composition ( choice of solvent and substituents ), the concentrations in the solute of different oxides and the experimental growth conditions ( temperature range , operating procedure , etc .) are adjusted for each material so as to obtain films having the optimum crystalline quality . in the case of garnets ( yag ), the chosen solvent is a pbo / b 2 o 3 mixture and the solute has an al 2 o 3 excess in order to stabilize the garnet phase . the solute / solvent ratio is then calculated so as obtain growth at about 1000 ° c . as a function of the bath composition , the temperature and the deposition time , it is possible to adjust the thickness ( 1 ≦ e ≦ 200 um , e . g . : 25 μm , 50 μm , 75 μm , 100 μm , 125 μm , 150 μm , 175 μm , e ≦ 200 μm also being possible ) and the dopant concentration in the films . the growth of a film takes place at constant temperature , which makes it possible to obtain a homogeneous dopant concentration in the film thickness . the substrate is given a uniform or alternating rotary movement , which leads to a good thickness uniformity . it is possible to obtain a substrate carrying one or two s . a . films , depending on whether soaking takes place of one face of the active laser medium in the bath , at the surface thereof , or both faces , the laser material being completely immersed in the bath . the epitaxied face or faces obtained can be repolished in order to remove roughness which may be caused by the epitaxy process and so as to bring the thickness of the epitaxied film or films to the desired level for the operation of the microlaser . 4 ) a stage of depositing in put and output mirrors . these can be dichroic mirrors obtained by a deposition of dielectric multilayers , which is a known , commercially available process . the deposition of the input mirror can take place before or after the preceding stage , in the case of s . a . polymer deposition , but must be performed afterwards in the case of liquid phase epitaxy , which occurs at high temperature and may destroy the mirror . the small plates having the mirrors , the saturable absorber and the active laser medium , as well as optionally the microlenses are cut with a diamond saw of the type used in microelectronics for si chip cutting , so as to obtain laser chips with a section of a few mm 2 . 6 ) the specific stages of the embodiments illustrated in fig5 and 6 have already been described ( etching the film 80 for forming the reflecting surface 60 and formation of microlenses 62 , 72 ). moreover , the formation of the groove 82 in the embodiment illustrated in fig7 a and 7b is obtained by a conventional etching procedure . the microlaser source according to the invention has all the advantages of the microlaser , all the characteristics of actively switched pulsed lasers and all the advantages of passively switched pulsed lasers . it can also be mass produced , so that the production costs are reduced , because the samples are produced in batches , a good reliability of each laser within a batch and an absence of settings and greatly reduced laser maintenance . the production process greatly benefits from processes developed for passively switched microlasers . in addition , the microlaser structure remains very simple , very reliable and very robust . the time operation is identical to that of active switching , i . e . with precision of the repetition rate , control of the pulse starting times and synchronization possibility within a system . this time behaviour can be modelled and researched . the laser pulse control signal is of low power , it being sufficient to initiate the saturation of the absorber and the laser medium gain does the rest in order to completely saturate the absorber . finally , the higher the control signal , the lower the noise on the starting time . thus , the greater the saturation advance of the absorber , the more the latter is controlled by the exterior and not by the photons within the laser cavity , which constitute a noise source . with this switching system , a compromise can be made between the precision of the emission time characteristics and the energy consumption of the switching system . among possible industrial applications of microlasers , reference is made to laser telemetry , laser micromachining and designation , pollutant detection and three - dimensional imaging . in addition , the switching device can be adapted to a very wide wavelength range .	7
the invention is described herein by way of example with reference to a number of embodiments . the invention is described in the context of an unlicensed mobile access system operating in conjunction with a licensed mobile access system , and specifically , in exemplary embodiments , a geran system . with reference to fig3 , there is shown a geran 102 including at least one base station 104 and at least one base station controller 106 . a mobile station 108 is connected , via a licensed air interface 110 , to the base station 104 of the geran 102 . the base station 104 is connected to the base station controller 106 via a communication link 116 . the base station controller 106 is connected to a core network 112 via an a / gb interface connection 114 . with further reference to fig3 , there is shown a uma 122 including at least one standard access point 124 , or network access point , and at least one uma network controller ( unc ) 126 , or network control element . a mobile station 128 , being a uma terminal , is connected , via an unlicensed air interface 120 , to the standard access point 124 of the uman 122 . the standard access point 124 is connected to the unc 126 via a communication link 136 . the unc 126 is connected to the core network 112 via an a / gb interface connection 134 . the architecture of network arrangements as illustrated in fig3 is known to those skilled in the art . it should be noted that the mobile stations 108 and 128 are preferably configured to connect in either a geran or a uman , in accordance with available network coverage and implementation requirements . a smlc 150 is provided as part of the uman 122 . the invention and embodiments thereof provides for an enhancement to unlicensed mobile access so that it is possible to transfer e - otd , gps , and a - gps related information between mobile stations and uncs . in embodiments this is preferably done either by : including in uma messages specific information elements ; or by allowing rrlp messages to be transported in uma signaling , i . e providing containers for rrlp messages . refering to the fig1 , the preferred layer for this is the uma - rr layer . there are two alternatives for this . in a first possibility a new unlicensed radio resources ( urr ) message is created that contains a - gps and other information . in a second possibility some existing urr messages are enhanced to contain new information elements . by way of an implementation example , a case may be considered with new urr messages that contain rrlp messages . the protocol stack would then be as shown in fig4 . one possible signaling scenario is as shown in fig5 , for an rrlp measure position procedure . as represented by message 502 , the smlc 150 sends a rrlp measure position request to the unc 126 over the lb interface . this rrlp message may , for example , carry a request for location information , and it may also contain gps assistance data . the unc 126 packs the rrlp measure position request into a new “ urr rrlp ” message 504 that it sends to the ms 128 . urr rrlp is a specific urr message intended to carry rrlp messages between the unc and mss . the ms 128 responds with a rrlp measure position response message , that may contain for example an a - gps location estimate , embedded in a urr rrlp message 506 . the unc 126 forwards the rrlp measure position response 508 to the smlc 150 . in a similar fashion , the rrlp assistance data procedure according to an embodiment of the invention is described with reference to fig6 . the smlc 150 sends a rrlp assistance data message 602 to the unc 126 over the lb interface . this rrlp message may for example carry gps assistance data . the unc 126 packs the rrlp assistance data into a urr rrlp message 604 that it sends to the ms 128 . the ms 128 responds with a rrlp assistance data ack . message embedded in a urr rrlp message 606 . the unc 126 forwards the rrlp assistance data ack . message 608 to the smlc 150 . the above discussion of the problem addresses by embodiments of the invention , and discussion of the embodiments themselves , has been given assuming usage of the lb interface between an unc and a smlc . however , the problem and the embodiments of the invention are also valid with other possible interfaces between the unc and the smlc . for example the iu - pc interface , that is defined for utran between a smlc and a rnc , may be adapted with rrc messages corresponding to rrlp messages . the problem and embodiments of the invention are also valid even in the case where there is no interface , i . e . where there is provided a combined unc and smlc . the invention , and embodiments thereof , advantageously provide an a - gps and e - otd location method which can be used with uma , without needing new hardware . as a - gps is the main location method in 3g and 2g mobile communication standards , a mechanism to carry a - gps assistance data from the unc to the mobile is advantageous . the invention , and embodiments thereof , provide for various advantages and improvements to the art . these advantages include improved location information . the uncertainty of location information can be estimated . potential large location estimation errors due to invalid assumption of proximity of a terminal to an access point are avoided . easy implementation is allowed for . no new hardware is needed . various modifications to the described embodiments will be understood by one skilled in the art . the scope of protection afforded by the invention is defined by the appended claims .	7
glycosylation of various proteins is altered in certain diseases and conditions , including cancer and chronic inflammation . a variety of novel glycosylation markers for diagnosing , treating , or monitoring cancer and / or inflammation are described herein . methods employing the glycan markers are described , as are related compositions , systems and kits . antibodies , e . g ., antibodies specific for polypeptides bearing glycan markers of the invention , can be generated by methods well known in the art . such antibodies can include , but are not limited to , polyclonal , monoclonal , chimeric , humanized , single chain , fab fragments and fragments produced by a fab expression library . polypeptides do not require biological activity for antibody production . however , the polypeptide or oligopeptide is antigenic . peptides used to induce specific antibodies typically have an amino acid sequence of at least about 5 amino acids , and often at least 10 or 20 amino acids . short stretches of a polypeptide can optionally be fused with another protein , such as keyhole limpet hemocyanin , and antibodies produced against the fusion protein or polypeptide . numerous methods for producing polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies are known to those of skill in the art , and can be adapted to produce antibodies specific for polypeptides bearing markers of the invention . see , e . g ., coligan ( 1991 ) current protocols in immunology wiley / greene , n . y . ; and harlow and lane ( 1989 ) antibodies : a laboratory manual cold spring harbor press , ny ; stites et al . ( eds .) basic and clinical immunology ( 4th ed .) lange medical publications , los altos , calif ., and references cited therein ; goding ( 1986 ) monoclonal antibodies : principles and practice ( 2d ed .) academic press , new york , n . y . ; fundamental immunology , e . g ., 4th edition ( or later ), w . e . paul ( ed . ), raven press , n . y . ( 1998 ); and kohler and milstein ( 1975 ) nature 256 : 495 - 497 . other suitable techniques for antibody preparation include selection of libraries of recombinant antibodies in phage or similar vectors . see , huse et al . ( 1989 ) science 246 : 1275 - 1281 ; and ward , et al . ( 1989 ) nature 341 : 544 - 546 . additional details on antibody production and engineering techniques can be found in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 482 , 856 , borrebaeck ( ed ) ( 1995 ) antibody engineering , 2nd edition freeman and company , ny ( borrebaeck ); mccafferty et al . ( 1996 ) antibody engineering , a practical approach irl at oxford press , oxford , england ( mccafferty ), paul ( 1995 ) antibody engineering protocols humana press , towata , n . j . ( paul ), ostberg et al . ( 1983 ) hybridoma 2 : 361 - 367 , ostberg , u . s . pat . no . 4 , 634 , 664 , and engelman et al . u . s . pat . no . 4 , 634 , 666 . specific monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies and antisera will usually bind with a kd of at least about 0 . 1 μm , preferably at least about 0 . 01 μm or better , and most typically and preferably , 0 . 001 μm or better . in practicing the present invention , many conventional techniques in molecular biology , microbiology , and recombinant dna technology are optionally used . these techniques are well known and are explained in , for example , berger and kimmel , guide to molecular cloning techniques , methods in enzymology volume 152 academic press , inc ., san diego , calif . ; sambrook et al ., molecular cloning — a laboratory manual ( 3rd ed . ), vol . 1 - 3 , cold spring harbor laboratory , cold spring harbor , n . y ., 2000 and current protocols in molecular biology , f . m . ausubel et al ., eds ., current protocols , a joint venture between greene publishing associates , inc . and john wiley & amp ; sons , inc ., ( supplemented through 2007 ). other useful references , e . g . for cell isolation and culture include freshney ( 1994 ) culture of animal cells , a manual of basic technique , third edition , wiley - liss , new york and the references cited therein ; payne et al . ( 1992 ) plant cell and tissue culture in liquid systems john wiley & amp ; sons , inc . new york , n . y . ; gamborg and phillips ( eds .) ( 1995 ) plant cell , tissue and organ culture ; fundamental methods springer lab manual , springer - verlag ( berlin heidelberg new york ) and atlas and parks ( eds .) the handbook of microbiological media ( 1993 ) crc press , boca raton , fla . methods of making nucleic acids ( e . g ., by in vitro amplification , purification from cells , or chemical synthesis ), methods for manipulating nucleic acids ( e . g ., site - directed mutagenesis , by restriction enzyme digestion , ligation , etc . ), and various vectors , cell lines and the like useful in manipulating and making nucleic acids are described in the above references . in addition , essentially any polynucleotide can be custom or standard ordered from any of a variety of commercial sources . in addition to other references noted herein , a variety of purification / protein purification methods are well known in the art , including , e . g ., those set forth in r . scopes , protein purification , springer - verlag , n . y . ( 1982 ); deutscher , methods in enzymology vol . 182 : guide to protein purification , academic press , inc . n . y . ( 1990 ); sandana ( 1997 ) bioseparation of proteins , academic press , inc . ; bollag et al . ( 1996 ) protein methods , 2nd edition wiley - liss , ny ; walker ( 1996 ) the protein protocols handbook humana press , n . j . ; harris and angal ( 1990 ) protein purification applications : a practical approach irl press at oxford , oxford , england ; harris and angal protein purification methods : a practical approach irl press at oxford , oxford , england ; scopes ( 1993 ) protein purification : principles and practice 3rd edition springer verlag , ny ; janson and ryden ( 1998 ) protein purification : principles , high resolution methods and applications , second edition wiley - vch , ny ; and walker ( 1998 ) protein protocols on cd - rom humana press , n . j . ; and the references cited therein . it is understood that the examples and embodiments described herein are for illustrative purposes only and that various modifications or changes in light thereof will be suggested to persons skilled in the art and are to be included within the spirit and purview of this application and scope of the appended claims . accordingly , the following examples are offered to illustrate , but not to limit , the claimed invention . lung cancer serum samples used for the study were from patients diagnosed with lung cancer of non - small cell or small cell carcinoma lineages . patient sera were examined alongside age - matched healthy control sera . sera examined were from both male and female patients / volunteers . lung cancer sera were obtained from fox chase , cancer center , philadelphia , usa . breast cancer patient sera were received from prof . john robertson ( breast surgery unit , nottingham city hospital ). an affinity resin was prepared using mouse anti - human haptoglobin hg36 clone ( h6395 sigma - aldrich ). igg was purified using a 1 ml hitrap protein g column ( pharmacia ) as previously described ( arnold j . n . et al .). the purified igg ( 1 mg ) was dialyzed into 0 . 1m nahco 3 , 0 . 5m nacl , ph8 . 3 . an affinity resin was prepared using 0 . 29 g of cyanogen bromide activated sepharose 4b ( sigma - aldrich c9142 ) per ml of hydrated resin which was hydrated with 50 ml of 1 mm hcl for 15 min at rt . the hcl was filtered off and the 1 ml of moist resin cake was added to the dialyzed anti - haptoglobin igg ( 0 . 5 mg / ml ). this was stirred by slow rotation for 2 h at rt . the resin was washed with 20 ml of 0 . 1m tris , 140 mm nacl , ph8 . 0 and brought up in 30 ml of wash buffer and mixed by rotating for 2 h at rt to block any remaining active sites . the resin was then equilibrated in pbs - 0 . 5 mm edta for storage . haptoglobin was purified from 20 μl of serum diluted to 1 ml with 10 mm hepes , 1m nacl , 5 mm edta , ph 7 . 4 . this was then incubated with 10 μl ( packed volume ) of anti - haptoglobin - sepharose resin and left at 4 ° c . for 1 hour at slow rotation for binding . the resin was removed through centrifugation at 1000 × g , and washed twice by resuspension in 1 ml of dilution buffer followed by centrifugation as before . the pellet was dissolved in 5 μl laemmli buffer ( laemmli . et al .) and 5 μl dtt ( 0 . 5m ) and incubated for 5 mins at 70 ° c . before being loaded directly onto a 4 - 12 % bis - tris gel ( invitrogen , us ) for sds page analysis . resolved proteins were visualised using coomassie blue stain . serum glycans were released from serum samples ( 10 μl ) using the in - gel block method described by royle et al ., ( royle l . et al . ( 2006 ) methods mol biol , 347 , 125 - 143 , royle l et al . ( 2008 ) analytical biochem , 376 , 1 - 12 ) or protein bands were excised from sds page . the n - linked glycans were released using the in - gel n - glycan release using peptide n - glycanase f ( 1000 units / ml ; glycopeptidase , ec 3 . 5 . 1 . 52 ) as described previously ( bigge , j . c . et al . ( 1995 ) anal biochem , 230 , 229 - 238 , kuster b . et al . anal biochem 1997 ; 250 : 82 - 101 ). released glycans were labelled by reductive amination with the fluorophore 2ab ( bigge , j . c . et al . ( 1995 ) anal biochem , 230 , 229 - 238 ), using a ludger tag ™ 2ab glycan labelling kit ( ludger ltd , oxford , uk ). labelled glycans were separated on np - hplc ( guile g . r . anal biochem 1996 ; 240 : 210 - 26 ) and weak anion exchange ( wax ) hplc . glycan profiles from np - hplc were calibrated against a dextran ladder prepared from hydrolyzed and 2ab - labelled glucose oligomers ( guile g . r . anal biochem 1996 ; 240 : 210 - 26 ). glycans were assigned glucose units ( gu ) values and glycan structure / composition was predicted by reference to a glycan database ( glycobase http :// glycobase . ucd . ie / cgi - bin / public / glycobase . cgi ). peak areas were established blind of the il data to ensure fairness of test . wax hplc was conducted as described by zamze et al . ( zamze s . et al . eur j biochem 1998 ; 258 : 243 - 70 ) using a vydac 301vhp575 7 . 5 × 50 - mm weak anion exchange column ( hichrom , berkshire , u . k .). exoglycosidases were used to confirm the structures of glycans present in the preparations in conjunction with np - hplc ( radcliffe c . m . et al . j biol chem 2002 ; 277 : 46415 - 23 ). enzymes were used at the manufacturers &# 39 ; recommended concentrations and digests were carried out using 50 mm sodium acetate buffer , ph 5 . 5 for 16 hours at 37 ° c . enzymes were supplied by glyko inc ( upper heyford , uk ); arthobacter ureafaciens sialidase ( abs , ec3 . 2 . 1 . 18 ) 1 - 2 u / ml ; almond meal α - fucosidase ( amf , ec 3 . 2 . 1 . 51 ), 3 mu / ml ; bovine testis β - galactosidase ( btg , ec 3 . 2 . 1 . 23 ), 1 u / ml ; jack bean α - mannosidase ( jbm , ec 3 . 2 . 1 . 24 ), 100 mu / ml ; bovine kidney fucosidase ( bkf ) ( ec 3 . 2 . 1 . 51 ) 100 u / ml . two serum samples from patients with stage 4 lung cancer and two stage 4 breast cancer patients , identified to have elevated tri - and tetra - antennary structure and α1 , 3 fucose based on the serum glycosylation profiles , were analysed alongside control sera identified to have glycan profiles within normal ranges . the cytokine quantification was carried out as a service by endogen searchlight ™ ( pierce biotechnology , www . endogen . com ). pooled human serum came from citrated plasma ( hds supplies , high wycombe , uk ) as described ( arnold j n , et al . j biol chem 2005 ; 280 : 29080 - 7 ), the dilution of the citrate was corrected in the final il level . for cluster analysis of immunochemical parameters investigated , the modified method of cluster analysis ( cluster — statistica 5 . 0 , statsoft inc ., usa ) through series of individual parameters was used . the joining tree clustering was carried out from the dataset of correlative measures of second order ( r ). correlation coefficients were introduced to cluster analysis by using chebyshev &# 39 ; s distances as a measure of relatedness to exclude the negative meaning of r ( s ): the value s can be considered as a measure of distance between the vectors and a measure of interrelations between immunochemical parameters investigated . in this case , the highest value of s is the smallest . in dendogram plots , the clusters of parameters are separated by levels of linkage ( by method of average links of suspended grouping ). such clustering reflects the relatedness of certain parameters inside the whole spectrum of chemokines and cytokines involved in the study . the shapiro - wilk w test was carried out to determine normality of data distribution in each group . a two - tailed mann - whitney u - test was used for comparison of data between non - normally distributed groups , and student &# 39 ; s two - tailed t - test for independent groups was applied in cases of normal distribution . spearman &# 39 ; s rank correlation and pearson &# 39 ; s correlation were applied for appropriate correlation analyses . statistics were performed using “ analyse - it clinical laboratory module ” ( analyse - it software ltd ., uk ) and “ statistica - 99 edition ” ( statsoft inc ., usa ) software . regression analysis was performed in excel . np - and wax hplc , combined with exoglycosidase digestion , of the total serum n - linked glycome from lung cancer patients and healthy controls was carried out to identify and quantitate glycosylation changes ( fig1 ). the stage 4 lung cancer patients ( n = 12 ) had on average a statistically significant 15 % increase in tri - and tetra - sialylated structures ( p & gt ; 0 . 05 ) and a 58 % increase in α1 , 3 fucose ( p & gt ; 0 . 005 ) compared to healthy volunteers . the tri - and tetra - sialylated antennary glycans with α1 , 3 linked fucose predominantly elute at gu & gt ; 10 . 65 on np - hplc ( royle l . et al . ( 2006 ) methods mol biol , 347 , 125 - 143 , royle l et al . ( 2008 ) analytical biochem , 376 , 1 - 12 .) ( fig1 highlighted area ). the hplc peak areas of sugars eluting with gu values & gt ; 10 . 65 in the stage 4 cancer patients were increased on average 36 % compared to the control population ( fig2 ) ( p & lt ; 0 . 012 , t = 2 . 91 , df = 13 ). using exoglycosidase digestions , preliminary assignments were confirmed ( fig2 ). the stage 4 lung cancer patients ( n = 4 ) had on average a statistically significant 32 % increase in sialylated tri - and tetra - antennary structures ( p & lt ; 0 . 001 , t = 4 . 21 , df = 13 ) and a 76 % increase in α1 , 3 fucose ( p & lt ; 0 . 005 , t = 3 . 33 , df = 13 ). the stage 3 lung cancer patients ( n = 7 ) had no significant alterations in the level of sialylation , branching or α1 , 3 fucose compared to the healthy controls . the individual spread of the data between the groups had considerable overlap , these make differentiation of individual samples solely based on these glycosylation changes difficult ( fig2 ). haptoglobin , which circulates at approximately 1 - 2 mg / ml in the serum , was isolated from stage 4 lung cancer patients ( n = 4 ) and age matched controls ( n = 4 ) ( fig3 ) and the n - linked glycans of the beta chain were released ( fig4 ). this was carried out to demonstrate that the glycosylation changes identified in the stage 4 lung cancer set were not solely the result of an increase in the level of the acute phase proteins , but a shift in the glycoform population attached to these proteins . the haptoglobin glycan pool , on average , had a 32 % increase in glycan structures with gu values & gt ; 10 . 65 ( fig2 b and 4 ) ( p & gt ; 0 . 331 , t = 1 . 06 , df = β ). when the glycan pool was analysed for the level of α1 , 3 fucose attached to haptoglobin of the patient group presented a 120 % increase compared to the control group ( p & gt ; 0 . 111 , t = 1 . 87 , df = β ). due to the small sample set the data did not reach statistical significance , however , these data demonstrated a shift in the glycoform population of the haptoglobin in serum of cancer patients ( fig2 ). this study identified that in lung cancer some stage 4 patients have increases in their serum levels of sialylated tri - and tetra - antennary structures with or without α1 , 3 fucose residues . sera of patients ( n = 4 ) and controls ( n = 4 ) were screened for a panel of cytokines . large variations of cytokine levels were observed between individuals . on average the cancer patients presented higher levels of the pro - inflammatory cytokines ( fig5 ). also the t h 2 cytokines il - 4 and il - 10 levels were on average modestly increased in the patients . sil - 6r , the soluble form of the il - βr , was reduced in patient serum . the reduction of sil - 6r was statistically significant ( p & lt ; 0 . 027 , t = 2 . 91 , df = β ). the other marker of inflammation , crp , was on average modestly increased in the patient group . a different statistically significant set of correlations ( p & lt ; 0 . 05 ) was identified between the expression levels of individual cytokines in the serum of the patient and control group ( table 1 ). cluster analysis was used to characterize the overall interplay ( or relatedness ) between the individual cytokine levels within both groups . the analysis identified a strong linkage between the pro - inflammatory cytokines in the patient group , while there was almost no linkage between the inflammatory cytokines in the control ( fig6 ). interestingly , in the patient group , the t h 2 cytokines il - 4 and il - 10 and the chemokine mcp - 1 were related to the pro - inflammatory cytokines , where the t h 2 cytokines il - 10 and il - 4 were closely linked within the pro - inflammatory cytokine cluster ( fig6 ). these data indicate that the interplay of cytokines is different between the control and the stage 4 cancer set . the cytokine levels and the cluster profile of the cancer patient cytokine data reflects an inflammatory state in the stage 4 cancer patients ( fig5 and 6 ). this study also indicates additional cytokine candidates that may modulate the glycosylation changes in cancer . table 1 presents the analysis to identify correlations between individual cytokines ( n = 4 ) for a ) healthy controls and b ) stage 4 cancer patients . boxed are the statistically significant correlations ( p & lt ; 0 . 05 ). also shown are the correlation coefficients , which were used to carry out the cluster analysis . the chemokines mcp - 1 , mip - 1α and rantes are also known as ccl2 , ccl3 and ccl5 . the cytokine data from the stage 4 cancer patients and their controls was analysed against the glycosylation data to identify any significant correlations . the percentage of glycan structures with gu values & gt ; 10 . 65 ( where predominantly sialylated tri - and tetra - antennary structures with or without α1 , 3 fucose elute ) did not correlate with any of the cytokines analysed . a statistically significant positive correlation ( rs = 0 . 82 , p & lt ; 0 . 004 ) was identified between crp and the total percentage of glycans with gu values & gt ; 10 . 65 ( fig7 a ). crp did not correlate with the level of tri - and tetra - antennary structures ( r = 0 . 61 , p & lt ; 0 . 063 ), but did correlate with the level of α1 , 3 fucose ( r = 0 . 78 , p & lt ; 0 . 008 ). the patient crp concentrations , when analysed separately from the controls had an almost perfect linear arrangement when correlated with the gu values & gt ; 10 . 65 ( pearson &# 39 ; s correlation r = 1 , p & lt ; 0 . 0001 ) ( fig7 b ). the controls when analysed separately did not show a statistically significant correlation with crp ( r = 0 . 94 , p & gt ; 0 . 056 ). using a lung cancer sample set and healthy controls , fully quantitated glycan analysis using hplc separation of released glycans from both the serum glycome and from isolated haptoglobin is presented . increases in sialylated tri - and tetra - antennary structures with α1 , 3 linked fucose were identified in the serum n - linked glycome from stage 4 lung cancer patients ( n = 12 ). two stage 4 lung cancer sera and two stage 4 breast cancer sera were also screened for an array of cytokines . this was performed to identify correlations between the glycosylation data and the cytokine data to identify potential markers and further candidate cytokines which could influence glycosylation in cancer / chronic inflammation . the cytokine data demonstrated , as predicted , that serum from cancer patients contained inflammatory markers . the glycosylation data did not correlate with the cytokine data obtained . however , the percentage of multi - antennary larger glycan structures with gu values & gt ; 10 . 65 had a statistically significant correlation with serum crp . the serum glycome ( 117 unique structures ) has been fully characterised previously using hplc data in combination with mass spectrometry analysis ( royle l . et al . ( 2006 ) methods mol biol , 347 , 125 - 143 , royle l et al . ( 2008 ) analytical biochem , 376 , 1 - 12 ). the glycosylation changes in a lung cancer sample set were quantitated . in stage 4 lung cancer , a significant increase in α1 , 3 fucose and sialylated tri - and tetra - antennary structures was identified ( fig2 ). consistent with these findings , the serum glycome showed an increase in the glycan structures with gu values & gt ; 10 . 65 ( fig2 ). these are predominantly sialylated tri - and tetra - antennary glycans with or without α1 , 3 fucose ( fig1 and 2 ) ( royle l . et al . ( 2006 ) methods mol biol , 347 , 125 - 143 , royle l et al . ( 2008 ) analytical biochem , 376 , 1 - 12 ). the n - linked glycans of isolated haptoglobin ( fig4 ) demonstrated that the changes identified at the serum glycome level were , in part , caused by shifts in the glycoform population and not solely increases in the serum concentrations of the acute phase proteins ( fig2 b ). in agreement with these results , 68 % of the haptoglobin isolated from stage 3 and stage 4 pancreatic cancer patients was also found to have statistically elevated fucosylation . analysis of the cytokine data in cancer versus control and its correlation with glycosylation changes in cancer serum from four stage 4 cancer patients and four healthy controls was analysed for a selection of cytokines to identify cytokines that may be implicated in alterations to the serum n - linked glycome . an average increase was identified in the pro - inflammatory cytokines in the cancer patients ( fig5 ). the control group showed minimal linkage between the cytokines ( fig6 ), however , the cancer group had a strong linkage between pro - inflammatory cytokines ( fig6 ). taken together the cytokine data indicate that the stage 4 lung cancer patients are generate an inflammatory response as a result of the tumour . il - 1 , il - 6 and tnf - a have shown to stimulate hepatocytes to secrete the acute phase proteins ( fig8 ). serum il - 1 and tnf - a were on average modestly increased in the cancer group ( fig5 ). in the ncl - h292 carcinoma cell line , tnf - α increases the selective expression of the st3gaiiv , fut3 and c2 / c4 glcnac transferases ( which forms tri - and tetra - antennary structures ) ( ishibashi y . et al .). there was a significant correlation between il - 8 and il1β ( r = 0 . 97 , p & lt ; 0 . 026 ) ( table i ), consistent with previous findings which have demonstrated that il1β induces transcriptional activation of the il - 8 gene . the biological activity of il - 6 is mediated through two membrane bound proteins , a unique low affinity binding receptor il - βr and the high affinity receptor gp130 . il - βr acts as an agonist to il - β . il - 6 complexed with silβr can activate cells by binding to the cell surface receptor gp130 . soluble forms of the cytokine receptors are found in vivo because of alternative splicing of the mrna and as a result of proteolysis ( shedding ) of the membrane bound receptor . in several conditions such as hiv infection multiple myeloma , juvenile arthritis , crohn &# 39 ; s disease and ulcerative colitis elevated levels of sil - 6r have been observed . silβr has been implicated in the modulation of the liver response in acute and chronic infection by increasing the production of the acute phase proteins α1 - anti - chymotrypsin and haptoglobin through promotion of the hepatocyte response to il - 6 in a dose and time dependent manner . the levels of free sil - 6r in the cancer group were reduced ( p & lt ; 0 . 027 ) ( fig5 ). the assay used to detect sil - 6r utilises an antibody raised against free sil - 6r and as such is unlikely to detect sil - 6r in complex with il - 6 . in the inflammatory response the serum levels of il - 6 increase , this will result in higher levels of il - 6 in complex with sil - βr , lowering the amount of free sil - 6r in the serum ( fig7 a ). it was demonstrated that sil - 6r had a statistically significant correlation with the anti - inflammatory cytokine il - 4 ( r = 0 . 98 , p & lt ; 0 . 016 ) in the control group and correlated with the pro - inflammatory cytokine il - 1α in the patient group ( r = 0 . 97 , p & lt ; 0 . 029 ), these two associations of cytokine with sil - 6r are closely related on the cluster diagram respectively , possibly suggesting a degree of sil - 6r modulation by these cytokines ( fig6 ). il - 4 inhibits the induction of some cytokine - induced acute phase proteins from hepatocytes as does egf . the data suggest that il - 4 is increased in the cancer group ( fig4 ) and is also linked with the pro - inflammatory cytokines modulating the inflammatory response ( fig6 and 8 ). there is a significant correlation between the anti - inflammatory cytokines il - 10 and il - 4 in the cancer group ( rs = 0 . 95 , p & lt ; 0 . 005 ) and a strong linkage on the cluster analysis ( fig6 and table 1 ). these data suggest that the alterations of these cytokines are closely related and may be modulating each other . there was no statistically significant correlation between any of the cytokines and the glycosylation data . the cytokine data are not directly linked to the glycosylation data , possibly because of the cross - modulating ( combined ) effects of these molecules . the glycosylation changes in inflammation arise from several cytokines , having both effecter functions individually and in cohort ( fig8 ). inflammatory marker crp correlates with the percentage of serum n - linked glycans with gu values & gt ; 10 . 65 a significant correlation was identified between crp and the percentage of structures with gu values & gt ; 10 . 65 ( p & lt ; 0 . 004 ) and percentage α1 , 3 fucose ( p & lt ; 0 . 008 ), but not the level of tri - and tetra - antennary structures . crp is a non - specific serum marker for inflammation . crp levels above baseline have been linked to a risk of developing colon cancer , but not rectal or prostate . crp is not present in the serum without an inflammatory response , and is only expressed in the liver during inflammation . when analysing crp for linkage to the inflammatory cytokines it was demonstrated that in the patient group crp was not linked to the pro - inflammatory cytokines ( fig6 ). the serum concentration of crp is a down - stream result of multiple cytokines acting in combination to elicit a refined acute phase response . for example , il - 4 has been demonstrated to be able to down regulate the production of crp but not fibrinogen or α1 - anti - trypsin and can inhibit il - 6 induced expression of haptoglobin but not crp . il - 8 was highly related to the pro - inflammatory cytokines in the patient group ( fig6 ), and has previously been demonstrated to promote the production of crp from hepatocytes ( wigmore s . j . et al . am j physiol 1997 ; 273 : 720 - β ). the correlation of crp and percentage of structures with gu values & gt ; 10 . 65 correlated in an almost perfect linear arrangement when analysed as the patient group separately ( r = 1 , p & lt ; 0 . 0001 ). the control group showed no correlation when analysed alone ( r = 0 . 94 , p & gt ; 0 . 056 ). these data demonstrate that ‘ long term ’ chronic inflammation results in a pronounced alteration in the serum glycoform population . in conclusion , the serum n - linked glycosylation changes in a lung cancer group have been identified using quantitative np - hplc and wax methods . the serum samples were screened for a panel of cytokines and it was demonstrated that the serum glycosylation changes in cancer relate to an inflammatory state of the serum based upon cytokine analysis . using the quantitative aspect of the glycosylation analysis method employed in this study , it was attempted to correlate the glycosylation data to serum cytokine levels . the n - linked glycosylation changes in cancer do not correlate with the serum level of any single cytokine analysed in the panel , however , the percentage of glycans with gu values & gt ; 10 . 65 surprisingly correlated with the level of serum inflammation marker crp ( fig7 a ). this correlation is almost perfectly linear when analysed as the patient group alone ( fig7 b ), suggesting that the glycosylation changes ( specifically percentage of glycan structures with gu levels & gt ; 10 . 65 ) seen in cancer patients may be directly linked to the inflammatory state of the patient . the glycosylation changes are specific to chronic inflammation , such as in cancer ( fig2 ). serum crp levels do not discriminate between chronic and acute inflammation , demonstrated in the absence of a correlation between crp and the serum glycans with gu & gt ; 10 . 65 in the control group . this suggests that the analysis of glycosylation changes such as percentage of glycans with gu values & gt ; 10 . 65 may represent a more specific cancer diagnostic than crp . serum were obtained from cancer - free female controls ( n = 19 ) and advanced breast cancer patients ( n = 18 ) in the breast surgery unit , nottingham city hospital with informed consent prior to sample collection . the average age for the cancer - free women was 42 ± 13 years , compared with 63 ± 13 years for the breast cancer patients . from the same sample bank , we received four serum samples from patient a for a longitudinal study . an additional pooled control comprising of serum from over 30 individuals was obtained from the national health service ( nhs ) as analysed in royle et al . ( royle l . et al . ( 2006 ) methods mol biol , 347 , 125 - 143 , royle l et al . ( 2008 ) analytical biochem , 376 , 1 - 12 ). serum samples ( 5 ul ) were subjected to the in - gel block method as previously described ( royle l . et al . ( 2006 ) methods mol biol , 347 , 125 - 143 ). briefly , n - glycans were released from serum gel blocks or protein spots excised from 2d gels of serum by pngasef digestion ( 100 u / ml , ec 3 . 5 . 1 . 52 , roche diagnostics gmbh , mannheim , germany ) carried out at 37 ° c . for 18 hours . the extracted glycan pool was then subjected to 2ab fluorescent labelling using the ludger tag ™ 2ab kit ( ludger ltd , oxford , uk ). the labelled n - glycans were subsequently analysed by normal phase ( np ) hplc using a tsk gel amide - 80 column with a 20 - 58 % gradient of 50 mm ammonium formate ph 4 . 4 vs acetonitrile . the system was calibrated using an external standard of hydrolysed and 2ab - labelled glucose oligomers which forms a dextran ladder . weak anion exchange ( wax ) hplc analysis of the n - glycans was carried out using a vydac 301vhp575 7 . 5 × 50 mm column ( royle l . et al . ( 2006 ) methods mol biol , 347 , 125 - 143 ). positive ion maldi - tof mass spectra were recorded with a micromass tofspec 2e reflectron — tof mass spectrometer ( micromass , manchester , united kingdom ) fitted with delayed extraction and a nitrogen laser ( 337 nm ). the acceleration voltage was 20 kv ; the pulse voltage was 3200 v ; the delay for the delayed extraction ion source was 500 ns . samples were prepared by adding 0 . 5 μl of an aqueous solution of unlabelled glycans to the matrix solution ( 0 . 3 ml of a saturated solution of 2 , 5 - dihydroxybenzoic acid in acetonitrile ) on the stainless steel target plate and allowed to dry at room temperature . the sample / matrix mixture was then recrystallized from ethanol ( harvey , d . j ., nat methods , 2007 ). nano - electrospray mass spectrometry was performed with a waters - micromass quadrupole - time - of - flight ( q - tof ) ultima global instrument . unlabelled glycan samples in 1 : 1 ( v : v ) methanol : water containing 0 . 5 mm ammonium phosphate were infused through proxeon ( proxeon biosystems , odense , denmark ) nanospray capillaries . the ion source conditions were : temperature , 120 ° c . ; nitrogen flow 50 l / hour ; infusion needle potential , 1 . 2 kv ; cone voltage 100 v ; rf - 1 voltage 150 v . spectra ( 2 sec scans ) were acquired with a digitization rate of 4 ghz and accumulated until a satisfactory signal : noise ratio had been obtained . for ms / ms data acquisition , the parent ion was selected at low resolution ( about 4 m / z mass window ) to allow transmission of isotope peaks and fragmented with argon . the voltage on the collision cell was adjusted with mass and charge to give an even distribution of fragment ions across the mass scale . typical values were 80 - 120 v . n - glycan structures were assigned glucose units ( gu ) by comparison to the retention time of a standard dextran ladder . further sequencing and structure confirmation was based on sequential exoglycosidase digestions followed by np hplc ( royle l . et al . 2006 ). labelled glycans were digested with an array of enzymes at manufacturer &# 39 ; s recommended concentrations in 50 mm sodium acetate buffer ph 5 . 5 ( or 100 mm sodium acetate , 2 mm zn 2 + ph 5 . 0 for jbm digestion ) at 37 ° c . for 16 hours . the enzymes include arthrobacter ureafaciens sialidase ( abs , ec 3 . 2 . 1 . 18 ), bovine testis β - galactosidase ( btg , 3 . 2 . 1 . 23 ), streptococcus pneumoniae β - galactosidase ( spg , ec 3 . 2 . 1 . 23 ), almond meal α - fucosidase ( amf , ec 3 . 2 . 1 . 111 ), recombinant streptococcus pneumonia hexosaminidase ( guh , ec 3 . 2 . 1 . 30 ), and jack bean β - n - acetylhexosaminidase ( jbh , ec 3 . 2 . 1 . 30 ) purchased from prozyme ( san leandro , calif ., usa ) and glyko ( novato , calif ., usa ). 2d separation of the pooled control and breast cancer patient serum sample was carried out in duplicates for both anti - sle x blotting and fluorescent staining . 80 ug of serum was used per gel based on the protein concentration determined by using the bicinchoninic acid ( bca ) assay method of smith et al . ( smith p . k . et al . anal biochem , 1985 . 150 ( 1 ): p . 76 - 85 ). each aliquot of serum was mixed with 5 m urea , 2 m thiourea , 4 % ( w / v ) 3 -[( 3 - cholamidopropyl ) dimethylammonio ]- 1 - propanesulfonate ( chaps ), 65 mm dithiothreitol ( dtt ), 2 mm tributyl phosphine ( tbp ), 150 mm ndsb - 256 ( dimethylbenzylammonium propane sulfonate , non - detergent sulfobetaine - 256 — ndsb - 256 , merck biosciences nottingham , uk ) and 0 . 002 % ( w / v ) bromophenol blue , 0 . 45 % ( v / v ) of ph 2 - 4 carrier ampholytes ( servalyt ® serva , heidelberg , germany ), 0 . 45 % ( v / v ) of ph 9 - 11 carrier ampholytes and 0 . 9 % ( v / v ) of ph 3 - 10 carrier ampholytes for a total volume of 120 μl per gel and transferred into reswelling trays . immobiline ® ipg drystrip ph 3 - 10 nl , 7 cm ( amersham biosciences ) were placed face down onto the samples , covered with 1 ml of mineral oil and left overnight at room temperature to allow rehydration ( sanchez , j . c . et al . ( 1997 ) electrophoresis , 18 , 324 - 327 ). following this , the strips were transferred to the multiphor ii with the gel facing upwards and damp wicks placed on both ends . ief was carried out at 300 v for 1 minute , 3500v for 90 minutes and then another 100 minutes at 3500 ( sanchez , j . c . et al . ( 1997 ) electrophoresis , 18 , 324 - 327 ). the ipg strips were then immediately equilibrated for 15 min in 4m urea , 2 mm thiourea , 12 mm dtt , 50 mm tris ( ph 6 . 8 ), 2 % ( w / v ) sds , 30 % ( w / v ) glycerol at room temperature and placed on top of the second dimension 4 - 12 % bis - tris zoom ™ ( invitrogen ) gels embedded in 0 . 5 % melted agarose . second dimension electrophoresis was carried out at 125v for 2 hours . a gel from each sample was fixed in 40 % ( v / v ) ethanol , 10 % ( v / v ) acetic acid overnight and stained with the fluorescent dye ogt 1238 ( oxford glycosciences , abingdon , uk ) according to hassner et al . ( hassner a . ( 1984 ) synthesis . j org chem , 49 , 2546 - 2551 ). 8 - bit monochrome fluorescent images were captured at using a fujiccdc camera las — 1000 plus ( tokyo , japan ). n - glycan release , peptide extraction , lc - ms / ms and data analysis for protein identification protein features assigned to mass spectrometric analysis were excised manually . the recovered gel pieces were reduced with 0 . 5m dtt at 65 ° c . for 20 minutes followed by a 30 minute incubation in 100 mm iaa and an overnight digestion with pngasef to cleave the n - glycans , as described earlier . following glycan extraction , the gel pieces were dried in a speedvac , and in - gel trypsin ( roche . basel , switzerland ) digestion was carried according to the protocol of shevchenko et al . ( shevchenko a . et al . proc natl acad sci usa , 1996 . 93 ( 25 ): p . 14440 - 5 ). the tryptic peptides were analyzed by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry ( lc - ms / ms ) as previously described ( garcia , a . et al . proteomics , 2004 . 4 ( 3 ): p . 656 - 68 ). proteins from 2d gels of 80 μg total serum proteins described previously were transferred to a nitrocellulose membrane by western blotting . membranes were blocked with 0 . 2 % i - block ( tropix ) in pbst for 1 hour at room temperature before an overnight incubation in 5 ug / ml km93 ( calbiochem ) in 0 . 02 % blocking solution at 4 ° c . membranes were washed with 0 . 5 % pbst before 1 hour incubation with 0 . 5 pg / ml anti - mouse igm ( sigma aldrich ). the blots were developed using chemiluminescent detection system ( ecl plus amersham ). n - linked glycans from total serum glycoproteins of advanced breast cancer patients ( n = 19 ) and cancer - free controls ( n = 18 ) were analysed by np and wax hplc in combination with sequential digestion using an array of exoglycosidases and ms . 117 n - glycans were previously identified in control serum by these methods as described in royle et al . ( royle l . et al . ( 2006 ) methods mol biol , 347 , 125 - 143 , royle l et al . ( 2008 ) analytical biochem , 376 , 1 - 12 ) and harvey et al . ( harvey d . j . 2007 ). a comparison between breast cancer and control serum proteins n - glycans showed the breast cancer n - glycans to have increased amounts of outer arm fucosylation with the fucose α1 , 3 linked to the terminal glcnac on the tri - sialylated tri - antennary structure with gu value of 10 . 75 ( a3fg3s3 ) ( fig9 a ). α1 , 3 linked fucose on the non - reducing terminus of a3g3s3 constitutes the sle x epitope , which is a ligand for e - selectin involved in leukocyte homing on endothelial cells . fractionation of the glycan pool based on total charge ( degree of sialylation ) by wax hplc followed by np hplc . this method enables detailed comparison of structures from each differently charged fraction ( with 0 - 4 sialic acid residues ) and as shown in fig9 b , highlights that the increase in the α1 , 3 fucosylated tri - antennary is in the tri - sialylated fraction . other n - glycosylation changes identified by hplc and ms in the patient sera are increased levels of the less abundant structures including α1 , 3 difucosylated tri - antennary , α1 , 3 mono and difucosylated tetra - antennary , tetra - antennary glycans with lactosamine extensions and increased α2 , 3 compared to α2 , 6 sialylation ( data not shown ). a set of exoglycosidase array digestions were performed to segregate and amplify the glycan structures , as well as to confirm specific linkages . following a combination of sialidase and β - galactosidase , we were able to isolate the increased α1 , 3 fucosylated tri - sialylated tri - antennary structure ( gu10 . 75 ) as it collapsed to form the α1 , 3 fucosylated monogalactosylated tri - antennary structure ( a3fg1 ) at gu7 . 5 ( fig1 a ). the presence of an outer arm fucose hinders the cleavage of the galactose that is linked to the same glcnac by the galactosidase , resulting in the product , a3fg1 . as the linkage of the outer arm fucose and galactose ( linked to the same glcnac ) determines whether it is a sialylated lewis x ( α1 , 3 fucose , β1 , 4 galactose ) or lewis a ( α - 1 , 4 fucose , α1 , 3 galactose ), it was crucial to distinguish the specific linkages of the glycan marker . therefore , a combination of both α1 , 3 / 4 fucosidase and β1 , 4 galactosidase digest was performed on the glycan pool and was found to digest the a3fg1 peak completely , confirming the terminal epitope as a sialylated lewis x . this was consistent with data obtained by ion fragmentation using nanospray - cid mass spectrometry ( data not shown ). isolation of the peak at gu7 . 5 was performed to specify which glcnac the α1 , 3 fucose was linked to . following a range of digestions , the glcnac which the fucose is linked to was shown to be the linked β1 , 4 to the tri - mannosyl core ( fig1 b ). the gu for this structure was confirmed by comparison with the known n - glycans of igg as a standard . the percentage areas of the a3fg1 were quantified and compared against the total n - glycan pool in all breast cancer patients and controls . as shown in fig1 , there was a marked increase of approximately 3 fold in the average for the advanced breast cancer ( 6 . 55 %± 3 . 02 ) compared to control ( 2 . 96 %± 1 . 65 ). to evaluate the potential of a3fg1 as an indicator of breast cancer progression , a longitudinal case study was performed on ten individual patients ( patient a ) where the levels of a3fg1 were plotted against ca 15 - 3 from serum collected at two time points during the malignancy , with the earlier sample taken when breast cancer was first diagnosed , and the later after metastasis was detected in each of them ( fig1 b ). a significant difference in the trends of both a3fg1 and ca 15 - 3 was observed in all ten patients . interestingly , we found the a3fg1 increased in all the second samples , clearly indicating breast cancer progression . this was in contradiction with the ca 15 - 3 levels which out of ten patients , only showed increase levels in four cases , while the other showed no significant increase and two cases even had reduced levels . this suggests that compared to the commonly measure ca 15 - 3 , the glycan marker a3fg1 , measured from whole serum of breast cancer patients , is more reliable in detecting disease progression and metastasis . total serum proteins from advanced breast cancer and controls were subjected to 2d electrophoresis ( pi 3 - 10 ) followed by western blotting using km93 , an antibody against the sialyl lewis x epitope . three glycoprotein spots were identified in the patient &# 39 ; s blot , which were not observed in the control ( fig1 a ). these spots were excised and subjected to n - gylcan release for glycan sequencing , followed by trypsin digestion for protein identification by lc - ms / ms . all three spots contained the a3fg3s3 structure ( data not shown ) and identified as ; i ) α1 antichymotrypsin , ii ) α1 acid glycoprotein and iii ) haptoglobin β - chain ( table 2 ). once we have established that these proteins contributed to the increase in a3fg1 seen in serum , we examined a3fg1 levels in them individually to determine if the level of glycans on each of them increased during advanced breast cancer . to determine this , we quantified a3fg1 from np hplc profiles of n - glycan released from 2d spots of α1 acid glycoprotein , α1 anti chymotrypsin and the most acidic spot of haptoglobinβ chain excised from 80 μg (− 1 . 5 μl ) of total serum protein of each of the three samples of an individual patient ( patient a ). the a3fg1 levels measured from n - glycan pools of these proteins were plotted alongside the a3fg1 quantfied from whole serum as well as ca 15 - 3 ( fig1 b ). the trends for a3fg1 of specific proteins were similar to that of a3fg1 from whole serum in the first two samples , but all the protein specific a3fg1 measurements increased in the third sample and this showed that these measurements are better indicators of metastasis than ca 15 - 3 and the glycan marker in whole serum . this result suggests that the evaluation of these a3fg1 - protein glycoforms could serve as an alternative for early detection of advanced breast malignancy . the serum n - linked glycan analysis was analysed by a combination of hplcs with computer aided data analysis and mass spectrometry ( ms ) ( royle l et al . ( 2008 ) analytical biochem , 376 , 1 - 12 ) techniques , from nine advanced breast cancer patients and ten female controls . the n - glycan profiles from both groups were compared and significant changes identified . a longitudinal case study was carried out to evaluate the possible correlation of the glycan changes with disease progression compared with the current clinical marker , ca 15 - 3 . combining glycan analysis with proteomics allowed the identification of glycoproteins which contributed to the altered glycosylation observed in breast cancer serum . by comparison with a standard serum glycome database and individual age - matched controls , breast cancer samples showed increased outer arm fucosylation , more specifically a tri - sialylated tri - antennary structure with an α1 - 3 linked fucose which forms the sialyl lewis x epitope . following a combination of sialidase and β - galactosidase digestion , its digestion product , a mono - galactosylated tri - antennary structure with an α1 - 3 linked fucose , was accurately quantified . patients also had elevated levels of agalactosylated fucosylated bi - antennary glycan compared to controls . alterations in the n - linked glycosylation in cancer as well as other diseases has gained a lot of research interest and has shown potential as disease markers and for immunotherapy of tumours . using robust and highly sensitive technology , the n - glycans of total serum proteins from breast cancer were analysed in search of aberrant structure ( s ) that could distinguish between breast cancer patients and controls . increased levels of tri - sialylated tri - antennary structures with α1 , 3 fucose , which forms the epitope sle x , were identified in patients compared to controls ( fig9 a ). this data indicates increased branching in breast cancer serum . the addition of glcnac to the tri - mannosyl core of complex n - linked structures is mediated by the enzyme gnt - v , whose transcription has been shown to be stimulated by oncogenes , including her - 2 / neu . synthesis of sle x is known to require sialylation to precede fucosylation of the internal glcnac residues by st3gal - iv and vi . these results suggest that there is increased activity of sialyltransferases ( st ) in breast cancer , as reported previously by measurements of the respective levels in patient serum and tissue , both of which correlated with disease progression . the main fucosyltransferase involved in the synthesis of sle x is the fuct vi , whose gene expression correlates with sle x expression on the surface of breast cancer cells ( matsuura n . et al . 1998 ). sle x expression on muc1 on breast cancer cell surface decreased in mary - x , the human scid model of inflammatory breast cancer , due to decreased level of α1 , 3 fucosyltransferase activity . this resulted in lack of binding to the surrounding endothelium , no electrostatic repulsion between cells and spheroid formation which also contributed to the overexpression of e - cadherin . all these effects were reversed by transfection with fuct - iii cdna . the nm23 - h1 suppressor gene has been reported to correlate inversely with sle x expression on breast cancer cells , influencing disease - free survival rates of patients . recently , the mechanism was explained by duan et al . who reported that nm23 - h1 downregulates the genes and protein expression of gnt - v , st and fuct resulting in reduced sle x expression and lower metastatic potential . the levels of the sle x glycan marker , in the form of a3fg1 , were quantified in all advanced breast cancer patients and controls ( fig1 ). the results indicate that breast cancer patients have on average a 3 - fold increased level of sle x in the serum compared to controls . also observed were increased sle x in the serum of advanced ovarian , lung , prostate cancer , as well as inflammatory conditions namely sepsis and pancreatitis . these results , taken together confirm that sle x present in the serum is not a marker for a specific malignancy or other disease condition in agreement with the conclusion that its expression level on cell surface also did not correlate with a specific disease . however , this glycan marker could be a useful indicator of breast cancer progression and metastases in individual patients . in the case study of patient a , the level of a3fg1 was found to be better than ca 15 - 3 in indicating metastasis . there have been various reports that support the usefulness of serum sle x evaluation in breast cancer . measurement of serum sle x was previously carried out by kurebayashi et al . using a radioimmunoassay ( ria ) kit fhβ - otsuka ( otsuka assay laboratory ) with a cutoff value of value 38 u / ml ( kurebayashi j . et al . jpn j clin oncol 2006 ; 36 : 150 - 3 ). in this study , sle x when used in combination with ca 15 - 3 , increased the number of detected cases to 78 . 5 %, compared to ca 15 - 3 on its own ( 61 . 5 %) or the combination of ca 15 - 3 with cea ( 72 . 3 %). similiarly , high serum sle x , predicts multilevel n2 stage and poor outcome of non - small cell lung cancer ( nsclc ) and has been suggested useful as a staging marker in this case . serum sle x also correlates with the soluble form of its ligand , e - selectin , in advanced and recurrent breast cancer . in order to understand the rationale behind the increased serum levels of sle x , it was crucial to determine the proteins carrying this structure . the acute phase proteins , α1 acid glycoprotein ( agp ), α1 antichymotrypsin ( act ) and haptoglobin β - chain ( hap ) have all been previously reported to carry complex glycan structures with the sle x epitope . the sle x glycan was identified directly from these proteins from breast cancer serum separated by 2d electrophoresis followed by immunoblotting and glycan analysis ( fig1 a ). agp is classified as a positive acute phase reactant and has 5 potential n - glycosylation sites , making it one of the most heavily glycosylated serum proteins . alterations of agp glycosylation is often observed together with two other acute phase proteins , α1 - protease inhibitor and act . agp glycosylation , particularly the degree of branching and fucosylation , have been associated with various cancers and inflammatory diseases and act as putative markers such as in fibrosis . duche et al . measured plasma agp concentrations in breast , lung and ovary cancer patients and showed increased levels in all cancer groups compared to controls . the genetic variants of agp appeared similar to that of controls , but expression levels were increased accordingly with its concentration ( duche , j . c ., et al . clin biochem , 2000 . 33 ( 3 ): p . 197 - 202 ). the biological role of agp in diseases focuses mainly on the sle x structure that it carries . its anti - inflammatory role involves high expression of sle x interfering with the selectin mediated endothelial - leukocyte adhesion when e - selectin expression is enhanced by pro - inflammatory cytokines . similiarly in cancers , high concentrations of agp carrying sle x results in a higher amount of binding to e - selectin on endothelial cells which competes with cell surface sle x . this supports the hypothesis that circulating sle x exerts a feedback inhibitory effect on the extravasation of cancer cells , resulting in a defense mechanism against metastasis . low levels of serum glycolipid sle x in colon cancer was also found to correlate with higher recurrence and shorter disease - free interval . the concept of inhibiting the sle x - e - selectin interaction for therapeutics design was employed by fukami et al . who showed that metastasis could be suppressed by using a macrospelide b , which blocks sle x binding to e - selectin ( fukami , a ., et al . biochem biophys res commun , 2002 . 291 ( 4 ): p . 1065 - 70 ). havenaar 1998 looked at agp α1 , 3 fucosylation in pregnant women and found that there was a steady increase in branching and decrease in fucosylation ( only up to week 25 ) which was similar to that observed in ra patients who went into remission during pregnancy , suggesting the influence of oestrogen on agp glycosylation ( havenaar ), probably by influencing the expression of cytokine genes which acts on the liver machinery . brinkman - van der linden 1998 also showed the effect of oestrogen in reducing sle x expression , contrast to the acute inflammation ( cid mc 1994 ). agp and act have been shown to be synthesised by human breast epithelial cells , and interestingly , had increased levels in mcf - 7 culture media . this suggests the possibility that both aberrant forms of agp and act might come from the breast tumour and not solely from the liver , as generally understood . this is also strengthened by the fact that the breast cancer cells express the required glycosyltransferases to produce altered glycoforms of agp and act . act , is also an estrogen - inducible gene , and its mrna expression was shown to predict early tumour recurrence in invasive breast cancer patients . venous blood samples were obtained from a ) healthy controls and patients undergoing treatment at st james &# 39 ; s university hospital in leeds , uk and b ) from healthy donors and melanoma patients participating in a research program of the institute of biochemistry , bucharest , following ethical approval and obtaining informed consent . after allowing the blood to clot for 30 - 60 minutes , serum was obtained by centrifugation at 2 , 000 g for 10 minutes and stored at − 80 ° c . until analysis . a ) for the initial pilot study , samples from 3 patients with advanced ovarian cancer were used ( patient a , stage iiic serous and endometrioid carcinoma prior to surgery ; patients b and c , stage iii serous carcinoma at the time of relapse with advanced disease ; age range 60 - 72 years ) and compared with a serum pool formed from five females of similar age ). for the screening of serum proteins carrying glycosylation changes pooled control serum formed from eight females of similar age was compared to pooled serum formed from three females with benign gynaecological conditions ( principally serous adenoma or cysts ); malignant ovarian cancer ( one serous and endometrioid carcinoma , one bilateral serous adenocarcinoma and one bilateral papillary adenocarcinoma ); and metastatic ovarian cancer ( two papillary serous adenocarcinoma , one serous carcinoma ). for the main part of the study , samples from a further 90 controls and patients with ovarian cancer , other gynaecological cancers or benign gynaecological conditions were used ( table 5 ). serum concentrations of crp were analysed using an advia 1650 analyser ( bayer , newbury , uk ) and ca125 using a centaur analyser ( bayer ). reference ranges were & lt ; 10 mg / l and & lt ; 35 u / ml . b ) for the study , the following patients with malignant melanoma have been used to compare with 3 healthy controls ( age range 35 - 52 years ): 4 patients with malignant melanoma , pigmented , invasion clark - 3 to clark - 4 ( 3 non - ulcerated , 1 ulcerated , age range 30 - 58 years ), 1 patient 6 months from surgery for a malignant melanoma tumour , posterior chest ( 36 years old ), 1 patient with abdominal dysplastic nevus , 0 . 8 mm / 0 . 2 mm diameter ( 47 years old ) and 1 patient with hyperpigmented malignant melanoma tumours , located on anterior chest and underclavicula ( 52 years old ). this patient had as previous tumour and underwent surgery and chemotherapy . fibrinogen was determined as clottable protein using the method described by swaim and feders ( swaim w . r . and feders , m . b . ( 1967 ) clin chem , 13 , 1026 - 1028 .). reference ranges were 200 - 400 ng / ml . release and purification of n - glycans from human serum in gel block n - glycans were released from glycoproteins in serum samples by in situ digestion with n - glycosidase f ( pngase f , roche , mannheim , germany ) a ) in sds — page gel bands as described earlier ( royle l . et al . ( 2006 ) methods mol biol , 347 , 125 - 143 ) or b ) in - gel blocks as described by royle et al . ( royle l et al . ( 2008 ) analytical biochem , 376 , 1 - 12 ). briefly , serum samples were reduced and alkylated , then set into sds - gel blocks , washed and n - glycan released by pngase f . glycans were fluorescently labelled with 2 - aminobenzamide ( 2ab ) by reductive amination ( bigge et al . 1995 ) ( ludgertag 2 - ab labeling kit ludger ltd ., abingdon , uk ). all enzymes were purchased from glyko ( novato , calif .) or new england biolabs ( hitchin , herts , uk ). the 2ab - labelled glycans were digested in a volume of 10 μl for 18 h at 37 ° c . in 50 mm sodium acetate buffer , ph 5 . 5 ( except in the case of jbm where the buffer was 100 mm sodium acetate , 2 mm zn 2 + , ph 5 . 0 ), using arrays of the following enzymes : abs — arthrobacter ureafaciens sialidase ( ec 3 . 2 . 1 . 18 ), 1 u / ml ; nan1 - streptococcus pneumoniae sialidase ( ec 3 . 2 . 1 . 18 ), 1 u / ml ; btg — bovine testes β - galactosidase ( ec 3 . 2 . 1 . 23 ), 1 u / ml ; spg — streptococcus pneumoniae β - galactosidase ( ec 3 . 2 . 1 . 23 ), 0 . 1 u / ml ; bkf — bovine kidney alpha - fucosidase ( ec 3 . 2 . 1 . 51 ), 1 u / ml ; guh - β - n - acetylglucosaminidase cloned from streptococcus pneumonia , expressed in e . coli ( ec 3 . 2 . 1 . 30 ), 4 u / ml ; jbm — jack bean α - mannosidase ( ec 3 . 2 . 1 . 24 ), 50 u / ml ; amf — almond meal alpha - fucosidase ( ec 3 . 2 . 1 . 111 ), 3 mu / ml , xmf — xanthomonus sp . alpha - fucosidase ( ec 3 . 2 . 1 . 51 . ), 0 . 1 u / ml . after incubation , enzymes were removed by filtration through a protein binding ez filters ( millipore corporation , beford , mass ., usa ) ( royle et al . 2006 ), the n - glycans were then analyzed by np - hplc and wax - hplc . np - hplc was performed using a tsk - gel amide - 80 4 . 6 × 250 mm column ( anachem , luton , uk ) on a 2695 alliance separations module ( waters , milford , mass .) equipped with a waters temperature control module and a waters 2475 fluorescence detector . solvent a was 50 mm formic acid adjusted to ph 4 . 4 with ammonia solution . solvent b was acetonitrile . the column temperature was set to 30 ° c . gradient conditions were a linear gradient of 26 - 52 % a , over 104 min at a flow rate of 0 . 4 ml / min . samples were injected in 74 % acetonitrile ( royle l et al . ( 2008 ) analytical biochem , 376 , 1 - 12 ). fluorescence was measured at 420 nm with excitation at 330 nm . the system was calibrated using an external standard of hydrolyzed and 2ab - labeled glucose oligomers to create a dextran ladder , as described previously ( royle l . et al . ( 2006 ) methods mol biol , 347 , 125 - 143 ). waxhplc was performed using a vydac 301vhp575 7 . 5 × 50 mm column ( anachem , luton , bedfordshire , uk ) as described ( royle l . et al . ( 2006 ) methods mol biol , 347 , 125 - 143 ). briefly , solvent a was 0 . 5 m ammonium formate ph 9 . solvent b was 10 % ( v / v ) methanol in water . gradient conditions were a linear gradient of 0 - 5 % a over 12 min at a flow rate of 1 ml / min , followed by 5 - 21 % a over 13 min , then 21 - 50 % a over 25 min , 80 - 100 % a over 5 min , then 5 min at 100 % a . samples were injected in water . positive ion maldi - tof mass spectra were recorded with a micromass tofspec 2e reflectron - tof mass spectrometer ( micromass , manchester , united kingdom ) fitted with delayed extraction and a nitrogen laser ( 337 nm ). the acceleration voltage was 20 kv ; the pulse voltage was 3200 v ; the delay for the delayed extraction ion source was 500 ns . samples were prepared by adding 0 . 5 ml of an aqueous solution of the sample to the matrix solution ( 0 . 3 ml of a saturated solution of 2 , 5 - dihydroxybenzoic acid in acetonitrile ) on the stainless steel target plate and allowing it to dry at room temperature . the sample / matrix mixture was then recrystallized from ethanol ( harvey , d . j . ( 1993 ) rapid commun mass spectrom , 7 , 614 - 619 ). nano - electrospray mass spectrometry was performed with a waters - micromass quadrupole - time - of - flight ( q - t of ) ultima global instrument . samples in 1 : 1 ( v : v ) methanol : water containing 0 . 5 mm ammonium phosphate were infused through proxeon ( proxeon biosystems , odense , denmark ) nanospray capillaries . the ion source conditions were : temperature , 120 ° c . ; nitrogen flow 50 l / hr ; infusion needle potential , 1 . 2 kv ; cone voltage 100 v ; rf - 1 voltage 150 v . spectra ( 2 sec scans ) were acquired with a digitization rate of 4 ghz and accumulated until a satisfactory signal : noise ratio had been obtained . for ms / ms data acquisition , the parent ion was selected at low resolution ( about 4 m / z mass window ) to allow transmission of isotope peaks and fragmented with argon . the voltage on the collision cell was adjusted with mass and charge to give an even distribution of fragment ions across the mass scale . typical values were 80 - 120 v . serum ( 5 μl ) was diluted 100 - fold with 0 . 1 m tris , 1 m nacl , 1 mm edta , ph 7 . 5 and applied to a protein g column ( pharmacia biotech , uppsala , sweden ). the column was equilibrated and washed with 15 ml of 0 . 1 m tris , 1 m nacl , 1 mm edta , ph 7 . 5 and the igg was eluted with 0 . 1 m glycine - hcl , ph 2 . 7 into 1 . 5 ml tubes containing 100 μl 0 . 1 m tris 1 m nacl 1 mm edta buffer ( ph 7 . 5 ). the fractions containing igg were pooled and dialyzed against 1 × pbs overnight at 4 ° c . using a dialysis membrane ( medicell international ltd ., london , uk ). the dialysed igg was concentrated by adding 10 μl resin ( strata clean resin , stratagene , la jolla , calif ., usa ) and left at room temperature for 1 hour at slow rotation for binding . after centrifugation at 1000 g the supernatant was removed to leave about 10 μl of pellet in the bottom of the tube , this was reduced and alkylated and transferred to sds - page gel . following electrophoresis the pure igg heavy chain band was cut out from the gel for glycan analysis . electrophoresis in 4 - 12 % bis - tris sds page mini - gels ( invitrogen , carlsbad , calif ., usa ) was performed at room temperature according to the method of laemmli ( laemmli 1970 ). the gels were coomassie stained . all samples were reduced with 5 % 2 - mercaptoethanol before analysis . approximately 40 μg of proteins from sera was loaded per lane . eighty micrograms of the human serum were dissolved in 120 μl of sample buffer ( 5 m urea , 2 m thiourea , 2 mm tributyl - phosphine , 65 mm dtt , 4 % chaps , 4 % v / w ndsb - 256 , trace of bromophenol blue ) and subjected to 2 - de . ampholytes were added to the sample at 0 . 9 % servalyte 3 - 10 , 0 . 45 % servalyte 2 - 4 and 9 - 11 . immobilized ph gradient gels ( immobiline drystrip 3 - 10 nl , 7 cm ) were rehydrated in the sample and ief was carried out according to method described by sanchez ( sanchez , j . c . et al . ( 1997 ) electrophoresis , 18 , 324 - 327 ) at 17 ° c . but with modified voltages and times as following : first minute 200 v , 3 ma , 5 w , then 3500 v , 3 hours and 30 minutes , 10 ma , 5 w . following focusing , the ipg strips were immediately equilibrated for 15 minutes in 4 m urea , 2 m thiourea , 2 % ( w / v ) dtt , 30 % glycerol , 50 mm tris , ph 6 . 8 , 2 % sds , trace of bromophenol blue . proteins were separated in the second dimension at 125 v for 2 hours , rt , on 4 - 12 % bis - tris gradient gels ( invitrogen , carlsbad , calif ., usa ). following electrophoresis , the gels were fixed in 40 % ( v / v ) ethanol : 10 % ( v / v ) acetic acid and stained with the fluorescent dye ogt 1238 ( oxford glycosciences , abingdon , uk ) according to the method previously described ( hassner a . ( 1984 ) synthesis . j org chem , 49 , 2546 - 2551 ). monochrome fluorescence images were obtained by scanning gels with an apollo h linear fluorescent scanner ( oxford glycosciences ). glycans were released and extracted from the 1 mm 3 of gel excised for ms analysis . the procedure used was the in gel block method for human serum , with modifications . the gel pieces were frozen for & gt ; 2 hours and then washed for 15 minutes with shaking with alternating 1 ml acetonitrile and 1 ml 20 mm nahco 3 for 3 washes . after each step the washings were removed under vacuum . the glycoproteins were not reduced and alkylated before loading on the gel therefore reduction and alkylation were carried out in situ : the gel pieces were incubated at 37 ° c . for 30 minutes with 20 μl 0 . 5 m dtt plus 180 μl 20 mm nahco 3 then 20 μl 100 mm iaa were added and incubation continued for a further 30 minutes at rt . the procedure then followed the in - gel block method starting with 5 alternating washes with acetonitrile and 20 mm nahco 3 . sufficient pngasef was added to cover the gel pieces . released glycans were eluted with 3 washes with 200 μl water and another 3 alternating washes with 200 μl acetonitrile and 200 μl water , each wash for 30 minutes , formic acid treated and labelled with the fluorophore 2ab as described earlier ( bigge , j . c . et al . ( 1995 ) anal biochem , 230 , 229 - 238 ). sufficient glycans were produced by these procedures for up to 10 np - hplc chromatograms , including digestions . the proteins which remained in the gel spots were identified by mass spectrometry . identification of proteins in gel spots from 2 - de ( see table 7 ) by mass spectrometric analysis mass spectrometric analysis was carried out using a q - tof 1 ( micromass , manchester , uk ) coupled to a caplc ( waters , milford , mass ., usa ). tryptic peptides were concentrated and desalted on a 300 μm id / 5 mm c18 precolumn and resolved on a 75 μm id / 25 cm c18 pepmap analytical column ( lc packings , san francisco , calif ., usa ). peptides were eluted to the mass spectrometer using a 45 min 5 - 95 % acetonitrile gradient containing 0 . 1 % formic acid at a flow rate of 200 nl / min . spectra were acquired in positive mode with a cone voltage of 40 v and a capillary voltage of 3300 v . the ms to ms / ms switching was controlled in an automatic data dependent fashion with a 1 second survey scan followed by three 1 second ms / ms scans of the most intense ions . precursor ions selected for ms / ms were excluded from further fragmentation for 2 minutes . spectra were processed using proteinlynx global server 2 . 1 . 5 and searched against the swiss - prot and ncbi databases using the mascot search engine ( matrix science , london , uk ). searches were restricted to the human taxonomy allowing carbamidomethyl cysteine as a fixed modification and oxidized methionine as a potential variable modification . data was searched allowing 0 . 5 da error on all spectra and up to two missed tryptic cleavage sites to accommodate calibration drift and incomplete digestion , all data was checked for consistent error distribution . non - parametric statistical tests were used with kruskal wallis test for comparison of all groups for sle x levels and subsequent mann whitney tests for comparison of individual groups . correlation analysis was carried out using two - tailed spearman test . in all cases a p & lt ; 0 . 05 was taken as the cut - off level for significance . the n - glycans were identified using quantitative nphplc and exoglycosidase digestion with structural assignments made by using database matching ( glycobase ; url — http :// glycobase . ucd . ie / cgi - bin / public / glycobase . cgi ) combined with matrix - assisted laser desorption / ionization time - of - flight ( maldi - tof ) and negative ion nanoelectrospray mass spectrometric analysis , as described earlier ( harvey , d . j . ( 2005a ) j am soc mass spectrom , 16 , 622 - 630 , harvey , d . j . ( 2005b ) j am soc mass spectrom , 16 , 631 - 646 , harvey , d . j . ( 2005c ) j am soc mass spectrom , 16 , 647 - 659 , royle l et al . ( 2008 ) analytical biochem , 376 , 1 - 12 ). the n - linked glycosylation changes in 3 ovarian cancer patients were analyzed in a preliminary study to identify specific glycan structures , the levels of which were altered in the patient samples . the results from these sera were compared to those from a healthy control pool ( 5 normal sex - and age - matched serum samples ). whole serum glycans from 3 patients were fractionated on waxhplc according to charge and each fraction was subsequently analyzed by nphplc , represented by the profiles from a stage iii ovarian cancer patient ( b ) and the control sample ( fig1 ). the relative amounts of sialylated glycans were calculated from waxhplc ( table 3 ). from these data , the levels of monosialylated glycans from the patient samples were about half that of the control pool whilst there were increased ( approximately double ) levels of the tri and tetrasialylated glycans . there was no significant change in the relative amounts of disialylated glycans . glycan structures in the fractions were confirmed using exoglycosidase digestions , nphplc and maldi ms . percentage areas of each glycan from wax fractions and in whole serum are shown in table 4 which summarises the glycans identified in nphplc chromatograms of the wax fractions and the levels of them . 2 structure abbreviations : all n - glycans have 2 core glcnacs ; f at the start of the abbreviation indicates a core fucose α1 - 6 to inner glcnac ; man ( x ), number ( x ) of mannose on core glcnacs ; a ( x ), number ( x ) of antenna ( glcnac ) on trimannosyl core ; b , bisecting glcnac linked β1 - 4 to β1 - 3 mannose ; f ( x ), number ( x ) of fucose linked α1 - 3 to antenna glcnac , g ( x ), number ( x ) of galactose on antenna ; s ( x ), number of sialic acids on antenna . all structures were confirmed by exoglycosidase sequencing and also by maldi ms from composition as [ m + na ]+ ions , all masses within 0 . 2 da of calculated . symbol representation of glycans in as follows : glcnac , filled square ; mannose , open circle ; galactose , open diamond ; fucose , diamond with a dot inside ; beta linkage , solid line ; alpha linkage , dotted line ; 1 - 4 linkage , horizontal line ; 1 - 3 linkage , (/); 1 - 2 linkage , vertical line ; and 1 - 6 linkage , (\). 5 hp = haptoglobin β - chain , agp = α1 - acid glycoprotein and ach = α1 - antichymotrypsin in the neutral fractions of the serum n - linked glycans : the core fucosylated biantennary glycan ( fa2 ) is increased from 10 . 8 % to 27 . 0 (± 4 . 7 ) % in patients ; man 8 glcnac 2 ( m8 ) is decreased from 5 . 7 % to 3 . 7 ±( 0 . 4 ) % in cancer ; whereas the peak containing both man 9 glcnac 2 ( m9 ) and the tetragalactosylated tetra - antennary structure ( a4g4 ) is increased from 6 . 1 % to 8 . 4 (± 1 . 1 ) %. in the mono - sialylated n - linked glycan fractions , there is a decrease in fucosylation in the cancer samples . the core fucosylated digalactosylated monosialylated structures with and without bisects ( b ), fa2g2s1 and fa2bg2s1 , are reduced from 18 . 0 % to 13 . 8 (± 2 . 4 ) % ( and 16 . 4 % to 9 . 1 (± 1 . 4 ) % respectively ), whilst the digalactosylated monosialylated structures ( a2g2s1 ) are increased from 34 . 4 % to 42 . 8 (± 4 . 1 ) % in the stage iii . in the di - sialylated fractions the amount of α2 , 3 sialic acid levels were only slightly lower compared to α2 , 6 sialic acid levels in stage iii ovarian cancer than in the control . in table 4 it is shown that a2g2s ( 6 , 6 ) 2 is increased from 59 . 0 % to 62 . 2 (± 1 . 3 ) % but a2g2s ( 3 , 6 ) 2 is decreased from 37 . 6 % to 35 . 2 (± 1 . 0 ) % and a2g2s ( 3 , 3 ) 2 is decreased from 3 . 4 % to 2 . 6 (± 0 . 3 ) %. these structures were confirmed by nan1 sialidase which digests only α2 , 3 links . the tri - sialylated fractions showed increased outer arm fucosylation in cancer . a sle x - containing tri - antennary glycan ( a3f1g3s3 ) is increased from 46 . 1 % to 60 . 4 (± 3 . 5 ) % whereas the tri - sialylated non - fucosylated glycan ( a3g3s3 ) is decreased from 39 . 6 % to 23 . 6 (± 8 . 8 ) % in stage iii ovarian cancer . overall the most striking differences between the cancer serum glycans and those from healthy controls , which are also clearly observed in the unfractionated whole serum glycan pool , are the doubling in the levels of a3fg1 ( increase from 6 . 5 % to 14 . 8 (± 2 . 1 ) %) and fa2 ( increase from 1 . 9 % to 3 . 4 (± 0 . 8 ) %). a more extensive study into the levels of sle x , fa2 and ca125 was carried out on 90 serum samples from healthy controls , patients with benign gynaecological conditions , borderline ovarian tumours , ovarian cancer , primary peritoneal carcinomatosis , endometrial cancer metastasised to ovary and other gynaecological cancers ( fig1 ). the released glycans were digested with sialidase and β1 - 4 galactosidase to give the structure a3f1 g1 . this digestion segregates the sle x containing structures from any others which are digested to lower gu value peaks , leaving a clearly separated peak for integration to give accurate percentage of total glycans . analysis of sle x only clearly shows significantly elevated levels in patients with ovarian cancer compared with healthy controls ( p & lt ; 0 . 01 ) although the number of control samples is small ( n = 7 ) and covers a slightly younger age range ( see table 5 ). however the difference between patients with other cancers or cancers which had metastasised to the ovary compared with controls was more marked ( p & lt ; 0 . 002 ). additionally the patients with benign gynaecological conditions also showed levels which overlapped considerably and were not significantly different from those of the cancer patients . this contrasts markedly with ca125 results , which show much better specificity for the ovarian cancer group . analysis of fa2 clearly shows significantly elevated levels in patients with ovarian cancer compared with healthy controls ( p & lt ; 0 . 022 ) and with benign gynaecological conditions ( p & lt ; 0 . 0054 ). the difference between patients with ovarian cancer and other gynaecological cancers was not significant . analysis of fa2 combined with sle x clearly shows even more significantly elevated levels in patients with ovarian cancer compared with healthy controls ( p & lt ; 0 . 0016 ) and compared with benign gynaecological conditions ( p & lt ; 0 . 0016 ). however , the difference between patients with ovarian cancer and other gynaecological cancers was not significant . this suggests that combination of these two markers would improve the diagnosis of ovarian cancer . the possibility that the changes in sle x reflect underlying inflammatory changes was examined by comparison with c - reactive protein ( crp ) concentrations for all samples ( unpublished data ). a positive correlation was found ( p & lt ; 0 . 0023 ; r = 0 . 32 ; cl = 0 . 12 - 0 . 5 ) but it was apparent that several patients showed marked acute - phase response but not elevated sle x levels and the converse was also true . this was particularly apparent for the patients in the “ other cancer ” group where only 5 patients out of 19 had crp & gt ; 10 mg / l . correlation between crp and ca125 was more positive ( p & lt ; 0 . 0001 ; r = 0 . 41 ; cl = 0 . 22 - 0 . 57 ) then between crp and sle x . correlation between crp and fa2 was not significant . interestingly , no change was identified in glycosylation of serum glycans in malignant melanoma samples compared to benign samples and control , where inflammation is not involved ( fig1 ). for all patients , the fibrinogen level was determined and the concentrations varied between 280 and 370 ng / ml . normal values for this protein which increases in inflammation are 200 - 400 ng / ml . this confirms that these melanoma patients have a low level of inflammatory processes . having identified specific changes in glycan structures from whole serum glycoproteins , the next aim was to carry out some initial studies to identify which individual glycoproteins carried these glycans . a doubling in the level of fa2 glycan was found : this structure has previously been shown to be on immunoglobulin g ( igg ). igg was therefore isolated by affinity chromatography on a protein g column and analysed the n - linked glycans from the heavy chain ( fig1 and table β ). igg containing agalactosylated structures ( g0 ) ( mostly represented by fa2 ) were doubled ( increased from 27 . 1 % to 53 . 2 (± 3 . 3 ) %); monogalactosylated ( g1 ) decreased ( from 33 . 2 % to 27 . 1 (± 5 . 3 ) %); digalactosylated ( g2 ) structures decreased ( from 22 . 3 % to 8 . 5 (± 1 . 9 ) %); the overall sialylation decreased ( from 17 . 5 % to 11 . 2 (± 6 . 6 ) %) ( table β ). all structures were confirmed by exoglycosidase digestions ( parekh , r . b . et al . ( 1985 ) nature , 316 , 452 - 457 ). haptoglobin β - chain has previously been shown to be aberrantly glycosylated in cancer . the serum proteome was examined to see if these and other glycoproteins showed glycosylation changes . 2d sds - page was employed to separate the ovarian cancer serum proteins , and then these protein spots were cut out and screened for possible altered glycosylation by glycan analysis of each individual spot . fig1 shows 2d electrophoresis of total serum from a stage iii ovarian cancer patient ( b ). n - glycans were released from these individual spots which were identified using mass spectrometric analysis ( table 7 ) to be haptoglobin β - chain glycoforms ( he z . et al . ( 2006 ) biochem biophys res commun , 343 , 496 - 503 ), α1 - acid glycoprotein and α1 - antichymotrypsin . in the cases of haptoglobin β - chain , α1 - acid glycoprotein and α1 - antichymotrypsin , major glycosylation changes were identified ( fig1 , 20 ). haptoglobin was identified in the train of spots 1 - 6 with the highest protein score , except for complement c3 in spot 1 ( table 7 ). however , the n - linked glycosylation of complement c3 is known to consist of mannose structures , so the complex glycans detected over all these spots originated from haptoglobin , although traces of mannose have been detected too reflecting the co - migration of c3 . α1 - antichymotrypsin was identified in spot 8 with the highest protein score , although α1 - antitrypsin was also found in this spot , but identified with lower score ( table 7 ) and with no glycans highlighted on α1 - antichymotrypsin ( unpublished data ). therefore , it also does not interfere with altered levels of glycans described on α1 - antichymotrypsin ( fig2 ). fig1 shows the nphplc profiles of haptoglobin β - chain glycoforms from single spots in the train on 2d minigels of a control and stage iii ovarian cancer patient b , fig2 shows nphplc profiles of α1 - acid glycoprotein 2d gel spots from pooled control , benign , malignant and metastatic sera and α1 - antichymotrypsin from pooled malignant sample cut from a single 2d gel spot digested by exoglycosidases for structural assignment of the outer arm fucosylated structures . the a3f1g3s3 on haptoglobin β - chain , α1 - acid glycoprotein and a1 - antichymotrypsin were identified . these changes in the relative proportions of glycoforms in the ovarian cancer patients &# 39 ; proteins contribute to the changes in the glycan profiles of whole serum , in particular to the neutral and tri - sialylated fraction of waxhplc . similar profile changes were observed in all six haptoglobin β - chain spots and in an advanced ovarian cancer patient ( fig1 ), and pooled ovarian cancer patients sera comparing malignant and metastatic sera to benign and control sera ( unpublished data ). it has been demonstrated that the different spots contained different subsets of glycoforms . with increased acidity , the glycoform migrated further to the left on the gel ( fig1 ). in haptoglobin β - chain , the level of a3f1g3s3 is highest and a2g2s1 lowest in the most acidic glycoform ( fig1 ). the aim of this study was to identify which proteins were contributing to changes in the serum glycome of ovarian cancer patients and to determine whether changes in glycans of serum proteins could have potential utility as markers in ovarian cancer . in an initial pilot study analysing total serum n - glycans using quantitative and detailed normal phase ( np ) hplc , weak anion exchange ( wax ) hplc and mass spectrometry ( ms ), samples from three patients with advanced ovarian cancer were compared to a pooled control sample . based on the findings high - throughput technology was used to monitor a3fg1 and fa2 ( core fucosylated agalactosylated biantennary glycan structure ) levels in a total of 90 samples from healthy controls , patients with ovarian cancer , benign gynaecological conditions or other gynaecological cancers . this confirmed the initial findings of increased expression in patients with ovarian cancer compared with controls or benign conditions and also in other cancers . further investigations using techniques to determine the glycosylation status of proteins isolated from individual spots on fluorescently stained 2d - sds page gels found major and variable differences in glycoforms of several acute - phase proteins including haptoglobin , α1 - acid glycoprotein , α1 - antichymotrypsin and also in igg . several glycosylation changes in advanced ovarian cancer patient serum samples have been observed . the most significant were increased levels of a3fg1 and fa2 . increased levels of sle x in the tri - sialylated fraction suggest a change in regulation of fucosyltransferases in the liver hepatocytes . to result in sle x structures , the precursor core structure has to be sialylated first and then fucosylated by a ( 1 , 3 / 1 , 4 ) fucosyltransferases . increased levels of sle x have been correlated to decreased expression of α1 , 2 fucosyltransferase , which competes with α2 , 3 sialyltransferase for the same substrate and increased expression of a ( 1 , 3 / 1 , 4 ) fucosyltransferases in human pancreatic cancer cells . the levels of a3fg1 in different stages of ovarian and other gynaecological cancers were determined and compared to benign gynaecological conditions . it was demonstrated that , although higher than controls , they are not specific for ovarian cancer . increased levels of a3fg1 have also been found in inflammatory conditions of pancreatitis and sepsis . significant increases both in branching and sialylation were identified . increased branching creates more sites for terminal sialic acid residues and together with sialyltransferase upregulation increases the sialylation . it correlates with advanced stage , tumour progression and metastasis . changes in branching and increased sialylation have previously been identified in chronic inflammatory conditions . these changes reflect differences in expression levels of sialyltransferase and fucosyltranferases in the golgi . in addition to the increase in overall sialylation , a shift in sialic acid linkage from α2 , 3 to α2 , 6 in the disialylated fractions was also observed . these findings are in agreement with previous findings of decreased mrna expression of α2 , 3 sialyltransferases responsible for n - linked glycosylation and increased α2 , 6 sialyltransferase in tumour tissues of ovarian cancer patients . this may suggest that the cytokines to which the tumour has been exposed have caused a similar shift in the glycoform populations on the tumour cells as we have been identified here in the serum . it is possible that the cytokines secreted at sites of inflammation ( the tumour ) find their way into the serum and affect the glycosylation machinery of the liver hepatocytes , to cause shifts in the serum glycoforms . another striking difference in ovarian cancer serum when compared with control serum is the doubling in the levels of fa2 . this structure has previously been shown to be attached predominantly to igg . the major n - glycans attached to ca125 have been described as mostly mono - fucosylated biantennary , triantennary , and tetra - antennary bisected structures with no more than one sialic acid . comparing the ca125 glycans with our major glycans level changes we propose that elevated levels of ca125 do not contribute to the major changes in whole serum glycans . the glycosylation changes may relate to specific glycoforms of particular glycoproteins in serum . ca125 is also elevated in chronic pancreatitis but not in sepsis . interestingly no change in glycosylation of serum glycans was observed in the examined malignant melanoma samples , where inflammation is not involved ( fig1 ). the acute - phase response , which occurs when infection , trauma , surgery , burns or inflammatory conditions , leads to substantial changes in the plasma concentration of acute - phase proteins as a result of increased release of inflammatory cytokines such as il - 6 and tnf stimulate the increased production of c - reactive protein , serum amyloid a , haptoglobin , α1 - acid glycoprotein , α1 - antitrypsin , α1 - antichymotrypsin and fibrinogen ( positive acute - phase proteins ) along with decreased levels of albumin and transferrin ( negative acute - phase proteins ). using sensitive quantitative techniques in a pilot study , altered glycosylation on haptoglobin , α1 - acid glycoprotein and α1 - antichymotrypsin have been identified in advanced ovarian cancer patient sera . increase of positive acute - phase proteins in plasma correlates with altered glycosylation haptoglobin is a liver protein secreted into plasma which binds free haemoglobin in the plasma and makes it accessible to degradative enzymes . haptoglobin β - chain expression increases in ovarian cancer , decreases with chemotherapy and correlates with ca125 levels . this increase in protein levels could account for some of the changes in the serum glycome . however , the results ( fig1 ) from the 2d gel analysis also show an increase in the sle x structure on the haptoglobin β - chain . this is consistent with results by thompson et al . who identified an increased fucose content of haptoglobin which increased with tumour size . it has also been found that the sle x structure elevated on α1 - acid glycoprotein and α1 - antichymotrypsin ( fig2 ). they are both produced by the liver and secreted in plasma . sle x is also expressed during inflammation on all these proteins . α1 - acid glycoprotein modulates the immune response during the acute - phase reaction . its synthesis is controlled by glucocorticoids , interleukin - 1 ( il - 1 ) and il - 6 . α1 - antichymotrypsin can inhibit neutrophil cathepsin g and mast cell chymase , both of which can convert angiotensin - 1 to the active angiotensin - 2 . the increased levels of sle x structure on the haptoglobin β - chain , α1 - antichymotrypsin and α1 - acid glycoprotein in cancer and inflammation suggests that these glycosylation changes may contribute to increased concentrations of these acute - phase proteins concentrations . the addition of terminal sialic acid and fucose , inhibits the amount of free galactose accessible to the asialoglycoprotein receptor in liver and , as such , prolongs their clearance from the circulation resulting in their higher concentrations . the reason for increased concentrations of these glycoproteins could be for their anti - apoptotic and anti - inflammatory properties . these have been reported in the case of α1 - acid glycoprotein and α1 - antichymotrypsin . their antiapoptotic properties may be beneficial to cancer progression . glycosylation of these liver proteins in serum may derive from the glycosylation process during their biosynthesis in the parenchymal cells of the liver ; inflammatory cytokines , corticosteroids and growth factors appear to regulate these changes . interestingly , only proteins that normally put on sle x have increased levels of this marker . proteins which don &# 39 ; t express sle x don &# 39 ; t add it on in ovarian cancer e . g . transferrin . the n - linked analysis of the glycans on igg from the ovarian cancer patients showed a significant decrease in the level of galactosylation and sialylation ( fig1 and table β ). increase of agalactosyl igg oligosaccharides can be result of decreased gal - t activity in plasma cells , or increased production of specific subsets of plasma cells with low expression levels of galactosyltransferases . different glycoforms may differ in efficiency of interaction with ligands . the igg - g0 glycoform is elevated in rheumatoid arthritis serum and terminal glcnac of this glycoform on the fc region of the igg molecule clustered , for example on synovial tissue , can be recognized by collagenous lectin mannose - binding protein ( mbl ) resulting in complement activation . it has also been shown that sialylation of igg reduces cytotoxicity of natural killer cells , exhibiting anti - inflammatory effect . increase of agalactosyl igg glycoform has predominantly been identified with tumour progression and metastasis of gastric and lung cancer ( kanoh et al . 2004 ), as well as in other diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis , tuberculosis , inflammatory bowel disease ( parekh et al . 1985 ; axford et al . 1992 ) and vasculitis ( holland et al . 2002 ). therefore this increase of agalactosylated glycans on igg of ovarian cancer sera may be indicative of an inflammatory state . in conclusion , newly developed high throughput techniques enable rapid monitoring of glycosylation changes in serum . differences between control and advanced ovarian cancer sera have been described including a doubling in the amount of fa2 and sle x structures in whole serum glycan profiles and a shift in the sialic acid linkage from α2 , 3 to α2 , 6 in disialylated fractions . it has been demonstrated that the level of a3fg1 alone is not specific for ovarian cancer , but a combination of fa2 and a3fg1 significantly improves separation of benign gynaecological conditions from ovarian cancer . to investigate further which protein glycans contribute to these changes in total serum glycans , serum glycoproteins carrying these glycans were identified . newly developed sensitive hplc based technology enabled screening of all proteins from the same patient . this analysis of the glycosylation of protein excised from single spots on a 2d minigel show : haptoglobin β - chain , α1 - acid glycoprotein and α1 - antichymotrypsin with elevated sle x structure and igg with decreased galactosylation and sialylation . only proteins with sle x have increased levels of this epitope . all these glycosylation changes suggest that cancer mimics chronic inflammation . this theory is supported by glycosylation described in inflammatory conditions sepsis and acute pancreatitis where many of these glycosylation changes have also been observed , and the fact , that in our malignant melanoma samples , where no inflammation is involved , there were no alterations in glycan levels . cancer , especially in the late stages , can cause chronic inflammation . the inflammation results in an acute - phase response , in which the liver produces acute - phase proteins which have also anti - apoptotic properties . in inflammation it helps to reconstitute the damaged tissue but it protects and promotes cancer cells considering them for its own . if this hypothesis is correct , anti - inflammatory drugs should be powerful in cancer treatment . non - steroidal anti - inflammatory drugs ( nsaid ) are efficacious both in preventing and protecting against cancer development and progression . performing glycosylation analysis on whole , i . e . not depleted and not purified , samples can be particularly beneficial for cancer diagnostics and monitoring . although differences in the glycosylation profile can be associated with the presence in samples of cancer patients of glycoproteins specifically associated with cancer , such as alpha - fetoprotein many other tumour glycoproteins , i . e . glycoproteins that are not specific inflammatory markers of cancer , can be expected to carry altered glycosylation because glycosylation pathways are usually disturbed in tumour cells . based on the above , performing detailed glycosylation analysis on samples of whole body fluid or body tissue , without isolating or purifying specific glycoproteins , can be expected to identify glycosylation markers of cancer amplified compared with glycosylation analysis of purified glycoproteins . all documents referred to in this specification are herein incorporated by reference . various modifications and variations to the described embodiments of the inventions will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention . although the invention has been described in connection with specific preferred embodiments , it should be understood that the invention as claimed should not be unduly limited to such specific embodiments . indeed , various modifications of the described modes of carrying out the invention which are obvious to those skilled in the art are intended to be covered by the present invention .	6
referring now to the drawings wherein like numerals designate like parts throughout the various views and directing attention initially to the form of the invention shown in fig1 - 8 , the reference numeral 10 designates generally the combination of a steering wheel equipped with a dozer alarm system . the combination 10 comprises a conventional steering wheel 12 that includes a circular rim 14 mounted on a hub and spoke structure 16 that is in turn rotatively mounted in a conventional manner upon a steering column partially shown in fig1 at 18 . the dozer alarm system of the combination 10 comprises an attachment designated generally at 20 that is detachably mounted on the steering wheel rim 14 . while the attachment 20 can be mounted at any desired position about the periphery of the rim 14 , the same should be mounted at a position thereabout that is normally gripped and should be gripped by a hand of an attentive driver . the attachment 20 is shown in fig1 at good location for a right - handed driver , namely , at about the two - o &# 39 ; clock position as viewed by the driver . the location chosen is not critical and can be selected to suit the preference and normal driving posture of the driver when he is fully in possession of all his faculties , and needless to say not under the influence of alcohol or drugs or in urgent need for rest or sleep . as shown in fig5 the body 22 of the attachment 20 is of three - piece construction and includes front and rear parts 24 and 26 and a rear clamp section 28 . the body 22 can be metallic such as of cast and machined aluminum or die cast of zinc , or be of a suitably tough plastic . in assembled form , as shown best in fig2 and 6 , the body parts 24 and 26 are secured together by screws 30 and 32 that extend through the body part 24 and thread securely into the body part 26 . in assembled form the lower rear clamp portion 28 is secured in position by a screw 34 that extends through the front body of part 24 and which is securely threaded into the body clamp part 28 . it will be noted that , in assembled form , the body 22 defines a split or c - type clamp constituted of the lower rear face 36 of the front part 24 being concave and contoured to conform to or fit the wheel rim 14 . similarly , the front face 38 of the clamp 28 is correspondingly contoured so that the wheel rim 14 can be clamped therebetween . preferably , and as shown , the faces 36 and 38 are coated at 40 and 42 with silicone rubber or the like to enhance a nonslipping engagement with the steering wheel rim clamped therebetween . in order to assure proper alignment of the clamping portion 28 with the outer parts 24 and 26 of the body 22 , a longitudinally central portion of the upper edge of the clamp 28 is provided with an upstanding l - shaped flange 44 ( fig5 ) that is accommodated in a mating groove 46 in the rear body portion 26 . the arrangement is such that after the body parts 24 and 26 are secured together and appropriately oriented relative to the steering wheel rim 14 , the flange 44 is worked into the groove 46 on turning the clamp 28 clockwise as viewed in fig5 to seat the deformable and resilient coating 38 against the wheel rim 14 in opposition to the face 36 and its coating 40 . the screw 34 is then inserted and tightened to obtain an adequate clamping force for the attachment 20 upon the steering wheel rim 14 . the body 22 has a hollow interior 49 with elongated windows 50 and 52 opening through the parts 24 and 26 thereof . elongated push buttons 54 and 56 of electrically insulative material are positioned in such windows 50 and 52 . the push buttons are of transparent or translucent material such as any suitable synthetic resin or plastic and are movable inwardly and outwardly in the windows with outward movement being limited by peripheral flanges 58 and 60 respectively . as clearly shown in fig5 the opposed sides of the push buttons 54 and 56 are provided with elongated recesses as indicated at 62 and 64 with means being provided to yieldingly urge the push buttons 54 and 56 apart . the last means comprises , as shown in fig5 and 7 , a pair of coiled compression springs 66 and 68 disposed to have their opposite ends received in the recesses 62 and 64 bear against the push buttons 54 and 56 . the springs 66 and 68 are retained in position by the provision of the push buttons 54 and 56 being provided in integral pairs of opposed cylindrical bosses 70 and 72 that are received within and embraced by the opposite ends of the springs 66 and 68 . proper alignment of the springs 66 and 68 is further enhanced by guide sleeves or rods 74 and 76 respectively received within the springs 66 and 68 between the bosses 70 and 72 . the sleeves are of a length that will not prevent both of the push buttons 54 and 56 being fully depressed at the same time . the push buttons 54 and 56 are components of normally closed push button switches indicated at 80 and 82 in the schematic drawings in fig8 wherein the push buttons are shown in their normal switch closing positions in dashed lines and in full lines in their depressed switch opening positions . the switches 80 and 82 are identical and a detailed description of one will suffice for both . the switch 80 comprises a fixed contact 84 which can simply be the internal surface of the body part 24 surrounding the window 50 when the body 22 is metallic and thereby constitute an electrical circuit ground 86 as shown and as is preferred . the movable contact 88 of the switch 80 is a peripheral metal lining fixed to the flange 58 of the insulative push button 54 . a flexible insulated conductor 90 , partially shown in fig7 is connected to the contact 88 , and a corresponding , partially shown , conductor 92 is connected to the switch 82 . the connections of the conductors will be made clear in connection with a description of fig8 . the composite body 22 is provided with a socket or pocket 94 ( fig6 ) within which an electric battery 100 is received , the same being removably retained therein by a cover 102 that is threaded into the body 22 . the battery 100 is of the type that is commonly used in camera equipment and the like . the case or shell of the battery 104 is one terminal thereof and contacts the body 22 of system ground 86 . the inner end 106 constitutes the other battery terminal and contacts a contactor 108 that is secured to the body 22 at 110 in electrical isolation therefrom by conventional means . the contactor 108 is connected by an insulated conductor 112 to a conventional electrical slide switch 114 that is recessed in the body part 24 as clearly shown in fig2 and 5 . fig8 shows the flexible conductors 90 and 92 to be connected at 116 , with an electric buzzer or sounder 118 and an incandescent lamp 120 being connected in parallel between the juncture 116 and the switch 114 by leads 122 and 124 . the sounder 118 and the lamp 120 are connected as shown in fig8 in parallel between the leads 122 and 124 . a pair of low wattage incandescent lamps 130 which may be &# 34 ; wheat grain &# 34 ; size are connected in electrical parallel between the lead 124 and the ground 86 by a circuit inclusive of a lead 132 in an arrangement that the lamps 130 are energized whenever the enabling or slide switch 114 is closed or on . the lamps 130 are suitably mounted by means not shown in the cavity or body hollow 49 so as to emit a glow visible through the push buttons 54 and 56 . it is preferred that the push buttons 54 and 56 be translucent or of light diffusing character so that they glow in a manner that is visible from a wide angle . such lamps 130 serve not only as battery condition indicators but also as indicators that the alarm system is on , a fact of great significance to passengers . it will be understood that the push buttons 54 and 56 are of sufficient length that some glowing portion will be visible despite the attachment 20 being gripped in the hand as will be presently explained . the lamp 120 , which is centrally mounted in the cavity 49 by means inclusive of a strap 140 , is of much greater wattage than the lamps 130 and though not of such candlepower as to blind the driver , it is bright enough to command or definitely attract the attention of the driver and his passengers if their eyes are open , and this is especially true during the hours of darkness when the highest incidence rate of dozing drivers occurs . the effect of the light 120 is augmented by the loud sound , preferably a raucous or irritating and unpleasant sound , produced by the sounder 118 which is mounted at one end of the body 22 as shown in fig3 and 6 . the alarm signal emitted by the sounder 118 is as effective during daylight hours as during the night . in use , the driver is required to grip his hand about the attachment 20 ( as though it is a part of the steering wheel ) with the grip being applied at such a position and with sufficient force to depress both of the push buttons 54 and 56 thereby maintaining both of the switches 80 and 82 open . should the driver relax his attention and hand grip enough to allow either one or both of the switches 80 and 82 to close under the action of the springs 66 and 68 , the sounder 118 and the lamp 120 are both energized ( assuming the switch 114 to be closed ) so that both the driver and his passengers are subjected to effective alarm signals indicating the driver &# 39 ; s inability to maintain a degree of mental concentration and attentiveness sufficient to maintain a grip closing both of the switches 80 and 82 . the glow or indicator lamps 130 serve not only as a battery condition indicator but more importantly as a means whereby wary passengers can assure themselves that the driver has not elected to disable the system by opening the switch 114 ; it being a lamentable fact that many dozing drivers overestimate their ability to seek to avoid producing , in their warped judgment , unnecessary alarm signals . an even stricter alarm system may include the mounting of an additional attachment 20 upon the steering wheel rim 14 , say , at a ten - o &# 39 ; clock position , not shown . provision of two attachments 20 can require a driver to keep two gripping hands in position , or allow him to use first one and then the other in order to relieve fatigue . while the attachment 20 serves the immediate need for equipping extant automobiles with a dozing driver alarm system , the principles of the invention can be readily applied to automobiles yet to be produced . an indication as to how such might be readily accomplished in the light of the foregoing may be obtained on reference to fig9 . fig9 discloses a steering wheel 200 that includes a central or hub portion 202 that is connected by radially extending spokes 204 and 206 to a circular and hollow rim 208 as shown . a pair of combination push button switches and luminous lamp units 210 and 212 are mounted on and within the rim 208 . the translucent push buttons 214 and 216 of the combinations 210 and 212 normally protrude above the general external contour of the rim when the switches thereof are closed , with such switches being opened when the rim 208 is hand gripped at the positions of the combinations 210 and 212 . the combinations 210 and 212 are electrically connected by means indicated at 218 and 220 to an electric sounder 222 mounted at the center of the hub 202 . an enabling electric switch 224 is also mounted on the steering wheel hub 202 and the same is connected by means not shown to control the supply of electrical energy to the combinations 210 and 212 and the sounder 222 . electrical energy is supplied to the switch 224 by connection to the ignition switch not shown of the automobile , whereby the alarm system of fig9 is activated solely when both the ignition switch and the enabling switch 224 are turned on . it will be understood that each of the combinations 210 and 212 include a main or relatively bright lamp corresponding in purpose and function to the lamp 120 , as well as low wattage indicator lamps that correspond in purpose and function to the previously described lamps 130 . if the ignition switch is on and the switch 224 closed , the bright lamps of both the combinations 210 and 212 as well as the sounder 222 will be energized unless both of the combinations 210 and 212 are firmly hand gripped by the driver . optionally , means may be provided to disable one or the other of the combinations 210 and 212 so as to allow the driver a brief respite as to gripping both so as to relieve fatigue . having now fully explained the invention as to its purpose , its construction and its use , it will be evident that the same is susceptible to numerous variations without departing from the spirit thereof , and accordingly , attention is now directed to the appended claims to ascertain the actual scope of the same .	6
an embodiment of the present invention will be explained with reference to the drawings . the following explanation deals with an example of a communication device switching control system constructed in a computer system comprised of a personal computer ( hereinafter called a “ pc ”) or the like and a communication - device connected with the pc . however , the communication device switching control system according to the present invention is not limited to the present invention but is applicable to a system comprised of a network appliance or an electronic device such as a portable phone or the like and a plurality of communication devices . in the following explanation , those components that have a substantially similar function and a substantially similar structure will be denoted by the same reference symbols , and an explanation thereof will be repeated only if necessary . [ 0028 ] fig1 is a block diagram showing a computer system comprising a communication - device switching control system according to the present embodiment . in fig1 a computer system 1 includes a cpu module 20 , a pci bus 22 , an isa bus 24 , a main memory 26 , a dvd decoder 28 , an i / o controller 30 , a pci interface bridge 32 , a hard disk drive hdd 33 , a flash bios_rom 34 , a graphic controller 36 , an ec / kbc 38 , an lcd 42 , and communication devices a , b , c , and d connected through ports 50 to a predetermined bus . the cpu module 20 executes operation control and data processing of the entire computer system . a controller or the like for controlling the cpu , cash , and main memory 26 is mounted on the module 20 . the cpu module 20 executes operation control and data processing of a communication device switching control system which will be described later . the main memory 26 functions as a main storage device of the present computer system . the main memory 26 stores an operating system , an application program as a processing target , and data and the like prepared on the basis of the application program . an operation system ( hereinafter called “ os ”) windows 95 ( registered trademark ) manufactured by microsoft is developed on the main memory 26 . the communication device switching control system 10 is constructed among a plug - and - play section 11 started by the os , a registry 12 , a communication device switching module 13 ( described later ), and communication devices a to d . the i / o controller 30 is a gate array for controlling various i / o devices included in the body of the computer 1 , and performs control concerning input / output of devices connected to various i / o connectors such as usb ports and the like . the pci interface bridge ( pci i / f ) 32 is a gate array realized by a one - chip lsi . this pci i / f 32 has a bridge function to connect the pci bus 22 and the isa bus 24 with each other and a function to control the hdd 68 . the flash bios_rom 34 is a program - rewritable flash memory and stores a system bios . note that the system bios systemizes a function execution routine for accessing various hardware in the present computer system . the graphic controller 36 is an lsi having a drawing function which supports vga ( video graphics array ) ( 640 dots × 480 lines ), svga ( 800 dots × 600 lines ), xga ( 1024 dots × 768 lines ), and the like . the lcd 42 is a display device which displays images on the basis of control signals and image data from the graphic controller 36 . ec / kbc 38 is a characteristic part of the present invention , and it converts input signals from the keyboard 40 and a mouse 41 into bit strings , and transfers them to respective control sections . each of the communication devices a , b , c , and d is any of communication devices of a wireless lan communication device , a wired lan communication device , a bluetooth device , a telephone line modem , a portable phone , and the like , and is connected with the pc body . in the present embodiment , four communication devices are mounted or connected as described above . needless to say , however , the communication device switching control system is effectively used for any electronic device such as a pc or the like , which mounts or connects two or more communication devices . next , the communication device switching control system 10 developed on the present computer system 1 will be explained with reference to fig2 . [ 0043 ] fig2 is a block diagram showing the communication device switching control system 10 . the present communication device switching control system is constructed by a plug - and - play section 11 , a registry 12 , and a switching module 13 . the plug - and - play section 11 has a function to perform automatical incorporation and state of a device driver , i . e ., plug - and - play when an expansion card , a peripheral device , or the like is connected to the pc . the plug - and - play section 11 checks the respective communication devices described above or other peripheral devices , which are connected at the time when the os is started , and assigns i / o ( input / output ) addresses and irq ( interruption signals ) to them . simultaneously , the section 11 simultaneously reads corresponding device driers , thus dynamically managing the hardware structure . in addition , the plug - and - play section 11 can add / delete hardware by the plug - and - play function without stopping the function of the os . the function of adding / deleting hardware to switch communication devices is one of features of the present communication device switching control system . further , the plug - and - play section 11 automatically executes restarting or the like of the computer if necessary in case where no device driver for a connected device exists in the library of the os . in general , the plug - and - play function is provided for a device using a usb bus , a device according to ieee 1394 standard , a device using a pci bus , and the like , in many cases , and is also a standard function included in an os . the registry 12 is a place for storing information concerning specification and environmental states of drivers for various devices such as communication devices and the like , and concerns their relationship with applications . when various properties and states are changed , information thereof is stored in the registry 12 . for example , if state information of the plug - and - play stored in the registry 12 is changed , the plug - and - play section 11 or the os operates in accordance with the state after the change . normally , management of the environmental states based on the information in the registry 12 is carried out by a routing table . the switching module 13 is a mechanism for changing the states in the registry 12 , based on a predetermined input instruction , and is a feature of the present invention . for example , the switching module disconnects all the connected communication devices or renders only a selected communication device operational . this module thus has a function to change the state concerning various communication devices in the registry 12 . next , the operation of the communication device switching control system constructed as described above will be explained with reference to fig3 . in the computer system 1 , a “ standard state ” is defined as a state in which control of communication devices is carried out by a conventional method without operating the present communication device switching control system 10 . also , in the computer system 1 , a “ basic state ” is defined as a state in which only one selected communication device is rendered operational . [ 0055 ] fig3 is a flowchart showing a procedure of switching from the standard state to the basic state , executed by the communication device switching control system . in fig3 at first , exclusive use of only the communication device a is inputted by a predetermined operation through a mouse , keyboard , or the like ( step s 1 ). [ 0057 ] fig4 is a view showing an example of selecting a communication device by using the gui ( graphical use interface ). as shown in fig4 for example , a user can select a desired communication device using the mouse . when a cursor is set on a “ switch ” icon displayed on the lcd 42 , connected communication devices are displayed in the form of a pull - up or pull - down menu . the user selects ( clicks ) a desired communication device on the menu , thereby to check the communication device to be used . the menu closes and the selection operation is thus completed . the menu shown in fig4 has a structure in which all communication devices whose states are written in the registry 12 are displayed . also , it should preferably be arranged such that the communication device selected in step s 1 is expressed as an icon displayed in a task tray on the lcd 42 . in this case , the structure may be arranged such that the display form of the icon is changed when the selected communication device is operating . next , the switching module 13 changes the states of the communication devices in the registry 12 in response to the operation of the communication device selecting operation ( step s 2 ). namely , the switching module 13 switches all usable states with respect to the communication devices in the registry 12 to stopped states . next , the switching module 13 transfers the new status in the registry 12 to the plug - and - play section 11 . the plug - and - play section 11 stops related functions ( e . g ., tcp / ip or the like ) provided by each communication device ( step s 3 ). in addition , in accordance with the stop of the related functions , the routing table is initialized . this is the reason why the basic state might not reflect the communication information in the standard state . [ 0064 ] fig5 shows a state in which each of the communication devices a to d is stopped by the function of the plug - and - play section 11 . oblique lines in the figure indicate that the communication devices are stopped . in addition , the message that each of the communication devices a to d is stopped is displayed on the lcd 42 under the stopping . the user can see that each of the communication devices a to d is temporarily stopped . as shown in fig5 after all the communication devices a to d are stopped , the switching module 13 switches the stopped state with respect to the communication device a selected in step 1 to the usable state ( step s 4 ). in addition , in accordance with the change of the state of the device a , the routing table manages the communication device a exclusively . note that , the procedures in step 2 and 3 may be omitted . in this case , though the routing table is not erased initialized , the communication device a can be used exclusively . the plug - and - play section 11 starts only the communication device a , in response to the state of the communication device a being usable ( step s 5 ). at the same time the device a is started , the functions provided on the communication device a are started . that is , the plug - and - play section 11 automatically sets the communication function of the communication device a , thereby to enable the communication device a . [ 0068 ] fig6 shows a state in which only the communication device a is rendered usable by the function of the plug - and - play section 11 . oblique lines in this figure express that the communication devices are stopped . as shown in fig6 the present computer system 1 is in the basic state in which only the communication device a is usable . therefore , a user can exclusively operate the communication device a . as has been described above , in the switching control system according to the present embodiment , communication devices to be used are attached and detached by utilizing a standard function , i . e ., the plug - and - play function provided by an os . therefore , it is necessary to detach communication devices to be used , and thus , unnecessary extra labor is not required for users . also , switching between communication devices is operated through a very simple interface . hence , the user - friendlyness handling ability of computers or the like can be improved . thus , according to the present control system , users can carry out switching between electronic devices easily at low cost without making difficult and complicated states , so that the user - friendlyness of computers or the like can also be improved . in addition , for example , a wireless lan and a bluetooth device sometimes use close frequency bands , and may interfere with each other if both are used simultaneously . the present communication device switching control system is particularly useful when exclusively using any one of the communication devices in this kind of environment . in the above description , the present invention has been explained on the basis of an embodiment . however , a person skilled in the art can think up various modifications and changes within the scope of the concept of the present invention . such modifications and changes are considered to be also within the scope of the present invention . for example , various modifications are possible without changing the subject of the present invention . the present communication device switching control system is constructed in a structure in which the communication functions of all communication devices are stopped in switching between communication devices . therefore , in some cases , all inputs may be locked and users can not operate the os . in this case , the structure may be arranged so as to display a message “ now switching ” while the devices are stopped . alternatively , the structure may be arranged so as to make a report saying “ now switching ”. in this structure , users can easily understand that they can not operate the system . users thus do not feel stress from the temporary stop of the communication functions or the locked input . additional advantages and modifications will readily occur to those skilled in the art . therefore , the invention in its broader aspects is not limited to the specific details and representative embodiments shown and described herein . accordingly , various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the general inventive concept as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents .	7
before explaining the present invention in detail , it should be noted that the invention is not limited in its application or use to the details of construction and arrangement of parts illustrated in the accompanying drawings and description . the illustrative embodiments of the invention may be implemented or incorporated in other embodiments , variations and modifications , and may be practiced or carried out in various ways . further , unless otherwise indicated , the terms and expressions employed herein have been chosen for the purpose of describing the illustrative embodiments of the present invention for the convenience of the reader and are not for the purpose of limiting the invention . further , it is understood that any one or more of the following - described embodiments , expressions of embodiments , examples , etc . can be combined with any one or more of the other following - described embodiments , expressions of embodiments , examples , etc . the present invention is particularly directed to an improved ultrasonic surgical clamp coagulator apparatus which is configured for effecting tissue cutting , coagulation , and / or clamping during surgical procedures , including delicate surgical procedures , such as a thyroidectomy . the present apparatus is configured for use in open surgical procedures . versatile use is facilitated by selective use of ultrasonic energy . when ultrasonic components of the apparatus are inactive , tissue can be readily gripped and manipulated , as desired , without tissue cutting or damage . when the ultrasonic components are activated , the apparatus permits tissue to be gripped for coupling with the ultrasonic energy to effect tissue coagulation , with application of increased pressure efficiently effecting tissue cutting and coagulation . if desired , ultrasonic energy can be applied to tissue without use of the clamping mechanism of the apparatus by appropriate manipulation of the ultrasonic blade . as will become apparent from the following description , the present clamp coagulator apparatus is particularly configured for disposable use by virtue of its straightforward construction . as such , it is contemplated that the apparatus be used in association with an ultrasonic generator unit of a surgical system , whereby ultrasonic energy from the generator unit provides the desired ultrasonic actuation for the present clamp coagulator apparatus . it will be appreciated that a clamp coagulator apparatus embodying the principles of the present invention can be configured for non - disposable or multiple use , and non - detachably integrated with an associated ultrasonic generator unit . however , detachable connection of the present clamp coagulator apparatus with an associated ultrasonic generator unit is presently preferred for single - patient use of the apparatus . with specific reference now to fig1 and 2 , an embodiment of a surgical system 19 , including an ultrasonic surgical instrument 100 in accordance with the present invention is illustrated . the surgical system 19 includes an ultrasonic generator 30 connected to an ultrasonic transducer 50 via cable 22 , and an ultrasonic surgical instrument 100 . it will be noted that , in some applications , the ultrasonic transducer 50 is referred to as a “ hand piece assembly ” because the surgical instrument of the surgical system 19 is configured such that a surgeon may grasp and manipulate the ultrasonic transducer 50 during various procedures and operations . a suitable generator is the gen04 ( also referred to as generator 300 ) sold by ethicon endo - surgery , inc . of cincinnati , ohio . a suitable transducer is disclosed in co - pending u . s . patent application filed on oct . 10 , 2006 , ser . no . ______ ( attorney docket # end5747usnp1 ), entitled medical ultrasound system and handpiece and methods for making and tuning , the contents which are incorporated by reference herein . ultrasonic transducer 50 , and an ultrasonic waveguide 80 together provide an acoustic assembly of the present surgical system 19 , with the acoustic assembly providing ultrasonic energy for surgical procedures when powered by generator 30 . the acoustic assembly of surgical instrument 100 generally includes a first acoustic portion and a second acoustic portion . in the present embodiment , the first acoustic portion comprises the ultrasonically active portions of ultrasonic transducer 50 , and the second acoustic portion comprises the ultrasonically active portions of transmission assembly 71 . further , in the present embodiment , the distal end of the first acoustic portion is operatively coupled to the proximal end of the second acoustic portion by , for example , a threaded connection . the ultrasonic surgical instrument 100 includes a multi - piece handle assembly 68 adapted to isolate the operator from the vibrations of the acoustic assembly contained within transducer 50 . the handle assembly 68 can be shaped to be held by a user in a conventional manner , but it is contemplated that the present ultrasonic surgical instrument 100 principally be grasped and manipulated in a scissor - like arrangement provided by a handle assembly of the instrument , as will be described . while multi - piece handle assembly 68 is illustrated , the handle assembly 68 may comprise a single or unitary component . the proximal end of the ultrasonic surgical instrument 100 receives and is fitted to the distal end of the ultrasonic transducer 50 by insertion of the transducer into the handle assembly 68 . the ultrasonic surgical instrument 100 may be attached to and removed from the ultrasonic transducer 50 as a unit . the ultrasonic surgical instrument 100 may include a handle assembly 68 , comprising mating housing portions 69 and 70 and an ultrasonic transmission assembly 71 . the elongated transmission assembly 71 of the ultrasonic surgical instrument 100 extends orthogonally from the instrument handle assembly 68 . the handle assembly 68 may be constructed from a durable plastic , such as polycarbonate or a liquid crystal polymer . it is also contemplated that the handle assembly 68 may alternatively be made from a variety of materials including other plastics , ceramics or metals . traditional unfilled thermoplastics , however , have a thermal conductivity of only about 0 . 20 w / m ° k ( watt / meter -° kelvin ). in order to improve heat dissipation from the instrument , the handle assembly may be constructed from heat conducting thermoplastics , such as high heat resistant resins liquid crystal polymer ( lcp ), polyphenylene sulfide ( pps ), polyetheretherketone ( peek ) and polysulfone having thermal conductivity in the range of 20 - 100 w / m ° k . peek resin is a thermoplastics filled with aluminum nitride or boron nitride , which are not electrically conductive . the thermally conductive resin helps to manage the heat within smaller instruments . the transmission assembly 71 includes a waveguide 80 and a blade 79 . it will be noted that , in some applications , the transmission assembly is sometimes referred to as a “ blade assembly ”. the waveguide 80 , which is adapted to transmit ultrasonic energy from transducer 50 to the tip of blade 79 may be flexible , semi - flexible or rigid . the waveguide 80 may also be configured to amplify the mechanical vibrations transmitted through the waveguide 80 to the blade 79 as is well known in the art . the waveguide 80 may further have features to control the gain of the longitudinal vibration along the waveguide 80 and features to tune the waveguide 80 to the resonant frequency of the system . in particular , waveguide 80 may have any suitable cross - sectional dimension . for example , the waveguide 80 may have a substantially uniform cross - section or the waveguide 80 may be tapered at various sections or may be tapered along its entire length . ultrasonic waveguide 80 may , for example , have a length substantially equal to an integral number of one - half system wavelengths ( nλ / 2 ). the ultrasonic waveguide 80 and blade 79 may be preferably fabricated from a solid core shaft constructed out of material , which propagates ultrasonic energy efficiently , such as titanium alloy ( i . e ., ti - 6al - 4v ), aluminum alloys , sapphire , stainless steel or any other acoustically compatible material . ultrasonic waveguide 80 may further include at least one radial hole or aperture 66 extending therethrough , substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the waveguide 80 . the aperture 66 , which may be positioned at a node , is configured to receive a connector pin 27 , discussed below , which connects the waveguide 80 , to the handle assembly 70 . blade 79 may be integral with the waveguide 80 and formed as a single unit . in an alternate expression of the current embodiment , blade 79 may be connected by a threaded connection , a welded joint , or other coupling mechanisms . the distal end of the blade 79 is disposed near an anti - node 85 in order to tune the acoustic assembly to a preferred resonant frequency f o when the acoustic assembly is not loaded by tissue . when ultrasonic transducer 50 is energized , the distal end of blade 79 or blade tip 79 a is configured to move substantially longitudinally ( along the x axis ) in the range of , for example , approximately 10 to 500 microns peak - to - peak , and preferably in the range of about 20 to about 200 microns at a predetermined vibrational frequency f o of , for example , 55 , 500 hz . blade tip 79 a also preferably vibrates in the y axis at about 1 to about 10 percent of the motion in the x axis . the blade tip 79 a provides a functional asymmetry or curved portion for improved visibility at the blade tip so that a surgeon can verify that the blade 79 extends across the structure being cut or coagulated . this is especially important in verifying margins for large blood vessels . the geometry also provides for improved tissue access by more closely replicating the curvature of biological structures . blade 79 provides a multitude of edges and surfaces , designed to provide a multitude of tissue effects : clamped coagulation , clamped cutting , grasping , back - cutting , dissection , spot coagulation , tip penetration and tip scoring . blade tip 79 a is commonly referred to as a functional asymmetry . that is , the blade ( functionally , the blade provides a multitude of tissue effects ) lies outside the longitudinal axis of waveguide 80 ( that is , asymmetrical with the longitudinal axis ), and accordingly creates an imbalance in the ultrasonic waveguide . if the imbalance is not corrected , then undesirable heat , noise , and compromised tissue effect occur . it is possible to minimize unwanted tip excursion in the y and z axes , and therefore maximize efficiency with improved tissue effect , by providing one or more balance asymmetries or balancing features proximal to the blade functional asymmetry . referring now to fig3 a - g , transmission assembly 71 includes one or more balancing features placed at blade 79 , at a position proximal and / or distal to the distal most node 84 . in addition , the balancing features at the waveguide 80 are shaped to balance the two orthogonal modes in the y and z axes , separately . the size and shape and location of the balance features allow flexibility to reduce stress at the blade 79 , make the active length longer and separately balance the two orthogonal modes . fig3 a - b show a single balance cut 82 at the waveguide 80 distal to node 84 . in this embodiment balance cut 82 has side walls perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of waveguide 80 and the bottom cut is parallel to the longitudinal axis of waveguide 80 . in this embodiment the high stresses experienced during operation are localized at the balancing cut 82 , which is away from the more sensitive curved region at the blade 79 . fig3 c shows two balancing features 82 and 82 a , one distal and one proximal to the node 84 . adding second balance cut 82 a , proximal to node 84 further eliminates the orthogonal bending modes thereby providing a more pure longitudinal motion ( x direction ) and removing the overlapping bending modes ( y and z direction ). accordingly , the blade 79 is better balanced and has a longer active length . fig3 d shows two balancing features 82 c and 82 a , distal and proximal to the node 84 . an angled bottom cut at balance feature 82 c allows individual balancing of the bending mode in the z direction . fig3 e - f show two balancing features 82 and 82 d , distal and proximal to the node 84 . the side walls of balance feature 82 d are angled with respect to each other in the x - z plane and provide for individual balancing of the bending mode in the y direction . the angled side walls define an included angle θ of between 1 ° and about 90 °, preferably between about 15 ° and about 25 °, and more preferably between about 19 ° and about 21 °. the weight removed at each balance feature is a function of multiple parameters including the radius of curvature at blade tip 79 a and the desired level of removal of the overlapping bending modes in the y and z direction . in an illustrative example , the balance cut 82 represents a weight reduction of about 0 . 003 to about 0 . 004 oz ., and most preferably about 0 . 0034 oz . the balance cut 82 d represents a weight reduction of about 0 . 004 to about 0 . 005 oz ., and most preferably about 0 . 0043 oz . fig3 g shows one balance cut 82 e in the curved blade region in addition to balance feature 82 , distal to node 84 . balance cut 82 e allows for balancing as well as improved acoustic performance as a result of wide frequency separation of transverse modes from the fundamental frequency , which is the longitudinal mode frequency . as would be apparent to one skilled in the art , any combination of balance cuts 82 through 82 e are possible to provide balancing of a waveguide and curved blade . fig4 shows that the profile produced by the balancing cut features of fig3 e produces a 1 . 3 mm longer active length along the longitudinal displacement direction than is available from an lcs - 05 ultrasonic clamp coagulator , sold by ethicon endo - surgery , inc . ( where they axis is representative of the ratio between the displacement anywhere along blade tip 79 a and the displacement at the most distal end of blade tip 79 a ). a longer active length is desirable for cutting and coagulating large vessels , for example , 5 - 7 mm vessels . fig5 shows that the profile produced by the balancing features of fig3 e produces a 2 . 5 mm longer active length ( along the vector sum of displacements in the x , y and z directions ) than is available from an lcs - 05 ultrasonic clamp coagulator , which is desirable for cutting and coagulating large vessels , for example , 5 - 7 mm vessels . referring back to fig1 and 2 an outer tubular member or outer shroud 72 attaches to the most proximal end of handle assembly 70 . attached to the distal end of the outer shroud 72 is a distal shroud 76 . both the outer shroud 72 and distal shroud 76 may attach via a snap fit , press fit , glue or other mechanical means . extending distally from the distal shroud 76 is the end - effector 81 , which comprises the blade 79 and clamp member 56 , also commonly referred to as a jaw , in combination with one or more tissue pads 58 . a seal 83 may be provided at the distal - most node 84 , nearest the end - effector 81 , to abate passage of tissue , blood , and other material in the region between the waveguide 80 and the distal shroud 76 . seal 83 may be of any known construction , such as an o - ring or silicon overmolded at node 84 . referring now to fig6 a - d and 7 a - b , blade 79 is curved along with the associated clamp member 56 . this is illustrative only , and blade 79 and a corresponding clamp member 56 may be of any shape as is known to the skilled artisan . one benefit of the invention , however , is the ability to perform finer , more delicate surgical procedures . it is also multifunctional and able to dissect tissue as well as coagulate and transect . the ability to finely dissect is enabled primarily by the tapering of the end effector 81 . the end effector is tapered in two planes , which mimics typical hemostats . this allows the user to create windows in the tissue and then spread the tissue apart more easily . the blade 79 and clamp member 56 are tapered in both the x and z directions from the proximal end to the distal end . the pad 58 is only tapered in the z direction . that is , the clamp pad 58 has a constant thickness , but the width of the clamp pad 58 at the distal end is less than the width at the proximal end . accordingly , the surface area of section a is greater than the surface area of section b . in addition to the taper , the radius at the distal end of the blade 79 and clamp member 56 also promotes fine dissection . the radius at the tip of the clamp member 56 is approximately 0 . 040 inches , and the blade radius is approximately 0 . 045 inches . with specific reference to fig6 a , blade 79 is defined by an inside radius r 1 and an outside radius r 2 measured at a distance d 1 from the longitudinal axis . the dimensions r 1 , r 2 and d 1 are selected in combination with the balance cuts previously discussed . in one embodiment r 1 is from about 0 . 80 inches to about 1 . 00 inches and most preferably about 0 . 95 inches ; r 2 is from about 0 . 90 inches to about 1 . 10 inches and most preferably about 1 . 04 inches ; and d 1 is from about 0 . 90 inches to about 1 . 10 inches and most preferably about 0 . 99 inches . fig6 b and 6d further illustrate a second expression of the blade 79 . illustrated is a radius cut 90 in blade 79 to provide two back cutting edges 92 and 92 a . as will be appreciated by the skilled artesian , radius cut 90 also provides a balance asymmetry within the functional symmetry to help balance the orthogonal modes . the back cutting edges 92 and 92 a are positioned opposite the clamp pad 58 ( fig7 b ) to allow the surgeon to perform tissue cutting procedures without the assistance of the clamp pad 58 . preferably , the radius cut is distal to the most distal tip of blade 79 to allow for a blunt radius tip for tissue dissection as discussed above . in one example of the second expression of blade 79 , a radius cut r 3 is swept across an angle φ measured at a distance d 2 from the longitudinal axis and starting a distance d 3 from the distal tip of blade 79 . in one embodiment r 3 is from about 0 . 030 inches to about 0 . 060 inches and most preferably about 0 . 050 inches ; angle φ is from about 20 ° to about 35 ° and most preferably about 30 °; d 2 is about 0 . 90 inches to about 1 . 10 inches and most preferably about 0 . 99 inches ; and d 3 is from about 0 . 085 inches to about 0 . 11 inches and most preferably about 0 . 09 inches . in a third expression of blade 79 , fig6 c illustrates a taper defined by angle ω relative to an axis parallel to the longitudinal axis of waveguide 80 from the proximal end of blade 79 to the distal end of blade 79 . in one embodiment the taper may be on the blade surface that contacts tissue pad 58 ( fig7 a ). alternatively , the taper may be the defined by the opposite surface comprising radius cut 90 . referring to fig6 c , angle ω ranges from about 0 . 5 ° to about 5 °, and preferably from about 1 . 5 ° to about 2 °. referring back to fig2 , waveguide 80 is positioned within cavity 59 of handle assembly 68 . in order to properly locate the waveguide 80 both axially and radially , pin 27 extends through opening 66 of waveguide 80 ( located at a node ) and engages channel 28 ( formed by the mating of housing portions 69 and 70 ). preferably pin 27 is made of any compatible metal , such as stainless steel or titanium or a durable plastic , such as polycarbonate or a liquid crystal polymer . in a first expression of one embodiment , pin 27 is partially coated with an elasto - meric material 30 , such as silicon for that portion 29 of pin 27 that extends through waveguide 80 and uncoated for that portion of pin 27 that engages members 69 and 70 . the silicone provides insulation from the vibrating blade throughout the length of hole 66 . this enables high efficiency operation whereby minimal overheating is generated and maximum ultrasonic output power is available at the blade tip for cutting and coagulation . the lack of insulation allows pin 27 to be held firmly within handle assembly 68 due to the lack of insulation , which would provide deformation and movement if pin 27 were completely coated with an insulating material . referring now to fig8 and 9a - c a first expression of clamp member 56 has a shaped slot 57 for accepting one or more tissue pads . this configuration prevents mis - loading of the tissue pads and assures that the appropriate pad is loaded at the correct location within clamp member 56 . for example clamp member 56 may comprise a t - shaped slot 57 to accept a t - shaped flange 55 of clamp pad 58 . two mechanical stops 59 and 59 a , when depressed , engage the proximal end of clamp pad 58 to secure the clamp pad within clamp member 56 . as would be appreciated by those skilled in the art , flanges and corresponding slots may have alternate shapes and sizes to secure the clamp pads to the clamp arm . the illustrated flange configurations shown are exemplary only and accommodate the particular clamp pad material of one embodiment , but the particular size and shape of the flange may vary , including , but not limited to , flanges of the same size and shape . for unitary tissue pads , the flange may be of one configuration . further , other tab stops are possible and may include any of the multiple methods of mechanically attaching the clamp pads to the clamp arm , such as rivets , glue , press fit or any other fastening means well know to the artisan . referring to fig1 a - c , in a first expression of an alternate embodiment , clamp pad 58 consists of a first tissue pad 58 b and a second pad portion 58 a , which may be an insert within pad 58 b . tissue pad 58 b may comprise a tissue engaging surface having saw tooth - like teeth and proximal portion 58 a may have a smoother surface relative to pad 58 b . the advantage of two separate components 58 a and 58 b is that each pad may be constructed from different materials . for example , having a two - piece tissue pad allows the use of a very lubricious material at the distal end that is not particularly resistant to high temperatures compared to a very high temperature material at the proximal end that is not particularly lubricious because the proximal end is an area of lower amplitude . such a configuration matches the tissue pad materials to the amplitude of the blade 79 . in a second expression of an alternate embodiment of the present invention , clamp pad 58 b is formed from teflon ® or any other suitable low - friction material . clamp pad 58 a is formed from a base material and at least one filler material , which is a different material from the base material . the surface of proximal clamp pad 58 a may be smoother than distal clamp pad 58 b , or proximal clamp pad 58 a may also have a similar type saw - tooth configuration . several benefits and advantages are obtained from one or more of the expressions of the invention . having a tissue pad with a base material and at - least - one filler material allows the base material and the at - least - one filler material to be chosen with a different hardness , stiffness , lubricity , dynamic coefficient of friction , heat transfer coefficient , abradability , heat deflection temperature , glass transition temperature and / or melt temperature to improve the wearability of the tissue pad , which is important when high clamping forces are employed because tissue pads wear faster at higher clamping forces than at lower clamping forces . in experiments , a 15 % graphite - filled polytetrafluoroethylene tissue pad showed substantially the same wear with a 7 pound clamping force as a 100 % polytetrafluoroethylene tissue pad showed with a 1 . 5 pound clamping force . having a flexible clamping arm and / or a flexible tissue pad should also improve the wearability of the tissue pad due to the ability of the flexible member to more evenly distribute the load across the entire surface of the tissue pad . further benefits and expressions of this embodiment are disclosed in u . s . provisional patent application , ser . no . 60 / 548 , 301 , filed on feb . 27 , 2004 and commonly assigned to the assignee of the present application . in a third expression of an alternate embodiment , a tissue pad with a base material and at least two filler materials allows the base material and the at - least - two filler materials to be chosen with a different hardness , stiffness , lubricity , dynamic coefficient of friction , heat transfer coefficient , abradability , heat deflection temperature , and / or melt temperature to improve the wearability of the tissue pad , which is important when high clamping forces are employed because tissue pads wear faster at higher clamping forces than at lower clamping forces . in experiments , a 15 % graphite - filled , 30 % ptfe - filled polyimide tissue pad showed substantially the same or better wear with a 4 . 5 pound clamping force as a 100 % polytetrafluoroethylene tissue pad showed with a 1 . 5 pound clamping force . the advantage of a 15 % graphite - filled , 30 % ptfe - filled polyimide tissue pad is increased heat resistance , which improves the overall wear resistance of the tissue pad . this polyimide - composite clamp pad has a useful heat resistance up about 800 ° f . to about 1200 ° f ., as compared to a useful heat resistance up to about 660 ° f . of a ptfe clamp pad . alternatively , other materials are also useful for a portion of the tissue pad , such as ceramics , metals , glasses and graphite . fig1 a - c disclose a first expression of an embodiment of attaching a two part clamp pad 58 a - b to a clamp member 56 . in fig1 a , at least two slots 57 a and 57 b are shaped to accept two correspondingly shaped flanges 55 a and 55 ′. in this example , t - slot 57 a accepts a corresponding t - flange 55 a of clamp pad 58 a , and wedge - shaped slot 57 ′ accepts a corresponding wedge - shaped flange 55 ′ of clamp pad 58 b . fig1 a - e illustrate a second expression of attaching a clamp pad 58 c to a clamp arm 56 c . clamp pad 58 c comprises one or more protrusions 62 for insertion into one or more corresponding apertures 63 in clamp arm 56 c . if a second or more clamp pad ( s ) 58 d is also used in accordance with the previous discussion , then clamp pad 58 c further comprises corresponding aperture 61 for accepting one or more clamp pad ( s ) 58 d . clamp arm 56 c has corresponding aperture ( s ) 63 for accepting protrusions 62 , as well as a corresponding cavity 64 for accepting the one or more clamp pad 58 d . fig1 e illustrates the components assembled together prior to staking . clamp pad 58 d fits inside the aperture 61 and cavity 64 , and pad 58 c is aligned with clamp arm 56 c so that protrusions 62 align with chamfered aperture 63 . protrusions 62 have additional height beyond the top surface of clamp arm 56 c to provide additional material to fill the chamfered volume during staking . heat is applied to protrusions 62 above the clamp arm 56 c ; the protrusions deform and take the shape of the chamfered volume . fig1 a - c illustrate a third expression of attaching a clamp pad 58 d to a clamp arm 56 d . in addition to a t - shaped flange 55 , clamp pad 58 d further comprises a hook - like protrusion or clip 65 for attaching to a corresponding opening 66 at the distal tip of clamp arm 56 d . in this expression , the distal tip of clamp arm 56 d is open and the clamp pad 58 d is inserted from the distal to proximal direction until the hook clip engages opening 66 . hook clip 65 may be biased closed so when clip 65 engages opening 66 , clip 65 applies compressive forces against opening 66 . a first expression for a method for inserting a clamp pad on a clamp arm includes a ) inserting a first clamp pad having a first width dimension greater than a second width dimension and having a first - shaped flange into a clamp arm having a slot that accepts the first - shaped flange ; and b ) engaging a pad stop to secure the clamp pad within the clamp arm . in a second expression of the method , the clamp pad consists of a second clamp pad fabricated from a base material and at least one filler material , which is a different material from the base material . the second clamp pad may have a second - shaped flange for engaging a second - shaped slot on the clamp arm . the tissue surfaces of the clamp pads may be smooth or have tissue gripping features , such as a saw - tooth configuration . a first expression for a method for replacing clamp pads would include the steps of : a ) disengaging a pad stop ; b ) removing a first clamp pad from the clamp arm ; c ) removing a second clamp pad from the clamp arm , wherein at least one of the first or second clamp pads has a first width dimension greater than a second width dimension ; d ) inserting third and fourth clamp pads into the clamp arm wherein at least one of the third or fourth clamp pads has a first width dimension greater than a second width dimension ; and e ) engaging a pad stop to secure the third and fourth clamp pads within the clamp arm . in a second expression of this method one of the third and fourth clamp pads may be fabricated from a polymeric material such as teflon , and the other clamp pad may be fabricated from a base material and at least one filler material , which is a different material from the base material . the tissue surfaces of the clamp pads may be smooth or have tissue gripping features , such as a saw - tooth configuration . referring to fig1 - 15 , a clamp arm 60 is configured for use with the present ultrasonic surgical instrument 100 and for cooperative action with blade 79 and clamp member 56 . the clamp arm 60 is rotatably mounted to the distal end of outer shroud 72 , detailed below , and connectably attaches at the distal end of thumb ring or actuation member 34 . clamp pad 58 mounts on the clamp member 56 for cooperation with blade 79 , with rotational movement of the clamp arm 60 positioning the clamp pad in substantially parallel relationship to , and in contact with , blade 79 , thereby defining a tissue treatment region . by this construction , tissue is grasped between clamp pad 58 and blade 79 . pivotal movement of the clamp member 56 with respect to blade 79 is affected by the provision of a pair of camming members on the clamp arm 60 that interface with the outer shroud 72 . the outer shroud 72 is grounded to handle 68 . a first expression of clamp arm 60 comprises jaw - carrying member 60 a and mating member 60 b . jaw - carrying member 60 a includes two camming members 94 a and 94 b for mating with two corresponding camming slots 95 a and 95 b located outer shroud 72 . mating member 60 b includes two camming members 96 a and 96 b for mating with two corresponding camming slots 97 a and 97 b located outer shroud 72 . corresponding camming members 94 a / 94 b and 96 a / 96 b ( and corresponding camming slots 95 a / 95 b and 97 a / 97 b ) may align along common axes perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of waveguide 80 or camming members may be offset to facilitate the assembly process . members 60 a and 60 b fixedly attach to each other as shown in fig1 to form clamp arm 60 via press fit or snap fit . other attaching methods are available as is known to those skilled in the art , such as welding , glue , screwing , etc . once assembled , clamp arm 60 defines an opening 93 for receiving outer shroud 72 and the interlocking of the respective cam members and cam slots . alternatively , members 60 a and 60 b may be assembly around outer shroud 72 and all three elements mated together in one operation . one benefit of the cam open and closure mechanism is that it can provide both a rotational motion and linear motion of the clamp arm 60 and clamp member 56 thereby providing better control of the pressure profile between clamp pad 58 and blade 79 . in a second expression of clamp arm 60 , the camming members may be replaced with spherical elements that interface with cam slots . alternatively camming members may be replaced with spherical depressions for receiving ball bearings that interface with the cam slots . other camming mechanism would be useful as is well known to the skilled artisian . with solid camming members and corresponding slots , the force delivered between the clamp pad 58 and blade 79 is directly related to the force that the user applies at the thumb ring 35 and finger ring 36 . in a third expression of clamp arm 60 , a force limiting element 98 , such as an elastomer or coil or leaf spring , may be inserted within one or more cam slots and provide a force limit to the coaptation force seen at the end effector 81 . preferably , the spring constant of an elastomer or spring ranges from 10 - 500 lb ./ in . outer shroud 72 , distal shroud 76 and clamp arm 60 may be constructed from any number of biocompatible materials , such as titanium , stainless steel or plastics . preferably , however , these elements are constructed of either 7075 or 6061 t6 aluminum . the aluminum provides a large benefit in terms of heat dissipation . devices of the prior art have sheaths and clamp arms made of stainless steel . typical values for thermal conductivity for aluminum are around 250 w / m k . the values for stainless steel are around 16 w / m k . thus , aluminum has approximately 15 times greater capability to transmit heat through the same amount of volume . the inventors have found through testing of similar inputs ( clamp force and blade displacement ), the present invention operates approximately 150 ° f . lower in temperature than instruments of the prior art . the aluminum components more effectively draw the heat away from the pad and the blade , thus keeping the end effector cooler than other prior art instruments . referring now to fig1 and 16a - g housing 68 includes a proximal end , a distal end , and a cavity 59 extending longitudinally therein . cavity 59 is configured to accept a switch assembly 300 and the transducer assembly 50 . in one expression of the current embodiment , the distal end of transducer 50 threadedly attaches to the proximal end of transmission rod 80 . the distal end of transducer 50 also interfaces with switch assembly 300 to provide the surgeon with finger - activated controls on surgical instrument 19 . transducer 50 includes a first conductive ring 400 and a second conductive ring 410 which are securely disposed within the transducer body 50 as is described in co - pending application ser . no . ______ ( attorney docket no . end5747usnp2 ). switch assembly 300 comprises a pushbutton assembly 310 , a flex circuit assembly 330 , a switch housing 350 , a first pin conductor 360 and a second pin conductor 370 . switch housing 350 is saddle - shaped and is supported within handle assembly 68 by way of corresponding supporting mounts on switch housing 350 and housing portions 69 and 70 . housing 350 defines a first receiving area 353 for a dome switch , and a second receiving area 351 for a dome switch . with particular reference now to fig1 d and e , pins 360 and 370 are electrically connected to dome switch 332 and 334 via conductors 337 and 335 , respectively , at one end and to the distal end of transducer 50 at a second end . pins 360 and 370 each have a spring - loaded tip 361 and 371 that interface with transducer 50 as shown in fig1 c . each end 361 and 371 have a 0 . 050 inch working travel to allow for manufacturing tolerances associated with the stackup of the assembled parts . slidably attached to housing 68 are two triggers 320 and 322 , each comprising first and second halves 320 a , 320 a and 322 a , 322 b , respectively . shown in fig1 b is trigger 320 , which comprises ridges 321 a and b and contact surface 323 ( made up of mating surfaces 323 a and 323 b ). when assembled , triggers 320 and 322 slidably attach to housing 68 and contact surfaces 323 and 325 mechanically engage dome switches 332 and 334 , respectively . ridges 321 and 326 provide interface between the user and triggers 320 and 322 . ridges 321 and 326 are designed to provide as much surface area for the user to depress in order to activate the instrument . in a second expression of switch assembly 300 elastomeric connectors having copper traces etched onto the elastomer press fit into switch housing 350 to provide the electrical interconnect between transducer 50 and flex circuit 330 . one end of the elastomer connectors electrically engage dome switches 332 and 334 via conductors 337 and 335 . the other end of the elastomer connectors slidably interface with conductors 400 and 410 of transducer 50 . compression of the elastomer connectors allow a working travel of up to 20 % of the total height of the elastomer connectors to allow for manufacturing tolerances associated with the stackup of the assembled parts . a flex circuit 330 provides for the electro - mechanical interface between pushbuttons 321 and 322 and the generator 30 via transducer 50 . flex circuit comprises two dome switches 332 and 334 that are mechanically actuated by depressing pushbuttons 321 or 322 axially in the x direction . dome switches 332 and 334 are electrical contact switches , that when depressed provide an electrical signal to generator 30 as shown by the electrical wiring schematic of fig1 g . flex circuit 330 also comprises two diodes within a diode package 336 and conductors , 335 and 337 as is known to those in the art , that connect to pins 360 and 370 , respectively , which in turn provide electrical contact to ring conductors 400 and 410 , which in turn are connected to conductors in cable 22 that connect to generator 30 . flex circuit 330 generally sits within a channel 352 of switch assembly 350 so that dome switches 332 and 334 interface with the corresponding backing surfaces 351 and 353 . backing surfaces provide a firm support for the dome switches during operation , discussed below . dome switches 332 and 334 may be fixedly attached to backing surfaces 351 and 353 by any convenient method , such as , an adhesive . as is readily apparent , by depressing pushbuttons 321 and 322 the corresponding contact surfaces 323 and 324 depress against corresponding dome switches 332 and 334 to activate the circuit illustrated in fig1 g . when the surgeon depresses 321 pushbutton , the generator will respond with a certain energy level , such as a maximum (“ max ”) power setting ; when the surgeon depresses pushbutton 322 , the generator will respond with a certain energy level , such as a minimum (“ min ”) power setting , which conforms to accepted industry practice for pushbutton location and the corresponding power setting . referring now to fig1 a - b , the pushbutton axial actuation reduces stress on the surgeon &# 39 ; s fingers and allows the fingers to actuate force in a more ergonomic position preventing stresses at the hands and wrists . the switch movement also allows comfortable button activation in less than optimal hand positions , which surgeons often encounter throughout a typical procedure . at the proximal end of each access ring 35 and 36 are protrusions 37 and 38 , respectively , that allow the surgeon to rest his or her pinky finger for added control and comfort . this also allows the surgeon to use the pinky when clamping on tissue , thereby reducing the force on the other fingers . each access ring 35 and 36 includes a soft - touch surface on the interior and exterior surfaces whether by inserting fingers into the access rings or palming the access rings . this feature allows a greater number of hand sizes to comfortably use the device . referring to fig1 , access rings 35 and 36 define a length l . preferably , the center of gravity of the surgical instrument 100 in combination with the transducer 50 is positioned within length l , more preferably within length l 1 , and most preferably within length l 2 . this position of the center of gravity allows the instrument to balance within the surgeon &# 39 ; s hand to provide more precise control of the instrument and eliminate hand fatigue during procedures . referring now to fig1 and 19a - e , a two - piece torque wrench 450 is shown . the torque wrench includes a hand wrench 500 and an adaptor 550 . in one embodiment , hand wrench 500 is provided with cantilever arms 501 disposed in an annular fashion about the centerline of hand wrench 500 . cantilever arms 501 include teeth 501 a disposed , in one embodiment , in an inward perpendicular fashion in relation to cantilever arms 501 . teeth 501 a , in one embodiment of the current invention , are disposed with a cam ramp 501 b at a 25 ° angle with respect to the perpendicular angle between arm 501 and teeth 501 a . lumen 502 extends the entire length of hand wrench 500 for accepting adaptor 550 . adaptor 550 has a longitudinal shaft 552 with cantilevered tabs 554 at its distal end . at the proximal end of shaft 552 are spline gears 556 projecting in a perpendicular fashion along the outer circumference of shaft 552 . spline gears 556 include cam ramps 556 a disposed at an angle from about 23 ° to about 28 ° with respect to the perpendicular angle between the outer circumference of shaft 552 and spline gears 556 . shaft 552 further defines a lateral opening ( not shown ) proximal to spline gears 556 for accepting curved blade 79 , discussed below . adaptor further includes an interface 560 rigidly connected to shaft 552 and defining an opening for rigidly engaging the distal end of instrument 19 . optionally , a skirt 558 surrounds spline gears 556 to prevent glove snags due to moving parts and forms a cavity 559 . in assembly , torque wrench opening 502 is aligned with shaft 552 and guided along substantially the entire length of shaft 552 until the tabs 554 flex inward and capture shoulder 505 ( not shown ) at the distal end of hand wrench 500 . hand wrench lip 503 engages the distal end of optional skirt 558 allowing cantilever teeth 501 a to slidably engage spline gears 556 . cam ramp 501 b slidably engages retainer cam ramps 29 b . the torque wrench assembly 450 slidably engages the distal end of instrument 19 and is held rigidly in place . flat surfaces 560 b and 560 a of interface 560 mate with flat surfaces 565 b ( fig1 ) and 565 a ( not shown ) at the distal end of activation member 34 ( clamp arm 60 ) and rail 562 slidably engaging slot 564 on clamp arm 60 and distra shroud 76 and outer shroud 72 all provide structural support to maintain adapter 550 firmly engaged with instrument 19 . clockwise annular motion or torque is imparted to hand wrench 500 through paddles 504 . the torque is transmitted through arms 501 and teeth 501 a to gears 556 , which in turn transmit the torque to the waveguide 80 via clamp arm assembly 60 via outer shroud 72 via insulated pin 27 . when a user imparts 5 - 12 lbs . of torque , the ramps 501 b and 556 cause the arms 501 to move or flex away from the centerline of wrench 500 ensuring that the user does not over - tighten the waveguide 80 onto transducer 50 . when a counter - clockwise torque is applied to wrench 500 via paddles 504 , the perpendicular flat sides of teeth 501 a and 556 abut allowing a user to impart a torque to the interface between the waveguide 80 and transducer 50 in proportion to the force applied to the paddles facilitating removal of the instrument 100 from the transducer 50 . the torque wrench 450 may be constructed from a durable plastic , such as polycarbonate or a liquid crystal polymer . it is also contemplated that the wrench 450 may alternatively be made from a variety of materials including other plastics , ceramics or metals . in another embodiment ( not shown ), the paddles and cantilever arm assembly may be separate components attached by mechanical means or chemical means such as adhesives or glue . preferably , the ultrasonic clamp coagulator apparatus 19 described above will be processed before surgery . first , a new or used ultrasonic clamp coagulator apparatus is obtained and if necessary cleaned . the ultrasonic clamp coagulator apparatus can then be sterilized . in one sterilization technique the ultrasonic clamp coagulator apparatus is placed in a closed and sealed container , such as a plastic or tyvek bag . optionally , the ultrasonic clamp coagulator apparatus can be bundled in the container as a kit with other components , including a torque wrench 450 . the container and ultrasonic clamp coagulator apparatus , as well as any other components , are then placed in a field of radiation that can penetrate the container , such as gamma radiation , x - rays , or high - energy electrons . the radiation kills bacteria on the ultrasonic clamp coagulator apparatus and in the container . the sterilized ultrasonic clamp coagulator apparatus can then be stored in the sterile container . the sealed container keeps the ultrasonic clamp coagulator apparatus sterile until it is opened in the medical facility . while the present invention has been illustrated by description of several embodiments , it is not the intention of the applicant to restrict or limit the spirit and scope of the appended claims to such detail . numerous variations , changes , and substitutions will occur to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention . moreover , the structure of each element associated with the present invention can be alternatively described as a means for providing the function performed by the element . accordingly , it is intended that the invention be limited only by the spirit and scope of the appended claims .	0
for the purposes of promoting an understanding of the principles of the invention , reference will now be made to the embodiment illustrated in the drawings and specific language will be used to describe the same . it will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of the invention is thereby intended , such alterations and further modifications in the illustrated device , and such further applications of the principles of the invention as illustrated therein , being contemplated as would normally occur to one skilled in the art to which the invention relates . referring generally to fig1 and 2 , there is shown one embodiment of a multi - axial bone anchor assembly 20 of the present invention . in the illustrated embodiment , assembly 20 includes a receiver member 30 , a bone anchor 50 , a crown member 70 , and a retaining member 90 . the assembly 20 of the present invention is designed for use with an elongated member r ( fig7 ) such as a spinal rod , bar or other orthopedic construct , as further described below . referring now generally to fig3 a - 3 d , one embodiment of the receiver member 30 of the present invention is shown . receiver member 30 defines an upper opening portion 31 a and a lower opening portion 31 b , which in the illustrated embodiment form a single opening 32 extending through receiver member 30 from an upper aperture 33 in top end 34 to a lower aperture 35 in bottom end 36 . lower opening portion 31 b of opening 32 , in one specific embodiment , includes a chamber 38 defined by a chamber wall 39 . alternatively , upper and lower opening portions 31 a , 31 b can have a variety of configurations , such as each having one or more sections of differing diameter . opening 32 is partially surrounded by a chamfered or rounded edge 40 a at top end 34 of receiver member 30 , and is surrounded by chamfered or rounded edge 40 b at the bottom end 36 of receiver member 30 . proximate to bottom end 36 , receiver member 30 defines a groove 41 and associated ledge 41 a around opening 32 . in the illustrated embodiment , groove 41 extends around the entire perimeter of opening 32 , although it will be seen that groove 41 could extend only partially around the perimeter of opening 32 . groove 41 has a groove depth a ( fig7 ) and a groove diameter b ( fig3 a ). receiver member 30 in the illustrated embodiment includes a pair of upright branches 42 , 43 through which opening 32 extends . branches 42 , 43 further define a u - shaped channel 45 transverse to opening 32 that communicates with upper portion 31 a and lower portion 31 b of opening 32 , and that accommodates an elongated member r ( fig7 ). in a specific embodiment , internal threads 44 are formed in branches 42 , 43 , and branches 42 , 43 are provided with indentations or holes 46 , which allow the surgeon to grip receiver member 30 with an appropriate tool ( not shown ). internal thread 44 in a specific embodiment is a reverse angle thread , i . e . a thread in which the forward face points down and in toward receiver member 30 , as disclosed in commonly - owned u . s . patent application ser . no . 09 / 188 , 825 , filed nov . 9 , 1998 , the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference . preferably , the top portion 47 of receiver member 30 ( which includes branches 42 , 43 ) is narrower than bottom portion 48 of receiver member 30 , thereby reducing the bulk and profile of receiver member 30 . referring now generally to fig4 a - 4 c , an embodiment of a bone anchor 50 used in the present invention is shown . the illustrated bone anchor 50 is a bone screw , which in one embodiment is substantially like the bone screw disclosed in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 885 , 286 , the disclosure of which patent is hereby incorporated by reference . bone anchor 50 includes an anchorage portion 52 and a head portion 54 . anchorage portion 52 includes at least one thread 56 , which may be a cancellous self - tapping thread . head portion 54 forms part of a sphere in the illustrated embodiment , though alternative curvate and other configurations may be employed . head 54 in one particular embodiment includes a series of ridges 58 for improving purchase with the inside of crown member 70 ( described below ). head 54 may have alternative friction - increasing surface configuration ( s ) such as roughening or knurling . further , head 54 includes a tool - engaging print 60 , with which a tool ( not shown ) may be engaged to drive anchorage portion 52 into a bone . tool - engaging print 60 is an interior print in the illustrated embodiment , although an exterior print could be used , and it may have any of a number of configurations , such as hexagonal , hexalobate , or other known torque - transferring configurations . other embodiments of bone anchor 50 are contemplated as being within the scope of the present invention . for example , bone anchor 50 could be a bone - engaging hook rather than a screw . in that embodiment , anchorage portion 52 would be configured with a hook rather than an elongated section with thread 56 . head 54 of bone anchor 50 is shaped and sized to fit within at least lower portion 31 b of opening 32 and chamber 38 of receiver member 30 . specifically , head 54 has a width that is smaller than the width of lower opening portion 31 b and chamber 38 . as more fully described below , bone anchor 50 is inserted into receiver member 30 , with head 54 entering lower opening portion 31 b and chamber 38 through bottom end 36 of receiver member 30 . referring now to fig5 a - 5 b , there is shown one embodiment of crown member 70 of the present invention . in that embodiment , crown member 70 is in the shape of a circular disc , having an upper surface 72 with a beveled edge 74 and a lower surface 78 . lower surface 78 is configured to accommodate head 54 of bone anchor 50 , and therefore the illustrated embodiment of lower surface 78 has the shape of part of a sphere . alternatively or additionally , the lower surface of crown member 70 can have one or more other shapes , such as beveled or conical lower surface 78 ′ ( fig5 c ). lower surface 78 can be provided with a friction - or purchase - enhancing surface configuration ( e . g . roughening or knurling ) for cooperation with head 54 of bone anchor 50 . the illustrated embodiment of crown member 70 also includes a hole 80 . hole 80 is provided so that head 54 , and specifically tool - engaging print 60 , of bone anchor 50 may be accessed through crown member 70 . crown member 70 is sized and shaped to fit within at least lower portion 31 b of opening 32 and chamber 38 of receiver member 30 . the outer dimension of crown member 70 is preferably slightly smaller than the inner dimension of chamber 38 and lower portion 31 b of opening 32 so that crown member 70 is slidably and rotatably movable within chamber 38 and opening 32 . further , in the illustrated embodiment the outer dimension of crown member 70 is larger than the inner dimension of upper opening portion 31 a , so that crown member 70 cannot move into upper opening portion 31 a . referring now to fig6 a - 6 b , there is shown one embodiment of retaining member 90 of the present invention . in the illustrated embodiment , retaining member 90 has the form of a c - shaped spring or clip defining a gap 91 . retaining member 90 includes a top surface 92 and a bottom surface 94 . in the illustrated embodiment , retaining member 90 also includes internal surfaces 96 , 98 , 100 that substantially surround aperture 102 . in one specific embodiment , internal surface 96 forms a portion of a sphere of radius substantially identical to the radius of head 54 of bone anchor 50 , internal surface 98 is cylindrical , and internal surface 100 is conical and angled outward to allow a greater range of angular positioning of bone anchor 50 . in alternative embodiments , there may be single or multiple internal surfaces surrounding aperture 102 , which surface ( s ) may be cylindrical , conical , spherical or of other appropriate configuration . the diameter of aperture 102 is smaller than the diameter of head 54 of bone anchor 50 and the diameter of crown member 70 . retaining member 90 has an unloaded or natural outer diameter d , i . e . a diameter measured when retaining member 90 is under no contractive ( gap - closing ) or expansive ( gap - opening ) stress . diameter d of retaining member 90 , in one embodiment , is less than groove diameter b of groove 41 . further , retaining member 90 has a body width w that is substantially constant throughout retaining member 90 . body width w of retaining member 90 is greater than groove depth a of groove 41 . generally referring to fig1 , 2 and 7 , assembly 20 is assembled as follows : bone anchor 50 , crown member 70 and retaining member 90 are inserted into receiver member 30 through bottom end 36 , either individually or substantially in one step . for example , crown member 70 may be inserted first , followed by bone anchor 50 with retaining member 90 being inserted last . in one specific embodiment , retaining member 90 is fitted around bone anchor 50 just below head 54 prior to insertion of bone anchor 50 into receiver member 30 . retaining member 90 can be placed around bone anchor 50 by inserting anchorage portion 52 of bone anchor 50 through aperture 102 of retaining member 90 and moving retaining member 90 over anchorage portion 52 toward head 54 . alternatively , gap 91 of retaining member 90 may be pressed against the shank of bone anchor 50 below head 54 , so that gap 91 expands to allow placement of bone anchor 50 within aperture 102 of retaining member 90 , whereupon retaining member 90 returns to its original size and shape . by placing crown member 70 atop head 54 of bone anchor 50 , so that lower surface 78 of crown member 70 adjoins head 54 , and fitting bone anchor 50 and retaining member 90 together as described above , simultaneous insertion of bone anchor 50 , crown member 70 and retaining member 90 into receiver member 30 can be accomplished . crown member 70 remains slideably and rotatably positioned in lower portion 31 b of opening 32 and / or chamber 38 of receiving member 30 , and bone anchor 50 remains multi - axially moveable with respect to crown member 70 and receiving member 30 . retaining member 90 is forced upward into lower portion 31 b of opening 32 . retaining member 90 contracts , making gap 91 smaller , as retaining member 90 is forced against chamfered edge 40 b of receiving member 30 , until the outer diameter of retaining member 90 is the same as the diameter of lower portion 31 b of opening 32 . retaining member 90 is further advanced along opening 32 and into groove 41 so that retaining member 90 is fitted into at least a portion of groove 41 . as noted above , in one specific embodiment the groove diameter b of groove 41 is smaller than the outer diameter d of retaining member 90 in its natural ( i . e ., unloaded ) condition . thus , when retaining member 90 is within groove 41 , retaining member 90 presses against the walls of groove 41 . alternatively , groove diameter b of groove 41 may be the same size or slightly larger than the natural outer diameter d of retaining member 90 . in this case , the lower surface 94 of retaining member 90 rests upon ledge 41 a of groove 41 , and thereby holds retaining member 90 within groove 41 . groove depth a of groove 41 is less than the body width w of retaining member 90 , so that when retaining member 90 is fitted in groove 41 , a portion of retaining member 90 projects into lower opening portion 31 b of opening 32 . when retaining ring 90 is seated within groove 41 , bone anchor 50 and crown member 70 are retained within opening 32 of receiver member 30 . crown member 70 is supported by head 54 of bone anchor 50 , and head 54 is supported by internal surface 96 of retaining member 90 . retaining member 90 is held by groove 41 and / or ledge 41 a of receiver member 30 , and thus bone anchor 50 and crown member 70 will not pass through retaining ring 90 and out of receiver member 30 when retaining ring 90 is within groove 41 . preferably , assembly 20 is assembled ( as described above ) prior to use in a surgical procedure . in using the illustrated embodiment of assembly 20 , bone anchor 50 of assembly 20 is threaded into an appropriately prepared hole in a bone ( not shown ). it will be understood that in alternative embodiments of the invention , for example where bone anchor 50 is a bone hook , drilling a hole in bone and threading the anchor therein may not be necessary . threaded anchoring portion 52 is inserted into the hole , and an appropriate screwing tool is used with tool - engaging print 60 of bone anchor 50 through hole 80 in crown member 70 , and bone anchor 50 is threaded into the bone . when bone anchor 50 has been threaded into the bone to the desired depth , receiver member 30 is positioned so that opening 32 forms a desired angle with bone anchor 50 , as depicted in fig1 . in the illustrated embodiment , the angle θ between bone anchor 50 and opening 32 can be any value up to 30 degrees in any direction . it will be seen that the maximum angle of bone anchor 50 relative to opening 32 can be changed in several ways , for example by thinning the portion of bone anchor 50 beneath head 54 , by providing steeper angulation of chamfered edge 40 b , and / or by placing groove 41 as close as possible to bottom end of 36 of receiver member 30 . as described above , receiver member 30 may be angled as the surgeon desires with respect to bone anchor 50 . an elongated member r such as a spinal rod , connector , or other orthopedic surgical implant is coupled with assembly 20 . elongated member r is placed in channel 45 of receiver member 30 , and contacts top surface 72 of crown member 70 . a compression member 120 , such as a set screw or threaded plug , is threaded into threads 44 of receiver member 30 and down onto elongated member r . compression member 120 , in one embodiment , is a set screw or plug having external threads 122 and a print 124 for applying torque , and in a specific embodiment is a break - off set screw as disclosed in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 885 , 286 to sherman et al ., incorporated herein by reference . in a further embodiment , thread 122 is a reverse angle thread as disclosed in u . s . patent application ser . no . 09 / 188 , 825 , filed nov . 9 , 1998 , incorporated herein by reference , which is compatible with the reverse angle embodiment of thread 44 of receiver member 30 , described above . alternatively , where receiver member 30 is externally threaded , compression member 120 could be an internally - threaded nut . as compression member 120 is tightened , elongated member r is forced downward against crown member 70 , which pushes crown member 70 down onto head 54 of bone anchor 50 . head 54 is thereby clamped between retaining member 90 and crown member 70 . in the embodiment of the invention in which head 54 includes ridges 58 , ridges 58 are pressed into lower surface 78 of crown member 70 . in this way , bone anchor 50 is locked into the desired angular position with respect to elongated member r and the remainder of assembly 20 . alternatively , assembly 20 can be assembled during the surgical procedure . bone anchor 50 , with retaining ring 90 already positioned beneath head 54 , is inserted into the bone . crown member 70 is placed atop bone anchor 50 or in opening 32 in receiver member 30 . receiver member 30 is then pressed down onto head 54 of bone anchor 50 , forcing retaining ring 90 to contract , to enter opening 32 , and to seat in groove 41 as described above . after assembly 20 is assembled in this fashion , an elongated member is loaded into receiver member 30 and locked as previously described . preferred materials for the present invention include stainless steel and titanium . it will be recognized that any sturdy biocompatible material may be used to accomplish the osteosynthesis and other orthopedic surgical goals of the present invention . in one specific embodiment , crown member 70 may be made of a material somewhat softer than the material used for ridges 58 of head 54 of bone anchor 50 . such construction will allow ridges 58 to penetrate somewhat more easily into interior surface 78 of crown member 70 during locking of assembly 20 , thereby providing a more definite purchase between ridges 58 and crown member 70 . in another specific embodiment , crown member 70 may be made of a material somewhat softer than the material used for elongated member r . such construction will allow upper surface 72 of crown member 70 to deform to the shape of elongated member r during locking of assembly 20 , also providing a more secure locking of the implant . while the invention has been illustrated and described in detail in the drawings and foregoing description , the same is to be considered as illustrative and not restrictive in character , it being understood that only the preferred embodiment has been shown and described and that all changes and modifications that come within the spirit of the invention are desired to be protected .	0
referring to fig1 an oil reclamation device , indicated generally at 2 , comprises a housing 4 , defining an oil vapourisation chamber 6 , capped over an open end of a casing 8 which contains a full flow filter 10 and a partial flow filter 12 . a substantially l - shaped oil passage 14 is provided in the casing 8 . a first branch leg 16 of the oil passage 14 extends from an oil inlet 18 at the top of the casing 8 to an oil outlet 20 at the bottom of the casing 8 . an opening 26 is provided at the upper end of the first branch leg 16 of the oil passage 14 to communicate the upper end of the oil passage 14 with the interior of the casing 8 . a second branch leg 22 of the oil passage 14 extends from the oil outlet 20 to an opening 24 which communicates the lower end of the oil passage 14 with the interior of the casing 8 . a bypass valve 28 extends across the first branch leg 16 of the oil passage 14 through the wall of the casing 8 . in its normally closed condition , the bypass valve 28 prevents flow of oil along the first branch leg 16 . situated along the second branch leg 22 substantially centrally with respect to the oil reclamation device 2 as a whole , is located a bleed valve 30 which extends through the wall of the casing towards the exterior of the oil reclamation device 2 . a metering jet housing 32 , situated above the bleed valve 30 , extends inwardly through the wall of the casing 8 and provides fluid communication between the second branch leg 22 of the oil passage 14 and the interior of the partial flow filter 12 . the partial flow filter 12 comprises a pressed steel cylindrical canister 35 having centrally disposed apertures 36 , 38 in its upper and lower end walls 40 , 42 . the lower end wall 40 is sealed to the casing 8 by means of an o - ring seal 44 and the upper end wall 42 is sealed to the housing 4 by means of an o - ring seal 46 . the partial flow filter 12 is oriented such that its longitudinal axis is coaxial with a metering jet 32 provided in the metering jet housing 34 . the partial flow filter 12 comprises a filter element 41 of twisted continuous filaments of unbleached natural cotton . the density of the filament is greater at the upper end than the lower end of the filter element 41 , so that large particles tend to be trapped by the low density lower portion while smaller particles are trapped by the high density upper portion . in this way the useful life of the filter is extended and its operation is more efficient . the full flow filter 10 is situated around the partial flow filter 12 and is slightly spaced from it to create an annular chamber 11 . the full flow filter comprises an annular pressed steel canister 43 having inner and outer longitudinally disposed side walls 45 , 47 which are provided with a plurality of small apertures 49 , 51 over their entire surface area . the canister 43 is closed by upper and lower solid end walls 48 , 50 . the lower end wall 48 is sealed to the interior of the casing 8 by means of an o - ring seal 52 and the upper end wall of the canister 50 is sealed to the housing 4 by means of an o - ring seal 54 . the housing 4 is formed from aluminium and is cast in two parts 56 , 58 . the lower housing part 56 comprises an annular base portion 55 connected to a discontinuous convoluted thin wall portion 60 which is substantially m - shaped in the illustrated cross - section . a discontinuous annular flange 62 is formed integrally with base portion 55 and projects upwardly from it . the upper housing part 58 of the housing 4 comprises a cover which engages the lower housing part 56 around the periphery of the base portion 55 and at its central portion 57 . the upper housing part 58 has an inwardly facing wall 66 which is spaced from and conforms to the contours of the lower housing part 56 . the oil vapourisation chamber 6 is defined between the upper and lower housing parts 56 , 58 . apertures 68 are formed around an upper part 60 of the thin wall portion 66 of the lower housing part 56 to provide fluid communication between the interior of the partial flow filter 12 and the interior of the vapourisation chamber 6 . preferably , about ten aperture 68 are provided , each about 11 / 2 mm in diameter . a heating element 72 is mounted centrally within the upper housing part 58 and is powered by a battery ( not shown ) which is used to start the internal combustion engine . power may alternatively be supplied by any other source of electrical energy appropriate to a particular application . a thermocouple 74 is mounted on the upper housing part 58 to one side of the heating element 72 and a vapour outlet 76 is located through the upper housing part 58 on the other side of the heating element 72 . an oil outlet 79 is provided through the upper housing part 58 beneath the vapour outlet 76 . referring to fig2 the metering jet housing 32 comprises a non - return valve 80 situated beneath the metering jet 34 . the non - return valve 80 comprises a ball 82 which rests on a seat 84 formed in the metering jet housing 32 . the non - return valve 80 prevents solid contaminants from the interior of the partial flow filter 12 dropping back into the oil passage 14 when the pressure in the oil passage 14 subsides ( i . e . when an engine to which the oil reclamation device is fitted is switched off ) and also prevents the loss of oil when the casing 8 is removed from the housing 4 during a filter replacement operation . a coarse filter 86 is fitted in the metering jet housing 32 between the metering jet 34 and the non - return valve 80 . referring to fig3 the bypass valve 28 comprises a valve element 88 which is fitted within a bore 89 through a wall of the casing 8 . the valve element 88 comprises a body portion 91 , which is a close fit within the bore 89 , and a waisted portion 93 which is fixed between the body portion 91 and a sealing element 95 . the valve element 88 is held against an abutment 90 formed on an inner wall of the casing 8 , under the action of a spring 92 . fitted to an outside surface of the casing 8 is a cap 94 which locates the spring 92 and supports an electrical contact 96 . an end 97 of the body portion 91 is extended towards the electrical contact 96 . referring to fig4 and 5 , the upper housing part 58 of the housing 4 comprises a substantially circular disc having equidistantly spaced projections 100 around its circumference . each projection 100 is provided with a centrally disposed recess 102 . four projections 104 are formed on the casing 8 , at an equidistant spacing around its upper end . each projection 104 pivotally supports a threaded shaft 106 which engages in a corresponding one of the recesses 102 and is retained by a wing nut 108 . the oil reclamation device has many applications , but for the purpose of explaining the operation of the device , it is to be assumed that it is connected to an internal combustion engine . in use , pressurized oil from the oil pump ( not shown ) of the internal combustion engine is introduced to the oil passage 14 through the oil inlet 18 . in normal operation , the bypass valve 28 is closed so that oil is forced through the upper opening 26 into the interior of the casing 8 . from here , it passes through the apertures 51 in the outer side wall 47 of the full flow filter 10 through the filter element and out through the apertures 49 in the inner side wall 45 into the annular chamber 11 between the partial flow filter 12 and the full flow filter 10 . the oil then passes out of the casing 8 through the lower opening 24 into the second branch leg 22 of the oil passage 14 . the bulk of the oil leaves the casing 8 through the oil outlet 20 and is returned to the engine , still under pressure , to be used for lubrication . a proportion of the oil in the second branch leg 22 of the oil passage 14 passes through the non - return valve 80 and coarse filter 86 in to the metering jet 34 . the oil is ejected from the metering jet 34 as a fine spray and is forced through the filter element 41 to the aperture 38 in the end wall 42 of the canister 35 . the use of a metering jet 34 not only ensures good dispersion of the oil over the filter element 41 , but also ensures that only a small proportion of the high pressure oil is diverted through the partial flow filter , rather than being used for lubrication of the engine . it has been found that a bypass flow of approximately 6 % of the total flow is appropriate for most applications . as the oil passes through the filter element 41 , the large particles are trapped by the low density lower portion of the filament and the smaller particles are trapped by the higher density upper portion of the filament so that the oil leaving the partial flow filter through the aperture 38 is free from solid contaminant particles larger than 1 micron . this filtered oil is forced upwardly into the housing 4 and is then ejected through the apertures 68 in the thin wall portion 66 of the lower housing part 56 into the vapourisation chamber 6 . electrical energy is supplied to the heating element 72 which heats the entire upper housing part 58 by conduction . the heating element 72 also heats the lower housing part 58 by conduction due to the good heat transmitting surface contact between the upper and lower housing parts 56 , 58 around their peripheral edges and directly beneath the heating element 72 . the heat supplied should be sufficient to evaporate the light liquids in the oil , such as fuel , water and antifreeze , or like contaminants , without evaporating a substantial amount of the oil itself . to achieve this , the housing 4 is preferably maintained within a temperature range of 90 . 6 to 93 . 3 ° c . ( 195 to 200 ° f .). the thermocouple 74 constantly monitors the temperature of the housing 4 and by means of suitable circuitry ( not shown ) controls the operation of the heating element 72 to maintain the required temperature range . the heating element 72 may , alternatively , be provided with a thermostat which controls its heat output . the thermocouple 74 may operate an indicating device ( not shown ) which warns an operator of the internal combustion engine , if the temperature of the housing 4 is not within the desired range . the evaporated contaminants pass out of the housing 4 through the vapour outlet 76 and are then vented to the atmosphere or may alternatively be fed back into the inlet to the engine to be burnt during combustion . the filtered oil adheres to the walls of the vapourisation chamber 6 and gradually passes through the vapourisation chamber along a torturous path until it passes out of the oil reclamation device through the outlet 79 . a length of clear plastic pipe may be connected to the outlet 79 so that an immediate check can be made as to whether oil is flowing properly through the oil reclamation device . the pipe also providing a visual indication of the condition of the oil leaving the reclamation device . during its passage through the oil vapourisation chamber 6 , the oil is constantly maintained at a temperature sufficient to cause evaporation of liquid contaminants , so that the oil leaving the oil reclamation device through the outlet 79 is substantially free of liquid contaminants . the vapourisation chamber 6 is at low pressure to facilitate the evaporation of the contaminants and hence the oil is returned to the engine sump from the outlet 79 under the action of gravity . referring to fig1 and 3 , if the full flow filter 10 becomes clogged , so that the oil pressure rises within the casing 8 , at a certain point , the force on the sealing element 95 of the valve element 88 will overcome the force of the spring 92 . consequently , the valve element 88 will be driven away from the abutment 90 , thereby aligning the waisted portion 93 of the valve element 88 with the oil passage 14 and permitting the flow of oil past the bypass valve 28 . at the same time , the extended end 97 of the valve element 88 is driven into the electrical contact 96 , causing a warning signal to be generated on the operating panel of the internal combustion engine . in this way , an operator of the machine is aware that the bypass valve 28 has opened and hence that the full flow filter 10 must be replaced . at the prescribed service internals or when a warning is given that the bypass valve 28 is open , the full flow filter and partial flow filter 12 can be replaced by unscrewing the wing nuts 108 and separating the housing 4 from the casing 8 . the old filter canisters and o - ring seals may then be removed and replaced with fresh components , as in a conventional filter replacement operation . the housing 4 is then located over a gasket on the casing 8 and the threaded shafts 106 are pivoted up into respective recesses 102 on the upper housing part 58 . the wing nuts 108 are then screwed onto the threaded shafts 106 to secure the housing 4 to the casing 8 . before the casing 8 is separated from the housing 4 , a sample of oil may be drawn off through the bleed valve 30 and sent away for analysis . the bleed valve 30 may also be used to completely drain the oil passage 14 , to prevent spillage of oil during the filter replacement operation . the oil reclamation device has been illustrated such that the housing 4 is mounted above the casing 8 . however , in an alternative embodiment , not illustrated , the oil reclamation device may be mounted in an inverted state requiring only minor modifications , for example to the non - return valve 80 in the metering jet housing 32 . the present invention is applicable not only to oil reclamation devices in which the filter elements are contained in a removable casing , but is also applicable to an oil reclamation device having solid canister &# 34 ; spin - on &# 34 ; filters . in such an embodiment both filters would be screwed onto the housing 4 , for example , one beside the other or one inside the other . also a single spin - on filter is contemplated which contains both a full flow filter and a partial flow filter . in order to provide the necessary distribution of oil through the filter elements , the oil flow passage 14 would be incorporated into the housing 4 . the oil returned to the engine from the outlet 79 of the oil reclamation device is substantially free of solid contaminant particles greater than 1 micron and is also substantially free of liquid contaminants . consequently , the oil is substantially reconditioned and refined and is suitable for extended use . for example , an internal combustion engine in a vehicle could be expected to run for hundreds of thousands of miles on the same oil if an oil reclamation device according to the present invention is fitted . however a problem particularly associated with lubricated internal combustion engines such as in motor vehicles is that oxidation and sulphur acidification of the oil commonly occur . therefore , in an embodiment of the invention , not illustrated , a thermoplastic material which gradually dissolves in above ambient temperature oil is located within the filter media of the full flow filter 10 or the partial flow filter 12 . the material has oil oxidation and acidification arresting additives which are released into the oil over time as the material dissolves .	1
in the circuit examples shown in fig1 to 3 , a connection a is supplied with a fluid reflux amount from working hydraulics ( not shown ). by way of a connection b , the feed pump of a compensator ( not shown ), for example a hydrostatic traveling mechanism ( not shown ), is supplied with the amount of fluid required as the fill amount . this amount of fluid is removed on the clean side 1 of a filter element 3 , i . e ., from the reflux flow filtered in full flow and exceeding the filling flow required by the feed pump of the downstream compensator . the clean side 1 of the filter element 3 is connected by way of a back pressure valve v 1 to the tank connection t . the back pressure valve v 1 can be opened by pressure actuation and is set to an opening pressure ensuring that on the clean side 1 and thus on the connection b a pressure level is maintained at which the feed pump of the downstream compensator can remove the required amount by way of the connection b . on a standard basis , the back pressure valve v 1 is set to an opening pressure of 0 . 5 bar . downstream of the back pressure valve v i , a replenishing valve v 3 openable likewise by pressure actuation is connected and is set to a low opening pressure of roughly 0 . 05 bar . replenishing valve v 3 opens when the pressure of the reflux amount has dropped on the clean side 1 . for operation of the suction pump connected downstream of the connection b , fluid then needs to be replenished via the replenishing valve v 3 from the tank as an emergency function . when the dynamic pressure prevailing on the filter element 3 exceeds a threshold value , recognized , for example , by a fouling indicator va connected to the dirty side at the connection a , a bypass valve v 2 , can be actuated by pressure to open for a pressure reduction from connection a , and for the circuit from fig1 , towards the tank . conventionally , a dynamic pressure of roughly 2 bar prevailing on the filter element 3 is the opening pressure for the bypass valve v 2 . in fig1 with the back pressure valve v 1 set to an opening pressure of 0 . 5 bar , the bypass valve v 2 would accordingly be set to an opening pressure of 2 . 5 bar . the versions of fig2 and 3 differ from fig1 in that the pressure drop from connection a does not take place by way of the bypass valve v 2 towards the tank , but by way of the clean side 1 of the filter element 3 and by way of the back pressure valve v 1 to the tank connection t . the bypass valve v 2 can then be set to an opening pressure of 2 . 0 bar on a standard basis . the circuit version shown in fig3 corresponds to that from fig2 , except that a protective bypass screen 5 , also in the from of a filter element , is located in the flow path of the fluid flowing through the bypass valve v 2 so that the connection b is protected from fouling even when the bypass valve has been opened . the circuit version of fig2 in which the filter element 3 can be directly bypassed by the opened bypass valve v 2 , without the fluid flowing away via the bypass valve having to flow through a protective screen or protective filter , is advantageous in those cases in which the fluid is an oil of high viscosity for example , during cold starting phases . as is detailed below , the invention makes switching the circuit between the operating modes shown in fig1 or those in fig2 and 3 . fig4 and 6 each show the head - side end region of a filter housing 7 of the device in an embodiment in which a protective bypass screen 5 or a bypass filter element is present . in these figures the head - side cover part 9 of the filter housing 7 has an upper end termination 11 screwed to the cover part 9 . after the end termination 11 is unscrewed , the filter element 3 of a largely circular cylindrical shape can be placed in the hollow cylinder - shaped main body 15 . the bottom region 17 of main body 15 ( see fig5 ) forms an element receiver 19 holding a ring body 21 of the filter element 3 to form a seal . the ring body 21 forms an extension of the bottom - side end cap 23 of the filter element 13 . this extension is coaxial to the longitudinal axis 25 of the filter element 13 . the end cap 23 forms an enclosure for the lower end of the filter medium 27 of the filter element 3 . the ring body 21 surrounds the opening region 29 of the end cap 23 . this region 29 is fluid - connected to or in fluid communication with the inner filter cavity 31 of the filter element 3 forming the clean side during filtration . fig4 shows the upper region of the device in a position in which the filter output 33 corresponding to the connection b in fig1 to 3 is visible . conversely , fig6 shows this section of the device in the rotary position in which the filter input 35 can be seen . with the filter element 3 inserted , the filter input 35 is fluid - connected or in fluid communication by way of fluid guides 51 to the exterior 37 of the filter medium 27 . the filter medium exterior forms the dirty side during filtration . fluid medium flow takes place during filtration from the filter medium exterior to the inner filter cavity 31 forming the clean side . the upper , head - side end cap 39 of the filter element 3 forms not only the enclosure for the upper end of the filter medium 27 , but a hollow cylinder - shaped valve housing 41 for a bypass valve and a support for an interior pipe 43 . interior pipe 43 is concentric to the longitudinal axis 25 and extends , leaving open the filter cavity 31 forming the clean side , at a distance from the support pipe 45 on whose exterior the filter medium 27 rests . the filter cavity 31 forming the clean side is connected via passages 47 in the end cap 39 , of which fig4 shows one , to a fluid guide 49 in the cover part 9 leading to the filter output 33 , i . e ., to the connection b . the exterior 37 of the filter medium 27 forming the dirty side is in turn connected in the cover part 9 to the fluid guide 51 connected in the cover part 9 to the filter input 35 , i . e ., the connection a . as is apparent from fig6 , bypass channels 53 extend from the fluid guide 51 to the interior of the valve housing 41 . in the valve housing 41 , the valve spool of the bypass valve v 2 , made as a spool valve is movably guided . the valve housing 41 forms a hollow cylinder concentric to the longitudinal axis 25 . on the valve housing inside wall , the valve spool 55 is guided and has an end - side closing edge 57 . when the valve spool 55 has been pushed into the open position , closing edges 57 clears the fluid path from the bypass channels 53 into the interior of the valve housing 41 and thus into the interior pipe 43 . in the exemplary embodiments in which , as shown in fig4 to 6 , the interior pipe 43 is open , i . e ., is passable , when the bypass valve v 2 has been opened , the pressure can drop by the fluid flowing away through the interior pipe 43 to the tank connection t . the valve spool 55 is pretensioned into the closed position by a compression spring 59 clamped between the valve spool 55 and a cover 61 forming the end - side termination of the valve housing 41 . in the exemplary embodiments with the through interior pipe 43 ( fig4 to 6 and 8 ), the valve housing cover 61 is a round plug in the form of a closed cap . as already mentioned , the circuitry of the device can be easily changed such that the fluid flowing away via the bypass valve v 2 does not travel directly to the tank , as is the case in the circuit of fig1 . according to the circuits from fig2 and 3 with the bypass valve v 2 opened , the fluid flowing away travels to the clean side 1 of the filter element 3 and can travel from there via the back pressure valve v 1 to the tank connection t . to execute the circuit in this way , i . e ., to shift the device into the state shown in fig7 , only two measures are necessary . first the closure of the interior pipe 43 is accomplished , for example , by the crosspiece 63 in fig7 . second , instead of the housing cover 61 in the form of a closed cap , a housing cover 65 open on the top is used , as is shown separately in fig9 . as shown in fig9 , the housing cover has outflow openings 67 of a trapezoidal opening surface . openings 67 are arranged in a star shape through which fluid can flow out of the valve housing 41 , without stronger flow resistance having to be overcome , to the fluid guide 49 and thus to the filter output 33 when the valve spool 55 against the force of the spring 59 executes an opening motion in which the closing edge 57 forms an opening gap so that fluid flows into the valve housing 41 out of the bypass channels 53 . for viscous fluids , for example oil with high viscosity prevailing during cold starting phases , the direct flow connection between the filter input 35 and filter output 33 formed in this way with the bypass valve v 2 opened is advantageous , especially when the protective bypass screen 5 or filter is not connected upstream of the bypass channels 53 . on the other hand , using a protective bypass screen or filter avoids the danger that with the bypass valve v 2 opened dirt can travel to the filter output 33 . in the exemplary embodiments shown in fig4 to 7 , a protective bypass screen 5 each is arranged within a bell - shaped intermediate body 69 such that it is located in the fluid path between the fluid guides 51 and the bypass channels 53 . the bell - shaped intermediate body 69 within the cover part 9 separates the fluid guides 49 and 51 from one another and at the same time forms or supports the seal 71 for the upper end cap 39 of the filter element 3 . fig5 and 7 show the lower bottom region 17 which is connected to the element receiver 19 ; its details are shown most clearly in fig5 . as illustrated , the interior pipe 43 of the filter element 3 is extended down towards the tank connection t . the filter cavity 31 of the filter element 3 forming the clean side is connected to a pipe body 73 by way of the opening regions 29 in the end cap 23 of the filter element . to form a spring housing , the pipe body is surrounded by a hollow cylindrical spring housing 75 concentric to the longitudinal axis . this spring housing receives a closing spring 77 for the back pressure valve v 1 and a spring 79 for the replenishing valve v 3 . the two compression springs surround the pipe body 73 . the back pressure valve v 1 has an axially movable valve body 81 guided on the exterior of the pipe body 73 with a hollow cylindrical extension 83 on the inside of the spring housing 75 . the spring housing 75 has a cup bottom 85 through which the pipe body 73 extends , and has several replenishment openings 87 . this cup bottom 85 forms the valve seat for the valve body 86 of the replenishing valve v 3 , which body is made as a ring plate . the valve body 81 of the back pressure valve v 1 interacts with the ring body 21 on the end cap 23 of the inserted filter element 3 as a valve seat , against which the valve body 81 is pressed by the closing spring 77 . when the valve body 81 is raised against the force of the closing spring 77 , fluid flows out of the interior 31 , i . e ., the clean side of the filter element 3 , via the open region 29 of the end cap 23 along the exterior of the spring housing 75 directly to the tank connection t . when no filter element 3 has been inserted into the device , the valve body 81 with a radially outlying valve disk edge 89 forms the seal of the device relative to the tank connection side by the valve disk edge 89 sealing against the element receiver 19 of the main housing part 15 . the interior of the spring housing 75 is connected by fluid to the filter interior 31 , i . e ., to the clean side , by the fluid passages 91 made in the valve body 81 and by the opening regions 29 of the end cap 23 . towards this clean side , when the valve body 86 made as a ring plate is raised against the force of the closing spring 79 away from the replenishment openings 87 , fluid can be replenished from the side of the tank connection t to travel by the fluid passages 91 of the valve body 81 to the cavity 31 and thus to the clean side and to the connection b . as likewise shown in fig5 , the underside of the body 85 of the spring housing 75 is connected to a screen housing 93 whose interior 95 borders the replenishment openings 87 . between the interior 95 and its exterior , i . e ., the tank connection t , a replenishment screen 97 or replenishment filter is provided so that in the replenishment process direct unfiltered replenishment of fluid from the tank connection t does not take place . as can be taken from fig5 and 7 , the bottom region 17 of the main housing body 15 is connected to an extension pipe 99 made as a submersible pipe of the desired length , for example in tank installation , depending on installation conditions . fig8 shows a filter element 3 separately . it has a continuously open interior pipe 43 and accordingly a valve housing cover 61 in the form of a closed cap . the upper end cap 39 forms a pipe socket 98 projecting appropriately into the end of the interior pipe 43 . opening edge 100 of pipe socket 98 interacts with the closing edge 57 of the valve spool 55 . when the closing edge 57 is raised off the edge 100 , the fluid path is cleared from the bypass channels 53 into the interior of the valve housing 41 and into the interior of the interior pipe 43 now acting as a bypass pipe towards the tank side . with the filter device according to the invention , a novel pipe - in - pipe system is formed in which the bypass pipe is centrally guided through the filter element support pipe . the position of the bypass valve changes from the “ filter sump ” upward . by closing the bypass pipe and another bypass closing cover , the switching logic of the filter device can be easily changed , i . e ., the bypass goes directly to the intake side . this change is possible among other things by using the novel , internally hollow bypass valve in a spool construction . furthermore , with the filter device according to the invention without the filter element inserted no buildup of feed pressure is ensured to indicate a missing filter element . due to the special trapezoidal shape of the cross channels , the novel bypass cap in a cross flow construction prevents the cross section of the filtered oil from being constricted so that energy losses are avoided in filter operation . while one embodiment has been chosen to illustrate the invention , it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims .	1
referring now to the drawings and the illustrated embodiments depicted therein , a cable block 1 of a hoisting device or machine is driven by an electric motor 2 ( fig1 ). electric motor 2 is flanged to a gearing 3 , which is secured at the side and on the outside to a support frame 4 of the cable block 1 . as shown in fig1 , rectangular support frame 4 comprises two face plates 5 a , 5 b , which are joined together by two longitudinal members 6 . the two rectangular face plates 5 a , 5 b are spaced apart by the longitudinal members 6 and are oriented parallel to each other with their inner surfaces 5 c facing each other . in the illustrated embodiment , longitudinal members 6 are shaped as tubes , and only two longitudinal members 6 are provided with support frame 4 . the two longitudinal members are arranged at opposite corners of the face plates 5 a , 5 b . as best shown in fig2 , longitudinal members 6 may be inserted by their opposite ends 8 a into boreholes 8 of face plates 5 a , 5 b and may be held by a radial screw connection with a stud 9 . boreholes 8 may be located in the corner regions of the inner surfaces 5 c of face plates 5 a , 5 b and may be configured as stepless blind boreholes . furthermore , a cable drum 7 of cable block 1 may be mounted between and on face plates 5 a , 5 b . the axis of rotation d of the cable drum 7 may run parallel to the lengthwise dimension l of longitudinal members 6 . face plates 5 a , 5 b are also housing parts , which may perform various functions of the hoisting device . for example , face plates 5 a , 5 b may carry the electric drive 2 or stow the cable drum 7 . optionally , face plates 5 a , 5 b may be used to attach cross beams for the cable reeving parts or to fasten the base of the hoisting device . further , face plates 5 a , 5 b may be used to accommodate the electrical equipment or the running gear parts of the hoisting device . as shown in fig2 , longitudinal members 6 are connected to face plates 5 a , 5 b . as previously described and as shown in fig1 , boreholes 8 for longitudinal members 6 may be arranged in at least two opposite corner regions of each face plate 5 a , 5 b , emerging from inner surfaces 5 c . the lengthwise axis l of boreholes 8 may extend in the assembled condition of the support frame 4 or that of the entire cable block 1 in parallel with the axis of rotation d of the cable drum 7 . furthermore , boreholes 8 may each be configured as blind holes with a cylindrical inner circumferential surface 8 a . at the bottom of each borehole 8 , an annular stopping surface 8 b may be fashioned , bordering on its inner circumferential surface 8 a . the shape of the bottom of each borehole 8 depends on the type of drilling tool used to make the blind hole . borehole 8 has a depth t and a diameter a . moreover , as shown in fig2 , longitudinal member 6 may be fashioned as a round tube and may have an outer diameter d that is slightly smaller than the inner diameter a of borehole 8 . thus , in the process of assembling support frame 4 , longitudinal members 6 may be simply inserted by their ends 6 a into boreholes 8 . the insert length e of the ends 6 a of the longitudinal members 6 may correspond to depth t of borehole 8 . in the inserted configuration , end 6 a of longitudinal member 6 abuts by its annular planar end surface 6 c against annular stopping surface 8 b at the bottom of borehole 8 . thus , the insert length e is limited , and the spacing between the two face plates 5 a , 5 b is determined indirectly by longitudinal member 6 . longitudinal members 6 may be held in boreholes 8 by a radial screw fastener , with at least one stud 9 for each fastener ( fig2 ). stud 9 may be a threaded pin per din 916 with a circular hardened annular cutting edge 9 a at one end and a hex socket 9 b or other connection surface for a tool at the other end . stud 9 may be screwed into a threaded bore 10 in order to secure longitudinal member 6 in borehole 8 . threaded bore 10 may be arranged in a part of the face plates 5 a , 5 b surrounding borehole 8 and , thus , in the wall of borehole 8 . stud 9 may be screwed into threaded bore 10 so deep that its cutting edge 9 a cuts into the outer circumferential surface 6 b of end 6 a of the longitudinal member 6 . the resulting form fit between stud 9 and longitudinal member 6 may enhance the strength of the connection between the two longitudinal members 6 and the two face plates 5 a , 5 b . stud 9 may be oriented for the desired radial screw fastening with its lengthwise axis e at a right angle to the lengthwise axis d of longitudinal member 6 . the dimensions and tightening torques of studs 9 may vary in broad limits and may be attuned to one another so that the expected torques and forces in support frame 4 and , thus , in the connections between borehole 8 , stud 9 and longitudinal member 6 , may be absorbed or transmitted with sufficient safety . moreover , as shown in fig2 , the axial force created by the controlled tightening torque of the stud 9 may press end 6 a of longitudinal member 6 against a portion of the inner circumferential surface 8 a of borehole 8 , known as the bearing surface 8 c . the required axial parallelness of borehole 8 and longitudinal member 6 may be permanently secured ; thus , face plates 5 a , 5 b may be properly oriented with each other . furthermore , the corner torques may be absorbed in this way , because the length of bearing surface 8 c , which corresponds to the insert length e , is larger than the diameter d , which serves as the basis of support in the axially secured designs of the prior art . because of the pressing of longitudinal member 6 through stud 9 against bearing surface 8 c , a gap s arises at the opposite end of longitudinal member 6 , between inner circumferential surface 8 a of borehole 8 and outer circumferential surface 6 b of longitudinal member 6 . also , as previously described , outer diameter d of longitudinal member 6 is slightly smaller than inner diameter a of borehole 8 , to facilitate the assembly process . furthermore , as shown in fig2 , an increased strength of the connection between the longitudinal member 6 and face plate 5 a , 5 b via stud 9 may be achieved by a continuous groove 11 provided in the outer circumferential surface of longitudinal member 6 . groove 11 , oriented transversely to the lengthwise axis l of longitudinal member 6 , is arranged roughly in the middle of the insert length e of end 6 a of longitudinal member 6 , looking in the direction of the lengthwise axis l . groove 11 has a width roughly corresponding to the width of annular cutting edge 9 a of stud 9 . the strength of the connection may be further enhanced in that annular cutting edge 9 a of stud 9 may also penetrate into groove 11 when it is screwed in . the depth of groove 11 may be as small as possible , yet large enough to achieve the desired resistance to being pulled out . the proper axial position of longitudinal member 6 in borehole 8 may be achieved by either depth t of borehole 8 coinciding with the desired insert length l of longitudinal member 6 , or , alternatively , continuous groove 11 at the circumference of longitudinal member 6 aligning with stud 9 . furthermore , insert length e of ends 6 a of longitudinal members 6 into the respective boreholes 8 of face plates 5 a , 5 b may be large enough that support frame 4 may achieve a sufficient stability with only two diagonally opposite arranged longitudinal members 6 . comparable designs of support frames 4 have had at least three longitudinal members 6 . in the illustrated embodiment , only one stud 9 is used for each end 6 a of the longitudinal member being secured . optionally , several studs 9 may be used for each end 6 a . changes and modifications to the specifically described embodiments may be carried out without departing from the principles of the present invention , which is intended to be limited only by the scope of the appended claims as interpreted according to the principles of patent law including the doctrine of equivalents .	1
one aspect of the invention is to provide low friction , wear resistant coatings on the articulating surfaces of prosthetic devices . illustrative examples of such articulating surfaces are shown in the schematic diagrams , fig1 - 4 . a typical hip joint assembly is shown in situ in fig1 . the hip joint stem 2 fits into the femur while the femoral head 6 of the prosthesis fits into and articulates against the inner lining 8 of an acetabular cup 10 which in turn is affixed to the pelvis as shown in fig1 . a porous metal bead or wire mesh coating 12 may be incorporated to allow stabilization of the implant by ingrowth of surrounding tissue into the porous coating . similarly , such a coating can also be applied to the acetabular component . the femoral head 6 may be an integral part of the hip joint stem 2 or may be a separate component mounted upon a conical taper at the end of the neck 4 of the hip joint prosthesis . this allows the fabrication of a prosthesis having a metallic stem and neck but a femoral head of some other material , such as ceramic . this method of construction is often desirable because ceramics have been found to generate less frictional torque and wear when articulating against the uhmwpe lining of an acetabular cup . additionally , zirconia ceramic has been shown to produce less wear of the uhmwpe than alumina . regardless of the materials , however , the femoral head articulates against the inner surface of the acetabular cup thereby causing wear and , in the long term , this may necessitate prosthesis replacement . this is especially the case where the femoral head is of metal and the acetabular cup is lined with an organic polymer or composite thereof . while these polymeric surfaces provide good , relatively low friction surfaces and are biocompatible , they are , as explained above , subject to wear and accelerated creep due to the frictional heat and torque to which they are subjected during ordinary use . a typical knee joint prosthesis is shown in situ in fig3 . the knee joint includes a femoral component 20 and a tibial component 30 . the femoral component includes condyles 22 which provide the articulating surface of the femoral component and pegs 24 for affixing the femoral component to the femur . the tibial component 30 includes a tibial base 32 with a peg 34 for mounting the tibial base onto the tibia . a tibial platform 36 is mounted atop the tibial base 32 and is supplied with grooves 38 similar to the shape of the condyles 22 . the bottom surfaces of the condyles 26 contact the tibial platform &# 39 ; s grooves 38 so that the condyles articulate within these grooves against the tibial platform . while condyles are typically fabricated of metals , the tibial platform may be made from an organic polymer or a polymer - based composite . thus , the hard metallic condyle surfaces 26 would articulate against a relatively softer organic composition . as previously explained , this may result in wear of the organic material , i . e . the tibial platform necessitating the replacement of the prosthesis . miniscal bearing designs of the tibial component can allow for greater contact area without significant sacrifice of knee constraint , thereby reducing wear . ceramic coatings of both the knee femoral component and the miniscal bearing features in the tibia will further reduce wear of the polyethylene . as in the case of the hip joint , porous bead or wire mesh coatings can also be applied to either the tibial or femoral components of the knee or both . the invention provides blue - black or black zirconium oxide or zirconium nitride coated orthopedic implants or prostheses fabricated of zirconium or zirconium containing metal alloys or a thin coating of zirconium or zirconium alloy on conventional orthopedic implant materials . in order to form continuous and useful zirconium oxide or nitride coatings over the desired surface of the metal alloy prosthesis substrate , the metal alloy should contain from about 80 to about 100 wt . % zirconium , preferably from about 95 to about 100 wt . %. oxygen , niobium , and titanium include common alloying elements in the alloy with often times the presence of hafnium . yttrium may also be alloyed with the zirconium to enhance the formation of a tougher , yttria - stabilized zirconium oxide coating during the oxidation of the alloy . while such zirconium containing alloys may be custom formulated by conventional methods known in the art of metallurgy , a number of suitable alloys are commercially available . these commercial alloys include among others zircadyne 705 , zircadyne 702 , and zircalloy . the base zirconium containing metal alloys are cast or machined from wrought metal stock by conventional methods to the shape and size desired to obtain a prosthesis substrate . the substrate is then subjected to process conditions which cause the natural ( in situ ) formation of a tightly adhered , diffusion - bonded coating of zirconium oxide on its surface . the process conditions include , for instance , air , steam , or water oxidation or oxidation in a salt bath . these processes ideally provide a thin , hard , dense , blue - black or black , low - friction wear - resistant zirconium oxide film or coating of thicknesses typically less than several microns ( 10 - 6 meters ) on the surface of the prosthesis substrate . below this coating , diffused oxygen from the oxidation process increases the hardness and strength of the underlying substrate metal . unlike the prior art titanium oxides of , for example , steinemann &# 39 ; s u . s . pat . no . 3 , 643 , 658 , the oxygen supplied to form the blue - black or black zirconium oxide coatings of the invention is a beneficial alloying component which improves the fatigue strength of the underlying zirconium metal thereby increasing the potential life of the prosthesis . in contrast , oxygen in titanium alloys tends to stabilize the lower strength α - phase which significantly reduces the metal &# 39 ; s fatigue strength . the air , steam and water oxidation processes are described in now - expired u . s . pat . no . 2 , 987 , 352 to watson , the teachings of which are incorporated by reference as though fully set forth . the air oxidation process provides a firmly adherent black or blue - black layer of zirconium oxide of highly oriented monoclinic crystalline form . if the oxidation process is continued to excess , the coating will whiten and separate from the metal substrate . the oxidation step may be conducted in either air , steam or hot water . for convenience , the metal prosthesis substrate may be placed in a furnace having an oxygen - containing atmosphere ( such as air ) and typically heated at 700 °- 1100 ° f . up to about 6 hours . however , other combinations of temperature and time are possible . when higher temperatures are employed , the oxidation time should be reduced to avoid the formation of the white oxide . it is preferred that a blue - black zirconium oxide layer ranging in thickness from about 1 to about 5 microns should be formed . for example , furnace air oxidation at 1000 ° f . for 3 hours will form an oxide coating on zircadyne 705 about 3 - 4 microns thick . longer oxidation times and higher oxidation temperatures will increase this thickness , but may compromise coating integrity . for example , one hour at 1300 ° f . will form an oxide coating about 14 microns in thickness , while 21 hours at 1000 ° f . will form an oxide coating thickness of about 9 microns . of course , because only a thin oxide is necessary on the surface , only very small dimensional changes , typically less than 10 microns over the thickness of the prosthesis , will result . in general , thinner coatings ( 1 - 4 microns ) have better attachment strength . the thickness of the blue - black or black zirconium oxide coatings on the invention prostheses provides a further distinction between the invention and the titanium oxide coatings of u . s . pat . no . 3 , 643 , 658 to steinemann . titanium oxide films , whether prepared by high temperature ( 350 ° c .) oxidation or high current density anodizing , are thin , powdery and loosely adherent . consequently , these films can be more easily removed under fretting conditions in vivo exposing metal surface to bodily fluids with resulting metal ion release into the body tissue . the thicker , crystalline , more tightly adherent blue - black or black zirconium oxide films , by contrast , do not readily spall or separate from the alloy substrate . it is speculated that the diffusion of oxygen into the zirconium alloy provides a natural interlayer to which the zirconium oxide can adhere readily and tightly . consequently , these zirconium oxide coatings provide excellent protection against corrosion by bodily fluids . one of the salt - bath methods that may be used to apply the zirconium oxide coatings to the metal alloy prosthesis , is the method of u . s . pat . no . 4 , 671 , 824 to haygarth , the teachings of which are incorporated by reference as though fully set forth . the salt - bath method provides a similar , slightly more abrasion resistant blue - black or black zirconium oxide coating . the method requires the presence of an oxidation compound capable of oxidizing zirconium in a molten salt bath . the molten salts include chlorides , nitrates , cyanides , and the like . the oxidation compound , sodium carbonate , is present in small quantities , up to about 5 wt . %. the addition of sodium carbonate lowers the melting point of the salt . as in air oxidation , the rate of oxidation is proportional to the temperature of the molten salt bath and the &# 39 ; 824 patent prefers the range 550 °- 800 ° c . ( 1022 °- 1470 ° c .). however , the lower oxygen levels in the bath produce thinner coatings than for furnace air oxidation at the same time and temperature . a salt bath treatment at 1290 ° f . for four hours produces an oxide coating thickness of roughly 7 microns . whether air oxidation in a furnace or salt bath oxidation is used , the zirconium oxide coatings are quite similar in hardness . for example , if the surface of a wrought zircadyne 705 ( zr , 2 - 3 wt . % nb ) prosthesis substrate is oxidized , the hardness of the surface shows a dramatic increase over the 200 knoop hardness of the original metal surface . the surface hardness of the blue - black zirconium oxide surface following oxidation by either the salt bath or air oxidation process is approximately 1700 - 2000 knoop hardness . these diffusion - bonded , low friction , highly wear resistant zirconium oxide coatings are applied to the surfaces of orthopedic implants subject to conditions of wear . such surfaces include the articulating surfaces of knee joints , elbows and hip joints . as mentioned before , in the case of hip joints , the femoral head and stem are typically fabricated of metal alloys while the acetabular cup may be fabricated from ceramics , metals or organic polymer - lined metals or ceramics . when the zirconium oxide coated femoral head is used in conjunction with any of these acetabular cups , the coefficient of friction between the femoral head and the inner surface of the cup is reduced so that less heat and torque is generated and less wear of the mating bearing surface results . this reduction in heat generation , frictional torque , and wear is particularly important in the case of acetabular cups lined with organic polymers or composites of such polymers . organic polymers , such as uhmwpe , exhibit rapidly increased rates of creep when subjected to heat with consequent deleterious effect on the life span of the liner . wear debris of the polymer leads to adverse tissue response and loosening of the device . thus , not only does the zirconium oxide coating serve to protect the prosthesis substrate to which it is applied and increase its mechanical strength properties but , as a result of its low friction surface , it also protects those surfaces against which it is in operable contact and consequently enhances the performance and life of the prosthesis . the usefulness of zirconium oxide coated prosthesis is not limited to load bearing prostheses , especially joints , where a high rate of wear may be encountered . because the zirconium oxide coating is firmly bonded to the zirconium alloy prosthesis substrate , it provides a barrier between the body fluids and the zirconium alloy metal thereby preventing the corrosion of the alloy by the process of ionization and its associated metal ion release . oxygen diffusion into the metal substrate during oxidation also increases the strength of the metal . consequently , a zirconium oxide coated prosthesis may be expected to have a greater useful service life . zirconium or zirconium alloy can also be used to provide a porous bead or wire mesh surface to which surrounding bone or other tissue may integrate to stabilize the prosthesis . these porous coatings can be treated simultaneously by the oxidation treatment in a manner similar to the oxidation of the base prosthesis for the elimination or reduction of metal ion release . furthermore , zirconium or zirconium alloy can also be used as a surface layer applied over conventional implant materials prior to in situ oxidation and formation of the zirconium oxide coating . in situ oxidation is the preferred method for producing the invention oxide coatings because it allows oxygen diffusion into the metal substrate thereby allowing the formation of a tightly adherent oxide coating while also strengthening the zirconium metal . other techniques , such as depositing an oxide coating on the prosthesis substrate may also be used but the coatings produced may not be as effective as those produced by the in situ process . thus , chemical or physical vapor deposition methods may be used , especially those using an ion - assisted deposition method . while the above discussion has dealt mainly with blue - black or black zirconium oxide coatings on prostheses , zirconium nitride coatings are also effective in reducing wear on opposing surfaces and preventing corrosion of the underlying substrate by bodily fluids . even though air contains about four times as much nitrogen as oxygen , when zirconium or a zirconium alloy is heated in air as described above , the oxide coating is formed in preference to the nitride coating . this is because the thermodynamic equilibrium favors oxidation over nitridation under these conditions . thus , to form a nitride coating the equilibrium must be forced into favoring the nitride reaction . this is readily achieved by elimination of oxygen and using a nitrogen or ammonia atmosphere instead of air or oxygen when a gaseous environment ( analogous to &# 34 ; air oxidation &# 34 ;) is used . in order to form a zirconium nitride coating of about 5 microns in thickness , the zirconium or zirconium alloy prosthesis should be heated to about 800 ° c . for about one hour in a nitrogen atmosphere . thus , apart from the removal of oxygen ( or the reduction in oxygen partial pressure ), or increasing the temperature , conditions for forming the zirconium nitride coating do not differ significantly from those needed to form the blue - black or black zirconium oxide coating . any needed adjustment would be readily apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art . when a salt bath method is used to produce a nitride coating , then the oxygen - donor salts should be replaced with nitrogen - donor salts , such as , for instance cyanide salts . upon such substitution , a nitride coating may be obtained under similar conditions to those needed for obtaining an oxide coating . such modifications as are necessary , may be readily determined by those of ordinary skill in the art . alternatively , the zirconium nitride may be deposited onto the zirconium or zirconium alloy surface via standard physical or chemical vapor deposition methods , including those using an ion - assisted deposition method . it is preferred that the physical or chemical vapor deposition methods be carried out in an oxygen - free environment . techniques for producing such an environment are known in the art , for instance the bulk of the oxygen may be removed by evacuation of the chamber and the residual oxygen may be removed with an oxygen getter . when the zirconium or zirconium alloy is provided with a zirconium porous bead or zirconium wire mesh surface , then this surface layer can also be coated with zirconium nitride to provide protection against metal ionization in the body . although the invention has been described with reference to its preferred embodiments , those of ordinary skill in the art may , upon reading this disclosure , appreciate changes and modifications which may be made and which do not depart from the scope and spirit of the invention as described above or claimed hereafter .	0
the present invention will now be described more specifically with reference to the following embodiments . it is to be noted that the following descriptions of embodiments of this invention are presented herein for the purposes of illustration and description only ; it is not intended to be exhaustive or to be limited to the precise form disclosed . compounds having at least one of an anticancer and an anti - inflammatory effects are provided . the compounds are ursolic acid derivatives , and the synthetic processes thereof are described as follows . please refer to fig1 , which is a flow chart illustrating the processes in the present invention for synthesizing the compounds 2 - 11 , wherein each number represents a different compound . the material of compound 1 is obtained from leaves of loquat ( eriobotrya japonica ). a modified method for extracting ursolic acid from leaves of loquat to isolate large amount of ursolic acid is provided in the present invention . leaves of loquat ( 10 kg ) are extracted by methanol . the meoh extract is shaken under ultrasonic wave for 90 min at 50 ° c . the extract is added 1 % naoh solution to form salt and filtered . the solution is neutralized with c - hcl to afford light yellow solid . the solid is purified by silica gel chromatography and recrystallized for several times to give compound 1 ( 21 . 9 g ). compound 1 is used as the starting material for synthesizing the compounds 2 - 11 . to a solution of compound 1 ( 30 mg , 0 . 07 mmol ) in acetone is added k 2 co 3 ( 20 mg , 0 . 14 mmol ) and different alkyl halide ( 0 . 14 mmol ). the reaction mixture is stirred at the room temperature overnight . the mixture is concentrated to dryness under reduced pressure , diluted with water ( 30 ml ), and extracted with dcm ( 30 ml × 3 ). the organic phase is dried over na 2 so 4 , filtered , and concentrated in vacuo to give the crude product . the crude product is purified by chromatography using etoac / n - hexane to afford purified compounds 2 - 11 . the detailed embodiments for the preparation of the compounds 5 and 7 - 11 are described as follows . isopropyl 3β - hydroxyurs - 12 - en - 28 - oate ( compound 5 ): compound 5 is prepared from compound 1 ( 50 mg , 0 . 11 mmol ) following the general procedure described for esterification at c - 17 carboxylic acid using isopropyl iodide as alkyl halide moiety . compound 5 was obtained as a white solid ( 49 . 2 mg , 0 . 10 mmol , 90 %), [ α ] d 25 =+ 50 . ir ( kbr ): 3447 , 1715 cm − 1 . 1 h nmr ( cdcl 3 ): δ 0 . 77 ( 3h , m , h - 24 ), 0 . 82 ( 3h , s , h - 25 ), 0 . 85 ( 3h , d , j = 6 . 4 hz , h - 30 ), 0 . 91 ( 3h , s , h - 26 ), 0 . 93 ( 3h , d , j = 6 . 4 hz , h - 29 ), 0 . 98 ( 3h , s , h - 27 ), 1 . 07 ( 3h , s , h - 23 ), 1 . 16 ( 3h , d , j = 6 . 0 hz , — ch ( ch 3 ) 2 ), 1 . 19 ( 3h , d , j = 6 . 0 hz , — ch ( ch 3 ) 2 ), 2 . 21 ( 1h , d , j = 11 . 2 hz , h - 18 ), 3 . 21 ( 1h dd , j = 10 . 8 , 5 . 2 hz , h - 3α ), 4 . 91 ( 1h , m , — ch ( ch 3 ) 2 ), 5 . 24 ( 1h , t , j = 4 . 0 hz , h - 12 ). 13 c nmr ( cdcl 3 ): δ 15 . 5 ( c - 24 ), 15 . 6 ( c - 25 ), 17 . 0 ( c - 11 ), 17 . 3 ( c - 26 ), 18 . 3 ( c - 6 ), 21 . 2 ( c - 29 ), 21 . 7 (— ch ( ch 3 ) 2 ), 21 . 8 (— ch ( ch 3 ) 2 ), 23 . 3 ( c - 27 ), 23 . 4 ( c - 30 ), 24 . 1 ( c - 16 ), 27 . 2 ( c - 2 ), 28 . 0 ( c - 15 ), 28 . 1 ( c - 23 ), 30 . 7 ( c - 21 ), 33 . 2 ( c - 7 ), 36 . 6 ( c - 22 ), 36 . 9 ( c - 10 ), 38 . 6 ( c - 4 ), 38 . 7 ( c - 1 ), 38 . 9 ( c - 20 ), 39 . 1 ( c - 19 ), 39 . 6 ( c - 8 ), 42 . 1 ( c - 14 ), 47 . 6 ( c - 9 ), 47 . 7 ( c - 17 ), 52 . 8 ( c - 18 ), 55 . 2 ( c - 5 ), 66 . 9 (— cooch ( ch 3 ) 2 ), 79 . 0 ( c - 3 ), 125 . 5 ( c - 12 ), 138 . 1 ( c - 13 ), 176 . 9 ( c - 28 ). eims ( 70 ev ) m / z (% rel . int . ): 498 [ m ] + ( 3 ). hreims : calcd for c 33 h 54 o 3 : 498 . 4073 . found : 498 . 4071 . pentyl 3β - hydroxyurs - 12 - en - 28 - oate ( compound 7 ): compound 7 is prepared from compound 1 ( 50 mg , 0 . 11 mmol ) following the general procedure described for esterification at c - 17 carboxylic acid using pentyl iodide as alkyl halide moiety . compound 7 is obtained as a white solid ( 48 . 5 mg , 0 . 09 mmol , 84 %), [ α ] d 25 =+ 38 . ir ( kbr ): 3447 , 1718 cm − 1 . 1 h nmr ( cdcl 3 ): δ 0 . 75 ( 3h , s , h - 25 ), 0 . 77 ( 3h , s , h - 24 ), 0 . 85 ( 3h , d , j = 6 . 4 hz , h - 30 ), 0 . 91 ( 3h , s , h - 26 ), 0 . 91 ( 3h , t , j = 7 . 2 hz , — ch 2 ch 3 ), 0 . 93 ( 3h , d , j = 6 . 4 hz , h - 29 ), 0 . 98 ( 3h , s , h - 27 ), 1 . 07 ( 3h , s , h - 23 ), 2 . 22 ( 1h , d , j = 10 . 8 hz , h - 18 ), 3 . 21 ( 1h , dd , j = 10 . 8 , 4 . 8 hz , h - 3α ), 3 . 97 ( 2h , m , — cooch 2 —), 5 . 23 ( 1h , t , j = 3 . 6 hz , h - 12 ). 13 c nmr ( cdcl 3 ): δ 14 . 0 (— ch 2 ch 3 ), 15 . 4 ( c - 24 ), 15 . 6 ( c - 25 ), 17 . 0 ( c - 11 ), 17 . 1 ( c - 26 ), 18 . 3 ( c - 6 ), 21 . 2 ( c - 29 ), 22 . 3 (— ch 2 ch 3 ), 23 . 3 ( c - 27 ), 23 . 5 ( c - 30 ), 24 . 2 ( c - 16 ), 27 . 2 ( c - 2 ), 28 . 0 ( c - 15 ), 28 . 1 (— ch 2 ch 2 ch 3 ), 28 . 2 ( c - 23 ), 28 . 3 (— och 2 ch 2 —), 30 . 7 ( c - 21 ), 33 . 0 ( c - 7 ), 36 . 7 ( c - 22 ), 36 . 9 ( c - 10 ), 38 . 6 ( c - 1 ), 38 . 7 ( c - 4 ), 38 . 9 ( c - 20 ), 39 . 1 ( c - 19 ), 39 . 5 ( c - 8 ), 42 . 0 ( c - 14 ), 47 . 5 ( c - 9 ), 48 . 0 ( c - 17 ), 52 . 8 ( c - 18 ), 55 . 2 ( c - 5 ), 64 . 3 (— cooch 2 —), 79 . 0 ( c - 3 ), 125 . 5 ( c - 12 ), 138 . 2 ( c - 13 ), 177 . 6 ( c - 28 ). eims ( 70 ev ) m / z (% rel . int . ): 526 [ m ] + ( 3 ). hreims : calcd for c 35 h 58 o 3 : 526 . 4385 . found : 526 . 3910 . hexyl 3β - hydroxyurs - 12 - en - 28 - oate ( compound 8 ): compound 8 is prepared from compound 1 ( 50 mg , 0 . 11 mmol ) following the general procedure described for esterification at c - 17 carboxylic acid using hexyl iodide as alkyl halide moiety . compound 8 is obtained as a white solid ( 26 . 5 mg , 0 . 05 mmol , 45 %), [ α ] d 25 =+ 34 . ir ( kbr ): 3446 , 1718 cm − 1 . 1 h nmr ( cdcl 3 ): δ 0 . 75 ( 3h , s , h - 25 ), 0 . 77 ( 3h , s , h - 24 ), 0 . 86 ( 3h , t , j = 7 . 6 hz , — ch 2 ch 3 ), 0 . 88 ( 3h , d , j = 6 . 4 hz , h - 30 ), 0 . 91 ( 3h , s , h - 26 ), 0 . 93 ( 3h , d , j = 6 . 4 hz , h - 29 ), 0 . 98 ( 3h , s , h - 27 ), 1 . 07 ( 3h , s , h - 23 ), 2 . 22 ( 1h , d , j = 11 . 2 hz , h - 18 ), 3 . 21 ( 1h , dd , j = 9 . 6 , 4 . 8 hz , h - 3α ), 3 . 97 ( 2h , m , — cooch 2 —), 5 . 23 ( 1h , t , j = 3 . 6 hz , h - 12 ). 13 c nmr ( cdcl 3 ): δ 14 . 0 (— ch 2 ch 3 ), 15 . 4 ( c - 24 ), 15 . 6 ( c - 25 ), 17 . 0 ( c - 11 ), 17 . 1 ( c - 26 ), 18 . 3 ( c - 6 ), 21 . 2 ( c - 29 ), 22 . 6 (— ch 2 ch 3 ), 23 . 3 ( c - 27 ), 23 . 5 ( c - 30 ), 24 . 2 ( c - 16 ), 25 . 7 ( och 2 ch 2 ch 2 —), 27 . 2 ( c - 2 ), 28 . 0 ( c - 15 ), 28 . 1 ( c - 23 ), 28 . 5 (— ch 2 ch 2 ch 3 ), 30 . 7 ( c - 21 ), 31 . 4 (— och 2 ch 2 —), 33 . 0 ( c - 7 ), 36 . 7 ( c - 22 ), 36 . 9 ( c - 10 ), 38 . 6 ( c - 1 ), 38 . 7 ( c - 4 ), 38 . 9 ( c - 20 ), 39 . 1 ( c - 19 ), 39 . 5 ( c - 8 ), 42 . 0 ( c - 14 ), 47 . 5 ( c - 9 ), 48 . 0 ( c - 17 ), 52 . 8 ( c - 18 ), 55 . 2 ( c - 5 ), 64 . 3 (— cooch 2 —), 79 . 0 ( c - 3 ), 125 . 5 ( c - 12 ), 138 . 2 ( c - 13 ), 177 . 6 ( c - 28 ). eims ( 70 ev ) m / z (% rel . int . ): 540 [ m ] + ( 5 ). hreims : calcd for c 36 h 60 o 3 : 540 . 4542 . found : 540 . 4538 . 3 ′- methyl - 2 ′- butenyl 3β - hydroxyurs - 12 - en - 28 - oate ( compound 9 ): compound 9 is prepared from 1 ( 50 mg , 0 . 11 mmol ) following the general procedure described for esterification at c - 17 carboxylic acid using 1 - bromo - 3 - methyl - 2 - butene as alkyl halide moiety . compound 9 was obtained as a white solid ( 17 . 5 mg , 0 . 03 mmol , 30 %), [ α ] d 25 =+ 36 . ir ( kbr ): 3447 , 1720 cm − 1 . 1 h nmr ( cdcl 3 ): δ 0 . 75 ( 3h , s , h - 25 ), 0 . 77 ( 3h , s , h - 24 ), 0 . 85 ( 3h , d , j = 6 . 4 hz , h - 30 ), 0 . 92 ( 3h , s , h - 26 ), 0 . 94 ( 3h , d , j = 6 . 4 hz , h - 29 ), 0 . 99 ( 3h , s , h - 27 ), 1 . 07 ( 3h , s , h - 23 ), 1 . 68 ( 3h , s , — ch ═ c ( ch 3 ) 2 ), 1 . 74 ( 3h , s , — ch ═ c ( ch 3 ) 2 ), 2 . 23 ( 1h , d , j = 11 . 2 hz , h - 18 ), 3 . 23 ( 1h , dd , j = 10 . 8 , 4 . 8 hz , h - 3α ), 4 . 48 ( 1h , dd , j = 10 . 4 , 7 . 2 hz , — coochh —), 4 . 51 ( 1h , dd , j = 10 . 4 , 7 . 6 hz , — coochh —), 5 . 24 ( 1h , t , j = 4 . 0 hz , h - 12 ), 5 . 30 ( 1h , t , j = 7 . 6 hz , — ch ═ c ( ch 3 ) 2 ). 13 c nmr ( cdcl 3 ): δ 15 . 4 ( c - 24 ), 15 . 6 ( c - 25 ), 17 . 0 ( c - 11 ), 17 . 1 ( c - 26 ), 18 . 0 (— ch ═ c ( ch 3 ) 2 ), 18 . 3 ( c - 6 ), 21 . 2 ( c - 29 ), 23 . 3 ( c - 27 ), 23 . 5 ( c - 30 ), 24 . 2 ( c - 16 ), 25 . 8 (— ch ═ c ( ch 3 ) 2 ), 27 . 2 ( c - 2 ), 28 . 0 ( c - 15 ), 28 . 1 ( c - 23 ), 30 . 7 ( c - 21 ), 33 . 1 ( c - 7 ), 36 . 6 ( c - 22 ), 37 . 0 ( c - 10 ), 38 . 6 ( c - 1 ), 38 . 7 ( c - 4 ), 38 . 8 ( c - 20 ), 39 . 1 ( c - 19 ), 39 . 5 ( c - 8 ), 42 . 1 ( c - 14 ), 47 . 6 ( c - 9 ), 48 . 0 ( c - 17 ), 52 . 9 ( c - 18 ), 55 . 2 ( c - 5 ), 61 . 0 (— cooch 2 —), 79 . 0 ( c - 3 ), 119 . 1 (— ch ═ c ( ch 3 ) 2 ), 125 . 5 ( c - 12 ), 138 . 1 (— ch ═ c ( ch 3 ) 2 ), 138 . 2 ( c - 13 ), 177 . 5 ( c - 28 ). esims ( 70 ev ) m / z (% rel . int . ): 547 . hresims : calcd for c 35 h 56 o 3 na : 547 . 4127 . found : 547 . 4123 . 2 ′- hydroxyethyl 3β - hydroxyurs - 12 - en - 28 - oate ( compound 10 ): compound 10 is prepared from compound 1 ( 50 mg , 0 . 11 mmol ) following the general procedure described for esterification at c - 17 carboxylic acid using 2 - chloroethanol as alkyl halide moiety . compound 10 is obtained as a white solid ( 28 . 5 mg , 0 . 06 mmol , 52 %), [ α ] d 25 =+ 35 . ir ( kbr ): 3433 , 1718 cm − 1 . 1 h nmr ( cdcl 3 ): δ 0 . 76 ( 3h , s , h - 25 ), 0 . 77 ( 3h , s , h - 24 ), 0 . 86 ( 3h , d , j = 6 . 4 hz , h - 30 ), 0 . 91 ( 3h , s , h - 26 ), 0 . 94 ( 3h , d , j = 6 . 4 hz , h - 29 ), 1 . 01 ( 3h , s , h - 27 ), 1 . 09 ( 3h , s , h - 23 ), 2 . 24 ( 1h , d , j = 10 . 8 hz , h - 18 ), 3 . 21 ( 1h , dd , j = 11 . 2 , 4 . 8 hz , h - 3α ), 3 . 79 ( 2h , m , — cooch 2 —), 4 . 08 ( 1h , ddd , j = 11 . 6 , 5 . 6 , 3 . 2 hz , — chhoh ), 4 . 20 ( 1h , ddd , j = 11 . 6 , 6 . 0 , 3 . 6 hz , — chhoh ), 5 . 26 ( 1h , t , j = 3 . 6 hz , h - 12 ). 13 c nmr ( cdcl 3 ): δ 15 . 4 ( c - 24 ), 15 . 6 ( c - 25 ), 17 . 0 ( c - 11 ), 17 . 1 ( c - 26 ), 18 . 3 ( c - 6 ), 21 . 1 ( c - 29 ), 23 . 3 ( c - 27 ), 23 . 5 ( c - 30 ), 24 . 2 ( c - 16 ), 27 . 2 ( c - 2 ), 27 . 9 ( c - 15 ), 28 . 1 ( c - 23 ), 30 . 6 ( c - 21 ), 33 . 0 ( c - 7 ), 36 . 7 ( c - 22 ), 36 . 9 ( c - 10 ), 38 . 6 ( c - 1 ), 38 . 7 ( c - 4 ), 38 . 8 ( c - 20 ), 39 . 1 ( c - 19 ), 39 . 5 ( c - 8 ), 42 . 2 ( c - 14 ), 47 . 5 ( c - 9 ), 48 . 3 ( c - 17 ), 53 . 0 ( c - 18 ), 55 . 2 ( c - 5 ), 61 . 4 (— ch 2 oh ), 66 . 0 (— cooch 2 —), 79 . 0 ( c - 3 ), 125 . 3 ( c - 12 ), 138 . 9 ( c - 13 ), 177 . 9 ( c - 28 ). eims ( 70 ev ) m / z (% rel . int . ): 500 [ m ] + ( 3 ). hreims : calcd for c 32 h 52 o 4 : 500 . 3865 . found : 500 . 3863 . tert - butoxycarbonylmethyl 3β - hydroxyurs - 12 - en - 28 - oate ( compound 11 ): compound 11 is prepared from compound 1 ( 50 mg , 0 . 11 mmol ) following the general procedure described for esterification at c - 17 carboxylic acid using chloroacetic acid tert - butyl ester as alkyl halide moiety . compound 11 is obtained as a white solid ( 38 . 9 mg , 0 . 07 mmol , 62 %), [ α ] d 25 =+ 20 . ir ( kbr ): 3447 , 1733 cm − 1 . 1 h nmr ( cdcl 3 ): δ 0 . 72 ( 3h , s , h - 25 ), 0 . 78 ( 3h , s , h - 24 ), 0 . 86 ( 3h , d , j = 6 . 4 hz , h - 30 ), 0 . 91 ( 3h , s , h - 26 ), 0 . 94 ( 3h , d , j = 6 . 4 hz , h - 29 ), 0 . 98 ( 3h , s , h - 27 ), 1 . 08 ( 3h , s , h - 23 ), 1 . 45 ( 9h , s , — c ( ch 3 ) 3 ), 2 . 25 ( 1h , d , j = 11 . 2 hz , h - 18 ), 3 . 21 ( 1h , dd , j = 9 . 6 , 3 . 6 hz , h - 3α ), 4 . 42 ( 2h , m , — cooch 2 —), 5 . 25 ( 1h , t , j = 3 . 6 hz , h - 12 ). 13 c nmr ( cdcl 3 ): δ 15 . 4 ( c - 24 ), 15 . 6 ( c - 25 ), 16 . 9 ( c - 26 ), 17 . 0 ( c - 11 ), 18 . 3 ( c - 6 ), 21 . 2 ( c - 29 ), 23 . 3 ( c - 27 ), 23 . 5 ( c - 30 ), 24 . 2 ( c - 16 ), 27 . 2 ( c - 2 ), 28 . 0 (— oc ( ch 3 ) 3 ), 28 . 0 (— oc ( ch 3 ) 3 ), 28 . 1 ( c - 23 ), 29 . 7 (— oc ( ch 3 ) 3 ), 30 . 6 ( c - 21 ), 33 . 0 ( c - 7 ), 36 . 5 ( c - 22 ), 36 . 9 ( c - 10 ), 38 . 6 ( c - 1 ), 38 . 7 ( c - 4 ), 38 . 8 ( c - 20 ), 39 . 1 ( c - 19 ), 39 . 5 ( c - 8 ), 42 . 0 ( c - 14 ), 47 . 6 ( c - 9 ), 48 . 0 ( c - 17 ), 52 . 7 ( c - 18 ), 55 . 2 ( c - 5 ), 60 . 9 (— cooch 2 —), 79 . 0 ( c - 3 ), 125 . 7 ( c - 12 ), 138 . 0 ( c - 13 ), 167 . 1 (— ch 2 co —), 176 . 7 ( c - 28 ). eims ( 70 ev ) m / z (% rel . int . ): 570 [ m ] + ( 6 ). hreims : calcd for c 36 h 58 o 5 : 570 . 4283 . found : 570 . 4291 . please refer to fig2 , which is a flow chart illustrating the processes in the present invention for synthesizing the compounds 12 - 17 , wherein each number represents a different compound . the hydroxyl group at c - 3 in the ring a of the compound 1 is treated with various anhydrides , such as anhydrous acetic acid and various carboxylic acids , to form different esters ( compounds 12 - 17 ). the reaction additives may be dcc , dmap , pyridine and so on . for example , compound 1 ( 50 mg , 0 . 11 mmol ) is dissolved in different anhydride ( 1 ml ) and pyridine ( 1 ml ), and the solution is stirred at room temperature for 6 h . the reaction mixture is added water ( 10 ml ) and partitioned with dcm ( 15 ml × 3 ). the organic solution is dried over na 2 so 4 and concentrated in vacuo to give crude product . the crude product is purified by chromatography on a column of silica gel eluted with etoac / n - hexane to obtain compounds 12 - 17 . please refer to fig3 , which is a flow chart illustrating the processes in the present invention for synthesizing the compounds 18 - 24 , wherein each number represents a different compound . compound 1 is oxidized to the 3 - keto compound 18 with cro 3 in dmf ( step a ). the treatment of 3 - oxo - derivative 18 with m - chloroperbenzoic acid ( m - cpba ) afford lactone compound 20 ( step c ). compound 18 in anhydrous meoh / benzene is esterified with trimethylsilyldiazomethane ( tmschn 2 ) at room temperature to yield compound 19 ( step b ). lactone 20 is cleavaged in the appropriate amount of meoh and h 2 so 4 as the catalyst to yield seco - compound 21 ( step d ), and is cleavaged with koh in meoh to yield seco - compound 22 ( step e ). seco - compound 22 in meoh reacts with h 2 so 4 to yield seco - compound 23 ( step f ). compound 23 in anhydrous meoh / benzene is esterified with trimethylsilyldiazomethane ( tmschn 2 ) at room temperature to yield compound 24 ( step g ). the detailed embodiments for the preparation of the compounds 20 - 22 are described as follows . 4 - hydroxy - 3 , 4 - seco - ursan - 12 - en - 28 - oic acid 3 , 4 lactone ( compound 20 ): a mixture of compound 18 ( 150 mg , 0 . 3 mmol ) and 70 - 75 % 3 - chloroperoxybenzoic acid ( 200 mg , 0 . 8 - 0 . 9 mmol ) in chcl 3 ( 10 ml ) is stirred at room temperature for 72 h . more chloroform ( 20 ml ) is added and the organic layer is washed with aq ki ( 5 %), aq na 2 so 3 , water , aq nahco 3 solutions . the solution is extracted with chcl 3 ( 30 ml × 3 ), dried over na 2 so 4 , and concentrated in vacuo to give the crude product . the crude product is purified by chromatography on a column of silica gel eluted with etoac / dcm ( 1 : 6 ) to obtain compound 20 ( 91 mg , 0 . 19 mmol , 59 %) as a white powder , [ α ] d 25 =+ 49 . ir ( kbr ): 3448 , 1756 , 1714 cm − 1 . 1 h nmr ( cdcl 3 ): δ 0 . 80 ( 3h , s , h - 25 ), 0 . 85 ( 3h , d , j = 6 . 4 hz , h - 30 ), 0 . 95 ( 3h , d , j = 6 . 0 hz , h - 29 ), 1 . 01 ( 3h , s , h - 26 ), 1 . 07 ( 3h , s , h - 27 ), 1 . 26 ( 3h , s , h - 24 ), 1 . 28 ( 3h , s , h - 23 ), 2 . 20 ( 1h , d , j = 11 . 2 hz , h - 18 ), 5 . 25 ( 1h , t , j = 3 . 6 hz , h - 12 ). 13 c nmr ( cdcl 3 ): δ 13 . 6 ( c - 25 ), 16 . 8 ( c - 26 ), 17 . 0 ( c - 11 ), 19 . 7 ( c - 24 ), 20 . 8 ( c - 27 ), 21 . 1 ( c - 30 ), 23 . 3 ( c - 29 ), 23 . 9 ( c - 6 ), 24 . 0 ( c - 16 ), 27 . 9 ( c - 15 ), 29 . 6 ( c - 7 ), 30 . 5 ( c - 21 ), 31 . 8 ( c - 2 ), 36 . 6 ( c - 22 ), 37 . 0 ( c - 9 ), 38 . 8 ( c - 20 ), 39 . 0 ( c - 19 ), 42 . 1 ( c - 14 ), 45 . 3 ( c - 8 ), 47 . 9 ( c - 17 ), 52 . 5 ( c - 5 ), 55 . 2 ( c - 18 ), 74 . 9 ( c - 4 ), 125 . 3 ( c - 12 ), 138 . 1 ( c - 13 ), 175 . 8 ( c - 3 ), 182 . 8 ( c - 28 ). eims ( 70 ev ) m / z (% rel . int . ): 470 [ m ] + ( 2 . 3 ). hreims : calcd for c 30 h 46 o 4 : 470 . 3395 . found : 470 . 2825 . methyl 3 , 4 - seco - ursan - 4 ( 23 ), 12 - dien - 28 - oic 3 - oat ( compound 21 ): a mixture of compound 18 ( 100 mg , 0 . 2 mmol ) and 70 - 75 % 3 - chloroperoxybenzoic acid ( 100 mg , 0 . 4 - 0 . 5 mmol ) in chcl 3 ( 10 ml ) is stirred at room temperature for 72 h . the mixture is concentrated to dryness under reduced pressure , added meoh ( 10 ml ) and c - h 2 so 4 ( three drops ), and stirred at room temperature for 24 h . the mixture is concentrated to dryness under reduced pressure again , washed with aq nahco 3 solution , extracted with chcl 3 ( 20 ml × 3 ), dried over na 2 so 4 , and concentrated in vacuo to give the crude product . the crude product is purified by chromatography on a column of silica gel eluted with etoac / n - hexane ( 1 : 3 ) to obtain compound 21 ( 22 . 0 mg , 0 . 05 mmol , 21 %) as a white powder , [ α ] d 25 =+ 8 . ir ( kbr ): 3461 , 1735 , 1693 cm − 1 . 1 h nmr ( cdcl 3 ): δ 0 . 82 ( 3h , s , h - 27 ), 0 . 86 ( 3h , d , j = 6 . 4 hz , h - 30 ), 0 . 92 ( 3h , s , h - 25 ), 0 . 94 ( 3h , d , j = 6 . 4 hz , h - 29 ), 1 . 09 ( 3h , s , h - 26 ), 1 . 72 ( 3h , s , h - 24 ), 2 . 25 ( 1h , d , j = 11 . 2 hz , h - 18 ), 3 . 65 ( 3h , s , — cooch 3 ), 4 . 64 ( 1h , s , — c ═ chh ), 4 . 86 ( 1h , s , — c ═ chh ), 5 . 26 ( 1h , t , j = 3 . 2 hz , h - 12 ). 13 c nmr ( cdcl 3 ): δ 17 . 0 ( c - 11 ), 17 . 2 ( c - 26 ), 19 . 5 ( c - 25 ), 21 . 1 ( c - 29 ), 23 . 4 ( c - 27 ), 23 . 4 ( c - 24 ), 23 . 5 ( c - 30 ), 24 . 0 ( c - 16 ), 24 . 3 ( c - 6 ), 28 . 0 ( c - 15 ), 28 . 5 ( c - 2 ), 30 . 6 ( c - 21 ), 31 . 6 ( c - 1 ), 33 . 9 ( c - 7 ), 36 . 7 ( c - 22 ), 37 . 7 ( c - 9 ), 38 . 8 ( c - 20 ), 39 . 1 ( c - 19 ), 39 . 2 ( c - 8 ), 39 . 2 ( c - 10 ), 42 . 4 ( c - 14 ), 48 . 0 ( c - 17 ), 50 . 3 ( c - 5 ), 51 . 6 (— cooch 3 ), 52 . 6 ( c - 18 ), 113 . 6 ( c - 23 ), 125 . 7 ( c - 12 ), 137 . 9 ( c - 13 ), 147 . 3 ( c - 4 ), 174 . 6 ( c - 28 ), 183 . 4 ( c - 3 ). eims ( 70 ev ) m / z (% rel . int . ): 484 [ m ] + ( 23 ). hreims : calcd for c 31 h 48 o 4 : 484 . 3552 . found : 484 . 3549 . 3 , 4 - seco - ursan - 4 - hydroxy - 12 - en - 3 , 28 - dioic acid ( compound 22 ): compound 20 ( 30 mg , 0 . 06 mmol ) in 5 % methanolic koh is kept at room temperature for 48 h . the organic layer is removed under pressure . the mixture is added water ( 10 ml ) and extracted with etoac ( 10 ml × 3 ) to give the crude product . the crude product is purified by column chromatography eluted with acetone : dcm ( 1 : 3 ) and meoh to obtain compound 22 ( 15 mg , 0 . 03 mmol , 48 %) as a white powder , [ α ] d 25 =+ 35 . ir ( kbr ): 3447 , 1690 cm − 1 . 1 h nmr ( cd 3 od ): δ 0 . 89 ( 3h , d , j = 6 . 4 , h - 30 ), 0 . 91 ( 3h , d , j = 6 . 4 hz , h - 29 ), 0 . 97 ( 3h , s , h - 25 ), 1 . 10 ( 3h , s , h - 26 ), 1 . 14 ( 3h , s , h - 27 ), 1 . 25 ( 3h , s , h - 24 ), 1 . 27 ( 3h , s , h - 23 ), 2 . 22 ( 1h , d , j = 11 . 6 , h - 18 ), 2 . 30 ( 1h , m , hα - 2 ), 2 . 49 ( 1h , m , hβ - 2 ), 5 . 27 ( 1h , t , j = 3 . 6 hz , h - 12 ). 13 c nmr ( cd 3 od ): δ 17 . 7 ( c - 26 ), 17 . 8 ( c - 11 ), 18 . 1 ( c - 25 ), 20 . 6 ( c - 29 ), 21 . 6 ( c - 6 ), 23 . 4 ( c - 27 ), 23 . 8 ( c - 30 ), 24 . 1 ( c - 16 ), 28 . 3 ( c - 24 ), 29 . 2 ( c - 15 ), 30 . 4 ( c - 2 ), 31 . 8 ( c - 21 ), 32 . 7 ( c - 7 ), 33 . 7 ( c - 23 ), 35 . 7 ( c - 22 ), 38 . 1 ( c - 20 ), 40 . 1 ( c - 19 ), 40 . 6 ( c - 10 ), 42 . 1 ( c - 14 ), 43 . 8 ( c - 8 ), 49 . 0 ( c - 17 ), 52 . 9 ( c - 18 ), 53 . 0 ( c - 5 ), 54 . 4 ( c - 9 ), 76 . 2 ( c - 4 ), 127 . 2 ( c - 12 ), 139 . 4 ( c - 13 ), 181 . 7 ( c - 28 and c - 3 ). esims ( 70 ev ) m / z : 511 [ m + na ] + . hresims : calcd for c 30 h 48 o 5 na : 511 . 3399 . found : 511 . 3402 . this example illustrates the cytotoxicities of compounds 1 - 24 against ntub1 cells ( human bladder cancer cell line ), and cisplatin is used as the positive control . in the present embodiment , cell culture and mtt assay is used for cell viability / proliferation . ntub1 , a human bladder cancer cell line , is established from a high - grade bladder cancer . ntub1 cells are maintained in rpmi 1640 medium supplemented with 10 % fetal bovine serum ( fbs ), 100 unit / ml penicillin - g , 100 μg / ml streptomycin , and 2 mm l - glutamine . the cells are cultured at 37 ° c . in a humidified atmosphere containing 5 % co 2 . for evaluating the cytotoxic effect of the tested compound with cisplatin , a modified 3 -[ 4 , 5 - dimethylthiazol - 2 - yl ]- 2 , 5 - diphenyltetrazolium bromide ( mtt , sigma chemical co .) assay is performed . briefly , the cells are plated at a density of 1800 cells / well in 96 - well plates and incubated at 37 ° c . overnight before drug exposure . cells are then cultured in the presence of graded concentrations of the test compound with or without various concentrations of cisplatin ( pharmacia & amp ; upjohn , milan , italy ) at 37 ° c . for 72 h . at the end of the culture period , 50 μl of mtt ( 2 mg / ml in pbs ) is added to each well and allowed to react for 3 h . following centrifugation of plates at 1000 g for 10 min , media are removed and 150 μl dmso are added to each well . the proportions of surviving cells are determined by absorbance spectrometry at 540 nm using mrx ( dynexco ) microplate reader . the cell viability is expressed as a percentage to the viable cells of control culture condition . the ic 50 s of each group are calculated by the medianeffect analysis and presented as mean ± standard deviation ( sd ). please refer to table 1 , which indicates the cytotoxicities of compounds 1 - 24 against ntub1 cells ( ic 50 values in μm ) according to the mentioned embodiment . in table 1 , data are presented as mean ± sd ( n = 5 ). compounds 1 - 24 or cisplatin dissolved in dmso are diluted with culture medium containing 0 . 1 % dmso , respectively . the control cells are treated with culture medium containing 0 . 1 % dmso . cisplatin is used as a positive control . when 50 % inhibition could not reached at the highest concentration , then % of viability is given in parentheses . as shown in table 1 , compound 1 and its derivatives show significant cytotoxic activities against ntub1 cells . the esterification of c - 17 - cooh of 1 and 18 with methyl halide , such as compounds 2 and 19 , decreases the cytotoxic activity against ntub1 cells , but the esterification of compound 21 , such as compound 24 , enhances the cytotoxicity against ntub1 cells . the c - 17 - cooh of 1 esterified with the increased alkyl chain of halides such as compounds 3 - 8 and 10 , or prenyl halide such as compound 9 , indicates that all these compounds reveal stronger cytotoxicities than that of compound 2 against ntub1 cells . the hydroxylation of c - 17 ethyl ester of compound 3 such as compound 10 attenuate the cytotoxicity against ntub1 cells . the acetylation of c - 3 - oh of 1 enhances the cytotoxic activity while the c - 3 - oh of 1 modified to succinic ester , such as compound 17 , potently enhances the cytotoxicity activity against ntub1 cells . increasing carbon chain of ester moieties attenuates the cytotoxic effect while increasing the unsaturation of the same carbon chain of ester , such as compound 15 , enhances cytotoxic effect . the oxidation of c - 3 - oh ( compounds 1 and 2 ) to keto group ( compounds 18 and 19 ) increases cytotoxicities , while lactone derivative 20 obtained from compounds 18 , and 3 , 4 - seco - compounds 21 and 22 obtained from compound 20 weakens cytotoxic activities . furthermore , the 3 , 4 - seco - compound obtained from compound 22 , such as compound 23 , indicates the potently cytotoxic activity , and its dimethyl ester such as compound 24 further enhances the inhibitory effect on the cell growth . according to the mentioned embodiment , it is clearly indicated that the 3 , 4 - seco - compound with dimethyl ester moieties substituted as c - 3 and c - 17 obtained from cleavage of ring a displays stronger and concentration - dependent effects against ntub1 cell growth . this example illustrates the cytotoxic effect of compounds 5 , 17 and 23 against cancer cells . for further evaluating the cytotoxic effect of the ursolic acid derivatives and mechanisms of induced cancer cell death in vitro , cytotoxicities of selective compounds 5 , 17 and 23 against pc3 and a549 are studied and compared with those of cytotoxicities against ntub1 cells . the cytotoxicities of compounds 5 , 17 and 23 against ntub1 , pc3 and a549 cells are analyzed by the processes similar to those described in example 4 . please refer to fig4 ( a ) to 4 ( c ) , which indicate the analyzed results of the cytotoxicities of compounds 5 , 17 and 23 , respectively , wherein cell viability is assessed by the mtt assay after treating with different concentrations of compounds for 72 h . the data shown in fig4 ( a ) to 4 ( c ) represent mean ± sd ( n = 3 ) for one experiment performed in triplicate . the symbols , “” represents p & lt ; 0 . 05 , “” represents p & lt ; 0 . 01 , and “**” represents p & lt ; 0 . 001 , compared to the control value , respectively . as shown in fig4 ( a ) to 4 ( c ) , compounds 5 , 17 and 23 do not exhibit stronger cytotoxic effects against pc3 and a549 cells than those of cytotoxicities against ntub1 cells while 50 μm compounds 5 , 17 and 23 indicate same cytotoxic effect against these three human cancer lines . this example illustrates the anti - inflammatory activities of compounds 5 , 7 - 11 , 20 and 21 . the anti - inflammatory activities of compounds 5 , 7 - 11 , 20 and 21 are studied in vitro for their inhibitory effects on chemical mediators released from neutrophils , mast cells or macrophages of rat . please refer to table 2 , which illustrates the inhibitory effects of compounds 5 , 7 - 11 , 20 and 21 on the accumulation of no 2 − ( experiment a ), superoxide anion formation ( n mol / 106 cells / 30 min ) from rat neutrophils stimulated with pma ( experiment b ), and the release of β - glucuronidase from rat peritoneal mast cells stimulated with compound 48 / 80 ( experiment c ). in table 2 , when 50 % inhibition could not be reached at the highest concentration , the percentage of inhibition at 30 μm is given . in the experiment b , superoxide anion generation is measured in terms of superoxide dismutase - inhibitable cytochrome c reduction . neutrophils isolated from the peripheral blood of the rats are washed and suspended in hanks &# 39 ; balanced salt solution ( hbss ). neutrophil suspension is preincubated with dmso or drugs , and then superoxide dismutase ( sod ) or hbss is added into the blank and test wells , respectively . the final volume of dmso in the reaction mixture is ≦ 0 . 5 %. after addition of cytochrome c , reaction is initiated by challenge with pma ( 3 nm ). thirty minutes later , the reaction is terminated by centrifugation and the absorbance changes of supernatant are monitored at 550 nm in a microplate reader . the superoxide anion generation is measured in terms of superoxide dismutase - inhibitable cytochrome c reduction . trifluoperazine is used as a positive control for the experiment b . in the experiment c , heparinized tyrode &# 39 ; s solution is injected into the peritoneal cavity of exsanguinated rat ( sprague - dawley , 250 - 300 g ). after abdominal massage , cells in the peritoneal fluid are harvested and then separated in 38 % bovine serum albumin ( bsa ) in glucose - free tyrode &# 39 ; s solution . cell pellets are washed and suspended in tyrode &# 39 ; s solution with 0 . 1 % bsa to 1 × 106 cell / ml . cell suspension is then preincubated at 37 ° c . with dmso or drugs for 5 min . the final volume of dmso in the reaction mixture is ≦ 0 . 5 %. fifteen min after the addition of compound 48 / 80 ( 10 mg / ml ), β - glucuronidase ( phenolphthalein - β - glucuronide as substrate , 550 nm ) in the supernatant is determined . the total content of β - glucuronidase is measured after treatment of the cell suspension with triton x - 100 , and the percentage release is calculated . mepacrine is used as the positive control for the experiment c . this example illustrates the effect of compounds 5 , 17 and 23 on intracellular ros levels and cell cycle in ntub1 cells . as described in the background of the invention , ros induce programmed cell death or necrosis , induce or suppress the expression of many genes , and activate cell signaling cascades . ros cause a wide range of adaptive cellular responses ranging from transient growth arrest to permanent growth arrest , to apoptosis or to necrosis , dependent on the level of ros . these responses allow organism to remove damage caused by ros or allow organisms to remove damage cells . exposure of cells to 10 μm cisplatin , 40 μm compound 5 , 20 μm compound 23 , and 50 μm compound 23 for 24 h cause a significant increase in intracellular ros while this effect is inhibited by n - acetyl - cysteine ( nac , a thiol antioxidant agent ). furthermore , exposure of cells to 10 μm cisplatin , 20 and 40 μm compound 5 , and 20 and 50 μm compound 23 for 48 h also cause a significant increase in intracellular ros while this effect does not be inhibited by nac . whereas cell proliferation and differentiation are specifically in the g1 phase and the g1 - s transition in the cell cycle , the oncogenic progress exerts its greatest effect by targeting particular regulators of g1 phase progression . the effects of positive control cisplatin , compounds 5 , 17 and 23 on cell cycle progression are determined by using fluorescence - activated cell sorting ( facs ) analysis in propidium iodide - stained ntub1 cells . 8 × 10 5 cells are plated and treated with various concentrations of cisplatin and various concentrations of compounds 5 , 17 and 23 for 24 or 48 h , respectively . these cells are harvested by trypsinization , washed with 1 × pbs , and fixed in ice - cold meoh at − 20 ° c . after overnight incubation , the cells are washed with pbs and incubated with 50 μg / ml propidium iodide ( sigma , co ) and 50 μg / ml rnase a ( sigma , co ) in pbs at room temperature for 30 min . the fractions of cells in each phase of cell cycle are analyzed using facscan flow cytometer and cell quest software ( becton dickinson ). as to the quantitative analysis of intracellular ros , the flow cytometry analysis is also adopted . cells are plated and treated as above - mentioned conditions . ten - micromolar dichlorofluorescein diacetate ( dcfh - da ; molecular probes , eugene , oreg .) is added to the treated cells 30 min prior harvest . the cells are collected by trypsinization and washed with pbs . the green fluorescence of intracellular dcf ( 2 ′, 7 ′- dichlorofluorescein ) is then analyzed immediately by facscan flow cytometer with a 525 - nm band pass filter ( becton dickinson ). the analysis results of the mentioned examples are described as follows . treatment with 10 and 20 μm cisplatin for 24 h leads to a dose dependent accumulation of cells in the g1 phase with a concomitant increase in the population of sub - g1 phase . treatment with 20 and 40 μm compound 5 , and 20 and 50 μm compound 23 for 24 h induces g1 phase arrest in a dose - dependent manner , accompanied by an increase in the apoptotic cell death , while treatment with 20 - 40 μm compound 17 for 24 h induces g2 / m arrest before accumulation of cells in sub - g1 phase . moreover , treatment with 10 μm cisplatin for 48 h results in s phase arrest while treatment with 20 - 40 μm compound 5 and 20 - 50 μm compound 23 for 48 h arrests g2 / m phase before accumulation of cells in sub - g1 phase . it has been known that cellular ros are essential to cell survival , but the effect of ros on cell is complex . experimentally , a low concentration of h 2 o 2 causes a moderate increase in proliferation of many tumor cell lines , whereas a higher level results in slowed growth , cell cycle arrest , and apoptosis or even necrosis . in the present example , treatment of cells with compound 5 for 24 and 48 h exhibits induced g1 phase and g2 / m arrest , respectively , and increases the amount of ros in cells . based on the mentioned experiments , it indicates that the cell cycle arrest and apoptosis induced by compound 5 are correlated with ros . treatment of cells with 20 and 40 μm compound 17 for 24 h induces g2 / m arrest before accumulation of cells in sub - g1 phase . the induction of increased amount of ros and g1 phase arrest by treatment of cells with 20 and 50 μm compound 23 for 24 h . it also indicates that the induction of g1 phase arrest by treatment of cells with compound 23 for 24 h is due to the increased amount of ros induced by compound 23 in cells . treatment of cells with 20 μm compound 23 for 48 h results in g2 / m phase arrest . this example illustrates the effect of the ursolic acid derivatives upon the inhibition of tubulin polymerization . all inhibition of tubulin polymerization has been implicated in g2 / m phase cell cycle arrest in various cancer cell lines . accordingly , whether treatment of cells with 20 μm compound 23 for 48 h affects in vivo microtubular architecture is investigated in the present example . microtubule assembly is analyzed by indirect immunofluorescence staining using an anti - tubulin antibody ( santa cruz biotechnology , santa cruz , calif ., usa ). ntub1 cells plated on coverslips are treated with no compound as control , 10 nm taxol , 50 μm compound 23 for 24 h . after treatment , cells are fixed with 2 % formaldehyde / pbs for 20 min , washed with pbs , and cold methanol (− 20 ° c .) for 3 min . after washing with pbs , cells are added anti - α - tubulin monoclonal antibody ( sigma , co ) in pbs and incubated for 3 h at room temperature . then cells are washed with pbs and reincubated with rodamine - conjugated secondary antibody ( sigma , co ) in dark room for 1 h at room temperature . after being washed with pbs , coverslips are mounted with 80 % glycerol in pbs and examined with axioskop 2 plus fluorescence microscope . please refer to fig5 ( a ) to 5 ( c ) , which are diagrams showing the effects of taxol and compound 23 on microtubule assembly , wherein the cellular microtubules are observed by axioskop 2 plus fluorescence microscope . fig5 ( a ) shows that untreated ntub1 cells ( control ) show diffuse staining throughout the cytoplasm and dense perinuclear staining . fig5 ( b ) shows that treatment of cells with taxol results in a distinctive microtubule bundle that is likely due to stabilization of the rigid microtubule network . fig5 ( c ) shows that treatment with compound 23 results in that cells treated with compound 23 for 48 h prevents microtubule assembly in vivo by inhibiting tubulin polymerization . accordingly , compound 23 reveals a partial mechanism by which compound 23 mediated through generation of ros in ntub1 cells induces inhibition of tubulin polymerization , g2 / m cell cycle arrest , and apoptosis . while the invention has been described in terms of what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments , it is to be understood that the invention needs not be limited to the disclosed embodiments . on the contrary , it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims which are to be accorded with the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar structures .	0
fig1 and 2 depict front and side views of a medication disposal kit , respectively , which is in the form of a disposal pouch having an outer barrier substantially impervious to water and organic vapor with active binding agents incorporated within . the pouch is depicted generally by 10 and includes a seal layer 12 that can be opened using a tear notch 14 . further , the pouch includes a reusable zip lock seal 16 so that the pouch can be reclosed after insertion of the waste medications . the pouch has an outer barrier 18 that is of a material substantially impermeable to organic vapors such as aluminum foil . an amount of activated carbon and gelling agent is shown inside the pouch at 20 and a label is shown at 22 . the tear notch 16 is used to unseal the pouch prior to use and expose an open volume for insertion of water and waste medications in pill or other solid form , liquid or skin patch form . after such insertions , the pouch is resealed by use of the zipping seal 16 . while a pouch is depicted , it will be recognized and appreciated that other containers such as plastic or glass jars , etc . can also provide effective containment systems . the water dissolves the waste solid medications or combines with liquids , and thereafter , the activated carbon binds them through an adsorption or chemisorption process . the adsorbed or chemisorbed species then becomes substantially retained onto a solid substrate where it remains in a medically inactive state , and inhibited from dissolution or leaching into the environment . it will be appreciated that the activated carbon may be any of a variety of mesh sizes from finely divided to granular depending on the application . although powder sized activated carbon can be used , a preferred range is from about 8 mesh to about 325 mesh . the particular preferred average mesh size will depend on the particular application of a disposal system or kit and kits having a variety of average mesh sizes are contemplated . alternative embodiments may include a gelling agent along with finely divided activated carbon , so that the medication is dissolved into a viscous , high - water content solution , with the gelling agent serving to help suspend the activated carbon throughout the mixture and prevent leakage of the mixture out of the pouch . hydroxypropylmethylcellulose , or the like , gelling agent in concentrations of 0 . 5 to 5 % ( w / w ), serves to promote suspension of the activated carbon in the medication mixture , and thus make it more effective while also speeding up the adsorption / chemisorption process . other components may be useful , such as oxidizing agents which serve to break down the medication into inactive forms prior to the adsorption / chemisorption process . oxidizing agents such as percarbonates , perborates , etc . can serve this purpose and be co - packaged along with the activated carbon . disposal of unused and expired medications with the kit of this invention includes the following steps : 1 ) open an impermeable seal so as to expose the kit contents , 2 ) add a volume of water ( if the medication is in solid oral or patch form ), 3 ) add an amount of medication equal to or less than an indicated approximate medication capacity on the kit label , 4 ) re - seal the pouch and gently mix the components , and 5 ) dispose of the pouch in the normal trash . the volume of the pouch and amount of activated carbon contained in the pouch dictate the approximate medication treating capacity . for optimal results , it has been found that the volume of water added and the amount of activated carbon contained in the pouch should both be about three times or more the approximate medication capacity on a weight basis . in some cases , the waste medication may be one indicated as clearly abusable ; this includes opioids such as fentanyl , morphine , hydromorphone , etc . in this circumstance , the present concept provides a system where the medication cannot conveniently be recovered later from a used kit by others for abuse purposes . fig3 depicts a plot of a uv / vis spectrophotometry scan of a 37 . 7 mg / l solution of fentanyl citrate . the absorption from 200 - 240 nm is due to the presence of fentanyl citrate in the solution , and the magnitude of the absorbance is directly related to the dissolved concentration of that compound . it is readily seen that the concentration of the drug is significant . fig4 represents a second uv / vis spectrophotometry scan plot of the solution of fig3 after 5 minutes of contact with activated carbon . a dramatic reduction in the amount of absorption from 200 - 240 nm is seen . the data shows that an estimated 97 % of the fentanyl citrate had been removed from solution by 5 minutes of contact with activated carbon . only 11 micrograms from the original content of 377 micrograms of fentanyl citrate remained in solution . to measure whether the fentanyl could thereafter be recovered into an abusable form , the activated carbon utilized to adsorb the fentanyl citrate from the solution of fig3 was then taken and placed in a 50 % ethanol / water solution in an attempt to redissolve the adsorbed fentanyl citrate . the plot of fig5 represents another uv / vis spectrophotometry scan of the 50 % ethanol solution from which it appears that recovery of fentanyl citrate in the 50 % ethanol solution was extremely low , i . e ., less than 5 % of the drug having been recovered . this indicates that the adsorption of the drug onto the activated carbon was not only almost complete , but also very tenacious . of the 366 micrograms of fentanyl citrate that was bound , only 13 micrograms was successfully separated in the attempted extraction process . in another aspect , it is also contemplated that under some circumstances antagonist and / or irritant compounds might be incorporated into the package along with the activated carbon so as to further discourage abuse of the disposed medication . examples of antagonist compounds include naloxone , and examples of irritant compounds include capsaicin . in this case , it can be useful to pre - adsorb these agents onto a portion of the binding agent . by doing so , a user properly inserting medications into the kit is not exposed to dangerous forms of the compounds , however they will be co - released with the drug if an abuser attempts to extract an active drug using solvents . as a test of a model compound , a medication kit in accordance with this invention was used to ‘ deactivate ’ lidocaine . lidocaine is an anesthetic agent and a common ingredient in liquid , gels , creams and patch forms . the procedure was as follows : 1 . to a mixture of 20 grams activated carbon and 2 grams of hpmc , 100 ml of water was added which resulted in a suspended gel slurry of activated carbon . 2 . 5 grams of lidocaine hcl was added and the solution was mixed . 2 . a control ( untreated ) solution was prepared by mixing the same amount of lidocaine hcl with water . 3 . both solutions were allowed 7 days to equilibrate . 4 . each solution was filtered with a nylon filter membrane and diluted 1 : 100 by weight with distilled water , with the dilution representing wash - out to the environment . 5 . both solutions were scanned by a uv / vis spectrophotometer between 200 and 300 nm . the untreated solution displayed a peak absorbance of 0 . 368 at 265 nm , corresponding to lidocaine absorbance . the treated solution displayed a peak absorbance of 0 . 036 at the similar wavelength . therefore , the activated carbon slurry was more than 90 % effective in sequestering lidocaine hcl . fig6 a is the uv / vis . spectrophotometric scan of the untreated lidocaine solution , fig6 b is the uv / vis spectrophotometic scan of the treated lidocaine , and fig6 c is a graphical comparison of the untreated and treated group recoveries . as a test of another model compound , the medication kit of this invention was used to ‘ deactivate ’ diclofenac . diclofenac is an anti - inflammatory agent and a common ingredient in oral , gel , and patch forms . the procedure was as follows : 1 . to a mixture of 20 grams activated carbon ( 1500 ) and 2 grams of hpmc , 100 ml of water was added which resulted in a suspended gel slurry of activated carbon . 2 . 5 grams of diclofenac potassium was added and the solution was mixed . 2 . a ( untreated ) control solution was prepared by mixing the same amount of diclofenac potassium with water . 3 . both solutions were allowed 7 days to equilibrate . 4 . each solution was filtered with a nylon filter membrane and diluted 1 : 1000 by weight with distilled water , with the dilution representing wash - out to the environment . 5 . both solutions were scanned by a uv / vis spectrophotometer between 200 and 300 nm . the untreated solution displayed a peak absorbance of 0 . 757 at 277 nm , corresponding to diclofenac absorbance . the treated solution displayed a peak absorbance of 0 . 014 at a similar wavelength . therefore , the activated carbon slurry was 98 . 2 % effective in sequestering diclofenac . fig7 a is the uv / vis spectrophotometric scan of the untreated diclofenac solution , fig7 b is the uv / vis spectrophotometic scan of the treated diclofenac , and fig7 c is a graphical comparison of the untreated and treated group recoveries . this invention has been described herein in considerable detail in order to comply with the patent statutes and to provide those skilled in the art with the information needed to apply the novel principles and to construct and use such specialized components as are required . however , it is to be understood that the invention can be carried out by specifically different equipment and devices , and that various modifications , both as to the equipment and operating procedures , can be accomplished without departing from the scope of the invention itself .	1
the control method described herein is based on detecting a so - called basic input phase whose phase voltage ( v i1 , v i2 , v i3 ) within a specified interval is always greater than the other two input phase voltages ( category p ) or less than the other two input phase voltages ( category n ). the polarity of the concatenated voltage , or voltage difference , of the two other so - called secondary input phases may be either positive or negative , and may also change within the interval , even during commutation . this results in the subdivision into 60 ° intervals 1 . . . 6 , as shown by way of example in fig2 for a three - phase poly - phase system . an interval starts with the zero crossing of an input phase voltage , and ends with the next zero crossing of another input phase voltage . within one interval , the association between the input phase with the basic input phase and secondary input phase must remain the same . the association of the input phases with the appropriate category ( p and n ) or with the basic input phase as a function of the interval is shown in columns 1 - 3 of fig5 . it is therefore evident , that the input phase with the voltage v i2 always has the greatest voltage in the interval 4 , and thus is the basic input phase voltage for category p , with the line phase v i1 and the line phase v i3 being secondary input phases , since the polarity of the concatenated voltage v i3 - v i1 is not uniquely determined in the interval and may even change . the commutation process based on the control method according to the invention will be explained for an exemplary converter element of the ideal 3 × 3 matrix converter shown in fig1 . a converter element includes three bidirectional switches , which can connect each of the three input phases to one output phase . the three converter elements are hence identical . the unidirectional individual switches are identified based on the following convention : s switch 1st index index for the input phase 2nd index index for the output phase 3rd index possible current direction in the unidirectional switch : “ v ” forward , “ r ” reverse a bidirectional switch may assume the four switching states illustrated in fig4 . gates shown in bold denote a switched - on igbt ; gates that are not in bold denote an igbt which is switched off . in the following , current paths are also shown in bold . a single basic input phase exists at any given time , i . e ., in each interval . three main states v 1 , v 2 and v 3 can be identified which do not cause any short - circuit between two input phases ( see fig5 and fig6 column 4 , lines indicated in bold ). each main state produces a bidirectional connection between an output phase ( for example o 1 ) and the nominal input phase , state v 1 with the input phase voltage v i1 , state v 2 with the input phase voltage v i2 , and v 3 with the input phase voltage v i3 . with regard to the main states , a distinction is drawn between the basic main state , which produces the bidirectional connection with the basic input phase , and the two secondary main states . in addition , so - called redundant unidirectional switches are closed in the main states . in the secondary main states , one of the unidirectional switches between the load and the basic input phase is also switched on , which is in the category n the unidirectional switch in the forward direction , and in the category p the unidirectional switch in the reverse direction . in the basic main state , two additional unidirectional switches are closed since , in the basic main state for category n , all the unidirectional switches in the reverse direction are switched on , and in category p , all the unidirectional switches in the forward direction are switched on . accordingly , four unidirectional switches are switched on in the basic main state and three unidirectional switches are switched on in the secondary main state . assuming that there are n input phases , n + 1 unidirectional switches are therefore closed in one converter element in a basic main state , i . e ., in the basic main states in one converter element of the 3 × 3 matrix converter , four unidirectional switches are always closed and two are open . in the secondary main states , on the other hand , three unidirectional switches are closed , namely the bidirectional connection for the nominal input phase and , depending on whether the category is n or p , the unidirectional switch in the forward direction , or in the reverse direction , with respect to the basic input phase voltage . only two steps are required for the commutation between a basic main state and a secondary main state , i . e ., for the commutation of the output current between a basic input phase and a secondary input phase : 1 . switching off the unidirectional switch ( es ), which is ( are ) not required for the target main state , 2 . switching on the unidirectional switch ( es ), which is ( are ) required for the target main state . for commutation between the basic main states and the secondary main states , two unidirectional switches must be switched off and on in one switching step , whereas only one unidirectional switch needs to be switched on and off in the other step ( see , for example , fig7 and fig8 ). [ 0054 ] fig7 shows a commutation according to the process of the invention for the interval 2 of fig2 . this interval has three main states v 3 , v 1 and v 2 , as well as two intermediate states v 31 and v 12 . according to the configuration of the closed switches , the main state v 1 is the basic main state and the main states v 3 and v 2 are each secondary main states . when commutating from the secondary main state v 2 to the basic main state v 1 , the unidirectional switch s 31 is switched off . the resulting state is the intermediate states v 31 . in the second step , the switches s 11v and s 21v are switched on , thereby arriving at the basic main state v 1 . this commutation requires only two switching steps , in which one and two switches , respectively , are controlled . the intermediate states ( v 12 , v 23 , v 31 ) are reached for the period of a safety time , which is governed essentially by the switching times of the active devices and their drive devices . those unidirectional switches which are switched on in the intermediate state form the subset of the switched - on switches for the reference main state and for the target main state . in another example relating to interval 4 , if switching takes place between the input voltages v i2 and v i3 , corresponding to the states v 2 and v 3 ( see also fig5 ), then the two switches s 21r and s 31v remain switched on all the time and provide a current path for both current directions , while s 11v and s 21v are switched off in the first step , and s 31r is switched on in the second step . the commutation from one secondary main state to another secondary main state optionally takes place in four steps . either as shown in fig5 based on the sequence of the states in column 4 , for example v 1 , v 12 , v 2 , v 23 , v 3 and in the reverse order for interval 1 ; or as shown in fig6 based on the sequence of the states in column 4 , for example v 1 , v 13 _ 1 , v 13 _ 2 , v 13 _ 3 , v 3 and in the reverse order for interval 1 . [ 0057 ] fig3 shows another example for subdividing the intervals , in order to be able to use the proposed method in the region of the zero crossing of the concatenated voltages . either conventional commutation methods or the present commutation method can then optionally be used in the intermediate intervals ( 12 , 23 , 34 , 45 , 56 , 61 ). if the present method is used , then , in the ideal case ( where the polarity of the commutation voltages does not change within an interval ), there are two options for selecting a basic input phase . for example , for an intermediate interval 23 in the category n , the input voltage v i3 can be selected as the basic input phase , whereas the input voltage v i1 can be selected in the category p . this results in the corresponding switching states depicted in fig5 and 6 , with the intermediate intervals here being designated with brackets in column 3 . the interval boundaries can be moved over a wide range , provided the basis of the control method according to the invention is satisfied . the example shows the flexibility of the method , and hence the possibility for an extremely simple synchronization with the interval boundaries . an important feature of the control method according to the invention becomes evident by forming the subset of all main states and / or intermediate states in one interval which , in category n , leads to the unidirectional switch of the basic input phase in the forward direction and , in category p , leads to the unidirectional switch of the basic input phase in the reverse direction . one unidirectional switch is thus always closed within one interval . according to another feature , all states ( main states as well as intermediate states ) include one switched - on unidirectional switch in the forward direction and one switched - on unidirectional switch in the reverse direction . this prevents any gaps or interruptions in the load current in an interval . the disclosed method according to the invention for controlling bidirectional switches in converters , in particular matrix converters , is independent of the number of steps in each commutation process ( two - step method , four - step method ). while the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied in a method for controlling bi - directional switches in matrix converters , it is not intended to be limited to the details shown since various modifications and structural changes may be made without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention . the embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and practical application to thereby enable a person skilled in the art to best utilize the invention and various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated . what is claimed as new and desired to be protected by letters patent is set forth in the appended claims and their equivalents :	7
prior to the pressurization , the poppet 2 of the pilot regulator 1 is held wide open by a spring 3 or some other means . the warm gas 9 flowing into the main valve inlet 10 passes through the pilot inlet 5 , and a pressure begins to build in the front end 1a of the pilot casing 1 . as pressure builds , the fluid flows through the channel 4 within the pilot poppet 2 , and a pressure builds in the back end 1b of the pilot casing 1 . when the pressure reaches a predefined level ( for instance , equal to the pressure exerted by the spring 3 ), the poppet front end 2a engages with the pilot casing inlet 5a , preventing further flow of fluid and pressure buildup . the pilot casing 1 is constructed so that the back end 1b is sealed from the front end 1a . for example , as shown in fig2 the poppet 2 is fabricated from a single piece and slot 2c is cut into the poppet 2 as shown . the pilot casing 1 is actually a combination of three parts . the front end of the casing 1 consists of a half cylinder 32a with a flange , including the pilot inlet 5 and pilot outlet 7 . the back end of the casing 1 consists of another half cylinder 32b with a flange . a spring retainer 30 is sandwiched between the half cylinders 32a , 32b . the spring retainer 30 can be made from two half disks for ease of assembly . a spring 3 or other pressure setting means is placed in the slot 2c of the poppet 2 . in the case of a spring 3 , one end rests on the spring retainer 30 and the other on the poppet 2 . in this way , the spring 3 is isolated from the fluid , and is therefore not affected by the potentially high temperature of the fluid which could adversely influence the spring performance and longevity . prior to pressurization , and as the pressure in the pilot regulator 1 is building , the main poppet 19 is in the closed position , preventing flow through the main valve 18 . the main poppet 19 may optionally be held in the closed position by a light spring 17 located in the back end 18b of the main casing 18 . the main poppet 19 remains in the closed position until the pilot pressure reaches the preset value . this assures that the main poppet 19 will not slam on the main valve seat as the pressure builds up ( which is a rapid process when this system is part of a gas generator device , for instance ). the main poppet 19 opens when the pilot pressure routed to the rear chamber 22 of the back end 18b of the main casing 18 ( right side of the piston 20 ) reaches the preset value and overcomes the opposing force on the poppet 19 ( the pressure force acting on the main poppet 19 from the main valve inlet 10 at the front end of the main casing 18a and / or the pressure in the front chamber 21 of the back end 18b of the main casing 18 ( left side of the piston 20 )). the opening of the main poppet 19 causes a pressurization in the main valve outlet 12 , which is routed through the feedback 14 into the front chamber 21 of the back end 18b of the main casing 18 . this feedback pressure opposes the pilot pressure present in the rear chamber 22 , causing the main poppet 19 to close as the outlet pressure builds . as the pressure forces acting on the poppet 19 and piston 20 balance ( pilot pressure in rear chamber 22 , feedback pressure in front chamber 21 , pressure in main valve inlet 10 ), an equilibrium regulated pressure ( constant ) in the outlet 12 is achieved . by way of example , suppose the incoming fluid were a hot gas at 2 , 500 ° f . and 10 , 000 psia , and it was desired to have a constant output pressure of 2 , 000 psia . the pilot spring 3 would be selected to close off the pilot flow at between 2 , 090 psia and 2 , 660 psia . this would correspond to a pressure between 2 , 090 psia and 2 , 660 psia in the rear chamber 22 of the back end 18b of the main casing 18 . this pressure would cause the piston 20 to move to the left , causing the main poppet 19 to open . this permits flow from the main regulator inlet 10 to its outlet 12 , and pressure would build in the outlet 12 . as pressure in the outlet 12 increases , the feedback 14 causes pressure to build in front chamber 21 of the back end 18b of the main casing 18 , until it overcomes the pressure in the rear chamber 22 of the back end 18b of the main casing 18 , causing the main poppet 19 to move to the right . as explained above , the forces work back and forth until an equilibrium is achieved , and output pressure is a constant 2 , 000 psia . the overall pressure response of our invention is insensitive to upstream pressure . this is achieved by proportioning the pilot stage and main stage parameters , which when taken separately have finite pressure sensitivity , such that their pressure sensitivities cancel out . the pilot stage output pressure is set higher than the main stage output pressure so that any pilot leakage will flow downstream , thus preventing over - pressurization . in addition , the only leakpaths from the high pressure inlet are at the pilot and main stage valve seats . this feature promotes good lockup protection against downstream over - pressurization . although the pilot spring 3 is not directly exposed to the warm fluid being regulated , heat conduction and / or radiation may cause spring heating . fig5 and 6 are graphs comparing the pilot pressure output with spring temperatures of 75 ° f . and 700 ° f . respectively . spring rate and preload decreases as spring temperature increases , and the pilot pressure and the regulated pressure output decreases as a result . for example , the regulated pressure flowing from the main valve output would decrease from 2 , 000 psia to 1 , 650 psia as the spring temperature increases from 75 ° f . to 700 ° f . referring to fig7 by the addition of a solenoid 40 driven flapper nozzle valve 41 to our design , the regulated pressure 11 can be adjusted within a range of pressures by modulating the solenoid 40 driven flapper valve 41 . the pilot pressure is modulated within a range of pressures by controlling the opening or closing duration of the flapper nozzle 42 . changing the pilot pressure translates into a change in pressure in the back chamber of the back end of the main regulator 22 , which in turn changes the pressure at which the piston will open and close within the main valve 18 . for example , if the flapper valve 41 is in the down position , the back end of the main regulator 22 sees the entire pilot pressure . as the flapper valve 41 position moves up , the pressure seen by the back end of the main regulator 22 decreases , and the excess pilot pressure is sent downstream to the main valve output 12 via ducting from the solenoid flapper valve 41 . this means a change in the output pressure 11 . as the solenoid driven flapper nozzle valve 41 is a proven design in the warm gas environment , this pulse width modulation controlled regulator is feasible . this design configuration can also be utilized for the spring temperature compensation if a fixed regulator output pressure is required . for example , a warm gas supply at about 10 , 000 psia and 2 , 500 ° f . can be regulated to an output pressure of anywhere between 0 psia and 2 , 000 psia when the pilot regulator is set up to provide a pressure of between 2 , 090 psia and 2 , 660 psia . although preferred embodiments are specifically illustrated and described herein , it will be appreciated that many modifications of the present invention are possible in light of the above teaching to those skilled in the art . it is preferred , therefore , that the present invention be limited not by the specific disclosure herein , but only by the appended claims .	8
the following description is presented to enable any person skilled in the art to make and use the invention , and is provided in the context of a particular application and its requirements . various modifications to the disclosed embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art , and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments and applications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention . thus , the present invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown , but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and features disclosed herein . the data structures and code described in this detailed description are typically stored on a computer readable storage medium , which may be any device or medium that can store code and / or data for use by a computer system . this includes , but is not limited to , magnetic and optical storage devices such as disk drives , magnetic tape , cds ( compact discs ) and dvds ( digital versatile discs or digital video discs ), and computer instruction signals embodied in a transmission medium ( with or without a carrier wave upon which the signals are modulated ). for example , the transmission medium may include a communications network , such as the internet . [ 0036 ] fig1 illustrates a geographically distributed cluster of computers coupled together in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention . computers 102 and 104 form a cluster of computers that operate in concert to provide services and data to users . two or more computers are formed into a cluster to provide speed and reliability for the users . computers 102 and 104 are located in geographic areas 120 and 122 respectively . geographic areas 120 and 122 are widely separated , possibly by thousands of miles , in order to provide survivability for the cluster in case of a local disaster at geographic area 120 or 122 . for example , geographic area 120 may be located in california , while geographic area 122 may be located in new york . computers 102 and 104 can generally include any type of computer system , including , but not limited to , a computer system based on a microprocessor , a mainframe computer , a digital signal processor , a portable computing device , a personal organizer , a device controller , and a computational engine within an appliance . computers 102 and 104 communicate across private network 108 . private network 108 may include at least two independent links of communication between computers 102 and 104 to provide redundancy to allow uninterrupted communications in case one of the links fails . private network 108 can generally include any type of wire or wireless communication channel capable of coupling together computing nodes . this includes , but is not limited to , a local area network , a wide area network , or a combination of networks . computers 102 and 104 are also coupled to public network 110 to allow communication with users . public network 110 can generally include any type of wire or wireless communication channel capable of coupling together computing nodes . this includes , but is not limited to , a local area network , a wide area network , or a combination of networks . in one embodiment of the present invention , public network 110 includes the internet . quorum server 106 provides quorum services to computers 102 and 104 . additionally , quorum server 106 can provide quorum services to other clusters of computers independent of computers 102 and 104 . quorum server 106 is located in geographic area 124 , which is separate from geographic areas 120 and 122 . for example , geographic area 124 may be located in illinois . quorum server 106 can generally include any type of computer system , including , but not limited to , a computer system based on a microprocessor , a mainframe computer , a digital signal processor , a portable computing device , a personal organizer , a device controller , a computational engine within an appliance , and a cluster of computers . there may also be multiple quorum servers at different sites . computers 102 and 104 communicate with quorum server 106 across communication links 116 and 118 respectively . communication links 116 and 118 can be low bandwidth communication links such as dial - up modem connections . communication links 116 and 118 are typically used only during configuration or re - configuration of the cluster . these links may also be the same network as public network 110 , e . g ., the internet . [ 0044 ] fig2 is a flowchart illustrating the process of detecting and processing a failure within a cluster in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention . the system starts when a computer , say computer 102 , exchanges a heartbeat message with every other node in the cluster ( step 202 ). next , computer 102 checks for a failure to receive heartbeats via one of the links on private network 108 ( step 204 ). if there are no link failures , the process returns to 202 to repeat exchanging heartbeat messages . if computer 102 detects a failure in the links to another node on private network 108 , computer 102 determines if all links to the other node have failed to provide heartbeats ( step 206 ). if all links to the other node have not failed , the process returns to 202 to repeat exchanging heartbeat messages . otherwise , either all links have failed , or the other node has failed . if computer 102 detects that all links to the other node have failed to provide heartbeats , computer 102 attempts to exchange messages with other communicating nodes to initiate a cluster membership protocol ( step 208 ). the surviving nodes then co - operate to determine membership for a new cluster ( step 210 ). details of determining membership for the new cluster are described below in conjunction with fig3 . after determining cluster membership , computer 102 determines if computer 102 was excluded from membership ( step 212 ). if computer 102 was excluded from membership , computer 102 shuts down ( step 214 ). otherwise , computer 102 reconfigures ( step 216 ). details of how computer 102 reconfigures are described below in conjunction with fig5 . the reconfiguration algorithm ensures that each computer reaches consistent membership decisions , therefore , each computer will either be part of the new cluster or will shut down . [ 0049 ] fig3 is a flowchart illustrating the process of determining cluster membership in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention . the system starts when a computer , for example computer 102 , attempts to take control of quorum server 106 ( step 302 ). whether successful or not , computer 102 accumulates votes from all other computers contacted plus , if computer 102 successfully took control of quorum server 106 , the votes of quorum server 106 ( step 304 ). next computer 102 informs all other nodes how many votes have been attained ( step 306 ). computer 102 then determines if the group has captured the majority of votes ( step 308 ). if the majority of votes have not been captured , computer 102 determines if it was part of the previous cluster ( step 310 ). if computer 102 was part of the previous cluster , the process returns to step 304 and continues to accumulate votes , otherwise , computer 102 shuts down ( step 312 ). if a majority of votes have been captured at 308 , computer 102 determines a fully connected set of the responding computers ( step 314 ). computer 102 uses well - known graphing techniques to determine a fully connected set of responding computers , therefore this process will not be discussed further . after a fully connected set of computers has been determined , computer 102 informs the other nodes of the membership of the new cluster ( step 316 ). note that the above steps are being accomplished by all computers in the system simultaneously . [ 0054 ] fig4 is a flowchart illustrating the process of granting control of quorum server 106 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention . the system starts when quorum server 106 receives a request for control from a node in the proposed new cluster ( step 402 ). next , quorum server 106 determines if the requesting node was on the list of nodes for the previous cluster ( step 404 ). if the requesting node was not on the list of nodes for the previous cluster , quorum server 106 determines if the list of nodes for the previous cluster is empty ( step 406 ). note that an empty list indicates that a cluster had never been formed and this request is part of initializing a cluster for the first time . if the cluster list is not empty at 406 , quorum server 106 denies the request to control quorum server 106 ( step 408 ). if the node was on the previous cluster list at 404 or if the cluster list is empty at 406 , quorum server 106 sets the cluster list to contain only the requesting node ( step 410 ). note that it will be obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art that there are other ways to reset the list , including receiving a list of nodes from the requesting node to include in the list or receiving a list of nodes from the requesting node to exclude from the list . finally , quorum server 106 affirms the request to control quorum server 106 and grants its votes to the requesting node ( step 412 ). [ 0057 ] fig5 is a flowchart illustrating the process of reconfiguring a computer within a cluster in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention . the system starts when a computer , say computer 102 , receives status data from other nodes in the new cluster ( step 502 ). next , computer 102 determines which set of status data is the most recent ( step 504 ). computer 102 updates its own internal status to conform with the most recent status data available ( step 506 ). finally , computer 102 informs quorum server 106 which nodes to include in the new cluster list ( step 508 ). the foregoing descriptions of embodiments of the present invention have been presented for purposes of illustration and description only . they are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the present invention to the forms disclosed . accordingly , many modifications and variations will be apparent to practitioners skilled in the art . additionally , the above disclosure is not intended to limit the present invention . the scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims .	6
fig1 is a schematic diagram illustrating the top view of a tft structure 1 of a first embodiment of the invention is shown . the tft structure 1 comprises a primary tft 11 and an auxiliary tft 12 . the primary tft 11 and the auxiliary tft 12 are electrically connected to each other in parallel and share a gate electrode 115 . the primary tft 11 comprises a first electrode 111 and a second electrode 112 , and both electrodes connect to a drain and the source of the primary tft 11 , respectively , wherein the second electrode 112 comprises a horizontal size , i . e . a width . the auxiliary tft 12 comprises a third electrode 113 and a fourth electrode 114 , both connect to the drain and the source of the auxiliary tft 12 respectively . the second electrode 112 electrically connects to the fourth electrode 114 , while the first electrode 111 and the third electrode 113 connect to different pixel electrodes ( not shown ). meanwhile , the second electrode 112 connects to a data line ( not shown ). in this embodiment and the following embodiment , the only difference between the source and the drain is their names for representing providing and receiving terminals of holes or electrons without any substantial manufacturing process difference . in this embodiment , within the area overlapping the gate electrode 115 , a working area is formed between the channel , which is located between the drain and the source , and the gate electrode 115 . the first electrode 111 is parallel to the second electrode 112 for maintaining uniformity of the tft channel lengths . the first electrode 111 overlaps with the gate electrode 115 in a direction parallel to the channel and extends outside the working area . that is , the first electrode 111 overlaps with the working area and extends outside the working area . in this embodiment , the overlapping area of the first electrode 111 and the gate electrode 115 comprises a horizontal size , i . e . a width , of about 1 ˜ 10 μm , preferably 4 ˜ 7 μm . meanwhile , the second electrode 112 also comprises a horizontal size , i . e . a width , of about 1 ˜ 10 μm , preferably 4 ˜ 7 μm . when the manufacturing process parameters deviate , such as the case resulting from the misalignment of the manufacturing process for the first electrode 111 , the left side portion of the first electrode 111 that extends outside the working area may deviate to the right . meanwhile , the right side of the first electrode 111 that extends outside the working area may deviate to the right synchronously . consequently , the total overlap area of the first electrode 111 remains the same . similarly , the total overlap area of the first electrode 111 and the gate electrode 115 remains the same as well . the capacitance value of the flat type capacitors is decided by the overlapping area between the upper and lower electrode of the capacitor and the dielectric layer therebetween . thus , the total overlap between the first electrode 111 and the gate electrode 115 remains constant , and as a result , the parasitic capacitance between the gate and the drain of the primary tft 11 is stable and not affected from the deviation generated from the manufacturing process . moreover , in this embodiment , the auxiliary tft 12 also relies on the structure to maintain stable parasitic capacitance when deviation occurs during the manufacturing process . the fourth electrode 114 and the second electrode 112 of the auxiliary tft 12 are connected directly . in the horizontal extension direction overlapping the working area and the third electrode 113 of the auxiliary tft 12 , the gate electrode 115 comprises an indented shape so that the center area does not overlap with the gate electrode 115 . only the two sides of the third electrode 113 and the gate electrode 115 form two overlaps when the third electrode 113 extends outside the working area . herein , when manufacturing parameter deviation occurs , such as the deviation which results from the manufacturing misalignment of the third electrode 113 , the whole third electrode 113 will be synchronously deviated . consequently , the total overlap area of the first electrode 113 and the gate electrode 115 does not change and the parasitic capacitance between the gate and the drain of the auxiliary tft 12 stay stable without being affected by the deviation generated during the manufacturing process . in this embodiment , the primary objective of the first electrode 111 and the third electrode 113 is to maintain that the overlapping area overlapped by the electrodes 111 , 113 and the gate electrode 115 will not be affected by the manufacturing process deviation . consequently , the first electrode 111 and the third electrode 113 have to be designed to partially overlap with the gate electrode 115 and extend outside the gate electrode 115 . in this embodiment , the first electrode 111 and the third electrode 113 extend out in a direction parallel to the channel . for different layouts , the first electrode 111 and the third electrode 113 can extend out in the direction normal to the channel as well . meanwhile , since no extra compensating capacitor is required , the parasitic capacitance will not increase significantly when the tft structure area is enlarged to obtain a higher conduction current . fig2 is a cross - sectional view of the primary tft 11 sectioned along an aa ′ line in fig1 , wherein a silicon nitride layer 116 is located between the gate electrode 115 and the working area 118 . the silicon nitride layer 116 acts as a dielectric layer , while the channel layer is found beneath the first electrode 111 and the second electrode 112 . in this embodiment , the channel layer can be an amorphous silicon layer 117 electrically connected to the first electrode 111 and the second electrode 112 to provide a channel for carriers flow . the auxiliary tft 12 is similar to the primary tft 11 in cross - sectional structure . fig3 is a schematic diagram illustrating the top view of the tft structure 3 of the second embodiment of the invention . the tft structure 3 comprises a primary tft 31 and an auxiliary tft 32 . the primary tft 31 and the auxiliary tft 32 are also electrically connected to each other in parallel and share a gate electrode 315 , wherein the primary tft 31 comprises a first electrode 311 and a second electrode 312 , which connect to the drain and source of the primary tft 31 respectively . similarly , the auxiliary tft 32 comprises a third electrode 313 and a fourth electrode 314 which connect to the drain and source of the auxiliary tft 32 , respectively . the second electrode 312 electrically connects to the fourth electrode 314 , while the first electrode 311 and the third electrode 313 connects to different pixel electrodes ( not shown ). meanwhile , the second electrode 312 connects to a data line ( not shown ). in this embodiment , within an area overlapping the gate electrode 315 , a working area is formed between the channel , which is located between the drain and source , and the gate electrode 315 . the first electrode 311 comprises two branches disposed in the center of the working area , while the second electrode 312 comprises three branches which are respectively disposed in the center area and two sides of the working area . the branches of the first electrode 311 and the second electrode 312 are arranged in an interleave fashion , i . e . branches of the second electrode 312 are respectively disposed on two sides of the branches of the first electrode 311 and are parallel to each other for maintaining uniform tft channel lengths . the first electrode 311 overlaps with the gate electrode 315 in a direction normal to the channel and extends outside the working area . that is , the first electrode 311 overlaps with the working area and extends outside the working area . in this embodiment , each branch of the first electrode 311 has a horizontal size , i . e . a width , of about 1 ˜ 10 μm , preferably 4 ˜ 7 μm . the center branch of the second electrode 312 comprises a horizontal size , i . e . a width , of about 1 ˜ 10 μm , preferably 4 ˜ 7 μm . the two overlapping regions of the second electrode 312 and the gate electrode 315 , i . e . the two overlapping areas between the two side branches and the gate electrode 315 , respectively , have a horizontal size , i . e . a width , of about 1 ˜ 10 μm , preferably 4 ˜ 7 μm . when manufacturing process parameters deviate , such as the deviation resulting from the misalignment of the first electrode 311 during the manufacturing process , the left side of the first electrode 311 that extends outside the working area may deviate to the right . meanwhile , the right side of the first electrode 311 that extends outside the working area deviates to the right synchronously . consequently , the total overlapping area between the working area and the first electrode 311 remains the same . similarly , the total overlapping area between the first electrode 311 and the gate electrode 315 also remain the same . like the first embodiment , the total overlap area of the first electrode 311 and the gate electrode 315 does not change and the parasitic capacitance between the gate and the drain of the primary tft 31 remain stable without being affected by the deviation generated during the manufacturing process . furthermore , in this embodiment , the auxiliary tft 32 also relies on the structure to maintain a stable parasitic capacitance when deviation occurs during the manufacturing process . the fourth electrode 314 of the auxiliary tft 32 and the second electrode 312 are directly connected . the gate electrode 315 of the auxiliary tft 32 comprises an indented shape so that the center area portion does not overlap with the gate electrode 315 and only two sides and the gate electrode 315 form two overlaps when the third electrode 313 extends outside the working area . herein , when manufacturing parameter deviation occurs , such as the deviation resulting from the misalignment of the third electrode 313 during the manufacturing process , the whole third electrode 313 synchronously deviates . consequently , the total overlap area of the first electrode 313 and the gate electrode 315 does not change and the parasitic capacitance between the gate and the drain of the auxiliary tft 32 maintain stability without being affected by the deviation generated during the manufacturing process . meanwhile , since no extra compensating capacitor is required , the parasitic capacitance will not increase significantly when the tft structure area is enlarged to obtain a higher conduction current . in this embodiment , the design rules of the first electrode 311 and the third electrode 313 are the same as those of the first embodiment ; thus , the details are omitted here . alternatively , the first electrode 311 and the third electrode 313 can also extend out in the direction parallel to the channel as well . the above disclosure is related to the detailed technical contents and inventive features thereof . people skilled in this field may proceed with a variety of modifications and replacements based on the disclosures and suggestions of the invention as described without departing from the characteristics thereof . nevertheless , although such modifications and replacements are not fully disclosed in the above descriptions , they have substantially been covered in the following claims as appended .	7
referring to fig1 and 2 , there is illustrated a portion of a chemical vapor deposition apparatus , including a schematically illustrated automatic or robotic wafer handler 20 centrally positioned within a handling chamber 22 . the chamber upper wall 22 a is schematically shown in fig2 but is not shown in fig1 so as to illustrate internal components in the chamber . the handling chamber is connected to load / unload chambers 120 by way of a load / unload port 42 . fig1 illustrates a separate load chamber and a separate unload chamber . fig2 shows a single one of those chambers . many systems utilize a single chamber from which a wafer is withdrawn for processing and is then returned after processing . either may be referred to as a storage area . the handling chamber 22 is further connected to a processing chamber 122 , schematically illustrated in fig1 by way of a processing port 44 through a sidewall 22 b of the handling chamber . gates or valves are normally provided for the load / unload port and the processing port , but these are not shown for purposes of simplicity . in accordance with the invention , there is provided a wafer cooling station 46 in one portion of the wafer handling chamber 22 adjacent the process chamber 122 . further , a second cooling station 48 is located on the other side of the wafer handling chamber adjacent the wall leading to the process chamber . each cooling station is sized to receive in a horizontal position one wafer , and the cooling station is open to the area of the handling chamber in which the wafer handler is positioned so that wafers may moved into and out of the cooling stations by the handler . each cooling station includes an upper showerhead assembly 50 spaced above a lower showerhead assembly 52 , as seen in fig1 and 2 . referring to fig3 the upper showerhead assembly includes a disc - shaped base 53 having a centrally located gas inlet 54 which is connected to an inlet conduit 55 , which , in turn , is connected to a suitable source of gas ( not shown ). a disc - shaped showerhead 56 is clamped to the base with suitable fasteners ( not shown ). an o - ring 57 fits between the base and the head to form a flat circular manifold space . a second o - ring 59 fits between these components around a belt ring . there is a plurality of gas outlet holes formed in the showerhead , one hole 58 a in the center and three others 58 b equally spaced radially and circumferentially with respect to the center . referring to fig4 it may be seen that the lower showerhead assembly 52 has a construction similar to that for the upper cooling station . this includes a lower showerhead base 60 having a centrally located gas inlet 62 connected to a conduit 64 which , in turn , is connected to the same gas source ( not shown ) as the upper showerhead assembly . a disc - shaped lower showerhead 66 is clamped to the lower showerhead base by suitable fasteners ( not shown ) with the o - rings clamped between the two components to seal a flat disc - shaped gas manifold formed between the lower base and showerhead . three gas outlet holes 70 opening to the handling chamber are shown formed in the lower showerhead equally spaced radially and circumferentially from the gas inlet 62 in the lower base . the ring of holes is on a smaller diameter than that for the upper assembly 50 so that the holes 70 are radially offset from the holes 58 b . also , the holes 70 and 58 b of the two assemblies are circumferentially offset so that these holes are spaced about 60 °. additionally shown in fig4 as well as in fig1 and 2 , are three quartz pins 74 for supporting a wafer 68 positioned in the cooling station . each pin includes a generally cylindrical base 74 a that fits into a socket in a lower shelf 22 c forming the cooling station floor with a larger cylindrical portion 74 b engaging the shelf and with an upper tip 74 c . the tip preferably has a rounded or hemispherical shape so as to have minimum contact with the wafer . the shelf is spaced upwardly from the bottom wall 22 d of the handling chamber so that wafer lifting elements of the handler 20 will be suitably aligned with the cooling station . also shown in fig1 as part of the cooling station control system is a sensor 76 mounted in the floor 22 d of the handling chamber . the sensor is located below the area that an edge of wafer 68 in the cooling station 46 extends over the sensor so that the sensor can sense the presence or absence of a wafer in the cooling station . [ 0026 ] fig5 schematically illustrates the cooling station wherein it can be seen that the upper showerhead assembly 50 is located adjacent the upper wall 22 a of the handling chamber and the lower showerhead assembly 52 is supported on the shelf 22 c . the wafer 68 is shown positioned between the two showerhead assemblies on the wafer supports 74 . as can be seen , the showerhead assemblies are smaller in diameter than the wafer so as not to extend over the sensor 76 and so as not to interfere with rotation of the handler 20 . as indicated by the arrows , cooling gas is jetted downwardly onto the upper surface of the wafer and upwardly onto the lower surface of the wafer . referring to fig6 a , 6 b and 6 c , there is schematically illustrated one form of a wafer handler 20 . various systems are known for handling wafers within semiconductor processing systems . one type of pick - up device is that known as a bernoulli wand which utilizes jets of gas downward from the wand toward the wafer that then flow radially outward to create a region of lower pressure between the wafer and the wand , thereby lifting it . the bernoulli wand advantageously avoids contact with the wafer , except , perhaps , at one or more small edge locators . one type of bernoulli wand is shown in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 080 , 549 to goodwin , et al , which is incorporated herein by reference . another type of wafer pick - up wand utilizes a vacuum force and , thus , must be in intimate contact with the wafer . u . s . pat . no . 4 , 566 , 726 to corentti , et al . discusses a combination of bernoulli and vacuum pick - up devices . a third type of wafer pick - up device is a simple paddle which lifts and supports wafers from underneath . such a paddle is illustrated in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 951 , 601 to maydan , et al . that patent also illustrates a typical movement device for translating wafers from location to location within processing systems . the wafer handler is capable of linear retraction and extension , as well as rotation about an axis . u . s . pat . no . 5 , 135 , 349 to lorenz , et al ., discloses a robotic handling system using two paddle - type pick - ups mounted on a common rotating base . both pick - ups are adapted to extend linearly away from one another to speed handling of wafers within the processing system . the paddles are augmented with a vacuum generated through a plurality of holes in an end effector portion of each paddle ; the vacuum being transmitted along a channel within the paddle . while any of these various wafer handling systems can be modified or adapted for use with the cooling station concept of the present invention , fig6 a , 6 b and 6 c , disclose a desirable handler which provides both a bernoulli wand and a paddle . a complete description of such an arrangement is disclosed in u . s . patent application ser . no . 08 / 784711 filed jan . 16 , 1997 , which is incorporated herein by reference . the figures illustrate a typical sequence of movement of pick - up arms 24 and 26 of the wafer handling assembly 20 . as mentioned above , the handling chamber is attached to a load / unload chamber 120 on one end , and a processing chamber 122 on an opposite end . the ports 42 and 44 on opposite ends of the handling chamber are aligned with similarly sized ports in the load and unload processing chambers 120 and 122 , respectively . a cartridge or cassette 124 is positioned within the load / unload chamber 120 , and is adjustable in a vertical direction to align a particular wafer with the port 42 . a controlling computer ( not shown ) provides instructions to motors and pulleys ( not shown ) to cause the pick - up arms 24 and 26 to translate along a guideway 36 . in a first motion , as seen in fig6 a , the pick - up arm 26 translates toward the chamber 120 in a left direction , as indicated by the arrow 126 . a paddle 39 extends through the port 42 and beneath a wafer in the cassette 124 . as mentioned , the cassette may be vertically movable or the paddle 39 may be independently vertically movable to extend underneath the wafer without contact therewith , and then undergo relative vertical motion to lift the wafer from the cassette . in fig6 b , the arrow 128 indicates the movement of the pick - up arm 26 into a position which places the wafer 68 directly beneath the wand 30 . gas flow to the wand is then initiated through the extension hose 72 to enable transfer of the wafer 68 from the paddle 39 to the wand 30 . after the wafer 68 has been lifted by the bernoulli wand 30 , the pick - up arm 24 translates toward the chamber 122 to the right , as indicated by the arrow 130 in fig6 c , to insert the wand 30 and wafer 68 into the processing chamber 122 . in the arrangement shown , the processing chamber 122 is suitable for cvd and includes a rotatable susceptor 132 upon which the wafer 68 is placed . by stopping the flow of gas through the extension hose 72 and bernoulli wand 30 , the wafer 68 is dropped on the susceptor 132 . an advantage of the use of a paddle and a bernoulli wand is that the paddle has a sufficiently thin profile to fit between wafers in a standard cassette to remove or insert wafers therein . the bernoulli wand is somewhat thicker than the paddle , such that it normally requires specially designed cassettes , which adds to the expense of a system . however , the bernoulli wand is particularly well - suited for transferring wafers into and out of a process chamber since it can easily withstand high temperatures and does not physically touch the wafer , except along one edge by one or more stops that help locate or position the wafer . the above description of a wafer handler is only showing linear motion between a wafer storage area and a process chamber . however , with a suitable motor and drive system ( not shown ), the entire wafer handler can be rotated about a vertical axis in either direction to provide rotational as well as linear motion . the details of the linear drive system are disclosed in the above - referenced pending patent application . also , the details regarding a rotational system , as well as additional details regarding the linear one , are available from cybeq systems inc . of menlo park , calif . other suitable drive arrangements are apparent to those with skill in this particular art and are described in the above - mentioned patents . with a rotating wafer handler the pick - up arms 24 and 26 may be mounted to be moved in the same retracting and extending directions in the guideway 36 . such an alternative arrangement is shown in fig9 a , 9 b , and 9 c . in fig9 a , the paddle pick - up arm 26 is shown having moved to the left to pick - up a wafer , as in fig6 a . the arm 24 however is shown in fig9 a and 9 b with its carrier 34 located on the right side of the handler . in fig9 b , the arm 26 has been retracted so that the paddle 39 and the wafer 68 are beneath the wand 30 so that the wafer can be transferred . the handler can then be rotated to be aligned with the process chamber . fig9 c shows the handler rotated with the carrier 34 having moved over the carrier 41 , and the arm 24 extending the wafer into the process chamber . the wafer handlers 20 described above are particularly useful with the cooling station of the invention because the bernoulli wand can elevate and transport a wafer out of the process chamber while it is still hot . the wafer is , however , too hot to transfer directly to a load / unload chamber 120 . instead , the wafer handler is rotated a small distance so that the bernoulli wand is aligned with one of the cooling stations . the bernoulli wand is then extended to place the hot wafer onto the pins 74 in the cooling station 46 . while the first wafer is being cooled , a second wafer may be positioned into the process chamber . this second wafer may be retrieved from the cassette 124 by the paddle and transferred to the bernoulli wand , or the second wafer may have been positioned into the second cooling station 48 while the first wafer was being processed . in that case , the handler only has to be rotated a short distance ( about 100 °) from the first cooling station 46 to align the wand with the second cooling station 48 to withdraw the second wafer , and then rotate back ( about 50 °) to the position where the second wafer can be inserted into the process chamber . the second cooling station 48 in that situation is serving as a staging area . after the second wafer has been placed into the process chamber , the first wafer can be removed from the first cooling station and returned to the storage area 120 assuming it has been adequately cooled by then . immediately after placing a processed wafer into the storage area , a third wafer can be withdrawn from the cassette 124 and moved to one of the cooling / staging stations to await its turn to be placed in the process chamber . from the foregoing , it can be appreciated that great flexibility is provided in the handling of the wafers so that the wafers can be moved in various sequences to fit with the temperatures and times of the processes being used by the system and with the time required to cool the particular wafers to the temperature desired before returning the wafer to the standard cassette . refer now to fig7 and 8 to gain a better appreciation for the cooling obtained from initial experimental uses of the invention . fig7 in the upper line of the graph indicates a prior art cooling curve for a wafer that is simply cooled by convection without forced gas flow over the wafer surface other than slight purge gas flow through a chamber . as seen , a wafer which was at slightly more than 600 ° c . initially cools to a temperature of 400 ° c . in about 12 or 13 seconds . however , the temperature does not drop to 200 ° c . until about 80 seconds from the initial starting point . further , even after close to 120 seconds the temperature is still about 160 ° c ., at which temperature it is still necessary to use an expensive cassette . the lower curve in fig7 indicates the condition in which a bernoulli wand is utilized to lift a hot wafer and move it into the handling chamber with the wafer being cooled by the gas flowing out of the bernoulli wand . this is the conventional prior art situation for handling a wafer with a bernoulli wand . as may be seen , the temperature drops quickly to about 300 ° c . after about 12 seconds , which is much faster than the wafer simply cooled by convection without appreciable gas flow . further , the temperature has dropped to 200 ° c . after about 20 seconds , and dropped to 100 ° c . after 40 seconds . it then takes almost an additional 60 seconds to lower the temperature to about the desired , 60 ° c . at which temperature it may be received in a commonly available relatively low - cost cassette . while the wafer is being cooled on the bernoulli wand , neither it nor the process chamber can , of course , be utilized for another wafer . further , while the wafer could be transferred from the wand to the paddle to save some handling time , it would then no longer be receiving the cooling gas expelled by the bernoulli wand so that greater time would be required . by contrast to the foregoing , refer to fig8 which illustrates the greatly improved situation obtained from the cooling stations of the invention . the graph shows a hot wafer being removed from the chamber at a temperature of close to 900 ° c . by the use of the bernoulli wand . the temperature has dropped to about 400 ° c . by the time the bernoulli wand has been retracted to the handling chamber , the wafer handler rotated to align the wand with a cooling station , and the wand extended to place the hot wafer in the cooling station . this takes approximately 9 seconds in the example illustrated and the temperature of the wafer has dropped by then from 900 ° c . to 400 ° c ., which is consistent with the wand gas cooling of fig7 . the upper line continuing from that point , as shown on the graph of fig8 shows the cooling if the wafer is simply left on the bernoulli wand as described above in connection with fig7 . the lower curve in fig8 shows the reduction in temperature of the wafer placed in the cooling station . as can be seen , the temperature of the wafer drops another 200 ° c . to about 100 ° c . after only 3 seconds in the cooling station . further , the temperature is down to about 100 ° c . in another 5 or 6 seconds , only 17 or 18 seconds from the time the wafer is lifted by the bernoulli wand in the process chamber . further the wafer temperature has dropped to the 60 ° c . level after approximately 24 seconds from the beginning . this is in contrast to the temperature not dropping to that level remaining on the bernoulli wand until after over 100 seconds from the beginning , and much longer if only on a paddle . thus , it can be seen that there is a very dramatic reduction in the time required to adequately cool the wafer before it can be placed in the low - cost cassette . in addition , as explained above , the wafer handler is available to place a second wafer into the chamber as soon as the first wafer has been placed into the cooling station , which in the example indicated by the graphs in fig8 would be after about 9 seconds from the time the wafer has been lifted in the process chamber . if a second wafer has been placed into the second cooling station utilizing it as a staging area while the first wafer is being processed , the wafer handler only has to rotate to be aligned with the second cooling station so as to allow the bernoulli wand to lift and place a second wafer in the process chamber . when the first wafer has been adequately cooled , the wafer handler may be rotated so that the paddle is aligned with the cooling station to withdraw the cooled wafer . the wafer handler can then be rotated so that the paddle 26 is aligned with the cassette and the paddle is utilized to place the cooled wafer into the cassette . the time to pick - up a hot wafer , take it to the cooling station , pick - up a second wafer from the staging station and place it in the process chamber , retract the wand , and close the process chamber gate is about 33 seconds . the time required under the old system for that sequence was about double that , not counting cooling time . that is the time savings simply by having the cooling stations for staging . further , it would take about another 45 seconds under the old system to cool the wafer to be able to place it in a low cost cassette . further details regarding the structure and operation of the cooling stations will enable a better understanding and appreciation of the invention . in a prototype of the system , the central hole 58 a of the upper showerhead has a diameter of about 0 . 016 inch , and the surrounding three holes each has a diameter of about 0 . 026 inch . the three holes 70 in the lower showerhead has a diameter of about 0 . 028 inch . these holes are designed to produce a flow rate of about 20 liters of nitrogen per minute at a pressure of 20 psi from each showerhead . that is , both the upper surface and lower surface of the wafer receives gas at the rate of about 20 liters per minute . the outlet holes in the showerheads that are spaced outwardly from the center are about 120 degrees apart . preferably , the outlets from one of the showerheads are staggered with respect to the other , so that as a total , there is a gas outlet about every 60 degrees . the upper holes are on a ring having a larger diameter than the lower ring . hence , the holes are also radially offset . this arrangement provides a more even dispersion of the gas flow . the cooling gas employed is conveniently the same gas utilized for the bernoulli wand , typically nitrogen or hydrogen . hence , it can come from the same source . further , after cooling gas flows across the wafer , it simply flows into the handling chamber and is withdrawn from the handling chamber by the same system normally employed in a handling chamber connection utilizing a bernoulli wand . advantageously , the cooling time can be simply controlled by the gas flow rate . the object , as indicated above , is to get the temperature of the wafer down to about 60 ° c . before the robot paddle is utilized to pick up the wafer and transfer it to the low - cost cassette in the storage area . the time required to cool an 8 inch wafer with a flow rate of 20 liters per minute from each of the showerheads was about 20 seconds in a experimental system . doubling the flow rate to about 40 liters per minute out of both showerheads reduced the cooling time down to about 12 seconds . flowing cooling gas only through the top showerhead cooled the wafer to the desired level in about 35 seconds . the distance between the plane defined by the tops of the three support pins and the upper showerhead can be slightly greater than the distance between that plane and the lower head because the wand is slightly thicker than the paddle . spacing and gas flow may , of course , be varied to fit the given situation . in a prototype , the distance between the showerheads was about 1 . 125 inch , with the spacing from the wafer to the lower showerhead being only about 0 . 2 inch . based on the foregoing , it will be appreciated that the substrate cooling system of the invention has great flexibility such that many of the substrate handling sequences can be varied to fit a particular process cycle , with the main concept being that the process chamber can be placed into use with a second substrate while a first one is being cooled . while a particular type of wafer handler has been described , a variety of wafer handlers may be employed . likewise , while a particular cooling station has been described , various other cooling stations may be employed . although gas is utilized to cool the wafer , possibly other cooling mechanisms may be employed . while the invention is useful with a single cooling station , two cooling stations provide additional flexibility , and it is possible that an additional cooling station could be provided if desired . while a single process chamber has been illustrated and discussed , a so - called cluster system could be employed wherein additional process chambers may be clustered around the wafer handler . with the arrangement shown at least two additional chambers could be provided . other variations of the invention may also be contemplated and , hence , it is intended that the scope of the invention not be limited to that illustrated .	8
the handling system shown in fig1 consists of two basic units . the lower unit which will be called the transporter 10 and an upper unit called the transfer platform 50 . the transporter 10 is made up of four major sections . the base 11 is composed of channel shaped sections 12 which are welded or bolted to a commercially available scissor lift 13 sold under the commercial tradename &# 34 ; torklift &# 34 ; manufactured by american industrial or under the tradename &# 34 ; titan &# 34 ; manufactured by auto - quip . this scissor lift 13 , scissor arms 14 and fluid rams 15 can best be seen in fig2 or 3 . four commercially available air bearings 18 such as manufactured by airfloat corp . with commercial reference # a17 - 2838 are affixed to transporter base 11 . these air bearings are easily removeable and operate on compressed air from 5 to 30 psi and each is capable of supporting a load of from 4 , 250 to 25 , 500 pounds capacity . the four air - bearing operating at approximately 15 psi will support a load of approximately 50 , 000 pounds total capacity . an air motor drive tractor assembly 20 , also commercially available from airfloat corp . catalogue number sd - 1 , having a single wheel 21 is used to provide movement and to control the direction of motion of the transporter 10 . the drive motor handle 23 controls the wheel 21 and inflation of air bearings 18 . additional wheels 22 are located toward the outside and center of the transporter 10 and affixed to the base 11 for better tracking and overall control . a control panel 25 mounted atop a modified croft hose reel 26 is used to regulate the air supply to the transporter air bearings , drive motor and scissor lifting device . the air drive motor assembly 20 is capable of pivoting about the drive wheel vertical axis for controlling the direction movements of the transporter . hose assembly 27 is stored on hose reel 26 and conveys all the necessary supply air for operating the air drive motor , scissors lift , and platform air bearings . a short hose assembly 28 is connected between control panel 25 and transfer platform 50 which will be described in detail later . also connected to platform 50 is remote control cable 29 which is used to control the air flow into the transfer platform 50 air bearing . the scissor lift surface 30 is especially finished so that it can accommodate the air bearing associated with transfer platform 50 . a slave pallet 32 rests on surface 30 and this pallet consists of support channels 33 , several cross beams 34 and pallet surface 35 on which the load , shown in fig1 is placed . transfer platform 50 is a framed structure of channels 53 boxed to contain four air bearings 54 best seen in fig1 which are removeably mounted inside . each air bearing is controlled by an air flow valve 51 which can selectively regulate the amount of air going into each air bearing . four casters 55 , shown in fig4 are mounted on the transfer platform . a dual strap winch best seen in fig1 and 2 is affixed to an edge of the scissor lift surface 30 . this winch consists of shaft 38 held in journal bearings 39 mounted on each end of the lift surface on brackets 40 . the shaft 38 extends beyond the journal 39 on one end to which is fastened handle 42 . take up reels 43 are fixedly attached to shaft 38 on which strap 44 can be wound . a hook 45 is attached to the free end of strap 44 with a pulley assembly 47 , shown in fig2 through which the strap 44 passes when used in transferring loads onto or from a storage shelf . a guide rail 36 is affixed to scissor lift frame 13 on each side to aid in containing the movement or transfer platform 50 . four brackets 56 are fixedly attached to scissor lift frame 13 with two each on opposite sides to support frame 13 in the de - energized position by riser 58 and adjustable bolt 59 best seen in fig3 . the riser 59 is secured to the base 11 . adjustable and telescoping stanchions 60 are moveably fastened to base 11 by pin 61 and also has an adjustable bolt 62 for additional adjustments in height . holes 63 are spaced on the extensible portion of stanchion 60 which is held in its adjusted position by pin 64 . when not in use these stanchions 60 are pivoted down into base 11 . riser 58 acts also as a stop when stanchion 60 is pivoted into its upright vertical position . the transporter 10 can be used in a number of different applications and as will be discussed extends and innovates the use of air bearing devices as described in the art . in my invention the transporter 10 shown in fig1 is connected through hose assembly 27 to a supply of compressed dry shop air which normally is at 90 psi and having a flow of 120 cubic feet per minute . the control panel has valving and switches which allow the compressed air to flow to the various components of the transporter 10 . to best understand my invention an example of use with a preferred embodiment will be presented . the air bearings 18 are filled with air from the shop supply via hose assembly 27 regulated to 13 to 15 psi and through valving in control panel 25 . this panel also contains valves which control the flow of air to each of the four air bearings 18 individually so that a load that is nonsymetrical with the transporter can be balanced by increasing or decreasing the flow of air to the respective air bearing . once the bearings have been inflated the transporter can be moved omni - directionally across the floor or work surface . it should be noted that in order for an air bearing to operate properly the surface over which it will ride must be very smooth and preferably sealed with a hard painted or epoxy finish . the movement of the transporter now could easily be accomplished by simply pushing the transporter where you would want it to go . however , the control of direction is not good because of the very nature of the air bearings and inertia of the load . they will tend to move easily once started but stopping and positioning can be difficult . an air motor drive tractor 20 is shown in fig1 and 4 shown pivotally affixed to one end and has a wheel 21 which is coupled to the drive motor 19 . control handle 23 regulates the speed and direction of the wheel 21 which now gives the operator the ability to push and direct the movement of the transporter 10 with great ease and with very good control . additional wheels 22 are provided at each side which eliminate undersireable side slip or movement . shown in fig1 is a load atop the transfer platform 50 with dotted lines to show the movement of the scissor lift frame 13 to the upper position . the movement of the frame 13 and scissor arms 14 are accomplished by the fluid rams 15 and are best seen in fig2 and 3 . these rams can be operated by either air or hydraulic power . the control of the height to which the frame will lift is controlled from panel 25 . once the proper height has been reached , stanchion assembly 65 is pivoted about pin 61 into place . this assembly has telescoping stanchion extension 60 with holes 63 for coarse adjustment of the height of the support and is held in the upward position by pin 64 . when the stanchion assembly is upright , it stops against riser 58 . bolt 62 is adjusted to engage bracket 56 for final positioning . this is obviously done for all four corners of the transporter 10 . when this is complete the load may be shifted to any extreme on the scissors load bearing surface 30 without damage to the scissors lift components . also when the transporter is in final position , the air flow to the transporter air bearing 18 is turned off by merely releasing the control on the drive motor handle 23 . in some manufacturing situations , the storage of heavy dies or molds may be facilitated by storing these bulky loads on a special platform , rack or shelf 70 such as shown in fig2 . fig2 illustrates an example of a load being prepared to be moved off the transporter 10 to storage shelf 70 . a transition plate 75 is shown between the transporter lift surface 30 and the shelf surface 71 which bridges the space between the two surfaces . also it is not then necessary to have both of these surfaces in exact allignment . now the transfer platform 50 will have its air bearings 54 energized . this air is supplied from the main factory air supply through the control panel 25 to connecting hose assembly 28 through the valves 51 ( shown in fig1 ) to each bearing . the valves 51 control the amount of air flow of each of the four bearings 54 so that uneven or unbalanced loads or surfaces can be accomodated . increasing or decreasing the air flow can be easily effected this way . remote control cable 29 actually controls the flow of air to the platform 50 . when the air bearings are inflated , surface 52 of transfer platform 50 will contact the bottom surfaces of cross beams 34 of slave pallet 32 which will raise the slave pallet 32 up off scissor lift surface 30 and hence elevate the load . now the load can be moved across transition plate 75 onto surface 71 . here again the movement of the load would be difficult to initiate so a dual strap winch is provided to assist in moving the load off the transporter 10 , see fig2 and 4 . strap 44 is wound on reel 43 which is connected to shaft 38 . the strap is passed over pulley 47 which is affixed to shelf surface 71 or the wall adjacent to said surface to act as a pivot for the strap which is attached to slave pallet 32 by hook 45 passing into holes 37 of slave pallet . with a strap connected on each side of the slave pallet 32 and with air bearing 54 energized , the rotation of shaft 38 by handle 42 in a ccw direction will now wind the strap around reel 43 and cause a pulling of the slave pallet 32 held up off the transporter by the transfer platform 50 . the hose 28 is long enough to allow the transfer platform to move onto surface 71 completely . the slave pallet 32 and the load would be left to remain on the shelf 70 by deflating the transfer platform air bearings 54 . the platform 50 can now be removed by pulling on handle 67 and platform 50 will roll on its own casters 55 from under the slave pallet and back onto the transporter lift surface 30 . to move a load from the shelf 70 to the transporter the strap 44 would be connected to holes 46 in the slave pallet 32 to pull the load back onto the transporter 10 . guide rails 36 are provided on each side of the lift surface to prevent skewing of the transfer platform 50 as it is pulled off or onto the shelf or transporter . additional telescoping rails ( not shown ) are extended to guide the slave pallet 32 after it is off the transporter and on the shelf . a similar arrangement could be used to transfer a load from the bed of a truck , for example , in place of the shelf with the only criteria being that the truck bed surface be covered with linoleum , sheet steel or other material to provide a surface smooth enough to accommodate the air bearing requirements of the transfer platform . fig3 shows the transporter 10 with a load ready for movement into a horizontal type press . the load in this case would be a mold or die . the moving plate 78 of the clamp would slide forward and the mold would be attached by conventional means to the moving plate 78 . the stanchion 60 would be removed , the scissor lift 13 lowered out of the way and the moving plate 78 would now be moved to allow the mold to contact stationary plate 79 and affixed to it by conventional means and the tie straps now removed from the mold to allow it to open and the machine to become functional . obviously the reverse would take place when removing a mold or die from the machine . this invention therefore incorporates a first air bearing transporter in conjunction with a second air bearing transfer platform to move a bulky load from the transporter to a storage area or into a machine which utilized such apparatus . in addition a scissor lift is used to raise and lower the load as well as a drive wheel for easily controlling the movement of the transport to any desired position . this invention may be embodied in several forms without departing from the spirit or characteristics thereof . the scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims and minor changes may be made which are equivalent thereof and such changes are therefore intended to be included in those claims .	1
with reference to fig9 a top view of an actuator 100 in accordance with the first embodiment of the invention includes four straight beam flexures 102 , 104 , 106 and 108 for supporting a translator 110 to be moved relative to a stator 112 . while not critical , the stator 112 may be a semiconductor wafer and the flexures and translator may be patterned materials that are fabricated using known micromachine fabrication techniques , such as reactive ion etching . each of the straight beam flexures 102 , 104 , 106 and 108 is formed of a material and has a sufficient width to allow the flexure to be easily bent . for micromachining applications , the widths ( as measured along the x axis in fig9 ) may be in the order of 1 μm to 3 μm . each of the flexures is anchored at a first end to a support 114 on the stator 112 . the second ends of the flexures are connected to rigid arms 116 , 118 , 120 and 122 of the translator 110 . the arms 116 and 118 are configured as an inverted and backward “ l ” in order to provide sufficient distance for the flexures 102 and 104 to extend in the same direction and length as the other two flexures 106 and 108 . since the arms 116 and 118 are rigid , the flexing operations from the supports 114 to the body of the translator 110 will be materially different than those of a folded beam flexure . as previously noted , when a flexible beam is bent , the out - of - plane stiffness k z is significantly reduced and is theoretically related to the in - plane stiffness k x as follows : k x / k z = 1 / α 2 + a ( δ x / l ) 2 eq . 1 where a ≈ 0 . 280 for aspect ratios greater than 10 . similar to the out - of - plane stiffness , the in - plane stiffness k y that is perpendicular to the desired direction of travel depends on the beam displacement . the folded beam flexures of fig5 have a large k y when they are not displaced . unfortunately , k y is known to be rapidly reduced as displacement occurs . researchers have shown that : k x / k y ≡( w / l ) 2 +( 3 / 2 )( δ x / l ) 2 eq . 3 comparing eq . 1 to eq . 3 , k y is initially larger than k z , but decreases more rapidly as the beams are displaced . for large aspect ratio folded beam flexures , the greatest available displacement is determined by the softening in k y . straight beam flexures offer an alternative means of support . the straight beam flexures exhibit less softening in k y than the folded beam flexures . modeling studies show that for a straight beam deflecting in the intended manner : k x / k y ≡( w / l ) 2 +( 0 . 018 )( δ x / l ) 2 eq . 4 it follows that the straight beam flexures are almost 100 times stiffer than the folded beam flexures . the increased stiffness allows larger travel . in the embodiment of fig9 the four straight beam flexures 102 , 104 , 106 and 108 that support the translator 110 over the stator 112 will bend as the translator is caused to move along the x axis . the bending will cause the translator 110 to be displaced by an amount δy in the y direction . the displacement is related to the lateral movement δx and the beam length l by eq . 2 given above as : however , because the beams are of the same length , the orientation of the translator does not change as it is moved . as indicated by eq . 4 , even though the beam flexures 102 , 104 , 106 and 108 are bent , the beams are extremely stiff with respect to forces in the y direction . the flexure design of fig9 would not be suitable for a conventional comb drive , since the displacement in the y direction would cause the comb fingers that are attached to the translator to contact the comb fingers of the stator . an electrostatic surface drive is ideally suited for the flexure design . referring now to fig1 , the underside of the translator 110 is shown as including two sets of levitation electrodes 124 on opposite sides of drive electrodes 126 . the drive electrodes extend perpendicular to the direction of travel and to the levitator electrodes , but are parallel to the straight beam flexures 102 , 104 , 106 and 108 . the electrodes may be formed of a conductive material and may be formed using known techniques . a side view of the levitator electrodes 124 is shown in fig1 . the stator 112 also includes levitator electrodes 128 . in fig1 , the drive electrodes 126 of the levitator are shown as being adjacent to drive electrodes 130 on the stator 112 . the drive electrodes 126 and 130 of fig1 are configured with voltage patterns that are similar or identical to those described with reference to fig8 . there are 2n ± 1 drive electrodes 130 in a repeating group of stator drive electrodes for every group of 2n drive electrodes 126 on the translator 110 . a strictly alternating voltage pattern may be applied to the drive electrodes 126 on the translator 110 . in fig1 , the alternating pattern is established by connections to a voltage source 132 . while not critical , the spatially alternating pattern of applied voltages is shown as being a pattern in which a given electrode that is held at 12 volts has nearest neighboring electrodes that are held at 0 volts . a similar voltage pattern is applied to drive electrodes 130 on the stator 112 , but because the stator has an odd number of drive electrodes in each repeating group , there is always a disruption of the alternating pattern of voltages . in fig1 , the disruption occurs at the center of the illustrated drive electrodes 130 . the pattern is provided by a drive electrode controller 134 . to displace the translator 110 , the disruption ( as well as the other disruptions along the voltage pattern ) is moved in one direction or the other . to move the disruption , one of the electrodes in the same - voltage pair may be switched from 12 volts to 0 volts . the disruption would then be formed by a pair of adjacent electrodes that are both biased at 0 volts . by stepping the disruption to the right , the translator 110 is displaced to the left . the displacement step size is determined both by the electrode pitch along the translator and by the number of stator drive electrodes in one group ( i . e ., by the number = 2n ± 1 ). specifically , the displacement step size is the translator electrode pitch divided by the number of stator electrodes in a group . for example , if the translator pitch is one micron and the stator group size is seven , a single step of the voltage pattern causes the translator to move by 0 . 143 microns . however , this is not critical . in contrast to the drive electrodes , the levitator electrode arrangement of fig1 is inconsistent with the prior art levitator arrangements . the levitator electrodes 124 along the translator 110 continue to follow the alternating pattern , as applied by a voltage source 136 . however , the levitator electrodes 128 along the stator 112 are configured similarly to the drive electrodes 130 along the stator , except that the voltages that are applied to the stator levitator electrodes 128 are selected to oppose the voltages on the translator levitator electrodes 124 . this is shown schematically in fig1 , wherein the voltage pattern on the stator 112 is selected so that most translator levitator electrodes are positioned above stator levitator electrodes of the same voltage . as in fig1 , the filled electrodes represent electrodes that are at least temporarily at 0 volts , while the remaining electrodes represent a high voltage state at the electrodes . as a result of the combination of the support provided by the straight beam flexures and the voltage patterns shown in fig1 , the translator 110 is spaced apart from the stator 112 by a gap g . the pitches ( as determined by an average center - to - center difference among electrodes in an array ) for each of the four different arrays of electrodes 124 , 126 , 128 and 130 of fig1 and 12 should be less than eight times the gap g in order to provide a large drive force and a large levitating force . referring now to fig9 - 12 , the drive electrodes 126 and 130 are used to step the translator 110 in the desired direction of travel . as the translator is displaced in the x direction , the straight beam flexures 102 , 104 , 106 and 108 bend , causing the translator to move in the y direction as well . the y displacement δy depends quadratically on the displacement δx , as shown by eq . 2 . for most cases , the y displacement is parallel to the drive electrodes and is much smaller than the length of the drive electrodes , so that the drive operation is not affected by the displacement . however , the y displacement does cause the levitator electrodes to move relative to each other . in order to accommodate this movement , the voltage pattern along the levitator electrodes 128 on the stator 112 is stepped by a levitator electrode controller 138 . by periodically stepping the levitator electrodes 128 , the arrangement of opposing voltages may be maintained despite the y displacement . [ 0056 ] fig1 is a top view of another embodiment of the invention . this embodiment may be identical to the one described with reference to fig9 but includes pre - bent beam flexures 140 , 142 , 144 and 146 . the flexures connect to stator supports 148 at a first end to rigid arms 150 , 152 , 154 and 156 at the opposite ends . the rigid arms are extensions from a translator 158 that is supported by the flexures in a position spaced apart from a stator , not shown . the translator 158 and the stator include drive electrodes and levitator electrodes ( not shown ) of the types described with reference to fig1 and 12 . the curvature of the pre - bent beam flexures 140 - 146 biases the translator 158 in the positive x direction . while this reduces the available travel in the positive x direction , it doubles the possible throw in the negative x direction . this may be beneficial in some applications . a third embodiment of the invention is shown in fig1 . in this embodiment , a translator 160 is allowed to rotate about an axis of rotation 162 . the embodiment includes one and only one straight beam flexure 164 . the flexure has a first end anchored to a support 166 on a stator 168 , which may be a semiconductor substrate . the outer edge of the rotatable translator 160 is shown as being supported by folded beam flexures 170 and 172 , but other types of flexures with a large lateral compliance may be used to support the outer edge of the translator . the actuator of fig1 is constructed such that the sole straight beam flexure 164 intersects the rotational axis 162 . in the preferred embodiment , the rotational axis is located at approximately 80 % of the length of the straight beam flexure 164 , as measured from the translator 160 . the translator 160 includes drive electrodes 174 and levitator electrodes 176 . while the electrodes 174 and 176 are visible in the top view of fig1 , it should be understood that the translator electrodes are on a surface of the translator that faces the surface of the stator 168 on which corresponding arrays of drive and levitator electrodes are formed . the drive electrodes 174 are positioned in radial alignment with the rotational axis 162 . drive electrodes on the stator 168 are similarly aligned . while not shown in fig1 , the electrodes on the stator may extend beyond the sides of the translator 160 , so that the electrodes are available when the translator is rotated into a position above those electrodes . the levitator electrodes 176 of the translator have a curvature that is based upon the rotation of the translator . the stator 168 also includes levitator electrodes . as with the drive electrodes , the levitator electrodes on the stator may extend beyond the edges of the translator , so that the distribution of forces remains intact as the translator is rotated . in operation , the translator 160 is caused to rotate in the same manner that lateral displacement is induced in the embodiments described above . that is , local disruptions in the voltage pattern along the drive electrodes of the stator 168 are stepped in one direction in order to drive the translator 160 in the opposite direction . regarding the levitator electrodes , it is not necessary to step the voltage pattern that is applied to the stator levitator electrodes , because the relative positions of the two arrays of levitator electrodes are maintained as the translator rotates about the rotational axis 162 . referring again to fig9 another embodiment of the invention would provide two generally straight beam flexures that support one side of the translator 110 and would include a third straight beam flexure supporting the opposite side . the important factor in determining the support arrangement of the three flexures is that the bending of the three flexures should cause off - axis movement in the same direction . that is , the flexures should all provide movement in either the negative y direction or the positive y direction as the translator is moved in a particular direction . this provides a predictable y axis displacement , so that the voltage pattern along the levitator electrodes of the stator may be stepped accordingly .	7
fig1 shows a patient 101 undergoing non - invasive neuromodulation therapy ( ninm ) using a neurostimulation system 100 . during a therapy session , the neurostimulation system 100 non - invasively stimulates various nerves located within the patient &# 39 ; s oral cavity , including at least one of the trigeminal and facial nerves . in combination with the ninm , the patient engages in an exercise or other activity specifically designed to assist in the neurorehabilitation of the patient . for example , the patient can perform a physical therapy routine ( e . g ., moving an affected limb , or walking on a treadmill ) engage in a mental therapy ( e . g ., meditation or breathing exercises ), or a cognitive exercise ( e . g ., computer assisted memory exercises ) during the application of ninm . the combination of ninm with an appropriately chosen exercise or activity has been shown to be useful in treating a range of maladies including , for example , traumatic brain injury , stroke ( tbi ), multiple sclerosis ( ms ), balance , gait , vestibular disorders , visual deficiencies , tremor , headache , migraines , neuropathic pain , hearing loss , speech recognition , auditory problems , speech therapy , cerebral palsy , blood pressure , relaxation , and heart rate . for example , a useful non - invasive neuromodulation ( ninm ) therapy routine has been recently developed as described in u . s . pat . no . 8 , 849 , 407 , the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference . fig2 a and 2b show a non - invasive neurostimulation system 100 . the non - invasive neurostimulation system 100 includes a controller 120 and a mouthpiece 140 . the controller 120 includes a receptacle 126 and pushbuttons 122 . the mouthpiece 140 includes an electrode array 142 and a cable 144 . the cable 144 connects to the receptacle 126 , providing an electrical connection between the mouthpiece 140 and the controller 120 . in some embodiments , the controller 120 includes a cable . in some embodiments , the mouthpiece 140 and the controller 120 are connected wirelessly ( e . g ., without the use of a cable ). during operation , a patient activates the neurostimulation system 100 by actuating one of the pushbuttons 122 . in some embodiments , the neurostimulation system 100 periodically transmits electrical pulses to determine if the electrode array 142 is in contact with the patient &# 39 ; s tongue and automatically activates based on the determination . after activation , the patient can start an ninm treatment session , stop the ninm treatment session , or pause the ninm treatment session by pressing one of the pushbuttons 122 . in some embodiments , the neurostimulation system 100 periodically transmits electrical pulses to determine if the electrode array 142 is in contact with the patient &# 39 ; s tongue and automatically pauses the ninm treatment session based on the determination . during an ninm treatment session , the patient engages in an exercise or other activity designed to facilitate neurorehabilitation . for example , during an ninm treatment session , the patient can engage in a physical exercise , a mental exercise , or a cognitive exercise . in some embodiments , the controller 120 has pushbuttons on both arms . in some embodiments , a mobile device can be used in conjunction with the controller 120 and the mouthpiece 140 . the mobile device can include a software application that allows a user to activate the neurostimulation system 100 and start or stop an ninm treatment session by for example , pressing a button on the mobile device , or speaking a command into the mobile device . the mobile device can obtain patient information and treatment session information before , during , or after an ninm treatment session . in some embodiments , the controller 120 includes a secure cryptoprocessor that holds a secret key , to be described in more detail below in connection with fig9 a and 9b . the secure cryptoprocessor is in communication with a microcontroller . the secure cryptoprocessor can be tamper proof . for example , if outer portions of the cryptoprocessor are removed in an attempt to access the secret key , the cryptoprocessor erases all memory , preventing unauthorized access of the secret key . fig2 c shows a non - invasive neurostimulation system 100 . as shown , a mobile device 121 is in communication with a mouthpiece 140 . more specifically , the mobile device 121 includes a processor running a software application that facilitates communications with the mouthpiece 140 . the mobile device 121 can be , for example , a mobile phone , a portable digital assistant ( pda ), or a laptop . the mobile device 121 can communicate with the mouthpiece 140 by a wireless or wired connection . during operation , a patient activates the neurostimulation system 100 via the mobile device 121 . after activation , the patient can start an ninm treatment session , stop the ninm treatment session , or pause the ninm treatment session by manipulating the mobile device 121 . during an ninm treatment session , the patient engages in an exercise or activity designed to provide neurorehabilitation . for example , during an ninm treatment session , the patient can engage in a physical exercise , a mental exercise , or a cognitive exercise . fig3 a shows the internal circuitry housed within the controller 120 . the circuitry includes a microcontroller 360 , isolation circuitry 379 , a universal serial bus ( usb ) connection 380 , a battery management controller 382 , a battery 362 , a push - button interface 364 , a display 366 , a real time clock 368 , an accelerometer 370 , drive circuitry 372 , tongue sense circuitry 374 , audio feedback circuitry 376 , vibratory feedback circuitry 377 , and a non - volatile memory 378 . the drive circuitry 372 includes a multiplexor , and an array of resistors to control voltages delivered to the electrode array 142 . the microcontroller 360 is in electrical communication with each of the components shown in fig3 a . the isolation circuitry 379 provides electrical isolation between the usb connection 380 and all other components included in the controller 120 . additionally , the circuitry shown in fig3 a is in communication with the mouthpiece 140 via the external cable 144 . during operation , the microcontroller 360 receives electrical power from battery 362 and can store and retrieve information from the non - volatile memory 378 . the battery can be charged via the usb connection 380 . the battery management circuitry controls the charging of the battery 362 . a patient can interact with the controller 120 via the push - button interface 122 that converts the patient &# 39 ; s pressing of a button ( e . g . an info button , a power button , an intensity - up button , an intensity - down button , and a start / stop button ) into an electrical signal that is transmitted to the microcontroller 360 . for example , a therapy session can be started when the patient presses a start / stop button after powering on the controller 120 . during the therapy session , the drive circuitry 372 provides an electrical signal to the mouthpiece 140 via the cable 144 . the electrical signal is communicated to the patient &# 39 ; s intraoral cavity via the electrode array 142 . the accelerometer 370 can be used to provide information about the patient &# 39 ; s motion during the therapy session . information provided by the accelerometer 370 can be stored in the non - volatile memory 378 at a coarse or detailed level . for example , a therapy session aggregate motion index can be stored based on the number of instances where acceleration rises above a predefined threshold , with or without low pass filtering . alternatively , acceleration readings could be stored at a predefined sampling interval . the information provided by the accelerometer 370 can be used to determine if the patient is engaged in a physical activity . based on the information received from the accelerometer 370 , the microcontroller 360 can determine an activity level of the patient during a therapy session . for example , if the patient engages in a physical activity for 30 minutes during a therapy session , the accelerometer 370 can periodically communicate ( e . g . once every second ) to the microcontroller 360 that the sensed motion is larger than a predetermined threshold ( e . g . greater than 1 m / s 2 ). in some embodiments , the accelerometer data is stored in the non - volatile memory 378 during the therapy session and transmitted to the mobile device 121 after the therapy session has ended . after the therapy session has ended , the microcontroller 360 can record the amount of time during the therapy session in which the patient was active . in some embodiments , the recorded information can include other data about the therapy session ( e . g ., the date and time of the session start , the average intensity of electrical neurostimulation delivered to the patient during the session , the average activity level of the patient during the session , the total session time the mouthpiece has been in the patient &# 39 ; s mouth , the total session pause time , the number of session shorting events , and / or the length of the session or the type of exercise or activity performed during the therapy session ) and can be transmitted to a mobile device . a session shorting event can occur if the current transmitted from the drive circuitry to the electrode array 142 exceeds a predetermined threshold or if the charge transmitted from the drive circuitry to the electrode array exceeds a predetermined threshold over a predetermined time interval . after a session shorting event has occurred , the patient must manually press a pushbutton to resume the therapy session . the real time clock ( rtc ) 368 provides time and date information to the microcontroller 360 . in some embodiments , the controller 120 is authorized by a physician for a predetermined period of time ( e . g ., two weeks ). the rtc 368 periodically communicates date and time information to the microcontroller 360 . in some embodiments , the rtc 368 is integrated with the microcontroller . in some embodiments , the rtc 368 is powered by the battery 362 , and upon failure of the battery 362 , the rtc 368 is powered by a backup battery . after the predetermined period of time has elapsed , the controller 120 can no longer initiate the delivery of electrical signals to the mouthpiece 140 and the patient must visit the physician to reauthorize use of the controller 120 . the display 366 displays information received by the microcontroller 360 to the patient . for example , the display 366 can display the time of day , therapy information , battery information , time remaining in a therapy session , error information , and the status of the controller 120 . the audio feedback circuitry 376 and vibratory feedback circuitry 377 can give feedback to a user when the device changes state . for example , when a therapy session begins , the audio feedback circuitry 376 and the vibratory feedback circuitry 377 can provide auditory and / or vibratory cues to the patient , notifying the patient that the therapy session has been initiated . other possible state changes that may trigger audio and / or vibratory cues include pausing a therapy session , resuming a therapy session , the end of a timed session , canceling a timed session , or error messaging . in some embodiments , a clinician can turn off one or more of the auditory or vibratory cues to tailor the feedback to an individual patient &# 39 ; s needs . the tongue sense circuitry 374 measures the current passing from the drive circuitry to the electrode array 142 . upon sensing a current above a predetermined threshold , the tongue sense circuitry 374 presents a high digital signal to the microcontroller 360 , indicating that the tongue is in contact with the electrode array 142 . if the current is below the predetermined threshold , the tongue sense circuitry 374 presents a low digital signal to the microcontroller 360 , indicating that the tongue is not in contact or is in partial contact with the electrode array 142 . the indications received from the tongue sense circuitry 374 can be stored in the non - volatile memory 378 . in some embodiments , the display 366 can be an organic light emitting diode ( oled ) display . in some embodiments , the display 366 can be a liquid crystal display ( lcd ). in some embodiments , a display 366 is not included with the controller 120 . in some embodiments , neither the controller 120 nor the mouthpiece 140 includes a cable , and the controller 120 communicates wirelessly with the mouthpiece 140 . in some embodiments , neither the controller 120 nor the mouthpiece 140 includes an accelerometer . in some embodiments , the drive circuitry 372 is located within the mouthpiece . in some embodiments , a portion of the drive circuitry 372 is located within the mouthpiece 140 and a portion of the drive circuitry 372 is located within the controller 120 . in some embodiments , neither the controller 120 nor the mouthpiece 140 includes tongue sense circuitry 374 . in some embodiments , the mouthpiece 140 includes a microcontroller and a multiplexer . fig3 b shows a more detailed view of fig2 c . the mouthpiece 140 includes a battery 362 , tongue sense circuitry 374 , an accelerometer 370 , a microcontroller 360 , drive circuitry 372 , a non - volatile memory 378 , a universal serial bus controller ( usb ) 380 , and battery management circuitry 382 . during operation , the microcontroller receives electrical power from battery 362 and can store and retrieve information from the non - volatile memory 378 . the battery can be charged via the usb connection 380 . the battery management circuitry 382 controls the charging of the battery 362 . a patient can interact with the mouthpiece 140 via the mobile device 121 . the mobile device 121 includes an application ( e . g . software running on a processor ) that allows the patient to control the mouthpiece 140 . for example , the application can include an info button , a power button an intensity - up button , an intensity - down button , and a start / stop button that are presented to the user visually via the mobile device 121 . when the patient presses a button presented by the application running on the mobile device 121 , a signal is transmitted to the microcontroller 360 housed within the mouthpiece 140 . for example , a therapy session can be started when the patient presses a start / stop button on the mobile device 121 . during the therapy session , the drive circuitry 372 provides an electrical signal to an electrode array 142 located on the mouthpiece 140 . the accelerometer 370 can be used to provide information about the patient &# 39 ; s motion during the therapy session . the information provided by the accelerometer 370 can be used to determine if the patient is engaged in a physical activity . based on the information received from the accelerometer 370 , the microcontroller 360 can determine an activity level of the patient during a therapy session . for example , if the patient engages in a physical activity for 30 minutes during a therapy session , the accelerometer 370 can periodically communicate ( e . g . once every second ) to the microcontroller 360 that the sensed motion is larger than a predetermined threshold ( e . g . greater than 1 m / s 2 ). after the therapy session has ended , the microcontroller 360 can record the amount of time during the therapy session in which the patient was active . in some embodiments , the accelerometer 370 is located within the mobile device 121 and the mobile device 121 determines an activity level of a patient during the therapy session based on information received from the accelerometer 370 . the mobile device can then record the amount of time during the therapy session in which the patient was active . the mobile device 121 includes a real time clock ( rtc ) 368 that provides time and date information to the microcontroller 360 . in some embodiments , the mouthpiece 140 is authorized by a physician for a predetermined period of time ( e . g ., two weeks ). after the predetermined period of time has elapsed , the mouthpiece 140 can no longer deliver electrical signals to the patient via the electrode array 142 and the patient must visit the physician to reauthorize use of the mouthpiece 140 . in some embodiments , the mouthpiece 140 includes pushbuttons ( e . g ., an on / off button ) and a patient can manually operate the mouthpiece 140 via the pushbuttons . after a therapy session , the mouthpiece 140 can transmit information about the therapy session to a mobile device . in some embodiments , the mouthpiece 140 does not include a usb controller 380 and instead communicates only via wireless communications with the controller . fig3 c shows a more detailed view of the electrode array 142 . the electrode array 142 can be separated into 9 groups of electrodes , labelled a - i , with each group having 16 electrodes , except group b which has 15 electrodes . each electrode within the group corresponds to one of 16 electrical channels . during operation , the drive circuitry can deliver a sequence of electrical pulses to the electrode array 142 to provide neurostimulation of at least one of the patient &# 39 ; s trigeminal or facial nerve . the electrical pulse amplitude delivered to each group of electrodes can be larger near a posterior portion of the tongue and smaller at an anterior portion of the tongue . for example , the pulse amplitude of electrical signals delivered to groups a - c can be 19 volts or 100 % of a maximum value , the pulse amplitude of electrical signals delivered to groups d - f can be 14 . 25 volts or 75 % of the maximum value , the pulse amplitude of electrical signals delivered to groups g - h can be 11 . 4 volts or 60 % of the maximum value , and the pulse amplitude of electrical signals delivered to group i can be 9 . 025 volts or 47 . 5 % of the maximum value . in some embodiments , the maximum voltage is in the range of 0 to 40 volts . the pulses delivered to the patient by the electrode array 142 can be random or repeating . the location of pulses can be varied across the electrode array 142 such that different electrodes are active at different times , and the duration and / or intensity of pulses may vary from electrode . for oral tissue stimulation , currents of 0 . 5 - 50 ma and voltages of 1 - 40 volts can be used . in some embodiments , transient currents can be larger than 50 ma . the stimulus waveform may have a variety of time - dependent forms , and for cutaneous electrical stimulation , pulse trains and bursts of pulses can be used . where continuously supplied , pulses may be 1 - 500 microseconds long and repeat at rates from 1 - 1000 pulses / second . where supplied in bursts , pulses may be grouped into bursts of 1 - 100 pulses / burst , with a burst rate of 1 - 100 bursts / second . in some embodiments , pulsed waveforms are delivered to the electrode array 142 . fig3 d shows an exemplary sequence of pulses that can be delivered to the electrode array 142 by the drive circuitry 372 . a burst of three pulses , each spaced apart by 5 ms is delivered to each of the 16 channels . the pulses in neighboring channels are offset from one another by 312 . 5 μs . the burst of pulses repeats every 20 ms . the width of each pulse can be varied from 0 . 3 - 60 μs to control an intensity of neurostimulation ( e . g ., a pulse having a width of 0 . 3 μs will cause a smaller amount of neurostimulation than a pulse having a width of 60 μs ). fig4 a shows a method of operation 400 of a controller 120 as described in fig2 a , 2b and 3a . a patient attaches a mouthpiece 140 to a controller 120 ( step 404 ). the patient turns on the controller 120 ( step 408 ) using , for example , a power button . the patient places the controller 120 around his / her neck ( step 412 ) as shown in fig1 b . the patient places a mouthpiece 140 in his / her mouth ( step 416 ). the patient initiates a therapy session by pressing a start / stop button ( step 420 ). during the therapy session , the controller 120 delivers electrical signals to the mouthpiece 140 . the patient calibrates the intensity of the electrical signals ( step 424 ). the patient raises the intensity of the electrical signals delivered to the mouthpiece by pressing an intensity - up button until the neurostimulation is above the patient &# 39 ; s sensitivity level . the patient presses an intensity - down button until the neurostimulation is comfortable and non - painful . after the calibration step , the patient performs a prescribed exercise ( step 428 ). the exercise can be cognitive , mental , or physical . in some embodiments , physical exercise includes the patient attempting to maintain a normal posture or gait , the patient moving his / her limbs , or the patient undergoing speech exercises . cognitive exercises can include “ brain training ” exercises , typically computerized , that are designed to require the use of attention span , memory , or reading comprehension . mental exercises can include visualization exercises , meditation , relaxation techniques , and progressive exposure to “ triggers ” for compulsive behaviors . in some embodiments , the patient can rest for a period of time during the therapy session ( e . g . the patient can rest for 2 minutes during a 30 minute therapy session ). after a predetermined period of time ( for example , thirty minutes ) has elapsed , the therapy session ends ( step 432 ) and the controller 120 stops delivering electrical signals to the mouthpiece 140 . in some embodiments , the intensity of electrical signals increases from zero to the last use level selected by the patient over a time duration in the range of 1 - 5 seconds after the patient starts a therapy session by pressing the start / stop button . in some embodiments , the intensity of electrical signals is set to a fraction of the last use level selected by the patient ( e . g . 3 / 4 of the last level selected ) after the patient starts a therapy session by pressing the start / stop button . in some embodiments , the intensity of electrical signals increases from zero to a fraction of the last use level selected by the patient ( e . g . 3 / 4 of the last level selected ) over a time duration in the range of 1 - 5 seconds after the patient starts a therapy session by pressing the start / stop button . in some embodiments , the intensity of electrical signals increases instantaneously from zero to the last use level selected by the patient after the patient starts a therapy session by pressing the start / stop button . in some embodiments , the mouthpiece 140 is connected to the controller 120 after the controller 120 is turned on . in some embodiments , the mouthpiece 140 is connected to the controller 120 after the controller 120 is donned by the patient . in some embodiments , the patient calibrates the intensity of the electrical signals before initiating a therapy session . in some embodiments , a patient performs an initial calibration of the intensity of electrical signals in the presence of a clinician and does not calibrate the intensity of the electrical signals during subsequent treatments performed in the absence of a clinician . fig4 b shows a method of operation 449 of the non - invasive neurostimulation system 100 described in fig2 c and 3b . a patient activates a mobile device 121 ( step 450 ). the patient places a mouthpiece 140 in his / her mouth ( step 454 ). the patient initiates a therapy session by pressing a start / stop button within an application running on the mobile device 121 ( step 458 ). during the therapy session , circuitry within the mouthpiece 140 delivers electrical signals to an electrode array 142 located on the mouthpiece 140 . the patient calibrates the intensity of the electrical signals ( step 462 ). the patient first raises the intensity of the electrical signals delivered to the mouthpiece 140 by pressing an intensity - up button located within an application running on the mobile device 121 until the neurostimulation is above the patient &# 39 ; s sensitivity level . the patient presses an intensity - down button running within an application on the mobile device 121 until the neurostimulation is comfortable and non - painful . after the calibration step , the patient performs a prescribed exercise ( step 464 ). the exercise can be cognitive , mental , or physical . in some embodiments , the patient can rest for a period of time during the therapy session ( e . g . the patient can rest for 5 minutes during a 30 minute therapy session ). after a predetermined period of time ( for example , thirty minutes ) has elapsed , the therapy session ends ( step 468 ) and the circuitry located within the mouthpiece 140 stops delivering electrical signals to the electrode array 142 . in some embodiments , the calibration of the intensity of the electrical signals takes place before the patient initiates a therapy session . fig5 a shows a neurostimulation system 500 and fig5 b shows a back view of a controller 520 . the neurostimulation system 500 includes a controller 520 and a mouthpiece 540 connected via a cable 544 . the mouthpiece 540 includes an electrode array on a bottom portion thereof . the controller 520 includes an anterior portion 560 and a posterior portion 564 . the controller 520 also includes a mouthpiece port 516 , an intensity - up button 508 , an intensity - down button 512 , a power button 521 , an info button 524 , a start / stop button 504 and a display 528 . the mouthpiece 540 is in electrical communication with the controller 520 via the cable 544 . in some embodiments , the power button 521 includes a light emitting diode ( led ) indicator . in some embodiments , the port 516 is located on the mouthpiece 540 instead of the controller 520 and the cable 544 is permanently attached to the controller 520 . in some embodiments the port is a universal serial bus ( usb ) port and / or a charging port . fig5 c describes a method 200 of operating the neurostimulation system 500 shown in fig5 a and 5b . a patient activates the neurostimulation system 500 by pressing a power button 521 ( step 208 ). after activation , the neurostimulation system 500 enters an idle state ( step 212 ). while in the idle state , non - invasive neurostimulation is not delivered to the patient . if the neurostimulation system 500 remains in the idle state for a predetermined time period , the neurostimulation system 500 can shut down or enter a power - saving state ( e . g ., after idling for 10 minutes ). additionally , if the power button 521 is pressed while in the idle state , the neurostimulation system 500 shuts down . if the patient presses a start button ( step 224 ), an ninm therapy session begins and non - invasive neurostimulation generated by the controller 520 is delivered to the patient &# 39 ; s oral cavity via the mouthpiece 540 for a predetermined period of time . in some embodiments , the neurostimulation system 500 enters an intensity adjustment state when the patient presses a start button ( step 224 ). the patient then raises the intensity of the electrical signals delivered to the mouthpiece by pressing the intensity - up button 508 until the neurostimulation is above the patient &# 39 ; s sensitivity level . the patient presses the intensity - down button 512 until the neurostimulation is comfortable and non - painful . after the intensity adjustment is completed , the patient presses the start button again to begin an ninm therapy session . in one embodiment , the predetermined period of time can be in the user - selectable range of 20 - 30 minutes . additionally , the patient performs a physical , cognitive , or mental exercise during the ninm therapy session . the physical , cognitive , or mental exercise is performed simultaneously with the delivery of electrical signals from the controller 520 to the mouthpiece 540 . if the patient presses a pause button ( step 232 ) while neurostimulation is being delivered , the therapy session is paused ( step 233 ) and the neurostimulation system 500 ceases to deliver non - invasive neurostimulation to the patient &# 39 ; s oral cavity . in some embodiments , if the neurostimulation system 500 loses contact with the patient &# 39 ; s oral cavity ( e . g . determined by tongue sensing circuitry ), the therapy session is paused . if the patient presses unpause ( step 234 ), the treatment is resumed and non - invasive neurostimulation is again delivered to the patient &# 39 ; s intraoral cavity . if the patient presses the stop button while the neurostimulation system 500 is paused , or if there is no patient input for more than a predetermined time , for example , two minutes ( step 235 ) after the patient has pressed the pause button , the neurostimulation system 500 enters an idle state ( step 212 ) and a “ treatment ended due to pause timeout ” message is presented by the display 528 . if the patient presses the stop button ( step 240 ) while neurostimulation is being delivered , the neurostimulation system 500 enters an idle state ( step 212 ) and a “ treatment ended due to session stop ” message is presented by the display 528 . alternatively , if the neurostimulation system 500 delivers neurostimulation to the patient for the full predetermined period of time at step 240 , the system enters an idle state at step 212 and a “ full session completed ” message is presented by the display 528 . while the system is in the idle state at step 212 , a number of conditions can prevent the patient from initiating a therapy session . for example , if there is not enough charge remaining in the battery to complete at least one ninm therapy session , the controller 520 can block the patient from initiating the therapy session and a “ low battery ” message will be presented on the display 528 . in some embodiments , the controller can emit an audible sound to alert the patient that there is not enough charge remaining in the battery to complete at least one ninm therapy session . additionally , if the mouthpiece 540 is not attached to the controller 520 , the controller 520 can block the patient from initiating a therapy session and a “ no mouthpiece ” message is presented on the display 528 . in some embodiments , the neurostimulation system 500 delivers neurostimulation for a limited number of hours per day . for example , the neurostimulation system 500 can be configured to stop delivering neurostimulation after 200 minutes of use in a single day . in the idle state at step 212 , if the daily limit has been exceeded , the controller 520 can block the patient from initiating a therapy session and a “ daily limit reached ” message is presented by the display 528 . the patient can begin treatment the next day ( i . e ., after midnight ), when the daily limit is reset . in some embodiments , the neurostimulation system 500 delivers neurostimulation for a limited number of weeks . in the idle state at step 212 , if the calendar limit has been exceeded , the controller 520 can block the patient from initiating a therapy session and a “ calendar limit reached ” message is presented by the display 528 . for example , the neurostimulation system 500 can be configured to stop delivering neurostimulation 1 - 14 weeks after the patient receives the neurostimulation system 500 from a physician . to re - enable the neurostimulation system 500 after the calendar limit has been exceeded , the patient is required to visit a physician or a clinician . in some embodiments , a “ calendar limit approaching ” message is presented by the display 528 , warning the patient that the calendar limit will be reached soon ( e . g . in two weeks ). the “ calendar limit approaching ” message can be beneficial to patients by allowing them to schedule appointments with their clinicians prior to the calendar limit being reached . in some embodiments , the mouthpiece 540 can become damaged over time and require replacement . for example , the patient &# 39 ; s bites down on the mouthpiece 540 during each therapy session , slowly causing the surface of the mouthpiece to be damaged . this damage can cause the mouthpiece 540 to malfunction . the average time to failure can be statistically determined by testing a number of mouthpieces 540 over a number of therapy sessions and examining the mouthpieces for damage at the end of each therapy session . the average time to failure , once determined , can be programmed into the controller 520 . during the idle state at step 212 , if the average time to failure has been reached , the controller 520 can block the patient from initiating a therapy session and a “ mouthpiece expired ” message is presented by the display 528 . in some embodiments , a message is presented by the display 528 , warning the patient that the mouthpiece is set to expire soon . for example , the message presented by the display 528 can be “ mouthpiece expires in 14 days .” in some embodiments , the display 528 can present an “ authentication error ” message if a mouthpiece 540 cannot be authenticated , for example as described in fig9 a and 9b . in some embodiments , the neurostimulation system 500 tracks an activity level of a patient . for example , the neurostimulation system 500 can include an accelerometer that detects an activity level of the patient ( e . g ., at rest , walking , or running ) in some embodiments , the activity level can be recorded and stored on an external computer for analysis . for example , the recorded activity level data can be analyzed by a physician to determine an effectiveness of a prescribed treatment plan . in some embodiments , the neurostimulation system 500 sets an intensity level to 75 % of the last used intensity level when the treatment begins at step 228 . in some embodiments , data including time stamps , intensity levels , data received from the accelerometer , and data received from the tongue sense circuitry can be recorded and stored on an external computer or mobile device for analysis . in some embodiments , the port 516 can facilitate charging of the neurostimulation system 500 . for example , when the port 516 is connected to a charging source , the neurostimulation system 500 enters a charging state . in the charging state , a “ charging ” message is presented by the display 528 . additionally , in the charging state , an led can indicate a remaining battery charge . for example , the led can emit flashing red light if there is not sufficient battery charge for at least one ninm therapy session . if there is sufficient battery charge remaining to complete at least one ninm therapy session , the led can emit flashing green . when the battery charging is complete , the led can emit a solid green light ( e . g . a non - flashing green light ). while the neurostimulation system 500 is in the charging state , the patient cannot begin an ninm therapy session . when the port is disconnected in the charging state , the neurostimulation system 500 enters an idle state ( step 212 ). in some embodiments , an led included with the power button 521 can indicate a remaining battery charge . for example , the led can emit green light if there is sufficient battery charge remaining to complete two or more ninm therapy sessions . if there is sufficient battery charge remaining to complete one ninm therapy session , the led can emit yellow light . if there is not enough charge remaining for one ninm therapy session , the led can emit red light . in some embodiments , the controller 520 includes leds for providing visual indication , an audio indicator , or a vibratory indicator that can provide indications to the patient . for example , the leds , the audio indicator , and the vibratory indicator can provide an indication to the patient if electrical neurostimulation is being delivered to the mouthpiece 540 , if electrical neurostimulation delivery to the mouthpiece 540 has been disabled or cancelled , or if the ninm therapy session has ended . the indications can include a solid or flashing light emitted by the leds or a predetermined sound such as a ring , buzz , or chirp emitted by the audio indicator . the vibratory indicator can provide tactile feedback or other vibratory feedback to the patient . in some embodiments , the audio and / or vibratory indicator includes a piezoelectric element or a magnetic buzzer that vibrates and provides a mechanical indication to the patient . in some embodiments , the leds and / or the audio indicator provide an indication when an ninm therapy session is 50 % complete . in some embodiments , the leds and / or the audio indicator provide an indication when any button on the controller 520 is pressed by the patient . in some embodiments , the leds and / or the audio indicator provide an indication of the intensity level of the electrical neurostimulation . in some embodiments , the leds and / or the audio indicator provide an indication of the remaining ninm therapy session time . in some embodiments , the leds and / or the audio indicator provide an indication of the remaining stimulation minutes for the current day ( e . g ., before a daily limit is reached ). in some embodiments , the leds and / or the audio indicator provide an indication of the remaining stimulation minutes for the current calendar period ( e . g ., before a calendar limit is reached ). in some embodiments , pressing a start / stop / pause button while neurostimulation is being delivered pauses the therapy session ( step 233 ) and the neurostimulation system 500 ceases to deliver non - invasive neurostimulation to the patient &# 39 ; s oral cavity . fig6 a and 6b show a non - invasive neurostimulation system 600 . the non - invasive neurostimulation system 600 includes headband 618 , a controller 620 , pushbuttons 622 , a display 628 , a mouthpiece 640 , an electrode array 642 , and a cable 624 . the controller 620 is in electrical communication with the mouthpiece 640 and the electrode array 642 via the cable 624 . during operation , a patient rests the headband 618 along his / her ears and inserts the mouthpiece 640 into his / her mouth . operation of the non - invasive neurostimulation system 600 is similar to that described above in reference to fig5 a and 5b where similarly referenced elements have the same functionality ( e . g . controller 620 has the same functionality as controller 520 etc .). in some embodiments , the headband 618 maintains an orientation of the mouthpiece 640 within the patient &# 39 ; s mouth during an ninm therapy session . in some embodiments , the headband 618 maintains the position of the mouthpiece 640 within the patient &# 39 ; s mouth , even if the patient is in a horizontal orientation or is upside - down . fig7 a and 7b show a non - invasive neurostimulation system 700 . the non - invasive neurostimulation system 700 includes headband 718 , a controller 720 , an intensity setting wheel 722 , a mouthpiece 740 , an electrode array 742 , and a cable 724 . the controller 720 is in electrical communication with the mouthpiece 740 and the electrode array 742 via the cable 724 . during operation , a patient rests the headband 718 along an upper circumference of his / her head and inserts the mouthpiece 740 into his / her mouth . the patient can increase the intensity of the electrical signals delivered to the mouthpiece 740 by rotating the intensity setting wheel in a clockwise direction . the patient can decrease the intensity of the electrical signals delivered to the mouthpiece 740 by rotating the intensity setting wheel in a counterclockwise direction . operation of the non - invasive neurostimulation system 700 is otherwise similar to that described above in reference to fig5 a and 5b where similarly referenced elements have the same functionality ( e . g . controller 720 has the same functionality as controller 520 etc .). in some embodiments , the headband 718 is configured to allow the patient to wear his / her glasses during an ninm therapy session . fig8 a and 8b show a non - invasive neurostimulation system 800 . the non - invasive neurostimulation system 800 includes a controller 820 , a mouthpiece 840 , pushbuttons 822 , display screen 828 , and indicator light 832 . the controller 820 and the mouthpiece 840 are integrated into a monolithic package . the controller 820 is in electrical communication with the mouthpiece 840 and the electrode array 842 . during operation , a patient inserts the mouthpiece 840 into his / her mouth and the rigidly attached controller 820 rests just outside of the patient &# 39 ; s mouth . operation of the non - invasive neurostimulation system 800 is otherwise similar to that described above in reference to fig5 a and 5b where similarly referenced elements have the same functionality ( e . g . controller 820 has the same functionality as controller 520 etc .). in some embodiments , the controller 820 is in mechanical contact with the patient &# 39 ; s chin and is configured to mechanically secure the mouthpiece 840 during an ninm therapy session . in some embodiments , a display screen 828 is not included with non - invasive neurostimulation system 800 . in some embodiments , a display screen 828 is replaced with an auditory indicator that provides auditory messages to the patient . in some embodiments , the controller 820 and the mouthpiece 840 are each monolithic and connected at a connection point between the mouthpiece 840 and the controller 820 . in some embodiments , the mouthpiece 840 is removably attached to the controller 820 and can be replaced at predetermined usage intervals or upon wearing out . fig9 a shows a method of operation 900 of the non - invasive neurostimulation device illustrated in fig5 - 8 . initially a patient connects a mouthpiece to a controller or mobile device ( step 904 ). the connection can be a wired or wireless connection . a processor within the controller or mobile device generates a numeric sequence and transmits the generated sequence to the mouthpiece ( step 908 ). the numeric sequence generated at step 908 can be a sequence of random values , produced by a software pseudorandom number generator , or by a hardware random number generator . based on the received numeric sequence and a secret key shared between the mouthpiece and the controller , a processor located within the mouthpiece generates a first hash code ( step 912 ). the first hash code can be generated using an hmac ( keyed - hash message authentication code ) algorithm . in some embodiments , the first hash code is generated in accordance with an sha - 256 algorithm . the mouthpiece then transmits the first hashcode to the controller ( step 916 ). a processor located within the controller generates a second hash code based on the shared secret key and the numeric sequence ( step 920 ) and then compares the first hash code with the second hash code ( step 924 ). the numeric sequence generated at step 920 can be a sequence of random values , produced by a software pseudorandom number generator , or by a hardware random number generator . in some embodiments , the second hash code is generated in accordance with an sha - 256 algorithm . if the first hash code matches the second hash code , then electrical communications are enabled between the controller and the mouthpiece ( step 928 ). the patient then inserts the mouthpiece into his / her mouth bringing the mouthpiece into contact with the patient &# 39 ; s intraoral cavity ( step 932 ). electrical neurostimulation signals can then be delivered by the controller via the mouthpiece to the patient &# 39 ; s intraoral cavity ( step 936 ). fig9 b shows another method of operation 939 of the non - invasive neurostimulation device as shown in fig5 - 8 in accordance with an embodiment of the invention . initially , a patient connects a mouthpiece to a controller or mobile device ( step 940 ). the connection can be a wired or wireless connection . at the time of manufacture , a first hash code is generated based on a unique serial number and a secret key shared between the mouthpiece and the controller ( step 944 ). the first hash code can be generated by an hmac ( keyed - hash message authentication code ) algorithm . in some embodiments , the first hash code is generated in accordance with an sha - 256 algorithm . the first hash code and the unique serial number are stored in memory within the mouthpiece . the mouthpiece then transmits the first hash code and the unique serial number to the controller ( step 948 ). the controller generates a second hash code based on the received unique serial number and the shared secret key ( step 952 ). the second hash code can be generated by an hmac ( keyed - hash message authentication code ) algorithm . in some embodiments , the second hash code is generated in accordance with an sha - 256 algorithm . the controller then compares the second hash code and the first hash code . the controller only permits continued electrical communications with the mouthpiece if the second hash code and the first hash code match ( step 956 ). the patient then inserts the mouthpiece into his / her mouth bringing the mouthpiece into contact with the patient &# 39 ; s intraoral cavity ( step 960 ). electrical neurostimulation signals can then be delivered by the controller via the mouthpiece to the patient &# 39 ; s intraoral cavity ( step 964 ). the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments and is not intended to be limiting of the inventive concepts . it will be understood that , although the terms first , second , third etc . are used herein to describe various elements , components , regions , layers and / or sections , these elements , components , regions , layers and / or sections should not be limited by these terms . these terms are only used to distinguish one element , component , region , layer or section from another element , component , region , layer or section . thus , a first element , component , region , layer or section discussed below could be termed a second element , component , region , layer or section without departing from the teachings of the present application . while the present inventive concepts have been particularly shown and described above with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof , it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art , that various changes in form and detail can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present inventive concepts described and defined by the following claims .	0
an output apparatus according to an embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings . fig3 is a block diagram of the preferred embodiment of this invention . in fig3 central processing unit 1 ( hereinafter referred to simply as &# 34 ; cpu &# 34 ;) for controlling the entire output operation is provided . to this cpu 1 is connected an output section 2 including a printer , a display , or the like , whose output section has a page memory 8 capable of storing dot patterns corresponding to one page . when address signals for designating the row and column addresses ( hereinafter , the row and column addresses of the page memory 8 are collectively referred to simply as &# 34 ; addresses &# 34 ;) of the page memory 8 , as well as a read signal , are supplied from cpu 1 to the output section 2 , dot data indicating the state of a dot corresponding to the addresses designated in the output section 2 is read and transferred to cpu 1 . a dot to be output is conventionally a &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ; and a dot which is not output ( i . e ., displayed or printed ) is conventionally a &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ; when the address signals of the page memory 8 , the dot data and a write signal are supplied from cpu 1 to the output section 2 , the dot data is written into the location corresponding to the addresses designated in the output section 2 , so that the state of the dot in said location is refreshed . further , when an output command signal is supplied from cpu 1 to the output section 2 , the dot data in the page memory 8 is output and the corresponding printing or display is effected . also connected to cpu 1 is a document buffer 3 in which there are stored character data of the whole document , the character data consisting of code data of characters and graphics and or / over distinction codes used to designate &# 34 ; or - write &# 34 ; or &# 34 ; over - write &# 34 ;. when a page number signal is supplied from cpu 1 to the document buffer 3 , the character data in the corresponding page is transferred to cpu 1 . a page buffer 4 storing character data corresponding to one page , and an or / over register 5 storing or / over distinction codes separated from the character data , are also connected to cpu 1 . further , a pattern buffer 7 as well as a character generator 6 are also connected to cpu 1 . when a character code is supplied from cpu 1 to the character generator 6 , a dot pattern representing the corresponding character is transferred to the pattern buffer 7 from the character generator 6 . next , the operation of the output apparatus in accordance with this embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to fig4 . fig4 is a flow chart showing the operation of the cpu 1 which starts from a state wherein dot pattern data with , for example , graphics other than characters are already set in the output section 2 . in the process of fig3 cpu 1 then proceeds to output character corresponding to one page with respect to the dot pattern of the graphics . cpu 1 supplies a page number signal indicting the number of the page containing character data to be output to the document buffer 3 . the document buffer 3 delivers to cpu 1 the character data from the page corresponding to the page number signal . cpu 1 delivers to the page buffer 4 the 1 - page character data input to cpu 1 from the document buffer 3 . the page buffer 4 stores the 1 - page character data supplied to it from cpu 1 . the character data readout operation up to this point of operation is executed in step s1 of fig4 . in step s2 , an initial character data is supplied from the page buffer 4 to cpu 1 . in step s3 , cpu 1 separates the input character data into a character code data and an or / over distinction code . in step s4 , cpu 1 supplies the character code to the character generator 6 which then supplies to the pattern buffer 7 , for storage in the pattern buffer 7 , the dot pattern of a character corresponding to the input character code . in step s5 , cpu 1 supplies an or - over distinction code to the or / over register 5 , which stores the input or / over distinction code . in step s6 , cpu 1 reads the dot data from the pattern buffer 7 . in step s7 , cpu 1 calculates an address of the dot read in step s6 , and supplies that address to the output section 2 . next , in step s8 , cpu 1 reads an or / over distinction code from the or / over register 5 to decide whether this distinction code is an or distinction code or an over distinction code . if the distinction code is an or distinction code , the operation proceeds to step s9 . if the distinction code is an over distinction code , the operation goes ahead to step s13 . for the or - write mode beginning with step s9 , cpu 1 supplies a read signal to the output section 2 . in response to the address supplied in step s7 from cpu 1 and the read signal supplied in step s9 from cpu 1 , the output section 2 supplies to cpu 1 the data of a dot corresponding to the input address . in step s10 , cpu 1 logically adds the dot data read in step s6 from the pattern buffer 7 and the dot data read in step s9 from the output section 2 . cpu 1 supplies the dot data shown in fig1 obtained as a result of the logical addition , to the output section 2 . next , cpu 1 supplies a write signal to the output section 2 . thus , the dot data is renewed . thereafter , the operation proceeds to step s11 . for the over - write mode beginning with step s13 , cpu 1 supplies to the output section 2 the dot data supplied in step s6 from the pattern buffer 7 . next , cpu 1 supplies a write signal to the output section 2 . thus , the dot data supplied in step 6 from the pattern buffer 7 is set in the output section 2 as the data of the dot corresponding to the addresses . at this time , the dot data indicating the graphic which is already in the output section 2 is erased , as shown in fig2 . the operation then proceeds to step s11 . in step s11 , cpu 1 decides whether the dot data read in step s6 from the pattern buffer 7 is the last one of the dots representing one character . if so , then the operation proceeds to step s12 . if not in which and , the operation goes back to step s6 , in which the next dot is read from the pattern buffer 7 into cpu 1 . in this way , the operations of steps s6 to s11 ( or s13 ) are repeatedly carried out until the last one of the dots representing one character is read into cpu 1 . in step s12 , cpu 1 decides whether the character input in step s2 from the page buffer 4 is the last one of the characters of one page . if so , then the operation proceeds to step s14 . if not , the operation returns to step s2 , in which the next character is read from the page buffer 4 into cpu 1 . again , the operations of the steps s2 to s12 are repeatedly performed in this way until the last character of one page is read into cpu 1 . in step s14 , cpu 1 supplies an output command signal to the output section 2 , so that the 1 - page dot data in the page memory 8 is read out and the printing or display thereof is effected . as described above , according to this embodiment , distinction between the or - write mode and the over - write mode , and the resultant dot - pattern processing under the or - write mode or over - write mode , is performed per character . although in the foregoing description the dot pattern was processed for each dot , it is to be noted here that it is also possible to process several dots at one time to increase the processing speed , if , in step s6 , several dots are read at once rather than individually . further , although the or / over distinction code was added to each character as an attribute data , an or / over distinction code may also be inserted before the character , with respect to which the operation changes from the or - write to the over - write mode , or vice versa . further , two patterns which are output in an overlapped fashion are not limited to a combination of character and graphic . that is , character and character , graphic and graphic may also be combined . as has been described above , according to the invention there is provided an output apparatus which comprises both an or / over designating means for designating the or - write or over - write mode with respect to each character used as a minimal unit to be output , and means for causing a dot pattern to be &# 34 ; or - written &# 34 ; or &# 34 ; over - written &# 34 ; in accordance with the designation made by the or / over designating means ; whereby , when two items of information such as character , graphic , etc ,. each expressed in the form of a dot matrix , are output into the same position , either the or - write or over - write mode can be optionally used as the information output mode , making it possible to obtain an optimum pattern at all times .	6
the method described herein allows a device to rebroadcast relevant information retrieved from beacons whenever it acquires the transmission opportunities , as reserved by a coordinator or controller . the information which may be rebroadcast includes , but is not limited to , ( 1 ) reservation for channel time of the transmitting device , ( 2 ) superframe timing , and ( 3 ) other network information elements for various purposes . a device , whether it &# 39 ; s a coordinator itself or not , which may not receive beacons from other coordinators of nearby piconets , is able to pick up needed network information from its immediate surroundings if there are devices transmitting within its radio range . there are various names for the device responsible for beacon transmissions , e . g ., access point in 802 . 11 wlan ( ap ), coordinator in 802 . 15 . 3 piconet ( pnc ) ( ieee std 802 . 15 . 3 ™- 2003 , part 15 . 3 : wireless medium access control ( mac ) and physical layer ( phy ) specifications for high rate wireless personal area networks ( wpans )), controller , or master , in some tdma type networks . in the following descriptions , the term “ pnc ” is used generally , however , the scope of this invention is not limited to that of ieee 802 . 15 . 3 wpan protocols , and is applicable to any network protocol so long as the mechanism of maintaining superframe and / or beacon timing are the same or similar to that of ieee 802 . 15 . 3 , and channel time allocation is made via request / grant reservation to / from the coordinator . a specific application for this invention is networks which are used for short range wireless communications , which are known as wireless personal area networks ( wpans ), the operation of which may be described in terms of a “ piconet .” a “ piconet ” is a cluster of wireless devices collectively performing certain networking functions in close proximity , usually within ten meters of one another . at a minimum , a piconet requires two devices which communicate with each other for networking applications . for systems using central - control type access scheme , one device in the piconet acts as the coordinator , and is responsible for periodically sending beacon signals , at pre - determined intervals , wherein each interval is referred to as a “ superframe .” all other devices in the piconet have to first detect beacons in order to maintain synchronization , or to gain initial acquisition of the piconet . thus , the coordinator controls timing , allocation of channel time , primarily through the management of beacon packets . the coordinator is also referred as a controller , a master , or an access point ( ap ) in systems using a central - control type access protocol . in a typical environment , such as a home , multiple piconets will be inevitably setup and simultaneously operate in overlapping areas , without coordination prior to deployment . it is possible that some piconets will be forced to share the same channel when the number of piconets exceeds that of available channels , because the number of channels is limited in a finite spectrum which is allocated for a specific system . it should be noted that the channel partition protocol may be a fdm type , in frequency domain , a cdma type , in code space , or other applicable protocols . the method of the invention provides a protocol for a device to rebroadcast auxiliary network information as the information is retrieved from beacons whenever the device is allowed to transmit in its reserved , predetermined by the controller , time slots . such information may include reservation , i . e ., assignment of channel time allocation of the transmitting device , superframe timing , and other piconet information elements , conveyed via beacons from the coordinator . any nearby device is able to retrieve a portion of beacon information as relayed , even if the device is out of range of the coordinator and can not directly receive the coordinator &# 39 ; s beacon signals . it should be noted that the intended audience of such rebroadcast are those devices in a separate piconet using the same channel , whether or not the device is , itself a coordinator , or not , or a device which is not yet associated with any piconet and is searching for a piconet / coordinator to begin its applications . an advantage of the method of the invention is that it effectively expands the coverage of beacon signals and improves the awareness of other piconets &# 39 ; existence . this is crucial for ad hoc networks from which peer - to - peer communications are expected . the ability to discover surrounding piconets allows a device to make better decisions when adapting to a variety of operating conditions . the method of the invention takes advantage of the regular transmission opportunities which have been previously reserved for traffic . any device may become a candidate to rebroadcast when it &# 39 ; s due for transmissions . a foreign device outside the range of the coordinator therefore has greater probability to find an existing piconet and to learn information about a piconet from one , or even multiple , devices , provided the other devices are within range . for existing traffic , the overhead is minimal because the added , or auxiliary network , information is embedded in a header portion of a packet , and not all of the beacons are repeated . beacon packets carry information for superframe timing management and time reservation for individual device , as illustrated in the frame format of table 1 . a device which correctly receives beacons from pnc will be able to determine the instant p 0 , which is the reference starting point of superframes . the next superframe , and beacon , will therefore occurs at : where “ superframe duration ” is a typical embodiment of the superframe information field . other pertinent information regarding timing management and synchronization of the piconet may also be included . each reservation block contains the address of source / destination devices , stream index for identification of traffic type , and location / duration of reservation in time . the res . location field indicates the time offset from p 0 . as a result , the device that assigned a reservation is allowed to commence transmission at time , d 0 , where : it can be concluded from above descriptions that the operation of such a network depends on successful reception of the beacons by each device . once a device retrieves superframe duration , correct time reservation , and other network management information from a beacon , it is able to schedule the packet transmissions for intended applications . the topology of prior art fig1 and 2 works well for a simple piconet in which all devices are expected to be within coverage area of pnc and each device , upon completion of scanning the channels , chooses to join the piconet by associating with the pnc . this is the simplest scenario of the prior art . the method of the invention is directed to those scenarios where multiple piconets are simultaneously operating . if a device , for any reason , decides to start a new piconet , even though it can locate beacons from one or more existing pncs , there are two options : first , a device may select channels , not being used by the existing piconet , and become a pnc itself . in this scenario , the isolation between piconets is supported by physical layer ( phy ) parameters , such as coding , modulation , and relative received signal strength of desired / undesired signals . this is a common practice in wireless communication systems . a second option is to use the same channel as is used by an existing pnc . this occurs when no alternative channels are available because of congestion or interference . it is possible because the radio spectrum normally can only support a finite number of channels , regardless of available bandwidth and channel partitions in a specific system design . a method of sharing the same channel by two piconets is to use time division multiplexing , as described in ieee 802 . 15 . 3 mac protocol , which provides the so called parent / dependent piconet mechanism to fulfill such purpose . a device may request a static channel time allocation ( cta ) from an existing pnc and start its own piconet by sending beacons at the beginning of a granted cta period . the pnc of a dependent piconet is synchronous with the parent ( existing ) piconet , but only has the assigned cta duration at its disposal for traffic . on the other hand , the parent pnc will lose control over the cta period allocated to dependent piconet in it superframe . this approach is applicable only when two devices ( pncs ) are within radio coverage areas of each other . there are , however , scenarios wherein devices can not receive the pnc beacons directly because of limited pnc radio range . instead , the devices may be in close proximity to devices in the fringe area of an existing piconet , and will pick up a signal from those devices . fig3 and 4 illustrate two such cases . in fig3 , it is possible that pnc 2 and its associated devices , dev 2 , are portable , and operate on the same channel as used by pnc 1 . after the piconet pnc 2 / dev 2 is established , it may be moved to a location such that pnc 2 is in the coverage of dev 1 ( dashed oval ), but not pnc 1 , without knowledge of pnc 1 & amp ; dev 1 &# 39 ; s presence . in fig4 , it is possible that pnc 2 did not find either pnc 1 or dev 1 , e . g ., both are out of radio range , during the time when it was scanning for beacons . pnc 2 initiated its own piconet , but coincidentally chose the same channel being used by pnc 1 . dev 2 could join pnc 2 later , even though it can also receive signals transmitted by dev 1 , as it can only receive beacons from pnc 2 . the scenarios of fig3 and 4 are likely to occur in complicated environments such as home networking , where ( 1 ) both stationary and portable devices are used for various purposes , or equivalently ( 2 ) network topology / radio coverage changed due to movement of people and / or objects . it is desirable that such devices / applications may be deployed in ad hoc manners and that zero , or minimum , configuration parameters regarding how / when / where the devices are being used must be provided to a user to enable easy use by consumers . however , this poses challenges for systems designed for such purposes . for two piconets operating on the same channel , the drawback of time sharing approach used by parent / dependent piconet scheme is that it requires two pncs to be within range of each other and to communicate directly . if even more piconets are involved , a chain of parent / dependent piconet relations must be established . in practice , it is very difficult to manage and the efficiency of channel usage drastically decreases . in such situations , only one piconet is allowed to use the channel at one time and no channel reuse is possible , even though not all involved piconets are overlapping . a solution to the aforementioned issue of multiple piconets is to provide a mechanism for effectively expanding the coverage of beacons from pnc such that other devices / pnc may easily detect the presence of an existing piconet . once a device is aware of another piconet &# 39 ; s presence , it is possible to take proper actions for better network operations . potential usage of beacon information in adjacent piconets is not the topic of this disclosure , it could include , but is not limited to , the following : ( 1 ) coexistence of multiple piconets ; ( 2 ) coordination / synchronization of piconets ; and ( 3 ) device discovery . table 2 illustrates the timing chart of packet exchanges as would occur for the scenarios of fig3 or 4 . although dev 1 may transmit to other devices legitimately during time slot of res . # n , as assigned by pnc 1 , the transmissions appear as interference to other devices not associated with pnc 1 within range of dev 1 . however , use of the frame format shown in table 2 , provides that , when device # n transmits in its reserved time slot , and res . # n is one of reservation blocks in a beacon of the form in table 1 , pnc 2 and / or dev 2 can decode the header part and disregard the data portion . therefore pnc 2 / dev 2 effectively acquire the knowledge of res . # n &# 39 ; s , and the packets virtually relay certain part of information ( res . # n ) from original beacons of pnc 1 . it is hence marked as quasi - beacon in fig5 . in this mechanism , only the reservation field corresponding to the transmitting device is used and advertised according to beacons from pnc 1 , which makes the decision for each allocation . a device only needs to advertise its own reservation during rebroadcasting , as not all devices in the piconet will necessarily be within the range of a foreign , i . e ., not associated with the pnc , device located in peripheral region of the piconet such as that shown in fig3 and 4 . in the event that a device itself is the pnc of a dependent piconet and sends its own beacons , the reservation for parent pnc , as broadcast by the dependent pnc , should not be considered channel time allocated for use by the dependent piconet . it is intended for the parent piconet and therefore , the dependent pnc has no control over this reservation . those devices in the dependent piconet are not allocated for time in such a private duration . regarding coexistence , those reserved time slots during which the potential “ victim ” receiver would experience transmitting power need to be considered . it is desirable because , in a dynamic environment , where portable devices are moved around , or people movements and furniture layout causes variations in radio propagation paths , the number of detected reservations by a device changes constantly , and may result in the formation of more than one piconet . pnc # 2 , is able to collect directly ( fig3 ) or indirectly ( fig4 ) the timing information for potential interference from devices associated with pnc # 1 to devices under its control . if the device in an overlapping area , e . g ., dev 1 in fig3 , is the destination of data from another device ( not shown ), the reservation information is embodied in an ack frame , which is normally used for acknowledgement upon receipt of a data frame . this is a likely scenario because a reservation by a pnc typically involves two devices , as shown in table 1 , and either device may be the source or destination of data . in some situations , the occurrences of ack are less than that of data frame , nevertheless , the method as described herein is applicable . if an application requires streaming data from a source to a destination without acknowledgement , the pnc composes the reservation information and instructs the destination station to rebroadcast the upcoming occupation of channel time before the source actually starts sending data . in an alternative embodiment of the packet header , superframe information is included , as shown in tables 3 and 4 . this allows a device to predict the beacon starting time ( p 0 ′) of another pnc by using eq . ( 1 ) & amp ; ( 2 ). in another embodiment , shown in table 4 , the field of pnc address is added to the header . it could be used when a device ( or a pnc ) is actively looking for another piconet . thus , it helps to speed up the process of finding devices in another piconet by identifying the pnc first . thus , a method for beacon rebroadcast in centrally controlled wireless systems has been disclosed . it will be appreciated that further variations and modifications thereof may be made within the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims .	7
an exemplary embodiment of the present invention will hereinafter be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings . fig2 is a schematic diagram showing an exemplary precursor ( e . g ., tdmat for tin deposition ) supplying apparatus for a cvd apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention . as shown in fig2 , the precursor supplying apparatus 100 for a cvd apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a precursor storage tank 110 , a gas inlet line 120 for flowing an inert gas into the storage tank , and a gas supply line 130 that is connected to the storage tank 110 and supplies a precursor to a cvd chamber ( not shown ). the first manual valve 140 is formed on the gas inlet line 120 , and the second manual valve 150 is formed on the gas supply line 130 . in addition , the first and second automatic valve 170 and 180 that are opened / closed by a controller 160 are formed on the gas inlet line 120 and the gas supply line 130 , respectively . a backflow - preventing line 220 having a third manual valve 210 is formed on the gas inlet line 120 . in the storage tank 110 , a precursor such as a tdmat , tetrakis - diethylaminotitanium ( tdeat ; c 16 h 40 n 4 ti ) or other volatile titanium compound of the formula ( rr ′ n ) 4 ti ( where r and r ′ are independently a c 1 - c 6 alkyl group ), wf 6 , tetraethylorthosilicate ( teos ; c 8 h 20 o 4 si ) or other silane compound of the formula ( r 1 o ) 4 si , si n h 2n + 2 or c - si m h 2m ( where each r 1 is independently a c 1 - c 6 alkyl group , n is an integer of from 1 to 4 , and m is an integer of from 3 to 8 ), etc ., is stored . a level sensor 190 detects a liquid level in the storage tank 110 and sends a level detection signal to the controller 160 . after the controller 160 determines the liquid level in the storage tank 110 by receiving the detection signal from the level sensor 190 , the controller 160 opens or closes the first and second automatic valves 170 and 180 so as to control the inert gas flow to the tank 110 and the precursor supply into the cvd chamber . the gas inlet line 120 provides a path for an inert gas such as helium gas , neon , argon , krypton , etc . when the first manual valve 140 is open and the first automatic valve 170 is opened by the controller 160 , the inert gas is supplied from a gas supply part ( such as a gas storage tank ; not shown ) to the storage tank 110 . in addition , the gas supply line 130 provides a path for the precursor that is in the gas or vapor phase , carried by the inert ( helium ) gas . when the second manual valve 150 is open and the second automatic valve 180 is opened by the controller 160 , the gas phase precursor and the inert ( helium ) gas are supplied to the cvd chamber . as is known in the art , the controller 160 can control a flow rate of the precursor - inert gas mixture to the cvd chamber . also , the tank 110 may further include one or more heating and / or cooling elements for controlling ( e . g ., increasing and / or decreasing ) a concentration or partial pressure of the precursor in the precursor - inert gas mixture . the backflow - prevention line 220 may be located at least in part between the first manual valve 140 and the first automatic valve 170 ( which may be on or which may control an output or flow from the gas inlet line 120 ). the backflow - prevention line 220 provides a path for helium or other inert gas flowing from an external gas supplying apparatus ( such as a gas storage tank ) to the gas inlet line 120 . in order to control the flow of inert ( helium ) gas in the backflow - prevention line 220 , the third manual valve 210 ( which is generally manually opened and shut ) is located thereon , typically in a branch ( e . g ., a t - or y - section or - joint ) of gas inlet also receiving the output of the first automatic valve 170 and / or a check valve 230 , and / or providing an input to the check valve 230 and / or the first manual valve 140 . in addition , a check valve 230 may be placed or located in the gas inlet line 120 and / or backflow - prevention line 220 to prevent a backflow of the precursor from the storage tank 110 , particularly when the pressure in the storage tank 110 is greater than the pressure in the gas inlet line 120 and / or backflow - prevention line 220 . for example , the check valve 230 may be placed or located between the first manual valve 140 and the first automatic valve 170 on or in the gas inlet line 120 , and / or between the first manual valve 140 and the third manual valve 210 in the backflow - prevention line 220 . the precursor supplying apparatus for a cvd apparatus having such a structure as described above is operated as follows . the gas inlet line 120 and the gas supply line 130 are closed by closing the first and second manual valve 140 and 150 during or prior to maintenance work , effectively isolating the precursor tank 110 . as the first manual valve 140 is opened thereafter , the pressure of the gas phase precursor in the storage tank 110 may be higher than the pressure in the gas inlet line 120 ( and / or in the backflow - prevention line 220 ). in such a case , the gas phase precursor ( e . g ., tdmat ) and the inert ( e . g ., helium ) gas in the storage tank 110 may flow backward into the gas inlet line 120 ( and / or into the backflow - prevention line 220 ). during the maintenance work ( or at least prior to opening the first manual valve 140 ), the third manual valve 210 may be opened to supply an inert ( e . g ., helium ) gas to the gas inlet line 120 ( and / or the backflow - prevention line 220 ) between the first manual valve 140 and the first automatic valve 170 . in one embodiment , the pressure of the inert gas introduced through the third manual valve 210 into the gas inlet line 120 and / or the backflow - prevention line 220 is greater than the pressure of the precursor vapor - inert gas mixture in the precursor tank 110 . thus , a precursor backflow into the gas inlet line 120 ( and , optionally , the backflow - prevention line 220 ) can be inhibited or prevented . in addition , the check valve 230 on the gas inlet line 120 may also or may further reduce , inhibit or prevent the precursor backflow into the gas inlet line 120 and ( optionally ) the backflow - prevention line 220 . therefore , the precursor backflow to the gas inlet line 120 from the storage tank 110 caused by a pressure difference therebetween during maintenance work can be reduced , inhibited or prevented , and thus generation of particles in the gas inlet line 120 by precursor contamination can be reduced , inhibited or prevented . consequently , a flow of fallout particles into the cvd chamber during a cvd process can be prevented , and therefore defects on wafers can be suppressed and product yield can be increased . in addition , a decrease in the apparatus operating rate or time ( e . g ., operating efficiency ) and an increase in maintenance costs that may be caused by contamination of the gas inlet line 120 can be reduced , inhibited or prevented . the cvd apparatus improved by an exemplary embodiment of the present invention can be used for forming a tin layer as a diffusion barrier layer in a metallization process . when the tin layer that is formed by using the exemplary cvd apparatus is deposited to a thickness of 100 - 1000 å , it may have good uniformity and be substantially defect - free . the present invention has been made in order to solve problems in applying tdmat as a precursor for tin metal organic cvd ( mocvd ), but it can also apply to other cvd apparatuses using a bubble method ( e . g ., where an inert gas is bubbled through a liquid phase precursor in a precursor storage tank ). a cvd method such as mocvd has an advantage in step - coverage characteristics , and thus it can be effectively used for depositing diffusion barrier layers in metallization processes for semiconductor devices . as described above , the precursor supplying apparatus for a cvd apparatus according to the present invention can increase the pressure in the gas inlet line that provides an inert gas into the precursor storage tank , so it can prevent the precursor from flowing back into the gas inlet line from the storage tank . consequently , a flow of fallout particles to the cvd chamber during a cvd process can be reduced , inhibited or prevented , and therefore defects on wafers can be reduced or suppressed and product yield can be increased . while this invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be practical exemplary embodiments , it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments , but , on the contrary , is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims .	2
the encryption scheme we propose uses steganography in a novel way . usually , steganography is the art and science of embedding a message in data so that an adversary will not be able to tell whether the data has a message embedded in it or not . typically a user will use data available from an outside source to embed the message . therefore , the user will not have the privilege to choose the type of data used . for example , a worker in an office might want to send personal notes to another worker embedding the messages in the data files already distributed at the work place . our encryption scheme uses steganography — embedding a message in data — in a novel way , as encryption . therefore , unlike other steganographic schemes it is not relevant to our scheme whether the adversary will be able to detect the existence of a message in the data . in fact , the data is sent only for the purpose of embedding , so all data streams will have messages embedded in them . moreover , the data in our scheme could be created especially for the purpose of embedding messages in it . therefore , we can choose the data yielding the highest security and efficiency . as in all private key encryption schemes , the message will be embedded in the data so that an adversary who reads the data will not be able to learn information about the message without knowledge of the secret key . the data we choose to use for our scheme is data produced from scanning color pictures , or data produced from color pictures taken on a digital camera . the reason this data is most appropriate for our use is because in digital data encoding colors there are usually several data streams representing the same visual image . if these data streams representing the same image cannot be distinguished , the message can be embedded in on such a stream which is randomly chosen from the set . we are then exploiting the entropy available in such data to communicate specific messages without an eavesdropper being able to figure out what the messages are . indeed statistical tests which are typically used to break steganographic schemes do not perform well in breaking data scanned from color pictures . moreover , since in our scheme the sender creating the ciphertext can choose which pictures to scan , he can make sure to pick the pictures with the most variability in color which decreases the possibility of finding any statistical patterns in the data . the scheme works according to the following steps . the sender and receiver establish an initial secret key . the secret key will contain the information of how the message is embedded in the data . in addition , it will contain a seed for a pseudo random generator which will specify where in the data stream the bits should be embedded . there are several ways to embed a message into data . one good way is to embed it in the low order bits of the data . the size of the message will be small relative to the data . therefore , not all the low order bits will have messages embedded in them and only a small fraction of them will . this again reduces the possibility of performing statistical attacks on the data , since most statistical attacks succeed only when a large fraction of the bits are used for embedding . in order to decide where in the data to embed the bits we can use a weak pseudo random generator . we suggest another method of embedding the messages in pictorial data — embedding the message into the picture itself . for example , it is possible that the domain of pictures will depict people with some facial expressions . the secret key will specify which facial expression is the one which will encode the message as well as where to find the pictographic image bearing this encoded message . one possibility is an expression such as satisfaction . thus in order to encode the bit zero the picture will denote satisfied people and to encode one it will depict an expression of lack of satisfaction . since bandwidth is not of concern these pictures can be mixed with other pictures which depict other facial expressions so that an adversary will not be able to guess what the key is . it may be useful in a variation of this idea to use other images of people containing the same expression features as the one bearing the encoded data . ( again realizing bandwidth is not a limiting factor ). in this variation , the facial expressions used to encode the messages are satisfaction , drowsiness and possibly other appropriately compatible facial gestures . it would be possible in the previously encoded message to transmit through one or more of the gestures the location data ( such as which specific image in a sequence or the coordinates of ) the image bearing the encoded message . it would be possible in this scenario to include noise , which is indistinguishable from real data . this noise could consist of other apparently identical satisfied people where the satisfaction feature is used to send encoded messages which determine which people among those which are satisfied actually possess legitimate versus illegitimate ( decoy ) encoded messages which as a result make the system extremely noisy and random to a would - be attacker . the satisfaction and drowsiness features on other images could , for example , contain the actual encoded message . thus , it may be possible in this scheme to leverage the use of available bandwidth to add a significantly large amount of randomness , in this way ( by obfuscating the true message bearing image segments using this type of random noise ). in addition , the adversary will not be able to run any statistical test on the data since currently artificial intelligence is not yet capable of detecting facial expressions as well as people can . let the data stream have w words in it , s 0 , s 1 , . . . , s w - 1 ( w is large enough as described later but small enough so that it is within the processing capability of the sender and receiver ). for example , a word in the stream can be the digital representation of a scanned picture . the initial seed that the two parties share in their secret key is of length c log w , for some constant c such that wc is not feasibly long ( as described below ). view this seed as partitioned into c equal length blocks of length log w each − k = k 0 k 1 . . . k c - 1 . this seed specifies where the message is to be embedded in the sequence of words in the data stream . when the i th message is to be sent it is placed in the following location in the word : ( ∑ j = 0 c - 1 ⁢ k j ⁢ i j ) ⁢ mod ⁢ w someone who does not know the key k will have to essentially guess each of w c possible keys and try them all to see which one holds the new secret key . we choose c so that this computation is not feasible for practical purposes . this is a much weaker pseudo random generator than the one which is obtained from one way function assumption . the reason we are able to rely on a much weaker assumption is because the data itself has some randomness . our scheme is computationally secure in the following sense . if d is the length of the data stream , we consider o ( d ) to be feasible computation whereas o ( dˆ2 ) to be infeasible . in an alternative embodiment it may be possible to devise a similar scheme to that proposed , however , it would be a further objective to utilize the inexpensive costs of bandwidth in order to add a high degree of statistical noise . in this regard it would be an additional objective to prevent the adversary from being able to detect the presence of an embedded message . in this approach , we rely on two primary assumptions : 1 . that the ability of computational means employing ai techniques to discover the presence of analog data within otherwise very noisy analog content to be inferior to that of a human . 2 . that we can exploit a sufficiently abundant degree of bandwidth needed to ensure that another human ( adversary ) will not be capable of scanning the volume of analog contents which may contain the analog message . in one final variation of this idea , we additionally seek to leverage the inherent noisiness of the analog data in which the analog encoded messages are embedded in order to not only hide the locations or where analog encoded messages are hidden but further so doing to make it possible for analog encoding of these messages to be performed in an automated fashion . for example , one could easily imagine pictographic or videographic contents in which there are so many unusual or anomalous analog features or actions that the inherent noisiness would make it difficult to detect which , if any , analog feature ( s ) contained an encoded message . in this example this inherent noisiness could be further exploited so as to nearly maximally increase entropy to the point that any statistical patterns which could be detected by an adversary would possess such a low degree of statistical confidence as to make the data of little value . we can achieve this objective by maximally spreading around among a maximally large number and diversity the selection and type of analog components containing a given encoded message . 1 . 1 . co - pending patent application entitled “ a multi - user secure system utilizing shared keys ”, by the same authors as the present patent application includes under “ detailed description ” a section describing in high level of detail how a preferred analog cryptographic scheme which is well suited for the application it is used for , i . e ., for purposes of key replenishment of shared set keys . it is , however , obvious that such a scheme could be usable within a much more broad - based context as well as being very similar to the methods as herein described . therefore in order to further elucidate these methods as presently claimed we hereby incorporate by reference co - pending patent application entitled , “ a multi - user secure system utilizing shared keys ”. conversely , it can be amply appreciated that the methods for analog encrypted data transmission and delivery ( as they are presently herein suggested to apply to all kinds of data ) would consitute viable alternative key replenishment methodologies ( among still others ) to preferred embodiment as disclosed in the above referenced patent application . 2 . the present scheme is applicable to any / all kinds of data . however , in the future it is anticipated for a variety of reasons that the relative computational costs of encryption will increase while ( as suggested bandwidth costs will increasingly diminish by comparison ). this suggests the increasing potential need for high bandwidth , low computational cost encryption and particularly a type of encryption which incorporates forms of complexity which do not evenly scale with increases in processing speed ( as is the case with standard factor - based public key encryption ). 3 . quantum cryptography — as quantum cryptography becomes a practical reality for photonic - based transmissions a need will also arise for fast , efficient yet highly secure encryption methods through which the encryption keys can be securely transmitted in advance of transmission . once the keys are present ( and the fact of their non - interception securely verified ) it will be important for the sake of computational efficiency and speed for the scheme to enable the recipient to easily decrypt the message . in addition , once quantum cryptoanalysis becomes a practical realization the use of fundamentally alternative methods such as the analog encryption scheme herein proposed ( versus digital factor - based ciphers ) will be particularly needed . the scheme proposed here requires less computation than other schemes which use standard pseudo random generators . however , it does rely on the ability to send large amounts of data in an efficient manner . this quite likely is a reasonable assumption since bandwidth is turning out to be inexpensive whereas computation is still costly . in addition , scanning pictures is a task which is easy and inexpensive .	7
referring now to fig3 - 9 , sequential sectional views of a first ferroelectric capacitor process suitable for use in a ferroelectric memory having decreased hydrogen sensitivity are shown . in fig3 a layer 16 of bpsg glass about 7000 angstroms thick is deposited onto a silicon or other substrate ( not shown ). any oxide , nitride , or other appropriate dielectric layer can be substituted for bpsg layer 16 . a platinum bottom electrode layer 18 is subsequently deposited over bpsg glass layer 16 to a thickness of about 1750 angstroms . while platinum is used for electrode layer 16 , other known materials compatible with ferroelectric films can be used including iridium , iridium oxide , and the like . the bottom electrode layer 18 also includes a titanium adhesion layer about 200 angstroms thick to facilitate the adhesion of the platinum bottom electrode layer 18 to bpsg glass layer 16 . a first ferroelectric layer 20 is subsequently deposited over the bottom electrode layer 18 to a thickness of about 3000 angstroms . the material used in ferroelectric layer 20 is ideally doped or undoped pzt ( lead zirconate titanate ), sbt ( strontium bismuth tantalate ), or any other known ferroelectric material suitable for use in thin film form . after the ferroelectric layer 20 is deposited , a first anneal is performed . the first anneal includes a 650 ° c . heat treatment for about five seconds , followed by an 850 ° c . heat treatment for about five seconds . a platinum top electrode layer 22 is subsequently deposited over the first ferroelectric layer 20 to a thickness of about 1750 angstroms . the material used in top electrode layer 22 can be other than platinum as described above . top electrode layer 22 is etched to form one or more top electrodes . platinum is typically etched using a reactive - ion etch in an argon and chlorine atmosphere , although other gases can be used . ion milling can be used as well as an alternative etching technique . the dimensions of the individual top electrodes can modified as desired from nominal dimensions of 1 . 5 × 1 . 5 microns , with a spacing of about three microns between top electrodes . after the platinum top electrode layer 20 is etched to define the individual top electrodes , a second anneal is performed . the second anneal includes a 650 ° c . heat treatment for about sixty minutes in an oxygen atmosphere . in fig4 a second &# 34 ; cap &# 34 ; ferroelectric layer 30 about the same thickness ( 3000 angstroms ) as the first ferroelectric layer 20 is deposited over the first ferroelectric layer 20 , thereby completely encapsulating the top electrodes 22 . the material used in the second ferroelectric layer 30 is also ideally doped or undoped pzt ( lead zirconate titanate ), sbt ( strontium bismuth tantalate ), or any other known ferroelectric material suitable for use in thin film form . the first and second ferroelectric layers need not be the same ferroelectric material , since the second layer is used for its resistance to hydrogen diffusion or hydrogen &# 34 ; gettering &# 34 ; properties and not specifically for its ferroelectric properties . after the second ferroelectric layer 30 is deposited , an optional third anneal can be performed . the optional third anneal includes a 650 ° c . heat treatment for about sixty minutes in an oxygen atmosphere . in fig5 the second ferroelectric layer 30 is etched according to the same etching method as set forth for the first ferroelectric layer 20 . the second ferroelectric layer 30 is etched to leave a reasonable overlap of the top electrodes 22 , about 1 . 5 to 2 . 0 microns . in fig6 the first ferroelectric layer 20 and the bottom electrode layer 18 are simultaneously etched to define the dimensions of a bottom electrode . as can be seen in fig6 one end of the bottom electrode 18 is etched to allow sufficient room for an eventual bottom electrode contact . the other end of bottom electrode 18 is etched to the same dimensions as the second ferroelectric layer 30 . the first ferroelectric layer 20 and the bottom electrode layer 18 are simultaneously etched using a reactive - ion etch in an argon and carbon tetrafluoride atmosphere , although other gases can be used . ion milling can also be used as an alternative etching technique . after the first ferroelectric layer 20 and bottom electrode layer 18 are etched , an optional first recovery anneal can be performed . the optional first recovery anneal includes a 550 ° c . heat treatment for about sixty minutes in an oxygen atmosphere . in fig7 a pteos glass dielectric layer 24 is deposited over the etched first ferroelectric and second ferroelectric layers 20 and 30 to a thickness of about 5000 angstroms . other dielectric layers can be used for dielectric layer 24 . in fig8 contact holes are etched to provide access of the top and bottom electrodes 22 and 18 . contact hole 32 provides access to bottom electrode 18 , and contact holes 34 provide access to top electrodes 22 . contact holes 34 are etched through the dielectric layer 24 and the second ferroelectric layer 30 to allow metalization of the top electrodes . contact hole 32 is etched through the dielectric layer 24 and the first ferroelectric layer 20 to allow metalization of bottom electrode 18 . note that the contact holes 32 and 34 are ideally etched in two steps . the first etching step removes the dielectric layer 24 in the contact holes . the dielectric oxide material can be etched away using a fluorine - based wet or dry etch . it is desirable that a sloped profile is etched into the contact holes . after the dielectric oxide material is removed , the remaining ferroelectric material in the contact hole is etched away according to the ferroelectric etch described above . note in fig8 that contact holes 32 and 34 are etched through about the same thickness of material , i . e . 5000 angstroms of glass plus 3000 angstroms of ferroelectric material . therefore , the etching of contact holes 32 and 34 can be performed simultaneously . after contact holes 32 and 34 are etched , an optional second recovery anneal can be performed . the optional second recovery anneal includes a 550 ° c . heat treatment for about sixty minutes in an oxygen atmosphere . in fig9 contact holes 32 and 34 are metalized to provide electrical access to bottom electrode 18 and top electrodes 22 . a titanium nitride local interconnect metalization layer is deposited to a thickness of about 800 angstroms and etched to form a metal contact 36 for bottom electrode 18 and a metal contact 38 for each of the top electrodes 22 . the full metalization scheme showing subsequent oxide and metalization layers for a ferroelectric memory cell is shown in fig5 , although other metalization schemes can be used . for example , a titanium layer about 1500 angstroms thick followed by an aluminum layer of about 8000 angstroms thick can be used to form metal contacts 36 and 38 . other metalization techniques can be used as well after the titanium nitride layer has been deposited . a plan view of the capacitor structure described above with respect to fig3 - 9 is shown in fig1 . the bottom electrode 18 and first ferroelectric layer 20 are shown as coincident layers forming a first rectangle . a second , smaller rectangle is formed of the bottom electrode 18 , the first ferroelectric layer 20 , and the second ferroelectric layer 30 . the contact holes to the bottom and top electrodes 32 and 34 are shown as circular features . the local interconnect metal contact straps 38 that contact the top electrodes 22 are shown as individual rectangles overlapping contact holes 34 and 40 . contact holes 40 are not shown in fig3 - 9 but represent a contact to another structure such as the diffused region of a transistor as is shown in fig5 . referring now to fig1 - 17 , sequential sectional views of a second ferroelectric capacitor process suitable for use in a ferroelectric memory having decreased hydrogen sensitivity are shown . fig1 is the same sectional view as fig3 showing the sequential deposition of a thick glass layer 16 , a bottom electrode layer 18 , a first ferroelectric layer 20 , and a top electrode layer 22 . all of the thicknesses and materials described above are the same in fig1 . a first anneal can be performed after the first ferroelectric layer 18 is deposited . the platinum top electrode layer 22 is etched to form individual top electrodes 22 . a second anneal can be performed after the top electrodes 22 are etched . in fig1 , the first ferroelectric layer 20 is etched with some lateral overlap of the etched top electrodes 20 . the bottom electrode layer 18 is etched to define the dimensions of a bottom electrode . as can be seen in fig1 , one end of the bottom electrode 18 is etched to allow sufficient room for the eventual bottom electrode contact . the other end of bottom electrode 18 is etched to the same dimensions as the first ferroelectric layer 20 . the etching techniques for bottom electrode 18 and first ferroelectric layer 20 are as described above with reference to fig3 - 11 . after the first ferroelectric layer 20 and bottom electrode layer 18 are etched , an optional first recovery anneal can be performed . the optional first recovery anneal includes a 550 ° c . heat treatment for about sixty minutes in an oxygen atmosphere . in fig1 , a second &# 34 ; cap &# 34 ; ferroelectric layer 30 about the same thickness ( 3000 angstroms ) as the first ferroelectric layer 20 is deposited over the first ferroelectric layer 20 , thereby completely encapsulating the top electrodes 22 . after the second ferroelectric layer 30 is deposited , an optional third anneal can be performed . the optional third anneal includes a 650 ° c . heat treatment for about sixty minutes in an oxygen atmosphere . in fig1 , the second ferroelectric layer 30 is etched according to the same etching method as set forth for the first ferroelectric layer 20 . the second ferroelectric layer 30 is etched to leave a reasonable overlap of the bottom electrode 18 , about 1 . 5 to 2 . 0 microns . after the second ferroelectric layer 30 is etched , an optional second recovery anneal can be performed . in fig1 , a pteos glass dielectric layer 24 is deposited over the etched second ferroelectric layers 30 to a thickness of about 5000 angstroms . in fig1 , contact holes are etched to provide access of the top and bottom electrodes 22 and 18 . contact hole 32 provides access to bottom electrode 18 , and contact holes 34 provide access to top electrodes 22 . note that in fig1 , both contact holes 34 and 36 are etched through the dielectric layer 24 and the second ferroelectric layer 30 to allow metalization of the top and bottom electrodes . the thickness of contact holes 34 and 36 is the same since they are etched through the same thickness of material . contact holes 32 and 34 are ideally simultaneously etched in two steps to remove the dielectric oxide material and then the remaining ferroelectric material . the type of etch used in the same as described with reference to fig8 . after contact holes 32 and 34 are etched , an optional second recovery anneal can be performed . in fig1 , contact holes 32 and 34 are metalized to provide electrical access to bottom electrode 18 and top electrodes 22 . a titanium nitride local interconnect metalization layer is deposited to a thickness of about 800 angstroms and etched to form a metal contact 36 for bottom electrode 18 and a metal contact 38 for each of the top electrodes 22 . the full metalization scheme showing subsequent oxide and metalization layers for a ferroelectric memory cell is shown in fig5 , although other metalization schemes can be used . a plan view of the capacitor structure described above with respect to fig1 - 17 is shown in fig1 . the bottom electrode 18 is shown as forming a first rectangle . a second , smaller rectangle is formed of the bottom electrode 18 and the first ferroelectric layer 20 . the second ferroelectric layer 30 is shown as a dashed rectangle overlapping the bottom electrode 18 . the contact holes to the bottom and top electrodes 32 and 34 are shown as circular features . the local interconnect metal contact straps 38 that contact the top electrodes 22 are shown as individual rectangles overlapping contact holes 34 and 40 . contact holes 40 are not shown in fig1 - 17 but represent a contact to another structure such as the diffused region of a transistor as is shown in fig5 . referring now to fig1 - 24 , sequential sectional views of a third ferroelectric capacitor process suitable for use in a ferroelectric memory having decreased hydrogen sensitivity are shown . fig1 - 21 are identical to previously described fig1 - 13 both in sectional views , material , etching , and annealing steps . fig1 shows a thick glass layer 16 , a bottom electrode layer 18 , a first ferroelectric layer 20 , and a top electrode layer 22 formed in sequence , wherein the top electrode layer 22 is etched to form individual top electrodes 22 . fig2 shows the etching of the first ferroelectric layer 20 and the etching of the bottom electrode layer 18 to form a bottom electrode . in fig2 , a second &# 34 ; cap &# 34 ; ferroelectric layer 30 about the same thickness ( 3000 angstroms ) as the first ferroelectric layer 20 is deposited over the first ferroelectric layer 20 , thereby completely encapsulating the top electrodes 22 . a first anneal is performed after the ferroelectric layer 20 is deposited , a second anneal is performed after the top electrode layer 22 is etched , and an optional third anneal is performed after the second ferroelectric layer 30 is deposited . a optional first recovery anneal is performed after the first ferroelectric layer 20 and bottom electrode layer 18 have been etched . in fig2 , a pteos glass dielectric layer 24 is deposited over the unetched second ferroelectric layer 30 to a thickness of about 5000 angstroms . in fig2 , contact holes are etched to provide access of the top and bottom electrodes 22 and 18 . contact hole 32 provides access to bottom electrode 18 , and contact holes 34 provide access to top electrodes 22 . note that in fig2 , both contact holes 34 and 36 are etched through the dielectric layer 24 and the second ferroelectric layer 30 to allow metalization of the top and bottom electrodes . the thickness of contact holes 34 and 36 is the same since they are etched through the same thickness of material . contact holes 32 and 34 are ideally simultaneously etched in two steps to remove the dielectric oxide material and then the remaining ferroelectric material . the type of etch used in the same as described with reference to fig8 . a second optional recovery anneal can be performed after contact holes 32 and 34 have been opened . in fig2 , contact holes 32 and 34 are metalized to provide electrical access to bottom electrode 18 and top electrodes 22 . a titanium nitride local interconnect metalization layer is deposited to a thickness of about 800 angstroms and etched to form a metal contact 36 for bottom electrode 18 and a metal contact 38 for each of the top electrodes 22 . the full metalization scheme showing subsequent oxide and metalization layers for a ferroelectric memory cell is shown in fig5 , although other metalization schemes can be used . a plan view of the capacitor structure described above with respect to fig1 - 24 is shown in fig2 . the bottom electrode 18 is shown as forming a first rectangle . a second , smaller rectangle is formed of the bottom electrode 18 and the first ferroelectric layer 20 . the second ferroelectric layer 30 is shown as a dashed rectangle overlapping the bottom electrode 18 by a wide margin . the wide margin shown is meant to convey the unetched , continuous extent of the second ferroelectric layer 30 . the contact holes to the bottom and top electrodes 32 and 34 are shown as circular features . the local interconnect metal contact straps 38 that contact the top electrodes 22 are shown as individual rectangles overlapping contact holes 34 and 40 . contact holes 40 are not shown in fig1 - 24 but represent a contact to another structure such as the diffused region of a transistor as is shown in fig5 . referring now to fig2 - 32 , sequential sectional views of a fourth ferroelectric capacitor process suitable for use in a ferroelectric memory having decreased hydrogen sensitivity are shown . the fourth ferroelectric capacitor process described below allows the thickness of the second ferroelectric layer 30 to be different from the first ferroelectric layer 20 , if desired . fig2 is the same as previously described fig3 , and 19 . a first anneal is performed after the first ferroelectric layer 20 is deposited , and a second anneal is performed after the top electrode layer 22 is etched . in fig2 , only the first ferroelectric layer 20 is etched to a reasonable overlap of the etched top electrodes 22 . the bottom electrode layer 18 remains unetched in fig2 . an optional first recovery anneal is performed after the first ferroelectric layer 20 is etched . in fig2 , a second &# 34 ; cap &# 34 ; ferroelectric layer 30 &# 39 ; of a different thickness ( less than or greater than 3000 angstroms ) from the first ferroelectric layer 20 is deposited over the first ferroelectric layer 20 , thereby completely encapsulating the top electrodes 22 . a less thick second ferroelectric layer 30 &# 39 ; is desirable since less material is used , it is easier to etch , more planar , and for other processing reasons . however , if desired , the same or a thicker ferroelectric layer 30 &# 39 ; can be used . the material used for the second ferroelectric layer 30 &# 39 ; is the same as described above , and can be different than the material used in the first ferroelectric layer 20 . an optional third anneal can be performed after the second ferroelectric layer 30 &# 39 ; is deposited . in fig2 , the second ferroelectric layer 30 &# 39 ; and the bottom electrode layer 18 are simultaneously etched to form a bottom electrode . after the bottom electrode layer 18 and second ferroelectric layer 30 &# 39 ; have been etched , an optional second recovery anneal can be performed . in fig3 , a pteos glass dielectric layer 24 is deposited over the etched second ferroelectric layer 30 &# 39 ; to a thickness of about 5000 angstroms . in fig3 , contact holes are etched to provide access of the top and bottom electrodes 22 and 18 . contact hole 32 provides access to bottom electrode 18 , and contact holes 34 provide access to top electrodes 22 . note that in fig3 , both contact holes 34 and 36 are etched through the dielectric layer 24 and the second ferroelectric layer 30 &# 39 ; to allow metalization of the top and bottom electrodes . the thickness of contact holes 34 and 36 is the same since they are etched through the same thickness of material . contact holes 32 and 34 are ideally simultaneously etched in two steps to remove the dielectric oxide material and then the remaining ferroelectric material . the type of etch used in the same as described with reference to fig8 . after contact holes 32 and 34 have been etched , an optional third recovery anneal can be performed . in fig3 , contact holes 32 and 34 are metalized to provide electrical access to bottom electrode 18 and top electrodes 22 . the full metalization scheme showing subsequent oxide and metalization layers for a ferroelectric memory cell is shown in fig5 , although other metalization schemes can be used . a plan view of the capacitor structure described above with respect to fig2 - 32 is not shown , but is similar to the plan view shown in fig1 . the one difference is that the second ferroelectric layer 30 &# 39 ; does not overlap the bottom electrode 18 , but is coincident thereto . referring now to fig3 - 41 , sequential sectional views of a fifth ferroelectric capacitor process suitable for use in a ferroelectric memory having decreased hydrogen sensitivity are shown . in fig3 , a layer 16 of bpsg glass about 7000 angstroms thick is deposited onto a silicon or other substrate ( not shown ). a platinum bottom electrode layer 18 is subsequently deposited over bpsg glass layer 16 to a thickness of about 1750 angstroms . the bottom electrode layer 18 also includes a titanium adhesion layer about 200 angstroms thick to facilitate the adhesion of the platinum bottom electrode layer 18 to bpsg glass layer 16 . a ferroelectric layer 20 is subsequently deposited over the bottom electrode layer 18 to a thickness of about 3000 angstroms . the material used in ferroelectric layer 20 is ideally doped or undoped pzt ( lead zirconate titanate ), sbt ( strontium bismuth tantalate ), or any other known ferroelectric material suitable for use in thin film form . in fig3 the ferroelectric layer 20 is partially etched to form one or more indentations 42 . indentations 42 should be etched to a sufficient depth to completely receive the top electrodes as is explained in further detail below . the etching technique used is the same reactive - ion etch used in etching the ferroelectric layers . after the ferroelectric layer 20 is partially etched , a first anneal is performed . the first anneal includes a 650 ° c . heat treatment for about five seconds , followed by an 850 ° c . heat treatment for about five seconds . in fig3 , a platinum top electrode layer 22 is subsequently deposited over the ferroelectric layer 20 to a thickness of about 1750 angstroms . the top electrode layer 22 is conformal and thus fills in each of the indentations 42 . in fig3 , the top electrode layer 22 is etched away to form one or more top electrodes in indentations 42 . platinum is typically etched using a reactive - ion etch in an argon and chlorine atmosphere . alternative etching techniques include ion milling or chemical mechanical polishing ( cmp ). the dimensions of the individual top electrodes can modified as desired from nominal dimensions of 1 . 5 × 1 . 5 microns , with a spacing of about three microns between top electrodes . after the platinum top electrode layer 20 is etched to define the individual top electrodes , a second anneal is performed . the second anneal includes a 650 ° c . heat treatment for about sixty minutes in an oxygen atmosphere . in fig3 , the ferroelectric layer 20 is etched to leave a reasonable lateral overlap of the top electrodes 22 . in fig3 , the bottom electrode layer 18 is etched to define the dimensions of a bottom electrode . as can be seen in fig3 , one end of the bottom electrode 18 is etched to allow room for an eventual bottom electrode contact . the other end of bottom electrode 18 is etched to the same dimensions as the second ferroelectric layer 30 . the bottom electrode layer 18 is etched using a reactive - ion etch in an argon and chlorine atmosphere . after the bottom electrode layer 18 is etched , an optional first recovery anneal can be performed . the optional first recovery anneal includes a 550 ° c . heat treatment for about sixty minutes in an oxygen atmosphere . in fig3 , a pteos glass dielectric layer 24 is deposited over the etched ferroelectric layer 20 to a thickness of about 5000 angstroms . in fig4 , contact holes are etched to provide access of the top and bottom electrodes 22 and 18 . contact hole 32 provides access to bottom electrode 18 , and contact holes 34 provide access to top electrodes 22 . contact holes 34 and 32 are etched through the dielectric layer 24 to allow metalization of the top electrodes and bottom electrodes 22 and 18 . note that the contact holes 32 and 34 are etched in a single etching step . the dielectric oxide material can be etched away using a fluorine - based wet or dry etch . it is desirable that a sloped profile is etched into the contact holes . note in fig4 that contact holes 32 and 34 are etched through about the same thickness of material , i . e . 5000 angstroms of glass dielectric layer 24 . a second optional recovery anneal can be performed after contact holes 32 and 34 are opened as previously described . in fig4 , contact holes 32 and 34 are metalized to provide electrical access to bottom electrode 18 and top electrodes 22 as previously described above . a plan view of the capacitor structure described above with respect to fig3 - 41 is similar to that shown in fig1 . the only difference is that there is no second level of ferroelectric material 30 . the contours of the plan view , however , are the same . referring now to fig4 - 50 , sequential sectional views of a sixth ferroelectric capacitor process suitable for use in a ferroelectric memory having decreased hydrogen sensitivity are shown . in fig4 , a layer 16 of bpsg glass about 7000 angstroms thick is deposited onto a silicon or other substrate ( not shown ). a platinum bottom electrode layer 18 is subsequently deposited over bpsg glass layer 16 to a thickness of about 1750 angstroms . the bottom electrode layer 18 also includes a titanium adhesion layer about 200 angstroms thick to facilitate the adhesion of the platinum bottom electrode layer 18 to bpsg glass layer 16 . in fig4 , bottom electrode layer 18 is etched to form a bottom electrode . in fig4 , a ferroelectric layer 20 is subsequently deposited over the bottom electrode 18 to a thickness of about 3000 angstroms . the material used in ferroelectric layer 20 is ideally doped or undoped pzt ( lead zirconate titanate ), sbt ( strontium bismuth tantalate ), or any other known ferroelectric material suitable for use in thin film form . in fig4 the ferroelectric layer 20 is partially etched to form one or more indentations 42 . indentations 42 should be etched to a sufficient depth to completely receive the top electrodes as is explained in further detail below . the etching technique used is the same reactive - ion etch used in etching the ferroelectric layers . after the ferroelectric layer 20 is partially etched , a first anneal is performed . the first anneal includes a 650 ° c . heat treatment for about five seconds , followed by an 850 ° c . heat treatment for about five seconds . in fig4 , a platinum top electrode layer 22 is subsequently deposited over the ferroelectric layer 20 to a thickness of about 1750 angstroms . the top electrode layer 22 is conformal and thus fills in each of the indentations 42 . in fig4 , the top electrode layer 22 is etched away to form one or more top electrodes in indentations 42 . platinum is typically etched using a reactive - ion etch in an argon and chlorine atmosphere . the dimensions of the individual top electrodes can modified as desired from nominal dimensions of 1 . 5 × 1 . 5 microns , with a spacing of about three microns between top electrodes . after the platinum top electrode layer 20 is etched to define the individual top electrodes , a second anneal is performed . the second anneal includes a 650 ° c . heat treatment for about sixty minutes in an oxygen atmosphere . in fig4 , a pteos glass dielectric layer 24 is deposited over the etched ferroelectric layer 20 to a thickness of about 5000 angstroms . in fig4 , contact holes are etched to provide access of the top and bottom electrodes 22 and 18 . contact hole 32 provides access to bottom electrode 18 , and contact holes 34 provide access to top electrodes 22 . contact holes 34 are etched through the dielectric layer 24 to allow metalization of the top electrodes 22 . contact hole 32 , however is etched through dielectric layer 24 as well as ferroelectric layer 20 . note , therefore , that contact holes 32 and 34 are etched in two separate etching steps . the dielectric oxide material can be etched away using a fluorine - based wet or dry etch . the ferroelectric material is etched used a reactive - ion etch . it is desirable that a sloped profile is etched into the contact holes . an optional recovery anneal can be performed at this point in the process . in fig5 , contact holes 32 and 34 are metalized to provide electrical access to bottom electrode 18 and top electrodes 22 as previously described above . a plan view of the capacitor structure described above with respect to fig4 - 50 is similar to that shown in fig2 . the differences are that there is no second level of ferroelectric material 30 , and the contour for ferroelectric material 20 should be removed . referring now to fig5 , a schematic diagram for a typical non - volatile ferroelectric memory is shown having a transistor 52 coupled to a ferroelectric capacitor 54 . the configuration in fig5 is known as a one - transistor , one - capacitor ferroelectric memory cell or &# 34 ; 1t / 1c &# 34 ; cell . one current node of the transistor 52 forms the bit line of the cell , and is designated 14 , 46 , 48 to correspond to regions in the integrated cell shown below in fig5 . the other current node of transistor 52 is coupled to ferroelectric capacitor 54 at node 56 . the gate 15 of transistor 52 forms the word line of the memory cell . one end of capacitor 54 is coupled to transistor 52 at node 56 , and the other end of capacitor 54 forms the plate line of the memory cell . the plate line node is designated 18 , 36 , 48 to correspond to regions in the integrated cell shown below in fig5 . referring now to fig5 , a sectional view of a completely metalized integrated circuit ferroelectric memory cell having a bit line , a word line , and a plate line is shown . the memory cell includes a silicon substrate or epitaxial region 12 , and a transistor formed in the substrate 12 including first and second diffused regions 14 , a thin gate oxide 13 , and a gate 15 forming the word line . a thick oxide layer 16 is formed on the substrate 12 including contact holes to allow metalization of the first and second diffused regions 14 . note that in fig5 , the exact sequence for forming each of the various layers and contact holes within each layer is not fully described ; the contact holes may actually be formed at a subsequent processing step . a ferroelectric capacitor is subsequently formed on the thick oxide layer 16 , including a bottom electrode 18 , a ferroelectric layer 20 + 30 , and a top electrode 22 , wherein the ferroelectric layer 20 + 30 either partially or completely encapsulates the top electrode 22 . the ferroelectric layer 20 + 30 includes a contact hole to allow metalization of the top electrode 22 . a first dielectric layer 24 is formed over the thick oxide layer 16 and the ferroelectric capacitor , including contact holes to allow metalization of the first and second diffused regions 14 , and the top and bottom electrodes 22 and 18 of the ferroelectric capacitor . a first patterned metalization layer 36 , 38 , 46 is deposited for contacting the first diffused region 14 with metal contact 46 , for forming a local interconnect 38 between the top electrode 22 and the second diffused region 14 , and for metalizing the bottom electrode 36 with metal contact 36 . a second dielectric layer 44 is formed over the first metalization layer 36 , 38 , 46 including contact holes to allow metalization of the first diffused region 14 and the bottom electrode 36 . a second patterned metalization layer 48 contacts the first diffused region 14 and forms the bit line of the memory cell , and contacts the bottom electrode 18 to form the plate line of the memory cell . finally , a passivation layer 50 is formed over the second metalization layer 48 . although the first and second dielectric layers 24 and 44 are typically thin doped or undoped oxide layers , if greater resistance to hydrogen diffusion is required these layers can also be made of ferroelectric materials such as pzt or sbt . still further , the passivation layer 50 , while typically formed of silicon nitride or the like , can also be made from ferroelectric materials such as pzt or sbt . all three layers mentioned above can be fabricated of the same or different ferroelectric materials as desired , and not necessarily the same material as used in the ferroelectric layer of the ferroelectric capacitor . further teachings regarding ferroelectric material passivation cart be found in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 438 , 023 entitled &# 34 ; passivation method and structure for a ferroelectric integrated circuit using hard ceramic materials or the like &# 34 ;, which is assigned to the assignee of the present invention , ramtron international corporation . while extra care can be taken to even further reduce sensitivity to hydrogen , these steps may increase fabrication costs and complexity . ferroelectric fets , sometimes referred to as &# 34 ; mfsfets &# 34 ;, which stands for &# 34 ; metal - ferroelectric - semiconductor field - effect transistors &# 34 ;, have been proposed as a memory element for a ferroelectric memory device . the ferroelectric fet is similar to a standard mosfet , with the exception that the silicon dioxide gate dielectric layer is replaced with a ferroelectric gate dielectric layer . it is postulated that the ferroelectric fet could be an alternative to 1t - 1c or 2t - 2c memory cells in which separate switching devices and ferroelectric capacitors are used . in operation , polarization of the ferroelectric gate dielectric layer induces either accumulation or depletion / inversion of the channel underneath the gate region . therefore , the ferroelectric fet is either off or on depending upon the ferroelectric polarization state and can thus be used as a memory element . ferroelectric fets are deemed to be a good alternative to standard ferroelectric memory cells since the read / write mechanism is nondestructive and the cell size of a single ferroelectric fet is small . to date , however , the problems inherent in the processing of ferroelectric fets has prevented their widespread adoption . one problem with ferroelectric fets is interdiffusion at the interface between the ferroelectric gate dielectric layer and the semiconductor layer where the channel is formed during deposition and / or during subsequent anneal cycles . another problem of ferroelectric fets is the degradation of the ferroelectric gate dielectric layer during subsequent processing steps . once interdiffusion takes place a combination of two series capacitors is actually formed . a first capacitor is ferroelectric , but the second capacitor is non - ferroelectric and actually absorbs most of the applied external voltage . this results in a marked reduction in electrical performance and cannot be cured by subsequent thermal annealing . fig5 - 69 illustrate an improved fabrication method for forming a first embodiment of a ferroelectric fet including at least two source / drain regions and a ferroelectric gate structure in which the ferroelectric gate structure is encapsulated with a hydrogen - barrier cap layer distinct from the ferroelectric gate structure . the hydrogen - barrier cap layer both prevents degradation from hydrogen due to subsequent processing steps and minimizes or eliminates the need for subsequent recovery anneals . as a consequence , interdiffusion between the ferroelectric gate layer and the semiconductor region is also minimized . referring now to fig5 a silicon or other semiconductor substrate or epitaxial layer 100 is shown in which the source / drain regions for the ferroelectric transistors are formed . in fig5 , diffused regions such as an n - well 102 and p - well 104 are diffused into the semiconductor substrate 100 . in fig5 , field - oxide regions 106 , 108 , and 110 are thermally grown to a thickness of about 1 μm to electrically isolate wells 102 and 104 . in fig5 , three layers are formed . a ferroelectric gate dielectric layer 112 is formed to a thickness of about 500 to 5000 angstroms . the ferroelectric layer 112 can be formed of any well known ferroelectric composition such as doped or undoped pzt ( lead zirconate titanate ), sbt ( strontium bismuth titanate ), bst ( barium strontium titanate ), or the like . next , a polysilicon gate layer 114 is formed to a thickness of about 500 to 5000 angstroms . finally , a &# 34 ; hard mask &# 34 ; silicon dioxide layer 116 is formed at a nominal thickness of about 3000 angstroms . in fig5 , the surface of layer 116 is patterned , and layers 112 , 114 , and 116 are etched using the combination of a wet and reactive - ion etch (&# 34 ; rie &# 34 ;). after the etch step is completed , the gate structure 112a and 114a , together with the remnant of the hard mask layer 116a is formed for a first p - channel ferroelectric fet . the gate structure 112b and 114b , together with the remnant of the hard mask layer 116b is also formed for a second n - channel ferroelectric fet . note in fig5 that the ferroelectric gate structure including ferroelectric dielectric layers 112a and 112b and polysilicon gates 114a and 114b are formed directly on silicon substrate 100 , which will include the source / drain regions . in fig5 , the source / drain regions of appropriate polarity for the transistors are implanted , masked by oxide regions 106 , 108 , and 110 , and hard mask layers 116a and 116b . source / drain regions 118a and 118b are ideally heavily p - doped to form a p - channel ferroelectric fet , whereas source / drain regions 120a and 120b are ideally heavily n - doped to form an n - channel ferroelectric fet . in fig5 , the remnants 116a and 116b of the hard mask layer 116 are removed by etching . in fig6 a cap layer 122 is deposited over the entire surface of the ferroelectric transistors including the source / drain and oxide regions to a thickness of about 500 to 5000 angstroms . the material used for the cap layer 122 can be a standard ferroelectric material as referred to above for the ferroelectric gate dielectric layer 112 , i . e . doped or undoped pzt , sbt , bst , or other known ferroelectric material . in addition , cap layer 122 can be a ferroelectric or non - ferroelectric ceramic material selected from a groups consisting of doped and undoped nitrides , titanates , zirconates , niobates , tantalates , stanates , hafnates , and manganates . in fig6 cap layer 122 is rie etched over the source / drain regions to form encapsulating layers 122a and 122b . note that layers 122a and 122b completely encapsulate the ferroelectric gate structures of the respective ferroelectric fets . in fig6 a thin silicon oxi - nitride layer 124 is formed over the encapsulated ferroelectric fets to a nominal thickness of about 2000 angstroms . in fig6 a thick oxide layer 126 is formed over layer 124 to a thickness of about 4000 to 5000 angstroms . in fig6 the thick oxide layer 126 is planarized to form planarized oxide layer 126 &# 39 ;. for purposes of clarity in showing subsequent metalization steps , fig6 shows an expanded view of the left half of fig6 , i . e . the p - channel ferroelectric transistor formed in n - well 102 . in fig6 vias 128 and 132 are formed through the planarized oxide layer 126 &# 39 ; and the thin oxi - nitride layer 124 to provide access to the source / drain regions 118a and 118b . a via 130 is also formed through the planarized oxide layer 126 &# 39 ;, the thin oxi - nitride layer 124 , and the cap layer to provide access to the ferroelectric gate structure , including gate 114a . a method of metalizing the source / drain regions 118a and 118b as well as the gate 114a is shown in fig6 - 69 . in fig6 , a tungsten layer 134 is formed of sufficient thickness to completely fill vias 128 , 130 , and 132 shown in fig6 . in fig6 , the tungsten layer 134 is etched away to the surface of the planarized oxide layer 126 &# 39 ; to form tungsten plugs 134a , 134b , and 134c . tungsten plugs 134a and 134c provide electrical contact to the source / drain regions , and tungsten plug 134b provides electric contact to gate 114a . in fig6 a conventional aluminum or other metal layer 136 ( not shown ) is patterned and etched to form metal regions 136a , 136b , and 136c that are in electrical contact with tungsten plugs 134a , 134b , and 134c , respectively . fig7 - 77 illustrate an improved fabrication method for forming a second embodiment of a ferroelectric fet including at least two source / drain regions and a ferroelectric gate structure in which a notched ferroelectric dielectric is formed on a substrate , a gate is formed in the notch of the ferroelectric dielectric , and source / drain regions are formed in the substrate . referring now to fig7 , a portion of a partially - fabricated ferroelectric fet is shown including silicon or other semiconductor substrate 100 , n - well or f - well 102 , thick field oxide layers 106 and 108 , and a ferroelectric layer 112 formed to a thickness of about 200 to 5000 angstroms . ferroelectric layer 112 can be any ferroelectric material as described in detail above . in fig7 , the result of two etching steps is shown . a first etching step etches ferroelectric layer 112 to form the lateral dimension of the ferroelectric dielectric layer used in the gate structure of the ferroelectric fet . a second etching step etches the upper surface of the ferroelectric dielectric 112 to form a notch 111 . the ferroelectric dielectric region 112 underneath the notch 111 is etched to a thickness of about 50 to 2000 angstroms , depending upon the initial thickness of ferroelectric layer 112 . in fig7 , a gate layer 133 is formed over the partially formed transistor . gate layer 133 can be polysilicon , platinum , iridium , or any other suitable electrode material . gate layer 133 is deposited to a thickness of about 300 to 5000 angstroms , sufficient to fill notch 111 . in fig7 , gate layer 133 is completely etched away to form a gate 133 . note that gate 133 fills former notch 111 and is completely surrounded on three sides by the ferroelectric dielectric layer 112 . note also that the active portion of the gate dielectric immediately below gate 133 is completely surrounded and thus protected from hydrogen exposure and corresponding degradation in electrical performance . in fig7 , source / drain regions 118a and 118b of appropriate polarity are formed . in fig7 , an oxide layer 126 is formed and planarized . in fig7 , vias are etched into oxide layer 126 . vias 128 and 132 provide access to source / drain regions 118a and 118b , and via 130 provides access to gate 133 . in fig7 , a tungsten layer 134 ( not shown ) has been formed and etched to create tungsten plugs 134a , 134b , and 134c , which are in electrical contact with source / drain region 118a , gate 133 , and source / drain region 118b , respectively . also shown in fig7 are etched aluminum or other metal regions 136a , 136b , and 136c that are in electrical contact with tungsten plugs 134a , 134b , and 134c , respectively . fig7 - 84 illustrate an improved fabrication method for forming a third embodiment of a ferroelectric fet including at least two source / drain regions and a ferroelectric gate structure in which a first ferroelectric layer is formed over the substrate , a gate is formed on the first ferroelectric layer , a second ferroelectric layer is formed over the first ferroelectric layer and gate , the first and second ferroelectric layers are etched to define the lateral dimensions of the dielectric , and the second ferroelectric layer is etched to access the gate . referring now to fig7 , a portion of a partially - fabricated ferroelectric fet is shown including silicon or other semiconductor substrate 100 , n - well or p - well 102 , thick field oxide layers 106 and 108 , and a ferroelectric layer 112 formed to a thickness of about 50 to 2000 angstroms thick . ferroelectric layer 112 can be any ferroelectric material as described in detail above . in fig7 , a gate layer is etched to form gate 133 as shown sized slightly less than the lateral dimension of the ferroelectric dielectric layer used in the gate structure of the ferroelectric fet . the thickness and material for gate 133 is as described in detail above . in fig8 , a cap layer 113 is formed over gate 133 and the first ferroelectric layer 112 . the cap layer 113 can be any doped or undoped ferroelectric material such as pzt , sbt , and bst , or other known ferroelectric materials . in addition , the cap layer 113 can be a ceramic material selected from a group consisting of doped and undoped nitrides , titanates , zirconates , niobates , tantalates , stanates , hafnates , and manganates , and can be either ferroelectric or non - ferroelectric . in fig8 , layers 112 and 113 are etched to define the lateral dimensions of the ferroelectric gate structure , and to surround gate 133 on three sides . note also that the active portion of ferroelectric dielectric layer 112 is completely surrounded and thus protected from hydrogen degradation . also shown in fig7 is the formation of the source / drain regions 118a and 118b . in fig8 , an oxide layer 126 is formed and planarized . in fig8 , vias are etched into oxide layer 126 . vias 128 and 132 provide access to source / drain regions 118a and 118b , and via 130 provides access to gate 133 . in fig8 , a tungsten layer 134 ( not shown ) has been formed and etched to create tungsten plugs 134a , 134b , and 134c , which are in electrical contact with source / drain region 118a , gate 133 , and source / drain region 118b , respectively . also shown in fig8 are etched aluminum or other metal regions 136a , 136b , and 136c that are in electrical contact with tungsten plugs 134a , 134b , and 134c , respectively . fig8 - 89 illustrate a method of protecting any ferroelectric device resident on an integrated circuit from hydrogen damage , the method comprising the step of encapsulating the ferroelectric device with a hydrogen - barrier cap layer distinct from the ferroelectric device . referring now to fig8 , a semiconductor or other substrate 100 is shown . a ferroelectric device 140 is shown having first and second metal contacts 142 and 144 . although only two contacts are shown , any number can be used . ferroelectric device 140 can be an integrated or bulk capacitor , transistor , sensor , or any other device containing a ferroelectric material that can be damaged in subsequent semiconductor processing steps . in fig8 , ferroelectric device 140 including contacts 142 and 144 is covered with a cap layer 122 . cap layer 122 can be formed of a ferroelectric material including doped and undoped pzt , bst , and sbt , or other known ferroelectric materials . cap layer 122 can also be a ferroelectric or nonferroelectric ceramic material selected from a group consisting of doped and undoped nitrides , titanates , zirconates , niobates , tantalates , stanates , hafnates , and manganates . the thickness of layer 122 is determined by the dimensions of ferroelectric device 140 and other processing constraints . while nominal levels can be similar to those described in this disclosure , other thicker layers can be used if desired . in fig8 , cap layer 122 is etched to completely encapsulate ferroelectric device 140 and to provide vias 146 and 148 to access metal contacts 142 and 144 . in fig8 , metal contacts 142 and 144 are metalized with aluminum or other known metalization materials to provide electrical contact to other portions of the integrated circuit . in fig8 , an oxide layer or passivation layer 126 is formed and , if desired , planarized . having described and illustrated the principles of the invention in a preferred embodiment thereof , it is appreciated by those having skill in the art that the invention can be modified in arrangement and detail without departing from such principles . for example , the following aspects of the semiconductor processes described herein can be changed as required : the types of dielectric materials ; the thicknesses of the various layers ; the types of ferroelectric materials ; the etching processes ; the electrode materials ; and the anneal temperatures , durations , and numbers . also , the specific application of the ferroelectric capacitor of the present invention is not limited to ferroelectric memory cells , although it is ideally suited to that application . we therefore claim all modifications and variation coming within the spirit and scope of the following claims .	7
in an embodiment , a synthetic layered silicate may be synthesized having the following formula : [ si 8 ( mg a li b ) o 20 ( oh ) 4 − y f y ] z − zm + wherein a = 4 . 75 to 5 . 45 ; b = 0 . 25 to 1 . 25 ; y = 0 to & lt ; 4 ; z = 12 - 2a - b ; and m is na + or li + . a water - soluble lithium compound may be added to an amount of water . a water - soluble lithium compound may be any soluble or slightly soluble lithium compound that provides a source of lithium cation when dispersed in an aqueous media . examples of lithium compounds include , but are not limited to , lithium carbonate , lithium chloride , lithium bromide , lithium fluoride , lithium sulfate , or mixtures thereof . an excess of lithium ion content in the reaction mixture may be important in producing a synthetic layered silicate with improved electrolyte tolerances . the lithium compound may be added in amounts such that the lithium content in solution may be from about 100 % to about 300 % above the value of the lithium content required to provide the cation of the layered silicate . the lithium cations may be incorporated into the lattice structure of the produced layered silicate . in one embodiment , the lithium content in the produced synthetic layered silicate may be from about 0 . 3 % to about 2 . 2 %. in an embodiment , the lithium content , in the produced synthetic layered silicate , may be from about 0 . 35 % to about 1 . 0 %. in other embodiments , the lithium content , in the produced synthetic layered silicate , may be from about 0 . 5 % to about 0 . 85 %. various amounts of reactants , expressed as ranges of atomic ratios , may be used to produce a synthetic layered silicate . an atomic ratio relative to lithium , wherein lithium is 1 , may be about 1 - 10 atoms silicon , about 1 - 8 atoms magnesium and about 2 - 16 atoms sodium . in an embodiment , the atomic ratio may be about 2 - 5 atoms silicon , about 1 - 6 atoms magnesium , and about 2 - 14 atoms sodium , all with respect to lithium . in an embodiment , the atomic ratio may be about 3 - 5 atoms silicon , about 1 - 4 atoms magnesium , and about 2 - 7 atoms sodium , all with respect to lithium . experimental results indicate that a synthetic layered silicate produced using atomic ratios in the aforementioned atomic ratios exhibit improved tolerance to electrolytes during use . electrolytic tolerance may be measured by adding the synthetic layered silicate to an electrolytic solution and determining the viscosity of the solution . an improved tolerance to electrolytes is characterized by a viscosity greater than 100 , 000 centipoise ( cps ) in the presence of up to about 10 meqs . of electrolyte per gram of the synthetic layered silicate . the lithium compound may be stirred in the aqueous medium up to about 2 hours at about ambient temperature . the solution may be stirred during the reaction period at rates below about 1000 rpm , however , in other embodiments , the stirring rate may be below about 200 rpm . an additional amount of water may be added to the lithium mixture , followed by the addition of a water - soluble magnesium compound . the magnesium compound may be any water - soluble magnesium compound that may provide a source of magnesium cations when dispersed in an aqueous media . examples of magnesium compounds include , but are not limited to , magnesium sulfate heptahydrate , magnesium chloride , magnesium nitrate , magnesium bromide , or mixtures thereof . the mixture may then be heated to greater than ambient temperature . in a separate container , a solution of a water - soluble carbonate compound may be prepared . the water - soluble carbonate compound may be any carbonate compound that may provide a source of carbonate anions when dispersed in an aqueous media . examples of carbonate compounds include , but are not limited to , sodium carbonate , potassium carbonate , lithium carbonate , or mixtures thereof . the carbonate solution may be added to the aqueous mixture of the magnesium and lithium compounds . the carbonate solution may be added over a period of up to about 1 hour . the temperature may be maintained at greater than about 25 ° c . during addition . a silicate solution may be added to the magnesium , lithium , and carbonate solution . the silicate solution may be added to the above mixture over a period of greater than about 30 minutes , while maintaining the mixture temperature at greater than about 25 ° c . the silicate solution may be any solution which provides sio 2 . the silicate solution may be added to the magnesium , lithium , and carbonate solution such that , in the produced synthetic layered silicate , in an embodiment , the ratio of sio 2 / mgo may be from about 2 . 20 to about 2 . 50 , however , in other embodiments the ratio may be from about 2 . 25 to about 2 . 40 . in some embodiments , the sio 2 / mgo ratio may be from about 2 . 3 to about 2 . 35 . examples of silicate solutions include , but are not limited to , aqueous mixtures of sodium silicate , silicic acid , lithium silicate compounds , potassium silicate compounds , mixtures of silicon dioxide and sodium oxide solutions ( i . e . water glass ), or mixtures thereof . the solution and product may be heated to the point wherein a vapor may be produced , the vapor condensed , and returned to the solution . the heating procedure may continue for longer than about 1 hour . subsequently , the solution may be heated to greater than about 100 ° c . for a period greater than about 2 hours . an autoclave may be used . the resulting hydrous magnesium silicate may be separated by filtration , and subsequently washed and dried . in an embodiment , other orders of addition of reactants or other reactants may be utilized to produce a layered silicate compound . the same types of solutions as in the aforementioned embodiments may be utilized . an aqueous solution of a carbonate compound may be added to an aqueous solution of a magnesium compound . the carbonate compound solution may be added to the magnesium compound solution over a time period greater than about 30 minutes . the reaction solution may be maintained at a temperature greater than about 25 ° c . the solution may be stirred during the reaction period at rates below about 1000 rpm . in other embodiments , the stirring rate may be below about 200 rpm . magnesium carbonate may be subsequently produced . a source of lithium and / or fluoride ions may be added to the stirred suspension of magnesium carbonate . fluoride compounds , as the source of the fluoride ion , include , but are not limited to , lithium fluoride , sodium hexafluorosilicate , hydrofluoric acid , sodium fluoride , potassium fluoride , or mixtures thereof . an excess of lithium ion content in the reaction mixture may be important in producing a synthetic layered silicate with improved electrolyte tolerances . the lithium compound may be added in amounts such that the lithium content in solution may be from about 100 % to about 300 % above the value of the lithium content required to provide the cation of the layered silicate . the lithium cations may be incorporated into the lattice structure of the produced layered silicate . the lithium content , in the produced synthetic layered silicate may , in some embodiments , be from about 0 . 3 % to about 2 . 2 %. in an embodiment , the lithium content , in the produced synthetic layered silicate , may be about 0 . 35 % to about 1 . 0 %, and in other embodiments , the lithium content , in the produced synthetic layered silicate , may be about 0 . 5 % to about 0 . 85 %. a silicate solution , in some embodiments , may be added to the suspension of the precipitated magnesium carbonate such that , in the produced synthetic layered silicate , the ratio of sio 2 / mgo may be from about 2 . 20 to about 2 . 50 . in some embodiments , the sio 2 / mgo ratio may be about 2 . 25 to about 2 . 40 . in other embodiments , the sio 2 / mgo ratio may be about 2 . 3 to about 2 . 35 . examples of silicate solutions include , but are not limited to , aqueous mixtures of sodium silicate , silicic acid , lithium silicate compounds , potassium silicate compounds , mixtures of silicon dioxide and sodium oxide solutions ( i . e ., water glass ), or mixtures thereof . in an embodiment , the entire aqueous suspension from which the precipitate may be formed may be subjected to a hydrothermal treatment . the hydrothermal treatment may be conducted such that the entire aqueous suspension may be heated for a period of greater than about 1 hour at temperatures greater than about 100 ° c . an autoclave may be used . the material may be filtered , washed , and dried . in an embodiment , a carbonate solution may be added to the magnesium solution over a period of greater than about 30 minutes . a silicate solution may be added to the magnesium and carbonate solution , followed by the addition of the lithium and / or fluoride compounds . in an embodiment , the amount of silicate solution added to the suspension of the precipitated magnesium carbonate may be such , that in the produced synthetic layered silicate , the ratio of sio 2 / mgo may be from about 2 . 20 to about 2 . 50 . in an embodiment , the ratio of sio 2 / mgo , in the produced synthetic layered silicate , may be about 2 . 25 to about 2 . 40 . in other embodiments , the sio 2 / mgo ratio , in the produced synthetic layered silicate , may be about 2 . 3 to about 2 . 35 . the lithium compound may be added in amounts such that the lithium content in solution may be from about 100 % to about 300 % above the value of the lithium content required to provide the cation of the layered silicate . the lithium content , in the produced synthetic layered silicate , in some embodiments , may be from about 0 . 3 % to about 2 . 2 %. in an embodiment , the lithium content , in the produced synthetic layered silicate , may be about 0 . 35 % to about 1 . 0 %. in other embodiments , the lithium content , in the produced synthetic layered silicate may be about 0 . 5 % to about 0 . 85 %. the reaction solution may be maintained at a temperature greater than about 25 ° c . the solution may be stirred during the reaction period at rates below about 1000 rpm and , in other embodiments , at rates below about 200 rpm . the entire aqueous suspension in which the precipitate may be formed may be subjected to a hydrothermal treatment . the hydrothermal treatment may be conducted such that the entire aqueous suspension may be heated for a period of greater than about 1 hour at temperatures greater than about 100 ° c . an autoclave may be used . the material produced may be filtered , washed , and dried . a synthetic layered silicate may be prepared using magnesium carbonate as a starting material , rather than generating magnesium carbonate during the manufacturing process . in an embodiment , a water - soluble lithium compound may be added to an amount of water under the same conditions as previously described . the magnesium carbonate may be added to the lithium compound solution . a silicate solution amount may be added such that the sio 2 / mgo ratio , in the produced synthetic layered silicate , may be from about 2 . 20 to about 2 . 50 . in an embodiment , the silicate solution amount may be added such that the sio 2 / mgo ratio , in the produced synthetic layered silicate , may be from about 2 . 25 to about 2 . 40 . in other embodiments , the silicate solution amount may be added such that the sio 2 / mgo ratio , in the produced synthetic layered silicate , may be from about 2 . 3 to about 2 . 35 . the mixture may be processed as described herein . in an embodiment , an acid toilet bowl cleaner may be produced with a synthetic layered silicate as described herein . an acid toilet bowl cleaner formulation may include water , a synthetic layered silicate , a polymer , an acid , and surfactants . surfactants may be provided to wet the surface of the bowl quickly and assist in cleaning performance . non - limiting examples of suitable nonionic surfactants that may be used in an embodiment are as follows : ( 1 ) the polyethylene oxide condensates of alkyl phenols . these compounds include the condensation products of alkyl phenols having an alkyl group with about 6 to 12 carbon atoms in either a straight chain or branched chain configuration with ethylene oxide , the ethylene oxide being present in an amount equal to 5 to 25 moles of ethylene oxide per mole of alkyl phenol . the alkyl substituent in such compounds may be derived , for example , from polymerized propylene , diisobutylene and the like . examples of compounds of this type include nonyl phenol condensed with an average of 9 . 5 moles of ethylene oxide per mole of nonyl phenol ; dodecylphenol condensed with an average of 12 moles of ethylene oxide per mole of phenol ; dinonyl phenol condensed with an average of 15 moles of ethylene oxide per mole of phenol ; and diisooctyl phenol condensed with an average of 15 moles of ethylene oxide per mole of phenol . ( 2 ) the condensation products of aliphatic alcohols with about 1 to about 25 moles of ethylene oxide . the alkyl chain of the aliphatic alcohol may either be straight or branched , primary or secondary , with about 8 to about 22 carbon atoms . a 12 - 15 carbon alcohol may be ethoxylated with an average of 3 - 15 moles of ethylene oxide . examples of such ethoxylated alcohols include , but are not limited to , the condensation product of myristyl alcohol condensed with an average of 10 moles of ethylene oxide per mole of alcohol ; the condensation product of an average of 9 moles of ethylene oxide with coconut alcohol ( a mixture of fatty alcohols with alkyl chains varying in length from about 10 to 14 carbon atoms ); and the condensation product of undecanol with an average of about 7 moles of ethylene oxide . ( 3 ) the condensation products of ethylene oxide with a hydrophobic base formed by the condensation of propylene oxide with propylene glycol . the hydrophobic portion of these compounds may have a molecular weight of from about 1500 to 1800 and exhibit water insolubility . the addition of polyoxyethylene moieties to this hydrophobic portion may increase the water solubility of the molecule as a whole , and the liquid character of the product may be retained up to the point where the polyoxyethylene content may be about 50 % of the total weight of the condensation product , which corresponds to condensation with up to about 40 moles of ethylene oxide . ( 4 ) the condensation of ethylene oxide with the product resulting from the reaction of propylene oxide and ethylenediamine . the hydrophobic moiety of these products include the reaction product of ethylenediamine and excess propylene oxide , the moiety having a molecular weight of from about 2500 to about 3000 . this hydrophobic moiety may be condensed with propylene oxide to the extent that the condensation product contains from about 40 % to about 80 % by weight of polyoxyethylene and has a molecular weight of from about 5 , 000 to about 11 , 000 . ( 5 ) amido amine oxide compounds . examples of amido amine oxides , which may be useful in an embodiment , include , but are not limited to , cocoamidopropyl amine oxide , isostearylamidopropyl amine oxide , isostearylamidopropyl morpholine oxide , lauramidopropyl amine oxide , minkamidopropyl amine oxide , oleoamidopropyl amine oxide , olivamidopropyl amine oxide , sesamidopropyl amine oxide , stearamidopropyl amine oxide , wheat germ amidopropyl amine oxide , or mixtures thereof . the nonionic surfactant may generally be present at a level of about 0 . 05 % to about 50 % by weight . the nonionic surfactant may be a 12 - 15 carbon alcohol , ethoxylated with an average of about 3 - 15 moles of ethylene oxide and may be about 1 % of the cleaner . cationic surfactants may be used in an embodiment . cationic surfactants include , but are not limited to , quaternary ammonium salts of the general formula : wherein the r groups coupled to the nitrogen are long or short hydrocarbon chains , typically alkyl , hydroxyalkyl or ethoxylated alkyl groups , and x is a solubilizing anion . examples include , but are not limited to , coconut trimethyl ammonium chloride or bromide , coconut methyl dihydroxyethyl ammonium chloride or bromide , decyl triethyl ammonium chloride , decyl dimethyl hydroxyethyl ammonium chloride or bromide , c 12 - 15 dimethyl hydroxyethyl ammonium chloride or bromide , coconut dimethyl hydroxyethyl ammonium chloride or bromide , myristyl trimethyl ammonium methyl sulfate , lauryl dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride or bromide , di - alkyl imidazolines , or mixtures thereof . the cationic surfactant may be present at a level of about 0 . 05 % to about 50 % by weight . anionic surfactants may be used in an embodiment . examples of anionic surfactants include , but are not limited to , alkyl benzene sulfonates , having an alkyl chain length of c 8 - c 15 , primary and secondary alkyl sulfates such as c 8 - c 15 primary alkyl sulfates , alkyl ether sulfates , olefin sulfonates ; alkyl xylene sulfonates ; dialkyl sulfosuccinates ; fatty acid ester sulfonates , primary or secondary alcohol sulfates , wherein the linear or branched primary alcohol sulfates have 10 to 20 carbon atoms , or mixtures thereof . the anionic surfactants may be present at a level of about 0 . 05 % to about 50 % by weight . additional surfactants may be found in u . s . pat . no . 6 , 221 , 831 to emery , et al . and u . s . pat . no . 6 , 204 , 234 to herbots , et al ., both of which are incorporated herein by reference . the acids include , but are not limited to , organic acids such as acetic , citric , lactic , tartaric acid , glycolic acid , or mixtures thereof . other acids include , but are not limited to , hydrochloric acid and sulfamic acid . in an embodiment , a carboxylic acid may be a hydroxy monocarboxylic acid having up to 4 carbon atoms . in an embodiment , the acid content in the cleaner may be from about 1 % to about 50 % by weight of the formulation . a synthetic layered silicate as described herein , may be added to the toilet bowl cleaner to enable the cleaner to cling to the sidewalls of the toilet bowl . having the cleaner cling to the toilet bowl maximizes the time that the cleaner may be in contact with the lime scale and other deposits . if no thickener is used , the cleaner may run down the side of the toilet bowl too quickly , without effectively cleaning the surface . other ingredients such as ph adjusters , stabilizing agents , preservatives , fragrances and / or dyes may be included in the liquid cleaning composition . stabilizing agents may be included to achieve phase stability , ph balance and other desired characteristics . commonly used stabilizing agents include , but are not limited to , monoethanolamine , diethanolamine , triethanolamine , or mixtures thereof . in an embodiment , the ph of the liquid cleaner may be in the range of about 1 to about 4 . agents for controlling the ph may be included . examples include , but are not limited to , carbonates , bicarbonates , mono , di and triethanolamine , alkali metal hydroxides , or mixtures thereof . water may provide the balance of the liquid cleaning composition . in an embodiment , about 50 % to about 99 % water , by weight of the formulation , may be added . fragrance may be added in an amount of up to about 1 %. further information on toilet bowl cleaners may be found in u . s . pat . no . 6 , 153 , 572 to stamm , which is incorporated herein by reference . in an embodiment , a gel cleaner may be formulated with a synthetic layered silicate , as described herein , and with similar materials as in the toilet bowl cleaner . other polymers and co - polymers may be added to increase the viscosity , such that the gel may remain stable when the gel is applied to a surface . u . s . pat . no . 5 , 977 , 050 to faris , which is incorporated herein by reference , provides additional information on gel cleaner formulations . an oven cleaner may be formulated with a synthetic layered silicate as described herein . in an embodiment , water , synthetic layered silicate , polymer , solvent , alkali metal hydroxide , and tetrapotassium pyrophosphate may be mixed to make an oven cleaner . in an embodiment , about 2 % of the synthetic layered silicate may be dispersed in sufficient water to provide a final water content , in the oven cleaner composition , of about 30 % to about 50 %. tetrapotassium pyrophosphate may be added at about 0 . 05 % to about 0 . 15 %, by weight of water , in the oven cleaner composition . alkali metal hydroxide may be added at about 10 % to about 25 %, by weight of water , in the oven cleaner composition . other components may be added , such as , but not limited to , surfactants , solvents , and / or fragrances . further formulations and details may be found in u . s . pat . no . 3 , 779 , 933 to eisen and u . s . pat . no . 5 , 919 , 312 to wierenga et al ., both of which are incorporated herein by reference . the synthetic layered silicate , as described herein , may be formulated into a toothpaste composition . in an embodiment , a toothpaste may be formulated to provide anti - caries and anti - plaque characteristics . sorbitol , at about 25 % to about 35 %, by total weight of the formulation , may be added to water along with about 0 . 1 % to about 0 . 5 % synthetic layered silicate . the final amount of water in the formulation may be about 10 % to about 50 %, by weight of the formulation . silica may be added to the formulation at about 10 % to about 30 % by weight of water , and the remainder of the formulation may include a fluoride compound for anti - caries activity , flavorings , anti - bacterial additives , and / or anti - plaque additives . the fluoride compounds include , but are not limited to , sodium fluoride , potassium fluoride , sodium monofluorophosphate , stannous fluoride , or mixtures thereof . tetrasodium pyrophosphate may be added as an anti - plaque compound . anti - bacterial toothpaste formulations include , but are not limited to , 2 , 4 , 4 ′- trichloro - 2 ′- hydroxydiphenyl ether ( triclosan ) or 2 , 2 ′- dihydroxy - 5 , 5 ′- dibromo - diphenyl ether . additional information on formulations may be found in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 525 , 330 to gaffar , et al ., which is incorporated herein by reference . a drilling fluid may be formulated with a synthetic layered silicate as described herein . in an embodiment , an aqueous calcium chloride solution , a synthetic layered silicate , a weighting agent ( e . g . barium sulfate ), and / or other viscosifiers , fluid loss agents , and / or surfactants may be used in the drilling fluid . additional synthetic layered silicate may be added to the formulation if the drilling fluid contacts a salt formation . if the drilling fluid &# 39 ; s ionic content increases , the additional layered synthetic silicate may be helpful in maintaining viscosity of the drilling fluid . additional formulations and uses for synthetic layered silicates may be found in u . s . pat . no 6 , 025 , 303 to keilhofer , et al . and u . s . pat . no . 6 , 022 , 833 to mueller , et al ., both of which are incorporated herein by reference . a glass cleaner may be formulated with a synthetic layered silicate , as described herein , to produce a non - drip glass cleaner . in an embodiment , about 0 . 5 % to about 1 . 5 % synthetic layered silicate , by weight of the formulation , may be dispersed in water . about 2 % to about 10 % of an alcohol , by weight of the formulation , may be added to the synthetic layered silicate dispersion . examples of an alcohol include , but are not limited to , methanol , ethanol , 1 - propanol , isopropanol , butanol , or mixtures thereof . an oil emulsifier may be added at about 0 . 5 % to about 10 %, by weight of the formulation . examples of oil emulsifiers include , but are not limited to , an ammonia solution , butoxyethanol , propylene glycol , ethylene glycol , ethylene glycol polymers , polyethylene , methoxypolyethylene glycols , or mixtures thereof . a surfactant may be added to the formulation at about 0 . 1 % to about 1 % by weight of the formulation . this formulation may provide a non - drip , streak - free composition for surface and glass cleaning . other formulations may be found in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 315 , 828 to church and u . s . pat . no . 5 , 798 , 324 to svoboda , both of which are incorporated herein by reference . a synthetic layered silicate , as described herein , may be formulated into a paint composition . in an embodiment , about 3 pounds to about 10 pounds of water may be added to about 55 pounds to about 65 pounds of resin . examples of resins include , but are not limited to , ( meth ) acrylic acid , 2 - hydroxyethyl ( meth ) acrylate , ( meth ) acrylic acid amideimides having a hydroxyl group , such as 1 , 1 - dimethyl - 1 -( 2 - hydroxypropyl ) amine ( meth ) acrylimide , 1 , 1 - dimethyl - 1 -( 2 ′- phenyl - 2 ′- hydroxyethyl ) amine ( meth ) acrylimide , 1 , 1 - dimethyl - 1 -( 2 ′- hydroxy - 2 ′- phenoxypropyl ) amine ( meth ) acrylimide , or mixtures thereof . about 2 pounds to about 5 pounds of propylene glycol , about 20 pounds to about 30 pounds of titanium dioxide , about 0 . 1 pounds to about 0 . 5 pounds of synthetic layered silicate may be added to the resin water mixture . in an embodiment , defoamers , dispersants and / or wetting agents may be added . additional paint formulations may be found in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 905 , 109 to shimizu , et al ., which is incorporated herein by reference . a synthetic layered silicate , as described herein , may be formulated into a water - based printing ink composition . in an embodiment , a polymeric resin binder may be added to water , followed by the addition of a water - soluble resin binder to produce a water / binder mixture . a water - soluble rosin salt resin and an aqueous emulsion resin polymer may be added to the water / binder mixture . a rewetting agent , pigment , soybean oil , and the synthetic layered silicate may be added to the ink composition . compositions for printing inks may be found in u . s . pat . no . 6 , 200 , 372 to krishnan , et al ., which is incorporated herein by reference . the following examples serve to illustrate methods of producing a synthetic layered silicate . the examples should not be considered limiting . examples 1 and 2 are for comparative purposes and examples 3 , 4 and 5 are according to an embodiment . the following tests were used in the examples to characterize the synthetic layered silicate material . a 2 . 5 % by weight dispersion of the synthetic layered silicate in demineralized water was prepared and left to stand for 24 hours . the dispersion was then diluted to 2 % by weight synthetic layered silicate concentration with pre - determined aliquots of electrolyte and demineralized water . viscosity measurements were taken after a total of 48 hours since first mixing . the effect of an electrolyte on the dispersion of the synthetic layered silicate may be related to the viscosity measurements . the viscosity measurements were conducted using a brookfield dvii viscometer . the electrolyte tolerance of examples 1 - 5 were determined using sodium sulfate as the electrolyte . the rate of hydration of a 2 % by weight dispersion of the synthetic layered silicate in demineralized water containing tetra - sodium pyrophosphate was assessed by measuring the time taken for the optical density of the dispersion to reduce to a specified value . the hydration rate may be defined as this time expressed in tenths of a minute . if the optical density had not reached the specified value after 20 minutes the hydration rate was expressed as the absorbance value at a wavelength of 550 nm using a 4 cm cell at that time . the optical density of a 2 % by weight dispersion of the synthetic layered silicate in tetra - sodium pyrophosphate solution was measured at 550 nm using a 4 cm cell . the measurement was made 24 hours after the preparation of the dispersion ; it was normally performed on the dispersion retained from the above hydration rate test . table 1 provides the quantities of reactants used in the preparation of examples 1 - 5 . [ 0065 ] table 3 comparison of lithium carbonate added as reactant ( in grams ) and lithium content in final product as % by weight li example example example example example 1 2 3 4 5 lithium 2 . 2 5 . 6 11 . 2 16 . 8 22 . 4 carbonate lithium 0 . 35 0 . 50 0 . 59 0 . 66 0 . 74 [ 0066 ] table 4 hydration rate and clarity of product from examples 2 - 5 example 2 example 3 example 4 example 5 hydration rate 1 . 35 1 0 . 25 1 175 0 . 79 1 clarity 37 . 1 27 . 3 20 . 4 9 . 3 [ 0067 ] table 5 visacosity ( cp ) at 10 meq na / g of synthetic layered silicate example example example example example 1 2 3 4 5 viscosity flocculated 211000 108050 571000 182500 ( cp ) example 1 was prepared following the procedure in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 049 , 780 , example 2 , which is incorporated herein by reference . example 2 was prepared using the following procedure and the quantities of reactants listed in table 1 . the li 2 co 3 , 5 . 6 g , was dispersed in 168 g of water with agitation for 1 hour at ambient temperature . water ( 269 g ) was added to the lithium carbonate solution , followed by addition of 187 g of mgso 4 . 7h 2 o . the magnesium sulfate was allowed to dissolve for a few minutes and then the solution was heated to 60 ° c . in a separate container , 75 g of na 2 co 3 was dissolved in 300 g of water . the sodium carbonate solution was then added to the solution mixture of the lithium carbonate and magnesium sulfate over a period of 30 minutes , maintaining a temperature of 60 ° c . the sodium silicate solution ( 525 g ) was added to the mixture of the magnesium sulfate , sodium carbonate and lithium carbonate over a period of 50 minutes , maintaining the temperature at 60 ° c . the resulting aqueous slurry was then heated to 98 ° c ., and maintained at this temperature for 2 hours , condensing the vapor and returning the condensate to the aqueous slurry . the slurry was heated at 202 ° c . for 6 hours . the resulting hydrous magnesium silicate was separated by filtration , washed and dried . example 2 represents a procedure in which the quantity of lithium compound used was only the stoichiometric amount needed to produce an atomic ratio equivalent to 8 atoms of silicon to 6 atoms of magnesium to 1 atom of lithium in the starting recipe . example 3 was prepared following the procedure in example 2 , except that the reactant quantities were changed example 4 was prepared following the procedure in example 2 , except that the reactant quantities were changed . example 5 was prepared following the procedure in example 2 , except that the reactant quantities were changed . referring to fig1 and corresponding table 5 , examples 3 , 4 and 5 have a much greater tolerance to the presence of an electrolyte when compared to example 1 . example 2 has improved tolerance to the presence of electrolyte , but this product has other disadvantages to examples 3 , 4 and 5 . table 2 is the oxide analysis of examples 1 - 5 . table 3 is a comparison of the amount of lithium carbonate in the reactants compared to the amount of lithium present in example 1 - 5 . table 4 indicates the hydration rate and clarity of the products from examples 2 - 5 . the hydration rate and clarity data for examples 3 - 5 indicate superior performance compared to example 2 . further modifications and alternative embodiments of various aspects of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art in view of this description . accordingly , this description is to be construed as illustrative only and is for the purpose of teaching those skilled in the art the general manner of carrying out the invention . it is to be understood that the forms of the invention shown and described herein are to be taken as the presently preferred embodiments . elements and materials may be substituted for those illustrated and described herein , parts and processes may be reversed , and certain features of the invention may be utilized independently , all as would be apparent to one skilled in the art after having the benefit of this description of the invention . changes may be made in the elements described herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as described in the following claims .	0
some embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings . as shown in fig4 a plurality of inductors and capacitors are arranged in the wiring circuit of a power amplifier mmic ( monolithic microwave integrated circuit ). dc current flows from a power source ( not shown ) into the circuit through electrodes 31a and 31b . radio frequency enters into the circuit through an rf inlet 32 and comes out of the circuit through an rf outlet 33 . as shown in fig5 an upper wiring 28 is connected to a lower one 3 through an electrode 25a to form an inductor circuit . the upper wiring 28 is formed by the electroplating . the lower wiring 3 is formed not by the electroplating but by lift - off method , for example . a capacitor circuit is formed by an upper electrode 25b and the lower wiring 3 . referring to fig6 through 11 , it will be described how the mmic wiring circuit is made . a substrate 1 is a wafer having a predetermined size and made of semi - insulation gaas ( to serve as a semiconductor whose main function is to insulate ). a first insulating layer 2 made of sio 2 is formed all over the gaas substrate 1 . a first wiring 3 is formed on the first insulating layer 2 . this first wiring 3 is formed not by the plating method but by other one . the method such as the lift - off one and the ion milling etching one whose pattern forming accuracy is quite high is used , for example . the first wiring 3 is 1 to 2 μm thick . as shown in fig7 a second insulating layer 4 is formed on the first insulating layer 2 and the first wiring 3 . further , a second wiring 25a is formed on the first wiring 3 , while other second wirings 25 , 25a , 25b and 25c on the second insulating layer 4 . the second wirings 25 , 25a , 25b and 25c are formed by the lift - off method . each of the second wirings 25 , 25a , 25b and 25c has a triple - layer structure comprising ti / mo / au when seen from the bottom . the upper portion of each of the second wirings 25 , 25a , 25b and 25c is formed by metal ( au ) of same kind as that of metal which will be plated later . ti / mo / au of each of the second wirings 25 , 25a , 25b and 25c are 5 / 50 / 100 ( nm ) thick . the line width of the wiring 25 is set at 10 μm , that of the wiring 25a at 10 μm , and that of the wiring 25b at 10 μm . as shown in fig8 an under metal layer 26 is formed all over the wafer . metal which can be selectively ( or partly ) removed from metal which will be plated later is used to form the under metal layer 26 . it is desirable that the under metal layer 26 has a resistance as small as possible , because electroplating current is supplied to it . it is a tungsten layer 26 deposited by the sputtering method and having a thickness of 100 nm . when made of tungsten , it has a thickness preferably ranging from 50 nm to 300 nm . when its thickness becomes larger than 300 nm , it becomes difficult to remove it and when smaller than 50 nm , its resistance becomes too large . molybdenum , aluminum , tiw , pt or pd may be used to form it . when it is formed not by tungsten but by one of these metals , its thickness ranges preferably from 30 nm to 300 nm . as shown in fig8 a resist layer 27 having a predetermined pattern is formed by the photo lithography technique . openings 29 are formed in the resist layer 27 . the second wiring 25 and 25a coated by the under metal layer 26 is present in the bottom of each opening 29 . each opening 29 has a width w 2 smaller than that w 1 of the second wiring 25 , 25a , 25b and 25c , respectively . for example , the width w 1 is 1 . 0 μm greater than the width w 2 . the second wiring 25 , 25a , 25b and 25c remains covered with the under metal layer 26 even after that portion of the layer 26 which is deposited on the bottom of the opening 29 has been removed . the under metal layer 26 exposed in the openings 29 is removed by the rie ( reactive ion etching ) or vapor - phase etching method . as the result , the top layer au of the second wiring 25 and 25a are thus exposed in the openings 29 . when the under metal layer 26 is formed by aluminum , it is removed by the liquid - phase etching method by which mixed acid is used . the electroplating process will be described referring to fig9 and 12 through 14 . the electroplating method is intended to deposit a plating wiring 28 on the second initial wiring 25 and 25a to reduce the resistance of the second final wirings ( 25 , 25a , 28 ). for this purpose , the plating wiring 28 is made thicker than the second initial wiring 25a . for example , the thickness of the plating wiring 28 is set 1 μm when that of the second initial wiring 25a 2 μm . a conductive needle 8 is stuck not into the opening 29 but into the resist layer 27 to contact the under metal layer 26 at the tip thereof , as shown in fig9 . the wafer is then immersed in plating solution , dc current or dc pulse current is caused to flow to the pattern circuit through the needle 8 and an au - plated layer 28 is thus deposited only on the second wiring 25 and 25a which are exposed in the openings 29 . the needle 8 is coated with an insulating layer 8a except its tip portion . this prevents au deposited from adhering to the exposed portion of the needle 8 . as shown in fig1 , a holder 40 comprises two plates 41 and 42 which can be opened and closed by hinges 43 . a recess 44 is formed in the inner face of the plate 41 at the center thereof and a wafer w is fitted in the recess 44 . an opening 45 is formed in the other plate 42 at the center thereof . the size of the opening 45 is equal or smaller than the diameter of a wafer . it is desirable that packing 49 be provide around the opening 45 , so as to prevent a solution from flowing toward the reverse side of the wafer . the packing 49 is formed of a material which in not corroded or adversely affected by a plating solution ; it is formed of silicone rubber , for example . two needles 8 are attached to the outer face of the plate 42 and tips of these needles 8 are projected a little inside the plate 42 through the opening 45 . each needle 8 is made of tungsten . when the wafer w is fitted into the recess 44 and the plate 41 is closed onto the plate 42 , tips of the needles 8 are stuck into the resist layer 27 at the rim portion of the wafer w . those points of the resist layer 27 on the wafer w into which the needles 8 are stuck are determined not to add any influence to the circuit pattern . the depth of the recess 44 is made smaller than the thickness of the wafer w . the top of the wafer w , therefore , is not at same level as the inner face of the plate 41 , thereby allowing the needles 8 to more easily contact the wafer w . as shown in fig1 , the holder 40 in which the wafer w is held is immersed together with its opposed electrode 52 in a plating solution 51 in a plating bath ( vessel ) 50 . a terminal 48 of the needles 8 is connected to a minus pole side of a dc power source 54 and a terminal 53 of the opposed electrode is further connected to a plus pole side of the dc power source 54 . plating conditions are as follows : plating solution : gilding solution of non - cyanogen group ( main components : sodium gold sulfite ) the best current density is 0 . 56 a / dm 2 . a laminar flow was generated , flowing from the electrode 52 to wafer w , to stir the plating solution 51 during the electroplating process . when the electroplating was carried out under the above conditions , it took about 370 seconds to make the plated layer 28 of 2 . 6 μm thick . as shown in fig1 , the mask 27 is all removed by a resist remover . as the result , only au - plated and basic tungsten layers 28 and 26 are exposed on the surface of the wafer w . as shown in fig1 , all over the wafer w is etched by the cf 4 / o 2 - mixed gas - used rie method to selectively remove only the tungsten layer 26 . as the result , the second insulating layer 4 and the second wirings 25 , 25a and 25b are exposed on the surface of the wafer w . to add more , the under metal layer 26 is removed by the liquid - phase etching method when it is formed by aluminum . as shown in fig1 , the wirings ( 25a , 28 ) in the above - described embodiment have a sectional area larger but a resistance smaller than the conventional ones ( 5 , 6 , 9 ). when the initial wiring 25a ( or 5 ) of width w 2 was made 3 μm wide and 1 μm high and the plated wiring 28 ( or 9 ) of width w 1 was made 2 μm wide and 2 μm high , for example , the resistant value of each wiring ( 25a or 28 ) in the above - described embodiment was reduced smaller than or to about 80 - 88 % of those of the conventional wirings ( 5 , 6 , 9 ) of width w 3 . according to the above - described embodiment , the additional plated au wiring 28 was formed directly on the initial au wiring 25a after the under metal layer 26 was removed . therefore , a thick film wiring having a closer contact between wirings 25a and 28 , a more smooth surface and a higher pattern accuracy could be formed . further , the electroplating process and under metal removing process in the above - described embodiment uses not the plating solution of the cyanogen group but that of the non - cyanogen group . no harmful waste solution is thus caused and this is more preferable for reasons of safety and sanitation . the present invention is not limited to the above - described embodiment but mo or al may also be used as the under metal . cu , ag , pt or pd may also be used as the plating metal . further , the present invention may also be applied to an si or alumina substrate . the gaas substrate itself is weak against acid and this enables secondary effects to be added to the present invention . needless to say , however , the present invention can also be applied to the si or alumina substrate . according to the present invention , a plated metal layer having a smoother surface and a closer contact can be added to the initial wiring . in addition , the wiring can be held initial at the under metal removing process and the pattern can be formed with a higher accuracy and a better reproducibility . further , the mmic can be made without using any high cost ion milling apparatus and also without using any harmful composition of the cyanogen group . additional advantages and modifications will readily occur to those skilled in the art . therefore , the invention in its broader aspects is not limited to the specific details , representative devices , and illustrated examples shown and described herein . accordingly , various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the general inventive concept as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents .	7
the below - described embodiments are merely illustrative for the principles of the present invention for improvement of a spectral envelope adjuster based on a real - valued filterbank . it is understood that modifications and variations of the arrangements and the details described herein will be apparent to others skilled in the art . it is the intent , therefore , to be limited only by the scope of the impending patent claims and not by the specific details presented by way of description and explanation of the embodiments herein . in the following description a real - valued pseudo - qmf is used comprising a real - valued analysis as well as a real valued synthesis . it should be understood however , that the aliasing problem addressed by the present invention also appears for systems with a complex analysis and a real - valued synthesis , as well as any other cosine - modulated filterbank apart from the pseudo - qmf used in this description . the present invention is applicable for such systems as well . in a pseudo - qmf every channel essentially only overlaps its adjacent neighbour in frequency . the frequency - response of the channels is shown in the subsequent figures by the dashed lines . this is only for illustrative purposes to indicate the overlapping of the channels , and should not be interpreted as the actual channel response given by the prototype filter . in fig1 the frequency analysis of an original signal is displayed . the figure only displays the frequency range covered by 15 · π / m to 25 · π / m of the m channel filterbank . in the following description the designated channel numbers are derived from their low crossover frequency , hence channel 16 covers the frequency range 16 · π / m to 17 · π / m excluded the overlap with its neighbours . if no modification is done to the subband samples between analysis and synthesis the aliasing will be limited by the properties of the prototype filter . if the subband samples for adjacent channels are modified according to a gain vector , as displayed in fig2 , with independent gain values for every channel the aliasing cancellation properties are lost . hence an aliasing component will show up in the output signal mirrored around the cross - over region of the filterbank channels , as displayed in fig3 . this is not true for an complex implementation as outlined in pct / se02 / 00626 where the output , as displayed in fig4 , would not suffer from disturbing aliasing components . in order to avoid the aliasing components that causes severe intermodulation distortion in the output , the present invention teaches that two adjacent channels that share a sinusoidal component as e . g . channel 18 and 19 in fig1 , must be modified similarly , i . e . the gain factor applied to the two channels must be identical . this is hereafter referred to as a coupled gain for these channels . this of course implies that the frequency resolution of the envelope adjuster is sacrificed , in order to reduce the aliasing . however , given a sufficient number of channels , the loss in frequency resolution is a small price to pay for the absence of severe intermodulation distortion . in order to assess which channels should have coupled gain - factors , the present invention teaches the usage of in - band linear prediction . if a low order linear prediction is used , e . g . a second order lpc , this frequency analysis tool is able to resolve one sinusoidal component in every channel . by observing the sign of the first predictor polynomial coefficient it is easy to determine if the sinusoidal component is situated in the upper or lower half of the frequency range of the subband channel . a ( z )= 1 − α 1 z − 1 − α 2 z − 2 ( 1 ) is obtained by linear prediction using the autocorrelation method or the covariance method for every channel the qmf filterbank that will be affected by the spectral envelope adjustment . the sign of the qmf - bank channel is defined according to : where k is the channel number , m is the number of channels , and where the frequency inversion of every other qmf channel is taken into account . hence , it is possible for every channel to assess where a strong tonal component is situated , and thus grouping the channels together that share a strong sinusoidal component . in fig5 the sign of each channel is indicated and hence in which half of the subband channel the sinusoidal is situated , where + 1 indicates the upper half and − 1 indicates the lower half . the invention teaches that in order to avoid the aliasing components the subband channel gain factors should be grouped for the channels where channel k has a negative sign and channel k − 1 has a positive sign . accordingly the channel signs as illustrated by fig5 gives the required grouping according to fig6 , where channel 16 and 17 are grouped , 18 and 19 are grouped , 21 and 22 are grouped , and channel 23 and 24 are grouped . this means that the gain values g k ( m ) for the grouped channels k and k − 1 are calculated together , rather than separately , according to : where f k ref ( m ) is the reference energy , and e k ( m ) is the estimated energy , at the point m in time . this ensures that the grouped channels get the same gain value . such grouping of the gain factors preserves the aliasing cancellation properties of the filterbank and gives the output according to fig7 . here it is obvious that the aliasing components present in fig3 , are vanished . if there is no strong sinusoidal component , the zeros will nevertheless be situated in either half of the z - plane , indicated by the sign of the channel , and the channels will be grouped accordingly . this means that there is no need for detection based decision making whether there is a strong tonal component present or not . in a real - valued filterbank , the energy estimation is not straightforward as in a complex representation . if the energy is calculated by summing the squared subband samples of a single channel , there is a risk of tracking the time envelope of the signal rather than the actual energy . this is due to the fact that a sinusoidal component can have an arbitrary frequency from 0 to the filterbank channel width . if a sinusoidal component is present in a filterbank channel it can have a very low relative frequency , albeit being a high frequency sinusoidal in the original signal . assessing the energy of this signal becomes difficult in a real - valued system since , if the averaging time is badly chosen with respect to the frequency of the sinusoidal , a tremolo ( amplitude - variation ) can be introduced , when in fact the signal energy actually is constant . the present invention teaches however , that the filterbank channels should be grouped two - by - two given the location of the sinusoidal components . this significantly reduces the tremolo - problem , as will be outlined below . in a cosine - modulated filterbank the analysis filters h k ( n ) are cosine - modulated versions of a symmetric low - pass prototype filter p 0 ( n ) as where m is the number of channels , k = 0 , 1 , . . . , m − 1 , n is the prototype filter order and n = 0 , 1 , . . . , n . the symmetry of the prototype filter is assumed here to be with respect to n = n / 2 . the derivations below are similar in case of half sample symmetry . given a sinusoidal input signal x ( n )= a cos ( ωn + θ ) with frequency 0 ≦ ω ≦ π , the subband signal of channel k ≧ 1 can be computed to be approximately where p ( ω ) is the real valued discrete time fourier transform of the shifted prototype filter p 0 ( n + n / 2 ). the approximation is good when p ( ω + π ( k + 1 / 2 )/ m ) is small , and this holds in particular if p ( ω ) is negligible for \| ω \|≧ π / m , a hypothesis underlying the discussion which follows . for spectral envelope adjustment , the averaged energy within a subband k might be calculated as where w ( n ) is a window of length l . inserting equation ( 5 ) in equation ( 6 ) leads to where ψ ( ω ) is a phase term which is independent of k and w ( ω ) is the discrete time fourier transform of the window . this energy can be highly fluctuating if ω is close to an integer multiple of π / m , although the input signal is a stationary sinusoid . artifacts of tremolo type will appear in a system based on such single real analysis bank channel energy estimates . on the other hand , assuming that π ( k − 1 / 2 )/ m ≦ ω ≦ π ( k + 1 / 2 )/ m and that p ( ω ) is negligible for \| ω \|≧ π / m , only the subband channels k and k − 1 have nonzero outputs , and these channels will be grouped together as proposed by the present invention . the energy estimate based on these two channels is for most useful designs of prototype filters , it holds that s ( ω ) approximately constant in the frequency range given above . furthermore , if the window w ( n ) has a low - pass filter character , then \| ε ( ω )\| is much smaller than \| w ( 0 )\|, so the fluctuation of the energy estimate of equation ( 8 ) is significantly reduced compared to that of equation ( 7 ). fig8 illustrates an inventive apparatus for spectral envelope adjustment of a signal . the inventive apparatus includes a means 80 for providing a plurality of subband signals . it is to be noted that a subband signal has associated therewith a channel number k indicating a frequency range covered by the subband signal . the subband signal originates from a channel filter having the channel number in an analysis filterbank . the analysis filterbank has a plurality of channel filters , wherein the channel filter having the channel number k has a certain channel response which is overlapped with a channel response of an adjacent channel filter having a lower channel number k − 1 . the overlapping takes place in a certain overlapping range . as to the overlapping ranges , reference is made to fig1 , 4 , and 7 showing overlapping impulse responses in dashed lines of adjacent channel filters of an analysis filterbank . the subband signals output by the means 80 from fig8 are input into a means 82 for examining the subband signals as to aliasing generating signal components . in particular , the means 82 is operative to examine the subband signal having associated therewith the channel number k and to examine an adjacent subband signal having associated therewith the channel number k − 1 . this is to determine whether the subband signal and the adjacent subband signal have aliasing generating signal components in the overlapping range such as a sinusoidal component as illustrated for example in fig1 . it is to be noted here that the sinusoidal signal component , for example in the subband signal having associated therewith channel number 15 is not positioned in the overlapping range . the same is true for the sinusoidal signal component in the subband signal having associated therewith the channel number 20 . regarding the other sinusoidal components shown in fig1 , it becomes clear that those are in overlapping ranges of corresponding adjacent subband signals . the means 82 for examining is operative to identify two adjacent subband signals , which have an aliasing generating signal component in the overlapping range . the means 82 is coupled to a means 84 for calculating gain adjustment values for adjacent subband signals . in particular , the means 84 is operative to calculate the first gain adjustment value and a second gain adjustment value for the subband signal on the one hand and the adjacent subband signal on the other hand . the calculation is performed in response to a positive result of the means for examining . in particular , the means for calculating is operative to determine the first gain adjustment value and the second gain adjustment value not independent on each other but dependent on each other . the means 84 outputs a first gain adjustment value and a second gain adjustment value . it is to be noted at this point that , preferably , the first gain adjustment value and the second gain adjustment value are equal to each other in a preferred embodiment . in the case of modifying gain adjustment values , which have been calculated for example in a spectral band replication encoder , the modified gain adjustment values corresponding to the original sbr gain adjustment values are both smaller than the higher value of the original values and higher than the lower value of the original values as will be outlined later on . the means 84 for calculating gain adjustment values therefore calculates two gain adjustment values for the adjacent subband signals . these gain adjustment values and the subband signals themselves are supplied to a means 86 for gain adjusting the adjacent subband signals using the calculated gain adjustment values . preferably , the gain adjustment performed by the means 86 is performed by a multiplication of subband samples by the gain adjustment values so that the gain adjustment values are gain adjustment factors . in other words , the gain adjustment of a subband signal having several subband samples is performed by multiplying each subband sample from a subband by the gain adjustment factor , which has been calculated for the respective subband . therefore , the fine structure of the subband signal is not touched by the gain adjustment . in other words , the relative amplitude values of the subband samples are maintained , while the absolute amplitude values of the subband samples are changed by multiplying these samples by the gain adjustment value associated with the respective subband signal . at the output of means 86 , gain - adjusted subband signals are obtained . when these gain - adjusted subband signals are input into a synthesis filterbank , which is preferably a real - valued synthesis filterbank , the output of the synthesis filterbank , i . e ., the synthesized output signal does not show significant aliasing components as has been described above with respect to fig7 . it is to be noted here that a complete cancellation of aliasing components can be obtained , when the gain values of the adjacent subband signals are made equal to each other . nevertheless , at least a reduction of aliasing components can be obtained when the gain adjustment values for the adjacent subband signals are calculated dependent on each other . this means that an improvement of the aliasing situation is already obtained , when the gain adjustment values are not totally equal to each other but are closer to each other compared to the case , in which no inventive steps have been taken . normally , the present invention is used in connection with spectral band replication ( sbr ) or high frequency reconstruction ( hfr ), which is described in detail in wo 98 / 57436 a2 . as it is known in the art , spectral envelope replication or high frequency reconstruction includes certain steps at the encoder - side as well as certain steps at the decoder - side . in the encoder , an original signal having a full bandwidth is encoded by a source encoder . the source - encoder produces an output signal , i . e ., an encoded version of the original signal , in which one or more frequency bands that were included in the original signal are not included any more in the encoded version of the original signal . normally , the encoded version of the original signal only includes a low band of the original bandwidth . the high band of the original bandwidth of the original signal is not included in the encoded version of the original signal . at the encoder - side , there is , in addition , a spectral envelope analyser for analysing the spectral envelope of the original signal in the bands , which are missing in the encoded version of the original signal . this missing band ( s ) is , for example , the high band . the spectral envelope analyser is operative to produce a coarse envelope representation of the band , which is missing in the encoded version of the original signal . this coarse spectral envelope representation can be generated in several ways . one way is to pass the respective frequency portion of the original signal through an analysis filterbank so that respective subband signals for respective channels in the corresponding frequency range are obtained and to calculate the energy of each subband so that these energy values are the coarse spectral envelope representation . another possibility is to conduct a fourier analysis of the missing band and to calculate the energy of the missing frequency band by calculating an average energy of the spectral coefficients in a group such as a critical band , when audio signals are considered , using a grouping in accordance with the well - known bark scale . in this case , the coarse spectral envelope representation consists of certain reference energy values , wherein one reference energy value is associated with a certain frequency band . the sbr encoder now multiplexes this coarse spectral envelope representation with the encoded version of the original signal to form an output signal , which is transmitted to a receiver or an . sbr - ready decoder . the sbr - ready decoder is , as it is known in the art , operative to regenerate the missing frequency band by using a certain or all frequency bands obtained by decoding the encoded version of the original signal to obtain a decoded version of the original signal . naturally , the decoded version of the original signal also does not include the missing band . this missing band is now reconstructed using the bands included in the original signal by spectral band replication . in particular , one or several bands in the decoded version of the original signal are selected and copied up to bands , which have to be reconstructed . then , the fine structure of the copied up subband signals or frequency / spectral coefficients are adjusted using gain adjustment values , which are calculated using the actual energy of the subband signal , which has been copied up on the one hand , and using the reference energy which is extracted from the coarse spectral envelope representation , which has been transmitted from the encoder to the decoder . normally , the gain adjustment factor is calculated by determining the quotient between the reference energy and the actual energy and by taking the square root of this value . this is the situation , which has been described before with respect to fig2 . in particular , fig2 shows such gain adjustment values which have , for example , been determined by a gain adjustment block in a high frequency reconstruction or sbr - ready decoder . the inventive device illustrated in fig8 can be used for completely replacing a normal sbr - gain adjustment device or can be used for enhancing a prior art gain - adjustment device . in the first possibility , the gain - adjustment values are determined for adjacent subband signals dependent on each other in case the adjacent subband signals have an problem . this means that , in the overlapping falter responses of the falters from which the adjacent subband signals originate , there were aliasing - generating signal components such as a tonal signal component as has been discussed in connection with fig1 . in this case , the gain adjustment values are calculated by means of the reference energies transmitted from the sbr - ready encoder and by means of an estimation for the energy of the copied - up subband signals , and in response to the means for examining the subband signals as to aliasing generating signal components . in the other case , in which the inventive device is used for enhancing the operability of an existing sbr - ready decoder , the means for calculating gain adjustment values for adjacent subband signals can be implemented such that it retrieves the gain adjustment values of two adjacent subband signals , which have an aliasing problem . since a typical sbr - ready encoder does not pay any attention to aliasing problems , these gain adjustment values for these two adjacent subband signals are independent on each other . the inventive means for calculating the gain adjustment values is operative to derive calculated gain adjustment values for the adjacent subband signals based on the two retrieved “ original ” gain adjustment values . this can be done in several ways . the first way is to make the second gain adjustment value equal to the first gain adjustment value . the other possibility is to make the first gain adjustment value equal to the second gain adjustment value . the third possibility is to calculate the average of both original gain adjustment values and to use this average as the first calculated gain adjustment value and the second calculated envelope adjustment value . another opportunity would be to select different or equal first and second calculated gain adjustment values , which are both lower than the higher original gain adjustment value and which are both higher than the lower gain adjustment value of the two original gain adjustment values . when fig2 and fig6 are compared , it becomes clear that the first and the second gain adjustment values for two adjacent subbands , which have been calculated dependent on each other , are both higher than the original lower value and are both smaller than the original higher value . in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention , in which the sbr - ready encoder already performs the features of providing subband signals ( block 80 of fig8 ), examining the subband signals as to aliasing generating signal components ( block 82 of fig8 ) and calculating gain adjustment values for adjacent subband signals ( block 84 ) are performed in a sbr - ready encoder , which does not do any gain adjusting operations . in this case , the means for calculating , illustrated by reference sign 84 in fig8 , is connected to a means for outputting the first and the second calculated gain adjustment value for transmittal to a decoder . in this case , the decoder will receive an already “ aliasing - reduced ” coarse spectral envelope representation together with preferably an indication that the aliasing - reducing grouping of adjacent subband signals has already been conducted . then , no modifications to a normal sbr - decoder are necessary , since the gain adjustment values are already in good shape so that the synthesized signal will show no aliasing distortion . in the following , certain implementations of the means 84 for providing subband signals are described . in case the present invention is implemented in a novel encoder , the means for providing a plurality of subband signals is the analyser for analysing the missing frequency band , i . e ., the frequency band that is not included in the encoded version of the original signal . in case the present invention is implemented in a novel decoder , the means for providing a plurality of subband signals can be an analysis filterbank for analysing the decoded version of the original signal combined with an sbr device for transposing the low band subband signals , to high hand subband channels . in case , however , the encoded version of the original signal includes quantized and potentially entropy - encoded subband signals themselves , the means for providing does not include an analysis filterbank . in this case , the means for providing is operative to extract entropy - decoded and re - quantized subband signals from the transmitted signal input to the decoder . the means for providing is further operative to transpose such low band extracted subband signals in accordance with any of the known transposition rules to the high band as it is known in the art of spectral band replication or high frequency reconstruction . fig9 shows the cooperation of the analysis filterbank ( which can be situated in the encoder or the decoder ) and a synthesis filterbank 90 , which is situated in an sbr - decoder . the synthesis filterbank 90 positioned in the decoder is operative to receive the gain - adjusted subband signals to synthesize the high band signal , which is then , after synthesis , combined to the decoded version of the original signal to obtain a full - band decoded signal . alternatively , the real valued synthesis filterbank can cover the whole original frequency band so that the low band channels of the synthesis filterbank 90 are supplied with the subband signals representing the decoded version of the original signal , while the high band filter channels are supplied with the gain adjusted subband signals output by means 84 from fig8 . as has been outlined earlier , the inventive calculation of gain adjustment values in dependence from each other allows to combine a complex analysis filterbank and a real - valued synthesis filterbank or to combine a real - valued analysis filterbank and a real - valued synthesis filterbank in particular for low cost decoder applications . fig1 illustrates a preferred embodiment of the means 82 for examining the subband signals . as has been outlined before with respect to fig5 , the means 82 for examining from fig8 includes a means 100 for determining a low order predictor polynomial coefficient for a subband signal and an adjacent subband signal so that coefficients of predictor polynomials are obtained . preferably , as has been outlined with respect to equation ( 1 ), the first predictor polynomial coefficient of a second order prediction polynomial as defined in the equation ( 1 ) is calculated . the means 100 is coupled to means 102 for determining a sign of a coefficient for the adjacent subband signals . in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention , the means 102 for determining is operative to calculate the equation ( 2 ) so that a subband signal and the adjacent subband signal are obtained . the sign for a subband signal obtained by means 102 depends , on the one hand , on the sign of the predictor polynomial coefficient and , on the other hand , of the channel number or subband number k . the means 102 in fig1 is coupled to a means 104 for analysing the signs to determine adjacent subband signals having aliasing - problematic components . in particular , in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention , the means 104 is operative to determine subband signals as subband signals having aliasing - generating signal components , in case the subband signal having the lower channel number has a positive sign and the subband signal having the higher channel number has a negative sign . when fig5 is considered , it becomes clear that this situation arises for subband signals 16 and 17 so that the subband signals 16 and 17 are determined to be adjacent subband signals having coupled gain adjustment values . the same is true for subband signals 18 and 19 or subband signals 21 and 22 or subband signals 23 and 24 . it is to be noted here that , alternatively , also another prediction polynomial , i . e ., a prediction polynomial of third , forth or fifth order can be used , and that also another polynomial coefficient can be used for determining the sign such as the second , third or forth order prediction polynomial coefficient . the procedure shown with respect to equations 1 and 2 is , however , preferred since it involves a low calculation overhead . fig1 shows a preferred implementation of the means for calculating gain adjustment values for adjacent subband signals in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention . in particular , the means 84 from fig8 includes a means 110 for providing an indication of a reference energy for adjacent subbands , a means 112 for calculating estimated energies for the adjacent subbands and a means 114 for determining first and second gain adjustment values . preferably , the first gain adjustment value g k and the second gain adjustment value g k − 1 are equal . preferably , means 114 is operative to perform equation ( 3 ) as shown above . it is to be noted here that normally , the indication on the reference energy for adjacent subbands is obtained from an encoded signal output by a normal sbr encoder . in particular , the reference energies constitute the coarse spectral envelope information as generated by a normal sbr - ready encoder . depending on the circumstances , the inventive method of spectral envelope adjustment can be implemented in hardware or in software . the implementation can take place on a digital storage medium such as a disk or a cd having electronically readable control signals , which can cooperate with a programmable computer system so that the inventive method is carried out . generally , the present invention , therefore , is a computer program product having a program code stored on a machine - readable carrier , for performing the inventive method , when the computer - program product runs on a computer . in other words , the invention is , therefore , also a computer program having a program code for performing the inventive method , when the computer program runs on a computer .	6
image sensors are almost always composed of a regular tiling of square sensor elements . such a sensor is capable of capturing spatial frequencies that lie in a square region in the frequency domain . optical systems , on the other hand , generate roughly equal resolution in all directions thereby yielding images with nearly circular spectral support . this could be due to inherently isotropic resolution limitations of lenses or introduced by design using optical low pass filters ( olpf ). in single sensor color imaging , the image is first filtered through a color filter array ( cfa ) before being sensed . this results in color dependent amplitude modulation which , in the frequency domain , creates luminance and chrominance spectra centered about different spatial carrier frequencies . the cfa design dictates the carrier frequencies and thereby the efficiency with which the roughly circular luminance and chrominance spectra are packed within the square fourier support of the sensor . we use a simplified model of the spectra , taking them to be exactly circular , and determine the cfa carrier frequencies that result in optimal packing , leading to greater resolution , or less crosstalk , or both , for a given number of photosites . besides the case where luminance and chrominance spectra are circular with equal radii , we also compute the optimal packing solution for the reduced chrominance resolution case , which reduces sensor element count . while the above optimal packing was done using square pixels , pixel aspect ratio is next introduced as an important design parameter determining packing efficiency . reducing pixel pitch in one direction only , leads to the sensor being able to capture higher spatial frequencies in that direction . pixel aspect ratio can thereby be used to control the aspect ratio of the rectangular region in the frequency domain that the sensor is able to capture image information in . the latter affects the efficiency with which roughly circular luminance and chrominance spectra can be packed into the sensor &# 39 ; s rectangular fourier support . we demonstrate this using the previously described exactly circular model of luminance and chrominance spectra by computing the pixel aspect ratio and cfa carriers that lead to the most efficient packing . the use of pixel aspect ratio to achieve greater resolution , or less crosstalk , or both , for a given number of photosites is the primary contribution of the present invention . while this is model independent , another contribution is the computation of the optimal pixel aspect ratio and cfa carriers within the simple circular model of image spectral support . another contribution is the optimization of cfas for given luminance and chrominance resolutions . the present invention works within the broad framework of a standard color filter array based color imaging system . fig1 is a flowchart showing an exemplary method of color imaging , in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention . in step 110 , a color filter array is created . in step 120 , the incident image is filtered through this cfa . in step 130 , the filtered image is detected by an image sensor after it is exposed to it . in step 140 , the image is reconstructed from the image sensor output and the cfa pattern . fig2 is a schematic diagram of an imaging system , in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention . image 210 is focused by lens 220 optionally onto an optical low pass filter 230 and then filtered by color filter array 240 . the filtered image is detected by image sensor 250 . the resulting plurality of sensed filtered image intensity values is sent to processor 260 where image reconstruction is performed . pixel pitch along an axis is defined as the distance between the centers of successive pixels along the said axis . pixel aspect ratio is defined as the ratio of the pixel pitches along the two axes of the rectangular sensor lattice . the geometry of the light gathering area , such as the micro lens , or the light sensitive area of the photosites , such as the photodiode , do not affect the pixel pitch or aspect ratio . it should be understood that the pixel pitch and aspect ratio of both the sensor and the cfa are identical since there is a one to one correspondence between sensor and cfa pixels . in the frequency domain analysis of the image capture process , it is convenient to view the sensor as a channel that conveys a range of two dimensional spatial frequencies . this is analogous to a communication system that conveys a range of one dimensional temporal frequencies . unlike 1 dimensional channels , 2 dimensional channels have a notion of geometry derived from plotting the set of all spatial frequencies conveyed by the channel such that the point ( ω 1 , ω 2 ) on the euclidean plane corresponds to the spatial frequency ( ω 1 , ω 2 ) radians / mm . thus , a sensor with a square pixels has a square channel while a sensor with rectangular pixels has a rectangular channel with aspect ratio that is the inverse of the pixel aspect ratio . furthermore , the area of a sensor channel is inversely proportional to its pixel area and directly proportional to its pixel density . optical images typically have roughly equal resolution in all directions so that their spectra are circular in shape . the problem of capturing color images is thus reduced to packing the circular spectra of image color components into the square or rectangular sensor channel . in the present invention we design cfas to accomplish this task by amplitude modulation . modulating a two dimensional signal with a carrier of frequency ω =[ ω 1 ω 2 ], − π ≦ ω 1 , ω 2 & lt ; π yields a shifted spectral copy of the signal — known as a sideband — centered about ω . a real carrier composed of a conjugate pair of sinusoids of frequencies ±[ ω 1 ω 2 ], − π ≦ ω 1 ω 2 & lt ; π generates two shifted spectral copies of the baseband as shown in 510 in fig5 . each circle represents a copy of the signal spectrum . ω and − ωare the centers of the two circles in the figure . a carrier of frequency [ πω 2 ], − π ≦ ω 2 & lt ; π , ω 2 ≠ 0 , is aliased to another at frequency [− πω 2 ] and generates sidebands about both carriers . however , sideband frequencies & lt ;− π and ≧ π are aliased resulting in only one complete spectral copy of the baseband . a real carrier consisting of a conjugate pair ±[ πω 2 ] is similarly aliased to ±[− πω 2 ] and generates two spectral copies of the baseband signal as shown in 520 in fig5 . the case of [ ω 1 π ]− π ≦ ω 1 & lt ; π , ω 1 ≠ 0 , is symmetrical . in the special case of a real carrier composed of the conjugate sinusoid pair ±[ π0 ], the aliases collapse to the same sinusoid pair . since sideband frequencies & lt ;− π and ≧ π are aliased this results in just one spectral copy of the baseband as shown in 530 in fig5 . the case of ±[ 0 π ] is symmetrical as shown in 540 in fig5 . another special case arises with the real carrier composed of a conjugate sinusoid pair ±[ ππ ]. along with its aliases , this carrier occupies the four corner frequencies [± π ± π ] as shown in 550 in fig5 . since only a quarter of a spectral copy of the baseband signal survives aliasing at each corner , a total of just one spectral copy is preserved . frequencies are a precious resource in sensor channels and attempts are made to avoid duplicating spectral copies . a natural strategy is to use the carrier frequencies that result in a single spectral copy as mentioned above . see b . e . bayer , “ color imaging array ”, jul . 20 1976 , u . s . pat . no . 3 , 971 , 065 and k . hirakawa and p . j . wolfe , “ spatio - spectral color filter array design for enhanced image fidelity ”, in proc . of ieee icip , pages ii : 81 - 84 , 2007 . an alternate strategy is to use carrier frequencies that generate two sidebands but multiplex two signals by varying the phase of the carrier for each . quadrature modulation ( see l . condat , “ a new class of color filter arrays with optimal sensing properties ”) is one such technique wherein the phase difference between the carriers is set to consider a photosite located at n =[ n 1 n 2 ] that filters incident light x ( n )=[ x r ( n ) x g ( n ) x b ( n )] t through color filter array c ( n )=[ c r ( n ) c g ( n ) c b ( n )] and measures the resulting , scalar signal y ( n ), where consider a set of m real carrier sinusoids s ( k ) ( n ), 1 ≦ k ≦ m of unit amplitude , frequencies ω ( k ) =[ ω 1 ( k ) , ω 2 ( k ) ] and phases where j =√{ square root over (− 1 )}. each color of the cfa , c i ( n ), i ε { r , g , b }, is the superposition of these carriers scaled by an appropriate real amplitude α i ( k ) , the choice of carrier frequencies is a cfa design decision except for the dc component , whose presence is essential for all physically realizable cfas . for this reason we set ω ( 1 )=[ 0 0 ]. it follows that α i ( 1 ) & gt ; 0 , i ε { r , g , b }. once the sensor is exposed to image x ( n ) and its mosaiced output y ( n ) is captured , a demosaicking step is needed to reconstruct x ( n ). assuming the carrier frequencies ω ( k ) , 1 ≦ k ≦ m are sufficiently separated so that sidebands centered about them do not overlap , each modulated signal can be recovered by multiplication with its respective carrier followed by convolution with a low pass filter h ( k ) . formally , u ( k ) ( n )=( h ( k ) ( s ( k ) · y ))( n ) ( 5 ) each u ( k ) ( n ), 0 ≦ k ≦ m can be viewed as a color component . motivated by the fact that α i ( 1 ) & gt ; 0 , i ε { r , g , b }, we loosely refer to u ( 1 ) ( n ) as the luminance signal , and u ( k ) ( n ), k & gt ; 1 as the chrominance signals . since u ( n )=[ u ( 1 ) ( n ) u ( 2 ) ( n ) . . . u ( m ) ( n )] t is generated by the modulation of the incident image x ( n ), it can be written as a can be interpreted as the color transform matrix , and provided its rank is 3 , x can be recovered by here a − 1 , the generalized inverse of a , can be interpreted as the inverse color transform . from the above discussion it is clear that there are three classes of decision variables for a cfa design , namely the carrier frequencies ω ( k ) , 1 ≦ k ≦ m , phases φ ( k ) , 1 ≦ k ≦ m and amplitudes given by the matrix a . equation 6 shows that the carrier amplitudes determine the color transform . a good choice of a generates chrominance signals with minimal high frequency energy content ( see y . hel - or , “ the canonical correlations of color images and their use for demosaicing ”) thereby enabling a close packing of luminance and chrominance spectra . let c 1 , c 2 and l form a color space so that , where l is the luminance axis and c 1 , c 2 are the chrominance axes . it has been shown by y . hel - or , “ the canonical correlations of color images and their use for demosaicing ”, hp laboratories israel , tech . rep . hpl - 2003 - 164r1 , feb . 2004 that c 1 , c 2 and l can be considered statistically independent and hence the bandwidth of the chrominance signals is small for most images . we further note that the sufficient condition for chrominance signals to have low average bandwidth is that they be orthogonal to the luminance signal l defined above . as such rotation of either c 1 or c 2 axes defined above does not significantly affect the bandwidth of chrominance signals for most images . electrical and thermal noise are additive gaussian and poissonian photon shot noise can be approximated by an additive gaussian for all but the very low values . amplification of additive gaussian noise is minimized if luminance and chrominance form an orthogonal basis , such as l , c 1 , c 2 defined in equation 8 or any rotation thereof . by using quadrature modulation , we limit the choice of carrier phases , φ ( k ) , to the pair this does not curtail the space of cfa designs since varying the carrier phase is equivalent to rotating the chrominance axes c 1 , c 2 . the term “ spectral overlap ” is defined to refer to the condition wherein parts of two or more signal spectra occupy the same frequency after modulation with the cfa . the severity of spectral overlap depends on the bandwidth and energy content of the overlapping parts of the signals . chrominance bandwidth ratio , r , of a cfa is defined as the maximum ratio of chrominance and luminance resolutions of the input image that does not cause spectral overlap in a cfa for a given luminance bandwidth . another parameter of the problem — crosstalk — depends on the input image and has to be empirically determined . however , crosstalk is monotonically decreasing with r and thus r serves as a reasonable surrogate for it . fig1 a and fig1 b are flowcharts showing two methods of cfa optimization in accordance with two embodiments of the present invention . in fig1 a step 1810 the image is transformed into the luminance , chrominance color space . in step 1820 , pixel aspect ratio and cfa color pattern are optimized so as to minimize overlap between the luminance and chrominance channels . this may be done while assuming chrominance bandwidth to be limited to a predetermined value for the purposes of computing overlap . fig1 b is similar except in step 1840 it does not modify pixel aspect ratio . even without pixel aspect ratio modification , new optimal color patterns are found for square pixels , for predetermined chrominance bandwidths . consider a camera with an optical system that resolves spatial frequencies up to a maximum of ω radians / mm . this limit can be enforced by an optical low pass filter or may just be the resolving limit of the lens or other optical component . mm is required to sample this image at the nyquist limit . the cfa color pattern and pixel aspect ratio with minimum pixel count needed to capture an image with a given luminance resolution ω * and chrominance resolution rω * takes the following form : where j =√{ square root over (− 1 )}. c i ( n ), i ε { r , g , b } can be directly computed from the above equations and equations 4 , 8 . the cfa design of the present invention modulates two color difference signals with a pair of carriers in quadrature at frequencies (± ω i , ± ωπ ) radians / sample and leaves a third color signal , luminance , unmodulated . the parameters have different form in each of four ranges of the chrominance bandwidth ratio , r , as presented in table 1 . d x and d y here are defined as the pixel pitch in the x and y directions respectively . the choice of amplitudes a , b and c do not affect packing efficiency . large values of a , b result in strong chrominance signals and thereby low color noise and good color separation . large value of c , on the other hand , results in high transmissivity of the cfa and thereby high sensitivity . maximizing the chrominance carrier amplitudes a , b and the luminance gain , c , are conflicting objectives and the trade - off depends on the application for which the camera is designed . a low light camera might benefit from a large c while a studio camera — where lighting can be controlled — would do better with large a , b . example values will be given for some cfa designs for the purpose of illustration . we refer to the design given in table 1 as the tight packed cfa . the tight packed cfa minimizes the pixel count of the cfa without allowing spectral overlap for input images with the specified chrominance bandwidth ratio r . a symmetric solution with similar characteristics can be obtained by transposing the x and y axes of the sensor , and will not be described further . reducing r below 0 . 25 does not lead to a decrease in photosite count . the cfa design for this range is not unique and one possible design is listed for comparison with other designs . fig8 illustrates the optimal packing solution in the frequency domain for different values of the chrominance bandwidth ratio r . 810 corresponds to r = 1 . 820 corresponds to r = 0 . 644 . 830 corresponds to a different solution also at r = 0 . 644 . 840 corresponds to r = 0 . 5 . 850 corresponds to r = 0 . 25 . 860 corresponds to r = 0 . 15 . the color pattern of this cfa may have a large period , or not be periodic at all , making it hard to manufacture . in the section , titled “ cfa pattern periodicity ”, we show how to approximate the tight packed cfa with another cfa of a sufficiently small period and concomitant decrease in pixel pitch . color overhead is defined as the ratio of the extra number of pixels required to capture the image in color to the number of pixels required to capture the image in monochrome with the same resolution as luminance . formally , of the nine parameters r , d x , d y , aspect ratio , pixel area , pixels per unit area , color overhead , ω * and w 1 , if any two are given , the remaining seven may be determined from table 1 and the above equations . the tight packed cfa design of table 1 can be used in different imaging system design scenarios to improve one or more of a number of design metrics : pixel count can be minimized to reduce sensor cost or to increase read - out rate or to increase pixel area and thereby the image signal to noise ratio . image resolution can be increased and crosstalk reduced . in one exemplary imaging system design scenario , the sensor size and total number of pixels are given . further , a value of r may be chosen based on its desired trade - off with the luminance relative areal resolution using fig1 . relative areal resolution is defined as where ω is the nyquist limit of a square - pixel sensor with the same pixel area as the rectangular pixel sensor being designed . the tight packed solution given in table 1 can then be used to determine the remaining cfa parameters , including the olpf cutoff frequency , ω . in this scenario , the luminance resolution is maximized . in another exemplary imaging system design scenario , the sensor size , the luminance bandwidth ω , which is also the olpf cutoff frequency , are given . further , a value of r may be chosen based on the desired chrominance resolution , rω . table 1 can be used to determine the remaining cfa parameters . in this scenario , the number of pixels is minimized , thereby maximizing each pixel &# 39 ; s area , and the signal to noise ratio . in another exemplary imaging system design scenario that is applicable to compact cameras , the sensor size , pixel count and luminance resolution are given . sensor size is usually standard , pixel count is set to satisfy marketing concerns and luminance resolution is limited by lens quality . table 1 can be used to determine the remaining cfa parameters . in this scenario r , and hence the chrominance bandwidth , is maximized . demosaicking is accomplished by the standard technique of frequency domain demultiplexing . see d . alleysson , s . susstrunk , and j . herault , “ color demosaicing by estimating luminance and opponent chromatic signals in the fourier domain ”, in proc . is & amp ; t / sid 10th color imaging conf , pages 331 - 336 , 2002 . specifically , the two chrominance signals are recovered by multiplication with their respective carriers followed by low pass filtration . luminance is the baseband signal and can be extracted by one of two standard techniques : low pass filtration of the mosaiced image or subtracting out re - modulated copies of the two chrominance signals from the mosaiced image . as with all cfa designs , reconstruction quality improvement may be possible by using direction adaptive non - linear methods . the benefits of adaptive directional demosaicking come at a heavy cost , though , since sensing edge directions from noisy sub - sampled images is a hard problem and the non - linear nature of decision making makes noise reduction a non - separable step . unlike the bayer cfa , this improvement is expected to be marginal for cfas of the present invention and so may be dispensed with . the sensor may be rotated to minimize spectral overlap , if present , or to make its effects less objectionable or both . the sensor may also be rotated to minimize spatial domain crosstalk between adjacent pixels which occurs when light collected by the micro lens of one pixels strikes a neighboring pixel . this optical crosstalk is controlled by aligning the longer side of the rectangular pixel with the longer side of the rectangular sensor . while sensor elements are rectangular in general , the reconstructed image uses square pixels . an example of this is shown in the code listing of fig1 where sensor and image pixel geometries are different . the reconstructed image may be further modified to be displayed using pixels of any aspect ratio using standard scaling or resizing techniques . we prove that no cfa design , for a given chrominance bandwidth ratio , r , has fewer photosites than that described in table 1 . for convenience , we switch to sensor channels with frequency range from 0 to 27π along both the x and the y axes . lemma 1 . all physically realizable cfas modulate their luminance signal about ( 0 , 0 ), ( 2π , 0 ), ( 2π , 2π ) and ( 0 , 2π ). proof . all filters in a physically realizable cfa are non - negative . furthermore , since non trivial cfas admit some light of each primary color , the fourier transform of each primary color has a positive dc component . this , in turn , admits the luminance of the input image as a baseband which is distributed about the 4 aliases of dc , i . e . ω ( 1 ) =( 0 , 0 )=( 2π , 0 )=( 2π , 2π )=( 0 , 2π ) transforming the results of section “ amplitude modulation in the discrete domain ” to sensor channels ranging from [ 0 , 2π ] along x and y axes we find 3 real carrier frequencies that generate a single sideband , namely ( π , π ), the aliased pair ( π , 0 ), ( π , 2π ) and the aliased pair ( 0 , π ), ( 2π , π ). all other real carriers generate two sidebands . lemma 2 . a cfa that faithfully captures color images with chrominance bandwidth ratio r ε [ 0 , 1 ], and is constrained to do so by quadrature modulating both chrominance signals with one real carrier frequency that generates two sidebands , has minimal number of photosites if it is designed as per table 2 . proof . we use the polar representation ( ρ , θ ) to denote the conjugate carrier frequency pair (( 1 − ρcosθ ) π , ( 1 − ρsinθ ) π ), (( 1 + ρcosθ ) π , ( 1 + ρsinθ ) π ) as shown in fig1 . note that ρ ≧ r to prevent chrominance sidebands from overlapping and limit as the remaining values of θ are symmetrical . furthermore , denote by α the angle between the x - axis and the line joining the carrier (( 1 + ρcosθ ) π , ( 1 + ρsinθ ) π ) with ( 2π , 2π ). simple trigonometry gives the height of the sensor channel as max ( 1 , ρsinθ + max ( r , ( 1 + r ) sin α )). similarly the width of the sensor channel is max ( 1 , ρcosθ + max ( r , ( 1 + r ) cos α )) and the area of the sensor channel is the product height and width . this area is minimized by setting ρ = r , θ = 0 for all r , and setting α so as to minimize the width of the sensor channel , or its height , or both , depending on r as described below . 1 . 0 ≦ r ≦ 0 . 25 : in this case α is chosen so as to minimize both the width and the height of the sensor channel . pixel pitches do not have to be made finer to capture color , and can be set to the nyquist rate of luminance . 2 . 0 . 25 & lt ; r ≦ 0 . 5 : in this case α is chosen to minimize the width of the sensor channel but not its height . pixel pitch is made finer than the nyquist rate of luminance in the vertical direction to accommodate the chrominance sidebands . 3 . 0 . 5 & lt ; r ≦ 0 . 644 : as in the previous case α is chosen to minimize the width of the sensor channel but not its height . however pixel pitch is made finer than the nyquist rate of luminance along both vertical and horizontal directions to accommodate the chrominance sidebands . 4 . 0 . 644 ≦ r ≦ 1 : in this case α is chosen to minimize the height of the sensor channel . pixel pitch is made finer than the nyquist rate of luminance in the horizontal direction to accommodate the chrominance sidebands . applying elementary euclidean geometry to the above cases we get the results of table 2 . theorem 1 . given an optical image with luminance bandlimited to [ 0 , ω ] radians / mm and chrominance bandlimited to [ 0 , rω ] radians / mm , a cfa with photosite pitch and carrier frequencies specified by table 1 has the lowest photosite count of all cfas that can pack the luminance and chrominance spectra without overlap . proof . lemma 2 describes cfas that use one real carrier with two sidebands to quadrature modulate its two chrominance signals . clearly any cfa that employs additional carriers — with one or two sidebands — can do no better . this leaves cfas that employ carriers with only one sideband . there are 3 such carriers , namely ( π , π ), the aliased pair ( π , 0 ), ( π , 2π ) and the aliased pair ( 0 , π ), ( 2π , π ) . we need only consider cfa designs that use 2 carriers since adding the third cannot lower photosite count . there are 3 ways to select 2 carriers of which 2 are symmetrical leaving 2 cfa designs to consider . both these cfas use the aliased pair ( π , 0 ), ( 0 , 2π ) as one carrier and use either ( π , π ), or the aliased pair ( 0 , π ), ( 2π , π ) as the other . these 2 cfa designs can easily be analyzed and shown to perform worse than the two sideband solution of lemma 2 , for all values of r . transforming the results of lemma 2 from a sensor channel 0 to 2π frequency range to a sensor channel with − π to π frequency range , we get the results of table 1 . for some values of the chrominance bandwidth ratio , r , table 1 requires ω 1 to be set to an irrational fraction of the maximum frequency π . as a result this simple cfa does not possess a periodic structure , which results in a large number of unique colors , complicating its manufacture . a periodic cfa can be realized by substituting followed by lowering pixel pitch to prevent crosstalk between the color component spectra . the pitch change depends on if lower pixel counts require sharper rational approximations of ω 1 which , in turn , require cfas with larger periodicity . this makes the number of pixels and the number of unique colors in the cfa conflicting requirements . the optimal solution trades off the difficulties in manufacturing cfas with larger number of unique colors with the difficulties in manufacturing sensors with larger numbers of photosites . a color stripe cfa , shown in 610 in fig6 , with a pixel pitch of mm along the horizontal axis is a popular design to capture luminance and chrominance of equal bandwidth . a tight packed cfa design that similarly captures equal luminance and chrominance bandwidth can be obtained from table 1 by setting r = 1 . the result is a panchromatic cfa that has √{ square root over ( 3 )}+ 1 = 2 . 73 times as many photosites as a monochrome sensor with the same resolution . this compares favorably to the color stripe cfa that needs 3 times as many photosites . 810 in fig8 shows the sensor channel of this cfa design . is not a rational fraction so the cfa pattern is not periodic . however , rational approximations of including ⅝ , 7 / 11 and 26 / 41 , can be chosen to arrive at a periodic cfa . many popular consumer image formats encode chrominance at no more than half the bandwidth of luminance . furthermore , most of the chrominance energy of natural images is compacted in their lower frequencies . a tight packed cfa with r = 0 . 5 is a practical design that leverages both these facts . radians / sample , and a minimum repeating pattern of 2 × 4 photosites composed of four distinct colors as shown in fig1 . exemplary values of the transmissivities of colors a , b , c and d in terms of the red , green and blue primaries are shown in table 4 . they are determined by setting carrier amplitudes a , b and c to roughly maximize chrominance amplitudes and thereby roughly minimize noise amplification , while keeping the red , green and blue transmissivities constrained between 0 and 1 . fig1 shows an input color image 1110 , shown here in greyscale , and its spectral image 1130 after filtering with the cfa described above . the central circle in 1130 represents the luminance spectrum whereas the peripheral ones represent the chrominance spectra . while crosstalk is not absent , as evidenced by the overlap between the circles , it only occurs where the magnitude of chrominance is low . square pixels are a sensor industry standard which often makes them significantly cheaper to manufacture than rectangular pixels . for situations where pixels are constrained to be square , we propose the “ tight packed with square pixels ” cfa design that takes the form presented below : where the parameters are given in table 5 and j =√{ square root over (− 1 )}. c i ( n ), i ε { r , g , b } can be directly computed from the above equations and equations 4 , 8 . a tight packed with square pixels cfa modulates two color difference signals with a pair of carriers in quadrature at frequencies (± ω 1 , ± π ) radians / sample and the choice of amplitudes a , b and c do not affect packing efficiency . large values of a , b result in strong chrominance signals and thereby low color noise and good color separation . large value of c results in high transmissivity of the cfa and thereby high sensitivity . maximizing the chrominance carrier amplitudes a , b and the luminance gain , c , are conflicting objectives and the trade - off depends on the application for which the camera is designed . a low light camera might benefit from a large c while a studio camera — where lighting can be controlled — would do better with large a , b . reducing r below 0 . 25 does not lead to a decrease in photosite count . the cfa design for this range is not unique and one possible design is listed for comparison with other designs . fig9 illustrates the optimal packing solution for different values of r . 910 corresponds to r = 1 . 920 corresponds to r = 0 . 809 . 930 corresponds to r = 0 . 25 . while the optimal square pixel pattern is periodic for r & gt ; 0 . 809 , it &# 39 ; s not for other values of r . as with the tight packed rectangular pixel cfa design , these can be made periodic by changing followed by lowering pixel pitch to prevent crosstalk between the color component spectra . the present invention can be readily extended to optimally capture images generated by anamorphic lenses or other optical systems that form images with approximately elliptical spectra . if such an optical system captures spatial frequencies up to ω 1 along the major axis of the ellipse and ω * 2 along the minor axis , its tight packed cfa can be designed by first designing a tight packed cfa for circular spectra of bandwidth ω * 1 and then scaling the pixel pitch along the minor axis by a factor of the optimal packing solutions presented so far have minimized the pixel count required to faithfully capture a parametrized chrominance bandwidth ratio , r , while assuming the presence of an ideal olpf . performance metrics other than r may be preferable especially if the olpf is significantly non - ideal . with practical olpfs , luminance and chrominance signals do not have bounded frequency support and as such , crosstalk is unavoidable . it is possible define a measure of crosstalk and minimize it . in one exemplary framework , luminance and chrominance may be assumed to follow the inverse power law of natural images . see d . l . ruderman and w . bialek , “ statistics of natural images : scaling in the woods ”, physics review letters 73 ( 1994 ), no . 6 , 814 - 817 and y . hel - or , “ the canonical correlations of color images and their use for demosaicing ”, hp laboratories israel , tech . rep . hpl - 2003 - 164r1 , february 2004 . psnr may be used as a measure of a cfa &# 39 ; s performance . the olpf , if used , may be modeled more realistically as a gaussian diffuser ( see m . kowalczyk , “ spectral and imaging properties of uniform diffusers ”, j . opt . soc . am . a 1 , 192 - 200 ( 1984 )) or a birefringent diffuser . given an olpf and a desired performance , an optimal cfa could be found by choosing the carrier frequencies and pixel aspect ratio that minimize the pixel count in the above model . pixel aspect ratio is an important design parameter controlling sensor efficiency as has been shown explicitly for the chrominance bandwidth ratio model above . cfa design by such means , which tailors the cfa to the olpf is a novel contribution of the present invention . while the preceding detailed optimization addresses square and rectangular sensor lattices , the underlying principle can be applied to all other regular lattices . this can be done by scaling down pixel features along one direction thereby creating frequencies in the sensor channel not occupied by the luminance spectrum in the cfa filtered image spectrum . chrominance , or other color component signals can be modulated into the sensor channel frequencies thus created . fig1 a shows a hexagonal lattice and fig1 c its corresponding sensor channel . fig1 b shows the hexagonal lattice scaled down along the vertical direction and fig1 d shows the corresponding sensor channel which has gotten scaled up in the vertical frequency direction . we refer to this scale change in one direction as a change in aspect ratio . other pixel shapes may be similarly scaled along one direction to enable optimal packing of luminance and chrominance spectra . this includes regular polygons based on the rhombic and parallelogrammic lattices . demosaicking can be accomplished by the standard technique of demodulation of the color component signals followed by an appropriate color transform . we compare the present invention with prior art , specifically against the popular bayer pattern as well as against two recent cfas : pattern a in k . hirakawa and p . j . wolfe , “ spatio - spectral color filter array design for enhanced image fidelity ”, proc . of ieee icip , pages ii : 81 - 84 , 2007 and the 2 × 3 pattern proposed in l . condat , “ a new class of color filter arrays with optimal sensing properties ”. performance comparisons of the present invention with prior art are complicated by their dependence on reconstruction technique . as described earlier , various non - linear reconstruction techniques have been developed , particularly for the bayer cfa . these techniques use extraneous assumptions such as image smoothness to approximately recover a full resolution image . besides being computationally expensive , these methods also suffer from artifacts caused by violations of the underlying assumptions . such methods also complicate noise modeling and , by extension , noise reduction . to eliminate the above considerations from the present comparative analysis , we consider only linear demosaicking schemes that recover only non - overlapping spectra . as previously described , linear demosaicking may be accomplished by the standard technique of frequency domain demultiplexing . we empirically compare the present invention against bayer with state of the art non - linear demosaickers in the section “ comparative performance simulations ”. the present theoretical comparison identifies the chrominance resolution each cfa is able to reconstruct accurately . chrominance resolution is presented as the chrominance bandwidth ratio , r . this comparison is done with the assumption of an ideal olpf in the imaging optics . the carriers of each cfa is listed in table 6 . fig1 shows the color overhead for all the cfas under comparison . the graph shows that for any desired chrominance bandwidth ratio , r , the tight packed cfa with rectangular - pixel requires the fewest pixels , followed by the tight packed square pixel cfa . the hirakawa and condat cfas are more efficient than the bayer cfa for low values of r , but deteriorate rapidly at higher r values , falling behind the bayer cfa . fig1 presents the same performance information differently . for a fixed number of pixels per unit area , it presents the trade - off relation between luminance relative areal resolution and r for each cfa . once again the tight packed cfa using rectangular pixels is found to give the highest luminance relative areal resolution for any given r . the tight packed cfa with square - pixel comes in second . the condat and hirakawa cfas outperform the bayer cfa only for small values of r . we shall refer to all cfas that result in a smaller color overhead than the prior art , as seen from fig1 , for a given r , as improved packing cfas . a cfa pattern with half chrominance resolution as shown in fig1 and in table 4 was generated . a tight packed cfa pattern with r = 0 . 5 , shown in fig1 , was compared with the bayer cfa demosaicked with two state of the art non - linear demosaickers — ahd and pocs — using matlab simulation . ahd refers to the demosaicker described in hirakawa , k . and parks , t ., “ adaptive homogeneity - directed demosaicing algorithm ,” ieee transactions on image processing 14 ( 3 ), 360369 ( 2005 ) and pocs refers to the demosaicker described in gunturk , b . k ., member , s ., altunbasak , y ., member , s ., and mersereau , r . m ., “ color plane interpolation using alternating projections ,” ieee trans . image processing 11 , 9971013 ( 2002 ). an imaging pipeline was simulated consisting of a gaussian diffuser olpf , box filtering due to non - zero pixel size , cfa filtration , demosaicking and post - demosaick sharpening to compensate for the olpf . the olpf down samples following the gaussian low pass filtering to enable simulation of aliasing due to high frequency leakage . fig1 shows the results of this simulation . 1110 is the original color image , shown here in greyscale . 1130 is the spectrum of the image after being filtered by the cfa . 1120 is the reconstructed color image , shown here in greyscale . reconstructed images from were compared with the same input image put through the same optical pipeline except for the mosaicking - demosaicking step . psnr is used as the comparison metric , and the results are shown in table 12 . fig1 shows a snippet of matlab code used in the simulation . while we do not provide a complete code listing of the simulation , this snippet should be sufficient for anyone of ordinary skill in the art to reproduce our results . the present invention may be used for video imaging in addition to still imaging . besides a trivial extension to multiple frames , algorithms that perform joint instead of just color images in the visual spectrum , the present invention may also be used for multi - spectral image sensor systems . the present invention allows multi - spectral sampling with smaller sensors requiring smaller apertures without increased acquisition times . the above description of the embodiments , alternative embodiments , and specific examples , are given by way of illustration and should not be viewed as limiting . further , many changes and modifications within the scope of the present embodiments may be made without departing from the spirit thereof , and the present invention includes such changes and modifications .	7
in accordance with the present invention , a tape drive system 100 for writing to and reading from a magnetic media tape 102 includes a main casting 104 , a supply reel 106 , a take - up hub 108 , and a compact tape path assembly 110 , as shown in fig1 . in accordance with the present invention , the tape path assembly 110 includes a head subassembly 112 , a buffer / guide subassembly 114 and a speed sensor / guide subassembly 116 mounted on a tape path plate 118 , as shown in fig1 and 3 . among the advantages of this disclosed arrangement is that five functions , buffering , supply side guide , read / write , take - up side guide , and speed sensing are performed in the space of three subassemblies , minimizing the sources and effects of tape stress . furthermore , reliable mechanical alignment is facilitated by mounting the reduced number of subassemblies on the common base plate 118 , rather than mounting separate assemblies directly to the larger main casting 104 . the head subassembly 112 is mounted on a center region of the plate 118 . the head subassembly 112 includes a read / write head 120 , and a tape c1eaner 122 , as shown in fig2 and 3 . also included with the head subassembly are circuity and connectors for receiving and transmitting electrical signals corresponding to tape flux levels , and mechanical means for aligning the heads relative to the tape path . the head subassembly 112 is mounted on a cantilevered portion 124 of the plate 118 ; the alignment of the read / write head 120 can be adjusted by turning a screw ( not shown ) disposed to move the cantilevered portion 124 relative to the remainder of the plate 118 . the buffer / guide subassembly 114 includes a buffer arm 126 , a fixed guide 128 , a buffer base 130 and a position sensor housing 132 . as shown in fig3 the buffer base 130 conforms within a circular aperture in the tape path plate 118 . the buffer arm 126 includes a skirt 134 which curves at the ends to accommodate the fixed guide 128 and a buffer arm drum 136 . this skirt 134 serves to block the air to facilitate auto - loading . the buffer arm 126 also includes a peg 138 which is used to spring load the buffer arm 126 by means of a spring 140 as shown in fig1 . the spring 140 provides constant tape tension over the buffer arm travel . the buffer arm 126 also includes an integral &# 34 ; out of range &# 34 ; optical interrupter shutter 141 , shown in fig4 b , so that the tape drive system 100 can be shut down if the servo system cannot control the motor &# 39 ; s speeds to keep the tape within the buffer &# 39 ; s range . an optical switch 143 , mounted on base 130 by means not shown , includes a light source mounted in one tine and a light sensor mounted in its other tine . if the buffer arm 126 is within its range , then the optical switch shines a beam of light which passes through the shutter 141 , creating an &# 34 ; in range &# 34 ; signal . if the buffer arm 126 moves outside its range , the light beam is interrupted by the shutter 141 , creating an &# 34 ; out of range signal .&# 34 ; the position sensor housing 132 has an aperture 142 through which the vertical and rotational position of a magnet holder 144 can be adjusted to calibrate the gain and zero of the position sensor . signals generated by the position sensor are transmitted along a cable 146 to a printed circuit board ( not shown ) within the tape drive system . to the take - up side of the head subassembly 112 is the speed sensor / guide subassembly 116 including a speed sensor tape roller 148 , a bearing housing 150 , a pre - load spring 152 mounted on a shaft 154 , a speed indicator 156 and an optical speed sensor 158 with a wire lead 160 to a printed circuit board for the tape drive system 100 . note that both the bearing housing 150 of the speed sensor subassembly 116 and the base of the buffer arm include mounting holes 162 for ready attachment to the tape path plate 118 . the bearing housing 150 also includes two holes 164 , shown in fig8 by means of which a tape shield 166 , shown in fig1 is positioned . the components operate in a relatively straightforward manner . the tape 102 is fed from the supply reel 106 through the tape path to the take - up hub 108 , as shown in fig1 . the spring - loaded buffer arm engages the passing tape and takes up slack as it occurs . the buffer arm 126 pivots to take up slack , and this pivoting motion is detected by the position sensor 186 to be described below . this detection is fed back to a control system which regulates supply and take - up motors ( not shown ) accordingly . the fixed guide 128 and the speed sensor tape roller 148 align the tape 102 with respect to the read / write head 120 . the speed sensor tape roller 148 frictionally engages the tape 102 so that the passing tape drives the shaft 154 on which the speed indicator 156 is mounted . the speed indicator 156 can be a disk - shaped element with vertical marks about its rim . the rate these marks move by speed sensor 158 provides a tape speed reading which is used , along with position sensor readings , by the servo system to regulate the supply and take - up motors . describing the buffer / guide subassembly 114 in greater detail with reference to fig4 a , the buffer arm 126 , together with its peg 138 , skirt 134 , tape drum 136 , and a rigidly attached shaft 168 , are permitted to pivot , over a 32 ° range , relative to the buffer base 130 as provided by a bearing 170 . vertical positioning is provided by pre - load spring 172 , bound by retainer ring 174 . the fixed guide , which is separated from the buffer arm proper by a spacer 178 , includes a tape ring 180 , and an upper ceramic washer 182 and a lower ceramic washer 184 , loaded by spring 176 , which constrain the vertical position of the passing tape 102 . this arrangement allows the tape buffering and supply side tape guiding to be done with a single subassembly . the buffer / guide subassembly 114 is compact enough to be accommodated conveniently on the same plate that houses the head subassembly 112 . this compact arrangement minimizes the causes and effects of skew and other problems by allowing a shortened tape path . also , only one mechanical connection is required to mount the components to perform both the buffering and guiding functions . this reduces the number of precision mechanical alignments in the final tape drive system 100 , thereby increasing reliability and lowering costs . further advantages are obtained in the manner the position sensor 186 is implemented . the position sensor 186 includes a magnet 188 fixed within the magnet holder 144 which is mounted on the buffer arm shaft 168 . mounted within the position sensor housing 132 , by means of clip 191 , is a hall - effect chip 190 which converts magnetic fluxes into electrical voltages . the components of the position sensor 186 are further detailed with reference to fig5 . the magnet holder 144 includes a bracket 192 for accommodating the magnet 188 . the magnet holder 144 incorporates a hole 194 dimensioned to frictionally engage the buffer arm shaft 168 . a connector 196 allows the position sensor cable 146 to be conveniently connected to and disconnected from a circuit board , not shown . the position sensor housing 132 defines a cavity 198 of generally triangular cross section to permit the magnet holder 144 and magnet 188 to rotate freely over the 32 ° range permitted the buffer arm 126 . the position sensor housing 132 also includes a clip 200 which engages the position sensor cable 146 so as to provide a strain relief function during assembly and disassembly . an aperture 202 provides for a bolt 204 fig4 a , to secure the position sensor housing 132 to the buffer base 130 . aperture 142 , shown in fig6 of the position sensor housing 132 is provided as access to adjust the position of the magnet holder 144 relative to the shaft 168 . as best illustrated in fig4 a , the magnet holder 144 protrudes through this aperture 142 at which point it can be engaged by a tool ( not shown ). by pivoting the magnet holder 144 relative to the shaft 168 , the zero flux , and thus zero voltage , position of the magnet relative to the buffer arm can be adjusted precisely . additionally , axial movement of the magnet holder 144 affects the intensity of the magnetic field induced by the magnet 188 at the hall - effect chip 190 , which affects the degree to which a given orientation offset induces voltage . thus axial adjustments permit calibration of gain , just as adjustments of manget orinetation permit calibration of the zero position . thus , in accordance with one aspect of the present invention , the zero position and gain of the position sensor can be mechanically adjusted after assembly of the buffer / guide assembly 114 is completed . this mechanical adjustment is simple and cost - effective from a manufacturing perspective . from a service perspective , a service person is freed from contending with zero and gain calibrations since the entire buffer and guide subassembly can be replaced by removing a few screws on the buffer base 130 and disconnecting the position sensor cable 146 . thus , the present invention provides significant manufacturing and service advantages over prior art devices . with respect to the integration of the take - up side tape guide with the speed sensor , similar advantages are obtained , but different challenges had to be addressed . the requirements of a speed sensor and a standard tape guide are opposed . a speed sensor requires considerable frictional contact with a passing tape so that slippage is minimized to maintain accurate monitoring of the tape speed . on the other hand , tape guides are usually arranged to have the minimal contact required to guide the tape , excess friction being avoided as a source of tape distortion . in accordance with one aspect of the present invention , the speed sensor assembly 116 , illustrated in fig7 includes an off - center sprung fixed - orientation ceramic washer 206 which serves to urge the passing tape 102 against a top flange 208 of the speed sensor tape roller 148 . the fixed orientaion of the washer reduces the friction at the base of the tape where a major potential for distortion could otherwise prevail . note that grooves 228 are etched into the roller 148 to enhance frictional contact between the tape 102 and the roller 148 . an off - center spring 210 , fig8 applies a load to the passing tape such that the load is positioned under the effective center of mass of the tape wrapped around the roller 148 . positioning of the spring 210 under the roller 148 causes the washer 206 to be non - parallel with the tape due to uneven loading . this skewing of the washer can cause the tape 102 to deform or misalign so as to produce skew at the read / write head . a washer retainer 212 provides a seating for the fixed washer 206 . a peg 214 and a protrusion 216 of the retainer 212 respectively engage a hole 218 and a notch 220 of the washer 206 to fix the orientation of the latter . another peg 222 serves to position the off - center spring 210 properly against the washer 206 . the stainless steel shaft 154 extends through central holes in the tape roller 148 , the ceramic fixed washer 206 , the washer retainer 212 and the bearing housing 150 , as indicated by comparison of fig7 and 8 . the washer retainer 212 includes a downward facing peg 224 which is inserted into hole 226 of the bearing housing 150 to fix the orientation of the retainer 212 . a cantilevered ridge 230 of the retainer 212 engages a circumferential groove 232 in the bearing housing 150 to secure their relative positions upon assembly . as illustrated in fig7 the bearing components 234 facilitate rotation of the roller 148 and shaft 154 within the bearing housing 154 . the pre - load spring 152 is held in place by a snap ring 236 . as indicated above , the speed sensor 158 records passing marks of the speed indicator 156 mounted on the shaft 154 . thus , by the incorporation of the off - center sprung fixed washer 206 , a practical integration of speed sensor and tape guide functions is achieved . as in the case of the integration of the buffer and tape guide functions of the supply side of the heads 120 and 122 , this makes the tape path more compact and less susceptible to distortions and misalignments . accordingly , an improved tape path assembly , incorporating a novel sensor / guide subassembly , and a novel buffer arm / guide subassembly , the latter incorporating novel position and out - of range indicators , is provided by the present invention .	6
referring to fig1 and 2 , reference numeral 1 designates a head movably guided over a drawing board , while maintaining a scale in parallel relation thereto . the universal parallel ruler to which this head 1 belongs may be the track type or the arm type . reference numeral 2 designates a support frame for the head 1 which is stationary with respect to rotation of the scale and centrally including a bearing 2a in the form of a hollow cylinder . a hollow head shaft 3 is rotatably supported in said bearing 2a and has adjacent its upper end a connector plate 3a to which an operating head 4 is integrally fixed by a screw 4a . the head shaft 3 has adjacent its lower end a flange 3b to which a scale carrying plate 5 is integrally fixed by a screw 5a . a scale mounting plate 6 is mounted on the scale carrying plate 5 so that a basic line for the scale may be finely adjusted by a lever 6a for fine adjustment . reference numeral 7 designates a frame provided on the upper side of the scale carrying plate 5 and is adapted to be rotated together with the scale along the outer periphery of the support frame 2 for the head as the scale carrying plate 5 is rotated . reference numeral 8 designates a bottom plate of the head 1 , fixed by screws 8a , 8b to the scale carrying plate 5 on the lower side . reference numeral 10 designates a worn wheel rotatably supported by a bearing 9 around the bearing 2a and having on its lower side a preset member 11 according to the present invention integrally fixed thereto by a screw 11a . the preset member 11 includes a projection extending above and in parallel to the scale carrying plate 5 , a front end of said projection being provided with a notch 12 which forms a part of a locking means according to the present invention . another part of this locking means is constituted by a pawl 14 pivotally mounted on the scale carrying plate 5 around a pivot 13 and having a front end 14a biased under the action of a tension spring 15 to be engaged into said notch 12 . reference numeral 16 designates an operating lever for said pawl 14 , which is movably guided by guide screws 16a , 16b mounted on the scale carrying plate 5 from side to side as in fig1 and 2 . the operating lever 16 has at its front end a link pin 17 engaged into a hole 14b extending through the pawl 14 and at its rear end a connector hole into which a lower end 18a of a lever 18 mounted within said hollow head shaft 3 is received . the upper end 18b of said lever 18 is connected to an actuator piece 19a of an index lever 19 mounted on the operating head 4 . accordingly , when said index layer 19 is pushed leftwards as in fig2 the operating lever 16 is rightwardly urged against a resiliency of the tension spring 15 , causing the pawl 14 to swing away from the notch 12 of said preset member 11 , and thereby a locking relationship between the preset member 11 and the scale carrying plate 5 is cancelled . when a pushing force upon the index 19 is removed , the pawl 14 is brought again under the resiliency of the tension spring 15 to the position at which said pawl 14 is engaged into the notch 12 of said preset member 11 and thus the locking means is activated again . within the head supporting frame 2 , there is stationarily provided a step - motor 20 as a drive means serving the present invention , and a drive shaft 20a thereof integrally carrying a worm gear 21 adapted to be engaged with said worm wheel 10 . thus , forward or backward rotation of the stepmotor 20 serving as the drive means causes the preset member 11 to be rotated through the worm gear 21 and the worm wheel 10 together forming a drive transmitting mechanism counterclockwise or clockwise , respectively , as in fig1 . accordingly , two different possibilities can be contemplated namely , the first possibility is that the preset member 11 alone is rotated by a given angle with said locking means out of its operative position and the second possibility is that the preset member 11 is rotated together with the scale carrying plate 5 with said locking means in its operative position . the embodiment shown relies upon the former possibility , in which the preset member 11 alone is previously set to a given angle of rotation , then the scale is manually rotated by the operator , and the desired angular setting of the scale is completed by locking the scale carrying plate 5 by the locking means on the preset member 11 . although this embodiment has been arranged in such a manner as to reduce a load exerted on the drive means and the drive transmitting mechanism , on the one hand , and to facilitate quick and smooth operation of the preset member 11 on the other , the design may be modified so as to rely upon the latter possibility as previously mentioned , i . e ., the preset member 11 may be angularly set together with the scale carrying plate 5 , as long as a proper measure is taken to strengthen the drive means and the drive transmitting mechanism as well as to lift the scale above the drawing board during rotation of the scale . at a critical position of counterclockwise rotation of the preset member 11 , the head supporting frame 2 carries a switch sw 1 serving as a rotation limiting switch mechanism for said preset member 11 and , at a critical position of clockwise rotation , a similar switch sw 2 is provided so that , when the preset member 11 bears against these switches sw 1 , sw 2 , these switches are respectfully activated to stop a drive exerted upon said preset member 11 . the scale carrying plate 5 also carries a switch sw 3 serving as a switching mechanism to hold the preset member 11 on the basic line position of the scale , so that the switch sw 3 is activated only when the preset member 11 is driven back to the basic line position of the scale to stop the drive means , assuring that the preset member 11 will be set to the basic line position of the scale . the specific embodiment shown is of the type in which the preset member 11 alone is rotated for angular setting of the scale , and , accordingly , there is provided a switch sw 4 serving as a switching mechanism which is activated when the lock means is brought out of its operative position energizing the drive means . as shown , the switch sw 4 is carried by the scale carrying plate 5 adjacent the lock means and is adapted to be activated by a pin 22 planted on the operating lever 16 for the lock means when said pin 22 bears against the switch sw 4 as the index lever 19 causes the lock means to be brought out of its operative position . reference numeral 23 designates input means stationarily mounted on the upper side of the frame integrally therewith by which a scale angle to be set is input , and reference numeral 24 designated a numerical value display means and adapted for digital display of an input signal applied to said input means so that the operator may visually recognize the scale angle actually input by said input means . although the embodiment shown adopts the input means of the key input ( or digital ) type , it is also possible to replace this by the rotary dial type in which a scale angle to be set is input as an analog amount . with an input means of such rotary dial type , a rotation amount of the dial is read by a potentiometer or an encoder so that , in the case of the former , the angle read thereby may be digitally converted by an a - d converter and then digitally displayed on the numerical value display means , and , in the case of the latter in which the angle is read by the encoder as a digital amount , this amount may be directly displayed on the numerical value display means . thus , the operator may only rotate the dial while observing the indication on said numerical value display means to input a scale angle to be set , as desired . the device according to the present invention will be described further in detail with reference to a block diagram of fig3 . in normal operation , to rotate the scale , lying on a basic line position , by a desired angle , for example , counterclockwise 25 ° 30 &# 39 ;, the operator puts a number + 25 . 30 on a key section of the input means . such manner of putting the number is similar to that in the ordinary computer , in which a positive (+) polarity is given to the counterclockwise rotation of the scale while a negative (-) polarity is given to the clockwise rotation thereof but it is not required to push the key + key when the counterclockwise rotation is concerned . the input signal applied to this input means 23 is supplied through a decoder 25 to a temporary memory 26 , a polarity discriminator 27 , an up - and - down counter 28 and a control circuit 30 , further to a pulse generator 31 which , in turn , generates a pulse signal of + direction with which the up - and - down counters 28 , 32 are activated . counts of the up - and - down counter are supplied through a shift register 29 provided on the side of the display means to a comparator memory 34 . in the embodiment shown , the up - and - down counter 32 corresponds to a numerical value of five positions and has five windows consisting ( viewed from the left hand as in the block diagram ) of a window for 100 ° unit binary displayed with 1 and 2 , a window for 10 ° unit decimally displayed with 0 to 9 , a window for 1 ° unit decimally displayed also with 0 to 9 , a window for 10 &# 39 ; unit six digit displayed with 0 to 5 and a window for 1 &# 39 ; binary displayed with 0 to 5 . operation of this up - and - down counter 32 causes a decoder driver 35 to be activated so that an angle of 25 . 30 applied to the input means 23 is displayed on the numerical value display means 36 , while the polarity discriminator 27 provides a signal with which a driver 35a is activated so that a display of + appears on a polarity display means 36a . now the operator can visually recognize the very angle actually put into the input means 23 from the numerical value display means 36 . then , the operator may depress the index lever 19 of the operating head 4 to release the lock means . the switch sw 4 is activated thereby and a pulse generator 37 provided on the side of the drive means is applied with a drive signal ( of + direction ) from a control circuit 30 , with which a motor driver 38 is activated to rotate the step motor 20 . this results in counterclockwise rotation of the preset member 11 through the drive transmitting mechanism 21 , 10 . such rotation of the preset member 11 continues until the control circuit 30 deenergizes the pulse generator 37 and simultaneously the motor driver 38 as well as the step motor 20 are thereby stopped when the comparator 33 determines a coincidence of the signal applied from said pulse generator 37 to the shfit register 39 with the signal from the shift register 29 on the side of the display means . the position at which the rotation of the preset member 11 has been stopped corresponds to the angle digitally displayed on said numerical value display means 36 . accordingly , the operator may rotate the scale , holding the operating head 4 , to the angular position at which the preset member 11 has been thus set and then bring the pawl 14 of the lock means into the notch 12 formed in the preset member 11 to effect a desired setting of the scale to a position deviating from the basic line position by a given angular distance and thereby to complete the desired angular setting of the scale . now , we will consider the situation in which the scale is set to a new position and will be reached by the scale after clockwise or counterclockwise further rotation thereof by a desired angle from the position to which the scale has previously been set as above mentioned . upon placing the desired angle together with a polarity of + or -, for example , - 5 . 15 on the input means 25 , an input signal is applied through the decoder to the temporary memory 26 , the polarity discriminator 27 , the up - and - down counter 28 and the control circuit 30 . the pulse generator 31 on the side of the display means is now activated and said up - and - down counter 28 , according to the pulse signal of negative polarity provided from said pulse generator 31 and under action of a control circuit 28a associated with said up - and - down counter 32 of five positions the decoder driver 35 and causes the numerical value display means 36 to display the numerical value of 5 . 15 . on the polarity display means 36a the polarity of - appears in accordance with the signal provided from the polarity discriminator 27 . when the operator depresses the index lever 19 to release the lock means and thereby to close the switch sw 4 while visually observing the indication on the numerical value display means 36 , the pulse generator 37 on the side of the drive means is applied with a drive signal of negative (-) polarity from the control circuit 30 and , with this drive signal , the step motor 20 continues to be driven through the motor driver 38 until the signal from the shift register 39 on the side of the motor will coincide with the signal from the shift register 29 on the side of the display means , and the preset member 11 is rotated thereby to the desired angular position . with a coincidence signal coming from the comparator 33 , a signal as a result of addition of subtraction coming from the memory 34 is applied through the control circuit 30 to the up - and - down counter 32 and thereby the decoder driver 35 is activated so that a numerical value after addition or subtraction is displayed on the numerical value display means 36 . simultaneously , the polarity discriminator 27 is also applied with the polarity after addition or subtraction from the control circuit 30 and this polarity after addition or subtraction is displayed under action of the driver 35a on the polarity display means 36a . acccordingly , in rotating the scale and then locking the preset member 11 by the lock means , the operator is altered by the numerical value display means 36 how far the scale is to be rotated relative to the basic line position . when a numerical value is introduced into the input means 23 and when operating the angular setting as above mentioned , if the introduced numerical value exceeds the value corresponding to the rotatable limit of the scale , the limit switch sw 1 , in counterclockwise direction , and the limit switch sw 2 , in the clockwise direction , bear against the preset member 11 , respectively , and are immediately closed , respectively , so that the pulse generator 37 is immediately applied with a stop signal through a direction discriminator 40 from the control circuit 30 , stopping the motor drive 38 as well as the motor 20 . the preset member 11 is correctly stopped at the critical position . obviously a modification is possible such that an overflow is indicated on the numerical value display means when said limit switches sw 1 , sw 2 are closed . when the power source is switched on again after this has been once switched off , with the scale angularly set relative to the basic line position , the electric circuity assumes the condition as if the scale as well as the preset member 11 have really been rotated away from the basic line position , since the memory 34 has lost its previous content and the numerical value display station 36 has no display . therefore , a clear input station c adapted for switching off - on of the general power source may be associated with the input means 23 to set the scale position at a given angle of rotation relative to the basic line position as a new basic line position . based on this new basic line position , a numerical value of desired angle may be applied into the input means 23 to achieve the angular setting scale , if desired . furthermore , the basic line position of the scale must be altered as desired in some bases such as exchange of a drawing . in such case , the scale can be rotated independently of the preset member 11 by pushing the index lever 19 so as to disengage the pawl 14 out of the notch 12 and thereby to release the lock means , thereafter the scale may be set to a given new basic line position and then the preset member 11 may be brought into alignment with this new basic line position of scale . to align the preset member 11 with the new basic line position of the scale in this specific embodiment , - k or + k may be applied as input signal to the key input station of the input means 23 to bring the preset member 11 to the basic line position clockwise or counterclockwise , respectively . the lock means has already been released and the switch sw 4 is at an open position , so that , upon application of such input signal , the pulse generator 37 is applied from the control circuit 30 with a pulse signal of negative (-) or positive (+) direction which causes the motor driver 38 and the step motor 20 to rotate the preset member 11 . when the preset member 11 reaches the basic line position , the switch sw 3 is closed . upon closure of this switch sw 3 , the memory 34 is cleared and at the same time the control circuit 30 applied the pulse generator 37 with a stop signal , with which the motor 20 is stopped . at this moment the lock means is activated to lock the scale on the preset member 11 , resulting in completion of the scale setting the basic line position . it should be noted here that said switch sw 3 is adapted to be activated only when an input station k , particularly provided for the signal serving to align the preset member 11 with the basic line position of scale , is operated and closure of this switch at any other points of time has no effect upon the circuitry elements such as control circuit 30 . the input means 23 and the associated numerical value display station 36 may be adapted to be use independently of the drive means for the preset member 11 , if desired , and thereby a computer may be incorporated into the head of the universal parallel ruler for further improvement of efficiency of the drawing operation . with the device according to the present invention , as obviously understood from the aforegoing description , setting of the scale at a desired angular distance relative to the basic line position is completed simultaneously when the angle by which the scale should be rotated relative to said basic line position is digitally displayed on the numerical value display station by application of said angle value into the input means , without annoying procedures usually required to use the device of prior art , with which , for example , scale setting must be performed while observing the result of scale rotation on various instruments such as a protractor . thus , the device of this invention is excellent in its effect , achieves the objects set forth in the introductory part of this specification and provides various advantages in practical use . the present invention will be now described by way of example in reference with the accompanying drawing . referring to fig4 and 5 , reference numeral 101 designates a head movably guided over a drawing board , while maintaining the scale in parallel relation relative thereto , no matter whether the universal parallel ruler to which this head 101 belongs is of track type or arm type . reference numeral 102 designates a support for said head 101 being stationary with respect to rotation of the scale and centrally including a bearing 103 in the form of a hollow cylinder . a hollow head shaft 104 is rotatably supported in said bearing 103 which has , in turn , at one side thereof a notch 103a at which a belt 105 is suspended around the head shaft 104 to to detect a rotation . reference numeral 106 designates a rotation detector accommodated within the head support 102 , which detector may , in the specific embodiment shown , be of analog type such as a potentiometer . said belt is suspended around a pulley 107 stationarily mounted on a rotary shaft 106a of said detector 106 . accordingly , when the head shaft 104 is rotated relative to the head support 102 , this rotation is detected by the rotation detector 106 . said head shaft 104 has at upper end a connector plate 108 stationarily mounted thereon and to this plate 108 an operating head 109 is integrally secured by a screw 109a . the head shaft has at the lower end , a flange 104a . a scale carrying plate 110 is integrally secured by a scarew 110a to the bottom of said flange 104a and has at an end a scale mounting plate 111 adapted to effect a fine adjustment of the scale basic line with the help of a fine adjustment lever 111a . on the upper side of the flange 104 is integrally secured by a screw 112a , a circular locking plate 112 having its periphery locked by a locking piece 113b of a locking shaft 113a adapted to be clamped and unclamped by operating a scale locking lever 113 . around the outer periphery of the flange 104a is rotatably mounted a cylindrical member 114 which is , in turn , integrally provided with a basic line adjusting member 115 in the form of a circular disc . the basic line adjusting member 115 has around its outer periphery an operating ring 115a to effect rotation of this member 115 and its inner periphery a locking frame 115b bearing against a locking piece 116b of a locking member 116a so that said locking frame 115b may be clamped or unclamped by a basic line locking lever 116 mounted on the head support 102 . an index disc 117 is integrally mounted by means such as a screw 117b on the basic line adjusting member 115 , said index disc 117 having notches 117a at a predetermined angular distance , for example , 15 °, into which are retractably engaged a pawl 118 adapted to be pivotable around a pivot 118a on the scale carrying plate 110 . engagement or disengagement of said pawl 118 is controlled by an index lever 119 laterally projecting the operating head 109 . said index lever 119 includes an arm 119a adapted to come at its front end in engagement with upper end 120a of a lever 120 provided with the hollow head shaft 104 while the lower end 120b of said lever 120 is engaged with the rear end of an actuator member 121 which is movable from side to side along the lower side of the scale carrying plate 110 , and a link pin 121a planted on the from end of said actuator member 121 is engaged into a slot 118b formed in said pawl 118 projecting upwards through an opening of the scale carrying plate 110 . referring the fig5 reference numerals 112a , 122b , designate guide members stationarily mounted on the lower side of the scale carrying plate 110 , by which the actuator member 121 is movably guided from side to side as seen in the figure . the actuator 121 is biased by a tension spring 123 to actuate the pawl 118 normally in the direction ( leftwards in figure ) of engagement with the notches 117a . a contact pin 124 planted on the actuator member 121 projects through an opening 110b of the scale carrying plate 110 and is adapted to be brought against a contact of a switch sw 20 which will be described more in detail later , when the pawl 118 is engaged with said notches 17a . reference numeral 125 designates a casing member integrally mounted on the scale carrying plate 110 . this casing member 125 integrally carries thereon a key input station 126 for scale angle , a numerical value display means 128 all according to the present invention . reference numeral 129 designates a bottom covering member integrally mounted by a screw 129a on the bottom side of the scale carrying plate 110 . reference numeral 130 designates electromagnetic braking means integrally mounted on the scale carrying plate 110 and a pair of actuator members 130a associated with this braking means 130 serve to clamp or unclamp said index disc along the periphery thereof . the present invention will be described further in detail with reference to a block diagram given by fig6 . the key input station 126 functions as a station into which a scale angle to be set is input by the operator together with a polarity representing a direction of rotation and the angle of rotation together with the polarity thus input by the operator is immediately displayed on the numerical value display station 127 and a polarity display station 127a , based on which the operator may easily verify the scale angle to be set . accordingly , the input station may be , instead of key input type as above mentioned , of rotary dial type in which a numerical value is placed on the numerical value display station 127 by rotating the dial . further , there are many possibilities in execution of the input station and the manner in which this input station should be executed is not specified by the present invention . an angle by which the scale should be rotated from the basic line position , for example , + 25 ° 30 &# 39 ;, is placed into said key input station 126 and this input signal is supplied to a temporary memory 131 , an up - and - down counter 32 and a control circuit 133 . a pulse generator 134 now generates a pulse signal of + direction with which the up - and - down counters 132 , 135 are activated and a decoder driver 136 causes the numerical value display station 127 to display 125 , 130 while a signal from the temporary memory 131 activates a driver 136a and thereby causes the polarity display station 127a to display + polarity . a signal from the up - and - down counter 132 is supplied to a shift register 137 which , in turn , supplies a signal corresponding the count signal to a comparator 138 . when the scale is counterclockwise ( i . e ., in + direction ) rotated , a rotation of the head shaft 104 is transmitted through the belt 105 is to the rotary shaft 106a of the analog detector 106 and , particularly in the embodiment shown , an analog signal from said analog detector 139 is ( after being converted by an a - d converter 140 into digital signal ) supplied to said comparator 138 . if said digital signal in accordance with an actual rotation of the scale coincides with the previous signal from the shift register 137 , the comparator provides a coincidence signal to the control circuit 133 which supplied , in turn , a solenoid driver 147 of the electromagnetic braking means 130 with a signal causing said solenoid driver 147 to actuate a braking solenoid 148 . as a result , the actuator member 130a holds the index disc 117 and thereby stops the scale . simultaneously , the light emitting element of the display means 128 is lit so that the operator may conveniently rely upon such indication on the display means 128 to verify that the scale has been set to the desired rotation angle of 25 ° 30 &# 39 ;. clamping the scale locking lever 113 and thereby locking the scale at the position thus set enables the electromagnetic braking means to be released to perform further operation of drawing for a long time . the signal from the shift register 137 is stored in a primary memory m 10 of a memory 141 and the content thus stored in the primary memory m 10 is directly transferred to a secondary memory m 20 when a new rotation angle is input . now the manner of operation of each key of the key input station 126 will be described . c designates a clear key adapted to be used when an erroneous numerical value has been introduced . depression of this key c causes the control circuit 133 to actuate shift register 137 and the primary memory m 10 may be cleared and thereby a display on the numerical value display station 127 may be erased . a control circuit 132a is associated with the up - and - down counter 132 so that the count may be cleared for every placement of a numerical value into the key input station 126 and the next numerical value placed into the input station may be counted as an angle relative to the basic line position . the specific embodiment shown is so arranged that always the angle relative to the basic line position is input into the key input station and the numerical value corresponding to this angle is displayed on the display station . such an arrangement of this embodiment is based on the actual circumstances of normal drawing operation wherein dimensions are often determined on the basis of the angle relative to the basic line . &# 34 ; ac &# 34 ; designates an all - clear key used for alteration of the basic line position or setting of the new basic line position . this key ( ac ) activates the reset circuit 142 through the control circuit 133 only in the state in which the pawl 118 is in engagement with the notches 117a of said index disc 117 and the contact pin 124 of the actuator member 121 bears against the switch sw 20 and thereby closes the latter . thus the electric contents of all the blocks such as the up - and - down counters 132 , 135 and the primary memory m 10 of the memory 141 are cleared . in the specific embodiment shown , energization of the decoder driver 136 , the shift register 137 , the comparator 138 and the reset circuit 142 through the control circuit 133 is accomplished by the interposition of a delay circuit 143 , not only to obtain a period of stabilized circuit operation by also to reduce power consumption by deenergization after a predetermined time duration . specifically , when a predetermined time duration has elapsed after input has been made into the key input station 126 and thereby the scale has been set , the electromagnetic braking means 130 is deenergized and thereby a display on the display station is erased . &# 34 ; r &# 34 ; designates a recall key adapted to be used to reactivate the delay circuit 143 which has effected deenergization and to light the display station . &# 34 ; m &# 34 ; designates a memory key adapted to be depressed before depression of the recall key &# 34 ; r &# 34 ; to display the content stored in the secondary memory m 20 of the memory 141 on the display station and before depression of the all - clear - key &# 34 ; ac &# 34 ; to clear all the content in the memory 141 . &# 34 ; e &# 34 ; designates a power source , sw 10 a source switch and a designates the supply source to each block . the electric circuitry of fig7 constructed according to the device of this invention will be described . the voltage ( indicative of the displaced angle ) detected by the analog detector 139 is a - d converted by the a - d converter 140 and then divided by a multiplexer 141a into a sin signal and a cos signal . after being quadruplexed and direction - discriminated by a quadruplex pulse direction - discriminator 141b , these sin and cos signals are input into a polarity discriminator 142 , on one side , and into an up - and - down control 143 on the other in which the up signal is discriminated 143a and the down signal is discrimby 143b . thus these up and down signals are input into the up - and - down counters 135a to 135e . a preset angle signal input by the key board 126 is input via the control circuit 133 into the shift register 137 . the angle signal from the up - and - down counters and the preset angle signal from the shift register 137 are input into gates 144a to 144g forming a comparator . when there occurs a coincidence between the angle signal and the preset angle signal input into the comparator the analog detector and the desired angular voltage , an angular coincidence signal is output from said comparator . such coincidence is displayed on the display station 128 under action of a coincidence display driver 145 and simultaneously the coincidence signal is input into a solenoid driver 147 causing a solenoid 148 to actuate the braking means . reference numeral 46 designates a manual brake switch , 136b decoder driver , and 127b to 127f numerical value display stations . with the universal parallel ruler constructed as described hereinabove according to the present invention , a basic line position is set by aligning the scale with a basic line for drawing on the drawing board with the pawl 18 engaged into the notches 17a formed in the index disc 117 of the basic line adjusting member 115 . then the basic line locking lever 116 is clamped to lock the basic line adjusting member 115 , thereafter the all - clear key ac is depressed after closure of the source switch sw 1 , and then a desired angle to be set is input on the key input station 126 and thereupon a digital display of the angle is obtained together with a polarity thereof on the numerical value display station 127 . after the angle to be set has been verified on the basis of said digital display , the index lever 119 is pushed so as to disengage the pawl 118 from the noches 117a of the index disc 117 and the scale is rotated . rotation amount of the head shaft 104 is detected as a rotation amount of the rotary shaft 106a of the analog detector 106 and electrically detected by the analog detector circuit 139 . the rotation amount is supplied , after converted by the a - d converter 40 into the corresponding digital signal , to the comparator 138 in which this detection signal corresponding to the actual scale angle is compared with the rotation angle signal applied into the key input station . when a coincidence is established between these two signals , the comparator 138 provides a coincidence signal in response to which , the solenoid driver 147 and the braking solenoid 148 of the electromagnetic braking means 130 are activated by the control circuit 133 and thereby the scale is stopped and the display means or the light emitting element 128 is lit . accordingly , the operator can immediately verify that the scale has been correctly set to the desired angle without observing various instruments such as the protractor as has usually been required . in other words , the operator can obtain a display of the scale rotation angle to be set , together with the polarity thereof on the numerical value display station and then set the scale to the desired angle simply by rotating the scale to a position at which the scale is stopped by the electromagnetic braking means . the embodiment shown may be arranged , as seen from fig4 so that assembly of the key input station 126 and the numerical value display station 127 may be a computer commercially available . such computer can be conveniently used also for conversion of measurements or like which may be associated with the normal operation of drawing . furthermore , it is obviously possible to replace the analog detector 106 by a suitable digital detector such as encoder . it is also possible to replace the display means adapted to be lit when the scale reaches the position to be set by a buzzer or like which is activated to indicate positioning of the angle to be set . moreover , the protractor and the index graduations interposed between the basic line adjusting member 115 and the casing member 125 as in the conventional arrangement can be used with the present invention . it will be understood from the aforegoing description that the universal parallel ruler according to the present invention enables the angular setting of the scale to be substantially facilitated , improves the efficiency of the drawing operation and achieves the objects of the present invention as set forth in the introductory part of this specification . the invention being thus described , it will be obvious that the same may be varied in many ways . such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention , and all such modifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are intended to be included within the scope of the following claims .	1
the present invention is described with reference to the enclosed figures wherein the same numbers are used . referring to fig1 , the hair enhancing apparatus of the present invention is shown to comprise a hair bob system . the system comprises a bob member 12 attached to a comb member 14 . referring to fig2 and 3 , the hair bob 12 comprises a shaped member 16 of colored human or synthetic hair which is held in place by means of a cloth strap . the bob of hair has a height of approximately ⅜ to ½ inch . this is most clearly shown in fig8 . referring to fig4 , the back of the hair bob is affixed to a metallic clip 18 with extending comb members . referring to fig2 , 5 and 6 , the clip is bendable in both an open 20 and closed snap position 22 . in a first position , the teeth of the comb are extended outward away from the back of the hair bob . this enables the system to be placed in the hair of the user . when the clip is pushed to the second locking position , the teeth of the comb move inward thus securing the wear &# 39 ; s hair against the back of the hair bob . the hair bob then pops up the hair of the user . the hair part of the hair bob props up the user &# 39 ; s hair and provides the illusion of increased hair height . it is to be appreciated that the hair bob of the present invention is specifically designed to match the color requirements with a multitude of wearers . thus , the hair bob can be in brown , black , red , silver or any combination thereof . the critical advantage of the bob is that it achieves the result without messy or hot synthetic hair pieces or falls and without the need for chemical agents and sprays . the hair bob 12 of the present invention can include a kit with multiple hair bobs , specifically shaped hair bobs and teasing combs . the operation of the invention is as follows : first , a small section of hair ( about ¾ of an inch thick ) is held away from the scalp and held straight up firmly . the teasing comb is inserted from the back , teeth facing forward into the lifted hair approximately 1½ inches above the scalp . the comb is slid down toward the scalp . after the teased hair is moved forward , the bob 10 and comb is placed into the crown area ( area at the top of the head between the ears ). the comb is attached to the bob about ¼ of an inch up into teased hair , secure into place with the attached clip . the snap clip is closed to lock into the hair securely . once the bob is secure , the hair is flipped over the piece to cover . the hair is combed and sprayed for extra hold . the present invention has been described with referenced to the enclosed figures . it is to be appreciated that the true nature and scope of the present invention is to be determined with reference to the claims appended hereto .	0
the adaptive multi - rate ( amr ) speech codec is fundamentally different from fixed - rate speech codecs in that multiple speech rates are defined and the speech rate may be changed dynamically . for each speech rate , a channel coding scheme is defined and speech rate may be altered in order to match the channel coding to the link quality . as an amr enabled gsm mobile phone encounters poor channel conditions , e . g . at the edge of a cell or during a fade , the speech rate is reduced and the channel coding is increased . the reduced speech rate leads to a lower rate but still acceptable speech quality . this dynamic change is performed in a controlled manner such that the bit error rate ( ber ) into the speech decoder is always kept at acceptable levels to maintain overall good speech quality . with a fixed - rate speech codec under similar conditions , the ber into the speech decoder would quickly reach unacceptable levels leading to degraded speech quality out of the decoder . the active codec set ( full - rate or half - rate ) at any time comprises 1 to 4 amr codec modes correlated to the speech rates that the codec can switch to , in response to the changes in the channel condition . there are 0 to 3 thresholds defined in terms of c / i ratios for switching between the 1 4 codec modes in the current active set . with amr usage becoming more widespread , it has become even more important to have reliable and accurate channel quality estimates so that amr vocoder does not haphazardly switch among adjacent codec modes unnecessarily . the present invention combines the direct method of channel quality estimation ( fig1 ) and a channel decoder metric - based method to improve the reliability and accuracy of the channel quality estimate in terms of the c / i ratio . [ 0016 ] fig2 is a block diagram illustrating the channel quality estimation method of the present invention using a combination of direct estimation and decoder metric estimation methods . there are two paths for generating c / i estimates . one path is the direct estimation method described in fig1 represented by block 20 . the other path is a channel decoder metric - based estimation method . the channel decoder metric used herein to estimate channel quality is given by : m = ∑  s  ( n )  - r ∑  s  ( n )  ( 1 ) where r is the final accumulated ( correlation ) metric at the last stage of the trellis of a viterbi ( convolutional ) decoder 22 , and s ( n ) represents the nth soft bit input into the viterbi decoder 22 . other equivalent metrics can also be used without deviating from the concepts of the present invention . the metric , m , defined by equation ( 1 ) is referred to as the relative error weight metric . it gives a measure of the difference between the accumulated metrics of paths taken by a convolutional encoder and a viterbi decoder 22 through the trellis , normalized by the overall magnitude of the soft bits . on one hand , a lower magnitude of m implies that the path taken by the viterbi decoder 22 deviated only for a few branches from the original path taken by the convolutional encoder through the trellis , and hence better channel quality . on the other hand , higher magnitude of m implies that the path taken by the viterbi decoder 22 deviated from the correct path in several branches , thus indicating poor channel quality . the relative error weight metrics of successive frames are filtered through a smoothing filter 24 to eliminate the instantaneous fluctuations . the smoothed metric values are then mapped to c / i ratio in db using a mapping polynomial 26 . the degree of the polynomial is dependent upon the range of interest and desired accuracy of the mapping . a third - degree polynomial is sufficient over the range of c / i ratios encountered in amr mode adaptation . the c / i estimates generated by both the direct estimation method and the decoder metric method are fed to a selection logic block 28 . the selection logic block 28 assigns a confidence level to the c / i estimates from the two methods and computes a final c / i value to be used by the amr mode adaptation module . [ 0022 ] fig3 is a flowchart illustrating the process for the selection logic block 28 shown in fig2 that is used to selectively combine the c / i ratios from the two channel quality estimation methods . on one hand , the selection process will exclusively rely on the c / i estimate from the direct estimation method when the estimates from both methods are greater than a first threshold value . on the other hand , the selection process will exclusively rely on c / i estimate from the channel decoder metric - based method when the direct method estimate is greater than the first threshold value th 1 and the channel decoder metric - based estimate is less than a second threshold value , implying an undesirable spike in the direct method of channel quality estimation . in all other situations , the selection process assigns confidence weights to the direct estimation result and the metric - based estimation result and use these weight factors to compute a final composite c / i estimate . the c / i estimates from two methods in fig2 are received in block 32 of the selection process in fig3 . c / i ( direct ) and c / i ( metric ) estimates from last n frames are kept in memory 34 , 36 . if the c / i estimate from the direct estimation method is greater than a first threshold ( e . g ., c / i ( direct )& gt ; 8 db ) in block 38 and the relative error weight metric based c / i estimate is less than a second threshold ( e . g ., c / i ( metric )& lt ; 3 db ) in block 40 , then the confidence weighting factor , p , for the direct estimation method is set to zero and the c / i ( metric ) estimation method is used directly for amr mode adaptation . a difference of this magnitude ( e . g . ( c / i ( direct )− c / i ( metric )& gt ; 5 db ) implies that the higher c / i ( direct ) is a false spike in the direct estimation measurement and thus unreliable . this is shown in block 42 where the confidence factor for the c / i direct estimation method is set to zero and the confidence factor for the c / i decoder metric method is set to one . if the c / i estimate from the direct method is greater than the first threshold and the c / i estimate from the metric based estimation method is greater than the second threshold , then the estimate from metric - based method is compared with the first threshold in block 44 . if the c / i ( metric ) is greater than the first threshold , then c / i ( direct ) is assumed to be a reliable measure of channel quality and is used exclusively by assigning a confidence factor of 1 to c / i ( direct ) and assigning a confidence factor of 0 to c / i ( metric ), as shown in block 46 . in all other cases , c / i ( direct ) and c / i ( metric ) estimates are updated as shown in blocks 48 , 50 in memory 34 , 36 . the c / i ( direct ) estimate and the c / i ( metric ) estimate are assigned confidence levels p direct and p metric , respectively , depending upon each estimate &# 39 ; s deviation from its respective average wherein p direct + p metric = 1 . p direct and p metric are computed as : p direct = 1 - σ direct σ direct + σ metrics = σ metrics σ direct + σ metrics p metrics = 1 - σ metrics σ direct + σ metrics = σ direct σ direct + σ metrics ( 2 ) where σ direct and σ metrics represent standard deviations of the previous nc / i estimates from the direct estimation method and the decoder metric - based estimation method , respectively , as computed in blocks 52 , 54 . thus , σ direct 2 = ∑ n = - ( n - 1 ) 0  [ c / i direct  ( n ) - m direct ] 2  σ metrics 2 = ∑ n = - ( n - 1 ) 0  [ c / i metrics  ( n ) - m metrics ] 2 ( 3 ) where σ 2 represents the variance , c / i direct ( n ) represents the nth c / i estimate from the direct estimation method , and c / i metrics ( n ) represents the nth c / i estimate from the channel decoder metric - based estimation method ( n = 0 corresponds to the current estimate ). m direct and m metrics represent the means ( first moment ) of the corresponding previous nc / i estimates . the confidence levels p direct and p metric are computed in block 56 according to equation ( 2 ) using the results of blocks 52 and 54 ( equation ( 3 )). the final c / i estimate is the weighted sum of the two c / i estimates as shown in block 58 : c / i final =( c / i direct ( 0 )× p direct )+( c / i metrics ( 0 )× p metrics ) ( 4 ) the result of equation ( 4 ) is then used as a measure of the channel quality in amr mode adaptation . [ 0030 ] fig4 and 5 show c / i ratios ( after linearization / polynomial mapping and filtering ) for a sample case of a tch / afs10 . 2 gsm channel with actual c / i = 3 db . fig4 illustrates a direct estimation only c / i plot while fig5 illustrates a combined and weighted c / i plot using both direct estimation and decoder metrics . as can be seen from the plots , the direct c and i energy estimation method may result in occasional false estimates , especially under degraded channel conditions . however , the combined estimation method of the present invention yields far superior results with respect to reliability and accuracy . the direct method c / i estimates in fig4 are more dispersed ranging from 0 to over 15 db while the combined method of c / i estimates in fig5 are less dispersed ranging between 2 . 5 and 3 . 1 db . combining the two estimation methods therefore provides increased reliability to channel quality estimates . while the present invention is described herein in the context of a mobile telephone , the term mobile telephone may include a cellular radiotelephone with or without a multi - line display ; a personal communications system ( pcs ) terminal that may combine a cellular telephone with data processing , facsimile and data communications capabilities ; a personal digital assistant ( pda ) that can include a radiotelephone , pager , internet / intranet access , web browser , organizer , calendar and / or a global positioning system ( gps ) receiver ; and a conventional laptop and / or palmtop receiver or other computer system that includes a display for gui . mobile telephones may also be referred to as “ pervasive computing ” devices . computer program elements of the invention may be embodied in hardware and / or in software ( including firmware , resident software , micro - code , etc .). the invention may take the form of a computer program product , which can be embodied by a computer - usable or computer - readable storage medium having computer - usable or computer - readable program instructions , “ code ” or a “ computer program ” embodied in the medium for use by or in connection with the instruction execution system . in the context of this document , a computer - usable or computer - readable medium may be any medium that can contain , store , communicate , propagate , or transport the program for use by or in connection with the instruction execution system , apparatus , or device . the computer - usable or computer - readable medium may be , for example but not limited to , an electronic , magnetic , optical , electromagnetic , infrared , or semiconductor system , apparatus , device , or propagation medium such as the internet . note that the computer - usable or computer - readable medium could even be paper or another suitable medium upon which the program is printed , as the program can be electronically captured , via , for instance , optical scanning of the paper or other medium , then compiled , interpreted , or otherwise processed in a suitable manner . the computer program product and any hardware described herein form the various means for carrying out the functions of the invention in the example embodiments . specific embodiments of an invention are disclosed herein . one of ordinary skill in the art will readily recognize that the invention may have other applications in other environments . in fact , many embodiments and implementations are possible . the following claims are in no way intended to limit the scope of the present invention to the specific embodiments described above . in addition , any recitation of “ means for ” is intended to evoke a means - plus - function reading of an element and a claim , whereas , any elements that do not specifically use the recitation “ means for ”, are not intended to be read as means - plus - function elements , even if the claim otherwise includes the word means .	7
embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings . fig1 ( a ) and 1 ( b ) are cross - sectional views showing a microswitch 1 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention . fig1 ( a ) is a view showing the microswitch 1 in an “ off ” state and fig1 ( b ) is a view showing the microswitch 1 in an “ on ” state . fig2 is a perspective view showing a lever member 5 shown in fig1 ( a ) and 1 ( b ) . the microswitch 1 in this embodiment is a detection device for detecting a predetermined object to be detected ( not shown ). the microswitch 1 includes a switch mechanism 2 , a housing 3 into which the switch mechanism 2 is incorporated , a plunger 4 which is movably held by the housing 3 for transmitting power to the switch mechanism 2 , and a lever member 5 whose base end is supported by the housing 3 . in the following descriptions , three directions perpendicular to each other are set to be an “ x ” direction , a “ y ” direction and a “ z ” direction . further , the “ x ” direction is set to be a “ right and left direction ”, the “ y ” direction is set to be a “ front and rear direction ” and the “ z ” direction is set to be an “ upper and lower direction ”. further , an “ x1 ” direction side is a “ right ” side , an “ x2 ” direction side is a “ left ” side , a “ z1 ” direction side is an “ upper ” side , and a “ z2 ” direction side is a “ lower ” side . the switch mechanism 2 , which is a so - called snap action mechanism , includes three terminals , i . e ., a first terminal 7 , a second terminal 8 and a third terminal 9 , a fixed side contact point 10 fixed to the second terminal 8 , a fixed side contact point 11 fixed to the third terminal 9 , a movable side contact point 12 , a contact point spring 13 holding the movable side contact point 12 , and a curved spring 14 which urges the contact point spring 13 . the contact point spring 13 and the curved spring 14 are a metal plate spring . the upper end sides of the first terminal 7 , the second terminal 8 and the third terminal 9 are disposed in the inside of the housing 3 and the lower end sides of the first terminal 7 , the second terminal 8 and the third terminal 9 are protruded to the outer side of the housing 3 . a base end ( left end ) of the contact point spring 13 is held by an upper end side of the first terminal 7 and a tip end ( right end ) of the contact point spring 13 holds the movable side contact point 12 . the fixed side contact point 10 and the fixed side contact point 11 are disposed so as to face each other in the upper and lower direction and the movable side contact point 12 is disposed between the fixed side contact point 10 and the fixed side contact point 11 . the housing 3 is formed of thermoplastic resin . specifically , the housing 3 is formed of liquid crystalline thermoplastic resin such as liquid crystal polymer ( lcp ). the plunger 4 is held by the housing 3 so as to be capable of moving in the upper and lower direction . the base end ( lower end ) of the plunger 4 is abutted with the contact point spring 13 . further , the tip end ( upper end ) of the plunger 4 is abutted with the lever member 5 . in this embodiment , as shown in fig1 ( a ) and 1 ( b ) , the base end and the tip end of the plunger 4 are formed in a substantially circular arc shape when viewed in the front and rear direction . the lever member 5 is , as shown in fig2 , a plate spring which is formed by bending a metal plate - shaped member formed in a substantially rectangular plate shape in a roughly “ l ”- shape . the lever member 5 is provided with a short side part 5 a structuring the base end side of the lever member 5 and a long side part 5 b which is substantially perpendicular to the short side part 5 a and is longer than the short side part 5 a . a lower end ( upper end in fig2 ) of the short side part 5 a is formed with protruded parts 5 j which are protruded to both sides in the front and rear direction . as described above , the base end side of the lever member 5 is supported by the housing 3 . in other words , the short side part 5 a is supported by the housing 3 . further , the lever member 5 is turnable with the protruded parts 5 j of the short side part 5 a as a supporting point . specifically , the long side part 5 b is tunable with the protruded parts 5 j of the short side part 5 a as a supporting point . as described above , the tip end of the plunger 4 is abutted with the lever member 5 . specifically , the tip end of the plunger 4 is abutted with an under face 5 c of the long side part 5 b at an intermediate position in a longitudinal direction of the long side part 5 b ( more specifically , at a position nearer to the short side part 5 a than the center in the longitudinal direction of the long side part 5 b ). further , in this embodiment , an object to be detected is capable of abutting with the tip end side ( right end side ) of the long side part 5 b . specifically , an object to be detected is capable of abutting with an upper face 5 d on the tip end side of the long side part 5 b . in this embodiment , a portion of the lever member 5 with which the tip end of the plunger 4 is abutted is a plunger abutting part 16 and a portion of the lever member 5 with which an object to be detected is abutted is an object abutting part 17 . as described above , the tip end of the plunger 4 is formed in a substantially circular arc shape when viewed in front and rear direction and is brought into line contact with the lever member 5 . further , as described above , the lever member 5 is tunable with the protruded parts 5 j of the short side part 5 a as a supporting point and thus , when the lever member 5 is turned with the protruded parts 5 j of the short side part 5 a as a supporting point , a portion of the lever member 5 which is line - contacted with the tip end of the plunger 4 is displaced in the longitudinal direction of the long side part 5 b . therefore , in this embodiment , a region which is surrounded by the two - dot chain line in fig2 is a plunger abutting part 16 . as shown in fig2 , the under face 5 c of the long side part 5 b is formed with reinforcing flanges 5 e for reinforcing the strength of the long side part 5 b so as to protrude to the lower side ( upper side in fig2 ). further , the upper face 5 d of the long side part 5 b is formed with reinforcing flanges 5 f for reinforcing the strength of the long side part 5 b so as to protrude to the upper side ( lower side in fig2 ). specifically , the reinforcing flanges 5 f are formed at positions avoiding the object abutting part 17 and the reinforcing flanges 5 e are formed at positions avoiding the plunger abutting part 16 . more specifically , as shown in fig1 ( a ) and 1 ( b ) , the reinforcing flange 5 f is continuously formed in the longitudinal direction of the long side part 5 b from the base end ( left end ) of the long side part 5 b in the longitudinal direction of the long side part 5 b to a slightly right side with respect to the plunger abutting part 16 without being formed with a cut - out part . further , the reinforcing flange 5 e is continuously formed in the longitudinal direction of the long side part 5 b from the slightly right side with respect to the plunger abutting part 16 in the longitudinal direction of the long side part 5 b to the tip end of the long side part 5 b without being formed with a cut - out part . in other words , the reinforcing flange 5 f is formed from the base end side of the lever member 5 toward the plunger abutting part 16 and the reinforcing flange 5 e is formed from the tip end side of the lever member 5 toward the plunger abutting part 16 . further , the right end of the reinforcing flange 5 f is disposed on the right side with respect to the plunger abutting part 16 and the left end of the reinforcing flange 5 e is disposed on the right side with respect to the plunger abutting part 16 . in this embodiment , the reinforcing flanges 5 e and 5 f are formed so that the right end of the reinforcing flange 5 f and the left end of the reinforcing flange 5 e are substantially coincided with each other in the longitudinal direction of the long side part 5 b . further , the reinforcing flanges 5 e and 5 f are formed by bending both end parts of the long side part 5 b in the front and rear direction to a substantially right angle . the reinforcing flange 5 f in this embodiment is a first reinforcing part for reinforcing the strength of the lever member 5 and the reinforcing flange 5 e is a second reinforcing part for reinforcing the strength of the lever member 5 . in the microswitch 1 structured as described above , when an object to be detected is not abutted with the tip end side of the lever member 5 , as shown in fig1 ( a ) , the fixed side contact point 11 and the movable side contact point 12 are contacted with each other . this state is an “ off ” state of the microswitch 1 . on the other hand , when an object to be detected is abutted with the tip end side of the lever member 5 , as shown in fig1 ( b ) , the lever member 5 is turned with its base end side as a supporting point to depress the plunger 4 . when the plunger 4 is depressed , the contact point spring 13 and the curved spring 14 are deformed and the movable side contact point 12 is separated from the fixed side contact point 11 to contact with the fixed side contact point 10 . when the fixed side contact point 10 and the movable side contact point 12 are contacted with each other , the micro switch 1 is turned to an “ on ” state . as described above , in this embodiment , the reinforcing flanges 5 e and 5 f are formed in the lever member 5 . therefore , the rigidity of the lever member 5 is increased . especially , in this embodiment , the reinforcing flanges 5 e and 5 f are formed so that the right end of the reinforcing flange 5 f and the left end of the reinforcing flange 5 e are substantially coincided with each other in the longitudinal direction of the long side part 5 b . therefore , the rigidity of the lever member 5 is effectively increased in comparison with a case that a space is formed between the right end of the reinforcing flange 5 f and the left end of the reinforcing flange 5 e in the longitudinal direction of the long side part 5 b . further , in this embodiment , the reinforcing flanges 5 e and 5 f are continuously formed in the longitudinal direction of the long side part 5 b without a cut - out part in its intermediate portion . therefore , the rigidity of the lever member 5 is effectively increased in comparison with a case that each of the reinforcing flanges 5 e and 5 f is formed in a divided manner in the longitudinal direction of the long side part 5 b . accordingly , in this embodiment , the sensitivity difference ( hysteresis ) of the microswitch 1 can be made small , for example , in comparison with the conventional microswitch 101 . in other words , as shown in fig3 , the sensitivity difference “ md2 ” of the microswitch 1 is made smaller than the sensitivity difference “ md1 ” of the conventional microswitch 101 . therefore , in this embodiment , the detection accuracy of the microswitch 1 can be enhanced in comparison with the conventional microswitch 101 . in fig3 , the “ fp ” represents the positions of the plungers 4 and 108 when an object to be detected is not abutted with the lever members 5 and 109 . further , the “ op1 ” represents the position of the plunger 108 when the micro switch 101 is turned to “ on ” from “ off ” as an external force acting on the lever member 109 is increased . further , the “ rp1 ” represents the position of the plunger 108 when the micro switch 101 is turned to “ off ” from “ on ” as the external force acting on the lever member 109 is decreased . further , the “ op2 ” represents the position of the plunger 4 when the micro switch 1 is turned to “ on ” from “ off ” as an external force acting on the lever member 5 is increased . further , the “ rp2 ” represents the position of the plunger 4 when the micro switch 1 is turned to “ off ” from “ on ” as the external force acting on the lever member 5 is decreased . further , the “ of ” represents a force acting on the plungers 4 and 108 at the positions “ op1 ” and “ op2 ” and the “ rf ” represents a force acting on the plungers 4 and 108 at the positions “ rp1 ” and “ rp2 ”. in this embodiment , the reinforcing flange 5 f is formed from the base end of the long side part 5 b in the longitudinal direction of the long side part 5 b to a slightly right side with respect to the plunger abutting part 16 and the reinforcing flange 5 e is formed from a slightly right side with respect to the plunger abutting part 16 in the longitudinal direction of the long side part 5 b to the tip end of the long side part 5 b . further , the reinforcing flange 5 f is formed on the upper face 5 d side of the long side part 5 b with which an object to be detected is abutted and the reinforcing flange 5 e is formed on the under face 5 c side of the long side part 5 b with which the tip end of the plunger 4 is abutted . therefore , the reinforcing flanges 5 e and 5 f and the tip end of the plunger 4 are not abutted with each other and the reinforcing flanges 5 e and 5 f and an object to be detected are not abutted with each other . accordingly , even when the reinforcing flanges 5 e and 5 f are formed in the lever member 5 , a relative distance between the microswitch 1 and an object to be detected is hard to be varied when the object to be detected is detected by the microswitch 1 . further , the reinforcing flange 5 e is formed on the tip end side of the lever member 5 on the under face 5 c side of the lever member 5 and thus , even when the reinforcing flange 5 e is formed in the lever member 5 , the outside dimension of the microswitch 1 is hard to be changed . therefore , for example , the microswitch 1 in this embodiment can be provided with compatibility with the conventional micro switch 101 . as a result , in this embodiment , the versatility of the microswitch 1 can be prevented from being lowered . in this embodiment , the housing 3 is formed of thermoplastic resin . therefore , for example , when the microswitch 1 is to be discarded , the resin structuring the housing 3 can be reused . accordingly , in this embodiment , environmental load can be reduced . further , in this embodiment , the housing 3 is formed of liquid crystalline thermoplastic resin and thus , even when the housing 3 is formed of thermoplastic resin , the heat resisting property of the housing 3 can be enhanced . although the present invention has been shown and described with reference to a specific embodiment , various changes and modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the teachings herein . in the embodiment described above , in the lever member 5 , the reinforcing flange 5 f is formed as a first reinforcing part and the reinforcing flange 5 e is formed as a second reinforcing part . however , the present invention is not limited to this embodiment . for example , as shown in fig4 ( a ) , in the lever member 5 , a reinforcing rib 5 g as the first reinforcing part may be formed in the longitudinal direction of the lever member 5 and a reinforcing rib 5 h as the second reinforcing part may be formed in the longitudinal direction of the lever member 5 . in other words , the reinforcing rib 5 g may be continuously formed on the upper face 5 d side of the long side part 5 b from the base end of the long side part 5 b in the longitudinal direction of the long side part 5 b to a slightly right side with respect to the plunger abutting part 16 so as to protrude to the upper side ( lower side in fig4 ( a )), and the reinforcing rib 5 h may be continuously formed on the under face 5 c side of the long side part 5 b from a slightly right side with respect to the plunger abutting part 16 in the longitudinal direction of the long side part 5 b to the tip end of the long side part 5 b so as to protrude to the lower side ( upper side in fig4 ( a ) ). in the embodiment shown in fig4 ( a ) , the reinforcing ribs 5 g and 5 h are formed so that the right end of the reinforcing rib 5 g and the left end of the reinforcing rib 5 h are substantially coincided with each other in the longitudinal direction of the long side part 5 b . further , in the embodiment shown in fig4 ( a ) , the reinforcing ribs 5 g and 5 h are formed so that a substantially center portion of the long side part 5 b in the front and rear direction is bent in a substantially circular arc shape . in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention , the reinforcing ribs 5 g and 5 h may be formed so that a predetermined portion of the long side part 5 b in the front and rear direction is bent in a substantially polygonal shape such as a substantially triangular shape or a substantially rectangular shape . further , the reinforcing ribs 5 g and 5 h may be formed so that a beam in a substantially cylindrical shape or a beam in a substantially polygonal pillar shape is fixed to the under face 5 c or the upper face 5 d of the long side part 5 b . alternatively , as shown in fig4 ( b ) , the lever member 5 may be formed with a reinforcing rib 5 g as the first reinforcing part and reinforcing flanges 5 e as the second reinforcing part . in other words , the reinforcing rib 5 g may be formed on the upper face 5 d side of the long side part 5 b from the base end of the long side part 5 b in the longitudinal direction of the long side part 5 b to a slightly right side with respect to the plunger abutting part 16 and the reinforcing flanges 5 e may be formed on the under face 5 c side of the long side part 5 b from a slightly right side with respect to the plunger abutting part 16 in the longitudinal direction of the long side part 5 b to the tip end of the long side part 5 b . in this case , as shown in fig4 ( b ) , it is preferable that the reinforcing rib 5 g and the reinforcing flanges 5 e are formed so that the right end side portion of the reinforcing rib 5 g and the left end side portions of the reinforcing flanges 5 e are overlapped with each other in the longitudinal direction of the long side part 5 b . according to this structure , the rigidity of the lever member 5 can be increased further effectively . in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention , the lever member 5 may be formed with the reinforcing flanges 5 f as the first reinforcing part and the reinforcing rib 5 h as the second reinforcing part . in the embodiment described above , the reinforcing flanges 5 e and 5 f are formed so that the right end of the reinforcing flange 5 f and the left end of the reinforcing flange 5 e are substantially coincided with each other in the longitudinal direction of the long side part 5 b . however , the present invention is not limited to this embodiment . for example , the reinforcing flanges 5 e and 5 f may be formed so that a space is formed between the right end of the reinforcing flange 5 f and the left end of the reinforcing flange 5 e in the longitudinal direction of the long side part 5 b . further , in the embodiment described above , the reinforcing flanges 5 e and 5 f are continuously formed in the longitudinal direction of the long side part 5 b without a cut - out part in its intermediate portion . however , the reinforcing flange 5 e and / or the reinforcing flange 5 f may be intermittently formed in a separated manner in the longitudinal direction of the long side part 5 b . further , when the reinforcing flange 5 e and / or the reinforcing flange 5 f are intermittently formed in the longitudinal direction of the long side part 5 b , the reinforcing ribs 5 g and 5 h may be formed in spaces formed between the intermittent reinforcing flanges 5 e and / or the intermittent reinforcing flanges 5 f . in the embodiment described above , the reinforcing flange 5 f is formed from the base end of the long side part 5 b in the longitudinal direction of the long side part 5 b to the slightly right side with respect to the plunger abutting part 16 and the reinforcing flange 5 e is formed from the slightly right side with respect to the plunger abutting part 16 in the longitudinal direction of the long side part 5 b to the tip end of the long side part 5 b . however , the present invention is not limited to this embodiment . for example , the reinforcing flange 5 f may be formed between the base end of the long side part 5 b and the plunger abutting part 16 in the longitudinal direction of the long side part 5 b and the reinforcing flange 5 e may be formed between the plunger abutting part 16 and the tip end of the long side part 5 b in the longitudinal direction of the long side part 5 b . further , the reinforcing flange 5 f may be formed from the base end of the long side part 5 b to a slightly left side with respect to the plunger abutting part 16 in the longitudinal direction of the long side part 5 b and the reinforcing flange 5 e may be formed from a slightly right side with respect to the plunger abutting part 16 to the tip end of the long side part 5 b in the longitudinal direction of the long side part 5 b . in the embodiment described above , the reinforcing flange 5 f is formed from the base end side of the lever member 5 toward the plunger abutting part 16 and the reinforcing flange 5 e is formed from the tip end side of the lever member 5 toward the plunger abutting part 16 . however , the present invention is not limited to this embodiment . for example , in a case that the reinforcing flange 5 f is formed at a position avoiding the object abutting part 17 and the reinforcing flange 5 e is formed at a position avoiding the plunger abutting part 16 , the reinforcing flange 5 f is not required to be formed from the base end side of the lever member 5 toward the plunger abutting part 16 and the reinforcing flange 5 e is not required to be formed from the tip end side of the lever member 5 toward the plunger abutting part 16 . in the embodiment described above , the housing 3 is formed of liquid crystalline thermoplastic resin such as liquid crystal polymer . however , the present invention is not limited to this embodiment . for example , the housing 3 may be formed of crystalline thermoplastic resin . in this case , in order to enhance the heat resisting property of the housing 3 , it is preferable to perform anneal treatment on the housing 3 . further , the housing 3 may be formed of thermosetting resin such as phenol resin .	7
fig1 and 4 depict an industrial oven and fig2 depicts individual industrial ovens 10 arranged in sequence , fig1 to provide a larger industrial oven 12 . industrial oven 10 includes a fan 14 , which may be a backwardly inclined scroll fan or any other fan know to those skilled in the art . the fan 14 is mounted on top of the oven and circulates the air within the oven 10 . the interior of the oven 10 includes a heating chamber 16 in which product for heating ( not shown ) is placed on a pair of racks 18 . the racks 18 are moved into and out of the interior of the oven 10 by means of conveyer assembly 20 . heating chamber 16 is covered by a top wall 22 and is bordered on the sides by perforated side walls or plates 24 . the perforated side walls or plates 24 enable equalization of air flow across the entirety of the product in heating chamber 16 , as will be described herein . industrial oven 10 also includes duct work for routing a continuous air flow path through oven 10 , including heating chamber 16 . the duct work comprises a left heating duct 26l and right duct 26r . to better highlight the symmetry of industrial oven 10 , like elements will be referred to using like reference numeral with a suffix of l and r to indicate that the elements are located on the left and right sides of the oven , respectively . the duct &# 39 ; s 26l , 26r are positioned adjacent to heating chamber 16 . above heating chamber 16 temperature control section 30 is placed between ducts 26l and 26r . temperature control 30 includes a heat inlet 32 through which air at a predetermined temperature is introduced in order to maintain the interior temperature of oven 10 at a predetermined temperature . a burner 36 or other heat source provides air at an elevated temperature for introduction through heat inlet 32 . fresh air vent 34 enables the introduction of fresh air into temperature control section 30 in order to balance temperature control section 30 . an air return section 38 is placed above temperature control section 30 so that air drawn through temperature control 30 is drawn into air return section 38 . air return section 38 is placed between ducts 26l and 26r . a vent 40 connects temperature control section 30 and air return section 38 and is shaped to facilitate air flow into air return section 38 from temperature control chamber 30 . further , ducts 26l and 26r may be viewed as comprising three sections . an upper section 26la , 26ra is generally adjacent to return air section 30 . a second section 26lb , 26rc is generally adjacent to temperature control section 30 . a third section 26lc , 26rc is generally adjacent to heating chamber 16 . of particular interest in the present invention are air flow doors 44l and 44r which typically assume either an air return position , demonstrated by door 44l , or an air inlet position , demonstrated by door 44r . in accordance with the present invention , the particular position of doors 44l , 44r determine the direction of the air flow through the oven 10 and heating chamber 16 , in particular . as shown in fig1 door 44l inhibits air flow between left duct sections 26la and 26lb and enables air flow between left duct section 26lb and temperature control section 30 . door 44r inhibits air flow between right duct section 26rb and temperature control section 30 and enables air flow between right duct sections 26ra and 26rb . with respect to the configuration of doors 44l , 44r in fig1 the direction of air flow is shown by arrows 46 . starting at return air section 38 , the circulating air flows downward through upper section 26ra , middle section 26rb , and lower section 26rc of right duct 26r . air then flows through heating chamber 16 and into left duct 26l . in left duct 26l , air flows from bottom section 26lc to middle section 26lb . from middle section 26lb , air flows into temperature control section 30 then back to return chamber 38 . to facilitate air flow and to facilitate directional changes , duct sections 26ra and 26rb includes turning vanes . right duct 28r includes a set of turning vanes 50r to assist in redirecting air from return air section 38 through duct 26r . right duct 26r also includes a second set of turning vanes 52r for redirecting air from lower section 26rc into heating chamber 16 . similarly , left duct 26l includes a set of turning vanes 52l to redirect air output from heating chamber 16 into duct 26l . further yet , section 26la of duct 26 also includes a set of turning vanes 50l which operate similarly to turning vanes 50r when air flows in the reverse direction . one skilled in the art will recognize that the turning vanes operate similarly when the air flow is reversed . note that turning vanes 50r , 50l and 52r , 52l are angled with respect to the vertical in order to provide a substantially even air flow at the output side of the turning vanes . in a reverse configuration , left vent door 44l assumes a generally vertical position 44l &# 39 ;, shown in phantom , and right vent door 44r assumes a generally horizontal position at 44r &# 39 ;, also shown in phantom . in this configuration , the doors 44l &# 39 ; and 44r &# 39 ; operate complimentary from doors 44r and 44l respectively , and the airflow is reversed as shown by arrows 46 &# 39 ; in phantom . in this reverse air flow configuration , air circulation 46 &# 39 ; covers a path symmetric about a center line 56 of oven 10 . thus , regardless of the direction of air flow , the heating profile of the product within heating chamber 16 is symmetric about center line 56 of industrial oven 10 . this results in a symmetric heating of the product in heating chamber 16 . doors 44l , 44r are typically opened and closed using a mechanical mechanisim attached to the doors so that movement of the mechanism causes that door to move accordingly . the mechanism is mechanically connected with a linkage so that movement of the mechanism causes both doors to move in complementary directions . further positive pressure appears within temperature control section 30 , and assists in first moving one of the doors 44r , 44l , whichever is in a generally vertical position . the positive pressure assists in pushing the generally vertical door outward , thereby creating a pressure assist for moving the door from a generally vertical to a generally horizontal position . to further assist in symmetric heating of the product within heating chamber 16 a pair of thermocouples 58l is placed in section 26lc adjacent to heating chamber 16 . similarly , a pair of thermocouples 58r is placed in chamber 26rc adjacent to heating chamber 16 . thermocouples 58r , 58l further enable symmetric operation of the oven as one set of thermocouples 58l , 58r is used to measure temperature a first direction of air flow , and the other set of thermocouples 58l , 58r is used to measure temperature in a reverse direction of air flow . in a preferred embodiment , when the air flow is in a direction indicated by arrows 46 , thermocouples 58r are activated in order to measure the air temperature of the air as it enters heating chamber 16 . similarly , when the direction of air flow is as indicated by arrows 46 &# 39 ;, thermocouples 58l are activated in order to once again measure the temperature of the air prior to entering heating chamber 16 . with reference with to fig2 a particular configuration of an industrial oven 12 is shown . a plurality of individual ovens 10 is aligned adjacently to form a larger oven 12 . in this way , products of varying lengths can be accommodated by simply adding additional industrial ovens 10 to the plurality . with reference with fig3 the perforated plate assembly 24 for equalizing air flow across the entirety of heating chamber 16 is shown . perforated chamber 24 includes a plurality of perforations 64 which regulate and substantially equalize air flow across heating chamber 16 . in addition , the perforated plates 24 include valve plates 66 which assist in controlling in static pressure in order to provide a uniform return air flow exiting heating chamber 16 . the perforated plate assembly 24 and accompanying valve plates 64 shown in fig3 depict the perforated plate as positioned on the outlet side of heating chamber 16 . arrows 46 indicate the direction of air flow through perforated plate assembly 24 . valve plates 64 maybe attached to perforated plate 24 using hinges . when the pressure differential across the valve plates 64 reaches a predetermined value , the valve plates 64 swing open in order to increase the air flow exiting heating chamber 16 , thereby decreasing static pressure . when air flow is in a reverse , as indicated by arrows 46 &# 39 ;, valve plates 66 swing to a generally vertical closed position . because of perforations 68 within valve plates 66 , when in a closed position the perforation 68 in valve plates 66 assist in substantially equalizing the air flow across the heating chamber 16 . with reference with fig4 an external view of oven 10 depicts another feature of the present invention . oven 10 includes a door 70 for opening and closing the oven to enable the insertion of the product therein . the door 70 includes a pair of rings 72 to which is attached a pair of hooks 74 for lifting the door 70 by the rings 72 . a pair of cables 76 attache to the hooks and pass through a pair of pulleys 78 . the cables 76 are connected to a rotating drum which is turned by a motor 80 , show in fig2 . operation of the motor 80 to rotate the drum enables the raising and lowering of the door 70 in order to open and close the oven . during the raising and lowering operation , the door 70 rides with a pair of lift tracks 82 which vertically guide the door 70 during the raising and lowering operation . the door 70 and the accompanying components comprise a door assembly 84 . with reference to fig2 the door assembly is shown towards the left side fig2 . in this manner , the oven 12 comprises a plurality of individual zones or ovens 10 which are sealable linked together at joints 86 . further , the conveyer 20 , of fig1 substantially traverses the length of the oven 12 . at the far right of the oven 12 , the end wall 88 is sealed so that the product only enters toward the left side through door assembly 84 . in view of the foregoing , one can see that operation of the reverse air flow oven , significantly meets the objects of the present invention . in particular , the oven 10 is configured in order to provide symmetric air flow , including symmetry of a pathway and the volume of air moving through the pathway within the oven . further , the direction of air flow may be reversed by simply varying the configuration of the vent doors 44l , 44r , thereby alleviating the necessity to reverse the direction of the fan . in this manner , the fan 14 operates continuously to circulate the air through the oven . while specific embodiments have been shown and described in detail to illustrate the principles of the present invention , it will be understood that the invention may be embodied otherwise without departing from such principles . for example , one skilled in the art will readily recognize from such discussion and from the accompanying drawings and claims that various changes , modifications and variations can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as described in the following claims .	5
refill valves in single point battery watering systems that utilize a porous internal flame arrestor in the path of the water prevent the internal propagation of flames between battery cells through the tubing network . the use of such flame arrestors in the refill valves of spw systems is advantageous because it prevents internal flame propagation without requiring frequent hydration . the use of such flame arrestors also eliminates the potential for valve malfunction arising from contaminants found in water traps . the internal flame arrestor of the present invention has the same flame arresting properties as the prior art external flame arrestors and flame arrestors in battery vent plugs . however , it was believed that this type of flame arrestor would be too restrictive to water flow to be used in the water flow path , and that the small pores would become clogged with waterborne debris . on the contrary , the internal flame arrestors of the present invention do not interfere substantially with water flow . turning now to fig1 , a refill valve 10 suitable for use in the present invention is shown . refill valve 10 contains an internal fluid flow path from the input port of the valve to the output port of the valve . fluids enter the refill valve at the proximal end through water inlet connector 11 and exit into battery cells at the distal end . the distal end comprises cell gas vent ports 13 for receiving gases that are displaced when the valve is inserted into the cells . these gases enter the refill valve through the ports and exit through cell gas outlet ports 12 . the individual components of refill valve 10 , including a porous internal flame arrestor 14 that is positioned within the fluid flow path , is shown in fig2 . it is also shown in fig2 that the refill valve of the present invention may further comprise an external flame arrestor 16 for preventing external flame propagation . turning now to fig3 , a cross - sectional view of a typical refill valve 10 is shown . it is shown that internal flame arrestor 14 is preferably located between water inlet connector 11 and inlet port 20 . it is also shown that external flame arrestor 16 is preferably located in valve cap 18 and held in place by cover 15 and baffle 17 . such a location ensures that displaced gases that enter cell gas vent ports 13 are exposed to the external flame arrestor before they exit the valve through cell gas outlet ports 12 . flame arrestor 14 is preferably a porous disc with a plurality of pores . preferably , the pores are 90 - 120 microns in diameter , and more preferably about 120 microns in diameter . the thickness of flame arrestor 14 is preferably less than 1 inch , and more preferably about ⅛ inch in thickness . it is desirable that the pores comprise about 30 - 40 % of the volume of internal flame arrestor 14 . internal flame arrestors with pore sizes , porous volumes and thicknesses outside the preferred ranges may also be used in the present invention , as long as they do not substantially block water flow . likewise , flames arrestors with shapes other than discs ( e . g ., cubes , balls or cylinders ) may be suitable for use in the present invention . in one embodiment , internal flame arrestor 14 may be composed of one or more ceramic materials , such as aluminum oxide ceramics . in another embodiment , internal flame arrestor 14 may be comprised of a thermoplastic polymer , such as polyvinyl chloride , nylon , fluorocarbon , polyethylene , polyurethane , polystyrene , polypropylene , cellulosic resin , and acrylic resin . an example of an internal flame arrestor that is suitable for use in the present invention is x - 5666 , a porous polypropylene flame arrestor by porex technologies corporation . the flame arrestor is a disc with a diameter of ⅜ inch , a thickness of ⅛ inch , a pore size of about 120 microns , and a porous volume of about 30 - 40 %. the battery flame retardant venting systems test sae j1495 was used to demonstrate that x - 5666 in the refill valves of a single point battery watering system inhibited flame propagation between cells in lead - acid batteries . other tests have indicated that the internal flame arrestor did not show any signs of degradation or erosion after an equivalent five year of service life at high pressure flow . tests have also demonstrated that the x - 5666 flame arrestor showed no signs of flow restriction . the water supplied in the tests was tap water , with an inline strainer having an 80 mesh screen , which is typical of industrial water supplies used with single point watering systems . the flow restriction due to this flame arrestor was found to be equivalent to a 1 / 16 diameter orifice , which is about the size of the refill valve inlet port 20 shown in fig3 . in addition , the cumulative cross - sectional area of the pores on the internal flame arrestor was estimated to be about 10 times higher than the cross - sectional area of the inlet port 20 . a more detailed cross - sectional view of refill valve 10 is shown in fig4 . it is shown that fluids enter refill valves through inlet connector 11 . the fluids then flow through internal flame arrestor 14 and inlet port 20 into reservoir 21 , which serves as an internal water trap . once filled , the fluids in reservoir 21 flows into chamber 22 . the refill valve shown in fig4 is in a closed position as occurs when the cells in the battery are filled with fluid . a displacer 26 is directly connected to stem 27 of a valve support assembly . when fluid level is low , the displacer rests in its reset position , which opens both upper valve 28 and lower valve 29 . in this orientation , water is free to flow from chamber 22 to upper and lower valve ports 23 and 30 . the water then flows into the battery cells through opening 24 . upper valve port 23 also provides another opening 25 that allows water flow to the cells . when the electrolyte level rises sufficiently to lift the displacer 26 , the upper and lower valves are pressed against their respective seats , 31 and 32 , by the pressure of the supply line , blocking further flow into the cell . such an assembly is described in more detail in u . s . pat . no . 6 , 227 , 229 and incorporated into this application by reference . though only a single internal flame arrestor is shown in fig2 - 4 , a plurality of flame arrestors may also be used in another embodiment of the present invention , as long as the flame arrestors do not interfere substantially with water flow . the refill valves of the present invention may also be used with different spw systems . in one embodiment , the spw system may comprise a plurality of refill valves 10 with water inlet connectors 11 , a single water source , and a tubing network that supplies water to the refill valves through the inlet connectors . examples of such spw systems and variations thereof are described in detail in u . s . pat . nos . 5 , 832 , 946 , 5 , 284 , 176 , 5 , 482 , 794 , and 5 , 453 , 334 . the disclosures of these patents are hereby incorporated by reference . single point battery watering systems with rigid manifold arrangements may also be used with the refill valves of the present invention . such spw systems comprise several rigid manifolds , where each manifold houses a plurality of refill valves . each manifold also contains a longitudinal water feed tube that places the housed refill valves in fluid communication with one another . in addition , a tubing network places the manifolds in fluid communication with each other and with a water supply tube . spw systems with such rigid manifold arrangements are disclosed in u . s . pat . no . 6 , 782 , 913 , u . s . pat . no . 6 , 644 , 338 , and u . s . pat . app . no . 2004 / 0161661 . these disclosures are also incorporated into this application by reference . the battery used with the spw systems of the present invention may be any wet cell battery , preferably a wet cell lead - acid battery , and more preferably a deep cycle lead - acid battery used in fast - charge installations . though the refill valves of the present invention are preferably used with spw systems to refill water in battery cells , they may also be used to supply cells with other fluids , such as electrolytes . it will be evident that there are numerous embodiments of the present invention which , while not expressly described above , are clearly within the scope and spirit of the invention . the above description is therefore intended to be exemplary only and the scope of the invention is to be determined solely by the appended claims .	7
referring more specifically to the drawings , for illustrative purposes the present invention is embodied in the apparatus generally shown in fig1 through fig1 . it will be appreciated that the apparatus may vary as to configuration and as to details of the parts , and that the method may vary as to the specific steps and sequence , without departing from the basic concepts as disclosed herein . generally , the subject v - alloy composite membranes comprise a v - cu foil with a pd coating . fabrication of the subject v - alloy composite membranes consisted of the following generalized steps [ peachey , n . m . ; snow , r . c . ; dye , r . c . composite pd / ta metal membranes for hydrogen separation . j . membr . sci . 1996 , 111 , 123 , u . s . pat . no . 5 , 738 , 708 , and moss , t . s . ; peachey , n . m . ; snow , r . c . ; dye , r . c . multilayer metal membranes for hydrogen separation . int . j . hydrogen energy 1998 , 23 ( 2 ), 99 , which are herein incorporated by reference ]; 1 ) melting and rolling alloy foils , 2 ) cleaning , deposition of pd , and 3 ) welding into a tubular shape . high purity ( 99 . 9 %) powders were mixed and electron beam ( e - beam ) melted into buttons in a vacuum furnace . the buttons were flipped and re - melted several times to ensure compositional uniformity . the alloys were cold rolled into ˜ 5 × 15 cm strips with a nominal thickness of 40 μm . the foils were washed with soap and water , rinsed with methanol , blown dry with nitrogen , mounted by clamping the ends of the foil strip , and loaded into the physical vapor deposition ( pvd ) chamber . after evacuation , argon was bled into the chamber to a pressure of 1 . 510 – 4 torr and the ion - gun ( ion tech , teddington , uk ) was set to a power of 1 kev and 20 – 25 ma to ion - mill each side of the foil for 60 – 90 min . the foil was visually inspected through a window during ion - milling to ensure removal of all remaining macroscopic contaminants . after ion - milling , the chamber was evacuated to 110 – 7 torr and the e - beam ( airco - temescal cv - 14 power supply ) evaporated pd onto the foil at 3 – 5 a / s . a piezoelectric device was used to determine the thickness of metal deposited . approximately 100 nm of pd or pd alloy was deposited onto each side of the foil . a tubular membrane was fabricated by placing the foil in a specially designed fixture and electron beam welding the foil to itself and to stainless steel fittings . the membrane was plumbed into the test system for evaluation . permeation tests for membranes were conducted by heating at 1 ° c ./ min under argon purge ( all gases were 99 . 999 % pure ) to the desired temperature followed by introduction of pure hydrogen and measurement of the permeation flux at pressure differences across the membrane up to 100 psig . the test bench was described previously [ paglieri , s . n . and s . a . birdsell . palladium alloy composite membranes for hydrogen separation . in 15th annual conf . fossil energy mater . 2001 . knoxville , tenn . : oak ridge natl . lab ., which is herein incorporated by reference ]. several tubular v — cu alloy membranes were fabricated and tested . the foil was determined to contain 2 atom % cu by aes . this is close to the solubility limit of cu in v [ 12 ]. the first membrane was not coated with pd and permeated less than 1 sccm of hydrogen at 300 ° c . and a δp across the membrane of 100 psi . argon did not measurably permeate through the membrane . the membrane survived a cool down to room temperature until it was re - pressurized with argon at ˜ 100 psig . the subject invention is a hydrogen separating membrane that has an advantageous configuration for integrating into processes such as hydrogen separations , and membrane reactors . further , the subject invention is concerned with the formation of a leak free metal membrane and its attachment to connective plumbing for the purpose of hydrogen purification at elevated temperatures . a difficulty that is often encountered in the development of hydrogen separating metal membranes is the formation of the material into a configuration suitable for long - term operation at high temperatures and pressures . tubes are a favorable geometry for membranes due to strength , high surface - to - volume ratio , and fewer mass transfer limitations . tubes are also easier to manifold and manufacture into process equipment and if one tube breaks it can be isolated or replaced . for the subject invention , a thin metal foil is welded into a tube to form a hydrogen separating membrane . the foil material is from groups iv - b and v - b of the periodic table such as , but not limited to ; vanadium , niobium , tantalum , titanium , or zirconium or alloys comprised of the aforementioned metals combined with each other or containing copper , nickel or silver . in forming the tubular membrane , a specific fixture clamps the seam together during the process of welding the foil and contains a halved copper rod that acts as both a heat sink and a means by which the foil is mounted in the fixture during welding . once the foil is welded into a tubular shape , it is welded or brazed ( usually using silver or other suitable material ) to other metals to form a leak - free seal . foils of group iv - b and v - b metals or their alloys are placed in a vacuum chamber , ion - milled using an ion gun and an inert gas such as argon and then coated with palladium and palladium alloys . usually , electron beam ( e - beam ) evaporation is used for the deposition of palladium , although other physical vapor deposition processes may also be used . other methods such as chemical vapor deposition ( cvd ), electrodeposition , or electroless plating may also be employed for deposition of the palladium coating . the foils are ideally between 5 and 100 μm thick while the thickness of the palladium or palladium alloy layer is preferably about 1 , 000 å thick . therefore , the group ivb or vb metal foil serves as a support for the thin but continuous palladium or palladium alloy film . group iv - b or v - b metals have intrinsically high hydrogen solubilities and permeabilities although they are readily oxidized and the surface is passivated because of their reactivity . a protective coating of a metal that is catalytically active for the dissociation of hydrogen into atoms is required on both sides of the foil in order to inhibit contamination and facilitate the entry and exit of hydrogen through the foil . due to high hydrogen solubility , group iv - b or v - b metals are subject to hydrogen embrittlement during operation as a membrane and particularly during thermal cycling . in order to decrease the solubility of hydrogen in these metals ( and therefore lessen the problem of embrittlement ) these metals are alloyed with each other or with group i - a metals such as copper , nickel , or silver . likewise , pure palladium also embrittles and alloying it with other metals such as silver , copper , yttrium , ruthenium , or gold is required to prevent hydrogen embrittlement of the palladium coating . as mentioned above , a fixture is required in order to weld the foil into the shape of a tube . the fixture clamps the two edges of the foil together during welding so that a continuous and gas - tight seam may be formed . a rod made of a material with high heat conductivity such as copper , brass , or graphite is sliced diagonally to slide and wedge the foil into a cylindrical shape and press the seam together during welding . the halved rod also serves the function of a heat sink , to absorb energy during welding . otherwise , the thin foil will melt , and pinholes will be formed . the foil , welded to itself into the shape of a tube , is removed from the fixture and slipped over the end of a plumbing tube , made of stainless steel , for example . the foil may be welded directly to the tube or an interlayer of silver may be deposited onto the stainless steel tube and the foil brazed to the coated tube . the silver layer should be between about 10 and 20 μm thick . electron beam welding is used during all of these steps to maintain precise control over beam power and avoid creating holes in the thin foil . e - beam welding is also performed under vacuum , eliminating the likelihood that the refractory metal foil will oxidize during welding . tig ( tungsten inert gas ) welding may also be employed to weld the foil to itself and to the plumbing tubes . some uses of the tubular membrane include ultra high hydrogen purification to parts per billion ( ppb ) levels of impurities , and use as a membrane reactor for gaseous or liquid hydrogenations and dehydrogenations . when used as a membrane reactor the membrane removes hydrogen from the reaction space and increases the reaction yield . the surface of the membrane itself can be catalytic towards the desired reaction or catalyst can be packed around it . detailed description of the subject fabrication fixture utilized in the subject tubular foil membrane fabrication procedure metal expansion rod : as seen in fig1 – 8 , the two - part metal expansion rod 5 , around which the alloy foil is formed and made taut comprises two halves 10 and 15 . although a copper rod is generally used , other equivalent heat - sink suitable and structurally supportive metals and alloys are acceptable . thus , by way of example and not by way of limitation , a 0 . 635 cm ( 0 . 25 inch ) diameter copper rod was sliced in half diagonally using wire edm ( electrical discharge machining ) or other suitable separation means . fig1 shows a diagonal cut along a solid rod &# 39 ; s long axis generated the two halves 10 and 15 . fig2 illustrates that the two halves 10 and 15 are freely separable from one another , with an aligned side view seen in fig3 and an aligned top or bottom view seen in fig4 . opposing end views are depicted in fig5 and 6 . when the membrane foil is wrapped around both halves of the copper rod 10 and 15 the foil is loosely formed into the shape of a cylinder . once mounted and secured in the surrounding fixture housing 20 ( see immediately below ), by pushing together on the two halves 10 and 15 of the copper rod 5 ( see fig7 and 8 in which fig7 shows an earlier position in the expansion process and fig8 shows a later position in the expansion process in which the outer diameter of the rod 5 is enlarged over earlier positions ), the foil is tightened against the fixture housing , eventually enabling a hermetic seam to be welded . surrounding fixture housing : the fixture housing 20 comprises two mating sections 25 and 30 . although various types of materials may be utilized to form the two sections 25 and 30 , an acceptable material is aluminum . the bottom section 30 of the fixture was machined from a rectangular block of aluminum and consisted of a trough 35 formed in the bottom section 30 of the fixture ( a trough of 0 . 3175 cm ( 0 . 125 inch ) radius has been shown to function , as would other equivalent radii ). apertures 37 were tapped into the edges of the bottom section 30 of the fixture to anchor the top section 25 of the fixture with suitable / standard attachment means . the top section 25 of the fixture was machined from a rectangular aluminum block with apertures 39 around the edges to receive anchoring means such as screws 40 that anchor into the corresponding apertures 37 in the bottom section of the fixture 30 . an upper trough 42 is formed in the upper surface of the upper section 25 of the fixture . a slit 44 is placed in the upper fixture section 25 , within the upper trough 42 . often the ( 0 . 028 inch is acceptable ) slit 44 is machined into and through a length of the top fixture section 25 , although other methods of introducing the slit are acceptable . the slit 44 is where an electron beam , or other equivalent welding means , will eventually weld the foil to itself to form a leak - free seam . a groove 46 is formed in the lower surface of the upper section of the fixture 25 . this groove 46 may be of many standard shapes , often “ v - shaped ,” as seen in the subject figures . assembled fixture housing and metal expansion rod : fig1 and 16 show the assembled apparatus , both parts of the fixture housing 25 and 30 and both parts of the metal expansion rod 10 and 15 in their expanded positions . included is a metal foil 50 wrapped around the expanded rod halves 10 and 15 , with its eventual seam edges 55 overlapping and showing through the slit 44 . 1 . the alloy foil 50 is cleaned , dried , placed in the vacuum coating chamber , ion - milled on both sides , and without breaking vacuum , coated on both sides with a layer of palladium ( usually the thickness is between 100 – 10 , 000 å , although 1000 å is typically used ) ( see u . s . pat . no . 5 , 738 , 708 by peachey et al . and the publication by moss et al . in international j . of hydrogen energy , 23 ( 2 ), ( 1998 )). 2 . the foil 50 is cut to the proper dimensions and rolled around the metal expansion rod 5 halves 10 and 15 . the foil 50 when formed into a tube should overlap itself so that it can be welded to itself along its future seam edges 55 , through slit 44 , to produce a welded seam 65 . 3 . the wrapped metal expansion rod 5 is placed in the two - piece fixture housing 20 and the two halves 25 and 30 screwed together to secure the foil overlapping region 55 so as to be welding accessible through slit 44 formed in the top half of the fixture 25 . the two halves 10 and 15 of the metal expansion rod 5 are then pushed together to tighten the overlapping foil 50 together along and beneath the slit 44 so that during welding a continuous seam 65 is formed . 4 . the assembled fixture ( housing halves 25 and 30 and metal expansion rods halves 10 and 15 ) with the foil 50 securely tightened about the rod 5 and inside the housing fixture 20 , with the future seam 65 ( the overlapping foil edges region 55 ) exposed , is placed in a suitable welding device , often an electron welder , and the associated vacuum chamber is then evacuated . for an electron welder apparatus , the electron beam at relatively low power is slowly guided along overlapping foil edges region 55 to weld a seam . visual inspection during the process helps to prevent the formation of holes in the thin foil 50 due to excessive heat buildup and conversely ensures enough power is supplied to form a continuous weld along the overlapping foil edges region 55 . it is stressed that any suitable seam - forming device is contemplated , for example tig or a laser welder with an inert gas blanket would also work to weld the foil using the subject fixture . 5 . the assembled fixture ( housing halves 25 and 30 and metal expansion rod halves 10 and 15 ) with the welded overlapping foil edges region 55 now forming a seam 65 , is removed from the vacuum chamber and the foil ( welded to itself into the shape of a tube or cylinder ) is removed from the subject fixture . the produced metal membrane tube is then fitted with suitable “ plumbing ” adaptors to be utilized in any desired application . for example , the ends of the foil tube are slipped over tubing or vor gland fittings . the fit should be snug enough to facilitate the formation of a continuous weld . the foil tube with its fittings / tubes is loaded into an electron beam welder vacuum chamber ( or equivalent ), evacuated , and welded while rotating the tube . for example , while vanadium alloy is easily welded to a stainless steel fitting / tube , a silver braze coating on the fitting / tube can be used to braze the foil to the fitting / tube and may help in adhesion of the vanadium alloy foil during hydrogen permeation testing . the silver - brazed fittings are prepared by milling down the od of the tube , cleaning , and coating with silver to a thickness of ˜ 15 μm using pvd ( although other deposition methods may be used ). vanadium and copper were electron - beam melted on a water - cooled copper hearth . the produced button was flipped and re - melted several times to ensure compositional uniformity of 25 weight % copper . the resulting button was cold rolled into an ˜ 5 × 15 cm (˜ 2 × 5 . 9 inch ) strip with a nominal thickness of 40 μm (˜ 1 . 6 mil ). the foil was washed with soap and water , rinsed with methanol , and blown dry with nitrogen . a piece of the foil was placed into a subject fixture and welded to itself to form a tube . the bottom half of the fixture was machined from a rectangular block of aluminum and consisted of a 0 . 3175 cm ( 0 . 125 inch ) radius trough bored along a block . the foil was wrapped around the both halves of the copper expansion rod ( 0 . 635 cm ( 0 . 25 inch ) diameter copper rod ) into the shape of a cylinder and placed in the trough . the top of the fixture was a rectangular aluminum block . a ( 0 . 028 inch ) slit was machined along the length of the top fixture where the electron beam welded the foil to itself to form a leak - free seam . the electron - beam welder was at a power of 0 . 55 a when the foil was welded to itself to form a 0 . 635 cm ( 0 . 25 inch ) cylinder . the tubing ends of stainless steel 0 . 635 cm ( 0 . 25 inch ) vcr glands were machined down , pvd coated with 15 microns ( 0 . 59 mil ) of silver , and placed inside the ends of the cylindrical foil tube . the glands fit tightly so that no fixture was needed during welding . the ends of the foil cylinder were brazed to the vcr glands using electron - beam welding at a power of 0 . 62 a . the resulting membrane module was cleaned with acetone and ethanol , attached to vcr fittings attached to a gas manifold , and the membrane tube lumen was pressurized with argon to 44 psia with no detectable leakage . the membrane was heated to 300 ° c . at 1 ° c ./ minute . hydrogen permeation through the membrane was & lt ; 1 sccm ( cm 3 ( stp )/ minute ) at 40 psia . the membrane was exposed to hydrogen flowing at 200 sccm for 24 hours and then cooled to 25 ° c . the membrane was then pressurized with argon to 114 psia and & lt ; 1 sccm leakage was observed . catalytic coated structure ( same as example 1 except the foil is coated with palladium to make the hydrogen separating membrane , the coated foil is welded directly to the stainless steel vcr gland fittings instead of brazed to silver coated fittings , and the membrane is tested for pinholes and hydrogen permeability ) vanadium and copper were electron - beam melted on a water - cooled copper hearth . the button was flipped and re - melted several times to ensure compositional uniformity of 25 weight % copper . the resulting button was cold rolled into a 5 × 15 cm ( 2 × 5 . 9 inch ) strip with a nominal thickness of 40 μm ( 1 . 6 mil ). the foil was washed with soap and water , rinsed with methanol , and blown dry with nitrogen . the foil was mounted by clamping the ends of the foil strip , and loaded into the physical vapor deposition ( pvd ) chamber . after evacuation to 1 · 10 − 6 torr , argon was bled into the chamber to a pressure of 1 . 5 · 10 − 4 torr and the ion - gun ( ion tech , teddington , uk ) was set to a power of 1 kev and 20 – 25 ma to ion - mill each side of the foil for 60 – 90 min . the foil was visually inspected through a window during ion - milling to ensure removal of all remaining macroscopic contaminants . without breaking vacuum , the chamber was evacuated to 1 · 10 − 6 torr and a 1000 å ( 3 . 9 microinch ) layer of palladium was deposited on each side by e - beam evaporation ( airco - temescal cv - 14 power supply ) at 3 – 5 å / s . a quartz crystal was used to monitor the thickness of metal deposited . a piece of the foil was placed into a fixture and welded to itself to form a tube . the bottom half of the fixture was machined from a rectangular block of aluminum and consisted of a 0 . 3175 cm ( 0 . 125 inch ) radius trough bored along a block . holes were tapped into the edges of the block to screw down the top of the fixture . the foil was wrapped around both halves of the copper rod into the shape of a cylinder and placed in the trough . the top of the fixture was a rectangular aluminum block with holes around the edges to put screws through to attach to the bottom fixture . a ( 0 . 028 inch ) slit was machined along the length of the top fixture where the electron beam welded the foil to itself to form a leak - free seam . a 0 . 635 cm ( 0 . 25 inch ) diameter copper rod was sliced in half diagonally using wire edm ( electrical discharge machining ). by pushing together on the two halves of the copper rod , the foil could be tightened against the fixture , enabling a hermetic seam to be welded . the electron - beam welder was at a power of 0 . 55 a when the foil was welded to itself to form a 0 . 635 cm ( 0 . 25 inch ) cylinder . the tubing ends of stainless steel 0 . 635 cm ( 0 . 25 inch ) vcr glands were machined down and placed inside the ends of the cylindrical foil tube . the glands fit tightly so that no fixture was needed during welding . the ends of the foil cylinder were brazed to the vcr gland fittings using electron - beam welding at a power of 0 . 62 a . the resulting membrane module was cleaned with acetone and ethanol , attached to vcr fittings attached to a gas manifold , and the membrane tube lumen was pressurized with argon to 55 psia & lt ; 1 sccm leakage was observed . the membrane was heated to 300 ° c . at 1 ° c ./ minute . both sides of the membrane were purged with argon . the membrane lumen was pressurized to 56 psia with flowing hydrogen at 150 sccm and the hydrogen permeation through the membrane was 3 . 5 sccm . catalytic coated structure ( same as example 2 except changes in hydrogen permeability testing parameters ). vanadium and copper were electron - beam melted on a water - cooled copper hearth . the button was flipped and re - melted several times to ensure compositional uniformity of 25 weight % copper . the resulting button was cold rolled into a 5 × 15 cm ( 2 × 5 . 9 inch ) strip with a nominal thickness of 40 μm ( 1 . 6 mil ). the foil was washed with soap and water , rinsed with methanol , and blown dry with nitrogen . the foil was mounted by clamping the ends of the foil strip , and loaded into the physical vapor deposition ( pvd ) chamber . after evacuation to 1 · 10 − 6 torr , argon was bled into the chamber to a pressure of 1 . 5 · 10 − 4 torr and the ion - gun ( ion tech , teddington , uk ) was set to a power of 1 kev and 20 – 25 ma to ion - mill each side of the foil for 60 – 90 min . the foil was visually inspected through a window during ion - milling to ensure removal of all remaining macroscopic contaminants . without breaking vacuum , the chamber was evacuated to 1 · 10 − 6 torr and a 1000 å ( 3 . 9 microinch ) layer of palladium was deposited on each side by e - beam evaporation ( airco - temescal cv - 14 power supply ) at 3 – 5 å / s . a quartz crystal was used to monitor the thickness of metal deposited . a piece of the foil was placed into a fixture and welded to itself to form a tube . the bottom half of the fixture was machined from a rectangular block of aluminum and consisted of a 0 . 3175 cm ( 0 . 125 inch ) radius trough bored along a block . holes were tapped into the edges of the block to screw down the top of the fixture . the foil was wrapped around both halves of the copper rod into the shape of a cylinder and placed in the trough . the top of the fixture was a rectangular aluminum block with holes around the edges to put screws through to attach to the bottom fixture . a ( 0028 inch ) slit was machined along the length of the top fixture where the electron beam welded the foil to itself to form a leak - free seam . a 0 . 635 cm ( 0 . 25 inch ) diameter copper rod was sliced in half diagonally using wire edm ( electrical discharge machining ). by pushing together on the two halves of the copper rod , the foil could be tightened against the fixture , enabling a hermetic seam to be welded . the electron - beam welder was at a power of 0 . 55 a when the foil was welded to itself to form a 0 . 635 cm ( 0 . 25 inch ) cylinder . the tubing ends of stainless steel 0 . 635 cm ( 0 . 25 inch ) vcr glands were machined down and placed inside the ends of the cylindrical foil tube . the glands fit tightly so that no fixture was needed during welding . the ends of the foil cylinder were brazed to the vcr gland fittings using electron - beam welding at a power of 0 . 62 a . the resulting membrane module was cleaned with acetone and ethanol attached to vcr fittings attached to a gas manifold , and the membrane tube lumen was pressurized with argon to 30 psia with no detectable leakage . the membrane was heated to 350 ° c . at 1 ° c ./ minute . both sides of the membrane were purged with argon . the membrane lumen was pressurized to 17 psia with flowing hydrogen at 50 sccm and the hydrogen permeation through the membrane was 4 sccm . fig1 ( a drawing ) and 18 ( an equivalent photograph of the drawing seen in fig1 ) depict a tubular vanadium - copper membrane 60 , with a weld seam 65 ( along the overlapping foil edges region 55 ), produced by the subject method and fitted , on each end , to appropriate “ plumbing ” fittings 70 and 75 that mate with suitable usage or test devices . although the description above contains many details , these should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention but as merely providing illustrations of some of the presently preferred embodiments of this invention . therefore , it will be appreciated that the scope of the present invention fully encompasses other embodiments which may become obvious to those skilled in the art , and that the scope of the present invention is accordingly to be limited by nothing other than the appended claims , in which reference to an element in the singular is not intended to mean “ one and only one ” unless explicitly so stated , but rather “ one or more .” all structural , chemical , and functional equivalents to the elements of the above - described preferred embodiment that are known to those of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are intended to be encompassed by the present claims . moreover , it is not necessary for a device or method to address each and every problem sought to be solved by the present invention , for it to be encompassed by the present claims . furthermore , no element , component , or method step in the present disclosure is intended to be dedicated to the public regardless of whether the element , component , or method step is explicitly recited in the claims . no claim element herein is to be construed under the provisions of 35 u . s . c . 112 , sixth paragraph , unless the element is expressly recited using the phrase “ means for .”	2
more specifically , a solution of a lower alkyl ester of 2 -( ω - carboxy - y ) cyclopent - 2 - en - 1 - one , ( i , r = lower alkyl ) preferably the methyl ester , in approximately 1 . 4 parts of a lower alkanol , preferably methanol , and a solution containing approximately one equivalent of an alkali metal lower alkoxide in the same lower alkanol as above , preferably sodium methoxide in methanol , are both added simultaneously with agitation to a solution of approximately 2 . 5 equivalents of nitromethane in approximately one part of the same lower alkanol as above , preferably methanol . the temperature during addition is kept somewhat below the boiling point of the mixture , preferably at about 60 ° c , and after completion of addition the mixture is stirred for two hours at approximately the same temperature . the mixture is cooled , neutralized by addition of 50 % acetic acid , the solvent evaporated under reduced pressure , the residue taken up in a water - immiscible solvent , preferably diethyl ether , the extracts washed , dried , and evaporated , and the residue purified by chromatography on silica gel . the corresponding 3 - nitromethyl derivative , a lower alkyl ester , preferably the methyl ester , of 2 -( ω - carboxy - y )- 3 - nitromethyl - cyclopentan - 1 - one ( ii , r = lower alkyl ) is obtained by evaporation of the eluates . the last - named compound of formula ii is treated with a solution of 1 - 2 equivalents , preferably about 1 . 5 equivalents , of an alkali metal lower alkoxide in a lower alkanol , preferably sodium methoxide in methanol , at a temperature of from 15 °- 35 ° c , preferably at room temperature for a period of time of from 10 - 60 minutes , preferably for about 30 minutes . the resulting solution of the alkali metal salt of the corresponding nitronic acid is slowly added with stirring over a period of time of from 10 - 60 minutes , preferably about 25 minutes , to an aqueous solution of a molar excess , preferably about 30 equivalents of a mineral acid , preferably about 35 % sulfuric acid ( wt / vol ), previously cooled to a temperature within the range of from - 10 ° c to 25 ° c , preferably about 0 ° c . the temperature during addition and for an additional period of time from 10 - 60 minutes thereafter , preferably about 30 minutes is maintained within the preferred range . extraction with a water - immiscible solvent , preferably diethyl ether , washing and drying of the extracts , followed by removal of the solvent gives a residue which is purified by chromatography on silice gel to yield the corresponding aldehyde , a lower alkyl ester of 2 -( ω - carboxy - y ) cyclopentan - 1 - on - 3 - al ( iv , r = lower alkyl ). in the foregoing procedure it is also possible to treat the lower alkyl ester of 2 -( ω - carboxy - y )- 3 - nitromethyl - cyclopentan - 1 - one with an alkali metal hydroxide to obtain the free acid of formula ii in which r is hydrogen , from which the corresponding free acid 2 -( ω - carboxy - y ) cyclopentan - 1 - on - 3 - al ( iv , r = h ) is obtained in the manner described above . alternatively , said last - named compound may also be obtained by treating a lower alkyl ester of 2 -( ω - carboxy - y )- 3 - nitromethyl - cyclopentan - 1 - one ( ii , r = lower alkyl ) with an alkali metal hydroxide instead of an alkali metal alkoxide to generate the solution of an alkali metal salt of the corresponding nitronic acid , which is then treated with acid as described above to yield the corresponding free acid of the aldehyde of formula iv in which r is hydrogen . the above aldehyde and its lower alkyl esters are both useful as starting materials in the subsequent step of the process of this invention . however , it is preferred to use one of the lower alkyl esters of the aldehyde of formula iv , preferably the methyl ester , because the subsequent reaction products are more easily purified in the form of their esters than as the corresponding acids . a solution of a wittig reagent of the formula ( alko ) 2 p ( o ) ch 2 co ( ch 2 ) n ch 3 in which n is an integer of from 1 - 6 and alk is an alkyl containing from 1 - 3 carbon atoms , preferably a dimethyl 2 - oxoalkylphosphonate in approximately 5 - 10 parts , preferably about 7 parts of an aprotic solvent , preferably dimethoxyethane , is added slowly under a blanket of nitrogen to a stirred suspension of approximately one equivalent of an alkali metal hydride , preferably sodium hydride , in approximately 150 parts of an aprotic solvent , preferably dimethoxyethane , and stirring is continued at room temperature for periods of time of from 10 - 60 minutes , preferably for about 30 minutes . to the resulting solution of the corresponding ylid there is slowly added a solution of approximately three quarters to one equivalent , preferably about 0 . 85 equivalent of a lower alkyl ester of 2 -( ω - carboxy - y )- cyclopentan - 1 - on - 3 - al in about 5 - 10 parts , preferably about 8 parts of an aprotic solvent , preferably dimethoxyethane . the addition is carried out at room temperature over a period of time of from 5 - 30 minutes , preferably about 10 minutes , and stirring is continued for another 10 - 60 minutes , preferably for about 30 minutes . acidification with an aqueous acid , preferably hydrochloric acid , followed by extraction with a water - immiscible solvent , preferably diethyl ether , washing and drying of the extracts , evaporation of the solvent , and chromatography of the residue on silica gel yields the corresponding lower alkyl ester of a 2 -( ω - carboxy - y )- 3 -( 3 - oxoalk - 1 - enyl ) cyclopentan - 1 - one of formula viii in which r is lower alkyl and n is an integer of from 1 - 6 . said last - named compound is heated for 1 - 5 hours , preferably for about 2 . 5 hours , in benzene solution at the reflux temperature of the mixture with ethylene glycol in the presence of a catalytic amount of p - toluenesulfonic acid , to yield the corresponding ethylene ketal , a lower alkyl ester of a 2 -( ω - carboxy - y )- 3 -( 3 - oxoalk - 1 - enyl )- cyclopentan - 1 - one ethylene ketal of formula ix in which r is lower alkyl and n is as defined above . this selective ketalization of the ketone group in position 1 requires critical conditions with respect to the amounts of p - toluenesulfonic acid and ethylene glycol used if the formation of undesirable by - products is to be avoided . when approximately one equivalent of ethylene glycol is used and the amount of p - toluenesulfonic acid does not exceed approximately 10 % of the weight of ethylene glycol employed , the above ethylene ketal is the main product and the amounts of undesirable by - products are minimal . the crude ethylene ketal obtained as described above , without further purification , is dissolved in about 10 parts of a lower alkanol , preferably methanol , and an alkali metal borohydride is added in small portions with constant stirring which is continued for another 20 - 60 minutes , preferably about 30 minutes , after completion of addition . evaporation of the lower alkanol , extraction with a water - immiscible solvent , preferably diethyl ether , evaporation of the latter , and chromatography of the residue in silica gel yields the corresponding lower alkyl ester of a 2 -( ω - carboxy - y )- 3 -( 3 - hydroxyalkyl - 1 - enyl )- cyclopentan - 1 - one ethylene ketal of formula x in which r is lower alkyl and n is as defined above . treatment of said last - named compound with an aqueous acid , preferably p - toluenesulfonic acid in a mixture of a lower alkanol , preferably methanol , and water , and allowing the mixture to stand for 12 - 24 hours at room temperature yields the corresponding lower alkyl ester of a 2 -( o - carboxy - y )- 3 -( 3 - hydroxyalkyl - 1 - enyl )- cyclopentan - 1 - one of formula xi in which r is lower alkyl and n is as defined above . a related aspect of the above process as noted above is the alternative use of the compounds of general formula viii to yield the diol compounds of formula viiia by reduction with an alkali metal borohydride . when the starting material use in the above process is the methyl ester of 2 -( 6 - carboxyhexyl ) cyclopentan - 1 - on - 3 - al and the wittig reagent employed is dimethyl 2 - oxoheptylphosphonate of the formula ( meo ) 2 p ( o ) ch 2 co ( ch 2 ) n ch 3 in which n = 4 , the compound of formula viii in which y is ch 2 --( a )--( ch 2 ) m wherein ( a ) is ch 2 ch 2 and m = 3 , r is methyl and n = 4 obtained is the methyl ester of 2 -( 6 - carboxyhexyl )- 3 -( 3 - oxooct - 1 - enyl )- cyclopentan1 - one also called 9 , 15 - dioxoprost - 13 - enoic acid methyl ester ; the compound of formula ix in which y is as defined in the last instance , r is methyl and n = 4 obtained from the above compound of formula viii is 9 - ethylenedioxy - 15 - oxoprost - 13 - enoic acid methyl ester ; the compound of formula x in which y is as defined in the last instance , r is methyl and n = 4 obtained therefrom is 9 - ethylenedioxy - 15 - hydroxyprost - 13 - enoic acid methyl ester ; and the compound of formula xi in which y is as defined in the last instance , r is methyl and n = 4 is 15 - hydroxy - 9 - oxoprost - 13 - enoic acid methyl ester , identical with the same compound described in british pat . no . 1 , 218 , 998 , cited above . the compounds of formula viii in which r is lower alkyl and n is an integer of from 1 - 6 obtained as described above may be reduced by treatment with hydrogen and a noble metal catalyst , preferably palladium on charcoal , to the corresponding saturated analogs , the lower alkyl esters of a 2 - ω - carboxyy )- 3 -( 3 - oxoalk - 1yl )- cyclopentan - 1one in which y is ( ch 2 --( a )--( ch 2 ) m wherein ( a ) is ch 2 ch 2 and m is an integer from 2 to 4 . the saturated analogs of the compounds of formula ix obtained from said last - named compound in the same manner as described above are the corresponding lower alkyl esters of a 2 -( ω - carboxy - y )- 3 -( 3 - oxoalk - 1yl )- cyclopentan - 1 - one ethylene ketal , from which the corresponding saturated analogs of the compounds of formula x , the corresponding lower alkyl esters of a 2 -( ω - carboxy - y )- 3 ( 3 - hydroxyalk - 1 - yl )- cuyclopentan - 1 - one ethylene ketal in which y is ch 2 --( a )--( ch 2 ) m wherein ( a ) is ch . sub . 2 ch 2 and m is an integer from 2 to 4 , are obtained by treatment with an alkali metal borohydride in the manner described above . said last - named compounds yield , upon treatment with an aqueous acid as described above , the saturated analogs of the compounds of formula xi , viz . the corresponding lower alkyl esters of a 2 -( ωcarboxy - y )- 3 -( 3 - hydroxyalk - 1yl )- cyclopen - 1 - one in which y is ( ch 2 --( a )--( ch 2 ) m wherein ( a ) is ch 2 ch 2 and m is an integer from 2 to 4 . it is obvious that the above reduction may be carried out with any of the compounds of formulae viii , ix , x or xi , and that the saturated analogs thus obtained may be used as starting materials in any of the reactions described above . thus , the compound of formula viii in which y is ch 2 --( a )--( ch 2 ) m wherin ( a ) is ch 2 ch 2 and m = 3 , r is methyl and n , = 4 , viz ., 9 , 15 - dioxoprost - 13 - enoic acid methyl ester yields , upon treatment with hydrogen and a noble metal catalyst in the manner described above , 9 , 15 - dioxoprostanoic acid methyl ester , identical with the same compound described in french patent application no . 2 , 021 , 234 , cited above , and the compound of formula xi in which y is as described in the last instance , r is methyl and n = 4 yields in the same manner 9 - oxo - 15 - hydroxyprostanoic acid , identical with the same compound described in french patent application no . 2 , 021 , 234 cited above . when it is desired to obtain related compounds containing a hydroxyl rather than a keto function in position 1 of the cyclopentane ring the following variants of the above process may be used . to a solution of a lower alkyl of 2 -( ω - carboxy - y )- 3 - nitromethyl - cyclopentan - 1 - one ( ii , r = lower alkyl ) is in a lower alkanol , preferably methanol , approximately one equivalent of sodium borohydride is added in small portions with cooling to about 0 ° c . after completion of the addition the mixture is stirred for 10 - 60 minutes , preferably for about 30 minutes , acidified , the lower alkanol evaporated and the residue extracted with a water - immiscible solvent , preferably diethyl ether . washing , drying , and evaporation of the extracts yields the corresponding lower alkyl ester of 2 -( ω - carboxy - y )- 3 - nitromethyl - cyclopentan - 1 - ol ( iii , r = lower alkyl ). said last - named compound of formula iii is treated with an alkali metal lower alkoxide followed by treatment with cold aqueous acid in the same manner as described earlier in this application for the conversion of the compounds of formula ii to those of formula iv , to yield the corresponding lower alkyl ester of 2 -( ω - carboxy - y ) cyclopentan - 1 - ol - 3al ( v , r = lower alkyl , r 1 = h ). the same compound may also be obtained by stirring a solution of a lower alkyl ester of 2 -( ω - carboxy - y )- 3 - nitromethyl - cyclopentan - 1 - one ( ii , r = lower alkyl ) in a lower alkanol , preferably methanol , with molar excess , preferably about 4 - 5 equivalents , of an alkali metal hydroxide , preferably sodium hydroxide , for 12 - 24 hours at room temperature . in this manner the nitro group is converted to the corresponding nitronic acid and the ester group is hydrolyzed in the corresponding free acid , and both groups form the corresponding alkali metal salt . the resulting solution is poured into cold (- 10 ° c to 25 ° c , preferably in the vicinity of 0 ° c ) aqueous acid , preferably about 4 - 5 equivalents of sulfuric acid , stirred for 20 - 120 minutes , preferably for about 60 minutes , and extracted with a water - immiscible solvent , preferably diethyl ether . the extracts are washed , dried , and evaporated , to yield a residue containing the free aldehyde , 2 -( ω - carboxy - y )- cyclopentan - 1 - on - 3 - al . the residue is heated in solution in about 6 parts of a lower alkanol , preferably methanol at the boiling point of the mixture of an acid catalyst as exemplified above , preferably p - toluenesulfonic acid in amounts of from about 15 % by weight of the above residue , for 1 - 3 hours , preferably for 1 . 5 - 2 . 0 hours . in this manner the corresponding di -( lower alkyl ) acetal is formed and the free acid group is re - esterified . the solvent is evaporated from the reaction mixture , the residue extracted with a water - immiscible solvent , preferably diethyl ether , the extracts washed , dried and evaporated , and the residue chromatographed on silica gel , to yield the corresponding lower alkyl ester of 2 -( ω - carbamoyl - y ) cyclopentan - 1 - on - 3 - al di -( lower alkyl ) acetal ( vi , r = lower alkyl ). when methanol is used as the lower alkanol in the above reaction , the methyl ester of 2 -( ω - carboxy - y ) cyclopentan - 1 - on - 3 - al dimethyl acetal is obtained ( vi , r = me ). a lower alkyl ester of a 2 -( ω - carboxy - y )- cyclopentan - 1 - on - 3 - al di -( lower alkyl ) acetal is dissolved in about 10 parts of a lower alkanol , preferably methanol , and an alkali metal borohydride , preferably sodium borohydride , is added with cooling . the mixture is stirred for 5 - 60 minutes , preferably for about 10 minutes , diluted with a water - immiscible solvent , preferably diethyl ether , and with saturated ammonium chloride , the organic phase separated , washed with saturated sodium chloride solution , dried , and evaporated to give a residue containing the corresponding lower alkyl ester of 2 -( ω - carboxy - y ) cyclopentan - 1 - ol - 3 - al di -( lower alkyl ) acetal ( vii , r = lower alkyl ). said last - named residue is stirred at room temperature with a solution of an acid in a water - miscible ether - type solvent , preferably about 25 % sulfuric acid in tetrahydrofuran , the mixture extracted with a water - immiscible solvent , preferably diethyl ether , the extracts washed with water , dried , and evaporated , to give a residue containing the corresponding lower alkyl ester of 2 -( ω - carboxy - y ) cyclopentan - 1 - ol - 3 - al ( v , r = lower alkyl , r 1 = h ), identical with the same compound obtained as described above . this last - named residue is dissolved in a halogenated hydrocarbon solvent , preferably methylene chloride , dihydropyran and an acid catalyst as exemplified above , preferably p - toluenesulfonic acid is washed , the mixture is stirred at room temperature for 30 - 120 minutes , preferably for about 60 minutes , diluted with a halogenated hydrocarbon solvent , preferably methylene chloride , washed with water , dried , and evaporated to give a residue which is purified by chromatography on silica gel . the corresponding lower alkyl ester of 2 -( ω - carboxy - y )- 1 - tetrahydropyran - 2 - yloxy - cyclopentan - 3 - al ( v , r = lower alkyl , r 1 = tetrahydrofuran - 2 - yl ) is obtained in this manner . in a related variant of the above procedure the free acids of 2 -( ω - carboxy - y )- 3 - nitromethylcyclopentan - 1 - one ( ii , r = h ), 2 -( ω - carboxy - y )- 3 - nitromethylcyclopentan - 1 - ol ( iii , r = h ) and 2 -( ω - carboxy - y ) cyclopentan - 1 - ol - 3 - al ( v , r = r 1 = h ), or preferably the corresponding lower alkyl esters thereof , in which y is ch 2 --( a )--( ch ) m wherein ( a ) is ch ═ ch and m is an integer from 2 to 4 , may be treated with hydrogen in the presence of a noble metal catalyst , preferably palladium on charcoal , to yield their corresponding derivatives of formulae ii , iii and v , respectively , in which y is ch 2 --( a )--( ch 2 ) m wherein ( a ) is ch 2 ch 2 and m is an integer from 2 to 4 . the ylid of a wittig reagent of the formula ( alko ) 2 p ( o ) ch 2 co ( ch 2 ) n ch 3 in which n is an integer of from 1 - 6 and alk is an alkyl containing from 1 - 3 carbon atoms , preferably a dimethyl 2 - oxoalkylphosphonate , is prepared in the same manner as described earlier in this application . a solution of a lower alkyl ester of 2 -( ω - carboxy - y ) cyclopentan - 1 - ol - 3 - al tetrahydropyranyl ether ( v , r = lower alkyl , r 1 = tetrahydropyranyl ) in an aprotic solvent , preferably dimethoxyethane , is added slowly as described earlier and the mixture is heated to 25 °- 80 ° c , preferably to about 60 °- 65 ° c , for 10 - 60 minutes , preferably for about 30 minutes , cooled , and acidified with an aqueous solution of a weak acid , preferably about 50 % aqueous acetic acid . extraction with a water - immiscible solvent , preferably diethyl ether , washing of the extracts , drying , and evaporation followed by chromatography of the residue on silica gel yields the corresponding lower alkyl ester of a 2 -( ω - carboxy - y )- 3 -( 3 - oxoalk - 1 - enyl ) cyclopentan - 1 - ol tetrahydropyran - 2 - yl ether ( xii , r = lower alkyl , r 1 = 2 - tetrahydropyranyl , n = 1 - 6 ). the further conversion of the above compounds of formula xii to the corresponding compounds of formula xi is carried out in the same manner as described in british pat . no . 1 , 218 , 998 cited above . treatment of a compound of formula xii with an alkali metal borohydride yields the corresponding lower alkyl ester of a 2 -( ω - carboxy - y )- 3 -( 3 - hydroxyalk - 1 - enyl )- cyclopentan - 1 - ol tetrahydropyran - 2 - yl ether . acylation of said last - named compound with a lower alkanoic acid anhydride in the presence of a base , preferably pyridine , gives the corresponding lower alkyl ester of a 2 -( ω - carboxy - y )- 3 -( 3 -( lower acyloxy ) alk - 1 - enyl )- cyclopentan - 1 - ol tetrahydropyranyl ether . treatment of said last - named compound with acid removes the protective ether group and gives the corresponding lower alkyl ester of a 2 -( ω - carboxy - y )- 3 -( 3 -( lower acyloxy ) alk - 1 - enyl )- cyclopentan - 1 - ol . said last - named compound is treated with an agent capable of converting a hydroxy function to the corresponding keto function , preferably with chromic acid in acetone , to give the corresponding lower alkyl ester of a 2 -( ω - carboxy - y )- 3 -( 3 -( lower acyloxy ) alk - 1 - enyl ) cyclopentan - 1one . and treatment of said last - named compound in the manner described in british patent 1 , 218 , 998 with an alkali metal hydroxide or carbonate gives the corresponding compound of formula xi , a 2 -( ω - carboxy - y )- 3 -( 3 - hydroxyalk - 1 - enyl ) cyclopentan - 1 - one either in the form of its free acid or of its lower alkyl ester ( xi , r = h or lower alkyl , n = 1 - 6 ) when the wittig reagent used in the reaction described above is ( meo ) 2 p ( o ) ch 2 co ( ch 2 ) 4 ch 3 , i . e . dimethyl 2 - oxoheptylphosphonate , and the compound of formula v used is the methyl ester of 2 -( 6 - carboxyhexyl ) cyclopentan - 1 - ol - 3 - al tetrahydropyranyl ether , the compound of formula xii obtained is the methyl ester of 2 -( 6 - carboxyhexyl )- 3 -( 3 - oxooct - 1 - enyl )- cyclopentan - 1 - ol tetrahydropyranyl ether , also called the tetrahydropyranyl ether of 9 - hydroxy - 15 - oxoprost - 13 - enoic acid methyl ester ( xii ; y = ( ch 2 ) 6 , r = me , r 1 = tetrahydropyran - 2 - yl , n = 4 ), identical with the same compound described in british pat . no . 1 , 218 , 998 cited above . carrying out the sequence of reactions described in british pat . no . 1 , 218 , 998 cited above with said last - named compound , there are obtained the corresponding tetrahydropyranyl ether of 9 , 15 - dihydroxyprost - 13 - enoic acid methyl ester , from which the corresponding tetrahydropyranyl ether of 15 - acetoxy - 9 - hydroxyprost - 13 - enoic acid methyl ester is obtained by treatment with acetic anhydride in pyridine . said last - named compound is treated with acid to give 15 - acetoxy - 9 - hydroxyprost - 13 - enoic acid methyl ester , which is treated with chromic acid in acetone to yield 15 - acetoxy - 9 - oxoprost - 13 - enoic acid methyl ester . treatment of said last - named compound with sodium hydroxide or sodium carbonate gives 15 - hydroxy - 9 - oxoprost - 13 - enoic acid ( xi ; y = ( ch 2 ) 6 , r = h , n = 4 ) and the methyl ester ( xi ; y = ( ch 2 ) 6 , r = me , n = 4 ), respectively , both last - named compounds being identical with the same compound described in british pat . no . 1 , 218 , 998 cited above . when the wittig reagent used in the reaction described above is ( meo ) 2 p ( o ) ch 2 co ( ch 2 ) 4 ch 3 , i . e . dimethyl 2 - oxo heptylphosphonate , and the compound of formula v used is the methyl ester of 2 -( 6 - carboxyhex - 2 - enyl ) cyclopentan - 1 - ol - 3 - al tetrahydropyranyl ether , the compound of formula xii obtained is the methyl ester of 2 -( 6 - carboxyhex - 2 - enyl )- 3 -( 3 - oxooct - 1 - enyl ) cyclopentan - 1 - ol tetrahydropyranyl ether , also called the tetrahydropyranyl ether of 9 - hydroxy - 15 - oxo - prosta - 5 , 13 - dienoic acid methyl ester ( xii ; y = ch 2 ch ═ ch ( ch 2 ) 3 , r = me , r 1 = tetrahydropyranyl , n = 4 ). again carrying out the sequence of reactions described in british pat . no . 1 , 218 , 998 , cited above , with said last - named compound , there are obtained the corresponding tetrahydropyranyl ether of 9 , 15 - dihydroxyprosta - 5 , 13 - dienoic acid methyl ester , from which the corresponding tetrahydropyranyl ether of 15 - acetoxy - 9 - hydroxyprosta - 5 , 13 - dienoic acid methyl ester is obtained by treatment with acetic anhydride in pyridine . said last - named compound is treated with acid to give 15 - acetoxy - 9 - hydroxyprosta - 5 , 13 - dienoic acid methyl ester , which is treated with chromic acid in acetone to yield 15 - acetoxy - 9 - oxoprosta - 5 , 13 - dienoic acid methyl ester . treatment of said last - named compound with sodium hydroxide or sodium carbonate , gives 15 - hydroxy - 9 - oxoprosta - 5 , 13 - dienoic acid ( xi ; y = ch 2 ch ═ ch ( ch 2 ) 3 , r = h , n = 4 ) and the methyl ester ( xi ; y = ch 2 ch ═ ch ( ch 2 ) 3 , r = me , n = 4 ), respectively . the compounds of the general formula xi may be transformed further into useful derivatives thereof . thus , treatment of a compound of formula xi with hydrogen in the presence of a noble metal catalyst , preferably palladium on charcoal , yields the corresponding lower alkyl ester of 2 -( ω - carboxy - y )- 3 -( 3 - hydroxyalk - 1 - yl ) cyclopentan - 1 - one ( xiii ; y = ch 2 --( a )--( ch 2 ) m wherein ( a ) is ch 2 ch 2 ch ═ ch or c . tbd . ch and m = 2 - 4 , r = lower alkyl , n = 1 - 6 ). when the starting material of the formula xi in which y = ( ch 2 ) 6 and m = 4 , either as the free acid ( r = h ) or as the methyl ester ( r = me ) is treated in the above manner , 9 - oxo - 15 - hydroxyprostanoic acid ( xiii ; y = ( ch 2 ) 6 , r = h , n = 4 ) or its methyl ester ( xiii ; y = ( ch 2 ) 6 , r = me , n = 4 ) are respectively obtained , both identical with the same compounds described in french patent application no . 2 , 021 , 234 cited above . said compounds of formula xiii may be treated with an alkali metal borohydride , preferably sodium borohyride , to yield the corresponding lower alkyl esters of 2 -( ω - carboxy - y )- 3 -( 3 - hydroxyalk - 1 - yl )- cyclopentan - 1α - ol ( xiv ; y is ch 2 --( a )--( ch 2 ) m wherein ( a ) is ch 2 ch 2 and m = 2 - 4 , r = lower alkyl , r 2 = h , r 3 = oh , n = 1 - 6 ) or of 2 -( ω - carboxy - y )- 3 -( 3 - hydroxyalk - 1 - yl ) cyclopentan - 1β - ol ( xiv ; y is as defined in the last instance , r = lower alkyl , r 2 = oh , r 3 = h , n = 1 - 6 ). in this case , when the starting material of formula xiii is 9 - oxo - 15 - hydroxyprostanoic acid or its methyl ester there are obtained 9α , 15ζ - dihydroxyprostanoic acid or its ethyl ester ( xiv ; y = ( ch 2 ) 6 , r = h or me , r 2 = h , r 3 = oh , n = 4 ) and 9β , 15ζ - dihydroxyprostanoic acid or its methyl ester , ( xiv ; y = ( ch 2 ) 6 , r = h or me , r 2 = oh , r 3 = h , n = 4 ), respectively , both identical with the same compounds described in french patent application no . 2 , 021 , 234 , cited above . in addition , as indicated before , the compounds of general formula xi may be transformed also into diol compounds of general formula viiia by reduction with an alkali metal borohydride . the starting materials of formula i of this invention are either known , for example , 2 -( 6 - carboxyhexyl )- cyclopent - 2 - en - 1 - one , described by bagli and bogri in u . s . pat . no . 3 , 432 , 541 , issued mar . 11 , 1969 , or they may be prepared by the following convenient process which is represented schematically in the following manner : ## str1 ## in which y and r are as defined in the first instance . with reference to the first step of this process 1 , 3 - cyclohexadione ( xv ) is condensed with an appropriate ω - bromoacid or preferably an appropriate lower alkyl ω - bromoester of formula xvi in the presence of an alkali metal alkoxide in a lower alkanol , preferably sodium methoxide in methanol , to give the dioneester of formula xvii . the ω - bromoacids and the lower alkyl ω - bromoesters of formula xvi are either known or may be prepared by known methods ; for example , see &# 34 ; rodd &# 39 ; s chemistry of the carbon compounds &# 34 ;, s . coffey , ed ., vol . 1c , 2nd ed ., pp . 201 - 215 . in this respect a convenient method for preparing the lower alkyl ω - bromoesters of formula xvi in which y is ch 2 --( a )--( ch 2 ) m wherein ( a ) is c . tbd . c and m is an integer from 2 to 4 involves condensing propargyl alcohol tetrahydropyran - 2 - yl ether , described by r . g . jones and m . j . mann , j . amer . chem . soc ., 75 , 4048 ( 1953 ), with a dihaloalkane of formula br ( ch 2 ) m cl in which m is an integer from 2 to 4 according to the procedure used by a . i . rachlin , et al ., j . org . chem ., 26 , 2688 ( 1961 ), to prepare 1 -[( tetrahydropyran - 2 - yl ) oxy ]- 6 - chloro - 2 - hexyne . the resulting ω - tetrahydropyranyloxyalkynyl chloride is hydrolyzed , for example , with p - toluenesulfonic acid is aqueous methanol , to its corresponding alcohol of formula hoch 2 c . tbd . c ( ch 2 ) m cl ( m = 2 - 4 ). the latter compound is then treated with potassium or sodium cyanide in a lower alkanol , preferably with potassium cyanide in ethanol , at reflux temperature for eight to 24 hours to give the cyanide of formula hoch 2 c . tbd . ch ( ch ) m cn ( m = 2 - 4 ). subsequently a solution containing an excess of potassium hydroxide in water is added to the reaction mixture of the cyanide and the resultant mixture is heated at reflux for a further ten to 20 hours whereby the cyanide is converted to the corresponding hydroxyacid . the latter compound is then brominated by treatment with phosphorus tribromide in ether solution in the presence of a suitable proton acceptor , for example , pyridine , to yield the corresponding bromoacid , which is esterified with a lower alkanol , for example , methanol in the presence of a suitable acid catalyst , for example , p - toluenesulfonic acid , to give the desired lower alkyl bromoester of formula xvi . if desired the latter compounds are hydrogenated in the presence of lindlar catalyst or a noble metal catalyst , for example , palladium on charcoal , to give the corresponding lower alkyl bromoesters of formula xvi in which y is ch 2 --( a )--( ch 2 ) m wherein ( a ) is ch ═ ch or ch 2 ch 2 , respectively , and m an integer from 2 to 4 . with reference to the second step of the above process , the dioneester of formula xvii is treated with t - butyl hypochlorite in the manner described by g . buchi and b . egger , j . org . chem ., 36 , 2021 ( 1971 ), to yield the chloro derivative xviii . the latter treatment is performed preferably under a nitrogen atmosphere using dry chloroform as a solvent . thereafter , the chloro derivative is treated in a hydrocarbon solvent in the presence of an alkali metal carbonate at temperatures from 100 ° to 150 ° c . from about 5 to 25 hours whereby ring contraction is effected to yield the desired starting material of formula i . preferred conditions for the treatment of the chloro derivative include subjecting solution of the compound in xylene to reflux for 16 hours in the presence of anhydrous sodium carbonate , followed by water washing , drying and evaporation of the xylene phase to give the starting material of formula i . if desired the latter compounds in which y is ch 2 --( a )--( ch 2 ) m wherein ( a ) is c . tbd . c and m is an integer from 2 to 4 may be subjected to hydrogenation in the presence of lindar catalyst to give the corresponding starting materials of formula i in which y is ch 2 --( a )--( ch 2 ) m wherein ( a ) is ch ═ ch and m is an integer from 2 to 4 . to a solution of nitromethane ( 76 g ) in dry methanol ( 70 ml ) there are added at 60 ° c ., simultaneously , a solution of sodium methoxide prepared from sodium ( 14 g ) in methanol ( 346 ml ) and a solution of 2 -( 6 - carboxyhexyl )- cyclopent - 2 - en - 1 - one methyl ester ( 111 g ) in methanol ( 150 ml ). the reaction mixture is left at 60 ° - 65 ° ( bath temperature ) for 2 hours , cooled , and 50 % acetic acid ( 108 ml ) is added . the solvent is removed under reduced pressure . the residue is taken in ether , washed carefully with 5 % sodium carbonate three times , then with water , dried and the solvent is removed to yield a residue . this is chromatographed on a silica gel column ( 1 . 5 kg ) in 20 % acetonehexane , and the first 22 fractions yield 2 -( 6 - carboxyhexyl )- 3 - nitromethyl - cyclopentan - 1 - one methyl ester , γ max film 1727 , 1550 cm 1 , nmr : ( cdcl 3 ) 3 . 59 , 4 . 5δ , also identified by elemental analysis . in the same manner , when using the ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl , or n - hexyl esters of 2 -( 6 - carboxyhexyl )- cyclopent - 2 - en - 1 - one as starting material and proceeding as above using the appropriate alkoxide in the appropriate alkanol , the ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl , and n - hexyl esters of 2 -( 6 - carboxyhexyl )- 3 - nitromethyl - cyclopentan - 1 - one are respectively obtained . likewise , when using the methyl , ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl or n - hexyl esters of 2 -( 5 - carboxypentyl ) cyclopent - 2 - en - 1 - one or 2 -( 7 - carboxyheptyl ) cyclopent - 2 - en - 1 - one as starting material , the methyl , ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl and n - hexyl esters of 2 -( 5 - carboxypentyl )- 3 - nitromethyl - cyclopentan - 1 - one and 2 -( 7 - carboxyheptyl )- 3 - nitromethyl - cyclopentan - 1 - one are respectively obtained . likewise , when using the methyl , ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl or n - hexyl esters of 2 -( 5 - carboxypent - 2 - enyl ) cyclopent - 2 - en - 1 - one , 2 -( 6 - carboxyhex - 2 - enyl ) cyclopent - 2 - en - 1 - one , 2 -( 7 - carboxyhept - 2 - enyl )- cyclopent - 2 - en - 1 - one , 2 -( 5 - carboxypent - 2 - ynyl ) cylopent - 2 - en - 1 - one , 2 -( 6 - carboxyhex - 2 - ynyl ) cyclopent - 2 - en - 1 - one , or 2 -( 7 - carboxyhept - 2 - ynyl ) cyclopent - 2 - en - 1 - one , as starting materials , the methyl , ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl and n - hexyl esters of 2 -( 5 - carboxypent - 2 - enyl )- 3 - nitromethyl - cyclopentan - 1 - one , 2 -( 6 - carboxyhex - 2 - enyl )- 3 - nitromethyl - cyclopentan - 1 - one , 2 -( 7 - carboxyhept - 2 - enyl )- 3 - nitromethyl - cyclopentan - 1 - one , 2 -( 5 - carboxypent - 2 - ynyl )- 3 - nitromethyl - cyclopentan - 1 - one , 2 -( 6 - carboxyhex - 2 - ynyl )- 3 - nitromethyl - cyclopentan - 1 - one , and 2 -( 7 - carboxyhept - 2 - ynyl )- 3 - nitromethyl - cyclopentan - 1 - one , are respectively obtained . 2 -( 6 - carboxyhex - 2 - enyl )- 3 - nitromethyl - cyclopentan - 1 - one has γ max film 1735 , 1550 cm - 1 . 2 -( 6 - carboxyhex - 2 - ynyl )- 3 - nitromethyl - cyclopentan - 1 - one has γ max film 1730 , 1550 cm - 1 . 2 -( 6 - carboxyhexyl )- 3 - nitromethyl - cyclopentan - 1 - one methyl ester ( 12 g ) is added to a solution of sodium methoxide ( 1 . 8 g of sodium in 120 ml methanol ) and the mixture is allowed to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes . the above solution is added with stirring to cold ( 0 ° c ) aqueous sulfuric acid ( 111 ml h 2 so 4 in 708 ml water ) over a period of 45 minutes , stirred at 0 ° c for an additional 30 minutes and extracted with ether . the ether extract is washed to neutrality with saturated sodium chloride solution , dried over magnesium sulfate and evaporated under reduced pressure to yield a residue which is chromatographed on silica gel ( 600 g ) and eluted with 7 % methanol in benzene to give 2 -( 6 - carboxyhexyl ) cyclopentan - 1 - on - 3 - al methyl ester , γ max film 2700 cm - 1 . in the same manner , when using the ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl , and n - hexyl esters of 2 -( 6 - carboxyhexyl )- 3 - nitromethyl - cyclopentan - 1 - one as starting material and proceeding as above , the ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl , and n - hexyl esters of 2 -( 6 - carboxyhexyl ) cyclopentan - 1 - on - 3 - al are respectively obtained . likewise , when using the methyl , ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl or n - hexyl esters of 2 -( 7 - carboxyheptyl )- 3 - nitromethyl - cyclopentan - 1 - one as starting material , the methyl , ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl and n - hexyl esters of likewise , when using the methyl , ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl or n - hexyl esters of 2 -( 5 - carboxyhept - 2 - ynyl )- 3 - nitromethyl - cyclopentan - 1 - one , as starting materials , the methyl , ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl and n - hexyl esters of sodium hydride ( 57 %, 1 . 27 g ) is washed by decantation several times with low boiling petroleum ether in an atmosphere of nitrogen and the solvent is removed under reduced pressure . the dried sodium hydride is suspended in 1 , 2 - dimethoxyethane ( 200 ml ) and a solution of dimethyl 2 - oxoheptylphosphonate ( 6 . 7 g ) in 1 , 2 - dimethoxyethane ( 50 ml ) is added with stirring over a period of 10 minutes at low temperature . stirring is continued for 30 minutes and the methyl ester of 2 -( 6 - carboxyhexyl ) cyclopentan - 1 - on - 3 - al ( 6 . 4 g ) in 1 , 2 - dimethoxyethane ( 50 ml ) is added over a period of 10 minutes with stirring which is continued for another 30 minutes . the mixture is acidified with aqueous hydrochloric acid ( 30 ml ) and extracted with ether . the ether extracts are washed to neutrality , dried over magnesium sulfate and evaporated under reduced pressure to give a residue which is chromatographed on silica gel and eluted with 40 % ether in hexane to yield 9 , 15 - dioxoprost - 13 - enoic acid methyl ester , γ max film 1690 , 1670 , 1630 , 1370 cm - 1 ; nmr : ( cdcl 3 ) 6 . 76 , 6 . 10 , δ3 . 63 . in the same manner , by using as starting materials the ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl or n - hexyl esters of 2 -( 6 - carboxyhexyl ) cyclopentan - 1 - on - 3 - al there are obtained the ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl , and n - hexyl esters of 9 , 15 - dioxoprost - 13 - enoic acid . again in the same manner , but using as starting materials the dimethyl 2 - oxobutyl -, 2 - oxopentyl -, 2 - oxohexyl -, 2 - oxooctyl -, or 2 - oxononyl - phosphonates and reacting them with the methyl , ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl , or n - hexyl esters of 2 -( 6 - carboxyhexyl ) cyclopentan - 1 - on - 3 - al , there are obtained the methyl , ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl , and n - hexyl esters of again in the same manner , but using as starting materials the wittig reagents , dimethyl 2 - oxobutyl -, 2 - oxopentyl -, 2 - oxohexyl -, 2 - oxoheptyl -, 2 - oxooctyl -, or 2 - oxononyl - phosphonates and reacting them with the methyl , ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl , or n - hexyl esters of 2 -( 5 - carboxypentyl ) cyclopentan - 1 - on - 3 - al there are obtained . 2 -( 5 - carboxypentyl )- 3 -( 3 - oxodec - 1 - enyl ) cyclopentan - 1 - one , methyl , ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl , and n - hexyl esters , respectively . again in the same manner , but using a starting materials the preceding , respective wittig reagents and reacting them with the methyl , ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl , or n - hexyl esters of 2 -( 7 - carboxyheptyl ) cyclopentan - 1 - on - 3 - al there are obtained . 2 -( 7 - carboxyheptyl )- 3 -( 3 - oxodec - 1 - enyl ) cyclopentan - 1 - one methyl , ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl , and n - hexyl esters , respectively . again in the same manner , but using as starting material the preceding respective wittig reagents and reacting them with the methyl , ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl , or n - hexyl esters of 2 -( 5 - carboxypent - 2 - enyl ) cyclopentan - 1 - on - 3 - al there are obtained . 2 -( 5 - carboxypent - 2 - enyl )- 3 -( 3 - oxodec - 1 - enyl ) cyclopentan - 1 - one methyl , ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl , and n - hexyl esters , respectively . again in the same manner , but using as starting material the preceding respective wittig reagents and reacting them with the methyl , ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl , or n - hexyl esters of 2 -( 6 - carboxyhex - 2 - enyl )- 3 -( 3 - oxodec - 1 - enyl ) cyclopentan - 1 - one , methyl , ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl , and n - hexyl esters , respectively . again in the same manner , but using as starting material the preceding respective wittig reagents and reacting them with the methyl , ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl , or n - hexyl ester of 2 -( 7 - carboxyhept - 2 - enyl ) cyclopentan - 1 - on - 3 - al there are obtained . 2 -( 7 - carboxyhept - 2 - enyl )- 3 -( 3 - oxodec - 1 - enyl ) cyclopentan - 1 - one methyl , ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl , and n - hexyl esters , respectively . again in the same manner , but using as starting material the preceding respective wittig reagents and reacting them with the methyl , ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl , or n - hexyl esters of 2 -( 5 - carboxypent - 2 - ynyl ) cyclopentan - 1 - on - 3 - al there are obtained . 2 -( 5 - carboxypent - 2 - ynyl )- 3 -( 3 - oxodec - 1 - enyl ) cyclopentan - 1 - one methyl , ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl , and n - hexyl esters , respectively . again in the same manner , but using as starting material the preceding respective wittig reagents and reacting them wiuth the methyl , ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl , or n - hexyl ester of 2 -( 6 - carboxyhex - 2 - ynyl ) cyclopentan - 1 - on - 3 - al there are obtained 2 -( 6 - carboxyhex - 2 - ynyl )- 3 -( 3 - oxodec - 1 - enyl ) cyclopentan - 1 - one methyl , ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl , and n - hexyl esters , respectively . again in the same manner , but using as starting material the preceding respective wittig reagents and reacting them with the methyl , ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl , or n - hexyl esters of 2 -( 7 - carboxyhept - 2 - ynyl ) cyclopentan - 1 - on - 3 - al there are obtained 2 -( 7 - carboxyhept - 2 - ynyl )- 3 -( 3 - oxodec - 1 - enyl ) cyclopentan - 1 - one , methyl , ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl , and n - hexyl esters , respectively . a mixture if 9 , 15 - dioxoprost - 13 - enoic acid methyl ester ( 2 . 0 g ) benzene ( 50 ml ), p - toluenesulfonic acid ( 37 mg ) and ethylene glycol ( 372 mg ) is refluxed for 2 . 5 hours , diluted with ether , washed neutral with water , dried over magnesium sulfate , and evaporated under reduced pressure . the residue containing 9 - ethylenedioxy - 15 - oxoprost - 13 - enoic acid methyl ester is taken up in methanol ( 20 ml ) and treated with sodium borohydride ( 300 mg ) in small portions with stirring which is continued for 30 minutes . the solvent is evaporated under reduced pressure , the residue taken up in ether , washed to neutrality with water , dried over magnesium sulfate , and the solvent evaporated under reduced pressure . the residue is chromatographed on silica gel ( 140 g ) and eluted with 40 % ether in hexane to yield 9 - ethylenedioxy - 15 - hydroxyprost - 13 - enoic acid methyl ester , γ max film 3460 , 1740 , 1037 , 975 , 950 cm - 1 . a mixture of 9 - ethylenedioxy - 15 - hydroxyprost - 13 - enoic acid methyl ester ( 35 mg ), methanol ( 3 ml ) water ( 0 . 5 ml ) and p - toluenesulfonic acid ( 10 mg ) is allowed to stand at room temperature overnight , taken up in ether , washed to neutrality with water , dried over magnesium sulfate and the solvent evaporated under reduced pressure to yield 15 - hydroxy - 9 - oxoprost - 13 - enoic acid methyl ester γ max film 3450 , 1745 cm - 1 , identical to the compound of the same name described in british pat . no . 1 , 218 , 998 , cited above . by following serially the procedures of examples 4 and 5 but using as a starting material in example 4 , the ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl , n - hexyl esters of 9 , 15 - dioxoprost - 13 - enoic acid , or one of the remaining methyl , ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl or n - hexyl esters of the homologs of 9 , 15 - dioxoprost - 13 - enoic acid , as listed in example 3 , instead of 9 , 15 - dioxoprost - 13 - enoic acid methyl esters , then the ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl , and n - hexyl esters of 15 - hydroxy - 9 - oxoprost - 13 - enoic acid ; the methyl , ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl , and n - hexyl esters of 2 -( 6 - carboxyhex - 2 - enyl )- 3 -( 3 - hydroxyoct - 1 - enyl ) cyclopentan - 1 - one methyl ester had γ max film 3475 , 1735 , cm - 1 . 2 -( 6 - carboxyhex - 2 - ynyl )- 3 -( 3 - hydroxyoct - 1 - enyl ) cyclopentan - 1 - one methyl ester has γ max film 3500 , 1736 , cm - 1 . hydrolysis of the lower alkyl esters , described herein , to their corresponding acids is readily effected by treating the ester with an aqueous solution of an alkali metal hydroxide in lower alkanol solution , for example 10 % aqueous sodium hydroxide in methanol , from 6 to 12 hours at room temperature . neutralizing the solution with hydrochloric acid and extraction with ether . a solution of 2 -( 6 - carboxyhexyl )- 3 - nitromethylcyclopentan - 1 - one methyl ester ( 20 g ) in sodium hydroxide ( 10 %, 61 . 6 ml ) and methanol ( 40 ml ) is stirred overnight , dilited with water ( 140 ml ), and added to a mixture of concentrated sulfuric acid ( 18 . 4 ml ) and water ( 118 ml ) maintained - 5 ° to - 10 ° . a small amount of ether is added to keep the compound well suspended in the liquid . after completion of addition the cooling bath is removed and the mixture is stirred for 1 hour , extracted with ether , washed , dried and evaporated under reduced pressure to give a residue containing 2 -( 6 - carboxyhexyl ) cyclopentan - 1 - on - 3 - al γ max film 2700 , 1730 cm - 1 . this residue is refluxed in methanol ( 120 ml ) containing p - toluenesulfonic acid ( 3 g ) for 1 . 5 to 2 hours , the solvent evaporated , and the residue extracted with ether , washed with water , dried and evaporated to yield a residue which is passed through silica gel ( 1 kg ) in 20 % acetone - hexane to yield the methyl ester of 2 -( 6 - carboxyhexyl ) cyclopentan - 1 - on - 3 - al dimethyl acetal γ max film 1730 , 1124 , 1072 cm - 1 nmr : ( cdcl 3 ) 4 . 25 , 3 . 63 , 3 . 38δ . in the same manner , the ethyl , methyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl , or n - hexyl esters of 2 -( 6 - carboxyhexyl ) 3 - nitromethyl - cyclopentan - 1 - one give 2 -( 6 - carboxyhexyl ) cyclopentan - 1 - on - 3 - al , and treatment of the latter compound with ethanol , propanol , isopropanol , n - butanol , n - pentanol , or n - hexanol yields the corresponding ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl , and n - hexyl esters of 2 -( 6 - carboxyhexyl ) cyclopentan - 1 - on - 3 - al diethyl , dipropyl , diisopropyl , di - n - butyl , di - n - pentyl , and di - n - hexyl acetal , respectively . in the same manner the methyl , ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl and n - hexyl esters of 2 -( 7 - carboxyhept - 2 - ynyl )- 3 - nitrometyl - cyclopentan - 1 - one , obtained as described in example 1 , yield the corresponding 3 - aldehyde derivatives of formula iv , which on treatment with methanol , ethanol , propanol , isopropanol , n - butanol , n - pentanol or n - hexanol yields the corresponding methyl , ethyl , propyl , isopropyol , n - butyl , n - pentyl and n - hexyl esters of 2 -( 7 - carboxyhept - 2 - ynyl ) cyclopentan - 1on - 3 - al dimethyl , diethyl , dipropyl , diisopropyl , di - n - butyl , di - n - pentyl and di - n - hexyl acetal , respectively . to a solution of the methyl ester of 2 -( 6 - carboxyhexyl )- cyclopentan - 1 - on - 3 - al dimethyl acetal ( 3 . 0 g ), obtained as described in example 6 , in methanol ( 30 ml ), sodium borohydride ( 0 . 375 g ) is added keeping the solution in ice water during the addition . after stirring for 10 minutes the mixture is diluted with ether ( 160 ml ) and with saturated ammonium chloride , the ether phase washed with saturated sodium chloride solution , dried , and evaporated to give a residue containing the methyl ester of 2 -( 6 - carboxyhexyl )- cyclopentan - 1 - ol - 3 - al dimethyl acetal . the above residue is stirred in tetrahydrofuran ( 3 ml ) containing 25 % sulfuric ( 0 . 3 ml ), for a period of 2 hours at room temperature . the reaction mixture is diluted with ether , washed with water , dried , and the solvent evaporated to yield a residue containing the methyl ester of 2 -( 6 - carboxyhexyl ) cyclopentan - 1 - ol - 3 - al , γ max 2700 cm - 1 . the above residue ( 2 . 8 g ) is dissolved in methylene chloride ( 17 ml ) and dihydropyran ( 7 ml ) and p - toluenesulfonic acid ( 19 mg ) is added . the mixture is stirred at room temperature for 1 hour , diluted with methylene chloride , washed with water , dried and the solvent evaporated . the residue is chromatographed on silica gel ( 200 g ) in 20 % acetone - hexane to yield the methyl ester of 2 -( 6 - carboxyhexyl )- 2 - tetrahydropyranyloxy - cyclopentan - 3 - al ; γ max film 2700 , 1735 , 1715 , 1127 , 1112 , 1075 , 1027 , 1020 cm - 1 , nmr : ( cdcl 3 ) 9 . 68 , 4 . 68 , 4 . 33 - 3 . 2 δ in the same manner the ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl , or n - hexyl esters of 2 -( 6 - carboxyhexyl )- cyclopentan - 1 - on - 3 - al diethyl , dipropyl , diisopropyl , di - n - butyl , di - n - pentyl , or di - n - hexyl acetal , obtained as described in example 6 , yield the ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl , and n - hexyl esters of 2 -( 6 - carboxyhexyl )- 1 - tetrahydropyranyloxy - cyclopentan - 3 - al , respectively . in the same manner the methyl , ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl and n - hexyl esters of 2 -( 7carboxyhept - 2 - ynyl ) cyclopentan - 1 - on - 3 - al dimethyl , diethyl , dipropyl , diisopropyl , di - n - butyl , di - n - pentyl , or di - n - hexyl acetal , obtained as described in example 6 yield the methyl , ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl n - pentyl , n - hexyl esters of to a solution of the methyl ester of 2 -( 6 - carboxyhexyl )- 3 - nitromethyl - cyclopentan - 1 - one ( 27 g ), obtained as previously described in example 1 , in methanol ( 140 ml ), sodium borohydride ( 1 . 24 g ) is added with cooling in an ice bath during addition . the mixture is stirred for 30 minutes , acetic acid ( 1 . 4 ml ) is added and the methanol is evaporated . the residue is taken in ether , washed with water , dried , and the solvent evaporated to yield the methyl ester of 2 -( 6 - carboxyhexyl )- 3 - nitromethyl - cyclopentan - 1 - ol , γ max film 3440 , 1725 , 1549 cm - 1 , nmr : 4 . 4 , 3 . 69 δ . in the same manner the ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl , or n - hexyl esters of 2 -( 6 - carboxyhexyl )- 3 - nitromethyl - cyclopentan - 1 - one , obtained as described in example 1 , yield the ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl , and n - hexyl esters of 2 -( 6 - carboxyhexyl )- 3 - nitromethyl - cyclopentan - 1 - ol . in the same manner the methyl , ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl or n - hexyl esters of 2 -( 7 - carboxyhept - 2 - ynyl )- 3 - nitromethyl - cyclopentan - 1 - one obtained as described in example 1 , yield the methyl , ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl and n - hexyl esters of 2 -( 6 - carboxyhex - 2 - enyl )- 3 - nitromethyl - cyclopentan - 1 - ol methyl ester has γ max film 3450 , 1730 , 1550 cm - 1 . 2 -( 6 - carboxyhex - 2 - ynyl )- 3 - nitromethyl - cyclopentan - 1ol methyl ester has γ max film 3400 , 1735 , 1550 cm - 1 . the methyl ester of 2 -( 6 - carboxyhexyl )- 3 - nitromethyl - cyclopentan - 1 - ol ( 26 . 5 g ) is dissolved in methanol ( 101 ml ) containing sodium methoxide ( 1 . 2 eqvs ., 2 . 56 g na ) and the solution is added to cold ( 0 ° to - 10 ° c .) aqueous sulfuric acid ( 118 . 4 ml concentrated sulfuric acid and 739 ml water ). the addition is carried out over 45 - 60 minutes at - 5 ° to 9 ° c ., the reaction mixture stirred for about 30 minutes after completion of addition and then allowed to come to room temperature . extraction with ether washing with water , drying and evaporation of the solvent gives a residue containing the methyl ester of 2 -( 6 - carboxyhexyl ) cyclopentan - 1 - ol - 3 - al . the above residue ( 22 . 3 g ) is dissolved in methylene chloride ( 120 ml ), dihydropyran ( 9 . 8 g ) and p - toluenesulfonic acid ( 0 . 15 g ) is added , the reaction mixture stirred for about 1 hour , diluted with about an equal volume of methylene chloride , washed with water several times , dried , and the solvent evaporated . the residue is passed through a column of silica gel ( 800 g ) in 10 % acetone - hexane and elution with the same solvent yields the methyl ester of 2 -( 6 - carboxyhexyl )- 1 - tetrahydropyranyloxy - cyclopentan - 3 - al , identical with the same compound obtained as described in example 7 . in the same manner the ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl , and n - hexyl esters of 2 -( 6 - carboxyhexyl )- 3 - nitromethyl - cyclopenta - 1 - ol obtained as described in example 8 yield the same ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl , and n - hexyl esters of 2 -( 6 - carboxyhexyl )- 1 - tetrahydropyranyloxy - cyclopentan - 3 - al obtained as described in example 7 . in the same manner the methyl , ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl and n - hexyl esters of 2 -( 7 - carboxyhept - 2 - ynyl )- 3 - nitromethyl - cyclopentan - 1ol , obtained as described in example 8 , yield the methyl , ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl and n - hexyl esters of 2 -( 7 - carboxyhept - 2 - ynyl )- 1 - tetrahydropyranyloxy - cyclopentan - 3 - al identical to the products of the same name described in example 7 . 2 -( 6 - carboxyhex - 2 - enyl )- 1 - tetrahydropyranyloxy - cyclopentan - 3 - al methyl ester has γ max film 1735 , 1725 cm - 1 . 2 -( 6 - carboxyhex - 2 - ynyl )- 1 - tetrahydropyranyloxy - cyclopentan - 3 - al methyl ester has γ max film 1736 , 1725 cm - 1 . to a suspension of sodium hydride ( 1 . 48 g , 53 % suspension ) in dry dimethoxyethane ( 150 ml ) a solution of dimethyl 2 - oxoheptylphosphonate ( 7 . 6 g ) in dry dimethoxyethane ( 150 ml ) is added . the mixture is stirred at room temperature for 45 minutes , and a solution of the methyl ester of 2 -( 6 - carboxyhexyl )- 1 - tetrahydropyranyloxy - cyclopentan - 3 - al ( 10 ,. 5 g ) in dimetoxyethane ( 150 ml ) is added . the mixture is heated to about 60 ° c . bath temperature for 30 minutes , cooled , and 50 % acetic acid ( 3 ml ) is added . the mixture is diluted with ether , washed with water , dried and the solvent evaporated to yield a residue which is chramotographed on silica gel ( 750 g ) from 7 % ethyl acetate in benzene to yield the tetrahydropyranyl ether of 9 - hydroxy - 15 - oxoprost - 13 - enoic acid methyl ester , γ max film 1735 , 1670 , 1620 cm - 1 , nmr : ( cdcl 3 ) 6 . 83 , 6 . 02 , 4 . 62 , 4 . 12 - 3 . 45 , 0 . 88 δ identical with the same compound described in british patent no . 1 , 218 , 998 cited above . in the same manner the ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl , or n - hexyl esters of 2 -( 6 - carboxyhexy )- 1 - tetrahydropyranyloxy - cyclopentan - 3 - al give the tetrahydropyranyl ethers of 9 - hydroxy - 15 - oxoprost - 13 - enoic acid ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl , and n - hexyl esters , respectively . again in the same manner , but using as starting materials the dimethyl 2 - oxobutyl -, 2 - oxopentyl -, 2 - oxohexyl -, 2 - oxooctyl -, or 2 - oxononyl - phosphonates and reacting them with the methyl , ethyl , propyl , isopropyol , n - butyl , n - pentyl , or n - hexyl esters of 2 -( 6 - carboxyhexyl )- 1 - tetrahydropyranyloxy - cyclopentan - 3 - al there are obtained the tetrahydropyranyl ethers of 2 -( 6 - carboxyhexyl )- 3 -( 3 - oxodec - 1 - enyl )- cyclopentan - 1ol methyl , ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl , and n - hexyl esters , respectively . again in the same manner , but using as starting material the wittig reagents , dimethyl 2 - oxobutyl -, 2 - oxopentyl -, 2 - oxohexyl -, 2 - oxoheptyl -, 2 - oxooctyl -, or 2 - oxononyl - phosphonates and reacting them with the methyl , ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl , or n - hexyl esters of 2 -( 5 - carboxypentyl )- 1 - tetrahydropyranyloxy - cyclopentan - 3al there are obtained the tetrahydropyranyl ethers of 2 -( 5 - carboxypentyl )- 3 -( 3 - oxodec - 1 - enyl ) ccyclopentan - 1 - ol methyl , ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl , and n - hexyl esters , respectively . again in the same manner , but using as starting material the preceding , respective wittig reagents and reacting them with the methyl , ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl , or n - hexyl esters of 2 -( 7 - carboxyheptyl )- 3 -( 3 - oxodec - 1enyl ) cyclopentan - 1 - ol methyl , ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl , and n - hexyl esters , respectively . again in the same manner , but using as starting material the preceding respective wittig reagents and reacting them with the methyl , ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl , or n - hexyl , esters of 2 -( 5 - carboxypent - 2 - enyl - 1 - tetrahydropyranloxy - cyclopentan - 3 - al there are obtained the tetrahydropyranyl ethers of 2 -( 5 - carboxypent - 2enyl )- 3 ( 3oxodec - 1enyl ) cyclopentan - 1 - ol methyl , ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl , and n - hexyl esters , respectively . again in the same manner , but using as starting material the preceding respective wittig reagents and reacting them with the methyl , eythyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl , or n - hexyl esters of 2 -( 6 - carboxyhex - 2 - enyl )- 1tetrahydropyranyloxy - cyclopentan - 3al there are obtained the tetrahydropyranyl ethers of 2 -( 6 - carboxyhex - 2 - enyl )- 3 -( 3 - oxodec - 1 - enyl ) cyclopentan - 1 - ol methyl , ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl , and n - hexyl esters , respectively . again in the same manner , but using as starting material the preceding respective wittig reagents and reacting them with the methyl , ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl , or n - hexyl esters of 2 -( 7 - carboxyhept - 2 - enyl )- 1 - tetrahydropyranyloxy - cyclopentan - 3al there are obtained the tetrahydropyranyl ethers of 2 -( 7 - carboxyhept - 2 - enyl )- 3 -( 3 - oxodec - 1 - enyl ) cyclopentan - 1 - ol methyl , ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl , and n - hexyl esters , respectively . again in the same manner , but using as starting material the preceding respective wittig reagents and reacting them with the methyl , ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl , or n - hexyl esters of 2 -( 5 - carboxypent - 2 - ynyl )- 1 - tetrahydropyranyloxy - cyclopentan - 3 - al there are obtained the tetrahydropyranyl ethers of 2 -( 5 - carboxypent - 2 - ynyl )- 3 -( 3 - oxodec - 1 - enyl ) cyclopentan - 1 - ol , methyl , ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl , and n - hexyl esters , respectively . again in the same manner , but using as starting material the preceding respective wittig reagents and reacting them with the methyl , ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl , or n - hexyl esters of 2 -( 6 - carboxyhex - 2 - ynyl )- 1 - tetrahydropyranyloxy - cyclopentan - 3 - al there are obtained the tetrahydropyranyl ethers of 2 -( 6 - carboxyhex - 2 - ynyl )- 3 -( 3 - oxodec - 1 - enyl ) cyclopentan - 1 - ol , methyl , ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl , and n - hexyl esters , respectively . again in the same manner , but using as starting material of the preceding respective wittig reagents and reacting them with the methyl , ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl , or n - hexyl esters of 2 -( 7 - carboxyhept - 2 - ynyl )- 1 - tetrahydropyranyloxy - cyclopentan - 3 - al there are obtained the tetrahydropyranyl ethers of 2 -( 7 - carboxyhept - 2 - ynyl )- 3 -( 3 - oxodec - 1 - enyl ) cyclopentan - 1 - ol , methyl , ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl , and n - hexyl esters , respectively . the tetrahydropyranyl ether of 2 -( 6 - carboxyhex - 2 - enyl )- 3 -( 3 - oxooct - 1 - enyl ) cyclopentan - 1 - ol methyl ester has γ max film 3450 , 1735 , 1670 , 1625 cm - 1 , nmr ; ( cdcl 3 ) 6 . 7 , 6 . 1 , 5 . 5 , 4 . 7 , 3 . 7 , 0 . 95 δ . by following the procedure of a . i . rachlin , et al ., cited above , 6 - chloro - 2 - hexyn - 1 - ol is prepared by condensing propargyl alcohol tetrahydropyran - 2 - yl ether and the dihaloalkane , 1 - bromo - 3 - chloropropane , to give 1 -[( tetrahydropyran - 2 - yl ) oxy ]- 6 - chloro - 2 - hexyne , which is then converted to the desired compound followed by hydrolysis in the presence of sulfuric acid . the 6 - chloro2 - hexyl - 1 - ol ( 280 g ) is dissolved in ethanol ( 2 . 8 l ) then water ( 560 ml ) and potassium cyanide ( 290 g ) is added and the mixture stirred and refluxed for 20 hr . potassium hydroxide ( 768 g ) and water ( 500 ml ) are added and the stirred mixture kept at reflux for an additional 20 hr . methanol is evaporated and the water phase is acidified with concentrated hcl and extracted with ether for 2 days in a continuous liquid - liquid extractor . the ether extract is dried ( na 2 so 4 ) and concentrated to give 7 - hydroxy - 5 - heptynoic acid , nmr : ( cdcl 3 ) 4 . 22 ( m , 2h ), 7 . 41 ( broad , 2h ) δ . to a solution of 7 - hydroxy - 5 - heptynoic acid ( 88 . 2 g ), described in example 11 , in anhydrous ether ( 300 ml ) and pyridine ( 12 ml ) is added dropwise phosphorus tribromide ( 67 . 5 g ) at 10 ° c . the solution is stirred at room temperature for 30 min . then cooled to 5 ° c and 10 % hcl ( 120 ml ) is added slowly . the organic layer is washed with water and 10 % sodium carbonate , dried ( na 2 so 4 ) and concentrated . the residue is distilled under reduced pressure to give 7 - bromo - 5 - heptynoic acid , b . p . 146 ° c , 0 . 8 mm . the latter compound is esterified in the following manner . the latter compound ( 156 g ) is dissolved in absolute methanol ( 1 . 5 l ). p - toluenesulfonic acid ( 78 g ) is added to the solution which is then heated at reflux for 2 hr . thereafter the solvent is evaporated . the residue is dissolved in water and the aqueous solution extracted with benzene . the extract is washed with 10 % na 2 co 3 and then water until neutral , dried ( na 2 so 4 ) and concentrated . the residue is distilled to give methyl 7 - bromo - 5 - heptynoate , b . p . 70 °- 80 ° c , 0 . 2 mm . the corresponding ethyl or other lower alkyl esters of the latter compound are likewise prepared according to the preceding esterification procedure by replacing methanol with ethanol or an appropriate corresponding lower alkanol , respectively . alternatively , the procedure of the example may be reversed whereby 7 - hydroxy - 5 - heptynoic acid is first subjected to the esterification procedure with methanol and p - toluenesulfonic acid , followed by treatment of the resulting hydroxy ester with phosphorus tribromide as described herein . by following serially the procedures of examples 11 and 12 but using the dihaloalkanes , 1 - bromo - 2 - chloroethane or 1 - bromo - 4 - chlorobutane , instead of 1 - bromo - 4 - chloropropane , then methyl 6 - bromo - 4 - hexynoate and methyl 8 - bromo - 6 - octynoate are obtained , respectively . sodium hydride ( 4 . 2 g ) is suspended in dimethylformamide ( 50 ml ) and while stirring the mixture at room temperature , a solution of 3 , 5 - cyclohexanedione ( 11 . 2 g ) in dimethylformamide ( 50 ml ) is added over a period of 10 minutes . several minutes later the mixture is cooled to - 10 ° c ., and a solution of methyl 7 - bromo - 5 - heptynoate , described in example 12 , in dimethylformamide ( 50 ml ) is added . the reaction mixture is stirred overnight at - 10 ° to - 5 ° c ., then ether is added . the mixture is extracted with sodium carbonate . the aqueous extract after acidification with 10 % hcl is extracted with ethyl acetate to yield a crude product , which on crystallization from ether affords 7 -( 2 , 6 - dioxocyclohexyl ) 5 - heptynoic acid methyl ester , m . p . 108 ° - 110 ° c , ε max etoh 256nm ( ε = 14 , 200 ). in the same manner but using methyl 6 - bromo - 4 - hexynoate or methyl 8 - bromo - 6 - octynoate , instead of methyl 7 - bromo - 5 - heptynoate , 6 -( 2 , 6 - dioxocyclohexyl )- 4 - hexynoic acid methyl ester and 8 -( 2 , 6 - dioxocyclohexyl )- 6 - octynoic acid methyl ester are obtained . 7 -( 2 , 6 - dioxocyclohexyl )- 5 - heptynoic acid methyl ester ( 21 . 0 g ), prepared as described in example 13 , is dissolved in chloroform ( 300 ml ) cooled to 20 ° c and t - butyl hypochlorite ( 9 . 5 g ) in chloroform ( 10 ml ) is added to the well stirred solution over a period of 15 minutes . the mixture is stirred for another 30 minutes and allowed to warm up to room temperature . removal of the solvent affords 7 -( 1 - chloro - 2 , 6 - dioxocyclohexyl )- 5 - heptynoic acid methyl ester , γ max film 1730 , 1720 . in the same manner but using 6 -( 2 , 6 - dioxocyclohexyl )- 4 - hexynoic acid methyl ester or 8 -( 2 , 6 - dioxocyclohexyl )- 6 - octynoic acid methyl ester described in example 13 , instead of 7 -( 2 , 6 - dioxocylohexyl )- 5 - heptynoic acid methyl ester , 6 -( 1 - chloro - 2 , 6 - dioxocyclohexyl )- 4 - hexynoic acid methyl ester and 8 -( 1 - chloro - 2 , 6 - dioxocyclohexyl )- 6 - octynoic acid methyl ester are obtained respectively . to a solution of 7 -( 1 - chloro - 2 , 6 - dioxocyclohexyl )- 5 - heptynoic acid methyl ester ( 23 . 6 g ), described in example 14 , in xylene ( 250 ml ) is added powdered sodium carbonate ( 11 . 8 g ) and the mixture stirred and heated at refluxed for 16 hr . after cooling the mixture is washed with water to neutral , dried over magnesium sulfate , and the solvent evaporated to give the crude cyclopentenone ester . distillation of the crude ester at 0 . 6 mm hg affords 7 -( 5 - oxocyclopent - 1 - enyl )- 5 - heptynoic acid methyl ester , b . p . 142 ° - 156 ° c . in the same manner but using 6 -( 1 - chloro - 2 , 6 - dioxocyclohexyl )- 4 - hexynoic acid methyl ester or 8 -( 1 - chloro - 2 , 6 - dioxocyclohexyl )- 6 - octynoic acid methyl ester instead of 7 -( 1 - chloro - 2 , 6 - dioxocyclohexyl )- 5 - heptynoic acid methyl ester , 6 -( 5 - oxocyclopent - 1 - enyl )- 4 - hexynoic acid methyl ester and 8 -( 5 - oxocyclopent - 1 - enyl )- 6octynoic acid methyl ester are obtained respectively . a solution of 7 -( 5 - oxocyclopent - 1 - enyl )- 5 - heptynoic acid methyl ester ( 8 . 13 g ) in ethyl acetatehexane ( 5 : 100 ) ( 105 ml ) is hydrogenated in the presence of lindlar catalyst ( 1 . 5 g ), at room temperature and atmospheric pressure . the mixture is filtered through diatomaceous earth (&# 34 ; celite &# 34 ;) and the filtrate evaporated to give 7 -( 5 - oxocyclopent - 1 - enyl )- 5 - heptanoic acid methyl ester , γ max film 1735 , 1700 , 1640 cm - 1 , nmr : ( cdcl 3 ) 7 . 35 , 5 . 5 , 3 . 65 δ . in the same manner but using 6 -( 5 - oxocyclopent - 1 - enyl )- 4 - hexynoic acid methyl ester or 8 -( 5 - oxocyclopent - 1 - enyl )- 6 - octynoic acid methyl ester instead of 7 -( 5 - oxocyclopent - 1 - enyl )- 5 - heptynoic acid methyl ester , 6 -( 5 - oxocyclopent - 1 - enyl )- 4 - hexenoic acid methyl ester and 8 -( 5 - oxocyclopent - 1 - enyl )- 6 - octenoic acid methyl ester are obtained , respectively . alternatively 6 -( 5 - oxocyclopent - 1 - enyl )- 4 - hexenoic acid methyl ester , 7 -( 5 - oxocyclopent - 1 - enyl )- 5 - heptenoic acid methyl ester and 8 -( 5 - oxocyclopent - 1 - enyl )- 6 - octenoic acid methyl ester , as well as , 6 -( 5 - oxocyclopent - 1enyl ) hexanoic acid methyl ester , 7 -( 5 - oxocyclopent - 1 - enyl ) heptanoic acid methyl ester , and 8 -( 5 - oxocyclopent - 1 - enyl ) octanoic methyl ester are prepared by following serially the procedures of examples 13 , 14 and 15 , and using methyl 6 - bromo - 4 - hexenoate , methyl 7 - bromo - 5 - heptanoate , methyl 8 - bromo - 6 - octenoate , methyl 6 - bromohexanoate , methyl 7 - bromoheptanoate , and methyl 8 - bromooctanoate , respectively , as starting material instead of methyl 7 - bromo - 5 - heptynoate . by following the procedure described in british pat . no . 1 , 218 , 988 , cited above , for converting the tetrahydropyranyl ether of 9 - hydroxy - 15 - oxoprost - 13 - enoic acid methyl ester , described herein in example 10 , to 15 - hydroxy - 9 - oxoprost - 13 - enoic acid methyl ester , described here in example 5 , the tetrahydropyranyl ethers of formula xii , described herein in example 10 , may be converted to the respective compounds of formula xi , described herein in example 5 . to a solution of tetrahydropyranyl ether of 2 -( 6 - carboxyhex - 2 - enyl )- 3 -( 3 - oxooct - 1 - enyl ) cyclopentan - 1 - ol methyl ester ( 3 . 37 g ), described in example 10 , in methanol , sodium borohydride ( 310 mg ) is added at 0 ° c . the mixture is neutralized with acetic acid and the solvent evaporated . the residue is taken up in ether . the ether solution is washed with water , dried and evaporated to yield the 1 - tetrahydropyranyl ether of 2 -( 6 - carboxyhex - 2 - enyl )- 3 -( 3 - hydroxy - 1 - enyl ) cyclopentan - 1 - ol methyl ester , i . e ., the 9 - tetrahydropyranyl ether of 9 , 15 - dihydroxyprosta - 5 , 13 - dienoic acid methyl ester , γ max film 3500 , 1740 cm - 1 . the latter compound ( 3 . 19 g ) is dissolved in pyridine ( 4 . 5 ml ) and acetic anhydride ( 8 . 4 ml ). the solution is stirred at room temperature for one hour . excess acetic anhydride is decomposed with methanol and then the reaction mixture is evaporated to dryness . the residue is dissolved in ether . the ether solution is washed with water , dried and concentrated to give the 1 - tetrahydropyranyl ether of 2 -( 6 - carboxyhex - 2 - enyl )- 3 -( 3 - acetoxyoct - 1 - enyl ) cyclopentan - 1 - ol methyl ester , γ max film 3420 , 1735 cm - 1 . to a solution of the latter compound ( 3 . 35 g ) in tetrahydrofuran ( 3 ml ), acetic acid ( 33 ml ) and water ( 10 ml ) is added . the mixture is stirred at 60 ° c for 16 hr . the solvent is removed under reduced pressure and the residue taken up in ether . the ether solution is washed with water , dried and evaporated to give 2 -( 6 - carboxyhex - 2 - enyl )- 3 -( 3 - acetoxyoct - 1 - enyl ) cyclopentan - 1 - ol methyl ster , γ max film 3500 , 1735 cm - 1 . the latter compound ( 3 . 07 g ) is dissolved in acetone ( 30 ml ). the solution is cooled to 0 ° c . jones reagent ( 3 . 5 ml ), a . bowers , et al ., j . chem . soc ., 2555 ( 1953 ), is added dropwise to the solution over 10 minutes . methanol ( 20 ml ) is then added and the solvent removed under reduced pressure . the residue is dissolved in ether . the ether solution is washed with water , dried and evaporated to yield 2 -( 6 - carboxyhex - 2 - enyl )- 3 -( 3 - acetoxyoct - 1 - enyl ) cyclopentan - 1 - one methyl ester , γ max film 1735 cm - 1 . to a solution of the latter compound ( 2 . 62 g ) in methanol ( 30 ml ), a solution of sodium methoxide ( from 200 mg sodium ) in methanol ( 20 ml ) is added . the mixture is stirred for 2 hr . at room temperature . after the addition of acetic acid ( 7 drops ), the solvent is evaporated and the residue taken up in ether . the ether solution is washed with water , dried and concentrated to give 15 - hydroxy - 9 - oxoprosta - 5 , 13 - dienoic acid methyl ester , i . e . 2 -( 6 - carboxyhex - 2 - enyl )- 3 -( 3 - hydroxyoct - 1 - enyl ) cyclopentan - 1 - one methyl ester , identical to the product of the same name described in example 5 . if desired the latter product may be separated into two isomers . these two isomers are epimeric alcohols resulting from the asymmetrical carbon atom to which the hydroxy group is attached in the side chain . for example separation of 2 . 4 g of the latter product is effected readily by chromatography on 300 g . of silica gel using ether - hexane ( 45 : 55 ) as eluant ( 50 ml fractions ). fractions 81 - 136 gives one isomer , designated isomer a , nmr : ( cdcl 3 ) 5 . 6 , 5 . 37 , 4 . 1 , 3 . 65 , 0 . 9 γ , and fractions 156 - 210 give the other isomer , designated isomer b , nmr : ( cdcl 3 ) 5 . 6 , 5 . 37 , 4 . 1 , 3 . 65 , 0 . 9 δ . the preceding two isomers may be distinguished from each other by their different rf values ( tlc ) in the above etherhexane solvent system . in this case isomer a is the less polar . hydrolysis of the latter two isomers according to the procedure of example 5 yields respectively , 2 -( 6 - carboxyhex - 2 - enyl )- 3 -( 3 - hydroxyoct - 1 - enyl - cyclopentan - 1 - one ( isomer a ), nmr : ( cdcl 3 ) 5 . 6 , 5 . 4 , 4 . 15 , 0 . 9δ , and 2 -( 6 - carboxyhex - 2 - enyl )- 3 -( 3 - hydroxyoct - 1 - enyl ) cyclopentan - 1 - one ( isomer b ), nmr : ( cdcl 3 ) 5 . 65 , 5 . 42 , 4 . 15 , 0 . 9 δ . by following the procedure of example 7 but using as starting material , an equivalent amount of 9 , 15 - dioxoprost - 13 - enoic acid methyl ester , described in example 3 , instead of the methyl ester of 2 -( 6 - carboxyhexyl ) cyclopentan - 1 - on - 3 - al dimethyl acetal , 9 , 15 - dihydroxyprost - 13 - enoic acid methyl ester , identical to the same compound described in u . s . pat . no . 3 , 432 , 541 , is obtained . in the same manner but using as starting material the ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl and n - hexyl esters of 9 , 15 - dioxoprost - 13 - enoic acid , there are obtained the ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl and n - hexyl esters of 9 , 15 - dihydroxyprost - 13 - enoic acid . again in the same manner , but using as starting materials the methyl , ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl , and n - hexyl esters of 2 -( 6 - carboxyhexyl )- 3 -( 3 - oxodec - 1 - enyl ) cyclopentan - 1 - one , described in example 3 , there are obtained the methyl , ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl , nd n - hexyl esters of again in the same manner , but using as starting materials the methyl , ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl or n - hexyl esters of 2 -( 5 - carboxypentyl )- 3 -( 3 - oxodec - 1 - enyl ) cyclopentan - 1 - one , there are obtained the methyl , ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl , and n - hexyl esters of again in the same manner , but using as starting materials , the methyl , ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl or n - hexyl esters of 2 -( 7 - carboxyheptyl )- 3 -( 3 - oxodec - 1 - enyl ) cyclopentan - 1 - one , there are obtained the methyl , ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl , and n - hexyl esters of again in the same manner , but using as starting materials , the methyl , ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl or n - hexyl esters of 2 -(- carboxypent - 2 - enyl )- 3 -( 3 - oxodec - 1 - enyl ) cyclopentan - 1 - one , there are obtained the methyl , ethyl , proyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl , and n - hexyl esters of again in the same manner , but using as starting materials , the methyl , ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl or n - hexyl esters of 2 -( 6 - carboxyhex - 2 - enyl )- 3 -( 3 - oxodec - 1 - enyl ) cyclopentan - 1 - one , there are obtained the methyl , ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl , nd n - hexyl esters of again in the same manner , but using as starting materials , the methyl , ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl or n - hexyl esters of 2 -( 7 - carboxyhept - 2 - enyl )- 3 -( 3 - oxodec - 1 - enyl ) cyclopentan - 1 - one , there are obtained the methyl , ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl , and n - hexyl esters of again in the same manner , but using as starting materials , the methyl , ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl n - pentyl or n - hexyl esters of 2 -( 5 - carboxypent - 2 - ynyl )- 3 -( 3 - oxodec - 1 - enyl ) cyclopentan - 1 - one , there are obtained the methyl , ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl or n - hexyl esters of again in the same manner , but using as starting materials , the methyl , ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl or n - hexyl esters of 2 -( 6 - carboxyhex - 2 - ynyl )- 3 -( 3 - oxodec - 1 - enyl ) cyclopentan - 1 - one , there are obtained the methyl , ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl , and n - hexyl esters of again in the same manner , but using as starting materials , the methyl , ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl or n - hexyl esters of 2 ( 7 - carboxyhept - 2 - ynyl )- 3 -( 3 - oxodec - 1 - enyl ) cyclopentan1 - one , thereare obtained the methyl , ethyl , propyl , isopropyl , n - butyl , n - pentyl , and n - hexyl esters of 2 -( 6 - carboxyhex - 2 - enyl )- 3 -( 3 - hydroxyoct - 1 - enyl ) cyclopentan - 1 - ol methyl ester has γ max film 3500 and 1735 cm - 1 and its corresponding acid , 2 -( 6 - carboxyhex - 2 - enyl - 3 -( 3 - hydroxyoct - 1 - enyl ) cyclopentan - 1 - ol has γ max film 3600 -- 3200 ( broad ) and 1710 cm - 1 . 2 -( 6 - carboxyhex - 2 - ynyl )- 3 -( 3 - hydroxyoct - 1 - enyl ) cyclopentan - 1 - ol methyl ester has γ max film 3500 and 1735 cm - 1 and its corresponding acid , 2 -( 6 - carboxyhex - 2 - ynyl )- 3 -( 3 - hydroxyoct - 1 - enyl ) cyclopentan - 1 - ol has γ max film 3600 -- 3200 ( broad ) and 1710 cm - 1 . note also that by following the procedure of example 18 to prepare the 1 - tetrahydropyranyl ether of 2 -( 6 - carboxyhex - 2 - enyl )- 3 -( 3 - hydroxyoct - 1 - enyl ) cyclopentan - 1 - ol methyl ester , followed by acid hydrolysis of the resulting tetrahydropyranyl ether according to the conditions of british pat . no . 1 , 218 , 988 , the tetrahydropyranyl ethers of formula xii , described herein in example 10 , may be converted to the respective compounds of formula viiia , described herein in the present example .	2
temporin - sha , formerly known as temporin - 1sa , was isolated from the skin of the north african frog pelophylax saharica ( abbassi et al ., 2008 ). this temporin is obtained by posttranslational maturation of a 50 - residue precursor ( genbank database number : cao77282 ). this precursor has a highly conserved n - terminal domain containing the signal peptide and a region rich in acidic residues , as well as a hypervariable c - terminal domain containing the temporin - sha progenitor sequence . in vivo , the mature form of temporin is obtained after i ) proteolytic cleavage of the kr doublet which precedes the progenitor sequence , ii ) elimination of the c - terminal k residue from the progenitor sequence by the action of a carboxypeptidase , and iii ) amidation of the c - terminal residue of temporin by the c - terminal g residue of the progenitor sequence which serves as amide group donor ( substrate of peptidyl - glycine α - amidating monooxygenase ). the mature protein is a peptide of 13 amino acids in length and having the sequence f - l - s - g - i - v - g - m - l - g - k - l - f ( seq id no . 1 ). temporins are unstructured in aqueous solution but adopt an α helical structure in membrane - mimetic environments . said peptide exhibits antimicrobial activity against gram - positive and gram - negative bacteria , yeasts , and the parasite leishmania infantum ( abbassi et al ., 2008 ). the antiparasitic action of temporin - sha occurs against both the promastigote and axenic amastigote forms of the parasite with an ic 50 of 18 . 1 μm and 22 . 8 μm , respectively . the antimicrobial activity of antimicrobial peptides ( amp ), and their cytolytic activities towards mammalian cells , reflect a subtle equilibrium between several parameters including net charge , hydrophobicity , helicity and amphipathy ( giangaspero et al ., 2001 ; yeaman et al ., 2003 ; dennison et al ., 2005 ). these parameters are very closely linked and the mere substitution of an amino acid residue can induce a simultaneous modification of several physicochemical properties of the peptide . the inventors have shown in a surprising manner that the substitution of one or more amino acids of the polar face of the a helix of temporin - sha by a basic amino acid leads to an analog of said temporin having increased antimicrobial activity and reduced toxicity . herein , the terms “ peptide ”, “ oligopeptide ”, “ polypeptide ” and “ protein ” are employed interchangeably and refer to a chain of amino acids linked by peptide bonds , regardless of the number of amino acids forming said chain . in the peptide sequences described herein , the amino acids are represented by their one - letter code according to the following nomenclature : c : cysteine ; d : aspartic acid ; e : glutamic acid ; f : phenylalanine ; g : glycine ; h : histidine ; i : isoleucine ; k : lysine ; l : leucine ; m : methionine ; n : asparagine ; p : proline ; q : glutamine ; r : arginine ; s : serine ; t : threonine ; v : valine ; w : tryptophan and y : tyrosine . the term “ microbe ” or “ microbial ” as employed herein refers to bacteria , fungi , yeasts , viruses and / or parasites . the term “ microbial infection ” as employed herein refers to an infection caused by bacteria , fungi , yeasts , viruses and / or parasites . the term “ antimicrobial activity ” as employed herein refers to an antibacterial , antiviral , antifungal and / or antiparasitic activity . said activity may be evaluated by measuring different parameters such as ic 50 , mic or else mbc . “ ic 50 ” or “ half maximal inhibitory concentration ” is the concentration of a substance needed to reduce the growth in vitro of a population of microorganisms by half . “ mic ” or “ minimum inhibitory concentration ” is the lowest concentration of a substance that will totally inhibit microbial growth after 18 hours of incubation , generally at 37 ° c ., in the presence of said substance . “ mbc ” or “ minimum bactericidal concentration ” is the lowest concentration of a substance that will kill 99 . 9 % of microorganisms after 18 to 24 hours of contact with said substance . the term “ lethal concentration , 50 %” or “ lc 50 ” as employed herein refers to the concentration of substance required to kill half a cell population . lc 50 is a quantitative indicator of the toxicity of a substance . in particular , lc 50 is employed herein to evaluate the hemolytic activity of amp and in this case corresponds to the concentration of peptide inducing hemolysis of half the erythrocyte population . the present invention relates first of all to a peptide analog of temporin - sha in which one or more amino acids of the polar face of the α helix are substituted by basic amino acids . according to the schiffer - edmunson projection of the α helix of temporin - sha shown in fig1 , the amino acids constituting the polar face of said helix are residues 4 , 11 , 7 , 3 and 10 of temporin - sha , in particular such as presented in seq id no . 1 . the present invention therefore relates to a peptide analog of temporin - sha , exhibiting an antimicrobial activity and comprising the sequence f - l - x 1 - x 2 - i - v - x 3 - m - l - x 4 - k - l - f ( seq id no . 18 ), wherein x 1 is an amino acid selected from the group consisting of s , r , h and k , and x 2 , x 3 and x 4 , which are the same or different , are amino acids selected from the group consisting of g , r , h and k , and wherein , when x1 represents s , at least one of the residues x 2 , x 3 and x 4 is selected from the group consisting of r , h and k . according to one embodiment , the peptide of the invention comprises a sequence selected from the group consisting of f - l - s - x 2 - i - v - x 3 - m - l - x 4 - k - l - f ( seq id no . 15 ); and f - l - x 1 - x 2 - i - v - x 3 - m - l - x 4 - k - l - f ( seq id no . 16 ), in which x 1 , x 2 , x 3 and / or x 4 are basic amino acids selected from the group consisting of r , h and k . preferably , x 1 , x 2 , x 3 and / or x 4 represent k . in a particular embodiment , x 1 represents k in seq id nos . 2 to 16 . according to one embodiment , the peptide has a size comprised between 13 and 100 amino acids , preferably between 13 and 30 , 35 , 40 , 45 or 50 amino acids . according to another embodiment , the peptide has a size comprised between 13 and 15 , 20 or 25 amino acids . in a particular embodiment , the peptide has a size of 13 amino acids . the peptide according to the invention can be a precursor of a mature antimicrobial peptide . said precursor then undergoes posttranslational modifications leading to the mature form of the amp . it may thus comprise a translocation signal sequence and recognition and / or cleavage sites enabling it to undergo these posttranslational modifications . according to a particular embodiment , the peptide is a precursor of a mature antimicrobial peptide and comprises the sequence f - l - g - t - i - n - l - s - l - c - e - q - e - r - d - a - d - e - e - e - r - d - e - p - n - e - s - n - v - e - v - e - k - r - f - l - x 1 - x 2 - i - v - x 3 - m - l - x 4 - k - l - f - g - k ( seq id no . 17 ), where x 1 is an amino acid selected from the group consisting of s , r , h and k , and x 2 , x 3 and x 4 , which are the same or different , are amino acids selected from the group consisting of g , r , h and k , and where , when x 1 represents s , at least one of the residues x 2 , x 3 and x 4 is selected from the group consisting of r , h and k . the amino acids constituting the peptide of the invention may be in the l or d configuration , preferably the l configuration . the peptide according to the invention may have a posttranslational modification and / or a chemical modification in particular a glycosylation , an amidation , an acylation , an acetylation or a methylation . so as to enhance the bioavailability of the peptide by improving its resistance to peptidases , protective groups may be added to the c - and / or n - terminal ends . for example , the protective group at the n - terminal end may be an acylation or an acetylation and the protective group at the c - terminal end may be an amidation or an esterification . the action of proteases may also be blocked by the use of amino acids in the d configuration , cyclisation of the peptide by formation of disulphide bridges , lactam rings or bonds between the c - and n - terminal ends . the peptide of the invention may also comprise pseudo - peptide bonds replacing the “ classical ” conh peptide bonds and conferring increased resistance to peptidases , such as choh — ch2 , nhco , ch2 — o , ch2ch2 , co — ch2 , n — n , ch ═ ch , ch2nh , and ch2 — s . preferably , the peptide according to the invention has an amidation at its c - terminal end . the peptide according to the invention may comprise one or more amino acids which are rare amino acids in particular hydroxyproline , hydroxylysine , allohydroxylysine , 6 - n - methylysine , n - ethylglycine , n - methylglycine , n - ethylasparagine , allo - isoleucine , n - methylisoleucine , n - methylvaline , pyroglutamine , aminobutyric acid ; or synthetic amino acids in particular ornithine , norleucine , norvaline and cyclohexyl - alanine . the invention also encompasses functional derivatives of a peptide according to the invention such as described above . the term “ functional derivative ” as employed herein refers to peptides having substantially the same amino acid sequence , substantially the same helicoid structure and substantially the same antimicrobial activity . said functional derivatives may , for example , be retropeptides , retro - inverso peptides , peptides having conservative substitutions and peptides whose side chain of one or more amino acids is substituted by groups that do not modify the antimicrobial activity of the peptide of the invention . the term “ conservative substitution ” as employed herein refers to a substitution of an amino acid residue by another which has similar chemical or physical properties ( size , charge or polarity ). as an example , isoleucine , leucine , alanine , valine , phenylalanine , proline and glycine may be mutually conservatively substituted , just like lysine , histidine and arginine or serine , tyrosine and threonine or cysteine and methionine or asparagine , glutamine and tryptophan or aspartic acid and glutamic acid . the term “ functional derivative ” also refers to a peptide according to the invention whose sequence is shortened by 1 , 2 , 3 or 4 amino acids at the c - terminal and / or n - terminal end . the invention also encompasses the pharmaceutically acceptable salts of a peptide according to the invention . pharmaceutically acceptable salts may , for example , be salts of pharmaceutically acceptable mineral acids such as hydrochloric acid , hydrobromic acid , sulphuric acid and phosphoric acid ; salts of pharmaceutically acceptable organic acids such as acetic acid , citric acid , maleic acid , malic acid , succinic acid , ascorbic acid and tartaric acid ; salts of pharmaceutically acceptable mineral bases such as salts of sodium , potassium , calcium , magnesium or ammonium ; or salts of organic bases which contain a salifiable nitrogen , commonly used in pharmaceutical technique . the methods for preparing said salts are well known to one of skill in the art . the peptide according to the invention may be obtained by classical chemical synthesis ( in solid phase or homogeneous liquid phase ) or by enzymatic synthesis ( kullman et al ., 1987 ). it may also be obtained by the method consisting in culturing a host cell , such as described hereinafter , comprising a transgene coding for the peptide and expressing said peptide , and extracting said peptide from said host cells or from the culture medium into which the peptide was secreted . the peptide according to the invention exhibits an antimicrobial activity . in an advantageous manner , said activity is superior to that of temporin - sha against at least one bacterial , viral , fungal or parasitic strain . according to one embodiment , the peptide according to the invention has greater antimicrobial activity than temporin - sha against bacteria and more specifically against gram - negative bacteria such as escherichia coli and pseudomonas aeruginosa . according to a particular embodiment , the peptide of the invention has an mic less than 10 μm for pseudomonas aeruginosa . according to a preferred embodiment , the peptide of the invention has greater antimicrobial activity than temporin - sha against parasites , in particular against the parasites leishmania infantum , leishmania donovani , leishmania amazonensis , leishmania major , leishmania mexicana , leishmania panamensis , leishmania tropica , leishmania braziliensis , leishmania guyanensis and / or leishmania peruviana , more particularly against the parasites leishmania infantum , leishmania major , leishmania tropica and / or leishmania braziliensis , and in an especially preferred manner against the parasite leishmania infantum . according to a particular embodiment , the peptide according to the invention has an ic 50 less than 15 μm for the promastigote form of the leishmania infantum parasite . according to a preferred embodiment , the peptide according to the invention has a hemolytic activity less than that of temporin - sha . according to a particular embodiment , the peptide according to the invention has an lc 50 for erythrocytes greater than 30 μm . the present invention also relates to a nucleic acid coding for a peptide according to the invention . in the spirit of the invention , “ nucleic acid ” is understood to mean any molecule based on dna or rna . these may be synthetic or semi - synthetic , recombinant molecules , possibly amplified or cloned into vectors , chemically modified , comprising non - natural bases or modified nucleotides comprising for example a modified bond , a modified purine or pyrimidine base , or a modified sugar . the nucleic acid according to the invention may be in the form of dna and / or rna , single stranded or double stranded . according to a preferred embodiment , the nucleic acid is an isolated dna molecule , synthesized by recombinant techniques well known to one of skill in the art . the nucleic acid according to the invention may be deduced from the sequence of the peptide according to the invention and codon usage may be adapted according to the host cell in which the nucleic acid shall be transcribed . these steps may be carried out according to methods well known to one of skill in the art and some of which are described in the reference manual sambrook et al . ( sambrook et al ., 2001 ). the present invention further relates to an expression cassette comprising a nucleic acid according to the invention operably linked to the sequences required for its expression . in particular , the nucleic acid may be under the control of a promoter allowing its expression in a host cell . generally , an expression cassette is constituted of or comprises a promoter allowing initiation of transcription , a nucleic acid according to the invention , and a transcription terminator . the term “ expression cassette ” denotes a nucleic acid construct comprising a coding region and a regulatory region , operably linked . the expression “ operably linked ” indicates that the elements are combined in such a way that the expression of the coding sequence ( the gene of interest ) and / or the targeting of the encoded peptide are under the control of the transcriptional promoter and / or signal peptide . typically , the promoter sequence is placed upstream of the gene of interest , at a distance therefrom which is compatible with the control of expression . likewise , the sequence of the signal peptide is generally fused upstream of the sequence of the gene of interest , and in the same reading frame with the latter , and downstream of any promoter . spacer sequences may be present , between the regulatory elements and the gene , as long as they do not prevent expression and / or targeting . in a preferred embodiment , said expression cassette comprises at least one “ enhancer ” activating sequence operably linked to the promoter . the present invention also relates to an expression vector comprising a nucleic acid or an expression cassette according to the invention . said expression vector may be used to transform a host cell and enable the expression of the nucleic acid of the invention in said cell . the vector may be a dna or an rna , circular or not , single - or double - stranded . advantageously it is selected from among a plasmid , a phage , a phagemid , a virus , a cosmid and an artificial chromosome . advantageously , the expression vector comprises regulatory elements allowing the expression of the nucleic acid according to the invention . these elements may contain for example transcriptional promoters , transcriptional activators , terminator sequences , initiation and termination codons . the methods for selecting said elements according to the host cell in which expression is desired , are well known to one of skill in the art . the vector may also contain elements enabling its selection in the host cell such as , for example , an antibiotic resistance gene or a selectable gene providing complementation of the respective gene deleted from the host cell genome . such elements are well known to one of skill in the art and extensively described in the literature . when the host cell to be transformed is a plant cell , the expression vector is preferably a plant vector . examples of plant vectors are described in the literature , including in particular the t - dna plasmids of a . tumefaciens pbin19 ( bevan , 1984 ), ppzp100 ( hajdukewicz et al ., 1994 ), the pcambia series ( r . jefferson , cambia , australia ). the vectors of the invention may additionally comprise an origin of replication and / or a selectable marker gene and / or a plant recombination sequence . the vectors may be constructed by the classical techniques of molecular biology , well known to one of skill in the art . the present invention relates to the use of a nucleic acid , an expression cassette or an expression vector according to the invention to transform or transfect a cell . the host cell may be transformed / transfected in a transient or stable manner and the nucleic acid , cassette or vector may be contained in the cell in the form of an episome or in chromosomal form . the present invention relates to a host cell comprising a nucleic acid , a cassette or an expression vector according to the invention . according to one embodiment , the host cell is a microorganism , preferably a bacterium or a yeast . according to another embodiment , the host cell is an animal cell , for example a mammalian cell such as cos or cho cells ( u . s . pat . nos . 4 , 889 , 803 ; 5 , 047 , 335 ). in a particular embodiment , the cell is non - human and non - embryonic . according to yet another embodiment , the host cell is a plant cell . the term “ plant cell ” as employed herein refers to any cell coming from a plant and which may constitute undifferentiated tissues such as calluses , and differentiated tissues such as embryos , plant parts , plants or seeds . the present invention also relates to a method for producing an antimicrobial peptide according to the invention comprising transforming or transfecting a cell with a nucleic acid , an expression cassette or an expression vector according to the invention ; culturing the transfected / transformed cell ; and recovering the peptide produced by said cell . methods for producing recombinant peptides are well known to one of skill in the art . for example , one may cite the specific methods described in wo 01 / 70968 for a production in an immortalized human cell line , wo 2005 / 123928 for a production in a plant and us 2005 - 229261 for a production in the milk of a transgenic animal . the present invention also relates to a method for producing an antimicrobial peptide according to the invention comprising inserting a nucleic acid , a cassette or an expression vector according to the invention in an in vitro expression system also called acellular and recovering the peptide produced by said system . many in vitro or acellular expression systems are commercially available and the use of said systems is well known to one of skill in the art . the present invention additionally relates to a peptide according to the invention as medicament , in particular as medicament for treating a microbial infection , namely an infection due to bacteria , a virus , a fungus or a parasite . it also relates to a nucleic acid , a cassette or a vector according to the invention as medicament . the medicament may be intended for pharmaceutical or veterinary use . according to a particular embodiment , the infection is an infection due to a parasite , preferably from the genus leishmania . the infection by a parasite may be a cutaneous leishmaniasis , a mucocutaneous leishmaniasis or a visceral leishmaniasis . the parasite may be selected from the group consisting of leishmania aethiopica , leishmania amazonensis , leishmania arabica , leishmania aristedes , leishmania braziliensis , leishmania infantum , leishmania colombiensis , leishmania deanei , leishmania donovani , leishmania enriettii , leishmania equatorensis , leishmania forattinii , leishmania garnhami , leishmania gerbili , leishmania guyanensis , leishmania herreri , leishmania hertigi , leishmania lainsoni , leishmania major , leishmania mexicana , leishmania naiffi , leishmania panamensis , leishmania peruviana , leishmania pifanoi , leishmania shawi , leishmania turanica , leishmania tropica and leishmania venezuelensis . preferably , the parasite is selected from the group consisting of leishmania infantum , leishmania donovani , leishmania mexicana , leishmania amazonensis , leishmania major , leishmania tropica , leishmania braziliensis , leishmania guyanensis , leishmania panamensis and leishmania peruviana . in a particularly preferred manner , the parasite is selected from the group consisting of leishmania infantum , leishmania major , leishmania tropica and leishmania braziliensis . in a most particularly preferred manner , the infection is an infection by the parasite leishmania infantum . the infection may also be an infection due to a parasite from the genus trypanosoma . the parasite may be selected from the group consisting of trypanosoma avium , trypanosoma brucei , trypanosoma cruzi , trypanosoma congolense , trypanosoma equinum , trypanosoma equiperdum , trypanosoma evansi , trypanosoma lewisi , trypanosoma melophagium , trypanosoma percae , trypanosoma rangeli , trypanosoma rotatorium , trypanosoma simiae , trypanosoma suis , trypanosoma theileri , trypanosoma triglae and trypanosoma vivax . preferably , the parasite is selected from the group consisting of trypanosoma brucei , trypanosoma cruzi and trypanosoma congolense . the present invention relates to a peptide according to the invention as antimicrobial agent . the present invention also relates to a nucleic acid , a cassette or a vector according to the invention as antimicrobial agent . the present invention relates to a peptide according to the invention as immune system stimulating agent , particularly during a microbial infection . the invention also relates to a nucleic acid , a cassette or a vector according to the invention as immune system stimulating agent . according to a particular embodiment of the invention , the peptide according to the invention has chemotactic properties . the peptide induces the recruitment of immune cells to the site of the infection and increases the effectiveness of the immune response to infections . the present invention also relates to a pharmaceutical composition comprising at least one peptide according to the invention and a pharmaceutically acceptable support and / or excipient . the present invention also relates to a pharmaceutical composition comprising at least one nucleic acid , cassette or vector according to the invention and a pharmaceutically acceptable support and / or excipient . the pharmaceutically acceptable excipients and supports that can be used in the composition according to the invention are well known to one of skill in the art ( remington &# 39 ; s pharmaceutical sciences , 18 th edition , a . r . gennaro , ed ., mack publishing company [ 1990 ]; pharmaceutical formulation development of peptides and proteins , s . frokjaer and l . hovgaard , eds ., taylor & amp ; francis [ 2000 ]; and handbook of pharmaceutical excipients , 3 rd edition , a . kibbe , ed ., pharmaceutical press [ 2000 ]) and comprise in particular physiological saline solutions and phosphate buffers . the pharmaceutical composition according to the invention may be suitable for oral , sublingual , cutaneous , subcutaneous , intramuscular , intravenous , topical , local , intratracheal , intranasal , transdermal , rectal , intraocular or intraauricular administration . preferably , the pharmaceutical composition according to the invention is suitable for cutaneous , oral , intramuscular , intravenous , transdermal or subcutaneous administration . according to a particular embodiment , the pharmaceutical composition according to the invention is suitable for topical administration . the pharmaceutical composition according to the invention may be in the form of tablets , capsules , soft capsules , granulates , suspensions , emulsions , solutions , gels , pastes , ointments , creams , plasters , potions , suppositories , enemas , injectables , implants , patches , sprays or aerosols . according to one embodiment , the composition according to the invention comprises from 1 to 2000 mg of peptide according to the invention . preferably , the composition according to the invention comprises from 50 to 100 , 150 , 200 , 250 , 500 , 750 , 1000 or 1500 mg of peptide according to the invention . the composition according to the invention may further comprise additional active substances , such as other antimicrobial agents , in particular antimicrobial peptides or antibiotics . the composition may also additionally comprise substances that can potentiate the activity of the peptide according to the invention . the present invention relates to the use of a peptide according to the invention for preparing a medicament for treating a microbial infection . the invention also relates to the use of a nucleic acid , a cassette or a vector according to the invention for preparing a medicament for treating a microbial infection . the present invention relates to a peptide according to the invention for use in the treatment of a microbial infection . the present invention also relates to a nucleic acid , a cassette or a vector according to the invention for use in the treatment of a microbial infection . the subject to be treated is an animal , preferably a mammal . according to a particular embodiment , the subject to be treated is a human . the present invention also relates to a method for treating a microbial infection comprising administering a therapeutically effective dose of a peptide , a nucleic acid , a cassette or a vector according to the invention . the term “ therapeutically effective dose ” as employed herein refers to the amount of peptide , nucleic acid , cassette or vector according to the invention required in order to observe an antimicrobial activity on the bacterium , virus , fungus or parasite responsible for the infection . the amount of peptide , nucleic acid , cassette or vector according to the invention to be administered and the duration of the treatment are determined by the one of the art according to the physiological condition of the subject to be treated , the pathogenic agent and the antimicrobial activity of the peptide towards said pathogenic agent . in a particular embodiment , the microbial infection to be treated is leishmaniasis . an effective dose of the peptide of the invention may comprise , but is not limited to , between approximately 1 and 40 mg / kg of body weight . the frequency of administration may be for example every 4 to 24 hours , preferably every 8 to 12 hours . the duration of treatment may be for example from 1 to 30 days , preferably from 10 to 20 days , and most preferably from 5 to 10 days . the present invention also relates to the use of the peptide according to the invention as preservative , disinfectant or pesticide . food products may be treated with a peptide according to the invention in order to eliminate or prevent the risk of infection by microorganisms and thereby improve their conservation . in this case the peptide is used as preservative . the peptide according to the invention may be used as pesticide . in this case the peptide is used to prevent or treat infections of plants by phytopathogens . the peptide according to the invention may also be used as disinfectant . the term “ disinfectant ” refers to an antimicrobial activity of the peptide on a surface ( for example , walls , doors , medical equipment ), a liquid ( for example , water ) or a gas ( for example , an anesthetic gas ). biofilms are responsible for approximately 60 % of nosocomial infections . they are essentially due to microbial colonisation of implanted biomaterials . eradication of a bacterial biotilm is a major clinical problem considering that antibiotics normally active on bacteria in planktonic state often turn out to be much less effective against structures organized into a biofilm . the effect of the antimicrobial peptides on this type of biofilm has been demonstrated in previous studies carried out with temporin - a ( cirioni et al ., 2003 ). according to one embodiment , the peptide according to the invention is used for elimination of bacterial biofilms . according to a preferred embodiment , the peptide according to the invention is used in particular for disinfecting surgical or prosthetic equipment . the present invention also relates to a medical device or implant comprising a body having at least one surface coated with or including a peptide according to the invention . in particular , the surface may be coated with a peptide at a density of 0 . 4 to 300 mg / cm 2 . the peptide may be combined with another active molecule , preferably an antibiotic . the implant may be a vascular implant . the present invention also relates to a method for preparing a medical device or implant comprising applying a coating of peptide according to the invention , or placing in contact , with at least one surface of the device or implant . this type of medical device or implant and the uses and methods of preparation thereof are described for example in patent application wo 2005 / 006938 . the present invention relates to a food composition comprising at least one peptide according to the invention . the present invention also relates to an agrochemical composition comprising at least one peptide according to the invention . the present invention relates to a transgenic plant comprising a nucleic acid , a cassette or an expression vector according to the invention , and able to express or expressing a peptide according to the invention . introduction of nucleic acids , cassettes or expression vectors of the invention in a cell or a plant tissue , including a seed or plant , may be carried out by any method known to one of skill in the art . plant transgenesis methods are well known in the field , and comprise for example the use of the bacterium agrobacterium tumefaciens ( hooykaa and schilperoort , 1992 ), electroporation , conjugative transfer , biolistic techniques ( russel et al ., 1992 ) or microinjection into plant embryos or protoplasts . other plant transgenesis techniques are well known , or other procotols implementing the above techniques are described in the prior art ( siemens and schieder , 1996 ) and may be applied to the present invention . the transgenic plant according to the invention may be obtained in particular according to the method described in patent application wo 00 / 055337 . the transgenic plant may belong to any plant species . it may be monocotyledonous or dicotyledonous . more particularly , the transgenic plant of the invention is a cultured plant intended or not for animal or human food or on which the sandfly , the insect vector of leishmaniasis , alights to feed , such as maize , wheat , rapeseed , soy , alfalfa , flax , rice , sugar cane , beet , tobacco , cotton , sunflower , tomato , cabbage , carrot , potato , or fruit trees such as the lemon tree , apple tree , apricot tree , peach tree and hazel tree , or plants identified to date as sugar meal sources for sandflies such as ricinus communis , capparis spinosa , solanum jasminoides , solanum luteum or bougainvillea glabra . according to one embodiment , the expression of the peptide according to the invention allows the transgenic plant to have increased resistance to pathogens , and more particularly to phytopathogens . the use of such transgenic plant makes it possible to considerably reduce the spraying or application of pesticides on the crops , and thereby to minimize the harmful environmental effects of these products . according to another embodiment , the transgenic plant expresses a peptide according to the invention which is administered to an animal including sandflies or a human by ingestion of said plant or its juices . in this case , the peptide does not necessarily have an effect on the phytopathogens but displays antimicrobial activity against one or more pathogens of the animal including the leishmania parasites present in the gut of the sandfly vectors of human and animal leishmaniasis or the human to which it is administered . the transgenic plants on which the sandflies take their sugar meal , directly deliver into the gut of the insect vector an antimicrobial peptide of the invention which kills the parasite eventually present in the insect vector directly or by blocking its development by killing the bacteria of the intestinal flora of the insect vector , required for parasite differentiation or multiplication . transgenic plants in fact constitute an effective means of indirect control of transmission of leishmaniasis . the present invention relates to an antibody specific of the peptide according to the invention . the term “ antibody ” as employed herein refers in particular to polyclonal or monoclonal antibodies , fragments thereof ( for example the fragments f ( ab ) &# 39 ; 2 , f ( ab )), single chain antibodies or minibody or else any polypeptide comprising a domain of the initial antibody recognizing the peptide of the invention , particularly cdrs ( complementarity determining regions ). for example these are chimeric , humanised or human antibodies . monoclonal antibodies may be prepared from hybridomas according to methods well known to one of skill in the art . the different methods for preparing antibodies are well known to one of skill in the art . the present invention also relates to the use of an antibody according to the invention for detecting a peptide according to the invention . it further relates to the use of an antibody according to the invention for making quantitative measurements of a peptide according to the invention , in particular for immunological assays . said measurements can allow in particular a determination of the expression of the peptide of the invention in a host cell or a transgenic plant according to the invention . all the references cited in this description are incorporated by reference in the present application . other features and advantages of the invention will become clearer in the following examples which are given for purposes of illustration and not by way of limitation . solid phase peptide synthesis was carried out with the aid of an automated peptide synthesizer ( applied biosystems 433a ) according to the protocol described by vanhoye et al . ( vanhoye et al ., 2004 ), and by using fmoc - protected amino acids ( novabiochem , switzerland ) and rink amide mbha resin ( senn chemicals , switzerland ). the synthetic peptides were purified by rp - hplc on a semipreparative c18 column ( waters rcm compact preparative cartridge module , 300 å , 25 × 100 mm ), using a 0 - 60 % acetonitrile gradient ( 1 %/ min ) at a flow rate of 8 ml / min . the homogeneity and identity of the synthetic peptides were assessed by analytical rp - hplc ( symmetry c18 column , 5 μm , 4 . 6 × 250 mm , waters — flow rate : 0 . 75 ml / min ) and maldi - tof mass spectrometry ( voyager de - pro , applied biosystems ). the following strains were used for the antibacterial activity tests : escherichia coli ( atcc 25922 and atcc 35218 ), staphylococcus aureus ( atcc 25923 ), enterococcus faecalis ( atcc 29212 ), bacillus megaterium and pseudomonas aeruginosa ( atcc 27853 ). for each strain , a standard inoculum of 10 5 to 10 6 bacteria / ml ( exponential growth phase ) was prepared . to this end , a colony isolated on lb agar previously inoculated with one of the strains was cultured in 10 ml of lb broth medium . liquid cultures were then incubated for 2 to 3 hrs at 37 ° c . with shaking for the bacteria to reach exponential growth phase . each bacterial suspension was diluted in lb medium to an od 630nm of 0 . 01 which corresponds to a concentration of 10 5 - 10 6 cfu / ml ( cfu : colony forming unit ). the minimum inhibitory concentration ( mic ) of each peptide was determined by a test of growth inhibition in broth medium . mic is defined as the lowest concentration of peptide able to inhibit the growth of the bacterial strain tested after 18 hrs of incubation at 37 ° c . the test was performed in a sterile 96 - well microtiter plate . a series of increasing concentrations of each peptide ( 1 to 400 μm ) was first prepared in sterile milliq water containing 5 % dimethyl sulphoxide ( dmso ). dmso facilitates peptide solubilisation and has no antimicrobial activity at the concentration used . 50 μl of peptide were aliquoted into each well with 50 μl of bacterial suspension ( 10 5 - 10 6 cfu / ml ). the microtiter plate was then incubated for 18 hrs at 37 ° c . with shaking . bacterial growth was determined by measuring od at 630 nm ( turbidity ) on a plate reader . tests were carried out in triplicate for each peptide concentration . the growth inhibition negative control was obtained by replacing the solution containing the peptide with 50 μl of sterile milliq water containing 5 % dmso . the positive control allowing the complete inhibition of bacterial strains was obtained by replacing the solution containing the peptide with 50 μl of 0 . 7 % formaldehyde . three yeast strains were used : saccharomyces cerevisiae , candida albicans ( atcc 90028 ), candida parapsilosis ( atcc 22019 ). these strains were first grown on ypd agar for a minimum of 48 hrs . yeast suspensions were then prepared , exactly as for bacteria , and adjusted to 10 5 - 10 6 cfu / ml in ypd broth medium . the antifungal activity test corresponds to the growth inhibition test in broth medium used for the bacteria ( see above ) in which lb medium was replaced by ypd medium . fungal strains were incubated at 30 ° c . the hemolytic activity of the antimicrobial peptides was assessed using human erythrocytes from healthy donors . red blood cell hemolysis is manifested by the release into the reaction medium of hemoglobin , the concentration of which is determined spectrophotometrically at 450 nm . red blood cells were separated from plasma and white blood cells by centrifugation of human blood ( 900 g , 10 min ). the pellet containing red blood cells was washed three times with pbs buffer , ph 7 . 4 . after counting on a malassez cell , a stock solution of 2 . 10 7 red blood cells / ml was prepared in the same buffer . a series of concentrations of the peptides to be tested was prepared ( 1 to 200 μm ). the test was carried out as follows : 100 μl of the different peptide concentrations were added to 100 μl of the red blood cell suspension . after 1 hr of incubation at 37 ° c . followed by centrifugation ( 12 , 000 g , 15 sec ), absorbance of the supernatant was measured at 450 nm . the negative control for this test ( 0 % hemolysis ) contained 100 μl of pbs buffer in place of the peptide solution . the positive control ( 100 % hemolysis ) contained 100 μl of 0 . 1 % triton in place of the peptide solution . the lc 50 value obtained is the mean of three experiments carried out in triplicate and corresponds to the peptide concentration inducing hemolysis of 50 % of the cells . the antiparasitic activity of the peptides was evaluated on two forms of the parasite leishmania infantum , the promastigote form and the amastigote form . the tests of anti - leishmania activity were carried out with a leishmania infantum cell line αneo - αluc this cell line was obtained by transforming leishmania infantum strain mhom / ma / 67 / itmap - 263 with the vector pgm αneo - αluc containing the luciferase reporter gene ( luc ) and the neomycin resistance gene ( neo ) such as described in roy et al . ( 2000 ). it was maintained in culture in its two forms , promastigote and amastigote . leishmania infantum promastigotes were maintained at 26 ° c . by one or two weekly passages depending on the number of parasites in the inoculum , in sdm 79 medium supplemented with 10 to 20 % decomplemented foetal calf serum and 5 mg / ml porcine haemin and in the presence of 100 u / ml penicillin and 100 μg / ml streptomycin ( brun & amp ; shonenberger , 1979 ). starting from an inoculum of 10 5 cells / ml in logarithmic growth phase , the promastigotes reached a cell density of 2 to 3 × 10 8 parasites / ml in stationary phase after 7 days of culture in 25 cm 2 culture flasks . cell densities were determined by flow cytometry in the presence of propidium iodide on a facscan cytometer ( excalibur , becton - dickinson , ivry , france ). axenic amastigotes were obtained by differentiation of promastigotes at 37 ° c .± 0 . 1 ° c . ( h 2 o saturation , 5 % co 2 ), cultured in maa medium supplemented with 20 % decomplemented foetal calf serum and 12 . 5 mg / ml porcine haemin , in the presence of 100 u / ml penicillin and 100 μg / ml streptomycin ( sereno and lemesre , 1997 ). starting from an inoculum of 5 × 10 5 cells / ml in logarithmic growth phase , the amastigotes reached a cell density of 2 to 3 × 10 8 parasites / ml in stationary phase after 7 day &# 39 ; s of culture in 25 cm 2 culture flasks . observation of the axenic amastigotes under a microscopic showed homogeneous shapes ( round to ovoid ) without visible flagella and immobile . the axenic amastigotes from various leishmania species have the same ultrastructural , biological , biochemical and immunological properties as intracellular amastigotes . cell densities were also determined by flow cytometry according to the same procedure and with the same parameters used for the promastigotes . a suspension of axenic amastigotes from the leishmania infantum cell line transfected with the αneo - αluc cassette in exponential growth phase and with more than 90 % viability was adjusted to a density of 1 . 25 × 10 6 parasites / ml in maa / 20 medium . five - fold concentrated solutions of antimicrobial peptides were also prepared in this medium ( 300 to 4 . 7 μm ). to perform the test , the axenic amastigote suspension was aliquoted at 80 μl per well into a microtiter plate ( corresponding to 10 5 parasites / well ) to which 20 μl of each peptide solution were added ( 60 to 0 . 94 μm final concentration ) ( for a final parasite density of 10 6 parasites / ml ). the plate was then incubated for 72 hours at 37 ° c . for the negative control the peptide solution was replaced by 20 μl of maa / 20 medium . the positive control was carried out with 20 μl of the solution with the highest peptide concentration . experiments were done in triplicate for each peptide concentration . after 72 hrs , 50 μl of lysis buffer ( steady glo , promega ) were added to each well . after a 5 - min incubation at room temperature , cell lysis was checked under a microscope . emitted luminescence was measured with a luminescence plate reader ( victor , perkinelmer ). it is proportional to the number of viable parasites in the medium . the concentration inhibiting amastigote growth by 50 % ( ic 50 ) was determined . as for the amastigote tests , 80 μl of a promastigote suspension ( 10 5 parasites / well ) were aliquoted into each well of a microtiter plate together with 20 μl of peptide solution ( 60 to 0 . 94 μm final concentration ). negative and positive controls were carried out according to the same protocol as for the tests of anti - leishmania activity on amastigotes . experiments were done in triplicate for each peptide concentration . after 72 hours of incubation at 26 ° c ., 50 μl of steady glo lysis buffer ( promega ) were added to each well . after a 5 - min incubation at room temperature , cell lysis was checked under a microscope . emitted luminescence was measured and the percentage growth was calculated as above . the concentration inhibiting promastigote growth by 50 % ( ic 50 ) was determined . the cytotoxic activity of the antimicrobial peptides was determined on a human monocyte cell line thp - 1 . cells were cultured in rpmi medium ( 10 % fcs , 100 u / ml penicillin , 100 μg / ml streptomycin ) until reaching exponential growth phase . after counting in a thoma counting chamber , cell density was adjusted to 6 . 25 × 10 5 cells / ml in rpmi 1640 medium . five - fold concentrated solutions of antimicrobial peptides were prepared in this rpmi medium ( 300 to 4 . 7 μm ). monocytes were aliquoted at 80 μl of cell suspension per well ( corresponding to 5 × 10 4 monocytes / well or 5 × 10 5 cells / ml final ) and mixed with 20 μl of peptide solution ( 60 to 0 . 94 μm final concentration ). negative and positive controls were carried out according to the same protocol as for the tests of anti - leishmania activity . experiments were done in triplicate for each peptide concentration . cells were incubated at 37 ° c ., in a 5 % co 2 atmosphere for 72 hrs . after 72 hours , the number of viable thp - 1 cells was calculated indirectly by the mtt test ( mosmann , 1983 ). mtt ( or 3 -( 4 , 5 - dimethylthiazol - 2 - yl )- 2 , 5 - diphenyl - tetrazolium bromide ), which is yellow in colour , is reduced to formazan , which is blue in colour , by the action of succinate - tetrazolium reductase which is present in the mitochondrial respiratory chain of metabolically active cells . blue formazan can be detected spectrophotometrically at 570 nm . a 10 mg / ml mtt solution in pbs buffer ( ph 7 . 4 ), filtered on a 0 . 45 μm filter , was aliquoted at 10 μl per well . plates were then incubated for 4 hrs at 37 ° c . the enzymatic reaction was stopped by adding 100 μl of a 50 % isopropanol / 10 % sds mixture and the plates were then incubated at room temperature for 30 min with shaking . the od at 570 nm of each well was then measured ( victor plate reader , perkinelmer ) to calculate the ic 50 . antibacterial , antifungal and hemolytic activities of temporin - sha and the analog [ k 3 ] temporin - sha the antimicrobial activity of temporin - sha ( seq id no . 1 ) and the analog [ k 3 ] temporin - sha ( seq id no . 19 ) was evaluated on different gram - positive and gram - negative bacterial reference strains and on fungal strains . the hemolytic activity of these two peptides was also evaluated . minimum inhibitory concentrations ( mic ) and lethal concentrations 50 ( lc 50 ) are shown in table 1 below . these results demonstrate that the antimicrobial activity of the analog [ k 3 ] temporin - sha is remarkably higher than that of temporin - sha , particularly against gram - negative strains ( mic of 3 μm for all strains tested ) and yeasts . it is notable that the antibacterial activity of the analog [ k 3 ] temporin - sha against pseudomonas aeruginosa is 10 times higher than that of temporin - sha . this finding is especially noteworthy considering that this strain is resistant to the majority of temporins . moreover , the increased antimicrobial potency of the analog [ k 3 ] temporin - sha is accompanied by a twofold decrease in hemolytic activity as compared with that of temporin - sha . anti - leishmania activity of temporin - sha and the analog [ k 3 ] temporin - sha the anti - leishmania activity of the two temporins was evaluated on the parasite leishmania infantum , the main causal agent of human visceral leishmaniasis in the mediterranean basin and latin america . cultures of promastigotes and axenic amastigotes of leishmania infantum ( mhom / ma / 67 / itmap - 236 ) expressing the luciferase gene were used . evaluation of the metabolic activity of the parasites is based on oxidation of luciferin by luciferase in the presence of atp . this process leads to the emission of photons which is proportional to the concentration of unlysed parasites . the results of these anti - leishmania tests show that temporin - sha and the analog [ k 3 ] temporin - sha are active against the two forms of the parasite leishmania infantum ( fig2 a and b ). however , the analog [ k 3 ] temporin - sha has superior antiparasitic activity against promastigotes as compared to temporin - sha . the analog [ k 3 ] temporin - sha acts on the promastigote form of the parasite with an ic 50 of roughly 10 μm , whereas temporin - sha has an ic 50 of approximately 20 μm ( fig2 b ). the cytotoxic effects of temporin - sha and the analog [ k 3 ] temporin - sha were evaluated on human thp - 1 monocyte cell line . monocytes are an undifferentiated form of macrophages which are the host cells of leishmania parasites . the results ( fig3 ) show that temporin - sha and the analog [ k 3 ] temporin - sha are not cytotoxic at antimicrobial concentrations . substitution of the serine on the polar face of the α helix of temporin - sha by lysine generated the analog [ k 3 ] temporin - sha displaying more potent antimicrobial activity than temporin - sha , particularly against gram - negative bacteria and yeasts . this analog also has better antiparasitic activity against the parasite leishmania infantum , in particular against promastigotes . moreover , it was shown that this increased antimicrobial potency is accompanied by a twofold reduction in hemolytic activity and that this analog is not cytotoxic to monocytes , the target cells of the parasite in the vertebral host , at antimicrobial concentrations . abbassi f , oury b , blasco t , sereno d , bolbach g , nicolas p , hani k , amiche m , ladram a ( 2008 ) isolation , characterization and molecular cloning of new temporins from the skin of the north african ranid pelophylax saharica . peptides 29 : 1526 - 33 . brun r , schönenberger m ( 1979 ) cultivation and in vitro cloning or procyclic culture forms of trypanosoma brucei in a semi - defined medium . acta trop . 36 : 289 - 92 . bevan m ( 1984 ) binary agrobacterium vectors for plant transformation . nucleic acids res . 12 : 8711 - 21 . chinchar v g , bryan l , silphadaung u , noga e , wade d , rollins - smith l ( 2004 ) inactivation of viruses infecting ectothermic animals by amphibian and piscine antimicrobial peptides , virology 323 : 268 - 75 , cirioni o , giacometti a , ghiselli r , dell &# 39 ; acqua g , gov y , kamysz w , lukasiak j , mocchegiani f , orlando f , d &# 39 ; amato g , balaban n , saba v , scalise g ( 2003 ) prophylactic efficacy of topical temporin a and rnaiii inhibiting peptide in a subcutaneous rat pouch model of graft infection attributable to staphylococci with intermediate resistance to glycopeptides . circulation 108 : 767 - 71 . conlon j m ( 2008 ) reflections on a systematic nomenclature for antimicrobial peptides from the skins of frogs of the family ranidae . peptides 29 : 1815 - 9 . conlon j m , kolodziejek j , nowotny n ( 2009 ) antimicrobial peptides from the skins of north american frogs . biochim . biophys . acta , 1788 : 1556 - 63 . dennison s r , wallace j , harris f , phoenix d a ( 2005 ) amphiphilic α - helical antimicrobial peptides and their structure / function relationships . protein pept . lett . 12 : 31 - 9 . giangaspero a , sandri l , tossi a ( 2001 ) amphipathic α helical antimicrobial peptides : a systematic study of the effects of structural and physical properties on biological activity . eur . j . biochem . 268 : 5589 - 600 . hajdukiewicz p , svab z , maliga p ( 1994 ) the small , versatile ppzp family of agrohacterium binary vectors for plant transformation . plant mol . biol . 25 : 989 - 94 . hooykaas p j j , schilperoort r a ( 1992 ) agrobacterium and plant genetic engineering . plant mol . biol . 19 : 15 - 38 . isaacson t , soto a , iwamuro s , knoop f c , conlon j m ( 2002 ) antimicrobial peptides with atypical structural features from the skin of the japanese brown frog rana japonica . peptides 23 : 419 - 25 . kim j b , iwamuro s , knoop f c , conlon j m ( 2001 ) antimicrobial peptides from the skin of the japanese mountain brown frog , rana ornativentris . j . pept . res . 58 : 349 - 56 . mangoni m l ( 2006 ) temporins , anti - infective peptides with expanding properties . cell . mol . life . sci . 63 : 1060 - 9 . mosmann t ( 1983 ) rapid colorimetric assay for cellular growth and survival : application to proliferation and cytotoxicity assays . j . immunol . methods 65 : 55 - 63 . rollins - smith l a , carey c , conlon j m , reinert l k , doersam j k , bergman t et al ( 2003 ) activities of temporin family peptides against the chytrid fungus ( batrachochytrium dendrobatidis ) associated with global amphibian declines . antimicrob . agents chemother . 47 : 1157 - 60 . roy g , dumas c , sereno d , wu y , singh . a k , tremblay m j , ouellette m , olivier m , papadopoulou b ( 2000 ) episomal and stable expression of the luciferase reporter gene for quantifying leishmania spp . infections in macrophages and in animal models . mol . biochem . parasitol . 110 : 195 - 206 . russell j a , roy m k , sanford j c ( 1992 ) major improvements in biolistic transformation of suspension - cultured tobacco cells . in vitro cell . dev . biol ., 28p , p . 97 - 105 . sambrook j , russell d ( 2001 ) molecular cloning : a laboratory manual , third edition cold spring harbor . sereno d , lemesre j l ( 1997 ) axenically cultured amastigote forms as an in vitro model for investigation of antileishmanial agents . antimicrob . agents chemother . 41 : 972 - 6 . siemens , j , schieder o ( 1996 ) transgenic plants : genetic transformation — recent developments and the state of the art . plant tissue cult . biotechnol . 2 : 66 - 75 . simmaco m , de biase g , severini c , aita m , falconieri g , erspamer , barra d , bossa f ( 1990 ) purification and characterization of bioactive peptides from skin extract of rana esculenta . biochem . biophys . acta 1033 : 318 - 23 . simmaco m , mignogna g , canofeni s , miele r , mangoni m l , barra d ( 1996 ) temporins , antimicrobial peptides from the european red frog rana temporaria . eur . j . biochem . 242 : 788 - 92 . vanhoye d , bruston f , el amri s , ladram a , amiche m , nicolas p ( 2004 ) membrane association , electrostatic sequestration and cytotoxicity of gly - leu - rich peptide orthologs with differing functions . biochemistry 43 : 8391 - 409 . yeaman m r , yount n y ( 2003 ) mechanisms of antimicrobial peptide action and resistance . pharmacol . rev . 55 : 27 - 55 ,	2
it is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for cutting grooves in concrete coated pipe which will remove all of the concrete at the groove down next to the protective coating . as a corollary to the above object , an important aim of the invention is to provide a method and apparatus for cutting grooves in concrete coated pipe wherein there is absolutely no danger of damaging the protective coating underlying the concrete when the groove is cut . another important objective of the invention is to provide a method and apparatus for cutting grooves in concrete along an arcuate surface without utilizing a mechanical saw . as a corollary to the preceding object , one of the objectives in this invention is to eliminate any possibility of damaging equipment on the reinforcing bars running longitudinally of a concrete coated pipe in the event there is a slight misalignment of the grooves . it is also an important aim of the invention to provide a method and apparatus for cutting grooves in an arcuate surface which is faster and more economical than prior methods utilizing diamond tooth saws . our invention has a still another objective to provide a method and apparatus for cutting grooves in concrete coated objects having arcuate surfaces capable of adapting to grooves of different widths and different depths without major modification in equipment and procedure . another object of the invention is to provide a method of applying a concrete coating to pipe which eliminates wire mesh embedded in the concrete with resulting cost savings . an important aim of the invention is also to provide a method as stated in the foregong object wherein the need for a chemical curing agent for the concrete is eliminated by wrapping the concrete in a plastic material which prevents evaporation of water . still a further objective is to provide a method of coating concrete pipe wherein grooves are to be cut in the concrete coating which facilitates cutting of the grooves by eliminating wire mesh in the concrete coating . other objects of the invention will be made clear or become apparent when the following description and claims are read in light of the accompanying drawings wherein : fig1 is a partial perspective view of a joint of pipe having reinforcing cages placed over a protective coating in preparation for application of a concrete coating ; fig2 is a partially schematic end elevational view of the apparatus for application of an aggregate concrete coating to the joint of pipe ; fig3 is a side elevational view of a joint of pipe coated with concrete and illustrating the manner in which grooves are cut through the concrete along the length of the pipe . fig4 is a vertical cross - sectional view taken along line 4 -- 4 of fig3 and illustrating details of the apparatus for cutting a groove in the concrete coating ; fig5 is a fragmentary elevational view on an enlarged scale of the delivery nozzle orifice ; fig6 is a vertical cross - sectional view on an enlarged scale and taken along line 6 -- 6 of fig4 ; fig7 is a fragmentary side elevational view illustrating utilization of wire mesh around the outer periphery of the concrete coating material rather than embedded in the coating . fig8 is a fragmentary side elevational view illustrating the manner in which a concrete coated pipe may be wrapped with a plastic material around its outer periphery as a substitute for the embedded wire mesh normally placed in the coating . referring initially to fig1 a joint of pipe is designated generally by the numeral 10 and is normally approximately 13 meters in length with a wall thickness of 2 - 3 centimeters . the outer surface 12 of the pipe 10 is normally coated with a layer 14 of a protective coating which may be comprised of an asphaltic mastic material , butyl rubber , polyethylene or other suitable material . placed along the length of pipe 10 in spaced relationship to the protective coating layer 14 are a plurality of reinforcing cages designated generally by the numeral 16 . each cage 16 is comprised of circumferentially extending loops 18 which are rigid with longitudinally extending rods 20 . each of the cages is held in spaced relationship to coating 14 by a plurality of fingered spacers 22 which are snap fitted onto alternate loops 18 circumferentially around the pipe . it is contemplated that other means of holding cages 16 in spaced relationship to surface 14 may also be utilized . it is also the practice to space cages 16 apart a small distance as they are placed longitudinally along the pipe so as to leave a gap in the area designated by the numeral 24 where grooves are ultimately to be cut . it should be emphasized , however , that with the method and apparatus of the present invention it is not necessary to space cages 16 so as to allow for gap 24 even though this has been a requirement with prior art devices . a cement and iron ore aggregate mixture 26 is delivered by a first conveyor 28 to an applicator comprising a second conveyer 30 and a rotating wire brush 32 . the aggregate material 26 is flung onto pipe 10 by the brush 32 rotating at a high speed adjacent conveyor 30 . pipe 10 is rotated about its axis by powered rollers 34 and is also moved longitudinally as the aggregate - cement mixture is applied to it . a wire mesh material 36 of the type commonly refered to as &# 34 ; chicken wire &# 34 ; is fed into the aggregate - cement mixture to hold it in place as pipe 10 is rotated . water is sprayed onto the aggregate - cement mixture as it is applied to the pipe . the end result is a uniform concrete coating 38 of several centimeters in thickness on the outside of protective coating 14 . preferably immediately after concrete coating 38 is applied and at any rate prior to curing of the concrete , pipe 10 is moved to a groove cutting station designated generally by the numeral 40 in fig3 . station 40 comprises spaced apart sets of rollers 42 at least one of which is powered by a prime mover ( not shown ). a plurality of nozzle units designated generally by the numeral 44 are disposed in spaced relationship along a rigid mounting plate 36 . nozzles 44 are intercommunicated by a common manifold 48 one end 50 of which is coupled with a source of pressurized water . as best illustrated in fig4 and 6 , each nozzle 44 comprises a generally l - shaped head 52 having an orifice opening 54 and a pivotal coupling 56 with plate 46 . a flexible hose 58 couples head 52 with manifold 48 . it has been found desirable for orifice 54 to have a diameter of from 1 - 3 millimeters and for the pressure of the water at head 52 to be within the range of 20 to 60 kilograms per square centimeter . a preferred embodiment of the invention utilizes a nozzle opening of 1 millimeter and a pressure of 40 kilograms per square centimeter . pipe joint 10 is rotated on rollers 42 at a speed of 5 to 10 r . p . m . nozzle heads 52 are adjusted relative to the pipe joint so that the jet stream 60 emanating from orifice 54 will be directed along a line generally tangential of the surface of layer 14 . it is also desirable to have nozzles 44 disposed in a generally downwardly direction so as to carry the concrete material away from the pipe . as the pipe rotates and nozzles 44 are operated in the manner described , grooves 62 are cut in the concrete coating 38 . with the size of opening 54 being within the range stated , the opening should be spaced from the concrete coating 38 a distance of from 5 - 15 centimeters and preferably about 10 centimeters . as the width of spray jet 60 increases with the distance from orifice opening 54 , the precise position of the nozzle 44 relative to the coating will be partially dependent upon the desired width for groove 62 . it has been found that when wire reinforcing 46 is embedded in concrete layer 38 according to prior art procedures there is a tendency for water jet 60 to undercut the sides of groove 62 to some degree as the water strikes the wire reinforcing . while a limited degree of undercutting can be tolerated and does not detract from the effectiveness of the present invention , it has been found that the wire reinforcing may be moved to a location near the surface of the concrete where the jet spray 60 has dissipated to a lesser degree and thus is more able to penetrate the wire reinforcing without &# 34 ; scattering &# 34 ; and thus undercutting the sides of the grooves . as illustrated in fig7 it has also been found that wire reinforcing 36 may be wrapped around the outside of concrete layer 38 to hold the concrete in place during the application of the cement and aggregate mixture and until partial curing is completed . the wire may then be removed completely from the concrete layer and may even be reused resulting in considerable cost saving . another embodiment of the invention is illustrated in fig8 wherein an impervious plastic sheet material 64 is wrapped around concrete layer 38 to hold it in place . the utilization of the plastic wrap 64 allows for complete elimination of chicken wire 36 either embedded in or on the outside of the concrete . also , since the impervious plastic material 64 prevents evaporation of water it is not necessary to add a chemical curing agent to the coating layer 38 . thus , it is seen that the present invention also emcompasses a method of applying a concrete coating to a pipe which comprises winding a layer of wrapping material around the outside of the concrete coating as the pipe is rotated and moved longitudinally , simultaneously with application of the cement to the pipe . the wrapping material is then unwound to expose the concrete coating after the latter has at least partially cured . the wrapping material may be wire mesh such as chicken wire or an impervious plastic material such as polyethylene .	1
( 1 ) an outside portion of a cylindrical wall of the reactor containment vessel is made of steel plate reinforced concrete to the base mat . the side walls and ceiling of the pressure suppression pool are made of steel plate reinforced concrete . ( 2 ) a steel plate reinforced concrete wall is installed below the floor of the pressure suppression pool . ( 3 ) a steel plate reinforced concrete floor is installed at the lower portion of the pressure suppression pool . an embodiment of a reactor containment vessel of the present invention will be described using fig1 a , 1 b and 1 c . fig1 a is a longitudinal cross sectional form of the reactor containment vessel according to an example of this embodiment of the present invention . fig1 b shows regions where steel plates are installed in the reactor containment vessel . the bold lines shown in fig1 b show the regions where the steel plates are installed . fig1 c shows a longitudinal cross sectional form of the cylindrical wall having the steel plate reinforced concrete . as shown in fig1 a and 1 b , a cylindrical wall 16 of a primary reactor containment vessel 6 reaches to a base mat 9 from a curved portion of a ceiling of the primary reactor containment vessel 6 and is outside wall of a dry well 2 and a pressure suppression pool 3 . an equipment room 12 is disposed under the pressure suppression pool 3 and partitioned into the pressure suppression pool 3 with a floor . the equipment room 12 is partitioned with inner side walls installed to have radial configuration . an outside portion to the base mat 9 of the cylindrical wall 16 , an outside portion of the ceiling of the primary reactor containment vessel 6 and both the inner side walls and an inside portion of ceiling of the partitioned equipment room 12 are formed of the steel plate reinforced concrete 10 having the steel plate 22 respectively . a steel plate 22 is not installed in the region which adjoins the dry well 2 and the pressure suppression pool 3 which reach the high pressure state conditions of 171 ° c . and 104 ° c . respectively . this is for preventing thermal stretching of the steel plate 22 due to temperature increase . in fig1 a and 1 b , the dry well 2 in which a reactor pressure vessel 1 is disposed and the wet well 4 in which the pressure suppression pool 3 is disposed are formed in the primary reactor containment vessel 6 . the dry well 2 is partitioned into the wet well 4 with a diaphragm floor 14 . vent pipes 5 which are provided with inside wall of the pressure suppression pool 3 connects the dry well 2 to the pressure suppression pool 3 . in the case where design basis accident has been occurred , which is typically main steam pipe breakage , the high temperature and high pressure steam jetted into the dry well 2 is introduced to the pressure suppression pool 3 via the vent pipe 5 , and condensed by water in the pressure suppression pool 3 . as a result , the pressure and temperature in the dry well 2 is decrease within a set temperature and pressure range and the pressure and temperature is maintained within the set temperature and pressure range . combined with the operation of the safety system , the reactor containment vessel is a design in which radioactive substances can be safely sealed . because of the requirement of that the water in the pressure suppression pool 3 is injected into the core 25 of the reactor pressure vessel using gravity , the pressure suppression pool 3 is installed above a core 25 disposed in the reactor pressure vessel 1 . the pressure suppression pool 3 in which water is filled is installed on a pressure suppression pool floor 13 disposed over the base mat 9 . the space between base mat 9 and the pressure suppression pool floor 13 is used as the equipment room 12 . a secondary reactor containment vessel 7 is surrounding the primary reactor containment vessel 6 , and even when a small amount of leakage from the primary reactor containment vessel 6 occurs , the secondary reactor containment vessel 7 functions as a supplementary container for the leaked substance from the primary reactor containment vessel 6 . as shown above , in the reactor containment vessel of this embodiment , the outside portion of the cylindrical wall 16 from a top slab 15 of the primary reactor containment vessel 6 to the base mat 9 , the upper portion of a top slab 15 and the inner side walls of the equipment room 12 are formed of the steel plate reinforced concrete 10 including a steel plate 22 which has a thickness of about 20 mm and is disposed on surface of the concrete , and a stud 23 for fixing the steel plate 22 to the concrete . meanwhile , because the divisions in the primary reactor containment vessel , that is , the divisions which arrange the dry well 2 for storing the reactor pressure vessel 1 , the wet well 4 for disposing a pressure suppression pool 3 and the vent pipes 5 for connecting the wet well 2 and the pressure suppression pool 3 are designed as a high temperature and high pressure environment , in order to prevent excessive deformation due to heat , as is the case with the partition of the conventional primary reactor containment vessel , the structure of the primary reactor containment vessel 6 in this embodiment is the same as the abwr concrete containment vessel which has 6 . 4 mm thick steel plate liner at the cylindrical wall 16 and the reinforcement installed inside the cylindrical wall 16 . it is to be noted that because a portion between the pressure suppression pool floor 13 and the base mat 9 of the cylindrical wall 16 faces the equipment room , inside and outside portions of the cylindrical wall 16 can be formed of the steel plate reinforced concrete 10 including the steel plate and the studs . the construction steps in this embodiment are shown in fig2 and the construction sequence is shown in fig3 . in addition , the conventional construction steps for the esbwr primary reactor containment vessel which this embodiment does not use is shown in fig6 and the conventional construction sequence is shown in fig7 . as shown in fig2 , in a construction process of the reactor containment vessel of this embodiment , first the base mat 9 is constructed . after the construction of the base mat 9 , the equipments are installed on the base mat 9 . subsequently , construction of an inside cylindrical wall and an outside cylindrical wall of the primary reactor containment vessel 6 , and the pressure suppression pool floor 13 is done . the cylindrical wall 16 includes the inside cylindrical wall and the outside cylindrical wall disposed concentrically . the equipment room is arranged between the inside cylindrical wall and the outside cylindrical wall . the outside portion and the inside portion of the outside cylindrical wall 16 to the base mat 9 are made of the steel plate reinforced concrete 10 . the inside and outside cylindrical walls and the inner side walls which surround the equipment room 12 and a floor of the equipment room 12 are made of the steel plate reinforced concrete 10 . as shown in fig2 , the walls and floor of equipment room can carry as a metal plate box having an opening at the lower side . the steel plates join with each other via a connecting steel bars 24 called tie bars . thus , this steel plate box can be maintained configuration thereof at the time of a carry and the construction . when the concrete is injected , the connecting steel bars 24 can be used for connection between the form panels . furthermore , the steel plate 22 of a ceiling of the equipment room 12 is the bottom for the pressure suppression pool floor 13 . its steel plate 22 functions as a ceiling form panel for building the pressure suppression pool floor 13 . thus construction of the pressure suppression pool floor 13 is done by installing reinforcement and liner plates on the steel plate as the ceiling form panel in the same manner as the abwr and making concrete to complete construction . by employing the steel plate reinforced concrete 10 , because the steel plates function as the building form panel and reinforcement , after the steel plates are set up , construction of the wall and floors is completed by only injecting concrete . as shown above , in this embodiment , because the outside portion of the cylindrical wall 16 of the primary reactor containment vessel 6 down to the base mat 9 and the bottom portion of the pressure suppression pool floor 13 are made of the steel plate reinforced concrete 10 , the form panel of the cylindrical wall 16 and the pressure suppression pool floor 13 respectively can be built at once , and also the concrete pouring for the cylindrical wall 16 and the pressure suppression pool floor 13 can proceed simultaneously . after construction of the cylindrical wall 16 below the pressure suppression pool floor 13 and the pressure suppression pool floor 13 is complete , the cylindrical wall 16 , that is , the inside portion of the outside cylindrical wall of the reactor containment vessel is built to reach the diaphragm floor 13 . then construction of diaphragm floor 13 , cylindrical wall 16 upper the diaphragm floor 13 and top slab are performed in that order . in this manner , in the reactor containment vessel of this embodiment , construction becomes possible without performing reinforcement bar arrangement and removal at position below the pressure suppression pool 3 because the region from the pressure suppression pool 3 that reaches the base mat can be constructed using a steel plate box which also uses a form panel for concrete formation . by using the cylindrical wall above the pressure suppression pool floor 13 as well as the steel plate below the pressure suppression pool floor 13 in place of the form panel or by using the cylindrical wall above the pressure suppression pool floor 13 as well as the outside steel plate and the inside liner plate , it becomes possible to shorten the construction period . meanwhile , in the conventional primary reactor containment vessel of the esbwr which is shown in fig6 and not used in this embodiment , after the construction of base mat , construction of the cylindrical wall 16 of the primary reactor containment vessel 6 to reach directly below the pressure suppression pool floor 13 is complete . afterward , construction of the pressure suppression pool floor 13 begins . when the cylindrical wall 16 is being constructed , the form panel is set up and the reinforcement construction is performed . then concrete is injected and at the stage where appropriate concrete strength is achieved , the form panel is removed . when the pressure suppression pool floor 13 is constructed , because the support column 20 for holding the form panel of the pressure suppression pool floor 13 must be installed in the equipment room 12 , the work of installing the safety - related equipment 17 in the equipment room 12 is not completed until completion of construction of the pressure suppression pool floor 13 . thus other related construction such as pipe laying cannot be completed too . the construction sequence above the pressure suppression pool floor 13 proceeds in the order of form panel construction , reinforcement construction , concrete pouring and form panel removal as is the case for the steps up to the point directly below pressure suppression pool floor 13 . in this manner , when the construction sequence shown in fig3 and that shown in fig7 are compared , in the construction sequence of this embodiment , the region reaching the base mat 9 of the cylindrical wall 16 of the primary reactor containment vessel 6 and the pressure suppression pool floor 13 can be built simultaneously . because the cylindrical wall 16 and the top slab 15 above the pressure suppression pool floor 13 are also formed of the steel plate reinforced concrete 10 , it becomes possible for the construction period to be shortened when compared to the reactor containment vessel that does not apply this embodiment . standard construction period is evaluated to be three months for one floor of reactor building . according to this evaluation , the construction period for reactor containment vessel of this embodiment can be shortened by about three months less than the conventional primary reactor containment vessel shown in fig7 that does not apply this embodiment . also , because outside and inside portions reaching the base mat 9 of the cylindrical wall 16 of the primary reactor containment vessel 6 and the pressure suppression pool floor 13 are formed of the steel plate reinforced concretes 10 , it becomes possible to use steel plate reinforced concretes 10 at both side portions of the cylindrical wall 16 , and due to the elimination of form panel and reinforcement construction , it is no longer necessary to use the conventional sequence of form panel construction reinforcement construction concrete placement form panel removal . thus construction speed of the reactor containment vessel in this embodiment is improved , and consequently , it becomes possible for the construction period to be shortened by more than three months . an example of the reactor containment vessel of another embodiment of the present invention is described using fig4 a , 4 b and 4 c . fig4 a shows a longitudinal section of the reactor containment vessel according to this embodiment . fig4 b shows a cross section of equipment rooms in the reactor containment vessel shown in fig4 a . fig4 c shows a longitudinal section of steel plate reinforced concretes being used the reactor containment vessel . the equipment room is partitioned with partitions walls 11 installed on the base mat 9 so as to be radial from the inside cylindrical wall to the outside cylindrical wall being the cylindrical wall 16 , in the circumferential direction . the safety - related equipment 17 is disposed in the partitioned equipment room . the partition wall 11 is made of the steel plate reinforced concrete 10 . the steel plates 22 locating on both side portions of the partition walls 11 are connected by the tie bars 24 respectively . the pressure suppression pool floor 13 is arranged over the equipment room 12 as shown in fig4 a . at the time of construction , it is possible for each steel plate locating at the inside and outside portion of the outside cylindrical wall 16 , both side portions of the partition walls 11 opposing each other and the inside portion of the inside cylindrical wall which form the equipment room to be integrally carried . for this reason , a new construction sequence for the installation of the partition wall 11 is not generated . meanwhile , because the partition wall 11 can be used as wall for supporting the pressure suppression pool floor 13 from the lower side , it is possible to build the pressure suppression pool floor 13 without providing special temporary supporting structures for the large vertical direction load due to the concrete pouring when the pressure suppression pool floor 13 is being built . there is no need for a support column for supporting the pressure suppression pool floor 13 from beneath in the construction period in order to withstand this large vertical direction load in the period of pouring the concrete for the pressure suppression pool floor 13 using the partition walls 11 . for this reason , construction of the pipes , cables and ventilation ducts for the safety - related equipment 17 installed in the equipment room can be done in parallel . furthermore , because each surface of the inside , the outside and the ceiling of the equipment room 12 are formed of a strong steel plate with a thickness of 20 mm , the support for the pipes , cables and ventilation ducts can be directly connected by welding to the steel plates . by installing the equipment room in which the pipes , cables and ventilation ducts have already been installed , there is a great reduction in on - site construction inside the equipment room 12 . plane dimensions in which the steel plates of the inside and outside portion the outside cylindrical wall 16 , the steel plates of the partition wall 11 and the steel plate of the inside portion of the inside cylindrical wall forming the equipment room are integrally carried are determined by the capacity of a crane for installing these modules at the period of construction . due to the arrangement of the safety - related equipment 17 and partition walls 11 , a suitable proportion such that a weight of about 600 ton which is the average value for the suspension capability of the crane becomes possible . because the steel plates of the inside and outside portion the outside cylindrical wall 16 , the steel plates of the partition wall 11 and the steel plate of the inside portion of the inside cylindrical wall form a block having an enclosed space . after installation of the block , the pipe connection operation for the safety - related equipment 17 installed in the block can be performed under conditions separated from the surrounding environment and can be easily performed independent of the weather . an example of an embodiment of nuclear reactor building according to this invention will be described with reference to fig5 . fig5 shows a longitudinal section of a reactor containment vessel according to another embodiment of the present invention . the reactor containment vessel of this embodiment has an equipment room 12 which is divided into a plurality of floors due to the system requirements of the safety - related equipment 17 . the equipment room 12 shown in fig5 is divided into two floors of an upper region and a lower region by the equipment room floor 21 provided with the inside cylindrical wall and the outside cylindrical wall . the equipment room floor 21 is formed of steel plate reinforced concrete 10 . due to installment of the equipment room floor 21 installing the safety - related equipment 17 , the related pipes , cables and the air heating and ventilation air conditioner ducts at the time of construction , the safety - related equipment 17 , the pipes , cables , the air heating and ventilation air conditioner ducts and a block formed by each steel plate locating at the inside and outside portion of the outside cylindrical wall 16 , both side portions of the partition walls 11 opposing each other and the inside portion of the inside cylindrical wall which form the equipment room can be constructed as an integral module . by the construction using the module , it can be expected that construction efficiency will be further improved . the equipment room floor 21 functions as a reinforce structure for preventing horizontal direction bending of the block and the reactor system device 17 . thus , it contributes to the reduction in the mass of the temporary reinforce structure comprising the h steel due to integrate the safety - related equipment 17 and the block .	8
in fig1 of the accompanying drawings there is schematically depicted a path 10 of a page 11 passing through a printer incorporating an adhesive applicator . page 11 is driven to the right at a driving station d . driving station d might comprise a pair of opposed pinch rollers 12 as shown . the page 11 then passes a printing station p and then an adhesive application station a . as an alternative , the adhesive application station a might precede the printing station p , but it is preferred that the adhesive application station follow the printing station so that adhesive on the page 11 does not clog the print head or print heads at printing station p . for single sided page printing , the printing station p might comprise a single print head 13 . the print head 13 might be a pagewidth drop on demand ink jet print head . alternatively , the print head might be that of a laser printer or other printing device . where the page 11 is to be printed on both sides , a pair of opposed print heads 13 might be provided . where the print heads 13 are ink jet print heads , wet ink 15 on page 11 might pass through the adhesive application station a . an air cushion 14 at either side of the page 11 as it passes printing station p can be provided by means of air passing through an air flow path provided in each print head 13 . the adhesive application station a can comprise an adhesive applicator 16 at one or both sides of the page 11 , depending upon which side or sides of the page to which adhesive is to be applied . as shown in fig2 , a page 11 having matter printed thereon by printing station p also includes a strip 17 of adhesive as applied at adhesive application station a . as can be seen , the strip 17 can be applied adjacent to the leading edge 27 of page 11 . the application of strip 17 adjacent to the leading edge 27 is suitable for those situations where the adhesive applicator does not contact the page , or contacts the page at a velocity accurately matching that of the page 11 as it passes the adhesive application station a . alternatively , the strip 17 could be applied adjacent to the trailing edge 28 of page 11 and this position might be more suited to adhesive applicators that make some form of physical contact with the page 11 as it passes adhesive application station a . a margin 29 of about 1 to 2 . 5 mm is desirable between the strip 17 and edge 27 or 28 of page 11 . various methods of applying adhesive to the page 11 are envisaged , some of which are schematically depicted in fig3 . method 1 in fig3 is a non - contact method of applying adhesive to the moving page 11 . in this method , a stationary adhesive applicator 16 sprays adhesive on one side of page 11 as it passes the applicator . the adhesive applicator might be formed integrally with the print head 13 or might be located upstream or after the print head . method 2 also applies adhesive to one side of the moving page 11 , although this time using a contact method . an adhesive applicator 163 is pivotally mounted about a fixed pivot point and is caused to move at a speed matching that at which the page 11 passes through the adhesive application station . a reaction roller 30 comes into contact with the underside of page 11 as the adhesive applicator 163 applies adhesive to the page . method 3 applies adhesive to both sides of a page 11 as it passes through the adhesive application station . a pair of pivotally mounted adhesive applicators 1633 move pivotally at a speed corresponding with that at which the page 11 passes through the adhesive application station . they both come into contact with the page 11 and mutually counteract each other &# 39 ; s force component normal to the page 11 . method 4 employs a pair of adhesive applicator rollers 16333 spaced from either side of the page 11 until activated to apply adhesive whereupon they move toward and touch the page 11 , leaving a strip of adhesive 17 at either side of the page . the rollers would mutually counteract each other &# 39 ; s force component normal to page 11 . method 5 employs a pair of adhesive spray applicators 16333 , one at either side of page 11 . the applicators do not contact page 11 . each applicator would apply one part of a two - part adhesive to a respective side of page 11 so as to apply strips 17 a and 17 b . like method 1 , method 5 could employ an adhesive applicator formed integrally with the print head . that is , a channel for the flow of one part of a two - part adhesive might be provided in each print head . also , the use of a two - part adhesive could be beneficial in situations where there might be some delay in the printing / binding operation . for example , if there were a computer software or hardware malfunction part - way through a printing / binding operation , the use of a two - part adhesive could provide sufficient time within which to rectify the problem and complete the binding process . fig4 illustrates a stack of pages 11 with all but the top page provided with an adhesive strip 17 at an upper surface adjacent one edge to be bound . an alternative is depicted in fig5 wherein all but the bottom page has an adhesive strip 17 applied to its bottom surface adjacent an edge to be bound . in fig6 , a stack of pages is shown with part a of a two - part adhesive applied to the upper surface of all but the top page and the second part of the two - part adhesive applied to the bottom surface of all but the bottom page . when the stacks of pages of fig4 and 5 are pressed together , adhesion of the pages occurs once the adhesive 17 has dried . when the pages 11 of fig6 are pressed together , the respective parts of the two - part adhesive in strips 17 a and 17 b combine so as to react and set . where print head 13 is an ink jet print head , and non - contact adhesive application methods 1 and 5 are employed , the adhesive strip 17 is applied to page 11 before ink on the page passing through the adhesive application station 10 has dried . air passing through air gap 14 accelerates the drying process . that is , adhesive is applied to the page as it passes out of the print head 13 . the velocity of the page 11 does not change as a result of the application of adhesive strip 17 . where the strip 17 is applied alongside the leading edge 27 of the page 11 , any alteration to the velocity of page 11 would adversely affect print quality . hence application of adhesive strip 17 alongside the leading edge 27 is only possible without adversely affecting print quality using non - contact adhesive application methods or methods where the velocity of the adhesive applicator coming into contact with the page is very close to that of page 11 . where the adhesive strip 17 is applied alongside the trailing edge 28 of page 11 , a non - contact method or method of very close speed matching is also desired . for example , if the speed of the adhesive applicator of methods 2 to 4 was faster than that at which the page 11 was passing the print head , the page could buckle . a most desirable embodiment of the present invention would use a two - part adhesive and would incorporate the adhesive applicators within the print heads themselves . that is , a passage or passages for the flow of adhesive through the print head would be space and cost - effective . the likelihood of adhesive “ gumming ” and blocking such channels would be diminished where a two - part adhesive was employed . that is , only one part of the two - part adhesive would pass through any particular channel or channels of the print head . where respective parts of a two - part adhesive are applied to opposed sides of pages 11 , those respective parts could pass through dedicated channels in the respective print head at either side of the page . this would greatly reduce the likelihood of adhesive blockages in the flow channels . the adhesive or respective parts of a two - part adhesive can be provided in a chamber of a replaceable ink cartridge providing ink to the print head . the print head 13 should be as close a possible to the pinch rollers 12 . this is because the rollers 12 provide a mechanical constraint upon the page 11 to enable accuracy of printing . the pinch rollers 12 , print heads 13 and adhesive applicator 16 are illustrated in fig7 alongside a page support tray 18 . that is , the page support tray 18 receives pages 11 that exit the paper path 10 . the tray 18 is suspended from a frame 21 by means of respective dampers 22 at each corner . the dampers could be elastomeric dampers or small hydraulic or pneumatic cylinders for example . the floor of tray 11 is not level . it has a lower - most corner 23 beneath which there is provided a vibrator 19 . the vibrator 19 might be a subsonic vibrator ( i . e . a vibrator having a frequency below 20 hz ) or an out - of - balance electric motor for example . a binding press 20 is situated above the tray 18 over the at - rest position of the respective leading edge of the pages 11 . however , as an alternative , the binding press 20 could be provided so as to be situated over the trailing edge of the pages . in fig8 a first page 11 is shown in its trajectory toward tray 18 . page 11 has a strip of adhesive 17 on its upper surface adjacent the leading edge . the page 11 might tend to catch a pocket of air beneath it as it floats into position and the leading edge 28 might strike the vertical wall 31 as shown in fig9 . the vibrations of the tray 18 as a result of the vibrator 19 will cause the page 11 to come to rest with edge 27 alongside the lower edge of wall 23 and with a right angled edge of the page touching the front wall 32 of tray 18 . in fig1 , a second page 11 is shown in its trajectory toward tray 18 . in a motion similar to that of the first page , the second page comes to rest upon the first page in a position perfectly aligned therewith . the second page comes to rest into the position depicted in fig1 . where the pages have the adhesive strip 17 applied to the upper surface , the final page is provided without any adhesive and it comes to rest at the top of the stack as depicted in fig1 . if , instead , the majority of pages 11 had the adhesive strip 17 applied to their bottom surface , the first page ( i . e . the page at the bottom of the stack ) would have no adhesive applied to it . this would be suitable for multiple binding compressions . as shown in fig1 , the binding press 20 commences downward movement toward the stack of pages 11 over the aligned adhesive strips 17 . the stack is then compressed to a bound volume 24 as shown in fig1 . it should be noted that no subsequent edge trimming of the bound volume is required so long as standard - sized pages 11 had initially been used . this is because the vibrator 19 has aligned the pages into the lower - most corner 23 of tray 18 as described earlier . in fig1 and 18 , multiple volume 24 are shown stacked on upon another with the upper - most volumes being progressively compressed by repeated application of press 20 . the binding press 20 is shown schematically in the figures and could be pneumatically or hydraulically driven , or could be driven by other mechanical means such as rack and pinion , electrical solenoid or otherwise . an alternative embodiment as depicted in fig2 , 21 and 22 incorporates a plurality of semicircular disks 20 each spaced apart , but fixedly mounted to a common rotatably driven shaft extending along an axis of rotation 26 . each disk 20 could pass through a respective vertical slot 32 formed in the end wall 31 of tray 18 . that is , there would be as many vertical slots in wall 31 as there are disks 20 . the disks could commence in the orientation depicted in fig2 and upon rotation of the shaft pivot to the orientation depicted in fig2 and 22 so as to press down upon the pages . the floor of tray 18 can be driven so as to move downwardly as each page 11 is delivered thereto . this would ensure that the upper - most page always resided at the same level . this could result in reduced noise of movement of the press bar 20 as it need not move very far to effectively bind the pages . where the pages have applied thereto adhesive strips alongside the trailing edge 28 , the press would be provided to the left as shown in fig2 . in this embodiment , a pressing bar 20 is provided . any pressing arrangement could however be provided .	1
fig1 shows a first standard cell 2 typically used in soi ( silicon on insulator ) cmos integrated circuits . cell 2 includes a pmos 4 and a nmos 6 field effect transistors of fdsoi ( fully depleted silicon on insulator ) technology . an active silicon layer 8 an ultra - thin buried oxide ( utbox ) insulator layer 10 , a semiconductor ground plane 12 , a semiconductor well 14 , optionally a semiconductor substrate 16 . the silicon layer 8 includes a source , a canal 18 and a drain . a gate oxide layer 20 covers canal 18 . said layer 20 is covered by a gate stack comprising metal layers 22 and polysilicon layers 24 . said stacks are laterally delimited by spacers 26 . isolation trenches 28 , 29 are placed on sides of the transistor 4 . the source and drain of layer 8 are doped with a p - type impurity . as known in fdsoi technology , canal 18 has a low doping level so as to be in a depleted state . for example , the doping concentration of canal 18 is lower than 10 16 cm − 3 . the oxide layer 10 lies below layer 8 and provides electrical insulation between the layer 8 and the substrate 16 . in the so - called utbox technology , the oxide layer 10 has a reduced thickness . for example , the thickness of the oxide layer 10 is comprised between 10 nm and 100 nm and , preferably , comprised between 10 nm and 50 nm . the ground plane 12 ( also named back plane , or back gate ) lies beneath the oxide layer 10 , under the layer 8 . this ground plane 12 performs an electrical control of the threshold voltage of transistor 4 . the well 14 lies beneath the ground plane 12 . this well 14 has an n - type doping . this well 14 is able to electrically bias the ground plane 12 when an electrical potential is applied to the well 14 . here , a control circuit ( not shown ) is able to bias the well 14 at a first electrical potential . the transistor 6 is identical to transistor 4 , except that : the layer 8 is replaced by an active silicon layer 9 , identical to the layer 8 , except that the source and drain of said layer 9 have a n - type doping . the ground plane 12 is replaced by a semiconductor ground plane 30 , and the well 14 is replaced by a semiconductor well 32 . the ground plane 30 lies beneath the oxide layer 10 , under the transistor 6 . ground plane 30 performs an electrical control of the threshold voltage of transistor 6 . the well 32 lies beneath the ground plane 30 . this well 32 has a p - type doping . this well 32 is able to electrically bias the ground plane 30 when an electrical potential is applied to the well 32 . here , another control circuit ( not shown ) is able to bias the well 32 at a second electrical potential . the doping type of ground planes 12 and 30 can be chosen depending on the desired threshold voltage range of transistors 4 and 6 . in this example , transistors 4 and 6 are high threshold voltage ( hvt ) transistors , due to the combined biasing voltage . to this end , the ground planes 12 and 30 have , respectively , an n - type and a p - type doping . for example , said threshold voltage is at least equal to 500 mv and preferably comprised between 500 mv and 650 mv . in this example , a forward back biasing ( fbb ) scheme is used . the first electrical potential is chosen equal to vdd − δv , where vdd is a power supply voltage provided to the cell 2 . the second electrical potential is here chosen equal to gnd + δv , where gnd is a ground potential provided to the cell 2 . δv must be smaller than vdd / 2 , to avoid the formation of an undesirable forward - biased diode between the n - doped well 14 and the p - doped well 32 . this forward bias would then lead to a leakage current between said wells , which would have adverse consequences on the electrical properties of the circuit . in this example , the transistors 4 and 6 have a gate length smaller than 100 nm . here , layers 8 , 9 have a thickness at most equal to 50 nm and , preferably , at most equal to 40 % of the gate length of , respectively , transistors 4 and 6 . here , the oxide layer 10 and the insulation trenches 28 , 29 are made of silicon oxide ( sio 2 ). the ground planes 12 , 30 and the wells 14 , 32 have here doping levels comprised between 10 16 and 5 * 10 18 cm − 3 and , preferentially , comprised between 5 * 10 16 and 5 * 10 17 cm − 3 . the substrate 16 has a p - type doping with a doping level lower than 10 16 cm − 3 and , preferentially , lower than 5 * 10 16 cm − 3 . the wells 14 , 32 may extend to a depth of up to 800 nm or 700 nm below the oxide layer 10 . here , depths and thicknesses are measured along a vertical direction , perpendicular to the oxide layer 10 . fig2 shows a second cell 40 ( also named flipped cell ). this cell 40 includes a second pmos 42 and a second nmos 44 field effect transistors . transistor 42 is substantially identical to transistor 4 , except that : the ground plane 12 is replaced by a ground plane 46 , and the well 14 is replaced by a semiconductor well 48 having a p - type doping . transistor 44 is substantially identical to transistor 6 , except that : the ground plane 30 is replaced by a ground plane 50 , and the well 32 is replaced by a semiconductor well 52 having an n - type doping . in this example , transistors 42 and 44 are high threshold voltage ( hvt ) transistors , due to the combined biasing voltage . for example , said threshold voltage at least equal to 500 mv . to this end , the ground planes 46 and 50 have , respectively , an n - type and a p - type doping . by replacing wells 14 and 32 with wells 48 and 52 of opposite doping types , it is possible to use for the cell 40 a different biasing scheme . here , the ground plane 46 is biased , through the well 48 , at the potential vdd − δv ; the ground plane 48 is biased , through the well 50 , at the potential gnd + δv . thus , a fbb scheme is applied on ground planes 46 and 48 . the value of δv may be increased up to vdd in the flipped configuration , without the formation of an undesirable forward bias between wells 48 and 52 . co - integrating cells 2 and 40 into a single block of a same integrated circuit allows benefiting from the advantages of both respective biasing schemes . it can , however , lead to significant design problems . an example of such design problems is illustrated on fig3 . fig3 shows a top view of a portion of an exemplar integrated circuit 53 that may be designed but would not be compliant with commonly used automatic design checking rules . this circuit 53 comprises a first row 54 including a plurality of standard cells . the first row 54 includes alternating cells 2 and 40 , co - integrated side by side into a single block . to simplify the drawings , the doping type of the wells of cells 2 , 40 is made visible and details of the transistors 4 , 6 , 42 and 44 are omitted , such as the insulation trenches 28 and 29 . for the same reasons , only three cells 2 and / or 40 are drawn , although row 54 can include more than three cells 2 and / or 40 . cells 2 and 40 are placed so that all pmos transistors 4 , 42 are aligned along a first direction parallel to row 54 and , all nmos transistors 6 , 44 are aligned along a second direction parallel to row 54 . this configuration allows the biasing of ground planes of cells 2 , 40 by , respectively , power supply rails 56 and 58 . to this end , row 54 also includes a well tap cell 60 . this cell 60 includes a n - type 62 and a p - type 64 doped wells for applying an electrical bias to the p - doped and n - doped semiconductor wells of row 54 . however , in this example , the arrangement of the cells 2 and 40 in row 54 leads to a discontinuity between the wells 14 , 32 , 48 and 52 , placed here in a checkerboard pattern . this disposition also gives rise to so - called singularity points 66 , 67 , contiguous to the wells 14 , 32 , 48 and 52 . the singularity points 66 , 67 may cause numerous design issues and are not compliant with usual design checking rules . furthermore , due to discontinuities between the n - doped wells 14 and 52 , and the p - doped wells 32 and 48 , the wells 32 and 52 within row 54 cannot be biased by the cell 60 . fig4 illustrates an example of an integrated circuit in which such discontinuities and singular points may be avoided . fig4 shows a portion of an integrated circuit 70 including a row 72 containing a plurality of cells . on this figure , rails 56 and 58 are not drawn . this row 72 is identical to row 54 , except that it also includes at least a first kind of transition cell 74 . each cell 74 is placed contiguously to both a cell 2 and a cell 40 , at each interface between a cell 2 and a cell 40 belonging to row 72 . each cell 74 includes a doped semiconductor well 75 . by placing a cell 74 at each interface between cells 2 and 40 , the singularity points 66 , 67 can be removed . the electrical continuities between p - doped wells and n - doped wells of the row 54 can also be maintained . in this example , the well 75 has an n - type doping . for example , the depth and the doping level of well 75 are essentially identical to the respective depth and doping level of wells 14 and / or 52 . thus , the electrical continuity between the n - doped wells 14 and 52 of , respectively , cells 2 and 40 is maintained through said cells 74 . the electrical continuity between the p - doped wells 32 and 48 is maintained through the p - doped substrate 16 . thus , the respective semiconductor wells of cells 2 and 40 of row 72 can be electrically biased by cell 60 . fig5 illustrates another embodiment of the circuit 70 . fig5 shows a portion of an integrated circuit 80 , including a row 82 containing a plurality of cells . this row 82 is substantially identical to row 72 , except that : cells 74 are replaced by a second kind of transition cell 84 , row 82 further includes a n - doped deep well 86 . cells 84 are identical to cells 74 , except that the well 75 is replaced by a well 85 having a p - type doping instead of an n - type doping , so as to ensure electrical continuity with contiguous p - doped wells 32 and 48 . the deep well 86 lies beneath wells 14 , 32 , 48 , 52 and 85 . the electrical continuity between the p - doped wells 32 and 48 of , respectively , cells 2 and 40 is maintained through said cells 84 . the electrical continuity between the n - doped wells 14 and 32 is maintained through this n - doped well 86 . thus , the respective semiconductor wells of cells 2 and 40 of row 82 can be electrically biased by cell 60 . fig6 illustrates another embodiment of the circuits 70 and 80 . fig6 shows a portion of an integrated circuit 90 , including a row 92 containing a plurality of cells . row 92 is substantially identical to row 72 , except that cells 74 are replaced by first kind 94 and second kind 96 transition cells . for clarity , additional cells 2 and 40 have been drawn . cells 94 and 96 are placed alternatively at interfaces between contiguous cells 2 and 40 . thus , any cell 40 , or any plurality of contiguous cells 40 , is itself contiguous to one cell 94 and one cell 96 . cell 94 includes a semiconductor well 95 and an electrical contact 96 able to apply an electrical bias on well 95 . cell 98 includes a semiconductor well 99 and an electrical contact 100 able to apply an electrical bias on well 99 . here , the wells 95 and 99 are identical , respectively , to wells 75 and 85 . thus , the semiconductor wells of cells 2 and 40 can be electrically biased by cell 60 . optionally , row 92 may include a n - doped deep semiconductor well 102 substantially identical to well 86 , said well 102 lying below wells 14 , 32 , 48 , 52 , 95 and 99 . the electrical potentials applied to the electrical contacts of well tap cell 60 are applied to the contacts 96 and 100 . thus , all the wells of row 92 can be electrically biased , regardless of the presence of the p - doped substrate 16 or the deep well 102 . integrated circuits may include a plurality of rows including cells 2 and 40 . in some specific cases , singularity points analogous to points 66 , 67 may appear between adjacent rows , depending on the specific arrangement of said rows , as illustrated in fig7 . such cells arrangements would not be compliant with commonly used design checking rules . for example , such arrangements would be rejected during cad - to - mask steps of the design process . fig7 shows a portion of an integrated circuit 110 , comprising first 112 , second 114 and third 116 rows . rows 114 and 116 are adjacent to row 112 . in this example , rows 112 , 114 , 116 include a plurality of cells 2 , 4 , 60 and transition cells 118 . in each row 112 , 114 and 116 , cells 2 and 40 are placed so that all pmos transistors 4 , 42 are aligned along a direction parallel to rows 112 , 114 and 116 . the circuit 110 also includes an n - doped deep well 120 , substantially identical to well 102 . each cell 118 is placed contiguously to both cells 2 and 40 , at each interface between a cell 2 and a cell 40 that belongs to a same row 112 , 114 or 116 . cells 118 are here identical to cells 84 and have the same function as cells 84 . cells 118 include here a p - doped well able to ensure an electrical continuity between the p - doped wells of cells 2 and 40 within each row 112 , 114 and 116 . the electrical continuity between the n - doped wells 32 and 48 is maintained through the deep well 120 . however , in some cases , singularity points 122 may appear between adjacent rows . in this example , singularity points 122 are present between cells 2 , 40 and 118 of adjacent rows 112 and 114 and of adjacent rows 112 and 116 . fig8 illustrates an example of a circuit in which points 122 may be avoided . fig8 shows a portion of an integrated circuit 130 including a plurality of parallel rows 132 , 134 and 136 , each comprising a plurality of cells . rows 134 and 136 are adjacent to row 132 . rows 134 , 136 are , respectively , substantially identical to rows 114 and 116 , except that they do not include both cells 2 and 40 , at least in regions 138 , 139 . these regions 138 , 139 are adjacent to regions of the row 132 containing contiguous cells 2 , 40 and 118 . for example , in each region 138 , 139 , the rows 134 or 136 contain cells 2 but no cells 40 , or cells 40 but no cells 2 . additionally , rows 134 , 136 may also be devoid of transition cells 118 in regions 138 , 139 . in this example , rows 134 and 136 comprise cells 2 but no cells 40 . the occurrence of singularity points 120 between adjacent rows can thus be mitigated , by limiting the co - integration of cells 2 and 40 to only every other row . a method for generating a layout of circuit 70 will henceforth be described , in reference to the flowchart of fig9 and to the circuit of fig4 . during a step 150 , a plurality of standard cells 2 , 40 and 60 are automatically placed in row 72 . said cells 2 , 40 are placed inside row 72 so that the pmos transistors of said cells are aligned along said first row . thus , all pmos transistors 4 , 42 are aligned along a first direction parallel to row 72 and , all nmos transistors 6 , 44 are aligned along a second direction parallel to row 72 . for example , during a sub - step 152 of step 150 , some cells 2 are flipped , so as to obtain cells 40 . for example , said flipping may include automatically switching the doping type of the ground planes 12 , 30 . during a step 154 , transition cells 74 are automatically placed in row 72 at every interface between contiguous cells 2 and 40 , to separate said contiguous cells 2 and 40 from each other . during a step 156 , a mask layout is automatically generated for the fabrication of circuit 70 . for example , this mask layout comprises a plurality of distinct photomasks . each of said photomasks is able to be used during a specific step of a manufacturing process for the fabrication of circuit 70 . fig1 illustrates a method for generating a layout of circuit 80 . said method includes steps 160 , 162 , 164 and 166 substantially identical , respectively , to steps 150 , 152 , 154 and 156 except that cells 2 , 40 and 74 are replaced , respectively , by cells 3 , 41 and 84 . fig1 illustrates a method for generating a layout of circuit 90 . said method includes steps 170 , 172 and 174 , substantially identical , respectively , to steps 160 , 162 and 164 except that cells 74 are replaced , respectively , by cells 94 and 98 . said cells 94 and 98 are placed in an alternating pattern . for example , during step 170 , cells 94 are placed into row 92 . then , during a step 171 , every other cell 94 is replaced by a cell 98 . optionally , during a step 176 of routing , electrical interconnections are placed in order to connect the electrical contacts 96 and 100 to electrical contacts of well tap cell 60 , so that all n - doped and p - doped wells of row 92 may be biased , respectively , at the first and second electrical potentials . then , during a step 178 , substantially identical to step 166 , a mask layout is automatically generated for the fabrication of circuit 90 . fig1 illustrates a method for generating a layout of circuit 130 . said method includes steps 180 , 182 , 184 , substantially identical , respectively , to steps 160 , 162 , and 164 except that cells 84 are replaced by cells 118 . during a step 186 , a plurality of cells 2 , 40 , are automatically placed into rows 134 , 136 adjacent to row 132 . especially , either cells 2 but no cell 40 , or cells 40 but no cell 2 are placed in regions 138 and 139 of , respectively , rows 134 and 136 . then , during a step 188 , substantially identical to step 166 , a mask layout is automatically generated for the fabrication of circuit 130 . the doping type of ground planes 12 and 30 , 46 and 50 may be different than the one chosen , depending on the desired threshold voltage ranges for , respectively , transistors 4 and 6 , 42 and 44 . the biasing schemes ( such as fbb ) applied to a cell may be chosen independently of the threshold voltage range of the transistors of said cell . the deep well 120 may be omitted from row 92 . the pattern in which cells 2 , 40 are placed may be different than the one used in the above examples . for example , the respective rows of circuits 53 , 70 , 80 and 90 are shown having cells 2 and 40 placed in a periodic pattern , but other patterns may be used instead , such as replacing one cell 40 by a plurality of contiguous cells 40 . in another example , the rows 134 or 136 may comprise cells 40 instead of cells 2 . row 132 may also comprise a plurality of cells 2 and only one cell 40 . the doping type of wells 95 and 99 may be switched . the rows may include other types of standard cells not shown here but used in standard design libraries , such as diode protection cells . cells 118 of circuits 110 and 130 may be replaced by a cell having a p - doped semiconductor well , such as cell 74 . in that case , the deep wells 120 are omitted . cells 118 may also be replaced by cells 94 and 98 placed in an alternating pattern .	7
referring now to the drawings , wherein like reference numerals designate identical or corresponding parts throughout the several views , a first embodiment of the present invention will be hereinafter described with reference to fig1 through 19 . a reference numeral 1 denotes a barrel or cylindrical casing comprising an upper casing la and a lower casing 1bwhich are releasably coupled together through a thread 1c . at the top of the upper casing 1a , there is formed a through - aperture 1d . as can be seen in fig3 through 6 , there is formed , on the inner surface of the upper casing 1a at the upper portion thereof , a first ridge 2a and a second ridge 2c which are spaced apart from each other by a shallow first groove 2b . bottom ends of the first ridge 2a and the adjacent first groove 2b are formed as a continuous first inclined surface 2d . a bottom end of the second ridge 2c is formed as a second inclined surface 2e . at a middle of the second ridge 2c there is formed a shoulder having a bottom end which is formed as a third inclined surface 2f . the shoulder is adjacent to a deep second groove 2g which is at the same level as the inner surface of the casing 1 . as shown in fig5 these ridges 2a and 2c , the shoulder and its bottom end 2f , and the grooves 2b and 2g are arranged at a circumferential region of 180 ° on the inner surface of the casing 1 and form a first set of substantially saw - toothed tips 2 . similarly , a second set of substantially saw - toothed tips 2 is formed on the inner surface of the casing 1 at the remaining 180 ° circumferential region thereof . as clearly shown in fig5 a difference in height of the first inclined surface 2d and the second inclined surface 2e of the first set of tips 2 is larger than a difference in height of the first inclined surface 2d &# 39 ; and the second inclined surface 2e of the second set of tips 2 . thus the first inclined surface 2d is also hereinafter referred to as &# 34 ; steeply inclined surface &# 34 ; and the other first inclined surface 2d &# 39 ; is referred to as &# 34 ; gently inclined surface &# 34 ;. as hereinafter described , a writing cartridge 6 of a mechanical pencil requires a long pushing stroke of a push button 3 for thrusting a lead , and on the contrary a writing cartridge 7 of a ballpoint pen does not require the lead thrusting operation and thus can be operated with a short pushing stroke . accordingly the first set of tips 2 having a larger height difference therebetween is to be used for a writing cartridge 6 of a mechanical pencil and the second set of tips 2 having a smaller height difference therebetween is to be used for a writing cartridge 7 of a ballpoint pen . a small aperture is 1e formed at the bottom end of the lower casing 1b and a step if is formed at a conjunction between the upper casing 1a and the lower casing 1b . as shown in fig7 through 9 , a push button 3 is formed as a cylindrical body 3a having a closed top surface suitable to be pushed by a finger . four v - shaped recesses 3b are formed on the bottom end of the cylindrical body 3a and projections 3c are formed on the outer circumferential surface of the cylindrical body 3a . the cylindrical body 3a is inserted into the through - aperture 1d of the upper casing 1a and extended therefrom . as shown in fig1 , each projection 3c is received in the first and second grooves 2b and 2g and slidably engages therewith so as to be able to be reciprocally extended from and retracted in the upper casing 1a through through - aperture 1d without rotation . as shown in fig1 through 13 , a reference numeral 4 denotes a cam 4 and the upper half thereof is formed as a cylindrical body 4a which is adapted to be rotatably and slidably fitted into a central bore 3d of the push button 3 . a trapezoidal projection 4b is formed on the outer circumferential surface of the cylindrical body 4a at a lower end thereof and another trapezoidal projection 4b &# 39 ; having a step is also formed on the outer circumferential surface of the cylindrical body 4a at a position diametrically opposite to the trapezoidal projection 4b . the cam 4 also has a pushing rod 4c projected from the bottom end of said cylindrical body 4a and having a semilunar pushing surface 4d at the bottom of the pushing rod 4c . a bore 4f having an upper wall 4e is also formed in the cylindrical body 4a . as shown in fig2 a cartridge holder 5 is formed , on its outer circumferential surface , with holding grooves 5a for holding writing cartridges 6 and 7 and with a shoulder 5b in which small apertures 5c for passages of the writing cartridges 6 and 7 are formed . the bottom surface of the shoulder 5b is urged against the step if of the casing 1 by a spring 8 which will be hereinafter described and is secured in place within the casing 1 . integrally formed with the holder 5 is a rod 5d projecting from the upper surface thereof . the rod 5d is adapted to be loosely inserted into the bore 4f of the cylindrical cam 4 along the pushing rod 4c thereof . the spring 8 is arranged around the rod 5d such that the bottom end of the spring 8 contacts the top surface of the holder 5 and the top end of the spring 8 abuts against the upper wall 4e of the bore 4f and accordingly the push button 3 is extended from the casing 1 by the spring 8 via the cam 4 . the writing cartridge 6 is , for example , a mechanical pencil cartridge and the writing cartridge 7 is , for example , a ballpoint pen . the writing cartridges 6 and 7 are mounted on the holder 5 by using refill receptacles 6a and 7a respectively fitted on the top ends of the writing cartridges 6 and 7 , by arranging coil springs 6b and 7b between the shoulder 5b of the holder 5 and the refill receptacles 6a and 7a and by engaging flanges 6c and 7c formed on the bottom end of the refill receptacles 6a and 7a with stoppers 5e projected from the top end of the holding grooves 5a in order to prevent the writing cartridges 6 and 7 from being pulled out from the holder 5 . the operation of the writing tool of the aforementioned embodiment will be hereinafter described with reference to fig1 through 19 . let it be supposed that both the mechanical pencil cartridge 6 and the ballpoint pen cartridge 7 are now retracted in the casing 1 . when pushing the push button 3 downward against the force of the coil spring 8 until it is stopped , the v - shaped recesses 3b at the bottom surface of the push button 3 is lowered from a position shown by a solid line in fig1 to a position shown by a phantom line . accompanying with this descendant motion of the push button 3 , the trapezoidal projection 4b of the cam 4 is also lowered from a position &# 34 ; a &# 34 ; in fig1 along an arrow &# 34 ; j &# 34 ; with keeping a condition shown in fig1 and 17 . during this time , the pushing surface 4d is positioned above the top end of the mechanical pencil cartridge 6 ( fig1 a ), pushes the cartridge 6 downward along with the downward movement of the cam 4 against the force of the coil spring 6b and extends the point of the cartridge 6 through the small aperture is of the lower casing 1b . when the top end of the trapezoidal projection 4b of the cam 4 is passed over the bottom end of the saw - toothed tip of the first ridge 2a formed on the inner circumferential surface of the upper casing la , the trapezoidal projection 4b is freed from the restriction of the first ridge 2a , is permitted to slightly rotate along the inclined surface of the v - shaped recess 3b of the push button 3 as shown by an arrow &# 34 ; k &# 34 ; and arrives at a position &# 34 ; b &# 34 ; ( fig1 ) which is a bottom of the valley of the v - shaped recess 3b . releasing the pressure applied to the push button 3 at the position &# 34 ; b &# 34 ;, the v - shaped recesses 3b of the push button 3 is moved upward by the force of the spring 8 to the position shown by the solid line from the position shown by the phantom line . accompanying with this ascendant motion of the push button 3 , the trapezoidal projection 4b of the cam 4 also moves upward along an arrow &# 34 ; l &# 34 ; from a position &# 34 ; b &# 34 ; ( fig1 ), then slightly rotates along the steeply inclined first surface 2d as shown by an arrow &# 34 ; m &# 34 ; and stops at a position &# 34 ; c &# 34 ; which is a bottom of the steeply inclined surface 2d i . e . within the shallow groove 2b as shown fig1 and 15 . the cam 4 at this step is in a position as shown in fig1 b and 18 . that is , although the cam 4 has been rotated over 90 ° from the position &# 34 ; a &# 34 ; to the position &# 34 ; c &# 34 ; ( fig1 ), the semilunar pushing surface 4d of the cam 4 is still remained in a condition in which it suppresses the mechanical pencil cartridge 6 to keep the point of the cartridge 6 extended from the small aperture 1e of the casing 1 . under such a condition , if repeating small knocking operation of the push button 3 as shown by an arrow &# 34 ; n &# 34 ; ( fig1 ) so that the top end of the trapezoidal projection 4b of the cam 4 is not moved downward beyond the bottom end of the second ridge 2e formed on the inner circumferential surface of the upper casing 1a , a shaft of the mechanical pencil cartridge 6 is also repeatingly reciprocated in a conventional manner as shown by a phantom line in fig1 with a shoulder 6d of the cartridge 6 being abutted with the inner edge of the small aperture 1e of the lower casing 1b . thus the lead in the cartridge 6 is thrusted out therefrom . then , if deeply pushing down the push button 3 until it is stopped as shown by an arrow &# 34 ; o &# 34 ; the top end of the trapezoidal projection 4b is moved downward beyond the bottom end of the second ridge 2c . thus , the trapezoidal projection 4b is freed from the restriction of the ridge 2a , ridge 2a , is permitted to slightly rotate along the inclined surface of the v - shaped recess 3b of the push button 3 as shown by an arrow &# 34 ; p &# 34 ; and arrives at a position &# 34 ; d &# 34 ; ( fig1 ) which is a bottom of the valley of the v - shaped recess 3b . then if releasing the pressure applied on the push button 3 , the trapezoidal projection 4b of the cam 4 is moved upward by the force of the spring 8 , and is slightly rotated along an arrow &# 34 ; q &# 34 ;. during this time , the mechanical pencil cartridge 6 is also moved upward by the force of the spring 6b , being kept in contact with the semilunar pushing surface 4d and thus the point of the cartridge 6 is retracted in the casing 1 . thereafter , the trapezoidal projection 4b is moved upward by the force of the spring 8 apart from the second inclined surface 2e as shown by an arrow &# 34 ; r &# 34 ; and is slightly rotated along the third inclined surface 2f . then , the trapezoidal projection 4b is moved upward by the force of the spring 8 apart from the third inclined surface 2f as shown by an arrow &# 34 ; s &# 34 ; and occupies a position &# 34 ; e &# 34 ; shown in fig1 and 15 . accordingly , the semilunar surface 4d of the cam 4 is further rotated over 90 ° toward a position of fig1 c in which although the ballpoint pen cartridge 7 is retracted in the casing 1 , it is possible to push the ballpoint pen cartridge 7 downward to extend it from the small aperture 1e of the casing 1 by pushing the push button 3 downward . if pushing down the push button 3 against the force of the coil spring 8 and then releasing the pressure applied to the push button 3 , the cam 4 is rotated over 90 ° from the position &# 34 ; e &# 34 ; shown in fig1 and 15 to a position &# 34 ; g &# 34 ; via a position &# 34 ; f &# 34 ; on the gentle inclined surface 2d &# 39 ; and aperture 1e . during this time , it is possible to shorten the thrusting stroke of the ballpoint pen cartridge , since the projection 4b &# 39 ; is formed with a step and a lower inclined surface of an outward trapezoidal projection 4b &# 39 ; having a low height is not contacted with the first steeply inclined surface 2d and the projection 4b is contacted only with the first gently inclined surface 2d &# 39 ;. that is , although a long thrusting stroke is required for the mechanical pencil 6 in order to thrust the lead , the ballpoint pen cartridge 7 not having any necessity of the lead thrusting operation does not require such a long stroke . this is a reason to shorten the thrusting stroke of the ballpoint pen cartridge . then , if pushing down the push button 3 until it is stopped and releasing the pressure applied to the push button 3 , the projection 4b is rotated over 90 ° from the position &# 34 ; g &# 34 ; shown in fig1 and 15 to the initial position &# 34 ; a &# 34 ; via a position &# 34 ; h &# 34 ; and thus the ballpoint pen cartridge 7 is retracted in the casing 1 . although it is described that the ridges and grooves are integrally formed on the inner circumferential of the upper casing 1a , it may be possible to form these ridges and grooves on a separate member and to unite the member to the upper casing 1a , for example , by adhesive . a second embodiment of the present invention will be hereinafter described with reference to fig2 . in fig2 , a reference numeral 9 denotes a lead of the mechanical pencil cartridge 6 ; similarly , a numeral 10 a first shaft ; a numeral 11 a second shaft ; a numeral 12 a third shaft ; a numeral 13 a fourth shaft ; a numeral 14 a chuck ; a numeral 15 a presser ring ; a numeral 16 a first return spring having a low spring constant ( i . e . a first weak return spring ); a numeral 17 a second return spring having a high spring constant ( i . e . a second strong return spring ); and a numeral 18 a lead guide . although only one shaft ( i . e . a third shaft 12 ) is used as a lead thrusting shaft and one return spring 16 is used as a return spring in the conventional mechanical pencil cartridge shown in fig1 , the cartridge of the second embodiment has a lead thrusting shaft comprising two stage shafts i . e . the third shaft 12 and the fourth shaft 13 and additionally the first weak return spring 16 and the second strong return spring 17 . during the lead thrusting operation , when softly pushing the push button 3 , only the first weak return spring 16 is compressed without compressing the second strong spring 17 ; and the third shaft 12 pushes the chuck 14 and thrusts the lead 9 with holding the lead 9 until the chuck 14 is disengaged from the presser ring 15 . if the thrusted amount of the lead is not sufficient , such soft pushing operation of the push button 3 should be repeated until a desired length of the lead is thrusted . when a user wishes to contain the mechanical pencil cartridge 6 within the casing 1 or to change over from the mechanical pencil cartridge 6 to the ballpoint pen cartridge 7 , the push button 3 should be strongly or deeply pushed . the strong pushing operation of the push button 3 compresses not only the first weak return spring 16 but the second strong return spring 17 and moves the projection 4b from the position &# 34 ; c &# 34 ; to the position &# 34 ; d &# 34 ; ( fig1 ) and then the projection is moved to the position &# 34 ; e &# 34 ; when the pressure applied to the push button 3 is released . that is , the provision of the weak and strong return springs makes it possible to select either the lead thrusting operation or the cartridge changing over operation by pushing the push button 3 softly or deeply . a third embodiment of the present invention will be hereinafter described with reference to fig2 . in fig2 , a reference numeral 9 denotes a lead of the mechanical pencil cartridge 6 ; similarly , a numeral 10 a first shaft ; a numeral 11 a second shaft ; a numeral 12 a third shaft ; a numeral 13 a fourth shaft ; a numeral 14 a chuck ; a numeral 15 a presser ring ; a numeral 18 a lead guide ; a numeral 19 a first return spring having a low spring constant ; and a numeral 20 a second return spring having a high spring constant . the third embodiment is different from the second embodiment in that the third shaft 12 of the second embodiment is omitted and thus the structure of the third embodiment is simplified and in that the first weak return spring 19 is fitted under an initially precompressed condition and the second strong return spring 20 is fitted under a noncompressed condition and thus the cartridge 6 can be returned by the weak return spring 19 . during the lead thrusting operation , when softly pushing the push button 3 , only the first weak return spring 16 is compressed without compressing the second strong spring 17 ; and the fourth shaft 13 pushes the chuck 14 and thrusts the lead 9 with the chuck 14 holding the lead 9 until the chuck 14 is disengaged from the presser ring 15 . since the lead thrusting stroke is short , the amount of compression of the second strong return spring 20 is a little and thus the reaction force caused by the spring 20 is small . if the thrusted amount of the lead is not sufficient , several times of the thrusting operation of the push button 3 should be repeated until a desired length of the lead is thrusted . when a user wishes to contain the mechanical pencil cartridge 6 within the casing 1 or to change over from the mechanical pencil cartridge 6 to the ballpoint pen cartridge 7 , the push button 3 should be strongly or deeply pushed . of course , the strong pushing operation of the push button 3 causes a compression of the first weak return spring 19 and also causes a compression of the second strong return spring 20 with a long stroke generating a strong reaction force . this moves the projection 4b from the position &# 34 ; c &# 34 ; to the position &# 34 ; d &# 34 ; ( fig1 ) and then the projection is moved to the position &# 34 ; e &# 34 ; when the pressure applied to the push button 3 is released . that is , the modification of the initially mounted condition of the weak and strong return springs makes it possible to select either the lead thrusting operation or the cartridge changing operation by pushing the push button 3 softly or deeply . a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be hereinafter described with reference to fig2 . in fig2 , a reference numeral 9 denotes a lead of the mechanical pencil cartridge 6 ; similarly , a numeral 10 a first shaft ; a numeral 11 a second shaft ; a numeral 13 a fourth shaft ; a numeral 14 a chuck ; a numeral 15 a presser ring ; a numeral 18 a lead guide ; a numeral 21 a third return coil spring ; a numeral 22 an elastic ring of rubber or soft plastic ; and a symbol &# 34 ; ga &# 34 ; a distance required for lead thrusting . the fourth embodiment is different from the third embodiment in that the second return spring 20 in the third embodiment is replaced with the elastic ring 22 and the distance &# 34 ; ga &# 34 ; required for lead thrusting . during the lead thrusting operation , when softly pushing the push button 3 , the third return spring 21 is compressed by the amount of the distance &# 34 ; ga &# 34 ;; the fourth shaft 13 pushes the chuck 14 and thrusts the lead 9 with holding the lead 9 until the chuck 14 is disengaged from the presser ring 15 ; during which the elastic ring 22 is not compressed at all . if the thrusted amount of the lead is not sufficient , several times of the thrusting operation of the push button 3 should be repeated until a desired length of the lead is thrusted . when a user wishes to contain the mechanical pencil cartridge 6 within the casing 1 or to change over from the mechanical pencil cartridge 6 to the ballpoint pen cartridge 7 , the push button 3 should be strongly or deeply pushed . of course , the strong pushing operation of the push button 3 causes a compression of the third return spring 21 ; the distance &# 34 ; ga &# 34 ; is eliminated ; the elastic ring 22 is also compressed and causes a strong reaction force which moves the projection 4b from the position &# 34 ; c &# 34 ; to the position &# 34 ; d &# 34 ; ( fig1 ); and then the projection is moved to the position &# 34 ; e &# 34 ; when the pressure applied to the push button 3 is released . that is , the provision of the elastic ring 22 and the distance &# 34 ; ga &# 34 ; required for lead thrusting makes the difference in pressure feeling between the strong and soft depressions clear and also makes the lead thrusting operation and the cartridge changing over operation sure . a fifth embodiment of the present invention will be hereinafter described with reference to fig2 . in fig2 , a reference numeral 9 denotes a lead of the mechanical pencil cartridge 6 ; similarly , a numeral 10 a first shaft ; a numeral 11 a second shaft ; a numeral 13 a fourth shaft ; a numeral 14 a chuck ; a numeral 15 a presser ring ; a numeral 18 a lead guide ; a numeral 23 a fourth return spring for a distal shaft ; a symbol &# 34 ; ga &# 34 ; a distance required for lead thrusting ; a numeral 24 a fifth return spring for a proximal shaft shortened by an amount of the distance &# 34 ; ga &# 34 ;; and a numeral 25 a projection for anchoring the fifth return spring 24 . the projection 25 can be omitted by slightly reducing the inner diameter of the top of the fifth spring 24 . the fifth embodiment is different from the third embodiment in that the second return spring 20 in the third embodiment is replaced with the fifth spring 24 for the proximal shaft having a spring length shortened by the distance &# 34 ; ga &# 34 ; required for lead thrusting and in that the top end of the fifth spring 24 is secured to the fourth shaft 13 by adhesive or welding . during the lead thrusting operation , when softly pushing the push button 3 , the fourth return spring 23 for the distal shaft is compressed by the amount of the distance &# 34 ; ga &# 34 ;; the fourth shaft 13 pushes the chuck 14 and thrusts the lead 9 with the chuck 14 holding the lead 9 until the chuck 14 is disengaged from the presser ring 15 ; during which the fifth return spring 24 is not compressed at all . if the thrusted amount of the lead is not sufficient , several times of the thrusting operation of the push button 3 should be repeated until a desired length of the lead is thrusted . when a user wishes to contain the mechanical pencil cartridge 6 within the casing 1 or to change over from the mechanical pencil cartridge 6 to the ballpoint pen cartridge 7 , the push button 3 should be strongly or deeply pushed . of course , the strong pushing operation of the push button 3 causes a compression of the fourth return spring 23 ; the distance &# 34 ; ga &# 34 ; is eliminated ; the fifth return spring 24 for the proximal shaft shortened by the distance &# 34 ; ga &# 34 ; 22 is also compressed and causes a strong reaction force which moves the projection 4b from the position &# 34 ; c &# 34 ; to the position &# 34 ; d &# 34 ; ( fig1 ); and then the projection 4b is moved upward to the position &# 34 ; e &# 34 ; when the pressure applied to the push button 3 is released . that is , the provision of the distance &# 34 ; ga &# 34 ; required for lead thrusting makes the difference in pressure between the strong and soft depressions clear and also makes the lead thrusting operation and the cartridge changing over operation sure . in addition , no noise is caused during use or carry of the writing tool since the top end of the fifth return spring 24 is secured to the shaft of the cartridge . although the combination of two cartridges of the ballpoint pen and the mechanical pencil has been shown in the illustrated embodiments , it will be appreciated that the present invention can be applied to a combination of three or four cartridges of the ballpoint pen mechanical pencil or felt - tip pen . such a combination can be attained by increasing the number of the saw - toothed tips 2 and the v - shaped recesses 3b and by reducing the width of the pushing surface 4d . obviously , numerous modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings . it is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims , the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described herein .	1
fig1 illustrates a scene 1 monitored by a camera 2 . images captured by the camera 2 are encoded before being transmitted to , e . g ., a control centre , where an operator or a guard may watch displayed images of monitored scenes . after encoding , the images may also be stored , either locally , such as on an sd card in the camera 2 , or remotely , such as on a server in the control centre . when capturing images using an image sensor , there is always some noise present in the signal from the sensor . some of this noise is spatial , such as fixed - pattern noise , whereas some of the noise is temporal , such as reset noise and thermal noise . the spatial noise remains the same from one image frame to the next , but the temporal noise , per definition , varies from one frame to the next . this presents a problem when encoding an image frame using inter - frame encoding , since inter - frame encoding relies on referring to a previously encoded and decoded image frame used as a reference frame . if there is actually no or very little change in the scene from the time of capture of a first frame to the time of capture of a second , subsequent frame , encoding using intra - frame encoding may be very efficient , since most macroblocks in the second frame will look the same as the corresponding blocks in the first frame . however , temporal noise will impose differences between the first image and the second image that do not originate in the captured scene . as discussed in the background portion of this application , such noise may lead to increased output bitrates , as well as longer searches for matching macroblocks . when searching for a matching block to be used in inter - frame encoding , if a block in the reference frame is to be considered similar enough to the block to be encoded in the current image to be used as reference block , the difference between the block in the current image frame and the potential block in the reference frame has to be below a predetermined similarity threshold . the difference may , e . g ., be expressed as a sum of absolute differences ( sad ). the sad is calculated by taking the absolute difference between a pixel in the current image frame and a corresponding pixel in a compared block in the reference frame and calculating a sum of all such differences for all pixels in the block . thus , the sad may be expressed as follows : here , n is the number of pixels in the studied block , v c , n is the pixel value of pixel n in the current image frame , and v r , n is the pixel value of the corresponding pixel n in the reference frame . temporal noise will lead to an increased sad . if the block where the search is started is considered similar to the block to be encoded , this first block is used as reference block . if , on the other hand , the block where the search is started differs too much from the block to be encoded , i . e . if the said is above the predetermined threshold , the search continues to another block . which block to continue is determined by a search pattern used for the search . generally , there is a limit set for how far the search is continued . if no similar block has been found when the search pattern limit is reached , the block to be encoded is not encoded in inter mode , but instead encoded in intra mode . noise is generally always present in the captured image frames , but it becomes more pronounced if images are captured in low - light conditions , such as at dusk or dawn , when long exposure times are needed and a high gain is used . noise also becomes more pronounced at high temperatures , because many noise sources in image sensors are worsened by raised temperatures . according to the invention , the impact of the noise may be reduced using a method and / or a digital video encoding system which will be described further in the following . fig2 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a digital video encoding system 3 . digital video data originating from the image sensor , and pre - processed by pre - processing procedures , such as bayer pattern sampling , demosaicing , sharpening , adding contrast , tone mapping , colour correction , blurring , and hdr merging , are provided via an image input 4 to a first encoder 5 . the first encoder 5 may , e . g ., be a h . 264 compliant encoder , but is according to the invention controlled such as to encode image frames using only intra - frame encoding . the intra - frames are passed to a first decoder 6 associated with the first encoder 5 , as is normally done for producing reference frames for inter - frame encoding of subsequent image frames . thus , for each input image frame , a corresponding encoded and decoded reference frame is produced . however , according to the invention , the encoded intra - frames are not themselves transmitted to the control centre for display or storage . instead , the encoded intra - frames may simply be discarded , as symbolised by arrow 7 in fig2 . the decoded frames , or reference frames , are passed from the first decoder 6 to an input 8 of a second encoder 9 . the second encoder may be similar or even identical to the first encoder 5 , but may be controlled using different parameters , such that the second encoder 9 encodes a more common video stream , with groups of pictures ( gops ) containing intra - frames as well as inter - frames . as is known per se , the encoded images from the second encoder 9 are passed to an associated second decoder 10 for decoding to form reference frames for use in inter mode encoding of subsequent image frames , and the encoded images are at the same time output from the second encoder 9 through an output 11 . the output video frames may be stored locally and / or transmitted to a remote location , such as a control centre , where they may be viewed and / or stored . the encoder system 3 may be integrated in a camera , such as the camera 2 indicated in fig1 . alternatively , the encoder system 3 may be a separate unit , operationally connected to a camera . although a variant of the inventive method has above been described in connection with the description of an embodiment of the inventive encoding system , for the sake of clarity , a variant of the method will now also be described with reference to fig3 . fig3 is a flow chart illustrating a variant of the encoding method of the invention . in a first step 101 digital video data corresponding to a first video frame or image frame is received . then , in step 102 , the first image frame is encoded in a first encoder as a first intra - frame , i . e . without reference to any other image frame . the intra - frame is decoded in step 103 , as is known per se for forming a first reference frame . the non - decoded intra - frame itself is not used , but may be discarded . in step 104 , the decoded frame , i . e . the first reference frame , is encoded in a second encoder . the second encoder is arranged to produce intra - frames as well as inter - frames , so the first frame in a gop will be encoded as an intra - frame , and subsequent frames will be encoded as inter - frames , until a new gop is started . in step 105 , the encoded frame is output as an output video frame , which may be stored locally and / or transmitted elsewhere for displaying and / or storing . the process illustrated in fig3 is repeated for subsequent input video frames in order to produce an encoded video stream . thus , a second input video frame is received , and then encoded in the first encoder as an intra - frame . this second intra - frame is decoded to form a second reference frame . the second reference frame is passed to the second encoder , while the second intra - frame itself is discarded . in the second encoder , the second reference frame is encoded as either an intra - frame or an inter - frame depending on the current gop length and how far into the gop the frame is to be located . thus , if the second frame is not to start a new gop , it is encoded as an inter - frame . depending on the input video frame rate , the first input video frame need not have passed all the way through the process and be output as an encoded frame when a second input video frame is received . the first frame may very well be processed by the second encoder , while the second frame is being processed by the first encoder , such that the two encoders may be said to operate in tandem . thereby , no latency is added by the inventive encoding method . referring to fig2 , as well as to fig3 , the first encoder 5 may be controlled to use a first compression ratio , and the second encoder 9 may be controlled to use a second compression ratio , which is higher than or equal to the first compression ratio . thus , the image quality of the intra - frames encoded by the first encoder will be higher than or equal to the image quality of the video frames output from the second encoder . for instance , if the first and second encoders 5 , 9 are both h . 264 encoders , the first encoder 5 may use a first quantisation parameter qp 1 and the second encoder 9 may use a second quantisation parameter qp 2 . just as examples , qp 1 may be 10 and qp 2 may be 15 . since the first encoder uses a low compression ratio and only encodes intra - frames , the output bit rate of the first encoder may be high . still , this does not pose a problem , since the output of the first encoder is not intended to be transmitted for viewing or storing , but only used for producing reference frames that are then encoded in the second encoder . since the second encoder uses a compression ratio that is at least as high as the one used by the first encoder , the output bit rate of the second encoder may be lower than the one from the first encoder . moreover , the output bit rate of the second encoder may be significantly lowered by the use of inter - frames in addition to intra - frames . by the quantisation that is done in the first encoder during intra - frame encoding , high frequency components of the video data is removed , meaning that noise is removed . therefore , the encoding done in the second encoder may be more efficient for a number of reasons . when temporal noise is removed , macroblocks depicting the same static portion of a scene in two successive video frames will be more similar , thereby leading to smaller residuals to encode . further , searching for a matching block in the reference frame may be quicker , because there is less variation in the corresponding macroblock from one frame to the next . this also means that it is more likely that a matching macroblock is found before the search reaches the limit set for the search pattern , thus increasing the likelihood of encoding a macroblock in an inter - frame as an inter - coded block , and not as an intra - coded block . it will be appreciated that a person skilled in the art can modify the above described embodiments in many ways and still use the advantages of the invention as shown in the embodiments above . as an example , the first encoder need not be capable of encoding anything but intra - frames , and may , e . g ., be a jpeg encoder . alternatively , the first and second encoders may be essentially identical , but controlled with different parameters , such that the first encoder encodes only intra frames , and the second encoder encodes intra - frames as well as inter - frames . the encoder system may be embodied as software , firmware , hardware , or a combination thereof . the first encoder and the second encoder may , e . g ., be embodied as software running on one and the same processor , and need not be separate units . the encoders are therefore also referred to as a first encoder instance and a second encoder instance . the invention is applicable to any block based hybrid codecs , e . g ., a h . 264 , h . 265 , mpeg - 4 part 2 , or vp9 codec . in the examples above , the first decoder is described as being associated with the first encoder . it may be noted that if the first encoder is a block - based hybrid encoder , the first decoder is advantageously integrated in the first encoder , as is well known in the art in order to avoid drift caused by rounding off , etc . however , it may also be feasible to have a separate first decoder . this is particularly true if the first encoder is a jpeg encoder , as a jpeg encoder does not normally produce reference frames . the process step performed by the first encoder need not strictly be an encoding step . instead , another procedure that reduces the spatial complexity of the input video frames may be performed . for instance , a quantisation of the input video frames may be performed , and then a de quantisation or inverse quantisation may be performed for providing the input to the second encoder . in the examples above , the invention is described in connection with a camera . the camera may be a monitoring camera . further , the camera may be any type of camera , e . g ., a camera employing visible light , an ir camera or a thermal camera . the camera may be a digital camera , but the invention may also be used with analogue cameras . in such case , images from an analogue camera may be converted to digital format using a digitalization unit . instead of in a camera , the image sensor capturing the image frames may be arranged in another type of image capturing device . the images may also be generated by a visual light sensor , a thermal sensor , a time - of - flight sensor , or other types of image generating sensors capable of generating information representative of image frames to be encoded using intra - frame and inter - frame video compression technologies . thus , the invention should not be limited to the shown embodiments but should only be defined by the appended claims .	7
the preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings . [ 0033 ] fig1 shows a digest playback unit to which the invention is applied . this digest playback unit comprises a data input part 1 , a data accumulating part 2 , a relational database part 3 , a playback part 4 , a control part 5 , a reproduction history management part 6 , a display / sound output part 7 and an operation part 8 . the playback part 4 , the control part 5 and the reproduction history management part 6 as surrounded by the broken line in fig1 may be integrally constituted by a microcomputer , for example . the data input part 1 receives information data such as dynamic image data , static image data and sound data from the outside and write them into the data accumulating part 2 . also , the data input part 1 receives relevant data of information data as information associated data or separately from the outside and writes them into the relational database part 3 . the relevant data of dynamic image data consists of user identification , data id , data storage location , file name , filming date and time , filming start time , filming place , comment , scene number , and start time and end time for each scene number , as shown in fig2 a and 2b . the relevant data of static image data consists of user identification , data id , data storage location , subtitle name , filming date and time , filming start time , filming place , comment , file name , filming time for each file name , similar image , and representative image , as shown in fig3 a and 3b . the relevant data of sound data consists of user identification , storage location , storing date and time , title of music ( file name ), singer , composer , date of issue , and hit ranking for the year , as shown in fig4 . also , the relational database part 3 has a reproduction history counter formed for each scene of dynamic image data , or for each file of static image data or sound data . the count value of the reproduction history counter is represented as k , and has an initial value of zero . a file of static image data or sound data , or a scene of dynamic image data corresponds to one piece of data . the playback part 4 , which is connected to the data accumulating part 2 , reads information data saved in the data accumulating part 2 responding to a reproduction signal from the control part 5 , decodes the information data and supplies a video signal or a sound signal to the display / sound output part 7 . the control part 5 controls each of an information saving operation , a reproduction history saving operation , a normal reproduction control operation and a digest playback control operation in the digest playback unit on the basis of the relevant data stored in the relational database part 3 or responding to an operation command supplied from the operation part 8 . the reproduction history management part 6 manages the count value of each history counter in the relational database part 3 . the operation of the digest playback unit will be described below using the flowcharts . the data input part 1 receives information data such as dynamic image data , static image data or sound data from the outside ( step s 1 ) and writes the information data in the data accumulating part 2 ( step s 2 ), as shown in fig5 . moreover , it writes the relevant data associated with the information data in the relational database part 3 ( step s 3 ). at step s 3 , the relevant data received separately responding to an input operation of the user may be written into the relational database part 3 . the information data is saved in the data accumulating part 2 by a data input operation on this data input part 1 , and its relevant data is saved in the relational database part 3 . in the normal image / sound reproduction , the user makes an input operation on the operation part 8 . the control part 5 accepts a reproduction command according to the input operation of the user from the operation part 8 ( step s 11 ), as shown in fig6 . the reproduction command contains a file name and a scene number for the dynamic image data . the reproduction command contains a file name for the static image data or the sound data . if the reproduction command is accepted , the control part 5 controls the playback part 4 to read a file corresponding to the reproduction command from the data accumulating part 2 in accordance with the reproduction command ( step s 12 ), and instructs the reproduction history management part 6 to count up the reproduction history counter corresponding to the file name or scene number indicated by the reproduction command ( step s 13 ). the reproduction history management part 6 increments by one the count value k of the reproduction history counter corresponding to each scene for the dynamic image data or each file name for the static image data or the sound data in response to an command of counting up and updates a reproduction history ( step s 14 ). the control part 5 issues a reproduction start command to the playback part 4 ( step s 15 ), and accordingly the playback part 4 decodes data of file format read from the data accumulating part 2 and supplies the decoded data to the display / sound output part 7 ( step s 16 ). thereby , at least one of reproduced image and reproduced sound is output from the display / sound output part 7 . the count value k of the reproduction history counter corresponding to the file name or scene number of reproduction object is incremented by one , every time the user performs the input operation for playback . hence , the count value k of each reproduction history counter is updated , as shown in fig2 a to 4 , for example . in the digest playback , the user inputs a theme for the digest playback from the operation part 8 . the control part 5 accepts the theme for digest playback from the operation part 8 ( step s 21 ), retrieves data associated with its theme as the file name or scene number ( step s 22 ), and determines whether or not data is resulted from retrieval ( step s 23 ), as shown in fig7 . the retrieval at step s 22 is performed using the relational database part 3 . for example , the file name , filming place or comment saved in the relational database part 3 is retrieved , and it is determined whether or not the same or associated character string exists . for the sound data and static image data , the file name is retrieved , but for the dynamic image data , the scene number , but not the file name , is retrieved . if the file name or scene number associated with the input theme is not retrieved , the operation returns to step s 21 to accept a new theme . in this case , the user is prompted to make an input operation for the new theme . on the other hand , when data associated with the input theme is retrieved as the file name or scene number , it is discriminated whether or not the file of static image data is contained therein ( step s 24 ). if the file of static image data exists , it is discriminated whether or not the data files in mutual similarity relation exist ( step s 25 ). if the data files in mutual similarity relation exist , the file of a representative image is only left behind , and the files of other similar images are deleted from the retrieval result file ( step s 26 ). the representative image has the largest count value k of the reproduction history counter among the similar images . as shown in fig3 the files of similar image are attached with the same sign ( a , b ) in the relational database part 3 , and the representative image is attached with the sign ( e . g ., ◯). if the file of static image data is not contained in the retrieval result data at step s 24 or if there is no relation of similar images at step s 25 , step s 27 is performed . step 27 is also performed after execution of step s 26 . the control part 5 sorts the retrieval result data according to the count value k of the reproduction history counter at step s 27 . that is , the count value k of the reproduction history counter for each file and scene is read from the relational database part 3 , and the files are arranged in the descending order of the count value k . further , the information reproduction time t is set for each file ( step s 28 ). particularly , in the case of dynamic image data or sound data , the reproduction time t for the initial part thereof is defined . for example , the reproduction time may be determined according to the size of file or a difference between the start time and the end time of scene . also , when the sound data is a musical piece , a highlight part of the musical piece ( so - called a climax ) may be set as the reproduction time t . after executing step s 28 , the control part 5 executes the digest playback operation ( step s 29 ). in the digest playback operation , the retrieval result data having the largest count value k of the reproduction history counter is selected as shown in fig8 ( step s 31 ). the playback part 4 starts to reproduce the data of the selected file for a reproduction time of step s 28 ( step s 32 ). that is , the data in selected file format is read from the data accumulating part 2 by the playback part 4 , and the read data is decoded . if the read data is dynamic image data , the dynamic image reproduction is performed from the dynamic image data , if it is static image data , the static image reproduction is performed , or if it is sound data , the audio reproduction is performed . it is discriminated whether or not a digest playback end command is issued from the operation part 8 by the input operation of the user ( step s 33 ). that is , it is discriminated whether or not the reproduction end is requested during the digest playback by the user . when the digest playback end command is issued , the digest playback of the playback part 4 is discontinued ( step s 34 ). when the digest playback end command is not issued , it is discriminated whether or not a total reproduction command for the dynamic image or sound during the digest playback is issued from the operation part 8 by the input operation of the user ( step s 35 ). if the total reproduction command is issued , the operation is switched into the total reproduction in which the total data of the dynamic image scene or sound during the digest playback is reproduced ( step s 36 ). that is , the playback part 4 is instructed to perform the total reproduction up to the end , but not the digest playback for the set time t ( step s 37 ). if the total reproduction is ended , it is discriminated whether or not the digest playback is resumed for remaining data of the retrieval result data ( step s 38 ). this is determined by making a display indicating whether or not to resume the digest playback on the display / sound output part 7 after the end of total reproduction , and prompting the user to make a selection on the operation part 8 . if the digest playback is not resumed , the digest playback operation is ended , or if the digest playback is resumed , step s 40 is performed . on the other hand , if the total reproduction command is not issued , the control part 5 discriminates whether or not the digest playback started at step s 32 is performed for the set time t ( step s 39 ). if it is not performed for the set time t , the digest playback started at step s 32 is continued until the set time t is ended . if the digest playback for the set time t is performed , it is discriminated whether or not the digest playback of all the retrieval result data is ended ( step s 40 ). if the digest playback for all the retrieval result files is ended , the digest playback operation is ended . on the other hand , if the digest playback for all the retrieval result data is not ended , the next largest count value k of the reproduction history counter in the sorting order at step s 27 is selected from among the retrieval result data ( step s 41 ), and the operation returns to step s 32 to start to reproduce the data in the selected file format for reproduction time at step s 28 . suppose that the results that the dynamic image data in a unit of scene retrieved in accordance with the theme instructed by the user are sorted in the descending order of the count value k of the reproduction history counter , namely , the reproduction frequency , are given as shown in fig9 . when the digest playback of the dynamic image scenes is performed , the dynamic image reproduction is performed for the set time t from the beginning of each scene in the order of scenes 5 , 8 , 9 , 2 , 11 , 3 , . . . , as shown in fig1 . when the results that the static image data files retrieved in accordance with the theme instructed by the user are sorted in the descending order of the count value k of the reproduction history counter are in the order of static images 4 , 8 , 1 , 12 , 6 , 3 , . . . , for example , each static image is displayed for the set time t in the order of static images 4 , 8 , 1 , 12 , 6 , 3 , . . . , as shown in fig1 , on the digest playback of static image data files . the static image has a shorter definite set time t for the digest playback than that for the dynamic image . when the results that the sound ( here , assuming it to be music .) data files retrieved in accordance with the theme instructed by the user are sorted in the descending order of the count value k of the reproduction history counter are in the order of musical compositions d , g , b , n , e , a , . . . , for example , the highlight part of each musical composition is played for the set time t in the order of musical compositions d , g , b , n , e , a , . . . , as shown in fig1 , on the digest playback of the sound data files . hence , since the digest playback is made according to the reproduction frequency of each piece of information such as dynamic image reproduced by the user , the digest playback image and sound are obtained for the information which it is expected that the user wants to really view or listen to . since the digest playback of image or music is performed in order of decreasing reproduction frequency , the information which the user wants to view and listen to more preferentially is reproduced earlier . moreover , the digest playback involving the use of the highlight part of image or musical composition is more favorable for the user . the digest playback operation only of static images may be performed as a slide show , as shown in fig1 . that is , the control part 5 selects the file having the largest count value k of the reproduction history counter among a unit of files in the retrieval result data of static image ( step s 51 ). the playback part 4 is instructed to reproduce the static image data of the selected file for a definite period of time ( step s 52 ). thereby , the reproduced static image is displayed on the display / sound output part 7 . it is discriminated whether or not a digest playback end command is issued from the operation part 8 by the input operation of the user during this reproduction of static image ( step s 53 ). that is , it is discriminated whether or not the reproduction end is requested during the digest playback by the user . when the digest playback end command is issued , the digest playback is discontinued ( step s 54 ). when the digest playback end command is not issued , it is discriminated whether or not the digest playback for all the retrieval result files of static image data is completed ( step s 55 ). if the digest playback for all the retrieval result files of static image data is completed , the digest playback operation is ended . on the other hand , if the digest playback for all the retrieval result files of static image data is not completed , the next largest count value k of the reproduction history counter in the sorting order at step s 27 is selected from among the retrieval result files of static image data ( step s 56 ), and the operation returns to step s 52 to start to reproduce the static image data in the selected file format . in the above embodiment , the order in which the digest playback for the retrieval result files in accordance with the theme specified by the user is performed is the descending order of the count value k of the reproduction history counter , but is not limited thereto . for example , the digest playback for the retrieval result files may be performed in the random order . [ 0056 ] fig1 is a flowchart of the digest playback control for performing the digest playback in the random order . steps s 21 to s 28 ( except for step s 27 ) for the digest playback control in fig1 are the same as those for the digest playback control as shown in fig7 . step s 27 is not performed in the digest playback control of fig1 . after executing step s 28 , the control part 5 performs the digest playback by random numbers ( step s 30 ). the digest playback operation at step s 30 is performed as shown in fig1 . the control part 5 generates a random number , and determines the count value k according to the generated random number ( step s 61 ). then , it controls the playback part 4 to start the reproduction for the reproduction time at step s 28 in accordance with the file corresponding to the determined count value ( step s 32 ). steps s 32 to s 40 are the same as those for the digest playback operation as shown in fig8 . if it is discriminated at step s 40 that the digest playback for all the retrieval result files is not completed , the operation returns to step s 61 to determine the count value k according to a next generated random number for the remaining files for which the digest playback is not performed . the digest playback in random order may be applied to the digest playback operation only of static images . as shown in fig1 , the control part 5 generates a random number , and determines the count value k according to the generated random number ( step s 71 ). then , it instructs the playback part 4 to perform the reproduction for the reproduction time in accordance with the static image data of file corresponding to the determined count value ( step s 52 ). steps s 52 to s 55 are the same as those for the digest playback operation as shown in fig1 . if it is discriminated at step s 55 that the digest playback for all the retrieval result files is not completed , the operation returns to step s 71 to determine the count value k according to a next generated random number for the remaining files for which the digest playback is not performed . [ 0059 ] fig1 is a flowchart of the digest playback control in random order . in the digest playback control as shown in fig1 , the control part 5 , first of all , determines the range of count value k by using random number , wherein the value k is multiplied by the weighting factor a ( step s 81 ) that is , the numeral x for the upper level “ x %” for the count value k of the reproduction history counter with respect to the retrieval result data having the file name ( including the scene number ) are determined by generating a random number . also , the range of weighting factor a is determined such as the range from 0 . 5 to 1 . 5 ( step s 82 ), and the weighting factor a for each file in the range of the upper level x % is determined within the range of weighting factor a by generating a random number ( step s 83 ). thereafter , for each file in the upper level x %, the count value k ′ is calculated by k × a ( step s 84 ), and the file having the largest count value k ′ is selected from among the files in the upper level x % ( step s 85 ). the steps after executing step s 85 are the same as steps s 32 to s 40 as shown in fig8 and thus the description about these steps is omitted here . if it is discriminated at step s 40 that the digest playback for all the retrieval result files is not completed , the file having the next count values k and k ′ of the reproduction history counter in the sorting order is selected from the retrieval result files ( step s 86 ) , and the operation returns to step s 32 to start to reproduce the data in the selected file format for the reproduction time at step s 28 . at step s 86 , the count value k ′ is employed for the file having the count value k ′ calculated , or the count value k is employed for other files , whereby the files are selected in order of decreasing k and k ′. suppose that the results that the dynamic image scenes retrieved in accordance with the theme instructed by the user are sorted in the descending order of the count value k of the reproduction history counter , namely , the reproduction frequency , are given as shown in fig1 . the scenes for the upper level x % of the count value k are determined in accordance with this sorting order as the scene numbers 5 , 8 , 9 , 2 and 11 by the random number generated at step s 81 . at step s 82 , the range of weighting factor a is determined such as the range from 0 . 5 to 1 . 5 , and the values of the weighting factor a for data of the scene number 5 , 8 , 9 , 2 , and 11 are defined by generating respective random numbers at step s 83 , as shown in fig1 . hence , each count value k ′ is calculated at step s 84 , as shown in fig1 . when the digest playback for the dynamic image scenes is performed , the dynamic image reproduction is performed for the reproduction time t from the beginning of each scene in the order of scene 9 , 8 , 5 , 2 , 11 , 3 , . . . , shown in fig2 . in the same manner as the digest playback operation as shown in fig1 , the digest playback operation only of static images is performed employing the count values k ′, as shown in fig2 . this digest playback operation is performed in the same manner as at steps s 81 to s 85 , steps s 52 to s 55 and steps s 86 , except that the files are limited to the static image files , and the description of this digest playback operation is omitted here . as described above , with this invention , it is possible to perform the digest playback of the information which is expected that the user really wants to view and listen to among the recorded information . the present invention has been described in detail by way of illustration and embodiments for purposes of clarity and understanding . however , it will be obvious that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described herein , and that certain changes and modifications may be practiced within the scope of the invention , as limited only by the scope of the appended claims . the entire disclosure of japanese patent application no . 2003 - 141530 filed on may 20 , 2003 , including specification , claims , drawings and summary are incorporated herein by reference in its entirety .	6
the present invention is designed to be used in conjunction with the video processor disclosed in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 392 , 227 , which is hereby incorporated by reference . in video camera systems now in use , the digital representation of video corresponds to its analog representation ; that is , the luminosity is represented digitally directly proportional to an analog voltage relative to zero volts . accordingly , full scale binary numbers are required to represent the analog voltage . the stair step curve shown in fig2 represents digital luminosity values from 0 to 15 requiring a binary number with a radix of four . in this example , 0 would represent a block pixel or a pixel with no luminosity and 15 would represent a pixel with maximum luminosity . in a conventional system , luminosity is typically represented by a binary number being a radix of 8 giving 256 different levels of luminosity . in a method of the present invention , a reference point is established at or near the middle of the analog scale . this reference point is identified as the middle gray scale point or mid gray point , as shown in fig2 . the pixel luminosity is then represented digitally by the difference of the analog signal from this mid gray point . thus , in this system , a black pixel would be represented by a value of − 8 and a pixel with a maximum luminosity would be represented by value of + 7 . the middle gray point is represented by 0 . by representing a minimum value of − 8 thus a pixel with maximum luminosity would be represented by a value of + 7 . the radix required to represent an absolute value of 8 is smaller than a radix required to represent an absolute value of 16 . the middle gray or monochromatic point is 0 . by representing a pixel luminosity in this manner , the radix required to represent the luminosity is reduced . however , in this scheme of representing luminosity , information must be transmitted as to the sign of each digital value representing which side of the middle gray point the luminosity value lies . to provide this information , the pixel value transmitted in sequence are divided into groups wherein each group will present a sequence of pixels having the same sign ; that is , representing luminosity on the same side of the middle gray point . the probability of pixel distribution favors large numbers of luminosity values being grouped on the same side of the middle gray point . the least significant bit of the luminosity of the first pixel in a block will represent the sign for the luminosity of all the pixels of the block . the loss of the least significant bit of the luminosity of the first pixel will result in the loss of information , but the loss will be minor and not noticeable . the start of each block is signaled to the distant end by means of a code . the coding scheme is well described in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 392 , 223 , reference to fig4 codes to represent video and audio weighting plans and reference to fig1 workstation packet control . fig3 shows a video conferencing system employing a color video camera of the sequential type wherein red , green and blue filters in synchronous filter 39 are used to generate red , green and blue video signal frames which are imaged in sequence on the charge coupled device 37 . in addition to the color video signals , a fourth video frame is generated which may be a gray scale video with ir content representing the scene in black and white or gray scale . as indicated above , red , green and blue filters are interposed in sequence in the path of the light between the camera lens and the ccd 37 so that the ccd converts the visual image to an electrical format in successive frame intervals . to generate the gray scale video , a infrared filter or neutral gray filter may be used so that the gray scale is received by the ccd 37 in the fourth frame interval . thus , the synchronous filter interposes the color filters in sequence followed by a frame in which no color filter is present . in accordance with the preferred embodiment , the scene is illuminated with infrared light by an infrared laser diode array 40 . as a result , when the gray scale video frame is being detected by the ccd without any filter interposed by the synchronous filter , this frame will also include an infrared component . an iris may be provided in the synchronous filter wherein the size of the aperture and thus the intensity of the light reaching the ccd may be controlled . by using a feedback signal to control the intensity of illumination by the diode array 40 or to control the iris in the synchronous filter , the values of the gray scale pixels can be measured and controlled , and indirectly the color pixels as well . this control enables the radix of the pixel values to be controlled while maintaining hue or color accuracy . the gray values are buffered by the controlled illumination of the infrared light . this gray value may be mathematically used to buffer and smooth out in time the values of color as well . the mathematical function referred to here is the general application of convolution theorems as found in the practice of complex algebra . a reference for complex algebra is complex variables and the laplace transform for engineers by wilbur r . lepage and published by the mcgraw - hill book company . the design of the vam is such that it promotes the use of these mathematical functions in the memory itself which reduces processor overhead thus enabling more pixels to be processed per unit time . this description of the vam cell uses addition and subtraction as two mathematical operations , but the vam cell can also incorporate other digital mathematical functions between the register structures such as multiplication , division and binary operations such as and and or . the use of the infrared illumination of the scene while generating a gray scale image incorporating the infrared component acts as an effective countermeasure to overcome the negative effect of ac powered fluorescent light in video conferencing situations . the infrared illumination enables a steady state illumination of the scene to be achieved and , accordingly , suppresses illumination fluctuations which require more processing work . as shown in fig3 , each video frame detected by the ccd is converted to a digital value and stored in a separate frame of the vam array 43 for latter processing of the digital data . in the system of the invention shown in fig3 , a video camera 50 detects a scene to be processed . the analog to digital converter 41 converts each cd pixel to digital representation which is stored in vam 43 . the vam 43 is provided with multiple input and output ports for storing and sending out digital data independent of flag and signal lines . the vam should be initialized prior to use , that is each cell set to zero . each vam addressable location or cell is made up of a plurality of stages . the vam architecture is shown in fig4 , and contains several structures in the cell including the memory . in this simplified form of the invention , the detected scene is represented in black and white whereas the analog signal values stored in the ccd represents the luminosity of the corresponding pixels in the scene . the preferred embodiment of a single random access memory cell is shown in fig4 , has seven structures or stages capable of functioning as registers 21 through 27 . each cell contains a digital storage location corresponding to each pixel of the detected scene . the memory portion is referred to as register a 21 and thus corresponds to a pixel in the scene being detected . the vam cell may be organized in several ways but this description will show only 1 way . it will be apparent at the end of the discussion that other organizations are possible . each way is an approach to the same means . the end means is to reduce or eliminate redundant video data . in the vam 43 , the address circuitry is combined with two or more accumulators using a technique called bit slice architecture . in bit slice architecture the subelements of the cell are individually addressable and can be reconfigured into new logic arrangements . in the example of fig3 , we will use registers a 21 , b 22 , c 23 , d 24 , e 25 f 26 and g 27 . the size of the registers can be adjusted under processor control . the two main temporal registers are labeled a 21 and b 22 . a 21 and b 22 are arranged in a stack . as data is write latched into register a , typical memory address and timing circuits control the sequencing . upon conclusion of the write cycle , register b 22 is subtracted from register a 21 . the results are pushed into register c 23 . as the data is pushed into c 23 , register a 21 is pushed into b 22 and register a 21 remains and is available to be read as ordinary memory . register c 23 contains the subtraction results and register b 22 contains the pixel value of register a from time t 0 . at the beginning of this operation , register b 22 was zero . the subtraction of zero is essentially a null operation but the contents of register a are pushed into b . at time t 1 a new pixel value is written to register a 21 . on the second write operation a new value of p 1 shown in fig5 is loaded into a . at the conclusion of the write cycle , b 22 is subtracted from a and pushed into register c 23 . register c 23 contains the temporal difference between the same pixel at two different times . the contents of register c 23 are also pushed into register d 24 . on the third write , the contents of register c 23 are pushed into register d 24 . on the forth write to the vam cell , the contents of register d 24 are subtracted from register c 23 and stored in register e 25 . register e 25 contains ξ which is the difference between registers d 24 and c 23 , and which is compared with ε . the value ε is the threshold value of the temporal pixel difference described in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 392 , 223 and it is predetermined by the a / v processor using the ai software described in that reference . it is loaded into the specific vam cell of register g 27 as part of an initialization process and updated in the course of operations as conditions require . note that there is no requirement that all vam cells have the same value c . the value e should be tuned for various regions of the frame . that way processing resources can be assigned those regions that require it . register e 25 is compared with register g 27 and if register e 25 is greater than g 27 then the z flag is not true and e 25 contains the temporal difference . if e 25 is less than g 27 , then e 25 is set to zero and the z flag is true . the condition of the z flag , not true or true , for each cell of the vam is set in register f . note that e 25 does not actually become zero , it is not required to . the processor only needs to read the z flag at the vam address to know if the contents are zero . the z flag also has second purpose . it is an associative signal to the processor to signal those addresses which can be grouped into video frame processing blocks as shown in fig1 of u . s . pat . no . 5 , 392 , 223 . a key advantage of the z flag is that it may be used to represent a large amount of memory so that the processor is not required to read each z flag from each vam cell . the flags from each cell can be aggregated as shown in fig7 . the processor can scan the memory bank which represents a large memory block in the example of fig7 . the z_sum signal is true only when all z flags are true . if one or more z flag signals are not true then z_sum is not true . the size of the bank aggregated can be adjusted by the circuit design engineer for optimal performance in a specific configuration . by checking the z_sum flags , a processor can quickly scan large memory banks and avoid processing banks not meeting processing criteria as set by the e factor . the vam cell may be programmed to output radix controlled data such as register c 23 or register e 25 in autonomous operation as shown in fig3 . this data can then be made available to a direct memory access controller along with the cell &# 39 ; s address for automatic operation so that the processor only needs to supervise the operation . register c 23 is the direct difference between a pixel at two times and register e 25 is the acceleration of data change . if register d 24 is the same value as register e 25 , then the data change velocity is constant and therefore 0 . but if the data rate change is not constant , then register e 25 will have a positive or negative value indicating increasing or decreasing data rate change . this is a heads up indicator to the processor of how the data rate is changing which may require a change in the processing algorithm . this factor can be important in predicting video processing changes and provide advance warning to the processor of said change . vam represents a unique memory type . it is unique in that it retains all the functionality of random access memory but incorporates the ability to retain previous data and make meaningful judgments concerning present data as it relates to previous data . it has the ability to cooperate with the processor and the algorithm in this respect . there are other applications for this type of memory besides video processing . this memory will function in any application where large amounts of raw data are collected that need to be reduced for storage . the vam design is also suited for spatial processing . fig6 shows an example of spatial processing . for example , seismic data can be reduced for transmission or magnetic storage using a vam type memory cell . in the seismic spatial application , a single point in space such as point on the earth &# 39 ; s surface may be a boundary point between two geological formations . to test this case and identify the point , the write circuitry to a single vam memory cell would perform two successive writes , representing adjacent points , each write represents a unique point . each vam cell then would contain two adjacent points . a cell programmed to test the difference between adjacent points is shown in the model of fig7 . note that there is no requirement for the points to be directly adjacent . every other point would also fit this adjacent criteria . they can be adjacent horizontally or vertically . assume the write circuitry is programmed to make two successive writes to the same address location in the vam memory map . the components of the vam cell would be programmed to function similarly as in the spatial configuration . that is the radix of each register is adjustable and the error threshold is programmable . any difference operations which yielded a value less than threshold would cause the zero flag to be set . if any two spatial points were distinctly different to cause the zero flag to be not true then the processor can simply read the zero flag and locate the address of that specific vam cell or vam bank . that cell location represents a boundary point . all the cells in a specific region of address range can be very quickly identified to the processor for additional or special processing . the flags from each cell can be aggregated as shown in fig7 . the processor can scan the memory bank which represents 1024 ( as an example ) memory locations in the example shown . the z_sum signal is true only when all z flags are true . if one z flag is not true then z_sum is not true . the size of the bank aggregated can be adjusted by the circuit design engineer for optimal performance in a specific configuration . by checking the z_sum flags , a processor can quickly scan large memory banks and avoid processing banks not meeting processing criteria as set by the e factor . the above description is of the preferred embodiment of the invention and modifications my be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims .	6
fig1 - 8 show an embodiment of a seat arrangement for use in a vehicle in accordance with the invention . the seat arrangement can be used in any vehicle equipped for carrying an infant , toddler or child seats , including automobiles , sport utility vehicles , vans , trucks , planes , buses , trains , boats , and the like . this seat arrangement generally comprises a seat supporting base member 100 to which a child &# 39 ; s seat ( not shown ) can be selectively engaged and disengaged . the base member 100 includes a load leg 200 . the load leg 200 is pivotally mounted to a forward end 100 a of the base member 100 and includes a foot member 210 . the foot member 210 can have a curved lower surface 210 a adapted to rest on top of a transmission tunnel of an automotive vehicle ( neither shown ) so that the base member 100 can be stably secured to the middle of the vehicle &# 39 ; s rear seat at a location which is optimally located to minimize injury to a child in a side impact / collision . although the central portion of the lower surface 210 a of the foot 210 curves , the lower surface 210 a becomes generally planar at either side so that , when the base member 100 is placed on the left - or right - side of the vehicle &# 39 ; s rear seat , the foot 210 can balance on the flat surface of the rear floor pan of the vehicle and can spread out the force translated from the child &# 39 ; s seat to the base member 100 in the event of a front collision . the foot 210 can be molded from polypropylene , polycarbonate or the like . a pair of struts 212 , which can be hollow tubes , for example , extend up from the foot 210 and are slidably received within channels 213 molded into a load leg housing 214 . the housing 214 , as show in fig1 consists of front and rear halves 214 a , 214 b that are secured together with a plurality of un - numbered fastener elements and guides . the tubular struts 212 slide in and out of the housing 214 within predetermined limits . a latch mechanism , generally denoted by the numeral 216 , is mounted in the housing 214 in the manner best seen in fig8 . the latch mechanism 216 , as shown in fig8 includes a pair of pawl - like pivotal latch members 218 with teeth 218 a that engagingly extend into one of series of openings 212 a formed along the inboard edges of the tubular struts 212 . the latch members 218 are spring loaded by compression springs 220 so as to be constantly biased to pivot in a direction wherein the teeth 218 a engage opposed openings 212 a . a single , manually operable , button - like adjustment handle or member 222 is arranged to engage the latch members 218 . displacement of the adjustment handle 222 against the bias of the springs 220 ( in fig8 upward ) induces the pivoting movement of the latch members 218 in a direction which retracts the teeth from the openings 212 a . once the teeth 218 a are retracted from the openings 212 a , the tubular struts 212 can be slidably adjusted up ( or down ) relative to the housing 214 . release of the adjustment handle 222 permits the latch members 218 to pivot back in an engaging direction and to re - engage in the appropriate openings 212 a . although actuation of the adjustment handle 222 is necessary for upward movement of the struts 212 ( to shorten the load leg ), the struts 212 can be moved downward ( to lengthen the load leg ) without actuating the handle 222 by pulling on foot 210 in a direction away from the base member 100 with enough force to cause the teeth 218 a to release from the openings 212 a . the teeth 218 a then slide along the inboard sides of the struts 212 until they reach the next set of opposed openings 212 a , at which time they pivot into engagement in those openings 212 a . the struts 212 can be ratcheted down in this manner until the load leg has been sufficiently lengthened . as shown in fig1 and 8 , the struts 212 include retention bushings 212 b that prevent the struts 212 from being pulled out of the lower end of the channels 213 in the load leg housing 214 . the struts 212 can be pulled downward , away from the base member 100 , only until bushings 212 b contact ribs 219 formed in the channels 213 . the housing 214 of the load leg 200 is pivotally supported on a pivot shaft or tube 224 which is rigidly connected at both ends to the underside of the base member 100 by way of connection brackets 226 . a fold latch arrangement 230 , indicated generally in fig1 is provided as part of the housing 214 of the load leg 200 . in this embodiment , the arrangement 230 takes the form of a pair of spring loaded block - like lock members 232 that are respectively arranged to project through a pair of openings 236 formed in the base member 100 when the load leg 200 is pivoted to its operative position , as seen in fig2 . engagement between the sides of the lock members 232 and the edges of the openings 236 restrains the load leg 200 against pivotal movement . the load leg 200 is maintained in this operative position until such time as the lock members 232 are manually depressed to a level where engagement with the edges of the openings 236 is lost , and resistance to pivotal movement is removed . under these conditions , the load leg 200 can be folded back to its stored position illustrated in fig6 . more specifically , as shown in fig1 the above - mentioned lock members 232 of this embodiment each comprise a hollow molded member which is configured to receive one end of a compression spring 233 . the lock members 232 also are slidably disposed in recesses 234 which are molded into the rear half 214 b of the load leg housing 214 . the lock members 232 each are formed with small retention barbs 232 a on each side . the lock members 232 are pressed into the recesses 234 , and barbs 232 a are received in slots 234 a . engagement between the upper end of the slots 234 a and the barbs 232 a limits the maximum degree of projection of each of the lock members 232 and retains them in the recesses 234 . in one embodiment , the lock members 232 are made of nylon , while the front and rear halves 214 a , 214 b of the load leg housing 214 are molded from polypropylene , polycarbonate or the like . it is preferable to form the sliding lock members 232 of a different material from that of the housing 214 so that the lock members 232 can slide easily along the recess walls . nylon ( or similar material ) provides suitable self - lubricating properties and ensures reliable operation of the lock members 232 . the single , manually operable , button - like adjustment handle or member 222 which is associated with the latch members 218 is , in this embodiment , also made of nylon for the same reason . the rear or aft end of the base member 100 ( viz ., an end of the base member distal from that at which the load leg 200 is pivotally mounted ) is provided with a pair of lock - off members 300 . the lock off members 300 are located on either side of the base member 100 and are adapted to receive and grip seat belt webbing ( not shown ) of a vehicle shoulder belt . once the seat belt is pulled into a lock off member 300 , it is gripped in a manner which strongly inhibits sliding of the belt along its length or axial direction . a lock off member 300 is provided on either side of the base member 100 so that the base member 100 can be used on either side of , or in the middle of , a vehicle . in addition , the lock off members 300 are operative with either a 2 - point or 3 - point adult seat belt . the lock off devices 300 each include inner and outer members 302 , 304 . as best seen in fig1 the inner member 302 is fixed to the base member 100 , such as by bolts or nylock nuts , so as to be restrained against any movement relative to the base member 100 . the outer member 304 , on the other hand , is secured only at one end to the inner member 302 via bolts and nylock nuts , for example . this cantilevered attachment endows the outer member 304 with the ability to flex relative to the inner member 302 by a small amount and to act as a type of non - adjustable alligator clamp . a tapered clearance is defined between the “ jaws ” of this arrangement into which a seat belt can be pulled and easily wedged . the inboard surfaces of the inner and outer members 302 , 304 additionally are provided with ribs or splines 302 a , 304 a which interleave and overlap by amounts selected so that , when seat belt webbing is slid between the inner and outer members , it is gripped and forced into a gently serpentine configuration to produce sufficient friction that movement of the seat belt webbing along its axial length direction is prohibited . the interleaving of the ribs 302 a , 304 a can be seen in fig4 . while the present invention has been described with reference to one embodiment / arrangement , it will be understood that the present invention is not limited thereto and , as will be readily appreciated by the person of skill in the art to which the present invention pertains , given the preceding disclosure , can be modified without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention . in one alternative embodiment , for example , while the two tubular struts have been described as being latched and unlatched via the use of a single manually manipulable member , i . e . element 222 , the invention is not limited to this arrangement . although member 222 simplifies the adjustment operation , the present invention can have an individually operable latch operating member associated with each of the tubular legs , if so desired . in addition , in another alternative embodiment , the latch members 218 , while being described as being associated with separate compression spring members , could be replaced with latch members that have integrally arranged springs , such as leaf spring arrangements which are integrally or unitarily formed with the latch members . the latch members 218 are preferably formed of metal for the purposes of strength and safety . alternatively , they can include a plastic covering which encompasses the integral leaf spring arrangement . in a further alternative embodiment , the fold latches 230 can be replaced with a single resiliently biased member . or , they can be replaced with a different arrangement , wherein the pivot shaft or shafts about which the load leg pivots can be supported by a pair of opposed l - shaped slots formed in the load leg housing , and wherein the upper end of the load leg housing is arranged to be inserted into a socket or recess in the lower surface of the base member of sufficient depth and size so as to lock the load leg in its operative support position . folding of the leg in this different embodiment can be achieved by pulling the load leg vertically downward so that pivot shaft ( s ) slides down the vertical leg of the l - shaped slots . the l - shaped slots are selected to have a length which allows the load leg housing to clear the socket or recess . at this stage the load leg would be released and rendered pivotal . the load leg could then be maneuvered so that the pivot shaft is moved along the horizontal leg of the l - shaped groove , and the load leg assumes a folded stored configuration with respect to the base member . further , while fig1 - 8 illustrate a seat supporting base member 100 having a particular shape , the load leg of the present invention can be used with base members of different configurations . for example , the load leg can be employed on a base member with a differently - contoured upper surface to which a child &# 39 ; s seat can be attached or with different height , width , and length dimensions . also , the reinforcing ribs on the lower side of the base member , seen most clearly in fig5 can be arranged differently in other embodiments of the base member . the lock off devices , while being disclosed as similar to alligator jaw - like clamps , can be replaced with devices wherein the outer member is pivotally mounted and adapted to snap snugly down on the inner member or the like , without departing from the broadest aspects of the invention . this application claims benefit to australian patent application no . 57664 / 01 and to european patent application no . 01 118100 . 5 , both of which are hereby incorporated by reference .	1
preferred molding compound embodiments of the invention have a ratio by weight of component i to component ii in the range 99 : 1 to 50 : 50 , preferably in the range 98 : 2 to 60 : 40 . the polyamide ( component i ) is formed from an aromatic dicarboxylic acid such as isophthalic acid , terephthalic acid , 1 , 4 -, 1 , 5 -, 2 , 6 -, or 2 , 7 - naphthalenedicarboxylic acid , 4 , 4 &# 39 ;- diphenylether dicarboxylic acid , 4 , 4 &# 39 ;- benzophenonedicarboxylic acid , 4 , 4 &# 39 ;- diphenylsulfone dicarboxylic acid , 2 - phenoxyterephthalic acid , 4 , 4 &# 39 ;- biphenyldicarboxylic acid , mixtures of these , and the like . preferred is isophthalic acid alone or a mixture of isophthalic acid and another one of the abovementioned acids . in the case of a mixture , up to 45 mol % of the isophthalic acid is replaced . suitable aromatic diamine reactants include , e . g ., 4 , 4 &# 39 ;- bis ( 4 - aminophenoxy ) diphenylsulfone , 4 , 4 &# 39 ;- bis ( 3 - aminophenoxy ) diphenylsulfone , 4 , 4 &# 39 ;- bis ( 4 - aminophenoxy ) benzophenone , 4 , 4 &# 39 ;- bis ( 3 - aminophenoxy ) benzophenone , 4 , 4 &# 39 ;- bis ( p - aminophenylmercapto ) benzophenone , 4 , 4 &# 39 ;- bis ( p - aminophenylmercapto ) diphenyl sulfone mixtures thereof , and the like . the preferred diamine is 4 , 4 &# 39 ;- bis ( 4 - aminophenoxy ) diphenylsulfone . the molar ratio of dicarboxylic acid to diamine employed is in the range of c . 0 . 9 : 1 to 1 : 0 . 9 . in order to impart improved hydrolysis resistance to the aromatic polyamide ( component i ), an additional low molecular weight aliphatic , araliphatic , or aromatic carboxylic acid amide in an amount of 0 . 0 - 10 mol %, based on the sum of the dicarboxylic acid and the diamine , is added to the acid reactant . the aromatic group here may contain halogen substituents or c 1 - c 4 alkyl group substituents . these measures are described in ger . os 38 04 401 . the hydrolysis resistance of the polyamide can also be improved by employing the dicarboxylic acid in slight excess ( ger . os 39 35 467 ), or , with the dicarboxylic acid and diamine present in approximately equimolar amounts , by further adding a monocarboxylic acid ( ger . os 39 35 468 ). the basic method of manufacturing aromatic polyamides is known . it is described , among other places , in ger . os 36 09 011 . preferably a phosphorus - containing catalyst is employed in the manufacture of the aromatic polyamides . suitable catalysts include , particularly , acids of the formula : h 3 po a , where α = 2 to 4 , or derivatives of such acids . preferred catalysts include , in particular , phosphoric acid , phosphorous acid , hypophosphorous acid , phosphonic acids such as methanephosphonic acid and phenylphosphonic acid , phosphonous acids such as benzenephosphonous acid , and phosphinic acids such as diphenylphosphinic acid . salts of the acids may be employed instead of the pure acids . suitable cations include alkali metals and alkaline earth metals , zinc , and others . the catalyst is employed in the amount of 0 . 01 - 4 . 0 mol %, preferably 0 . 2 - 2 . 0 mol % based on the sum of the dicarboxylic acid and the diamine . a preferred method for manufacturing the aromatic polyamides is to employ dialkylaminopyridines as co - catalysts along with the catalyst . particularly suitable dialkylaminopyridines are those with 1 - 10 c atoms in the alkyl group . preferably , 4 - dimethylaminopyridine , 4 - dibutylaminopyridine , or 4 - piperidinylpyridine , and derivatives of these compounds in which a pyrrolidine or piperidine ring is formed with the amine nitrogen atom of a compound . if a co - catalyst is employed , the amount used ranges from 0 . 05 - 4 mol %, preferably 0 . 2 - 2 mol % based on the sum of the dicarboxylic acid and the diamine . it is particularly preferred to use the co - catalyst in an amount equivalent to that of the catalyst in the reaction mixture . the reaction is carried out as a melt , at temperatures in the range 200 °- 400 ° c ., preferably 230 °- 360 ° c . ordinarily , an inert gas atmosphere is used , in the reaction under pressure . less than atmospheric and superatmospheric pressures may be employed , however . in order to increase the molecular weight , the aromatic polyamide can be subjected to a solid phase post - condensation , reaction also in an inert gas atmosphere . the glass temperature ( tg ) of the aromatic polyamides is in the range of 190 °- 270 ° c . the viscosity index ( j - value ) is c . 30 - 150 cc / g , preferably 60 - 120 cc / g . the melt viscosity index ( mvi ) is 0 . 1 - 200 cc / 10 min , preferably 1 . 0 - 60 cc / 10 min . aromatic , liquid crystalline thermoplastics ( component ii ) are basically known . a definition of the &# 34 ; liquid crystalline &# 34 ; property is presented in polymer , 31 , 1990 , 979 ff ., or kunststoffe , 80 , 1990 , 1159 ff . the principal liquid crystalline materials which may be used are aromatic polyesters and polyester amides . however , other thermoplastics which have liquid crystalline properties are suitable . the preferred aromatic liquid crystalline polyesters and polyester amides are comprised of units of dicarboxylic acids , dihydroxycompounds , diamines , hydroxy - and / or aminocarboxylic acids , or aminophenols . suitable ( di ) carboxylic acids include , e . g ., terephthalic acid , isophthalic acid , 1 , 4 - or 2 , 6 - naphthalenedicarboxylic acid , 4 , 4 &# 39 ;- diphenylether dicarboxylic acid , 4 , 4 &# 39 ;- dicarboxydiphenylsulfone , p - hydroxybenzoic acid , 6 - hydroxy - 2 - naphthalenecarboxylic acid , 3 - or 4 - aminobenzoic acid , and the like . suitable dihydroxy compounds include , e . g ., hydroquinone , resorcinol , 4 , 4 &# 39 ;- dihydroxybiphenyl , 4 , 4 &# 39 ;- dihydroxydiphenylsulfone ( bisphenol s ), 4 , 4 &# 39 ;- dihydroxydiphenylsulfide ( bisphenol t ), 4 , 4 &# 39 ;- dihydroxybenzophenone , and 1 , 4 - or 2 , 6 - dihydroxynaphthalene , and the like . suitable amino compounds include , e . g ., 3 - or 4 - aminophenol , 3 - or 4 - aminobenzoic acid , 1 , 3 - or 1 , 4 - diaminobenzene , and the like . particularly suitable aromatic liquid crystalline thermoplastics are described in eur . oss 0 , 063 , 680 , 0 , 081 , 900 ; 0 , 102 , 160 ; 0 , 134 , 956 ; 0 , 170 , 935 ; 0 , 201 , 831 ; 0 , 205 , 855 ; and 0 , 257 , 558 ; and in u . s . pat . nos . 3 , 778 , 410 ; 3 , 380 , 485 , and 4 , 574 , 066 . these patent documents include disclosures of methods of synthesis and compositions . the liquid crystalline thermoplastics have the additional characteristic among other characteristics that their mvi at 380 ° c . and 10 kp load is in the range 5 - 200 cc / 10 min ( din 53 35 - b ). have a liquid crystalline phase in the processing range of the molding compound ; the incompatibility is characterized by phase separation of the aromatic polyamide and the liquid crystalline thermoplastic in the temperature range - 273 ° to + 400 ° c . the diameter of the phase regions of the liquid crystalline thermoplastics is at least 0 . 05 micron . components i and ii may be mixed in customary apparatus , by injection molding or extrusion , and may be processed in customary apparatus to form molding compounds . the molding compounds may also contain fillers , e . g . talc , or reinforcing materials , e . g . fibers of glass , aramid ®, or carbon , as welt as other customary additives such as , e . g ., pigments and stabilizers . the inventive molding compounds can be processed to produce molded parts , fibers , sheets , films , and the like , by the usual processes such as injection molding , extrusion , and the like . it is also possible to use the materials as coatings based on a powder , e . g . by whirl sintering techniques , a liquid dispersion , or a solution . it has been found that the present molding compounds have clearly better processibility than the aromatic polyamides alone ( component i ), i . e . they have lower melt viscosity ; and that they offer an improved set of mechanical properties , in critically important aspects . having generally described this invention , a further understanding can be obtained by reference to certain specific examples which are provided herein for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to be limiting unless otherwise specified . the parameters referred to in the examples and elsewhere herein were determined by the following methods : the glass point ( tg ) and melting point ( tm ) were determined by the use of a dsc ( differential scanning calorimeter ) ( mettler ta 3000 ), with a heating rate 20 ° c . per minute . the viscosity index ( j ) was determined using 0 . 5 wt . % solutions of the polyamides in a 1 : 1 ( by wt .) phenol / o - dichloro - benzene mixture at 25 ° c . ( din 53 728 ). the melt viscosity index ( mvi ) was determined on a goettfert viscosimeter at 320 ° c . and 21 . 6 kp load , according to din 53 735 - b . the bending modulus e was determined according to din 53 547 - b 3 , the tensile modulus e according to din 53 547 - t , the flexural strength according to din 53 452 , and the tensile strength according to din 53 455 . example a ( according to example 1 of ger . os 36 09 011 ) a 21 . 62 g ( 0 . 05 mol ) amount 4 , 4 &# 39 ;- bis ( 4 - aminophenoxy ) diphenylsulfone and 8 . 31 g ( 0 . 05 mol ) isophthalic acid were melted in the presence of 109 microliter ( 0 . 001 mol ) 50 % aqueous hypophosphorous acid and 122 mg ( 0 . 001 mol ) 4 - dimethylaminopyridine , in a polycondensation reactor with stirrer , nitrogen inlet , and distillation bridge , at 250 ° c . after 20 min the temperature was increased to 300 ° c . the viscosity increased constantly . water liberated during the course of the reaction was removed by distillation . after 30 min at 300 ° c . the reaction wa terminated . the viscosity index ( j ) was 35 cc / g . twenty - four hours of solid phase post - condensation reaction at 250 ° c . and 0 . 5 mbar gave a polyamide with j - value 75 cc / g . 39 . 6 g amount of the aromatic polyamide according to example a and 0 . 4 g of a commercially available liquid crystalline polyester amide ( vectra ® b 950 polyester amide based on p - hydroxybenzoic acid , 2 , 6 - hydroxynaphthalenedicarboxylic acid , and p - aminobenzoic acid , with mvi = 258 g / 10 min at 300 ° c . and 2 . 16 kp load ) were intermixed in a laboratory kneader ( supplied by haake ) for 15 min at 320 ° c . under nitrogen . an opaque blend was obtained . examples 2 - 6 were carried out analogously to example 1 , but the ratio of the aromatic polyamide to the liquid crystalline polyester amide in each mixture was varied . the proportions of the individual components and the properties of the resulting molding compounds are shown in table 1 . ______________________________________ mvi - j - value pa * pea ** value ( cm . sup . 3 / 10 t . sub . g t . sub . mexample ( wt %) ( wt %) ( cm . sup . 3 / g ) min ) (° c .) (° c . ) ______________________________________1 99 1 54 7 . 3 251 -- 2 97 3 51 7 . 7 252 -- 3 95 5 51 15 . 9 248 -- 4 90 10 55 19 . 4 249 2835 80 20 60 64 . 1 248 2816 70 30 53 126 253 283a 100 0 75 5 . 3 250 -- ______________________________________ pa * aromatic polyamide pea * liquid crystalline polyester amide . a molten mixture comprised of 95 parts by weight ( pbw ) aromatic polyamide according to example a and 5 pbw liquid crystalline polyester amide according to example 1 was prepared in a dual - screw kneader ( type ze 25 supplied by berstorff ) at a housing temperature of 330 ° c ., screw speed of 70 rpm , and a throughput of 3 kg / hr . the resulting granular product was processed to form test bodies which had the following properties . table 2______________________________________ example 7 example a______________________________________j - value ( cm . sup . 3 / g ) 75 62mvi - value ( cm . sup . 3 / 10 min ) 15 . 9 5 . 2bonding e - modulus ( n / mm . sup . 2 ) 3 950 3 400tensile strength ( n / mm . sup . 2 ) 3 330 3 000tensile e - modulus ( n / mm . sup . 2 ) 83 69flexural strength ( n / mm . sup . 2 ) 178 168______________________________________ having generally described this invention , a further understanding can be obtained by reference to certain specific examples which are provided herein for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to be limiting unless otherwise specified .	2
fig1 is an illustration of a computer system 100 that can be used to implement embodiments of the present invention . the computer system 100 includes a processor 102 that is operable to execute programs stored on the hard drive 104 or other storage devices . data is transferred between the various system components via various data buses illustrated generally by bus 106 . in various embodiments of the invention , programs stored on the hard drive 104 are stored in system memory 108 . in some embodiments of the invention , the operating system 110 used to control operation of the computer 100 is windows vista ®. in those embodiments , the operating system comprises a media application , “ media center ” 112 that has the limitations discussed hereinabove . the media application of the present invention , hereinafter referred to as “ av control ” 114 is operable to provide enhanced audio / video functionality for computers using the audio / visual media center application that is provided with the windows vista ® operating system . computer system 100 comprises an input / output ( i / o ) interface 116 that is operable to provide support for keyboard 118 and a mouse 120 . in various embodiments of the invention , the i / o interface 116 is coupled to a tuner 122 that comprises a switch 124 that is operably coupled to a plurality of audio - video input ports . for example , the tuner may comprise s - video ports , coaxial ports , rca ports , and composite input ports . in addition , the tuner may include stereo audio input ports . the tuner 122 is operable to process incoming video signals in accordance with either the ntsc standard or the atsc standard . the switch 124 controls operation of the various video ports in response to commands from the processor 102 in the computer system 100 . in various embodiments of the invention , video signals received via the i / o interface 118 are processed by the processor 102 using the microsoft windows vista ® operating system 110 , media center 112 , and the av control application 114 to generate video signals that are further processed by video interface 126 and displayed on display 128 . in addition to the various functional modules discussed hereinabove , the computer 100 comprises other subsystems 130 known to those of skill in the art . although the tuner switch 124 is capable of rapidly switching between the various video input ports in real - time , the media center application in windows vista ® does not allow multiple ports to be configured simultaneously . therefore , the capabilities of the tuner are not fully utilized . the av control application of the present invention allows a user to enable various audio and video input ports that are otherwise unusable by the media control application , e . g ., media center , currently available in operating systems . the present invention allows a user to configure the system to allow a plurality of ports to be simultaneously configured and assigned to predetermined channels . in addition , embodiments of the present invention allow ports to be assigned to channels without a device actually attached to the port . fig2 a is an illustration of an embodiment of the user interface for use in conjunction with the av control application of the present invention . the interface comprises an input source column 202 , a channel assignment column 204 , and a preview window 206 . the illustration of the interface shown in fig2 a shows the default assignments at the beginning of the initial setup of the system . in the initial configuration , the cable input source is assigned to the primary channel . if a video signal is being provided at the cable source , the video image received through the cable input port will be shown in the preview display box 206 . fig2 b is an illustration of the first step in changing the configuration of the ports in the computer system 100 using the av control application of the present invention . a selection indicator 208 is positioned around the s - video 1 input source in response to an input from a user via a radio button interface . with the selection box positioned over the s - video 1 source icon , the user can change the channel assignment using a computer keyboard or the number pad on the radio button interface . if for example the user pressed the number “ 2 ” on the number pad of the radio button interface , channel 2 will then appear as the channel assignment shown on interface 200 for the s - video input source as shown in fig2 c . it will be understood that it is not possible to assign a channel to the selected source if that channel has already been designated as the primary input source for the system . once the user has selected an appropriate channel number , the configuration is then updated by clicking “ apply ” with the radio button interface . alternatively , the user can use a mouse to position a pointer over the “ apply ” icon on the interface and then click a mouse button to finalize the modification . fig3 is a block diagram illustration of the functional components that are used to implement the audio / video media control application of the present invention . as discussed hereinabove , the audio / video media control application comprises a user module , av control 302 , that resides in the media center module 304 of the microsoft windows vista ® operating system 306 and an av background application . when a user changes the configuration of the ports using the av control application , data corresponding to the changes is stored in a registry . as the user views live television from within the media center , the media state aggregation service ( msas ) module 308 detects user - initiated actions and broadcasts information regarding the changes . the auxiliary video sync module 310 receives the change information broadcast by the msas and determines whether the change relates to a new channel number for television viewing and , if so , generates a message to wake up the av background application 312 . the av background application 312 then checks the registry to determine if the channel change is related to the video port designations . the av background application then generates appropriate control codes that are used by the processor to generate control signals to control the tuner switch to route the incoming video signals . fig4 is a flowchart of the processing steps implemented in an embodiment of the invention . in step 400 , processing is initiated , followed by generation of a visual user interface , as described hereinabove , in step 402 . in step 404 , the user selects a video source “ n ,” and in step 406 , the user selects a channel assignment for association with source “ n .” in step 408 , a decision is made regarding the configuration of additional ports . if additional ports are to be configured , processing proceeds to step 410 where “ n ” is incremented and steps 404 , 406 are repeated . if no additional ports are to be configured , processing proceeds to step 412 where a set of video source - channel associations are generated . in step 414 , configuration control signals are generated to route incoming video data in accordance with the video source - channel associations generated in step 412 . processing is then ended in step 616 . as will be appreciated by one skilled in the art , the present invention may be embodied as a method , system , or computer program product . accordingly , embodiments of the invention may be implemented entirely in hardware , entirely in software ( including firmware , resident software , micro - code , etc . ), or in an embodiment combining software and hardware . these various embodiments may all generally be referred to herein as a “ circuit ,” “ module ,” or “ system .” furthermore , the present invention may take the form of a computer program product on a computer - usable storage medium having computer - usable program code embodied in the medium . any suitable computer usable or computer readable medium may be utilized . the computer - usable or computer - readable medium may be , for example but not limited to , an electronic , magnetic , optical , electromagnetic , infrared , or semiconductor system , apparatus , device , or propagation medium . more specific examples ( a non - exhaustive list ) of the computer - readable medium would include the following : an electrical connection having one or more wires , a portable computer diskette , a hard disk , a random access memory ( ram ), a read - only memory ( rom ), an erasable programmable read - only memory ( eprom or flash memory ), an optical fiber , a portable compact disc read - only memory ( cd - rom ), an optical storage device , a transmission media such as those supporting the internet or an intranet , or a magnetic storage device . in the context of this document , a computer - usable or computer - readable medium may be any medium that can contain , store , communicate , propagate , or transport the program for use by or in connection with the instruction execution system , apparatus , or device . the computer - usable medium may include a propagated data signal with the computer - usable program code embodied therewith , either in baseband or as part of a carrier wave . the computer usable program code may be transmitted using any appropriate medium , including , but not limited to , the internet , wireline , optical fiber cable , radio frequency ( rf ), etc . other embodiments are within the following claims . although the present invention has been described in detail , it should be understood that various changes , substitutions and alterations can be made hereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims .	6
chip designers attempt to minimize area demands on a chip by reducing to the extent possible the number of discrete components required on the chip . in computer architectures , such a chip may service data to multiple agents . each agent may be allocated one or more physical channels or ports to handle the data flow . a common requirement of this design is that the chip maintain bandwidth requirements for all of the agents in parallel . fig1 illustrates an architecture that provides dedicated first in / first out ( fifo ) register arrays for each channel and then multiplexes the final output in an arbitrated fashion . the architecture 100 includes a coalescing prestage 101 and register array stages 103 and 105 . the register array stage 103 is used for a single channel agent and indicates a fifo depth of one channel . the register array stage 105 is for a double channel agent and indicates a fifo depth of two channels . the architecture 100 is shown with four channels , namely channel 0 - channel 3 . each of the channels provides 8 bits of data per cycle to one of a 32 - bit register 110 - 113 . as described herein , a register is a 1 × n - wide data storage device . the registers 110 - 113 are shown as 1 × 32 bit - wide storage devices . as shown in fig1 four clock cycles are required to load one of the registers 110 - 113 with 8 bits of data per cycle supplied on the channels 0 - 3 . an output of the register 110 and the register 111 may be provided to multiplexer 120 . similarly an output of the register 112 and the register 113 may be provided to a multiplexer 121 . the output of the multiplexer 120 , and remaining outputs of the registers 110 and 111 may be provided to the fifo register arrays 130 / 131 and 132 , respectively . similarly , outputs of the registers 112 and 113 and the multiplexer 121 may be provided to the fifo register arrays 133 / 134 and 135 , respectively . in the architecture shown in fig1 ; each of the fifo register arrays 130 / 131 , 132 , 133 / 134 and 135 have one write port . each of the fifo register arrays 130 / 131 , 132 , 133 / 134 and 135 are configured to hold a specific number of 1 × n - wide entries . for example , the fifo register array 130 / 131 may hold at least 32 such entries . since data can only be loaded into the fifo register arrays 130 / 131 , 132 , 133 / 134 and 135 in 32 - bit - wide quantities , four cycles of 8 - bit data must be coalesced in the coalescing stage 101 for a given channel and then loaded into the agent &# 39 ; s logical fifo register array . under some conditions , two or more physical channels may be maintained as one logical agent . to accommodate this configuration , the register array may be increased by the multiple of the number of physical channels the register array is intended to handle to maintain the required bandwidth . for example , channel 0 and channel 1 may be bundled together as one logical agent and provided to the fifo register array 130 / 131 . in this case , the depth of the fifo register array 130 / 131 is double the depth to just service a single channel such as the channel 0 . when two or more physical channels are bundled together as one logical agent , the coalescing prestage 101 must also coalesce the data from two or more physical channels until enough data bits are collected to load one entry into the register array , such as the fifo register array 130 / 131 . for example , if channel 0 and 1 are bundled together to service agent 0 , 16 bits of data are received each cycle into the coalescing prestage 101 and two cycles are required until all of the data is loaded into the fifo register array 130 / 131 ( 16 bits from channel 0 and 16 bits from channel 1 ). the outputs of the fifo register arrays 130 / 131 , 132 , 133 / 134 , and 135 are then fed to multiplexer 140 as 32 - bit outputs . the main disadvantage of this architecture 100 is that the single channel agent configuration has unnecessarily deep fifos for some agents , resulting in a larger chip area requirement and therefore a higher cost to manufacture the chip . in addition , the multiple agent configuration does not use all of the fifo register arrays ( only one fifo out of n channels is used ), which is inefficient . fig2 illustrates a prior art solution to fifo under utilization . in fig2 a computer architecture 150 daisy chains the fifos according to a required degree of bundling . the architecture 150 provides each logical agent with a fifo depth of two channels . the architecture 150 is similar to the architecture 100 shown in fig1 except that a stage 153 of multiplexers is added between a coalescing prestage 151 and a fifo stage 154 . the multiplexer stage 153 includes the multiplexers 160 - 163 . the output of each multiplexer is provided to a fifo register array . in particular , the output of the multiplexer 160 is fed to a single channel depth fifo register array 164 , the output of the multiplexer 161 is fed to a single channel depth fifo register array 165 , the output of the multiplexer 162 is provided to single channel depth fifo register array 166 and the output of the multiplexer 163 is provided to the single channel depth fifo register array 167 . each of the fifo register arrays 164 - 167 are provided with one write port and read port . the architecture 150 overcomes some of the limitations of the architecture 100 shown in fig1 . in particular , the architecture 150 eliminates the need for stacking fifo register arrays to achieve the required double channel depth to accommodate bundled channels . the extra depth is eliminated because , for example , the architecture 150 uses channel 1 &# 39 ; s fifo register array 165 daisy chained with channel 0 &# 39 ; s fifo 164 to achieve the same double depth provided by the fifo register array 130 / 131 shown in fig1 . that is , the output of the fifo register array 165 is provided to the input of the fifo register array 164 , through the multiplexer 160 , to achieve the equivalent depth of two channels . in operation , the fifo register array 164 , being fed by channel 0 , is loaded with data . once the fifo register array 164 is filled , channel 0 may continue to provide data to the fifo register array 165 . then , once data begins to be read from the fifo register array 164 , data may be output or read from the fifo register array 165 and provided to the input or write port of the fifo register array 164 . in effect , the fifo register arrays 164 and 165 are now daisy chained to provide a virtual fifo register array that is two channels deep . while the architecture 150 shown in fig2 is an improvement over the architecture 100 shown in fig1 the architecture 150 introduces another set of problems . in particular , the architecture 150 does not effectively utilize the fifo storage space . this problem is due to the fact that the fifo register arrays with read and write pointers tend to have lower densities as the array depth decreases . in other words , the data input buffering / logic , data output / logic , the read pointer and the write pointer logic become a larger percentage of the overall area of the register array as the register array depth decreases . the architecture 150 , which eliminates some waste of fifo space , still requires one register array per physical channel , with the result of inefficient utilization of fifo storage space . to overcome the problems of fifo underutilization and fifo density optimization , an architecture efficiently controls when and where data is stored in the available fifo space . the architecture balances tradeoffs in semiconductor characteristics in order to obtain an optimal area and speed circuit for a host chip servicing multiple channels in configurable agent bundles . when bundling agents or channels , the architecture does not require increasing the register array - based fifo . the architecture can combine all register arrays into one or more efficiently dense register arrays . the architecture also results in fewer ports in the final stage - wide multiplexer . fig3 illustrates an improved architecture 200 that overcomes the problems inherent in the architectures 100 and 150 shown in fig1 and 2 , respectively . the architecture 200 includes a coalescing prestage 201 , fifo stages 202 / 204 ( single channel bundling ) and 205 ( double channel bundling ) ( or similar storage devices ), and a final multiplexing stage using multiplexer 240 . the architecture 200 in fig3 is shown with four channels 0 - 3 . however , the architecture 200 may accommodate any number of channels . also as shown in fig3 and as will be described in detail later , channels 0 and 1 may be bundled and channels 2 and 3 may be bundled . however , the concepts embodied in the architecture 200 are not limited to bundling two channels . any number of channels may be bundled together using the concepts illustrated in fig3 . the coalescing prestage 201 includes registers 210 - 213 and 206 and 208 . outputs of the registers 206 ( channel 1 ) and 208 ( channel 3 ) are provided to delay multiplexers 207 and 209 , respectively . outputs of the registers 210 and 211 are provided to multiplexers 220 and 221 . outputs of the registers 212 and 213 are provided to the multiplexers 222 and 223 . the registers 210 and 211 are shown as 32 - bits wide . that is , the registers 210 and 211 will fill up to 32 bits , and then will empty . in an embodiment , the register 210 may be only 24 bits - wide , and in operation , the last 8 data bits from channel 0 may bypass the register 210 and pass directly to the multiplexer 220 . register arrays 230 / 231 and 232 / 233 receive outputs from the multiplexer pairs 220 / 221 and 222 / 223 , respectively . the register arrays 230 / 231 and 232 / 233 physically may be 32 - entry arrays , with each entry 1 × n - bits - wide . the register arrays 230 / 231 and 232 / 233 may then be divided logically into two register arrays with entry addresses 0 - 15 for logical register arrays 230 and 232 , and entry addresses 16 - 31 for logical register arrays 231 and 233 . finally , the register arrays 230 / 231 and 232 / 233 provide outputs to the multiplexer 240 . the register arrays 230 / 231 and 232 / 233 may have an input bus capacity , taking into account a bandwidth and a clock frequency of the input bus , that is equal to or greater than the total bandwidth of the bundled channels . the register arrays 230 / 231 and 232 / 233 and the multiplexers 207 , 209 , 220 - 223 and 240 are connected to ( for clarity , not all connections are shown ) and operate under control of a reconfigurable fifo control module 250 . the module 250 includes the necessary programming to operate the multiplexers 207 , 209 , 220 - 223 and 240 and read and write pointers in the register arrays 230 / 231 and 232 / 233 . that is , the module 250 may function to operate components of the architecture 200 to support single channel bundling and multiple channel bundling . the operation of the module 250 will be explained in detail later . in the discussion that follows , components of the architecture 200 related to channel 0 and 1 will be described in detail . components of the architecture 200 related to the channels 2 and 3 should be understood to be similarly constructed and to operate in the same manner . double channel bundling occurs when channels , such as channels 0 and 1 , are bundled to service a single agent , such as agent 0 . in this case , the module 250 controls the multiplexers 207 and 220 and 221 and the fifo register array 230 / 231 to operate in the double channel - bundled configuration . in particular , during each of two clock cycles , the registers 210 and 211 store eight bits of data , so that a total of 32 data bits are stored . the multiplexer 207 and the register 206 operate to pass the data bits to the register 211 with no delay . when 32 data bits are loaded , the registers 210 and 211 output their data to the multiplexer 220 , and the data bits are written to the next available entry in the fifo stage 205 ( single fifo register array 230 / 231 ). single channel bundling presents two possible problems that are overcome by the architecture 200 . first , data may arrive at the registers 210 and 211 during the same clock cycles . in the worst case situation , both channels 0 and 1 prestages ( registers 210 and 211 ) fill in the same cycle . since only one of the prestages can be loaded into the single physical fifo register array 230 / 231 in a given cycle , channel 0 will be loaded and channel 1 &# 39 ; s prestage register 211 is stalled for one cycle . to overcome this problem , a delay feature is added to the architecture 200 by using the register 206 . the second problem is that separate fifo register arrays would normally be needed to store data from the single channels 0 and 1 . to minimize chip space devoted to fifos , the fifo register array 230 / 231 is shared between agents 0 and 1 . in a single channel agent configuration , for example where channel 0 and channel 1 each represent separate agents , the coalescing prestage coalesces 32 - bits of information into the register 210 for channel 0 . for channel 1 , 32 - bits of information are coalesced into the register 211 . however , for channel 1 , the second prestage register 206 , capable of holding 8 bits of data , is used to impose a one cycle delay on some of the data loading into the register 211 . since channel 0 may always be given priority , the register 210 will be unloaded first should the registers 210 and 211 both reach their 32 - bit capacity . in more detail , channel 0 loads 8 - bits per cycle until 32 - bits are coalesced into the register 210 , and then always has priority to immediately load into the primary fifo stage to its allocated register array space . channel 1 loads 8 - bits per cycle , the first 8 - bits traveling through the delay register 206 before entering into register 211 , the second , third and fourth 8 - bits of channel 1 going directly into register 211 . upon collecting a complete 32 - bits into the register 211 , channel 1 can be stalled for one cycle if it completes loading coincident with the register 210 , in which case a subsequent 8 - bits for channel 1 is loaded into the delay register 206 until the next cycle when the register 211 can now be loaded into its primary fifo space . at the same time that the register 211 advances to the primary fifo space , the delay register 206 will advance to the register 211 . alternate mechanisms may also be used to impose a delay . in general , the delay register 206 need only be as wide as the maximum latency before the first stage is loaded into the fifo register array 230 / 231 . in this case , the delay register 206 is 8 - bits wide . alternatively , if more than two channels were bundled together , latency would be greater and the size of the delay register 206 would be expanded to accommodate this configuration . for example , if four channels were bundled together , the maximum latency would be three cycles for channel 3 requiring channel 3 to have three 8 - bit registers for prestorage or delay . to further accommodate the single bundle case of separate agents , separate logical write pointers are provided in each of the logical fifo stages 203 and 204 , even though the physical fifo register arrays 230 and 231 share the same physical register array storage , which has only one write port . in other words , different portions of the fifo register array 230 / 231 are allocated for each of the agents 0 and 1 . these allocations may be fixed , and evenly divided keeping the pointer logic less complex . in an alternative embodiment , non - equal , non - fixed allocation of the register array may be implemented . when channel 0 writes to the fifo register array 230 / 231 with 32 - bits coalesced , a write pointer for agent 0 is passed to an actual ( physical ) write pointer port for the fifo register array 230 / 231 , loading the data into the first physical entry allocated to agent 0 ( e . g ., physical entry 0 ). when channel 1 receives 32 - bits of data , a write pointer for agent 1 is passed to an actual ( physical ) write pointer of the fifo register array 230 / 231 , loading data into a first physical entry allocated to agent 1 ( e . g ., physical entry n / 2 , where n represents the number of entries in the fifo register array 230 / 231 ). the mechanism for ensuring agent 1 &# 39 ; s data are always written to the desired entries in the fifo register array 230 / 231 will be described in detail later . a similar implementation is completed for the read pointer . no demultiplexing or post - stage registers are required because the fifo register array 230 / 231 is already set with the correct bandwidth to match internal busing . however , if the final internal bus were wider than the total width of all the physical channels served by the register array 230 / 231 , then either the prestage registers could be designed to be wider or post - fifo registers could be added to coalesce data in much the same manner as the prestage registers function . the architecture 200 does not waste any fifo register array space and results in much greater efficiencies through increased register array density by collapsing two separate fifos into one . the only additional requirement is extra write and read pointers and extra register second prestage and multiplexers in the coalescing prestage 201 . the architecture 200 shown in fig3 provides much improved fifo utilization compared to the architectures 100 and 150 shown in fig1 and 2 , respectively . however the architecture 200 presumes that efficiencies gained in using deeper fifo register arrays outweigh the increased area from added coalescing prestage components . fig4 shows a computer architecture 300 that provides the same primary fifo stage efficiencies as the architecture 200 shown in fig3 but eliminates the need for additional components in the coalescing prestage . that is , either a single channel primary fifo stage 203 or a double channel primary fifo stage 205 is used with bundled fifo register arrays 230 / 231 and 232 / 234 supplying multiplexer 240 in a final output stage . the architecture 300 includes a coalescing prestage 301 having multi - ported register arrays 310 and 312 . the register array 310 services channels 0 and 1 and the register array 312 services channels 2 and 3 . each of the register arrays 310 and 312 provide two write ports , each 8 - bits wide . the depth of the register array 310 is equal to the sum of the 8 - bit entries . each physical channel ( 0 - 3 ) is allocated its own write port independent of the bundling configuration . also , depending on the bundling configuration , agents 0 and 1 either have independent write and read pointers that coalesce the data in the coalescing prestage 301 ( for single channel bundling ) or agent 0 controls both the write pointers as well as the read pointers ( for double channel bundling ). in a single bundle configuration , the register array 310 comprises two physical regions , four 8 - bit entries for agent 0 and five 8 - bit entries for agent 1 . the same configuration applies to the register array 312 . also included in the coalescing prestage 301 , for each of the register arrays 310 and 312 , is a four read port configuration 314 and 316 , respectively . each of the four read ports is 8 - bits wide . thus , 32 - bits may be read from the prestage and written to the fifo register array 230 / 231 in one cycle . as before , the architecture 300 can be extended to any number of source channel and bundling requirements and to any ratio of incoming channel data width to internal bus width . in an embodiment , the internal bus width is a minimum multiple of two of the incoming data . in an alternative embodiment , individual channel bandwidths are variable . however , the internal bus width is equal to or greater than the bundled channel bandwidth . fig5 shows the reconfigurable fifo configuration control module 250 and its connections to the architecture 200 in more detail . the module 250 includes software and hardware to control the configuration of the register arrays 230 / 231 and 232 / 233 shown in fig3 as well as the multiplexers that control data flow in the architecture 200 . a similar control module may be used with the architecture 300 shown in fig4 . the operation of the fifo configuration control 250 achieves three objectives . first , separate , independent fifo controls are provided for each agent in the architecture serviced by the control 250 . second , one fifo control mechanism can be used for different channel bundling configurations . third , logic is provided to map logical fifo space to actual , physical fifo space . returning to fig5 the module 250 includes agent 0 fifo control 251 and agent 1 fifo control 253 . the controls 251 and 253 operate independently of each other . similar controls ( not shown ) are provided for the agents related to the fifo register array 232 / 233 . also included in the module 250 is an interface configuration control 255 . outputs of the controls 251 and 253 are provided to read pointer multiplexer 261 , write pointer multiplexer 263 and write enable multiplexer 265 . the multiplexers 261 , 263 and 265 receive control signals from the control 255 . the control 255 provides a fifo_depth 0 [ 4 : 0 ] signal to the control 251 and a fifo_depth 1 [ 4 : 0 ] signal to the control 253 to indicate the required depth of the fifo register array . the controls 251 and 253 provide write pointer , write enable , and read pointer signals to the multiplexers 261 , 263 and 265 . to provide control for a 32 - entry fifo register array , the signals are five bits [ 4 : 0 ]. five bit signals are required because agent 0 data may be written to entries 0 - 15 and agent 1 data may be written to entries 16 - 31 . to constrain agent 1 to write only to entries 16 - 31 ( and to have data read from these entries ), a node 254 ( or similar device ) between the agent 1 fifo control 253 and the multiplexer 261 may be used to insert a value of 1 for the most significant encoded pointer bit ( in this case bit [ 4 ]). a corresponding wire from the agent 1 fifo control 253 is then terminated . as a result , any data for agent 1 written to , or read from , the fifo register array 230 / 231 will always be to or from one of the entries 16 - 31 . in this embodiment , the fifo_depth 1 [ 4 : 0 ] must , therefore , never exceed a value of n / 2 of the physical fifo register array depth ( in this case , fifo_depth 1 [ 4 : 0 ] must be less than or equal to sixteen ). the components of the module 250 allow the use of a single primary fifo register array with logical fifo arrays for entries 0 to ( n / 2 )− 1 and entries n / 2 − n . in the example shown in fig5 n = 32 . thus , data from agent 0 is written to one of the entries 0 - 15 , using the write_pointer 0 [ 4 : 0 ] signal , and data from agent 1 is written to one of the entries 16 - 31 using the write_pointer 1 [ 4 : 0 ] signal , multiplexed through the write address multiplexer 263 . the control 255 also provides control signals to other multiplexers in the architecture 200 , including the multiplexers 220 , 221 and 240 . these signals determine the configuration of the multiplexers to pass data from channel 0 or channel 1 . fig6 is a flowchart illustrating a fifo register array configuration process 400 executed on the architecture 200 shown in fig3 and the control module 250 shown in fig5 . the process described will be limited to operation of the fifo register array 230 / 231 . a similar process would operate in parallel on any other fifo register arrays , such as the fifo register array 232 / 233 , and their associated prestage components in the architecture 200 . the process will be described assuming no data has been written to the fifo register array 230 / 231 . a similar process may be executed on the architecture 300 shown in fig4 . in fig6 the process begins at block 410 . in block 420 , the interface configuration control 255 determines whether the fifo register array 230 / 231 will be configured as a single channel - depth register array or a double channel - depth array . the decision process shown in block 420 may be extended to other agent bundling configurations that are accommodated by the architecture 200 . in block 435 ( double bundled channel configuration , agent 0 ), the control 255 configures the delay multiplexer 207 so that no delay occurs in writing data to the register 206 . in block 437 , the control 255 sends the fifo_depth 0 [ 4 : 0 ] signal to the agent 0 fifo control 251 to setup the control 251 for double depth operations . the fifo_depth 1 [ 4 : 0 ] is not required because of the bundled channel configuration . accordingly , the control 255 controls the muxes 261 , 263 and 265 to only service agent 0 . the control 255 also sends an agent control signal to the write enable multiplexer 265 and the write address multiplexer 263 to configure the multiplexers so that a write pointer in the fifo register array 230 / 231 is selected from agent 0 &# 39 ; s fifo control 251 to write data to the first available entry ( in this case , entry 0 ). in block 445 , the registers 210 and 211 each accumulate 16 bits of data from their associated channels . using the example architecture 200 , the data are accumulated over two clock cycles . in block 447 , the control 255 sends a mux_select signal 220 to the multiplexer 220 to configure the multiplexers 220 and 221 to transfer data from the registers 210 and 211 through the multiplexer 220 to the fifo register array 230 / 231 . in block 455 , the agent 0 fifo control 251 sends a write_enable 0 signal through the write enable multiplexer 265 to configure the fifo register array 230 / 231 to write data to an entry . the agent 0 fifo control 251 also sends a write_pointer 0 [ 4 : 0 ] signal through the write pointer multiplexer 263 to indicate where ( i . e ., which address or entry ) the write pointer in the fifo register array 230 / 231 should write incoming data to . in block 457 , the 32 bits of data in the register 210 are written to the fifo register array 230 / 231 . in block 465 , the interface configuration control determines if the data writing operations should continue . if the operations are to end , the process moves to block 490 and ends . otherwise , the process returns to block 420 . in block 420 , if a single bundled channel configuration is selected , the process moves to block 430 , and the interface configuration control 255 configures the delay multiplexer 207 to impose a one cycle delay on some of the data being written to the register 211 . to ensure that data from channel 0 is written to the correct location in the fifo register array 230 / 231 , the interface configuration control 255 sends the fifo_depth 0 [ 4 : 0 ] signal to the agent 0 fifo control 251 and the fifo_depth 1 [ 4 : 0 ] to the agent 1 fifo control 253 , block 436 , to indicate a single depth fifo configuration ( i . e ., 16 bits for each of the fifo_depth signals , in this case ). the control 255 also sends an agent control signal to the write enable multiplexer 265 and the write address multiplexer 263 to configure the multiplexers so that a write pointer in the fifo register array 230 / 231 is selected to write data to the first available entry for the actively loading agent ( in this case , entry 0 for agent 0 or entry 16 for agent 1 ). in block 440 , the registers 210 and 211 accumulate data . the register 210 accumulates 32 bits of data in four clock cycles . the register 211 may also accumulate 32 data bits during the same four clock cycles , in which case the register 211 is stalled for one cycle . ( this is a worse case scenario , and data may not arrive at the registers 210 and 211 during the same clock cycles .) in particular , the first 8 - bits for channel 0 load into the 1st position of the register 210 and the first 8 bits for channel 1 load into the delay register 206 ( the multiplexer 207 is set to delay mode ). in the next clock cycle , a second 8 - bits for channel 0 load into the 2nd position of the register 210 , the delay register 206 advances to the 1st position of the register 211 , and a second 8 - bits for channel 1 load into the 2nd position of the register 211 . ( the delay register 206 is now empty .) in the next clock cycle , a third 8 - bits for channel 0 load into the 3rd position of the register 210 , and a third 8 - bits for channel 1 load into the 3rd position of the register 211 . in the next ( fourth ) clock cycle , a fourth 8 - bits for channel 0 load into the 4th position of the register 210 , and a fourth 8 - bits for channel 1 load into the 4th position of the register 211 . in block 446 , the control 255 sends mux select signals to the appropriate multiplexers , and in block 450 the write enable and write pointer signals are sent . in block 456 , the registers unload data ( and refill during the same clock cycles ). in particular , during one clock cycle , the register 210 loads into primary fifo stage 203 ( register array position 230 ), new first 8 - bits for channel 0 load into the 1st position of the register 210 , new first 8 - bits for channel load into the delay register 206 , and the register 211 holds its value . in the next clock cycle , the register 211 loads into the primary fifo stage 204 ( register array position 231 ), a new second 8 - bits for channel 0 load into the 2nd position of the register 210 , the delay register 206 advances to the 1st position of the register 211 , and a new second 8 - bits for channel 1 load into the 2nd position of the register 211 . this process of loading and unloading the registers 210 and 211 then continues as before , block 470 , until the end of processing , block 490 . in the architectures 200 ( fig3 ) and 300 ( fig4 ) discussed above , the number of prestages can also be extended to handle any round robin latency to load into the shared fifo in any number of write - ported register arrays for the prestage and the primary stage . in the examples shown in fig3 and 4 , four source channels are shown . if the efficiency calculations suggest this implementation , all four fifos could be collapsed into a four - deep fifo with the same set of double prestage registers or prestage fifos previously described . if the incoming data width was 16 - bits instead of 8 - bits , then additional prestate registers could be added , or more write ports could be added to the primary register array fifo . in addition , all four physical channels could be configurably bundled into a quad - bundled agent 0 or two double - bundled agents 0 and 2 , or four single agents 0 , 1 , 2 and 3 . variable bundling can be extended to handle any number of physical channels bundled into an equal or smaller number of logical agents . in addition , the number of physical channels and the number of logical agents need not be only a power of 2 . that is , configurations shown in fig3 and 4 may be applied to fit any number of physical channels and any number of logical agents when sending the data to the next stage . finally , if the primary stage register array has a limitation on depth based on technology , the configuration shown in fig3 and 4 can be increased in depth by adding additional primary stage register arrays and then ping - ponging between the two primary stages when receiving data and then ping - ponging between the two output read ports . the terms and descriptions used herein are set forth by way of illustration only and are not meant as limitations . those skilled in the art will recognize that many variations are possible within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the following claims , and their equivalents , in which all terms are to be understood in their broadest possible sense unless otherwise indicated .	6
the methods of the instant invention involve purification of rna from biological samples . in one embodiment , samples are paraffin - embedded tissue samples and the method involves deparaffinization of embedded samples , homogenization of the deparaffinized tissue and heating of the homogenized tissue at a temperature in the range of about 50 to about 100 ° c . for a time period of between about 5 minutes to about 120 minutes in a chaotropic solution containing an effective amount of a guanidinium compound . this heating step increases the amount of cdna that are amplified from the specimen by up to 1000 - fold over samples that are not heated . while frozen tumor tissue is not widely available , paraffin blocks are routinely prepared from every type of tumor after surgery , allowing large - scale retrospective investigations of ts expression and chemotherapy response to be performed . moreover , the technique can be applied to any of a wide range of tumor types and to an unlimited range of target genes . this has implications for the future preparation of individual tumor “ gene expression profiles ” whereby expression levels could be determined in individual patient samples for a range of genes that are known to influence clinical outcome and response to various chemotherapeutic agents . automated real - time pcr from ffpe sample allows for the targeting of treatment to individual tumors . rna can be isolated from any biological sample using the methods of the invention . biological samples are often fixed with a fixative . aldehyde fixatives such as formalin ( formaldehyde ) and glutaraldehyde are typically used . tissue samples fixed using other fixation techniques such as alcohol immersion ( battifora and kopinski , j . histochem . cytochem . ( 1986 ) 34 : 1095 ) are also suitable . the samples used are also embedded in paraffin . rna can be isolated any paraffin - embedded biological tissue sample by the methods of the invention . in one embodiment , the samples are both formalin - fixed and paraffin - embedded . deparaffinization removes the bulk of paraffin from the paraffin - embedded sample . a number of techniques for deparaffinization are known and any suitable technique can be used with the present invention . the preferred method of the invention utilizes washing with an organic solvent to dissolve the paraffin . such solvents are able to remove paraffin effectively from the tissue sample without adversely affecting rna isolation . suitable solvents can be chosen from solvents such as benzene , toluene , ethylbenzene , xylenes , and mixtures thereof . a xylene is the preferred solvent for use in the methods of the invention . solvents alone or in combination in the methods of the invention are preferably of high purity , usually greater than 99 %. paraffin is typically removed by washing with an organic solvent , with vigorous mixing followed by centrifugation . samples are centrifuged at a speed sufficient to cause the tissue to pellet in the tube , usually at about 10 , 000 to about 20 , 000 × g . after centrifugation , the organic solvent supernatant is discarded . one of skill in the art of histology will recognize that the volume of organic solvent used and the number of washes necessary will depend on the size of the sample and the amount of paraffin to be removed . the more paraffin to be removed , the more washes that will be necessary . typically , a sample will be washed between 1 and about 10 times , and preferably , between about two and about four times . a typical volume of organic solvent is about 500 μl for a 10 μm tissue specimen . other methods for deparaffinization known to one of skill in the art may also be used in the method of the invention . such methods include direct melting ( baneijee et al ., 1995 ). samples are preferably rehydrated after deparaffinization . the preferred method for rehydration is step - wise washing with aqueous lower alcoholic solutions of decreasing concentration . ethanol is a preferred lower alcohol for rehydration . other alcohols may also be suitable for use with the invention including methanol , isopropanol and other similar alcohols in the c1 - c5 range . the sample is alternatively vigorously mixed with alcoholic solutions and centrifuged . in a preferred embodiment , the concentration range of alcohol is decreased stepwise from about 100 % to about 70 % in water over about three to five incremental steps , where the change in solution concentration at each step is usually less than about 10 % ( i . e ., the sequence : 100 %, 95 %, 90 %, 80 %, 70 %). in another embodiment , deparaffinization and rehydration are carried out simultaneously using a reagent such as ez - dewax ( biogenex , san ramon , calif .). deparaffinized , rehydrated samples can be homogenized by any standard mechanical , sonic or other suitable technique . tissue homogenization is preferably carried out with a mechanical tissue homogenizers according to standard procedures . a number of commercially available homogenizers are suitable for use with the invention including : ultra - turrax homogenizer ( ika - works , inc ., wilmington , n . c . ); tissumizer ( tekmar - dohrrmann , cincinnati , ohio ); and polytron ( brinkmann , westbury , n . y .). in one embodiment , the sample is homogenized in the presence of a chaotropic agent . chaotropic agents are chosen such that at an effective concentration rna is purified from a paraffin - embedded sample in an amount of greater than about 10 fold that isolated in the absence of a chaotropic agent . chaotropic agents include : guanidinium compounds , urea , formamide , potassium iodiode , potassium thiocyantate and similar compounds . the preferred chaotropic agent for the methods of the invention is a guanidinium compound , such as guanidinium isothiocyanate ( also sold as guanidinium thiocyanate ) and guanidinium hydrochloride . many anionic counterions are useful , and one of skill in the art can prepare many guanidinium salts with such appropriate anions . the guanidinium solution used in the invention generally has a concentration in the range of about 1 to about 5m with a preferred value of about 4m . if rna is already in solution , the guanidinium solution may be of higher concentration such 5 that the final concentration achieved in the sample is in the range of about 1 to about 5m . the guanidinium solution also is preferably buffered to a ph of about 3 to about 6 , more preferably about 4 , with a suitable biochemical buffer such as tris - cl . the chaotropic solution may also contain reducing agents , such as dithiothreitol ( dtt ) and β - mercaptoethanol ( bme ). the chaotropic solution may also contain rnase inhibitors . samples are heated in the chaotropic solution at a temperature of about 60 ° c . to about 100 ° c . for about 5 minutes to about 2 hours . “ alternatively , samples are heated in the chaotropic solution at a temperature of about 50 ° c . to about 100 ° c . for about 5 minutes to about 2 hours .” support for this amendment is found in the originally filed claim 1 , which recites heating the samples in a chaotropic solution to a temperature in the range of about 50 to about 100 ° c . the same limitation is also recited in the specification on page 6 , lines 20 - 25 . heating times are typically chosen such that the amount of rna purified is at least about 100 - fold higher than for unheated samples , and more preferably about 1000 - fold higher . in a preferred embodiment , the sample is heated for about 20 minutes at a temperature of from about 75 to about 100 ° c . more preferably , the sample is heated for 30 to 60 minutes at about 95 ° c . rna can be recovered from the chaotropic solution after heating by any suitable technique that results in isolation of the rna from at least one component of the chaotropic solution . rna can be recovered from the chaotropic solution by extraction with an organic solvent , chloroform extraction , phenol - chloroform extraction , precipitation with ethanol , isopropanol or any other lower alcohol , by chromatography including ion exchange chromatography , size exclusion chromatography , silica gel chromatography and reversed phase chromatography , or by electrophoretic methods , including polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and agarose gel electrophoresis , as will be apparent to one of skill in the art . rna is preferably recovered from the chaotropic solution using phenol chloroform extraction . following rna recovery , the rna may optionally by further purified . further purification results in rna that is substantially free from contaminating dna or proteins . further purification may be accomplished by any of the aforementioned techniques for rna recovery . rna is preferably purified by precipitation using a lower alcohol , especially with ethanol or with isopropanol . precipitation is preferably carried out in the presence of a carrier such as glycogen that facilitates precipitation . the methods of the invention can also be used to purify dna or protein from the tissue sample . after mixing a sample with an organic solvent , such as chloroform , and following centrifugation , the solution has three phases , a lower organic phase , an interphase , and an upper aqueous phase . with an appropriate chaotropic agent , particularly with a guanidinium compound , the biological components of the sample will segregate into the three phases . the upper aqueous phase will contain rna , while the interphase will contain dna and the organic phase will contain proteins . one of skill in the art will recognize that the methods of the invention are suitable for recovering both the dna and protein phases as well as that containing the rna . dna recovery is enhanced by the methods of the invention . rna purified by the methods of the invention is suitable for a variety of purposes and molecular biology procedures including , but not limited to : reverse transcription to cdna ; producing radioactively , fluorescently or otherwise labeled cdna for analysis on gene chips , oligonucleotide microarrays and the like ; electrophoresis by acrylamide or agarose gel electrophoresis ; purification by chromatography ( e . g . ion exchange , silica gel , reversed phase , or size exclusion chromatography ); hybridization with nucleic acid probes ; and fragmentation by mechanical , sonic or other means . sample preparation . the characteristics of the human cell lines sk1 , h157 , a431 , ht29 , hcc298 and hh30 have been described previously . cells were removed from their monolayer by trypsinization and pelleted by centrifugation at 3000 rpm for 5 minutes . cell pellets were either frozen at − 70 ° c . or fixed in formalin for 24 h , then embedded in paraffin . representative sections of tumor tissue were obtained at the time of surgery , fixed in formalin and embedded in paraffin by procedures common to most clinical pathology laboratories . cross - sections of tissue ( 5 μm ) were cut using a microtome . rna isolation . rna was isolated from paraffin embedded tissue as follows . a single 5 μm section of paraffinized tissue was placed in an eppendorf tube and deparaffinized by two 15 minute washes with xylene . the tissue was rehydrated by successive 15 minute washes with graded alcohols ( 100 %, 95 %, 80 % and 70 %). the resulting pellet was suspended in 4m guanidine isothiocyanate with 0 . 5 % sarcosine and 20 mm dithiothreitol ( dtt ). the suspension was homogenized and then heated to from about 50 to about 95 ° c . for 0 to 60 minutes ; a zero heating time - point , was included as a control for each sample . sodium acetate ( ph 4 . 0 ) was added to 0 . 2 m and the solution was extracted with phenol / chloroform and precipitated with isopropanol and 10 mg glycogen . after centrifugation ( 13000 rpm , 4 ° c ., 15 min ) the rna pellet was washed twice with 1 ml of 75 % ethanol then resuspended in rnase - free water . reverse transcription ( rt ). after heating , total rna was converted to cdna using random hexamers . rt conditions were as have been previously described for frozen tissue ( horikoshi et al ., 1992 ). controls omitting the reverse transcriptase ( no - rt ) were prepared for each sample . real - time pcr quantification of ts and β - actin gene expression using the perkin elmer cetus 7700 pcr machine ( taqman ). the quantitation of mrna levels was carried out using real - time pcr based on a fluorescence detection method as described previously ( heid et al ., 1996 ; eads et al ., 1999 ). cdna was prepared as described above . the cdna of interest and the reference cdna were amplified separately using a probe with a 5 ′- fluorescent reporter dye ( 6fam ) and a 3 ′- quencher dye ( tamra ). the 5 ′- exonuclease activity of taq polymerase cleaves the probe and releases the reporter molecule , the fluorescence of which is detected by the abi prism sequence detection system ( taqman ). after crossing a fluorescence detection threshold , the pcr amplification results in a fluorescent signal proportional to the amount of pcr product generated . initial template concentration was determined from the cycle number at which the fluorescent signal crossed a threshold in the exponential phase of the pcr reaction . relative gene expression was determined based on the threshold cycles of the gene of interest and the reference gene . use of a reference gene avoids the need to quantitate the rna directly , which could be a major source of error . the primer and probe sequences were as follows : ts : seq id no : 1 : ggc ctc ggt gtg cct tt ; seq id no : 2 : aac atc gcc agc tac gcc ctg c ; seq id no : 3 : gat gtg cgc aat cat gta cgt . β - actin : seq id no : 4 : tga gcg cgg cta cag ctt ; seq id no : 5 : acc acc acg gcc gag cgg ; seq id no : 6 : tcc tta atg tca cgc acg att t . for the real - time pcr experiments , as discussed above , the reporter oligonucleotide ( seq id nos : 2 and 5 ) were 5 ′ labelled with 6fam and were 3 ′ labelled with tamra . for each pcr , a “ no reverse transcriptase ” ( nrt or no − rt ) control was included . the purpose of this reaction was to correct for any background amplification , derived from residual genomic dna contamination . hence , each overall value for ts and β - actin is calculated as the rt value minus the nrt value ( rt − nrt ). statistical analysis . non - parametric comparison of means test were performed to determine if differences in ts levels between frozen tissue and ffpe samples of the same tumor were significant or non - significant . rna was extracted from paraffin - embedded tissue by the following general procedure . ( 1 ) a portion of an approximately 10 μm section is placed in a 1 . 5 ml plastic centrifuge tube . ( 2 ) 600 μl of xylene are added and the mixture is shaken vigorously for about 10 minutes at room temperature ( roughly 20 to 25 ° c .). ( 3 ) the sample is centrifuged for about 7 minutes at room temperature at the maximum speed of the bench top centrifuge ( about 10 - 20 , 000 × g ). ( 4 ) steps 2 and 3 are repeated until the majority of paraffin has been dissolved . two or more times are normally required depending on the amount of paraffin included in the original sample portion . ( 5 ) the xylene solution is removed by vigorously shaking with a lower alcohol , preferably with 100 % ethanol ( about 600 μl ) for about 3 minutes . ( 6 ) the tube is centrifuged for about 7 minutes as in step ( 3 ). the supernatant is decanted and discarded . the pellet becomes white . ( 7 ) steps 5 and 6 are repeated with successively more dilute ethanol solutions : first with about 95 % ethanol , then with about 80 % and finally with about 70 % ethanol . ( 8 ) the sample is centrifuged for 7 minutes at room temperature as in step ( 3 ). the supernatant is discarded and the pellet is allowed to dry at room temperature for about 5 minutes . ( 1 ) 400 μl guanidine isothiocyanate solution including 0 . 5 % sarcosine and 8 μl 1m dithiothreitol is added . ( 2 ) the sample is then homogenized with a tissue homogenizer ( ultra - turrax , ika - works , inc ., wilmington , n . c .) for about 2 to 3 minutes while gradually increasing the speed from low speed ( speed 1 ) to high speed ( speed 5 ). ( 3 ) the sample is then heated at about 95 ° c . for about 5 - 20 minutes . it is preferable to pierce the cap of the tube containing the sample before heating with a fine gauge needle . alternatively , the cap may be affixed with a plastic clamp or with laboratory film . ( 4 ) the sample is then extracted with 50 μl 2m sodium acetate at ph 4 . 0 and 600 μl of phenol chloroform / isoamyl alcohol ( 10 : 1 . 93 : 0 . 036 ), prepared fresh by mixing 18 ml phenol with 3 . 6 ml of a 1 : 49 isoamyl alcohol : chloroform solution . the solution is shaken vigorously for about 10 seconds then cooled on ice for about 15 minutes . ( 5 ) the solution is centrifuged for about 7 minutes at maximum speed . the upper ( aqueous ) phase is transferred to a new tube . ( 6 ) the rna is precipitated with about 10 μl glycogen and with 400 μl isopropanol for 30 minutes at − 20 ° c . ( 7 ) the rna is pelleted by centrifugation for about 7 minutes in a benchtop centrifuge at maximum speed ; the supernatant is decanted and discarded ; and the pellet washed with approximately 500 μl of about 70 to 75 % ethanol . ( 8 ) the sample is centrifuged again for 7 minutes at maximum speed . the supernatant is decanted and the pellet air dried . the pellet is then dissolved in an appropriate buffer for further experiments ( e . g . 50 μl 5 mm tris chloride , ph 8 . 0 ). this example illustrates the effect of time of heating on the yield of rna . as illustrated in fig1 heating of the chaotropic solution at 95 ° c . prior to precipitation and reverse transcription significantly increased the efficiency of detection of ts and β - actin targets . when no heating step was included , neither ts nor β - actin could be detected ( 0 min . time points ). after 20 minutes at 95 ° c . both transcripts were detectable ; a further increase of heating time to 60 minutes resulted in a 3 - fold increase in sensitivity of detection for ts and 4 . 5 - fold increase for β - actin . ( nrt = no reverse transcriptase control , rt − nrt = overall relative gene expression level , i . e . reverse transcriptase minus no reverse transcriptase ). fig2 illustrates the amount of rna expression of the β - actin gene in normal ( n ) and tumorous ( t ) tissue . the samples were heated at 95 ° c . for periods ranging from zero to 40 minutes . a preferred heating time of about 30 minutes is observed for most samples . fig3 shows that at heating times longer than about 60 min , the amount of rna extracted starts to decrease , suggesting thermal degradation of the rna , whereas the amount of dna extracted starts to increase . this is undesirable because the presence of dna can give a spurious pcr signal in some cases . this example illustrates that heating the rna solution in the presence of a chaotropic agent is important for obtaining high yields of rna . this was an rt − pcr experiment using detection of β - actin gene expression as a measure of relative amounts of rna isolated in various solutions . clinical specimens of esophageal cancer ffpe tissue samples were treated according to the methods described above , with the exception that the initial pellet obtained after deparaffinization was dissolved or suspended in either 4m guanidinium isothiocyanate ( gitc ), 4m guanidiniumn isothiocyanate + 100 μm β - mercaptoethanol ( gitc + bme ), 4m guanidinium isothiocyanate + 20 μm dithiothreitol ( gitc + dtt ) or in tris - cl buffer ( 10 mm ph 7 . 5 ) or tris - cl buffer + 20 μm dtt ( tris / cl + dtt ). the samples were then heated to 95 ° c . for 30 minutes or not heated ( o min , 95 ° c .). the tris / cl samples were then treated with 4m guanidinium isothiocyanate . rna levels were determined by rt − pcr and real time pcr detection of β - actin . as shown in fig4 the presence of the chaotropic agent guanidinium isothiocyanate when heating was important for high yield recovery of rna . the presence of a reducing agent , such as dtt or bme , is not essential for high yield recovery of rna . the 4m guanidinium isothiocyanate solution contains 50 mm tris - hcl ( p ) h 7 . 5 ), 25 mm edta and 0 . 5 % sarcosine . comparison of gene expression values determined in ffpe and frozen tissue from the same sources this example shows that the methods of the present invention provide values for gene expressions from formalin - fixed paraffin - embedded samples equivalent to those obtained from frozen tissue . samples from six cell lines were ffpe - treated and ts quantitation performed using the methods of the invention ( including heating at 95 ° c . for 30 minutes ). the resulting relative ts values ( fig5 ) were compared with those obtained from frozen cell pellets using known methods . relative ts expression levels were 3 . 0 - 19 . 5 ( mean = 8 . 5 ) in frozen cells versus 3 . 0 - 25 . 0 ( mean = 9 . 0 ) in ffpe samples . statistical analysis of the difference between the two means revealed a p value of 0 . 726 , indicating that there is no significant difference in the ts values obtained from frozen cell pellets using the original rt − pcr methods and those obtained from ffpe cell pellets using the methods of the invention . rna expression levels in samples of tumorous tissues and of normal ( non - tumorous ) tissues also were equivalent regardless of whether the samples were formalin - fixed and paraffin - embedded or frozen . five normal and 6 tumor colon tissues and 4 esophageal tumor tissues , were compared for relative ts gene expression in matching paraffin and frozen tissue ( ft ) as above . results are illustrated in fig6 . no significant difference was found between the levels of ts found in frozen tissue samples and the ts values found in ffpe samples of the same tissue . this was true for both colon and esophageal tissue types ( mean ft samples colon = 3 . 46 , mean ffpe samples colon = 3 . 06 , p = 0 . 395 ; mean ft samples esophagus = 13 . 9 , mean ffpe samples esophagus = 15 . 93 , p = 0 . 21 ). correlation of ts levels in frozen tissue and matching ffpe samples with response to 5 - fu / leucovorin ( lv ) in stage iv colon cancer . previous reports based on rt − pcr data derived from frozen tissue found that high levels of ts in tumors ( relative gene expression ≧ 2 4 . 0 ) were indicative of a poor response to ts treatment . responsive tumors could be characterized as expressing lower levels of ts . ts / β - actin ratios were determined in paraffin sections from 17 patients whose response to 5 - fu / lv had previously been linked to ts gene expression via analysis of frozen tissue samples ( fig7 ). of the 17 , 6 were known to be responsive to ts and 11 were known to have been poor responders to ts treatment . it was found that the ts results with matching paraffin tissue would also have predicted response to this therapy ( mean responders ft = 2 . 87 , mean responders ffpe = 2 . 37 , p = 0 . 641 : mean non - responders ft = 7 . 66 , mean non - responders ffpe = 7 . 84 p = 0 . 537 ). there was no significant difference between the ts levels derived from frozen tissue and those derived from matching ffpe tissues . ts gene expression levels in primary colon cancer and a liver metastasis this example shows an analysis of ts , and other gene expression , in a primary colon tumor and in a recurrent liver metastasis from the same patient . fig8 shows the expression levels of four genes : ts ; tp ; cyclooxygenase - 2 ( cox - 2 ); and vascular endothelial growth factor ( vegf ) in ffpe samples of a primary colon cancer and a liver metastasis ( met ) from the same patient which recurred a year later . the findings suggest that , while the primary tumor was sensitive to 5 - fu therapy ( ts = 2 . 32 ), the metastasis will be refractory ( ts met 11 . 58 ). cox - 2 and vegf expression levels correlate with the published indications that they are increased in expression in aggressive disease , and co - regulated . ( cox - 2 primary = 1 . 35 ; cox - 2 met = 5 . 4 ; vegf primary = 5 . 02 ; vegf met = 14 . 4 .) rna was isolated as described from a 5 μm ffpe section of the primary colon cancer and from an ffpe section of the liver metastasis . relative ts gene expression in the responsive primary tumor was 2 . 32 compared to 11 . 58 in the metastastic disease ( fig8 ). this 5 - fold increase in ts expression , as determined by the rt − pcr methods reported here , indicates that the secondary disease will not respond to 5 - fu and suggests an alternative therapy such as cpt - 11 may be appropriate . all references cited herein are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety . ardalan , b . and dang , z . ( 1996 ) proc . annu . meet . am . assoc . cancer res . 37 : a1376 . ausubel , f . m . et al ., “ current protocols in molecular biology ”, john wiley & amp ; sons , inc ., vol . 1 , pp . 2 . 2 . 1 - 2 . 4 . 5 ( 1994 ). bannenee , s . k ., makdisi , w . f ., weston , a . p ., mitchell , s . m ., and campbell , d . r . ( 1995 ) biotechniques , 18 : 768 - 773 . chomczynski et al ., “ single - step method of rna isolation by acid guanidinium thiocyanate - phenol - chloroform extraction ,” analytical biochemistry , 162 : 156 - 159 ( 1987 ). eads , c . a ., danenberg , k . d ., kawakami , k ., saltz , l . b ., danenberg , p . v . and laird , p . w . ( 1999 ) cpg island hypermethylation in humancolorectal tumors is not associated with dna methyltransferse overexpression . cancer res ., 59 : 2302 - 2306 . farrugia , d . cunningham d . danenberg p . danenberg k . metzger r . mitchell f . macvicar d . mccarthy k . aherne g . w . norman a . jackrnan a . l . ( 1997 ) proc . annu . meet am . assoc . cancer res . 38 : a4132 . heid , c . a ., stevens , j ., livak , k . j . and williams , p . m . ( 1996 ) real - time quantitative pcr . genome res . 6 : 986 - 994 . horikoshi , t ., danenberg , k . d ., stadlbauer , t . h . w ., volkenandt , m ., shea , l . l . c ., aigner , k ., gustavsson , b ., leichman , l ., frösing , r ., ray , m ., gibson , n . w ., spears , c . p . and danenberg , p . v . quantitation of thymidylate synthase , dihydrofolate reductase , and dt - diaphorase gene expression in human tumors using the polymerase chain reaction . cancer res ., 52 : 108 - 116 , 1992 . jackman , a . l ., jones , t . r ., calvert , a . h . experimental and clinical progress in cancer chemotherapy ( f . m . muggia ed .) martinus nijhoff , boston ( 1985 ). johnston , p . g ., lenz , h . j ., leichinan , c . g ., danenberg , k . d ., allegra , c . j ., danenberg , p . v ., leichman , l . ( 1995 ) cancer research 55 : 1407 - 1412 . leichman , c . g ., lenz , h . j ., leichman , l ., danenberg , k ., baranda , j ., groshen , s ., boswell , w ., metzger , r ., tan , m ., danenberg , p . v . ( 1997 ) j . clinical oncology . 15 ( 10 ): 3223 - 9 . lenz , h . j ., danenberg , k . d ., leichman , c . g ., florentine , b ., johnston , p . g ., groshen , s ., zhou , l ., xiong , y . p ., danenberg , p . v . and leichman , l . p . ( 1998 ) clinical cancer research . 4 ( 5 ): 1227 - 34 . sambrook , j . et al ., “ molecular cloning ”, cold spring harbor press , 2nd ed ., pp . 9 . 14 - 9 . 23 ( 1989 ). spears , c . p ., shahinian , a . h ., moran , r . g ., heidelberger , c ., and corbett , t . h . ( 1982 ) cancer res . 42 , 450 - 456 ; keyomarsi , k ., and moran , r . g . ( 1988 ) j . biol . chem . 263 , 14402 - 14409 . swain , s . m ., lippman , m . e ., egan , e . f ., drake , j . c ., steinberg , s . m ., and allegra , c . j . ( 1989 ) j . clin . oncol . 7 , 890 - 899 .	2
generally referring to the figures , an apertured rear cover for a film camera of the type including a camera housing for an objective , a viewer and a film - load is provided . the rear cover is provided with a film viewing window secured in the rear cover aperture and the viewing window is substantially flat in the plane of the rear cover . the rear cover is of the general type which is fitted to the camera housing and has an end pivotably connected to the housing and another end connectable to the camera housing . with particular reference to fig1 - 4a and 8 , the type of film viewing window which may be employed is of the type disclosed in u . s . pat . no . 3 , 550 , 512 , for photographic cameras , issued dec . 29 , 1970 to karl heinz lange . the film viewing window 2 is snap - fitted into an aperature 2 &# 39 ; provided in rear cover 1 of the camera . a pair of spring members 3 are integrally connected to film viewing window 2 for applying pressure to a film cartridge loaded within the camera housing 7 . in all but fig8 only a fragment of the camera housing is shown . the rear cover may be of the type pivotably connected at one end to the camera housing and connectable thereto as at an end 1 &# 39 ;. in fig1 - 4a , only the connectable end of the rear cover is shown , while at fig8 a full view of rear cover 1 is depicted . the particular construction of the rear cover and its connection to the camera housing is not critical to the invention , as the invention may have application to numerous film viewing windows and rear cover constructions which are releasably connected to a camera housing 7 . referring now to fig1 and 1a , a torsion spring 4 is integrally connected at one of its ends to viewing window 2 and is bent so as to abut and apply a constant and continuous pressure against a substantially rigid abutment member 5 which is slidably connected to rear cover 1 and movable thereon between first and second positions which correspond to closed and open positions of said rear cover for thereby securing and releasing rear cover 1 to and from housing 7 . member 5 is simultaneously releasably connected to camera housing 7 and cooperable with torsion spring 4 for locking rear cover 1 against camera housing 7 , as hereinafter described in detail . abutment member 5 includes an abutment surface 5 &# 39 ; and a pair of sliding bearings , respectively , 8 and 8 &# 39 ;. sliding bearing 8 &# 39 ; is slidable through a channel 9 provided in rear cover 1 into an access space 6 provided in housing 7 . bearing 8 is slidable in a recess 10 provided in rear cover 1 between first and second positions which correspond to first and second positions of abutment member 5 . torsion spring 4 abuts surface 5 &# 39 ; of member 5 and urges it into the first position therefor so as to locate bearing 8 &# 39 ; in access space 6 when rear cover 1 is closed against housing 7 . concomitantly therewith , bearing 8 is slid to its first position in slot 10 which is delimited by a pair of steps 11 and 11 &# 39 ; provided in rear cover 1 . access space 6 is defined between camera housing 7 and a lip or rigid restraint 12 depending therefrom into the plane of rear cover 1 . lip 12 is generally contiguous with connectable end 1 &# 39 ; of rear cover 1 . lip 12 abuts bearing 8 &# 39 ; when rear cover 1 is closed against housing 7 for maintaining the rear cover closed . bearing 8 is movable from its first to second positions by a sliding pressure exerted on serrated surface 13 thereof which overrides the force of spring 4 on abutment member 5 for thereby dislocating bearing 8 &# 39 ; from access space 6 , whereby connectable end 1 &# 39 ; of rear cover 1 is disconnected from housing 7 and may be pivoted outwardly for opening cover 1 . referring now generally to fig2 - 4a and 8 , the film viewing window employed in connection with the embodiment shown therein is of substantially identical construction with the viewing window set forth in detail in connection with fig1 and 1a . the camera housing and rear cover therefor are also substantially of identical construction and therefore , the same general numerical designations are employed in connection therewith and for the film viewing window . referring now to fig2 and 2a , a flat leaf spring 20 is provided and has a free end ( not shown ) and another end integrally connected to viewing window 2 . leaf spring 20 lies substantially in the plane of viewing window 2 and the free end thereof extends into the interface between connectable end 1 &# 39 ; of rear cover 1 and camera housing 7 . in connection with this embodiment , rear cover 1 is of the type which overfits housing 7 rather than of the type fitted into a recess of housing 7 as particularly shown in fig1 . a lug or rigid restraint 21 is mounted on an end wall 22 of camera housing 7 at a perpendicular to rear cover 1 when the rear cover is closed against camera housing 7 . lug 21 is provided with a faceted undersurface 23 and a tapered node 24 introducing into the faceted undersurface 23 . a cam surface 25 is provided on leaf spring 20 in substantial alignment with lug 21 for camming on lug 21 into securement on faceted undersurface 23 thereof as rear cover 1 is closed against camera housing 7 . in the camming action , leaf spring 20 is downwardly displaced . a release knob 26 is mounted on the free end of leaf spring 20 and extends beyond the releasable joint of connectable end 1 &# 39 ; of rear cover 1 and camera housing 7 . leaf spring 20 is responsive to a downward pressure exerted on release knob 26 and a displacement channel 27 is provided in rear cover 1 for accommodating the displacement of leaf spring 20 and release knob 26 while the cam surface 25 is being moved into or out of connection with lug 21 . leaf spring 20 is downwardly displaceable in channel 27 for securing or releasing it to and from lug 21 . referring now to fig3 - 3c , an s - shaped torsion spring 30 is provided and has an end integrally connected to film viewing window 2 and another end integrally connected to a lug 31 . lug 31 includes a depending stem 32 and a pair of bifurcations 33 and 34 substantially perpendicular to stem 32 . a slot 35 is provided in rear cover 1 which extends through connectable end 1 &# 39 ; thereof . lug 31 is slidable in slot 35 which includes a pair of channels 36 and 36 &# 39 ; which are each arranged to receive a respective bifurcation 33 and 34 . channel 36 &# 39 ; extends to the exterior surface of rear cover 1 and bifurcation 34 is slidable therein and observable on the exterior surface of rear cover 1 . channel 36 is located in the interior of rear cover 1 relative to channel 36 &# 39 ; and bifurcation 33 is slidable therein . a strut 37 of rear cover 1 defines slot 35 into respective channels 36 and 36 &# 39 ; and provides a partition against which stem 32 abuts for the purpose hereinafter described . a notch 38 is provided in the side wall of housing 7 and communicates with channel 36 whereby bifurcation 33 of lug 31 locates therein when rear cover 1 is closed against camera housing 7 . torsion spring 30 normally biases lug stem 32 against strut 37 of rear cover 1 for thereby locating bifurcation 33 through channel 36 into notch 38 . under the circumstances described , rear cover 1 is closed and connectable end 1 &# 39 ; thereof is releasably secured to camera housing 7 . to disconnect end 1 &# 39 ; of the rear cover from camera housing 7 , a sliding pressure is exerted on bifurcation 34 in the direction shown by arrow 39 on the serrated exterior surface of the bifurcation . the force exerted must be in excess of the bias provided by spring 30 for thereby sliding lug 31 through slot 35 and thereby dislocating bifurcation 33 from notch 38 so as to disconnect end 1 &# 39 ; of rear cover 1 from camera housing 7 . in this condition , rear cover 1 may be outwardly opened . referring now to fig4 and 4a , viewing window 2 is of substantially the same construction as shown in fig1 - 3c , however , it is provided with a beaded edge 2 &# 34 ; received in a recess therefor in the film viewing window aperture 2 &# 39 ; in rear cover 1 . tongues 1 &# 34 ; secure viewing window 2 to rear cover 1 and film viewing window 2 is slidable in aperture 2 &# 39 ;. a rigid member 40 is integrally connected to film viewing window 2 at one end and is provided with a stepped shoulder 41 which is connected thereto at its other end . stepped shoulder 41 extends beyond end 1 &# 39 ; of rear cover 1 for a purpose hereinafter described . a pair of opposed substantially coaxial spring arms 42 and 42 &# 39 ; are connected to rigid member 40 at a perpendicular . a pair of opposed abutment surfaces 43 and 43 &# 39 ; located in rear cover 1 abut respective spring arms 42 and 42 &# 39 ; for normally locating stepped shoulder 41 a predetermined distance beyond end 1 &# 39 ; of rear cover 1 . concomitantly therewith , window 2 has a predetermined position in slot 2 &# 39 ;. stepped shoulder 41 is slidable in a slot 44 of predetermined length provided in rear cover 1 so as to permit shoulder 41 to dislocate from its normal position beyond end 1 &# 39 ; of rear cover 1 . as hereinbefore described in connection with fig1 a lip 12 depends from housing 7 and extends into the plane of rear cover 1 when rear cover 1 is closed against housing 7 . lip 12 is generally contiguous with end 1 &# 39 ; of rear cover 1 . an access space 6 is defined between camera housing 7 and lip 12 and slot 44 provided in rear cover 1 for stepped shoulder 41 communicates with access space 6 when cover 1 is closed against housing 7 so as to permit stepped shoulder 41 to at least partially locate in access space 6 in response to pressure exerted thereon by respective spring arms 42 and 42 &# 39 ;. lip 12 abuts stepped shoulder 41 when rear cover 1 is closed against housing 7 . a slidable release member 45 is respectively connected to viewing window 2 and rigid member 40 . release member 45 is slidable in a recess 46 provided in the exterior surface of rear cover 1 and cooperates with film viewing window 2 and rigid member 40 for disconnecting end 1 &# 39 ; from housing 7 . stepped shoulder 41 is responsive to a sliding pressure exerted on release member 45 which exceeds the force of the bias provided by spring arms 42 and 42 &# 39 ; so as to retract stepped shoulder 41 from lip 12 for thereby disconnecting end 1 &# 39 ; of rear cover 1 from camera housing 7 so as to permit rear cover 1 to be opened . referring now to fig8 a pair of substantially parallel , co - planar spring arms 80 and 80 &# 39 ; are integrally connected to viewing window 2 . respective spring arms 80 and 80 &# 39 ; terminate in respective lugs 81 and 81 &# 39 ;, each lug being provided with a respective abutment surface 82 and 82 &# 39 ; substantially perpendicular to its respective spring arm 80 and 8 &# 39 ;. lugs 81 and 81 &# 39 ; are located on the exterior of rear cover 1 and are slidable thereon along their respective abutment surfaces 82 and 82 &# 39 ;. a pair of slots 83 and 83 &# 39 ; are provided in end 1 &# 39 ; of rear cover 1 and have respective predetermined and substantially equal lengths so as to permit a predetermined displacement of lugs 81 and 81 &# 39 ; on end 1 &# 39 ; of rear cover 1 . a pair of pressure responsive hook members 84 and 84 &# 39 ; are located within rear cover 1 in proximity to end 1 &# 39 ; thereof . each hook member is connected to a respective spring arm 80 and 80 &# 39 ; at a perpendicular and hook members 84 and 84 &# 39 ; are substantially parallel . a pair of recesses ( not shown ) are located in camera housing 7 and are arranged to receive respective hooked ends of hook members 84 and 84 &# 39 ; when rear cover 1 is closed against camera housing 7 . hooked ends of respective hook members 84 and 84 &# 39 ; are dislocatable from their respective recesses in housing 7 by substantially equal and opposite sliding pressures exerted respectively and simultaneously upon lugs 81 and 81 &# 39 ; whereby end 1 &# 39 ; may be disconnected from housing 7 . by the application of pressure to lugs 81 and 81 &# 39 ;, simultaneously , each lug is displaced on end 1 &# 39 ; when the pressure exerted thereon exceeds the force of spring arms 80 and 80 &# 39 ;. upon application of such excess pressure , hook members 84 and 84 &# 39 ; disconnect from their respective recesses in housing 7 and cover 1 may be opened . to the opposite end of viewing window 2 , a leaf spring 85 is integrally connected . leaf spring 85 extends towards pivotably connected end 1 &# 39 ;&# 34 ; of rear cover 1 and is provided with a raised portion 86 for locating a battery cell 87 thereunder . spring 85 exerts sufficient pressure against cell 87 to secure it to rear cover 1 . to remove battery 87 therefrom , raised portion 86 of spring 85 may be deformed temporarily . in the manner shown and described in connection with fig8 camera locking means and battery securing means may both be integrally connected to the film viewing window in the camera . in a similar manner , the embodiments shown in fig1 - 4a may be modified to include the same or similar battery securing means , for instance , of the type particularly shown in fig6 and 7 . two additional examples of battery securing means which may be employed in connection with the invention are best seen in fig6 and 7 . in fig7 a leaf spring 70 is integrally connected to film viewing window 72 and extends toward the pivotably connected end of rear cover 73 . leaf spring 70 is provided with a raised portion for locating a battery thereunder and biasing the battery against rear cover 73 and abutment member 71 provided therein . referring now to fig6 which depicts another securing means embodiment , and shows a modification which may be made to the film viewing window . in this embodiment , the film viewing window and battery securing means are releasably connected to rear cover 67 . a resilient tongue 60 is integrally connected to a viewing window 61 and extends in the plane thereof , for instance , towards the pivotably connected end of rear cover 67 . tongue 60 is provided with a hooked end 62 which releasably connects behind a fixed shoulder 63 provided in rear cover 67 . a release means 64 comprising a serrated surface is provided in tongue 60 and sliding pressure may be exerted thereon to resiliently deform hooked end 62 to dislocate it from securement with fixed shoulder 63 . flange 65 is integrally connected to tongue 60 and angularly disposed relative thereto . when tongue 60 is connected to rear cover 67 , flange 65 secures a cell ( not shown ) against rear cover 67 and abutment 66 . the cell may be released by dislocating tongue 60 from fixed shoulder 63 . referring now to fig5 and 5a , an improved viewing window 50 is provided which is slidably connected in the rear cover 51 of a film camera . retaining means 52 for one or more electrical cells is connected to viewing window 50 . a plurality of cells 53 is removably mounted in a corresponding plurality of recesses 54 provided in cover 51 . recesses 54 are preferably configured to prevent improper insertion of the cells therein . viewing window 50 is arranged for sliding , for instance , by well - known means , and is urged by an integrally connected spring 55 towards the left for clamping and retaining cells 53 in position . the leftward bias is provided by the angular disposition of spring 55 against abutment 56 . spring loaded conductors ( not shown ) may be provided in the camera housing which contact cells 53 when rear cover 51 is closed . the contacts will , therefore , be moved and &# 34 ; cleaned &# 34 ; every time the camera is loaded with film . locking means and cell securing means constructed in accordance with the invention perform reliably and are easy to fabricate . moreover , if either means wears through use , the part may be replaced by mere replacement of the film viewing window to which it is connected . when these parts are integrally molded with the rear cover or camera housing , then replacement requires a new rear cover or housing , as may be the case . it will thus be seen that the objects set forth above , among those made apparent from the preceding description , are efficiently attained and , since certain changes may be made in the above constructions without departing from the spirit and 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 . 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 .	6
a turbomachine system , in accordance with an exemplary embodiment , is indicated generally at 2 , in fig1 . turbomachine system 2 includes a turbomachine 4 having a compressor portion 6 operatively connected to a turbine portion 8 through a common compressor / turbine shaft 10 . a combustor assembly 12 is fluidically connected between compressor portion 6 and turbine portion 8 . combustor assembly 12 includes at least one combustor 14 that directs products of combustion along a hot gas path ( also not separately labeled ) of turbine portion 8 . an intake system 20 is fluidically connected to an inlet ( not separately labeled ) of compressor portion 6 . a load 22 is mechanically linked to turbomachine 4 . in operation , air is passed through intake system 20 into compressor portion 6 . intake system 20 may condition the air by , for example , lowering humidity , altering temperature , and the like . the air is compressed through multiple stages of compressor portion 6 and passed to turbine portion 8 and combustor assembly 12 . the air is mixed with fuel , diluents , and the like , in combustor 14 to form a combustible mixture . the combustible mixture is passed from combustor 14 into turbine portion 8 via a transition piece ( not shown ) as hot gases . the hot gases flow along the hot gas path of turbine portion 8 and pass as exhaust into an exhaust diffuser 30 . exhaust diffuser 30 is geometrically configured to rapidly decrease kinetic energy of exhaust gases as well as increase static pressure recovery prior to delivery to a downstream device ( not shown ). the downstream device may direct the exhaust gases to ambient , or extract additional energy that may be used for other purposes . as shown in fig2 , exhaust diffuser 30 includes a body 40 having an outer surface 41 and an inner surface 42 that defines a diffuser flow path 44 . exhaust diffuser 30 includes an inlet 46 fluidically coupled to an outlet ( not separately labeled ) of turbine portion 8 and an outlet 47 . exhaust diffuser 30 is also shown to include a plurality of stationary struts , one of which is indicated at 50 , extending radially inwardly to diffuser flow path 44 from inner surface 42 . stationary struts 50 condition exhaust gases flowing along diffuser flow path 44 toward outlet 47 . in accordance with an exemplary embodiment , exhaust diffuser 30 includes a plurality of flow mixing lobes , one of which is indicated at 54 , mounted to inner surface 42 . in accordance with an aspect of an exemplary embodiment , flow mixing lobes 54 may be arranged downstream of inlet 46 a distance between about 0 . 05 times a last stage blade height and about 10 times the last stage blade height . in an exemplary aspect shown , flow mixing lobes 54 may be arranged downstream of inlet 46 and upstream of struts 50 . in accordance with another aspect of an exemplary embodiment , flow mixing lobes 54 may be arranged about 2 - inches ( 5 . 08 - cm ) downstream of inlet 46 . in accordance with yet another aspect of an exemplary embodiment , flow mixing lobes 54 may be arranged about 1 . 50 - inches ( 3 . 81 - cm ) downstream of inlet 46 . of course , it should be understood that the position of flow mixing lobes 54 may vary . further , it should be understood that flow mixing lobes may be arranged downstream of struts 50 . as shown in fig3 and 4 , flow mixing lobes 54 include a first lobe member 60 and a second lobe member 61 . each lobe member 60 and 61 extends substantially perpendicularly outwardly from inner surface 42 . first lobe member 60 includes a first base section 64 and second lobe member 61 includes a second base section 65 . first base section 64 projects outwardly of first lobe member 60 in a first direction and second base section 65 projects outwardly of second lobe member 61 in a second direction that is opposite the first direction . first and second base sections 64 and 65 provide an attachment interface between respective ones of first and second lobe members 60 and 61 and inner surface 42 . in further accordance with an exemplary embodiment , flow mixing lobes 54 include an airfoil portion 70 extending between first and second lobe member 60 and 61 . airfoil portion 70 is spaced from first and second base sections 64 and 65 such that , when attached to inner surface 42 , a channel 74 is formed . channel 74 receives a portion of exhaust gases passing from turbine portion 8 . in accordance with an aspect of an exemplary embodiment , channel 74 guides a portion of a high momentum flow passing from turbine portion 6 radially outwardly toward inner surface 42 . more specifically , airfoil portion 70 directs the portion of the substantially high momentum flow radially outwardly toward inner surface 42 thereby generating flow vortices . the flow vortices reduce boundary layer growth at inner surface 42 resulting in a reduction in flow separation . the exemplary embodiments thus improve pressure recovery in exhaust diffuser 30 that leads to an enhancement in overall system efficiency . at this point , it should be understood that the term “ substantially high momentum flow ” describes a flow having a velocity of about 1000 ft / sec ( about 305 m / s ) or greater . fig5 depicts a flow mixing lobe 90 in accordance with another aspect of an exemplary embodiment . flow mixing lobe 90 includes first and second lobe portions 92 and 93 joined through an airfoil portion 94 . each lobe portion 92 and 93 includes a corresponding terminal end portion 96 and 97 that directly interfaces with inner surface 42 of exhaust diffuser 30 . fig6 depicts a flow mixing lobe 100 including first and second lobe members 102 and 103 joined by an airfoil portion 105 . in the exemplary aspect shown , first and second lobe members 102 and 103 include corresponding terminal end portions 107 and 108 that are angled inwardly toward each other . fig7 depicts a flow mixing lobe 110 including first and second lobe members 112 and 113 joined by an airfoil portion 115 . in the exemplary aspect shown , first and second lobe members 112 and 113 including corresponding terminal end portions 117 and 118 that are angled outwardly away from one another . fig8 depicts a flow mixing lobe 120 having first and second lobe members 122 and 123 joined by an airfoil portion 124 . in the exemplary aspect shown , airfoil portion 124 includes first and second airfoil members 128 and 129 that extend at an angle from corresponding ones of first and second lobe members 122 and 123 and are joined at an angled portion 130 . fig9 depicts a flow mixing lobe 140 including an airfoil portion 142 having a generally rectangular cross - section ( not separately labeled ). fig1 depicts a flow mixing lobe 150 including an airfoil portion 152 having a curvilinear cross - section ( also not separately labeled ). the applicant respectfully submits that the term “ about ” is intended to include the degree of error associated with measurement of the particular quantity based upon the equipment available at the time of filing the application . for example , “ about ” can include a range of ± 8 % or 5 %, or 2 % of a given value . the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the exemplary embodiment . as used herein , the singular forms “ a ”, “ an ” and “ the ” are intended to include the plural forms as well , unless the context clearly indicates otherwise . it will be further understood that the terms “ comprises ” and / or “ comprising ,” when used in this specification , specify the presence of stated features , integers , steps , operations , elements , and / or components , but do not preclude the presence or addition of one more other features , integers , steps , operations , element components , and / or groups thereof . while the present disclosure has been described in detail in connection with only a limited number of embodiments , it should be readily understood that the present disclosure is not limited to such disclosed embodiments . rather , the present disclosure can be modified to incorporate any number of variations , alterations , substitutions or equivalent arrangements not heretofore described , but which are commensurate with the spirit and scope of the present disclosure . additionally , while various embodiments of the present disclosure have been described , it is to be understood that aspects of the present disclosure may include only some of the described embodiments . accordingly , the present disclosure is not to be seen as limited by the foregoing description , but is only limited by the scope of the appended claims .	5
referring to fig1 a preferred stereoscopic viewing apparatus which may be employed in the contour line plotting device of the invention includes a left - hand optical system 1 - 4 and a right - hand optical system 1 &# 39 ;- 4 &# 39 ;. reference numerals 1 and 1 &# 39 ; designate the optical axes of the respective optical systems , these axes being parallel and spaced apart by a fixed distance m . objective lenses 2 and 2 &# 39 ; focus the images recorded on the films onto respective focusing lenses 3 and 3 &# 39 ;, while relay lenses 4 and 4 &# 39 ; direct the images on lenses 3 and 3 &# 39 ; to the left and right eyes , respectively , of the viewer . focusing lenses 3 and 3 &# 39 ; are provided with reference marks 3n and 3n &# 39 ; on their respective optical axes , as shown in fig1 ( b ) and 1 ( c ). when the stereophotographic records or films 5 and 5 &# 39 ; are viewed through the two optical systems , a stereoscopic image of the object recorded on the films is obtained , as is well known . films 5 and 5 &# 39 ; are mounted on beds 6 and 7 , respectively , by any suitable means ( not shown ). bed 7 is supported on bed 6 and is movable in the x &# 39 ; direction relative to bed 6 by means of a knob 8 mounted at the end of a feed screw 8 &# 39 ;, the amount of relative movement being indicated by a scale 9 and another scale for dial ( not shown ) on knob 8 . bed 6 , together with bed 7 , is movable relative to a bed 11 in the x direction ( identical to the x &# 39 ; direction ), the amount of this relative movement being indicated by a scale 10 . bed 11 , together with beds 6 and 7 , is movable in the y direction relative to a bed 12 , the amount of this relative movement being indicated by a scale 13 . an arm 14 projects in the x direction from bed 6 and has a hole 15 at the end thereof . in lieu of the scales , photoelectric measurement apparatus , such as a linear encoder , may be employed to provide electrical signals representing the positions of the beds . in this case , the coordinates of the beds 6 and 7 , which carry the films , may be calculated by a computer responsive to such signals . the manner in which the images of the object are formed on stereophotographic films 5 and 5 &# 39 ; will now be described with reference to fig2 . o 1 and o 2 are the optical centers of respective photographic lenses ( not shown ) to which the films are exposed , the length of the base line o 1 o 2 being designated k . the focal length of each photographic lens is f , which is also the distance between the optical centers of the lenses and their respective films . a sample body or object 16 , shown as a cone by way of example , rests on a reference plane 17 which is parallel to the plane of the films and which is spaced from the centers o 1 and o 2 of the lenses by a distance h . the principal points of the films 5 and 5 &# 39 ; are designated n 1 and n 2 , respectively , and are the points of intersection of the optical axes of the photographic lenses with the films . these points may be determined by any of several known methods depending upon the accuracy required . these methods form no part of the present invention and are therefore not described in detail . it is noted , however , that certain instruments , such as stereo cameras , have constructions which enable the locations of the principal points to be easily obtained . referring to fig2 points e and a on the outer edge of the cone ( and located in the horizontal reference plane 17 ) are focused onto the right - side film 5 at e 1 and a 1 respectively , and are focused onto the left - side film 5 &# 39 ; at e 2 and a 2 , respectively . furthermore , when the body 16 is intersected by a horizontal plane 18 which is parallel to plane 17 and which is higher than plane 17 by the distance δh 1 , the points d and b which lie on the surface of the body in plane 18 are focused onto film 5 at d 1 and b 1 , respectively , and onto 5 &# 39 ; at d 2 and b 2 , respectively . similarly , point c at the apex of the cone , which is higher than plane 17 by the distance δh 2 , is focused at c 1 on film 5 and at c 2 on film 5 &# 39 ;. if we refer to the distance between corresponding image points ( for example , points e 1 and e 2 ) in the two films as the &# 34 ; parallax &# 34 ; of the corresponding point on the object ( point e ), it can be determined from fig2 that the parallaxes for points e and a , which both lie in the horizontal reference plane 17 , are equal ( i . e ., e 1 e 2 = a 1 a 2 ). furthermore , it can be determined that the parallaxes for points d and b , which both lie on horizontal plane 18 , are equal to each other ( i . e ., d 1 d 2 = b 1 b 2 ), but are greater than the parallaxes for points e and a . moreover , the parallax for point c is even greater than the parallax for points d and b . in other words , when corresponding points in the two films are compared , the parallaxes for different points on the object which have the same height , as measured from reference plane 17 , have the same parallax . moreover , this parallax is different from the parallaxes of points having different heights . thus , the difference between the heights of two points on the object can be represented in terms of the difference between their respective parallaxes ( i . e ., the &# 34 ; parallax difference &# 34 ;). it will therefore be apparent that information relating to the height of each point on the object is present in the two stereophotographic films , unless , of course , the location of the point is such that the point cannot be focussed onto both the films by the photographic lenses . in accordance with the relationship between the height of a point and its parallax , the heights of different points on an object can be determined from the stereophotographic films of the object by means of the stereoscopic viewing apparatus of fig1 . moreover , the apparatus may be employed to locate different points on the object which have the same height , thereby enabling the derivation of contour lines in a manner hereinafter described . with the films 5 and 5 &# 39 ; suitably mounted on beds 6 and 7 , scales 9 , 10 , 13 and the scale on knob 8 each indicate 0 when the principal points n 1 and n 2 of the films are brought into alignment with reference marks 3n and 3n &# 39 ; on their associated focusing lenses 3 and 3 &# 39 ; ( i . e ., n 1 n 2 = m ). after bed 6 is positioned so that a point of interest on the right - hand film 5 &# 39 ; ( for example , point a 2 ) is aligned with the reference mark 3n &# 39 ;, bed 7 is then moved relative to bed 6 by means of knob 8 and screw shaft 8 &# 39 ; until the corresponding point ( point a 1 ) on the left - hand film 5 is brought into alignment with the reference mark 3n . the amount of relative movement between beds 6 and 7 is indicated by scale 9 and the scale on knob 8 , this movement representing the difference between the parallax for the point ( for example , point a ) and the distance m . if the measured parallax for another point on the object is greater than m , the point is located above the reference plane 17 , whereas if the measured parallax is less than m , the point is located below reference plane 17 . bed 6 , carrying bed 7 , is then moved in the x and y directions to locate other corresponding points in the films which come into simultaneous alignment with the reference marks . in this manner , the different points of the object which have the same height can be traced in the films . the path of this tracing movement is indicated by scales 10 and 13 , these scales showing the coordinates of the different traced points , with the principal point n 2 of film 5 &# 39 ; being the origin . for example , when the beds 6 and 7 are placed to enable the reference marks 3n and 3n &# 39 ; to be aligned with points a 1 and a 2 , respectively , on the films , the beds can be moved together to trace out the outline of the bottom edge of the cone 16 ( i . e ., all the points which lie on reference plane 17 ). moving beds 6 and 7 further apart enables the tracing of points of selectively greater heights , such as the points lying in plane 18 . fig3 illustrates the lines formed by tracing the points which lie in planes 17 and 18 of the object and also illustrates the location of point c 1 , which corresponds to the apex of the cone . instead of forming circles which are concentric about point c 1 , as would be expected if the lines depicted contour lines of the conical body , the lines form circles which are eccentric relative to point c 1 . this variation between the positions of the traced lines and the expected positions of contour lines representing points having the same height as the traced lines is due to the fact that film 5 is not an orthogonal plan view perpendicular to planes 17 and 18 . referring to fig2 it will be apparent that these variations are due to two causes . in the first place , the points on the body in plane 18 are closer to the photographic lens ( and thus closer to film 5 ) than are the points in plane 17 , and point c is even closer . as a result , whereas the points in plane 17 are focused at the scale of f / h , the points in plane 18 are focused at a larger scale of f /( h - δh 1 ) and point c is focused at the even larger scale of f /( h - δh 2 ). secondly , because the optical axis of the photographic lens having center o 2 is displaced in the x direction from the axis of rotation of the conical body 16 , the points in plane 18 beme laterally shifted a fixed distance in the x direction relative to the points in plane 17 . similarly , point c 2 becomes shifted an even greater distance in the same direction relative to the points in plane 17 . as shown in fig2 these variations , which are related to the different heights of the points on the object , are also found in the image recorded on film 5 &# 39 ;. however , from fig2 it is readily apparent that these variations in scale and lateral position are not present at the principal points n 1 and n 2 of the films . therefore , with the principal point n 2 as the reference point , the total variation due to the above - described effects will be calculated with respect to point b , which lies in plane 18 . if a line is drawn from point b perpendicular to reference plane 17 to a point b &# 39 ; on the reference plane , and if it is imagined that the light from point b emanates instead from point b &# 39 ;, the light will be focused onto films 5 and 5 &# 39 ; at points b 1 &# 39 ; and b 2 &# 39 ; , respectively , without alteration in scale or lateral position relative to other points in plane 17 . in other words , the parallax for point b &# 39 ; is the same as the parallax for points a and e . if we designate the length of line n 2 b 2 to be p and the length of line n 2 b 2 &# 39 ; to be p &# 39 ;, and if we set p - p &# 39 ; = δp , then ## equ2 ## from n 2 &# 39 ; b = n 2 b &# 39 ;, we have ## equ3 ## thus , we have the following relationship : ## equ4 ## where δh is a value to be given , the value of h is known , and the value of p is obtained by a reading of scales 10 and 13 of the stereoscopic viewing apparatus of fig1 . from fig2 it can also be determined that the relationship between the height h of a particular point on the object and the associated parallax difference δpx are related as follows : ## equ5 ## referring to fig3 if the positions of the points forming the traced lines and the point c 2 were corrected in accordance with equation ( 1 ), the result would be the contour lines of conical body 16 corresponding to the heights of the traced points . for convenience of description , consideration has been given only to variations which occur in a plane perpendicular to plane 17 and including the base line o 1 o 2 ( i . e ., variations in the x direction ). it will , of course , be apparent that errors in the y direction are calculated in the same manner . in the contour line plotting device constructed in accordance with the invention , a correction mechanism is employed in conjunction with the stereoscopic viewing apparatus of fig1 for automatically operating on the position signals generated by the stereoscopic viewing apparatus to provide position signals which are corrected for the variations described above . as a result , the correction mechanism provides the contour lines for an object as the points having the same height are traced in the images on the films , as will be apparent hereinafter . a first embodiment of the correction mechanism , shown in fig4 ( a ) and 4 ( b ), will now be described . a rotary shaft 19 at the intersection of guide bars 20 , 21 and 22 supports the guide bars for rotation therearound . guide bar 20 forms a predetermined angle α with guide bars 21 and 22 , which are parallel to each other . sliders 29 and 31 are slidable on guide bar 20 and can be immovably fixed by associated clamps ( not shown ). a guide bar 23 has one end supported for rotation about the shaft 27 &# 39 ; of a slider 27 on guide bar 22 , guide bar 23 also extending through a slider 30 mounted for rotation about a shaft 29 &# 39 ; which extends from slider 29 . likewise , a guide bar 24 has one end supported for rotation about the shaft 28 &# 39 ; of a slider 28 on guide bar 21 , the guide bar 24 also extending through a slider 32 mounted for rotation about a shaft 31 &# 39 ; which extends from slider 31 . a sizing bar 25 has one end mounted for rotation about a shaft 29 &# 39 ; on slider 29 and has its other end mounted for rotation about the shaft 35 &# 39 ; of a slider 35 on guide bar 24 . another sizing bar 26 has one end mounted for rotation about the shaft 33 &# 39 ; of a slider 33 on guide bar 23 and has its other end mounted for rotation about the shaft 34 &# 39 ; of a slider 34 on guide bar 24 . the sizing bars 25 and 26 are rotatably connected together at their centers by a shaft 36 . there is no eccentricity or play between the guide bars , sizing bars , sliders and rotary shafts . as a result , the geometrical points of intersection between the shafts and the associated bars are as shown in fig4 ( a ). if sizing bars 25 and 26 are adjusted such that lq = rq and sq = fq , guide bars 23 and 24 will remain parallel to each other at all times , independently of the points of intersection i and j of guide bars 23 and 24 with guide bars 21 and 22 . thus , ## equ6 ## consequently , if the arrangement is set to satisfy the relation that ## equ7 ## ( this may be done by providing a scale and suitable clamping mechanisms ), then ## equ8 ## it will therefore be apparent that the correction mechanism satisfies the requirements of equation ( 1 ). therefore , if n is regarded as a point corresponding to the principal point n 2 of film 5 &# 39 ;, ni is equivalent to p &# 39 ; if nj = p , nj being the input position signal of the correction mechanism and ni being the output position signal of the mechanism . this will be better understood by referring to the point b in fig2 wherein the points i and j correspond to the points b 2 &# 39 ; and b 2 , respectively . more specifically , by moving slider 28 ( point j ) to trace a line in film 5 &# 39 ; which is formed of points having the same heights , by providing a pencil 37 on the slider 27 ( point i ), and by making the principal point n 2 on film 5 of fig1 to correspond to point n of the correction mechanism , the aforementioned variations in scale and lateral position may be corrected so that the pencil or other indicator or marker is moved in a manner to depict a true contour line of the object . to select the desired vertical contour line interval , sliders 29 and 31 are positioned to establish the points f and g so as to satisfy equation ( 2 ) above , with δii representing the desired height of the contour line . the correction in the direction toward the origin is accomplished by sliding the sliders 27 and 28 in the direction toward n and the correction of the rotational direction with respect to the principal point is accomplished by rotation of the crossed guide bars about n . the contour line plotting device of the invention employing this embodiment of the correction mechanism will now be described . referring to fig4 ( b ), shaft 15 &# 39 ; on slider 28 is inserted into the hole 15 in the arm 14 of the stereoscopic viewing apparatus shown in fig1 ( a ). because arm 14 is mounted on bed 6 , the position of hole 15 provides a signal representative of the position of bed 6 . the slider 29 is then moved to the position of slider 31 , so that fg = 0 and δh = 0 . in this position , the contour line for points on the reference plane 17 can be depicted , no correction being necessary for these points . this is carried out by moving bed 7 in the x and y directions so that reference marks 3n and 3n &# 39 ; trace points in the films which have the same parallax , that is , the points which lie in the reference plane . after this contour line has been completed , the slider 29 may be moved toward shaft 19 to a position wherein : ## equ9 ## so that the contour line for points on plane 18 is depicted . in similar fashion , slider 29 may be moved to other positions wherein fg represents different values of δh , thus providing different contour lines of the object . the correction mechanism of the invention permits sliders 27 and 28 to be moved beyond axis 19 ( point n ) whenever the information on the contour line crosses the principal point n 2 of the photograph . furthermore , if it is desired to depict the contour lines on an enlarged scale , points f and i may be disposed oppositely from the point n with respect to points g and j , respectively . more specifically , point f may be set so as to satisfy the relation that nf = 2 ( h - δh ). of course , apparatus must be provided for maintaining the guide bars 23 and 24 parallel to each other at all times . thus , point i will be moved to depict a contour line twice as large as the contour line depicted by the apparatus of fig4 ( a ) and 4 ( b ). a second embodiment of the correction mechanism will now be described with reference to fig5 parts similar to those of the first embodiment being designated by the same reference characters . in this embodiment , guide bar 26 has one end supported for rotation about the shaft 33 &# 39 ; of slider 33 which is secured to guide bar 23 , and has its other end extending parallel to guide bar 20 and through a slider 26 &# 39 ;. slider 26 &# 39 ; is mounted on the shaft ( not shown ) of slider 34 and may be immovably fixed by a clamping mechanism ( not shown ). the slider 26 &# 39 ; is positioned so as to satisfy the relationship that fg = lr , so that guide bars 23 and 24 are maintained parallel at all times . as in the first embodiment , the mechanism is adjusted in accordance with the following relationship : ## equ10 ## it will therefore be apparent that the length of guide bar 26 must be sufficient to enable lr to be made equal to the selected value of fg . a third embodiment of the correction mechanism will now be described with reference to fig6 and 7 . parallel guide bars 103 and 104 intersect the axis of rotation 114 of a bed 120 and are fixedly supported on the bed . a slider 105 is slidable on the guide bar 103 . a shaft 106 is secured to the slider 105 . a slider 107 is slidable on a guide bar 108 , which intersects guide bars 103 and 104 and is supported for rotation about the axis of a shaft 110 mounted on the bed . slider 107 is rotatably supported on a shaft 105 &# 39 ; extending from slider 105 . thus , when slider 105 is moved on guide bar 103 , slider 107 is moved thereby on guide bar 108 so that slider 107 is rotated on shaft 105 &# 39 ; as guide bar 108 is rotated about shaft 110 . a slider 109 is slidable on guide bar 108 . a slider 112 is rotatably supported on a shaft 109 &# 39 ; extending from slider 109 and is slidable on a guide bar 111 secured to a slider 113 which is slidable on guide bar 104 , guide bar 111 being mounted perpendicular to guide bar 104 . because shaft 110 on which guide bar 108 is rotatably supported is mounted on the bed , it will be apparent that the entire correction mechanism is supported for rotation about the axis of rotation 114 of the bed . the line ng between axes 110 and 114 is perpendicular to shafts 103 and 104 , so that it is always parallel to line if connecting the points of intersection of guide bar 111 with guide bars 104 and 108 . because guide bar 111 and the line ng are parallel at all times , if the point of intersection of guide bars 103 and 108 is represented by j , it will be apparent that ## equ11 ## thus , the various points n , g , f , j and i in the mechanism of fig6 may be set so that ## equ12 ## it will therefore be apparent that the correction mechanism of this embodiment can perform the same correction function as the mechanisms shown in fig4 ( a ), 4 ( b ) and 5 . in any of the above - described embodiments of the correction mechanism , the pencil 37 provided at point i on the output side of the correction mechanism depicts the movement of point i in the form of a contour line . however , instead of actually depicting the contour line , it is also possible to use a rotary encoder 38 and a linear encoder 39 to detect the angle of rotation of point i about point n and to detect the distance between point i and point n so that the movement of point i may be represented in the form of polar coordinates , as shown in fig4 ( c ). it is believed that the advantages and improved results furnished by the contour line plotting device in accordance with the invention will be apparent from the foregoing description of several preferred embodiments of the invention . various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as sought to be defined in the following claims .	6
the present invention provides serum free compositions suitable for chondrocyte and mesenchymal stem cell growth and proliferation . the compositions may include in a base minimum essential medium , such as coon &# 39 ; s modified ham &# 39 ; s f - 12 medium , the following components as a substitute for serum : i ) one or more growth factors or proteins which cause resting cells to undergo cell division and / or differentiation , such as insulin , fgf - 2 , platelet - derived growth factor bb ( pdgfbb ), epiderman growth factor ( egf ), lif and scf and igf - 1 ; iii ) one or more sources of lipids and fatty acids , necessary for cell membrane biosynthesis , such as cholesterol and linoleic acid ; and fgf - 2 , pdgfbb and egf are potent mitogens for cells of mesenchymal origin . dexamethasone is known to keep cells in a cycling phase in vitro . the serum free medium of the present invention may further comprise : i ) albumin ( preferably of mammalian species ) which functions as an aspecific carrier ; iii ) a supplement for coenzyme transport in carboxyl group transfer reactions , such as biotin ; iv ) trace elements as a supplemental source of metal necessary for electron transport and many metalloenzymes and proteins , such as selenium ; insulin and dexamethasone are added at the average concentrations usually reported in the literature . igf - i , lif and scf are present at concentrations in the range from about 5 to about 10 ng / ml ; preferably at a concentration of 5 ng / ml . all the other components are included in a range of concentration typically used in cell culture studies . in a preferred embodiment of the composition suitable for the growth and proliferation of the chondrocytes , the defined components comprise egf , pdgfbb and fgf - 2 , ascorbic acid , linoleic acid , human serum albumin ( hsa ), β - mercaptoethanol , dexamethasone , insulin , human holo - and apo - transferrin . in this embodiment , fgf - 2 , pdgfbb and egf are present at concentrations in the range of from about 1 to about 10 ng / ml . in a preferred embodiment , fgf - 2 , pdgfbb and egf are present at concentrations of from 1 to 2 ng / ml . in a preferred embodiment of the composition suitable for the growth and proliferation of the mesenchymal stem cells , the defined components comprise egf , pdgfbb and fgf - 2 , lif , scf , igf - i , ascorbic acid , cholesterol , hsa , β - mercaptoethanol , dexamethasone , human holo - and apo - transferrin , selenium , biotin , sodium pantotenate . fgf - 2 , pdgfbb and egf are present at concentrations in the range of from about 5 ng / ml to about 10 ng / ml of each factor . the preferred concentrations of fgf - 2 , pdgfbb and egf are 10 ng / ml . fgf - 2 alone was found to be the most active factor for maintenance of osteochondrogenic potential in mscs . articular cartilage was harvested from the knee joint of young adult human donors . the samples were first cleaned of any adherent muscular , connective or subchondral bone tissues , minced into 1 – 3 mm fragments and rinsed in pbs . single chondrocytes were then released by repeated enzymatic digestions at 37 ° c . with 0 . 25 % trypsin , 400 u / ml collagenase i , 1000 u / ml collagenase ii and i mg / ml hyaluronidase . trypsin was then blocked and removed by rapid and extensive washes in pbs containing soybean trypsin inhibitor . cells were plated in anchorage - dependent conditions in coon &# 39 ; s modified ham &# 39 ; s f - 12 medium supplemented either with 10 % fetal calf serum ( fcs , control culture ) or the following defined components : egf , pdgfbb and fgf - 2 , ascorbic acid , linoleic acid , human serum albumin ( hsa ), β - mercaptoethanol , dexamethasone , insulin , human holo - and apo - transferrin . table 1 below shows the preferred amounts of each component . to favor adhesion of the cells in serum free conditions , the dishes were pre - coated with 2 % gelatin . insulin may not be substituted with igf - 1 in the medium for chondrocytes . insulin was preferably at a concentration of 5 μg / ml . selenium , biotin , sodium pantotenate and cholesterol can be routinely included but are optional . bone marrow sample harvested from the iliac crest of the patient was washed twice with pbs . the nucleated cells were counted using methyl violet and plated at 5 × 10 6 cells as unfractionated marrow per 10 cm tissue culture dish . for selection and expansion , the cells were maintained in coon &# 39 ; s modified ham &# 39 ; s f12 ( f12 ) supplemented either with 10 % fcs and 1 ng / ml fgf - 2 ( control culture ) or the following defined components : egf , pdgfbb , fgf - 2 , lif , scf , igf - i , ascorbic acid , cholesterol , hsa , β - mercaptoethanol , dexamethasone , human holo - and apo - transferrin , selenium , biotin and sodium pantotenate . table 2 below shows the preferred amounts of each component . to favor adhesion of the mscs , the cells were first plated for 48 hours in f12 medium supplemented with 10 % human serum and 1 ng / ml fgf - 2 . thereafter , the medium was removed and the cells were extensively washed with pbs , and left for an additional 24 – 48 hours in f12 medium without any supplement . the defined mixture of factors was then added to promote cell proliferation . fgf - 2 alone was the most active factor for maintenance of osteochondrogenic potential in mesenchymal stem cells . selenium , biotin and sodium pantotenate were preferably included for cell viability . lif and scf were seen to improve the extent of cell proliferation , in particular in combination with igf - 1 . studies have shown that pdgfbb by itself increases the osteogenic potential of mscs when included in the phase of proliferation . this effect was found to be amplified by combining pdgfbb with fgf - 2 . at day 0 , 5 × 10 3 first passage cells were plated in each well of a 24 - well plate in the presence of fcs . upon adhesion , the fcs was removed , and the cells were extensively washed with pbs and left for 2 – 3 days in f12 without supplement to exhaust residual traces of serum . proliferation was then reinduced by adding either 10 % fcs or the mixture of defined components established for chondrocytes . cell number was evaluated at different days via thiazolyl blue ( mtt ) staining . briefly , culture medium was removed and replaced with 0 . 5 ml of medium without supplement ; then 25 μl mtt ( sigma , st . louis , mo .) stock solution ( 5 mg / ml ) was added to each culture being assayed . after a 3 hour incubation the medium was removed and the converted dye solubilized with absolute ethanol . absorbance of converted dye was measured at a wavelength of 570 nm with background subtraction at 670 nm . the data obtained ( see fig1 ) clearly show that the defined medium induces the chondrocytes to proliferate to a rate and extent comparable to those obtained in the presence of fcs . the differentiation potential of the chondrocytes expanded in serum free conditions was tested both in vitro and in vivo . for in vitro assay , the expanded cells were transferred in anchorage - independent conditions and maintained as a pellet culture for 2 – 4 weeks in the serum free medium previously shown by johnstone et al . ( johnstone , b ., hering , t . m ., caplan , a . i ., goldberg , v . m . and yoo , j . u . exp . cell res . 238 , 265 – 272 , 1998 ) to induce chondrogenesis of serum expanded mscs . for in vivo assay , the expanded cells were implanted for 2 to 8 weeks in athymic mice either as a dense cell suspension or after embeddment in fibrin gel ( tissucol ). at the term of the assays , the samples were fixed in formalin , embedded in paraffin and sectioned . serial sections were processed for histological ( toluidine blue and alcian blue ) analysis and immunohistochemistry with collagen - specific antibodies . results indicated that , at variance with chondrocytes expanded in the presence of fcs , the chondrocytes expanded in serum free conditions - directly reformed a cartilaginous structure both in vitro and in vivo , which stained metachromatic for toluidine blue , positive for alcian blue and type ii collagen , and mostly negative for type i collagen . in contrast , in the case of the expansion in fcs , a total absence of full chondrogensis was observed both in vitro and in vivo ; at most , a faint metachromatic staining was detected in some pellet cultures , but they always lacked well defined lacunae and well organized extracellular matrix . these data illustrate a major advantage of the serum free system that allows chondrogenesis without the requirement of additional culturing in the presence of tgf - β 1 or other factors ( johnstone &# 39 ; s inducing conditions ). this may be due to the fact that chondrocytes , in nature , are not in contact with serum which may contain elements that inhibit chondrogenesis . the osteogenic potential of mscs after expansion under serum free defined conditions was tested in vivo by implantation of the expanded cells in athymic mice after adsorption on collagraft . several combinations of conditions were tested for bone formation in vivo . for all factor combinations , the medium contained coon &# 39 ; s modified ham &# 39 ; s f - 12 , dexamethasone , fgf - 2 , pdgfbb , egf , transferrin , cholesterol , human serum albumin , biotin , selenium , na pantotenate and ascorbic acid ( concentrations as in table 2 ). the combinations tested were 1 ) insulin ; 2 ) igf - 1 ; 3 ) insulin and lif ; 4 ) insulin and scf ; 5 ) insulin , lif and scf ; 6 ) igf - 1 and lif ; 7 ) igf - 1 and scf ; and 8 ) igf - 1 , lif and scf . after 8 weeks of implantation , the samples were decalcified , included and processed for histology as above . the sections were stained with hematoxylin - eosin . all the conditions of expansion allowed the mscs to reform bone tissue in vivo ; however , the amount of bone formed varied from condition to condition . the combination of igf - 1 , lif and scf provided an optimal expansion environment among the combinations tested .	2
for the purposes of this application the terms “ nanometer realm ” or “ nano - scale ” are understood to mean approximately 1 - 100 nm , and preferably 1 - 10 nm . “ nano - particles ” will be in this same size range . micro range will be understood to mean 0 . 1 to about 10 microns . fig1 a is a schematic diagram of a tim system in accordance with the invention . fig1 a illustrates nano - scale fibers 101 , such as cnt &# 39 ; s stabilized in a matrix 102 and sandwiched between two capping layers 103 , such as silver nanoparticle paste . the fibers 101 may be vertically aligned or randomly oriented . there will be some expense associated with getting the fibers to be aligned , but aligned fibers are expected to demonstrate superior performance , and are therefore preferred . on the other hand , even in an unaligned state , a portion of the fibers 101 will be oriented normal to the interface plane . the matrix 102 may include organic or organic / inorganic hybrid material stabilizing the arrays or networks of nano - scale fibers 101 . the fibers 101 function as heat - passages for heat flux . other materials that might be used as fibers 101 , analogously to cnts , include silver or copper nanowires , carbon columns , and any other highly thermally conductive fiber , for example formed of metal alloys or organic or mineral materials . to achieve high bulk thermal conductivity , the fibers 101 preferably physically connect the two opposing solid surfaces 401 ( shown in fig4 ). any low conducting interfaces could be detrimental to overall performance . this preference for physical connection holds true no matter whether the fillers in use contain nanoparticles ( nps ) or microparticles , or whether the fibers are nanowires ( nws ), or nanotubes . examples of thermal properties of nanowires are discussed in several papers 13 , 14 . however , at the interfaces between the tim and solids ( such as a die or a heat sink ), direct contacts between the nano - scale fibers and solids direct connection is desirable but generally impossible to realize , except perhaps if the fibers are grown between the surfaces , in which case the density of fibers may be too low . therefore , an approximation of physical contact , which achieves thermal performance approaching that of true physical contact , is preferred . a deformable buffer layer 103 with good interfacial adhesion with both fibers 101 and the solid surface 401 ( shown in fig4 ) is therefore provided . fibers 101 are embedded between capping layers 103 . the capping layers 103 wet the solid surfaces , potentially eliminating voids due to surface roughness . the capping layers 103 also may serve to improve mechanical strength of the tim , making it more suitable for automatic processing , including being punched out and / or being picked up , carried , or placed , during device assembly . the capping layers 103 may also further serve a lateral heat dissipation function , perpendicular to the direction of heat transport provided by the fibers 101 . the matrix 102 may be , for example , a polymer with included nano - or micro - particles . the assembly shown in fig1 a will generally have a thickness in the range of 2 to 1000 microns , preferably in the 100 to 150 micron range . fig1 b and 1e are schematics of a side view . in the embodiment of fig1 b , the capping layers 104 are patterned . in the embodiment of fig1 e , both the matrix 102 and the capping layers 103 are patterned . by judiciously placing voids 104 in the capping layers 103 , or a different matrix material occupying these zones , both the mechanical characteristics and the processability could be improved . in general , the nanoparticle paste which preferably forms the capping layers 103 is expected to improve thermal conductivity . therefore paste should be in contact with anticipated hot spots in the circuitry , while voids 104 should be placed where the circuitry needs less cooling . fig1 c shows a top view of the tim of fig1 a and 1 b , also showing capping layer 103 patterning and voids 104 . fig1 a , 1 b and 1 c illustrate a sandwich - like tim with nano - scale fibers 101 between two capping layers 103 formed of paste . more layers of paste might be used . for instance , the first thin layer 105 would be applied to the fibers to promote the adhesion of the second layer 106 to the opposing surfaces as illustrated in fig1 d . this figure shows the fibers 101 , the polymer matrix 102 , a first capping layer 105 and a second capping layer 106 . preferably the first , thinner capping layer 105 is formed of palladium deposited from spattering or wax processing of nanoparticles or microparticles or other items in a paste that will go away during processing . there may be a modifier to make the palladium soluble in an appropriate solution . several different methods of synthesizing nano - scale fibers exist . in particular , with reference to cnts , there are bulk randomly oriented cnts , random cnts in a thin mat , and vertically aligned cnts ( vacnt ) on substrates . those cover a broad tim performance range while retaining high performance / cost ratios . because processes such as chemical purification and mechanical mixing break cnts and introduce defects , preferably the skilled artisan will chose as high a quality cnts as are currently available and practicable in terms of cost and meet the functional requirements . a number of papers describe methods for synthesizing aligned cnt 15 , 16 . randomly oriented clean and long cnts may be synthesized in large quantities using chemical vapor deposition ( cvd ). the density of as - synthesized cnt powders can be as low as 30 mg / cm 3 , which can be tuned to optimize the eventual density in composites and the convenient incorporation of matrix materials . random cnt mats may be obtained through known methods 17 . in addition to the quality of cnts , density and thickness are characteristics of cnt mats . synthesis conditions generally control the density cnt mat and thickness , which is generally achievable in the range of tens of microns . high density vacnts of controlled thickness at the vicinity of 10 microns may also be synthesized . fibers , such as cnt networks or arrays , can be stabilized by infiltrating the fibers with a filler , such as monomers or mixture of monomers and nanoparticles ( nps ) or microparticles followed by polymerization . preferably , the fibers are placed in an evacuated chamber to allow entry of the monomers , which otherwise do not easily wet the fibers . the chamber is then ventilated to push the monomers further into the fibers . voids around fibers are then filled with polymer . this polymer then leaves fiber configuration intact , whether it is an entangled network or aligned tubes . alternatively , monomers may be pushed in by filtration . in the latter case , nps loaded in monomers are retained in fibers and accumulated to high concentrations . high concentration means 20 - 60 % by volume . high volume fraction of metallic nano - or micro - particles in the matrix allows for formation of interconnected thermal passages upon np fusing . the monomers are then polymerized . hence , the thermal conductivity of the matrix is enhanced greatly . the better thermal conductivity is due to the network passages which form upon the fusion of high concentration nano - or micro - particles . polymerization of monomers provides mechanical integrity of the structures . fracture surface morphology of a vacnt composite in accordance with the present process is shown in fig3 , showing that the process does not destroy the ordering . embedded cnts remain well - aligned . thus stabilizing the fibers , separate from the device requiring a thermal interface , rather than growing the fibers on the device , allows for more flexibility and lower cost of manufacturing . for example , the fiber mats may be grown under uniform , optimized and tightly controlled conditions , which may be unavailable when seeking to grow the fibers on the device itself . orientation of cnts in polymer composites may also be introduced to initially randomly - oriented cnt / polymer composite 9 , 10 , 18 , 19 . in this approach , composites using bulk cnt powders are compressed biaxially followed by curing and polymerization . biaxial confinement deforms cnt networks , orienting cnts along the third , or the neutral axis . with deformed cnts fixed by np fusion and monomer polymerization , composite films obtained by cutting perpendicular to the neutral axis contain aligned cnts , resembling the morphology of a composite film prepared using vacnts . fig5 a shows cnts aligned along a neutral axis responsive to shear from compression . fig5 b shows cutting cnt &# 39 ; s perpendicular to the neutral axis . preferably such compression and cutting will be performed prior to application of the capping layer or layers . the cnt may be cut or patterned , for example with a die , laser , water jet , chemical process , optical process , ablative electrical current , or other known cutting tool or mechanism . indeed , the matrix 102 may be selectively processed after polymerization , to weaken it , and thus permitting a separation . if cnt mats are used , it is possible to fabricate tims with the patterned matrix and leave regularly arranged voids in composite films . inkjet printing or aerosol deposition may be used to deliver monomers ( with or without nps or microparticles ) to targeted locations . a known machine for aerosol deposition is the optomec m3d printer . patterning per fig1 b is particularly desirable to address the issue of local hot spots , where rapid dissipation in directions both perpendicular and parallel to die surface is required . patterning is a matter of design optimization , a balance of performance vs . cost . patterning could reduce the cost while still get work done , i . e . dissipating heat from a hot spot . for example , use of precious metals used in the capping layers are may be minimized . likewise , by reducing the contact area and providing intentional voids , more even contact between the opposed surfaces at the tim locations may be assured after compressing the tim between them . after stabilization with the filler , composite films may be etched using plasma or reactive ions in order to expose the ends of cnts or other nano - scale fibers at both surfaces of the film . therefore , it is preferred that the exposing step does not substantially degrade the fibers . np ( such as ag ) films of a few microns thick are coated to both surfaces of the fiber composite film . individual nps are coated with wax - like organic shells , hence np films are readily deformable under pressure . seamless joints form between the tim buffer layers and the solid surfaces after they are pressed between two solid surfaces at 100 ° c . a heat treatment at about 100 ° c . drives away the waxy organic molecules in the np shell , triggering the fusion of nps to form a contiguous metallic layer . this np layer may therefore be sintered . this layer may also conform to the roughness features of the solid surfaces , connecting cnts or other nano - scale fibers from one solid surface to the other with high thermal conductivity passages , especially when formed in situ between the opposed surfaces to be connected by the tim . a substantial fraction of the fibers are preferably oriented so that their ends are at the surfaces to achieve thermal conductivity . preferably substantially all of the fibers are so oriented , though as discussed above , the alignment requirement varies in dependence on the application and design criteria . alternatively , microparticles may be used . while using both filler and capping layers is expected to enhance mechanical strength and thermal properties — using one or more capping layers alone , without filler between the fibers , may provide an adequate tim . also , the fibers stabilized with filler , and without capping layers , may also provide an adequate tim . it is further noted that the process may be asymmetric , with the process according to embodiments of the invention provided for only one face of the tim , with other processes used to interface the other face of the tim with a respective surface . using printing ( electrostatic , electrophoretic , ink jet , impact ) or lithography techniques , capping layers with carefully designed patterns ( such as lines , grids , or pads ) may be deposited . a design criterion is to deliver just the right amount of materials to fill the gap between tim and solid surfaces and create seamless contact . fig2 shows a portion of the assembly process of a tim in accordance with an aspect of the invention . in this figure , a conveyor 201 carries fiber composites 202 past an ink jet printer 203 , which deposits the nano - particle paste on the fiber composites to form patterns such as shown in fig1 b and 1c . there are several advantages of fabricating patterned tim films . the voids in the matrix layer serve as breathing channels that release the trapped air during assembly , and organic molecules during curing nps capping layers ; the voids accommodate thermal expansion cycles and therefore improve mechanical performance and longevity ; and the voids also make films more compressible , facilitate the flow of the np paste to form better contacts , and reduce the packaging pressure . once the tim is completed , it will preferably be added to a device . adding the tim to a device will involve temperature and pressure sufficient to remove excessive ( and unintended ) voids in the material . fig4 shows how sintered metal paste 402 helps the tim bond with device surfaces 401 . sandwiched between the capping layers 405 are the nano - scale fibers 403 . each fiber has a first and second end . substantially all of the fibers 403 are preferably oriented so that their first end is at a first device surface and their second end is at a second device surface . the fibers 403 are stabilized with a filler 404 , while the sintered metal paste 402 serves as the capping layers . the paste has voids 406 which give flexibility and improved stress reduction . the paste 402 is preferably located at anticipated hot spots on at least one of the device surfaces 401 . fig6 shows a device incorporating a tim in accordance with the invention . at the top is an air - cooled heat sink 601 . below that is a layer 609 of tim ( tim 2 ) in accordance with the invention . below that is a lid 602 , which functions as a heat spreader . below that is another layer 610 of tim in accordance with the invention ( tim 1 ). below that is the chip 608 . below that is a layer of first level interconnect c4 bumps 603 , also known as flip chip solder bumps , where c4 is the acronym for controlled collapse chip connection . the bumps 603 are interspersed with underfill 607 . the bumps 603 and the underfill 607 rest on a substrate 604 . the substrate is connected to the printed circuit board ( pcb ) 606 via a second level interconnect 605 , similar to elements 603 and 607 . a tim in accordance with the invention is a hybrid materials system . preferably this system will include various forms of nanomaterials . this tim will preferably realize one or more of the following goals : low temperature application of the tim , i . e . below 200 ° c ., comparable to the temperature of operation of the device and / or it electrical assembly , to reduce thermal stress during operation ; minimizing thermal resistance between two solid surfaces , usefulness for any applications requiring very high thermal dissipation by joining two solid surfaces , high bulk thermal conductivity close to theoretical limit of a composite containing cnts , readily deformable surfaces to form intimate contacts with solid surfaces of varying topological and roughness features , variable thickness that can be minimized to a few microns , mechanical robustness for easy processing and application of tim as well as long term stability for thermal cycling , and chemical stability therefore environmental and manufacturing friendliness . individual features could be adjusted to optimize the overall performance of the tim system . in addition to heat transport , a tim should reduce or minimize stresses that arise between the devices coupled by the tim . these stresses may be thermo - mechanical in the sense that they are caused by differences in coefficients of thermal expansion between device areas . stresses may also be caused by differences in temperatures in different regions of the devices to be coupled . polymers used in this tim are preferably chosen to have a low modulus of elasticity . also , when the tim is applied , some areas may be unattached to the devices to be coupled to reduce stresses . similarly there may be voids in the fibers , filler , or capping materials to reduce stresses . during application to a device , a tim in accordance with the invention may be further processed to expose the ends of the nano - particles immediately prior to application to a device requiring a thermal interface . such further processing might include mechanical means , chemical means , or laser ablation . from reading the present disclosure , other modifications will be apparent to persons skilled in the art . such modifications may involve other features which are already known in the design , manufacture and use of thermal insulating materials and nano - scale fibers and which may be used instead of or in addition to features already described herein . although claims have been formulated in this application to particular combinations of features , it should be understood that the scope of the disclosure of the present application also includes any novel feature or novel combination of features disclosed herein either explicitly or implicitly or any generalization thereof , whether or not it mitigates any or all of the same technical problems as does the present invention . the applicants hereby give notice that new claims may be formulated to such features during the prosecution of the present application or any further application derived therefrom . k i thermal conductivity of the material i = 1 , 2 , 3 , w / mk q 1 heat flux applied per unit area , w / m 2 q = q 0 l 1 + q 1 , effective heat flux , w / m 2 r eff effective thermal resistance of the thermal interface layer , k / w k eff effective thermal conductivity of the thermal interface layer , w / mk an analysis was conducted of the tim system for configurations in which the thickness of the heat source is also taken into account . both specified heat generation and specified uniform heat flux can be applied to the system . the details of the analytical solution are given in desai et al . 21 , expressly incorporated herein by reference . in desai et al . 22 , expressly incorporated herein by references , numerical and analytical models are built for a periodic element ( or a unit cell element ) of the system of vertically aligned nanotubes between silicon and aluminum surfaces . the size of the periodic element is determined by the size of the nanotubes , and the percentage of area they occupy on the silicon surface ( assuming they are uniformly distributed on the silicon surface ). the size of the silicon surface is 1 cm × 1 cm . the periodic element is assumed to be cylindrical . fig7 represents one such periodic element . as can be seen from the micrographs shown in fig8 and 9 , the vertically aligned nanotubes grown on a silicon substrate do not have the same height . to take into account the size variation and to analyze the effect of this variation on the effective thermal conductivity of the system , a statistical approach is applied . an analytical solution presented in desai et al . 21 is used along with a random number generator to represent variations in heights of nanotubes over the chip area . a statistical analysis may then be carried out on the different heights of the tubes and a corresponding temperature drop calculated for that system ( combination of many unit cells ). the results obtained indicate that considering a small system is sufficient to accurately model the effect of variation of height over the chip area . in practice , the nanotubes are grown off a surface ( silicon ) and the height to which the nanotubes grow cannot be controlled with great precision . hence , there will be a small gap between some of the nanotubes and the aluminum interface . the analytical solution from desai et al . 21 may be used for modeling a unit cell as shown in fig7 . the variation in height is accounted for by taking the resultant temperature drop in the gap between the end of the nanotube and the aluminum surface in short tubes and applying the same as an interface temperature drop , as given by relation ( 1 ) below . where k gap is the thermal conductivity of the gap , a gap is the area occupied by the gap , and l gap is the length of the gap . q is the heat flowing through the nanotube . this model is then coupled with a random number generator , which assigns a height to the tubes randomly , and results obtained for a series of interations . the thermal resistance of each of the nanotubes is stored . the effective resistance of the thermal interface layer is calculated by combining the individual resistances in parallel . the effective resistance is then used to evaluate the one - dimensional effective thermal conductivity of the tim layer using the relation , k eff = l r eff ⁢ a . ( 3 ) the result is a model of many vertical nanotubes to form a miniature version of the tim system . two different random distributions are considered . first is a normal random distribution with mean as the mean height of the nanotubes and standard deviation σ = 1 micron . the second distribution is a uniform random distribution , which generates random numbers whose elements are uniformly distributed in the range of the mean , +/− 3 micron . the results are compared for these two random distributions . two different analyses are considered for modeling the effects of height variation across the thermal interface material . in the first analysis it is assumed that the nanotubes which are smaller than the mean height do not contribute to the effective thermal conductivity ( i . e ., the resistance of the matrix is very high so there is essentially no heat flowing through these tubes , k gap = 0 . 001 w / mk ). the second analysis uses equation ( 1 ) to determine the resistance of the short tube ( k gap = 4 w / mk ), and then uses the resistance of the matrix material and the spreading resistance of the tube with the matrix material added . in the second case the short tubes also contribute to the effective conductivity calculation . this results in four different cases : 1 ) normal finite — normal random distribution with finite resistance for the short tube . in this case , short tubes contribute to the effective thermal conductivity of the tim . 2 ) normal infinite — normal random distribution with infinite resistance for the short tube . so that short tubes do not contribute to the effective thermal conductivity of the tim . 3 ) uniform finite — uniform random distribution with finite resistance for the short tube . in this case , short tubes also contribute to the effective thermal conductivity of the tim . 4 ) uniform infinite — uniform random distribution with infinite resistance for the short tube , so that short tubes do not contribute to the effective thermal conductivity of the tim . fig1 , shows a plot of number of runs ( same as the number of unit cells used in the model ) versus the effective thermal conductivity of the matrix for a normal distribution with infinite resistance of the shorter nanotubes . 300 iterations were required to obtain the required convergence for case 2 . in the other cases similar convergence analyses were performed . for case 1 , 300 iterations gave a converged solution . for case 3 , 200 iterations and , for case 4 , 100 iterations gave a converged solution . table 1 and fig1 are the results obtained for the normal distribution with finite effective thermal conductivity analyses . the effective thermal conductivity is scaled with the bulk thermal conductivity of the nanotubes and is plotted against the percentage of area occupied by the nanotubes . the results indicate that taking the average of more than six runs ( three lines shown in the plot ) would result in the three lines shown here collapsing into a single line . the results for normal distribution with infinite resistance are presented in table 2 and fig1 . plotting the dimensionless thermal conductivity against the percentage of area occupied by the nanotubes results in three lines that lie nearly on top of each other , converging all the data into a single line . table 3 and fig1 show the results obtained for the uniform distribution with finite effective thermal conductivity analyses . the effective thermal conductivity is scaled with the bulk thermal conductivity of the nanotubes and plotted against the percentage of area occupied by the nanotubes . the results indicate that taking average of more than six runs ( three lines shown in the plot ) would result in the three lines shown here collapsing into a single line . the results for uniform distribution with infinite resistance are presented in table 4 and fig1 . in fig1 , the collapsed single line ( linear fit line through all the lines in case of infinite resistance case and the centre line in case of the finite resistance case ) in each case is plotted against the percentage of area occupied by nanotubes . the two lower lines lying on top of each other in fig1 are the lines for infinite resistance case with normal and uniform distributions . they lie nearly on top of each other , as in both cases there are 50 % of the tubes that are longer or of equal height as the gap and they contribute to the effective thermal conductivity and the other 50 % do not contribute at all . in the uniform distribution with finite resistance the tubes shorter than the gap height contribute to the effective conductivity and hence this gives a higher effective thermal conductivity then the infinite resistance case . in the normal distribution with finite resistance case the tubes shorter than the gap height contribute to the effective conductivity with a tighter distribution of the height of the nanotubes towards the mean ( normal distribution with σ = 1 ) and hence this gives a higher effective thermal conductivity then the uniform distribution with finite resistance case . the results indicate that the normal distribution with finite resistance of short nanotubes case give the highest thermal conductivity of all the four cases . also , a parametric analysis is carried out by varying the thermal conductivity of the nanotubes and the percentage of area they occupy on the silicon surface . by scaling the thermal conductivity with the bulk conductivity and plotting this against the percentage of area occupied , all the lines converge into a single line . the results indicate that , despite the effects of height variation , a thermal interface material with vertically aligned carbon nanotubes has the potential to be a high thermal conductivity thermal interface material . the word “ comprising ”, “ comprise ”, or “ comprises ” as used herein should not be viewed as excluding additional elements . the singular article “ a ” or “ an ” as used herein should not be viewed as excluding a plurality of elements . the word “ or ” should be construed as an inclusive or , in other words as “ and / or ”. interface material selection and a thermal management technique in second - generation platforms built on intel ® centrino ™ mobile technology , intel technology journal , e . c . samson et al ., vol . 9 , issue 1 , pp . 75 - 86 , february 2005 . s . berber , y . k . kwon , and d . tomanek , “ unusually high thermal conductivity of carbon nanotubes ,” phys . rev . lett ., vol . 84 , pp . 4613 - 4617 , 2000 . s . maruyama , “ a molecular dynamics simulation of heat conduction of a finite length single - walled carbon nanotube ,” microsc . thermophys . eng ., vol . 7 , pp . 41 - 50 , 2003 . j . w . che , t . cagin , and w . a . goddard , “ thermal conductivity of carbon nanotubes ,” nanotechnology , vol . 11 , pp . 65 - 69 , 2000 . p . kim , l . shi , a . majumdar , and p . l . mceuen , “ thermal transport measurements of individual multiwalled nanotubes ,” phys . rev . lett ., vol . 87 , no . 21 , pp . 215502 - 1 - 215502 - 4 , november 2001 . s . u . s . choi , z . g . zhang , w . yu , f . e . lockwood , and e . a . grulke , “ anomalous thermal conductivity enhancement in nanotube suspensions ,” appl . phys . lett ., vol . 79 , pp . 2252 - 2254 , 2001 . m . j . biercuk , m . c . llaguno , m . radosavljevic , j . k . hyun , a . t . johnsond , and j . e . fischer , “ carbon nanotube composites for thermal management ,” appl . phys . lett ., vol . 80 , pp . 2667 - 2769 , 2002 . m . moniruzzaman , k . i . winey , “ polymer nanocomposites containing carbon nanotubes ”, macromolecules , 39 ( 16 ): 5194 - 5205 , 2006 . q . ngo , b . a . gurden , a . m . cassell , g . sims , m . meyyappan , j . li , and c . y . yang , “ thermal interface properties of cu - filled vertically aligned carbon nanofiber arrays ,” nano lett ., vol . 4 , pp . 2403 - 2407 , 2004 . j . xu and t . s . fisher , “ enhancement of thermal interface materials with carbon nanotube arrays ,” int . j . heat mass transf , vol . 49 , pp . 1658 - 1666 , 2006 , ibid , “ enhancement of thermal contact conductance using carbon nanotube arrays ,” ieee trans . comp . packg . tech . vol . 29 , pp . 261 - 267 , 2006 . h . huang , c . liu , y . wu , s . fan , “ aligned carbon nanotube composite films for thermal management ”, adv . mater , 17 , pp . 1652 - 1656 , 2005 , ibid , “ effects of surface metal layer on the thermal contact resistance of carbon nanotube arrays ”, appl . phys . lett . 87 , 213108 , 2005 . tian , weixue ; yang , ronggui , “ effect of interface scattering on phonon thermal conductivity percolation in random nanowire composites ,” 90 applied physics letters 26 : art . no . 263105 jun . 25 , 2007 . yang r g , chen g , dresselhaus m s , “ thermal conductivity of simple and tubular nanowire composites in the longitudinal direction ”, 72 physical review b 12 : art . no . 125418 september 2005 . z . f . ren , z . p . huang , j . w . xu , j . h . wang , p . bush , m . p . siegal and p . n . provincio , “ synthesis of large arrays of well - aligned carbon nanotubes on glass ” 282 science 1105 ( 1998 ). z . w . pan , s . s . xie , b . h . chang , c . y . wang , l . lu , w . liu , w . y . zhou , w . z . li , and l . x . qian , “ very long carbon nanotubes ” 394 nature 631 ( 1998 ). coquay , p ., de grave , e ., peigney , a ., vandenberghe , r . e . & amp ; laurent , “ c . carbon nanotubes by a cvd method . part i : synthesis and characterization of the ( mg , fe ) o catalysts ,” 106 journal of physical chemistry b 13186 - 13198 ( 2002 )., ibid , “ carbon nanotubes by a cvd method . part ii : formation of nanotubes from ( mg , fe ) o catalysts ,” 106 journal of physical chemistry b 13199 - 13210 ( 2002 ). fischer j e , zhou w , vavro j , et al . “ magnetically aligned single wall carbon nanotube films : preferred orientation and anisotropic transport properties ,” journal of applied physics 93 ( 4 ): 2157 - 2163 feb . 15 2003 . garcia e j , hart a j , wardle b l , slocum a h , “ fabrication and nanocompression testing of aligned carbon - nanotube - polymer nanocomposites ,” 19 ( 16 ) advanced materials 2151 -+ aug . 17 2007 . iijima s , “ helical microtubules of graphitic carbon ”, nature , volume 354 , pages 56 - 58 , 1991 . anand desai , james geer , and bahgat sammakia , “ models of steady state heat conduction in multiple cylindrical domains ”, journal of electronic packaging , volume 128 , number 1 , pages 10 - 17 . anand desai , james geer , and bahgat sammakia , “ an analytical study of transport in a thermal interface material enhanced with carbon nanotubes ”, journal of electronic packaging , volume 128 , number 1 , pages 92 - 97 .	8
in the following , an embodiment of the present invention will be described referring to the accompanying drawings . fig1 ( a ) is a front view showing a turnout floor plate 1 according to the present embodiment . and fig1 ( b ) is a top view showing the turnout floor plate 1 according to the present embodiment . in these figures , a stock rail 4 , a tongue rail 5 , and a rail press 6 are shown in dotted lines so that disposition of these parts on the turnout floor plate 1 can be easily grasped . the turnout floor plate 1 of the present embodiment is used as a self - lubrication type floor plate at a point where a turnout for railroad line is installed . as shown in the figures , the turnout floor plate 1 of the present embodiment comprises : a substrate 2 for placing and fixing the stock rail 4 on one surface ( i . e . upper surface ) 20 ; and a sliding plate 3 , which is fixed on the upper surface 20 of the substrate 2 and used for placing and supporting the tongue rail 5 slidably on the side of the upper surface 20 of the substrate 2 . in the upper surface 20 of the substrate 2 , are formed two parallel grooves ( a stock rail fixing groove 24 and a sliding plate fixing groove 25 ) running from one side surface 22 to the other side surface 23 along to the lengthwise direction l . the stock rail fixing groove 24 receives the base 41 of the stock rail 4 . the sliding plate fixing groove 25 accommodates the sliding plate 3 such that an upper surface 30 of the sliding plate 3 is exposed in the upper surface 20 of the substrate 2 . further , in the upper surface 20 of the substrate 2 , a rail press fixing groove 26 is formed on the opposite side of the stock rail fixing groove 24 for the sliding plate fixing groove 25 . the rail press fixing groove 26 runs from the one side surface 22 of the substrate 2 to the other side surface 23 , obliquely to the stock rail fixing groove 24 . in addition , in the substrate 2 , is formed a bolt support hole 27 which passes through the upper surface 20 of the substrate 2 and the other surface ( i . e . lower surface ) 21 of the substrate 2 . the stock rail 4 is placed on the bottom surface 242 of the stock rail fixing groove 24 . the rail press 6 is in contact with the base 41 of the stock rail 4 on the side opposite to the side on which the tongue rail 5 is placed , for the stock rail 4 . and a hook portion 61 of the rail press 6 is engaged with the rail press fixing groove 26 . in this state , when the rail press 6 slides along the rail press fixing groove 26 in the direction d of narrowing the distance between the rail press fixing groove 26 and the stock rail fixing groove 24 , the rail press 6 presses the base 41 of the stock rail 4 against one side surface 241 ( the side surface on the side of the sliding plate fixing groove 25 ) of the stock rail fixing groove 24 by the wedge effect , while the rail press 6 supports the stem 42 of the stock rail 4 from the side opposite to the side on which the tongue rail 5 is placed . this prevents a fall of the stock rail 4 . when , in this state , the rail press 6 is bolted to the substrate 2 by using the bolt support hole 27 , the stock rail 4 is fixed strongly to the substrate 2 . at each widthwise end portion 28 of the substrate 2 , are formed a plurality of bolt holes 29 each running through the upper surface 20 of the substrate 2 to the lower surface 21 of the substrate 2 , in order to fix the turnout floor plate 1 at the installation point . the sliding plate 3 has the length w 2 narrower than the length w 1 of the substrate 2 . accordingly , when the sliding plate 3 is accommodated in the sliding plate fixing groove 25 of the substrate 2 , the bottom surface 251 of the sliding plate fixing groove 25 is partly exposed on the sides of both the side surfaces 22 and 23 of the substrate 2 . by using these exposed parts , the sliding plate 3 is fixed to the substrate 2 by fillet welding . fig2 ( a ) is a top view showing the sliding plate 3 , and fig2 ( b ) is an a - a cross - section of the sliding plate 3 shown in fig2 ( a ) . as shown in the figures , the sliding plate 3 has laminated structure . the sliding plate 3 comprises : a backing material 31 made of , for example , steel plate ; a perforated metal 32 placed on the backing material 31 ; a metal - powder sintered layer 33 formed on the side of the upper surface 310 of the backing material 31 , to cover the perforated metal 32 . as the backing material 31 , is used metal plate available in many thicknesses t 1 such as , for example , ready - made sheet steel . for example , sphc ( hot - rolled soft sheet steel jis g3131 ) can be mentioned as such sheet steel . the perforated metal 32 is a metal plate having mesh structure made by punching a metal plate by a dedicated punch press . the perforated metal 32 is satisfactorily held on the backing material 31 when the metal - powder sintered layer 33 ( which covers at least the recessed portions between the recessed portions and projected portions formed by placing the perforated metal 32 on the backing material 31 ) is joined to the backing material 31 . fig2 shows an example of using the perforated metal 32 in which a plurality of diamond shapes are punched out into uniform arrangement . however , shape , size , and arrangement pattern of the holes of the perforated metal 32 are not limited to those shown in fig2 , as long as the perforated metal 32 has the aperture ratio corresponding to the ratio between the high sintered density area ( i . e . the portions superior in impact resistance , load bearing , and abrasion resistance ) and the low sintered density area ( i . e . the portions that are higher in impregnation rate of the lubricating resin and thus superior in lubrication property ) in the below - described metal - powder sintered layer 33 . for example , the holes may be circular , or the holes of different sizes may be formed . or , a plurality of holes may be arranged into areas having different aperture ratios . the metal - powder sintered layer 33 is formed by sintering of mixed powder obtained by mixing sintering alloy powder with solid lubricant such as graphite , ptfe , molybdenum disulfide ( mos 2 ) or the like . here , for the mixed powder , may be used various materials , including bronze type material containing copper , tin , a solid lubricant , and the like . among others , a mixed powder containing 4 - 10 wt . % tin , 10 - 40 wt . % nickel , 0 . 1 - 4 wt . % phosphorus , 3 - 10 wt . % graphite , and the balance copper can realize the metal - powder sintered layer 33 giving the best sliding performance . the metal - powder sintered layer 33 is impregnated with a lubricating resin superior in weather resistance . examples of such a lubricating resin are ptfe , pfa , pai , pi , pe ( polyethylene ), and pp ( polypropylene ). also the lubricating resin may contain dispersed solid lubricant such as graphite , ptfe , molybdenum disulfide , or the like . the sliding plate 3 of the above - described structure is produced as follows . first , the backing material 31 and the perforated metal 32 are each subjected to leveler processing so that the backing material 31 and the perforated metal 32 are flattened . then , the perforated metal 32 is placed on the backing material 31 ; the above - described mixed powder is sprinkled to a prescribed thickness on the side of the upper surface 310 of the perforated metal 32 ; and primary sintering is performed to form an intermediate of the metal - powder sintered layer 33 . next , the backing material 31 provided with the intermediate of the metal - powder sintered layer 33 and the perforated metal 32 is subjected to rolling . at that time , there is a possibility that a defect such as a crack occurs in the intermediate of the metal - powder sintered layer 33 . therefore , the intermediate of the metal - powder sintered layer 33 is further subjected to secondary sintering to eliminate the defect such as crack . by this , a completed body of the metal - powder sintered layer 33 is formed . the completed body of the metal - powder has strength required to prevent a defect such as a crack due to external force at the time of use , has joint strength required to strongly join the backing material 31 and the perforated metal 32 as a reinforcing member , and has hardness required to good abrasion resistance . next , the backing material 31 provided with the completed body of the metal - powder sintered layer 33 and the perforated metal 32 is subjected to rolling , and thereafter the completed body of the metal - powder sintered layer 33 is subjected to leveler processing to obtain the uniform thickness t 2 of the completed body of the metal - powder sintered layer 33 . then , the sliding plate 3 with desired sliding performance is produced by heating and melting the above - mentioned lubricating resin to impregnate the completed body of the metal - powder sintered layer 33 with the lubricating resin . according to the present embodiment , the metal - powder sintered layer 33 formed on the metal part 321 of the perforated metal 32 is compressed under high pressure as a result of the rolling and the leveler processing . thus , the metal - powder sintered layer 33 formed on this part has a higher sintered density and is superior in impact resistance , load bearing , and abrasion resistance ( the high sintered density area ). on the other hand , as a result of the rolling and the leveler processing , the metal - powder sintered layer 33 formed in the holes ( voids ) 322 of the perforated metal 32 is compressed under lower pressure in comparison with the metal - powder sintered layer 33 formed on the metal part 321 of the perforated metal 32 . thus , the metal - powder sintered layer 33 formed in this part has a lower sintered density and thus a higher impregnation rate of the lubricating resin , and is accordingly superior in lubrication property ( the low sintered density area ). further , the metal - powder sintered layer 33 contains the dispersed solid lubricant such as graphite . in this way , the metal - powder sintered layer 33 is a mixture of the high sintered density area ( which is superior in impact resistance , load bearing , and abrasion resistance ) and the low sintered density area ( which is superior in lubrication property ). accordingly , plastic deformation or the like does not occur due to impact load applied to the tongue rail 5 at the time of train passing , and the tongue rail 5 can be slidably supported stably over a long period of time . here , in the present embodiment , as the backing material 31 , it is possible to use ready - made sheet steel available in more types of sheet thickness t 1 in comparison with checkered steel plate . accordingly , as the backing material 31 , it is possible to use sheet steel whose thickness t 1 corresponds to the thickness of the sliding plate 3 to be produced , without changing the thickness t 2 of the metal - powder sintered layer 33 . as a result , it is possible to realize the sliding plates 3 of various thicknesses without changing manufacturing conditions such as sintering conditions , rolling conditions , and the like . thus , it is easy to adjust the thickness of the sliding plate 3 . further , in the present embodiment , the perforated metal 32 placed on the backing material 31 forms the high sintered density area and the low sintered density area of the metal - powder sintered layer 33 . by changing shapes , sizes , and arrangement pattern of the holes ( voids ) 322 of the perforated metal 32 , it is possible to change flexibly the ratio between the high sintered density area and the low sintered density area of the metal - powder sintered layer 33 . accordingly , it is easy to adjust the performance of the sliding plate 3 . for example , by preparing in advance a plurality of types of perforated metal 32 which are different in shapes , sizes , and arrangement patterns of the holes , it is possible to realize the sliding plate 3 of desired performance only by changing the perforated metal 32 to one which has the aperture ratio corresponding to the ratio between the high sintered density area and the low sintered density area of the metal - powder sintered layer 33 , while using the common backing material 31 . further , according to the present embodiment , the performance of the sliding plate 3 can be adjusted also by changing the material of the perforated metal 32 . for example , by using sheet steel ss400 ( rolled steel for general structure jis g3101 ) or the like as the material of the perforated metal 32 , it is possible to produce the sliding plate 3 emphasizing impact resistance , load bearing , and abrasion resistance . on the other hand , by using bronze alloy type metal plate as the material of the perforated metal 32 , it is possible to produce the sliding plate 3 emphasizing lubrication property . thus , according to the present embodiment , it is possible to provide the sliding plate 3 whose thickness and performance can be easily adjusted and to provide the turnout floor plate 1 using that sliding plate 3 . although , in the sliding plate 3 of the above - described embodiment , the whole area is covered with the metal - powder sintered layer 33 , the present invention is not limited to this . it is sufficient that the metal - powder sintered layer 33 covers at least a part of the perforated metal 32 . for example , the surface of the metal part 321 of the perforated metal 32 may be exposed in a state of being flush with the surface of the metal - powder sintered layer 33 . by exposing the surface of the metal part 321 of the perforated metal 32 to be flush with the surface of the metal - powder sintered layer 33 , it is possible to produce the sliding plate 3 further emphasizing impact resistances , load bearing , and abrasion resistance . further , in the sliding plate 3 of the above - described embodiment , the metal - powder sintered layer 33 is impregnated with the lubricating resin . the metal - powder sintered layer 33 , however , may be impregnated with lubricating oil instead of the lubricating resin or together with the lubricating resin . further , in the sliding plate 3 of the above - described embodiment , the perforated metal 32 is placed on the backing material 31 , and the mixed powder comprising the sintering alloy powder and the solid lubricant is sprinkled onto the perforated metal 32 and then sintering and rolling are performed to form the metal - powder sintered layer 33 . the present invention , however , is not limited to this . the metal - powder sintered layer 33 may be formed by : sprinkling sintering alloy powder without containing solid lubricant onto the backing material 31 ; placing the perforated metal 32 on the backing material 31 on which the sintering alloy powder has been sprinkled ; and sprinkling mixed powder comprising sintering alloy powder and solid lubricant onto the perforated metal 32 , and then performing sintering and rolling . this can increase the joint strengths among the backing material 31 , the perforated metal 32 , and the metal - powder sintered layer 33 . further , in the sliding plate 3 of the above - described embodiment , the perforated metal 32 is placed on the backing material 31 . the present invention , however , is not limited to this . it is sufficient for the present invention that a reinforcing member allowing formation of recessed and projected portions on the side of the upper surface 310 of the backing material 31 is placed on the backing material 31 . for example , instead of the perforated metal 32 , a metal plate having other mesh structure , such as expanded metal , may be used to form the high sintered density area and the low sintered density area . here , the expanded metal means a metal plate having solid mesh structure of seamless mesh . the shapes , sizes or arrangement patterns of the holes of the metal plate which has the mesh structure and is placed on the backing material 31 may be changed depending on locations on the backing material 31 . or , metal plates having respective types of mesh structure different in shapes , sizes or arrangement patterns may be used at different locations on the backing material 31 in order to change partially the ratio between the high sintered density area and the low sintered density area of the metal - powder sintered layer 33 according to the performance required for the sliding plate 3 . by this , it is possible to realize the sliding plate 3 which has different performances at the portions of the sliding plate 3 according to the required performances for those portions , for example , with the central portion emphasizing lubrication property and with the edge portion emphasizing impact resistance , load bearing , and abrasion resistance . further , as the reinforcing member which is placed on the backing material 31 and forms the recessed portions and projected portions on the side of the upper surface 310 of the backing material 31 , it is possible to use a metal plate with recessed portions and projected portions formed in the surface of the metal plate ( i . e . a metal plate whose recessed portions are not penetrating through ). in that case , it is possible to increase the area of contact between the reinforcing member and the backing material 31 and the area of contact between the reinforcing member and the metal - powder sintered layer 33 . thus , it is also possible to increase the respective joint strengths among the backing material 31 , the reinforcing member , and the metal - powder sintered layer 33 , in comparison with the case of using a metal plate having mesh structure such as perforated metal , expanded metal or the like as the reinforcing member . as a method of joining the reinforcing member and the backing material 31 , can be mentioned , for example , a method of plating at least one of the reinforcing member and the backing material 31 with metal ( copper , nickel , tin , brass , or the like ) to realize diffusion joining , a method of joining by brazing , and a method of mechanical joining such as by screwing . or , it is possible to plate at least one of the backing material 31 and the reinforcing member with the same metal as metal used in the metal - powder sintered layer 33 . this can increase the joint strengths among the backing material 31 , the reinforcing member , and the metal - powder sintered layer 33 . for example , in the case of using bronze type sintering alloy powder for the metal - powder sintered layer 33 , higher joint strength can be obtained by plating with copper . further , the sliding plate 3 of the above - described embodiment uses the metal - powder sintered layer 33 that contains the dispersed solid lubricant . however , it is not necessary to disperse the solid lubricant , and it is possible to use the metal - powder sintered layer consisting of sintering alloy powder only . further , the above embodiment has been described taking an example where the sliding plate 1 is used for the turnout floor plate 1 . however , the sliding plate 3 can be used in various sliding applications such as a slide bearing . the sliding plate of the present invention can be used in various sliding applications such as a turnout floor plate , a slide bearing , and the like . 1 : turnout floor plate ; 2 : substrate ; 3 : sliding plate ; 4 : stock rail ; 5 : tongue rail ; 6 : rail press ; 20 : upper surface of the substrate ; 21 : lower surface of the substrate ; 22 : one side surface of the substrate , extending in the lengthwise direction of the substrate ; 23 : the other side surface of the substrate , extending in the lengthwise direction of the substrate ; 24 : stock rail fixing groove ; 25 : sliding plate fixing groove ; 26 : rail press fixing groove ; 27 : bolt support hole ; 28 : both end portions of the substrate ; 29 : bolt holes ; 30 : upper surface of the sliding plate ; 31 : backing material ; 32 : perforated metal ; 33 : metal - powder sintered layer ; 41 : base of the stock rail ; 42 : stem of the stock rail ; 61 : hook portion of the rail press ; 241 : side surface of the stock rail fixing groove ; 242 : bottom surface of the stock rail fixing groove ; 251 : bottom surface of the sliding plate fixing groove ; 310 : upper surface of the backing material ; 321 : metal part of the perforated metal ; and 322 : void of the perforated metal .	4
fig2 shows a simplified drawing of a preferred piezo motor 10 . piezo elements 1 and 2 are both rigidly connected to holding element 6 . friction elements 3 and 4 are both connected to piezo elements 1 and 2 , respectively . friction element 5 is pressed against friction elements 3 and 4 . sliding friction element 5 is the object being moved by piezo motor 10 . voltage source 12 is connected to piezo element 1 . voltage source 13 is connected to piezo element 2 . computer 14 is connected to voltage sources 12 and 13 and is programmed to control the output of voltage sources 12 and 13 . piezo elements 1 and 2 are multi - layer piezo elements that exhibit longitudinal expansion when a voltage is applied . a preferred piezo element is a 3 × 3 × 3 mm stack with a 1 micrometer expansion at 150v applied voltage . as stated above piezo elements 1 and 2 are rigidly attached to holding element 6 . holding element 6 may be fixed or moving depending on the arrangement of the motor . friction elements 3 and 4 are fabricated from any material that causes friction when applied to sliding friction element 5 . in a preferred embodiment , friction elements 3 and 4 are ceramic friction elements . when voltage is applied to piezo elements 1 and 2 , the resultant oscillation of piezo elements 1 and 2 will cause friction element 5 to move in a predetermined manner . sliding friction element 5 is the object being moved by friction elements 3 and 4 . sliding friction element 5 is pressed against friction elements 3 and 4 with sufficient force so that friction elements 3 and 4 move friction element 5 during the stick phase of the oscillation yet also with such force so that friction elements 3 and 4 do not significantly drag friction element 5 backwards during the slip phase of the oscillation . fig3 shows a graphical representation illustrating the operation of the preferred embodiment of the present invention shown above in fig2 . cycle phase 1 : voltage sources 12 and 13 are applying voltage to elements 1 and 2 so that elements 1 and 2 are both expanding in the same direction ( fig3 a ). the applied voltage increases at a low enough rate so that the speed of the expansion is slow enough so that the friction force between friction elements 3 and 4 and sliding friction element 5 is not overcome . therefore , there is no slipping between friction elements 3 and 4 and sliding friction element 5 . hence , both piezo element 1 and piezo element 2 are in the stick phase of motion causing sliding friction element 5 to move in a linear motion consistent with the linear motion of piezo elements 1 and 2 ( fig4 ). cycle phase 2 : voltage source 12 is continuing to apply voltage with a slope slow enough to piezo element 1 so that it continues to expand in the same direction . however , the voltage from voltage source 13 drops to zero at a rapid rate causing piezo element 2 to contract at a rapid rate ( fig3 b ). piezo element 2 contracts at such a rapid rate that the friction force between friction element 4 and sliding friction element 5 is significantly overcome . hence , during cycle phase 2 piezo element 1 is still in the stick phase but piezo element 2 is now in the slip phase . the inertia of sliding friction element 5 and the forward motion of piezo element 1 counteracts and overcomes most of the reverse motion imparted by piezo element 2 . hence during cycle phase 2 , there is only a very slight dip 15 to the resultant motion curve ( fig4 ). cycle phase 3 : voltage sources 12 and 13 are applying voltage to elements 1 and 2 so that elements 1 and 2 are both expanding in the same direction ( fig3 c ). the applied voltage increases at a low enough rate so that the speed of the expansion is slow enough so that the friction force between friction elements 3 and 4 and sliding friction element 5 is not overcome . therefore , there is no slipping between friction elements 3 and 4 and sliding friction element 5 . hence , both piezo element 1 and piezo element 2 are in the stick phase of motion causing sliding friction element 5 to move in a linear motion consistent with the linear motion of piezo elements 1 and 2 . cycle phase 4 : voltage source 13 is continuing to apply voltage with a slope slow enough to piezo element 2 so that it continues to expand in the same direction . however , the voltage from voltage source 12 drops to zero at a rapid rate causing piezo element 1 to contract at a rapid rate ( fig3 d ). piezo element 1 contracts at such a rapid rate that the friction force between friction element 3 and sliding friction element 5 is significantly overcome , but not entirely . hence , during cycle phase 2 piezo element 2 is still in the stick phase but piezo element 1 is now in the slip phase . the inertia of sliding friction element 5 forward motion of piezo element 2 counteracts and overcomes most of the reverse motion imparted by piezo element 1 . hence during cycle phase 4 , there is only a very slight dip 16 to the resultant motion curve ( fig4 ). cycle phase 5 : the motion in cycle phase 5 is similar to that described above in reference to cycle phase 1 . accordingly the cycles continue to repeat until the command signals are altered . fig5 shows a graphical representation similar to that depicted in fig3 . however , in fig5 the command signals from computer 14 ( fig2 ) have been linearized . linearization of the command signals is preferred because the resultant motion is more linear with less slippage . fig6 shows another preferred embodiment of the present invention . piezo elements 21 and 22 are both rigidly connected to holding element 26 . friction elements 23 and 24 are both connected to piezo elements 21 and 22 , respectively . friction element 25 is pressed against friction elements 23 and 24 . sliding friction element 25 is the object being moved by piezo motor 20 . voltage source 28 is connected to piezo element 21 . voltage source 29 is connected to piezo element 22 . computer 27 is connected to voltage sources 28 and 29 and is programmed to control the output of voltage sources 28 and 29 . cycle phase 1 : voltage sources 28 and 29 are applying voltage out of phase with respect to elements 21 and 22 so that element 21 is contracting to the right and element 22 is expanding to the right ( fig8 a ). the rate of change of the applied voltage is low enough so that the speed of the piezo elements 21 and 22 is slow enough so that the friction force between friction elements 23 and 24 and sliding friction element 25 is not overcome . therefore , there is no slipping between friction elements 23 and 24 and sliding friction element 25 . hence , both piezo element 21 and piezo element 22 are in the stick phase of motion causing sliding friction element 25 to move in a linear motion consistent with the linear motion of piezo elements 21 and 22 . cycle phase 2 : voltage source 29 is continuing to apply voltage with a slope slow enough to piezo element 22 so that it continues to expand to the right . however , the voltage from voltage source 28 has reversed at a rapid rate causing piezo element 21 to expand to the left at a rapid rate ( fig8 b ). piezo element 21 expands at such a rapid rate that the inertia of sliding friction element 25 overcomes the friction force between friction element 23 and sliding friction element 25 . hence , during cycle phase 2 piezo element 22 is still in the stick phase but piezo element 21 is now in the slip phase . the forward motion of piezo element 22 counteracts and overcomes most of the reverse motion imparted by piezo element 21 . hence during cycle phase 2 , there is only a very slight dip to the resultant linear motion curve . cycle phase 3 : voltage sources 28 and 29 are applying voltage out of phase with respect to elements 21 and 22 so that element 21 is contracting to the right and element 22 is expanding to the right ( fig8 c ). the rate of change of the applied voltage is low enough so that the speed of the piezo elements 21 and 22 is slow enough so that the friction force between friction elements 23 and 24 and sliding friction element 25 is not overcome . therefore , there is no slipping between friction elements 23 and 24 and sliding friction element 25 . hence , both piezo element 21 and piezo element 22 are in the stick phase of motion causing sliding friction element 25 to move in a linear motion consistent with the linear motion of piezo elements 21 and 22 . cycle phase 4 : voltage source 28 is continuing to apply voltage with a slope slow enough to piezo element 21 so that it continues to contract to the right . however , the voltage from voltage source 29 has reversed at a rapid rate causing piezo element 22 to contract at a rapid rate ( fig8 d ). piezo element 22 contracts at such a rapid rate that the inertia of sliding friction element 25 overcomes the friction force between friction element 24 and sliding friction element 25 . hence , during cycle phase 4 piezo element 21 is still in the stick phase but piezo element 22 is now in the slip phase . the right moving motion of piezo element 21 counteracts and overcomes most of the reverse motion imparted by piezo element 22 . hence during cycle phase 4 , there is only a very slight dip to the resultant motion curve . cycle phase 5 : the motion in cycle phase 5 is similar to that described above in reference to cycle phase 1 . accordingly the cycles continue to repeat until the command signals are altered . fig7 shows another preferred embodiment of the present invention . piezo elements 31 and 32 are both rigidly connected to holding element 36 . friction elements 33 and 34 are both connected to piezo elements 31 and 32 , respectively . rotational friction element 35 is pressed against friction elements 33 and 34 . rotational friction element 35 is the object being moved by piezo motor 30 . voltage source 38 is connected to piezo element 31 . voltage source 39 is connected to piezo element 32 . computer 37 is connected to voltage sources 38 and 39 and is programmed to control the output of voltage sources 38 and 39 . cycle phase 1 : voltage sources 38 and 39 are applying voltage out of phase with respect to elements 31 and 32 so that element 31 is contracting to the right and element 22 is expanding to the right ( fig9 a ). the rate of change of the applied voltage is low enough so that the speed of the piezo elements 31 and 32 is slow enough so that the friction force between friction elements 33 and 34 and rotational friction element 35 is not overcome . therefore , there is no slipping between friction elements 23 and 24 and rotational friction element 35 . hence , both piezo element 31 and piezo element 32 are in the stick phase of motion causing rotational friction element 35 to move in a rotational motion consistent with the motion of piezo elements 31 and 32 . cycle phase 2 : voltage source 39 is continuing to apply voltage with a slope slow enough to piezo element 32 so that it continues to expand to the right . however , the voltage from voltage source 38 has reversed at a rapid rate causing piezo element 31 to expand to the left at a rapid rate ( fig9 b ). piezo element 31 expands at such a rapid rate that the inertia of rotational friction element 35 overcomes the friction force between friction element 33 and rotational friction element 35 . hence , during cycle phase 2 piezo element 32 is still in the stick phase but piezo element 31 is now in the slip phase . the rightward motion of piezo element 32 counteracts and overcomes most of the reverse motion imparted by piezo element 31 . hence during cycle phase 2 , there is only a very slight dip to the resultant linear motion curve . cycle phase 3 : voltage sources 38 and 39 are applying voltage out of phase with respect to elements 31 and 32 so that element 31 is contracting to the right and element 32 is expanding to the right ( fig9 c ). the rate of change of the applied voltage is low enough so that the speed of the piezo elements 31 and 32 is slow enough so that the friction force between friction elements 33 and 34 and rotational friction element 35 is not overcome . therefore , there is no slipping between friction elements 33 and 34 and rotational friction element 35 . hence , both piezo element 31 and piezo element 32 are in the stick phase of motion causing rotational friction element 35 to move in a linear motion consistent with the linear motion of piezo elements 31 and 32 . cycle phase 4 : voltage source 38 is continuing to apply voltage with a slope slow enough to piezo element 31 so that it continues to contract to the right . however , the voltage from voltage source 39 has reversed at a rapid rate causing piezo element 32 to contract at a rapid rate ( fig9 d ). piezo element 32 contracts at such a rapid rate that the inertia of rotational friction element 35 overcomes the friction force between friction element 34 and rotational friction element 35 . hence , during cycle phase 4 piezo element 31 is still in the stick phase but piezo element 32 is now in the slip phase . the right moving motion of piezo element 31 counteracts and overcomes most of the reverse motion imparted by piezo element 32 . hence during cycle phase 4 , there is only a very slight dip to the resultant motion curve . cycle phase 5 : the motion in cycle phase 5 is similar to that described above in reference to cycle phase 1 . accordingly the cycles continue to repeat until the command signals are altered . fig1 shows another preferred embodiment that provides for linear motion . piezo motor 50 is also similar to the embodiment shown in fig6 . piezo element 51 and piezo element 52 are housed in piezo housing 56 . ceramic friction elements 53 and 54 are rigidly connected to piezo elements 51 and 52 , respectively . voltage is applied to piezo elements 51 and 52 so that ceramic friction elements 53 and 54 operate to move friction plate 55 in the direction shown by the arrows in fig1 . ceramic friction plate 55 is rigidly connected to plate 58 . a user of motor 40 may attach devices to plate 58 , as preferred . fig1 shows a preferred embodiment that provides for rotational motion . piezo motor 60 is similar to the embodiment shown in fig7 . piezo element 61 and piezo element 62 are housed in piezo housing 66 . ceramic friction elements 63 and 64 are rigidly connected to piezo elements 61 and 62 , respectively . voltage is applied to piezo elements 61 and 62 so that ceramic friction elements 63 and 64 operate to rotate disc 68 clockwise or counterclockwise , as preferred . surrounding disc 68 is rigidly connected ceramic friction band 69 . a user of motor 60 may attach devices to 68 , as preferred . pressure is applied to ceramic friction elements 63 and 64 by springs 67 a and 67 b , respectively . the degree of pressure force applied is such that elements 63 and 64 move band 69 during the stick phase of the oscillation yet also with such force so that friction elements 63 and 64 do not significantly drag friction band 69 in the undesired direction during the slip phase of the oscillation . fig1 shows another preferred embodiment that provides for rotational motion . the piezo arrangement for motor 70 is similar to that shown for motor 60 . however , instead of rotating a circular disc , two piezo elements act in conjunction to turn rotor 71 . an operator may rigidly attach an axis to rotor 71 to spin the axis as desired . fig1 shows a preferred embodiment of the present invention that provides for planar motion . two piezo elements operate to move plate 80 in a linear fashion indicated by arrows 81 and 82 . the linear motion of plate 80 is similar to the linear motion described above in reference to fig6 and fig1 a - 10b . plate 80 slides on tracks 83 and 84 . likewise , two other piezo elements operate to move plate 81 in a linear fashion indicated by arrow 85 . the linear motion of plate 80 is also similar to the linear motion described above in reference to fig6 and fig1 a - 10b . plate 81 slides on tracks 87 and 88 . although the above preferred embodiments disclosed stick - slip piezo motors that utilized two piezo elements , it is also possible to increase the number of piezo elements . for example , fig1 shows a piezo motor that utilizes three piezo elements and fig1 shows a piezo motor that utilizes four piezo elements . as the number of piezo elements increases , there are a greater number of piezo elements operating in the stick phase to counteract any reverse motion due to a piezo element operating in the slip phase . for example , in fig1 voltage has been applied to piezo elements 161 and 162 so that they are expanding relatively slowly to the right . also , the voltage applied to piezo element 163 is rapidly reduced to zero causing it to contract to the left at a rapid rate . piezo element 163 contracts at such a rapid rate that the friction force between friction element 165 and sliding friction element 164 is significantly overcome . hence , piezo elements 161 and 162 are in the stick phase but piezo element 163 is now in the slip phase . the rightward motion of piezo elements 161 and 162 counteracts and overcomes most of the reverse motion imparted by piezo element 163 . hence , there is only a very slight dip to the resultant linear motion curve . also , in fig1 voltage has been applied to piezo elements 171 , 172 , and 174 so that they are expanding relatively slowly to the right . also , the voltage applied to piezo element 173 is rapidly reduced to zero causing it to contract to the left at a rapid rate . piezo element 173 contracts at such a rapid rate that the friction force between friction element 175 and sliding friction element 176 is significantly overcome . hence , piezo elements 171 , 172 , and 174 are in the stick phase but piezo element 173 is now in the slip phase . the rightward motion of piezo elements 171 , 172 , and 174 counteracts and overcomes most of the reverse motion imparted by piezo element 173 . hence , because there is a greater number of piezo elements moving rightward than shown in fig1 there is an overall decrease to the effect of leftward motion imparted by piezo element 173 . although the above - preferred embodiments have been described with specificity , persons skilled in this art will recognize that many changes to the specific embodiments disclosed above could be made without departing from the spirit of the invention . for example , it should be understood that the sliding friction elements and rotational friction elements described above are just some of the examples of moving friction elements . other types of moving friction elements are also possible . furthermore , it should be noted that the length of the sliding friction element can be varied as desired . there is no limit to the length of this element . for rotational motion , the radius of the rotational friction element may also be of any dimension required . also , it should be noted that although the above descriptions referred to resultant motion in one direction ( i . e ., from left to right ) it should be recognized that the opposite resultant motion ( i . e ., from right to left ) can be easily achieved by merely reversing the applied voltage in order to reverse the motion of the piezo elements . therefore , the attached claims and their legal equivalents should determine the scope of the invention .	7
referring now to the drawings in detail , numeral 10 generally indicates a variable displacement vane engine oil pump in accordance with a specific embodiment of the present invention . as is more fully hereinafter described , the variable displacement vane pump 10 provides for more efficient pumping of engine oil and improved regulation of engine oil pressure . as illustrated in fig1 variable displacement vane pump 10 includes a housing 12 having a wall 14 . a rotor 16 having a plurality of slide vanes 18 is rotatable in the housing on a fixed axis 19 . the slide vanes 18 internally engage a slide ring 20 to define pumping chambers 22 within the slide ring 20 . vane rings ( not shown ) float in counterbores on opposite sides of the rotor 16 and engage inner edges of the slide vanes 18 to help them maintain contact with the slide ring 20 . an inlet port 24 is formed in an inlet side 25 of the housing 12 and an outlet port 26 ( shown in phantom in fig1 ) is formed in an outlet side or top cover 27 of the housing ( shown in fig2 ). the ports 24 , 26 communicate with the pumping chambers 22 in the slide ring 20 on opposite bottom and top sides of the rotor 16 . an oil pick - up tube 28 , attached to the inlet side 25 of the housing 12 , connects to the inlet port 24 and extends below and away from the housing 12 . the rotor 16 is powered by a cross - axis hex shaft drive 30 . rotation of the rotor 16 by the shaft drive 30 causes oil to be sucked into the pumping chambers 22 through the inlet port 24 and pushed out of the pumping chambers 22 through the outlet port 26 . the slide ring 20 is pivotally retained against the housing wall 14 by a slide ring pivot 32 . a flange 34 extends outward from the slide ring 20 at a location opposite from the slide ring pivot 32 . the flange 34 includes a slide spring tab 36 , a slide stop 38 and a slide seal support 40 . the slide seal support 40 is perpendicular to the slide spring tab 36 and the slide stop 38 while the slide spring tab 36 is on a side of the flange 34 opposite from the slide stop 38 . the slide stop 38 contacts a protrusion 42 on the housing wall 14 when the pump is operating at maximum displacement . the slide seal support 40 carries a slide seal 44 that extends radially beyond the slide stop 38 to engage the housing wall 14 . a pressure control chamber 46 is defined by the housing wall 14 , the slide ring pivot 32 , the slide ring 20 , the slide stop 38 and the slide seal 44 . an oil pressure signal port 48 is located in the housing 12 and communicates with the pressure control chamber 46 . a reaction spring 50 is disposed between the housing wall 14 and the slide spring tab 36 . a mounting bolt 52 on the outside of the housing 12 provides for attachment of the vane pump 10 to an engine body . in fig2 the variable displacement vane engine oil pump 10 is shown integrated into an engine oil lubrication system 53 of an automotive internal combustion engine 54 having a cylinder block 55 . the vane pump 10 is attached to the bottom of a rear main bearing cap 56 by the mounting bolt 52 . the vane pump 10 is located below the bearing cap 56 within the engine oil pan 58 . the oil pick - up tube 28 extends close to the bottom of the oil pan 58 to draw in oil from the pump in a conventional manner . a modular pressure relief ball valve 60 is screwed into the top cover 27 and communicates with the outlet port 26 . the oil pressure signal port 48 connects the pressure control chamber 46 of the pump 10 through the rear main bearing cap 56 to the crankshaft oil feed on the backside of the rear main bearing 62 . the cross - axis hex shaft drive 30 extends from a driven gear 63 near the upper end of the engine cylinder block 55 and down into the vane pump 10 through the top cover 27 of the housing 12 and is powered by rotation of a camshaft drive gear 64 when the engine 54 is running . referring now to both fig1 and 2 , the vane pump 10 is integrated into the oil lubrication system 53 of the engine 54 to efficiently maintain engine oil pressure . during operation of the engine , the camshaft drive gear 64 turns the cross - axis hex shaft drive 30 , which in turn causes the rotor 16 inside the vane pump 10 to rotate on its axis 19 . the spinning of the rotor 16 causes oil to be drawn from the bottom of the oil pan 58 through the oil pick - up tube 28 into the pumping chambers 22 and forced out to the oil lubrication system 53 through the outlet port 26 . as the engine 54 and vane pump 10 operate , oil flow is generated by the vane pump 10 and an oil pressure signal ( an indication of the relative system oil pressure ) is sent from the rear main bearing cap 56 of the engine 54 through the oil pressure signal port 48 into the pressure control chamber 46 of the vane pump 10 , creating a closed loop pressure control system . hence , the oil pressure in the pressure control chamber 46 varies with that in the oil lubrication system . during operation of the engine 54 at idle speed , engine oil pressure is low but must be kept above a certain minimum oil pressure . since the oil pressure within the pressure control chamber 46 is equally low , the force of the reaction spring 50 against the flange 34 is greater than the force of the oil pressure in the pressure control chamber 46 acting against the slide ring 20 , so that the slide stop 38 is forced into contact with the protrusion 42 . in this orientation , the slide ring 20 is at its greatest eccentricity from the rotor axis 19 which results in maximum displacement of the vane pump 10 . this maintains the minimum required oil pressure in the engine 54 while rotational speeds of the engine 54 and the vane pump 10 are at their slowest . as engine speed is increased from idle , the relative speed of the vane pump 10 increases , thus increasing the pump outlet flow . this , in turn , increases the pressure in the engine oil system , including the pressure control chamber 46 . when the force of oil pressure in the pressure control chamber 46 acting on the slide ring 20 becomes greater than the counteracting force of the reaction spring 50 , the slide ring is pivoted about the slide ring pivot 32 , moving the slide stop 38 away from the housing wall 12 . the pivoting movement of the slide ring 20 about the slide ring pivot 32 reduces the eccentricity between the slide ring 20 and the rotor 16 . this alters the orientation of the slide vanes 18 and therefore decreases the unit displacement of the vane pump 10 . the unique design of the slide stop 38 and the slide seal 44 bias the pressure required to initiate this slide ring movement and cause the pressure signal to act on a larger area once the slide ring 20 begins to move . this results in a relatively flat oil pressure regulation curve . as the slide ring 20 moves and the unit displacement of the vane pump 10 decreases , the vane pump 10 pumps relatively less oil at each rotational cycle . thus , a steady oil pressure is maintained while the torque required to drive the pump is proportionately reduced . when the oil pressure reaches a maximum , as may occur under cold engine oil conditions , the pressure relief valve 60 opens to control the maximum pressure by bypassing oil from the outlet of the vane pump 10 back into the oil pan 58 . several additional features are included in the specific embodiment of variable displacement vane engine oil pump just described : to maximize the length of the pump extension below the rear main bearing cap , the slide vanes are made longer and narrower than is common in vane pump design . in particular , the vanes have an aspect ratio ( length / width ) of about 2 : 1 , which differs from a usual 1 : 1 ratio . the high ratio allows the pump to maintain high volumetric efficiency without the use of a side face seal . depending upon space available , the aspect ratio may be varied substantially in particular engine applications . placement of the inlet and outlet ports in opposite sides of the pump vanes provides through oil flow in the pumping chambers which reduces the entrapment of gases in the chambers . the integration of the slide spring tab , slide stop and slide seal support into a single flange provides efficient packaging of the pump . it also provides the feature of biasing initial movement of the slide ring to increase the effect of pressure in the control chamber to reduce displacement of the pump rotor after movement of the slide stop 38 away from the housing protrusion 42 . the location of the slide stop 38 relative to the protrusion 42 can be adjusted to achieve the desired pressure biasing for a particular engine application . while the invention has been described by reference to certain preferred embodiments , it should be understood that numerous changes could be made within the spirit and scope of the inventive concepts described . accordingly , it is intended that the invention not be limited to the disclosed embodiments , but that it have the full scope permitted by the language of the following claims .	5
referring to fig1 , the system 10 comprises a testing / measuring device 11 , a conveying device 13 for conveying a plurality of substantially identical components 12 to be tested serially to and away from the testing / measuring device 11 , a control / evaluation unit 14 and a protection cabin 15 surrounding the testing / measuring device 11 . testing / measuring device should here be understood to mean testing and / or measuring device . the testing / measuring system 10 is suitable for connecting into a production line for example in a foundry for metallic castings 12 . the testing / measuring device 11 comprises a support 17 fixed during testing and an annular rotor 18 . the support 17 comprises a pedestal 19 anchored to a base plate 23 and an annular supporting element 22 resting on said pedestal , here in the form of an octagonal plate . the annular supporting element 22 forms an annular rotational bearing 20 for the rotor 18 . rotational bearing 20 , rotor 18 and optionally supporting element 22 form an annular unit 16 , which comprises a central annular opening 26 for conveying components 12 through the annular unit 16 . in order to allow horizontal orientation , the annular unit 16 , as shown in fig1 and 2 , may be inclined by means of a horizontal swivel bearing 21 for example in a range of +− 30 ° relative to the pedestal 19 , see embodiments according to fig1 and 2 . the components 12 are preferably conveyed in an axially parallel manner , i . e . parallel to the rotor axis , through the rotor 18 . an x - ray tube 24 and an x - ray detector 25 are fastened opposite one another on the rotor 18 . the x - ray tube 24 , which preferably takes the form of a rotary anode tube , is preferably of the fan beam or cone beam type . the x - ray tube 24 is conveniently set up to illuminate the entire detector 25 and for this purpose preferably has in one direction a beam angle of at least 40 °, preferably at least 60 °. to achieve sub - mm image resolution the focus size of the x - ray beam is preferably below 1 mm , more preferably below 0 . 7 mm . the tube 24 is preferably operated with at least 80 kv of energy , more preferably at least 100 kv , more preferably at least 120 kv , for example approximately 140 kv . if a high penetration capacity is preferred , higher x - ray energies of up to 450 kv are feasible . to reduce the duration of testing and / or measuring , the x - ray tube 24 is preferably operated with a continuous output of at least 1 kw . to avoid problems due to excessive heat generation , the continuous output preferably amounts to less than 10 kw . in an embodiment which is not shown , only the tube 24 may be fastened to the rotor 18 , while the stationary detector 25 forms a 360 ° ring . the x - ray detector 25 is preferably digital , with direct conversion of the impinging x - ray radiation into electrical counts ; preferably it is a line scanning detector with a plurality of preferably at least 16 parallel lines . the detector 25 preferably comprises a length which is sufficient to detect the largest possible angular range of x - ray radiation emitted by the tube 24 . it is preferably bent into a banana shape , such that the sensitive area is at a substantially constant distance from the source point of the x - ray tube 24 as far as possible everywhere . to achieve sub - mm image resolution the pixel size of the detector 25 amounts to at most 1 mm , preferably at most 0 . 7 mm . the correction conveniently performed in the control / evaluation unit 14 to compensate the beam hardening effect is adjusted to the investigation of typical materials , for example metals , alloys , composite materials , aluminium , iron , et cetera . during x - ray testing of a component 12 the rotor 18 is rotated continuously by means of rotary drives ( not shown ) fastened to the supporting element 22 about the central longitudinal axis of the annular unit 16 , wherein a large number of full 360 ° revolutions of the rotor 18 are carried out per component 12 . electricity is supplied to the x - ray tube 24 and x - ray detector 25 rotating with the rotor 18 by means of a slip ring arrangement 27 arranged between the rotor 18 and the supporting element 22 . the axis of rotation of the rotor 18 or the longitudinal axis of the annular unit 16 is oriented substantially parallel to the direction in which the components are conveyed through the testing / measuring device 11 , preferably substantially horizontal . the conveying device 13 preferably takes the form , as in the exemplary embodiment according to fig1 , of a conveyor line , i . e . of a translational conveyor . for connection into a production line for the components 12 , the conveyor line comprises a loading section 28 and an unloading section 29 . loading of the conveyor line 13 proceeds in the exemplary embodiment according to fig1 by means of a robot 30 , while unloading is effected manually . it goes without saying that loading and unloading may also proceed otherwise . in the exemplary embodiment according to fig1 the conveying device 13 comprises conveying carriages 31 for accommodating one component 12 , respectively , and at least one rail 32 along which the conveying carriages 31 are guided displaceably . the conveying device 13 may however also be differently constructed , in particular using conveyor belts . the conveying device 13 is preferably set up to convey the components 12 through the testing / measuring device 11 at a substantially constant rate of advance , i . e . with fluctuations in the rate of advance of less than 10 %, preferably less than 5 %. to this end the conveying device 13 preferably comprises a separate drive 34 in the region of the testing / measuring device 11 , preferably with servomotors , to achieve the required constant rate of advance . accordingly , the drive 34 for conveying through the testing / measuring device 11 appropriately displays a more constant rate than other drives ( not shown ) for conveying to and away from the testing / measuring device 11 . in the preferred embodiment according to fig2 a separate conveying means 33 with a continuous , uninterrupted conveying means 34 , in particular a conveyor belt , is provided for conveying the components 12 through the testing / measuring device 11 . the conveying means 34 is expediently substantially transparent to x - ray radiation . the continuous , uninterrupted , largely radiation - transparent conveying means 34 has the advantage that the conveying means 33 does not have to comprise any gap for allowing the x - ray radiation through . on the other hand , in the embodiment according to fig1 the conveying device 13 passes into the testing / measuring device 11 from both sides , such that the smallest possible gap 35 remains for unhindered passage of x - ray radiation . in this case an embodiment of the conveying device 13 with rail 32 and conveying carriages 31 in the region of the testing / measuring device 11 is advantageous , because the conveying carriages 31 allow bridging of the gap in a manner which is precise with regard to position and rate of advance . in accordance with the above , the conveying device 13 is of translational construction over the entire conveying distance between the loading section 28 and the unloading section 29 . it is therefore possible to dispense with elaborate carousel - like pivoting conveyors for conveying the components 12 from the conveyor line 13 to the testing / measuring device 11 and back . other manipulation of the components 12 , for example rotation of the components 12 about a vertical axis during x - ray investigation , may be dispensed with . the translational conveyance , occurring during testing , of the component 12 to be tested through the testing / measuring device 11 parallel to the axis of rotation of the rotor 18 and the simultaneous continuous rotation of the x - ray system 24 , 25 about the component 12 to be tested results in an overall helical movement of the x - ray system 24 , 25 about the component 12 to be tested . the control / evaluation unit 14 comprises a rapid ct reconstruction algorithm for converting the recorded x - ray data from the helical geometry into a volume or voxel representation . the control / evaluation unit 14 further comprises an algorithm for analysing the volume image depending on the intended application . this may in particular comprise automatic identification of internal defects or anomalies of the component 12 , for example air inclusions , using predetermined test parameters which are known in principle and do not therefore have to be explained in greater detail . every component may optionally be classified as “ compliant ” or “ non - compliant ” and optionally marked optically accordingly or automatically rejected . finally , the control / evaluation unit 14 may comprise a communication unit for data transmission with an external unit , for example the central control unit of the manufacturing plant . in addition or as an alternative to the helical scanning mode , the control / evaluation unit 14 may also perform axial scans and / or scans of just one part of a component 12 , for example individual slices or at specific positions . alternatively or in addition , for the identification of internal defects or anomalies of the component 12 the control / evaluation unit 14 may also be set up to determine the three - dimensional geometric dimensions of the components 12 , i . e . internal and external component structures , from the x - ray data . it is then optionally possible to dispense with a separate coordinate measuring device . to shield the surrounding environment against the x - ray radiation generated by the x - ray tube 24 , the system 10 comprises a radiation protection cabin 15 surrounding the testing / measuring device 11 . the radiation protection cabin 15 comprises a frame 36 , which may consist for example of metal tubes or rods , and plate - shaped wall elements 37 a , 37 b , 37 c , 37 d etc ., which are merely indicated in fig2 for the top wall 37 a , the side wall 37 b remote from the observer , the front wall 37 c facing the observer through which the components 12 are conveyed into the protection cabin 15 , and the rear wall 37 d remote from the observer through which the components 12 are conveyed out of the protection cabin 15 . the wall elements 37 contain an x - ray - absorbing , in particular lead - containing , layer of sufficient thickness . an inlet opening 39 and a corresponding outlet opening 40 are provided in the wall elements 37 c , 37 d for conveying the components 12 through the protection cabin 15 . each passage opening 39 , 40 in each case has a passage lock 41 , 42 associated with it , which comprises a slide 41 a , 42 a , respectively , for closing an inlet opening of the passage lock 41 , 42 and a slide 41 b , 42 b , respectively , for closing an outlet opening of the passage lock 41 , 42 . the passage locks 41 , 42 and the slides 41 a , 41 b , 42 a , 42 b are likewise set up for substantially complete absorption of x - ray radiation . in operation one slide 41 a , 41 b or 42 a , 42 b , respectively , of a passage lock 41 , 42 is closed at all times , such that radiation protection is ensured at all times . to prevent penetration of dust and moisture into the protection cabin 15 , the latter is closed in airtight manner , for example with the aid of sealing elements 38 between the wall elements 37 , the frame 36 and the base plate 23 . to achieve a substantially completely sealed interior for the testing / measuring device 11 , i . e . apart from any air - conditioning openings , a conveniently substantially radiation - transparent pipe 43 is provided , which extends through the protection cabin 15 from one passage opening 39 to the other passage opening 40 and passes through the annular opening 26 in the annular unit 16 . the conveying device 13 passes through the pipe 43 in the region of the testing / measuring device 11 , said pipe defining a conveying duct 46 or conveying tunnel . the pipe 43 is preferably free of openings in the pipe wall , such that dirt particles transported with the conveying device 13 or the components 12 arranged thereon cannot enter the testing / measuring device 11 . at its ends the pipe is preferably connected in airtight manner with the wall elements 37 c , 37 d at the edge defining the passage openings 39 , 40 , in particular with the aid of corresponding sealing elements 44 , 45 . the diameter of the pipe 43 is conveniently adapted to the internal diameter of the annular unit 16 , in order to allow testing of the largest possible components 12 . in accordance with the above , the testing / measuring device 11 is substantially completely enclosed in the protection cabin 15 . in order to dissipate the heat generated when the testing / measuring device 11 is in operation and keep the interior of the protection cabin 15 at a sufficiently low operating temperature even in very warm environments , for example a foundry , at least one temperature - controlled , in particular electrically operated cooling unit 46 , for example an air - conditioning system , is fitted to the protection cabin 15 . so that no dust / moisture can enter the protection cabin 15 in the case of any leaks , and through any functional openings such as for example an exhaust air opening for the air - conditioning system 46 , a means is preferably provided for pressurising the cabin 15 . this may for example be a compressed air connection 47 , which may be connected to an external compressed air source via a compressed air line 48 . pressurisation may alternatively also proceed by way of the cooling unit 46 . as a result of the protection cabin 15 and the pipe 43 , which also protects the annular unit 16 from damage by malpositioned components 12 , no separate housing is needed for the annular unit 16 . dispensing with such a housing for the annular unit 16 in turn simplifies heat removal from the annular unit 16 . the conveying device 13 may be height - adjustable in the region of the testing / measuring device 11 for adaptation to components 12 with different dimensions , so that the components 12 may be passed through the annular unit 16 substantially centrally . the system 10 may optionally comprise a device 50 connected upstream of the testing / measuring device 11 for identifying the component type for example with the aid of an optical camera and an image recognition algorithm . as a function of the result of the identification , parameters of the measuring / testing device 11 may be adjusted to the respective component type and / or the result of the x - ray investigation may be related to the individual component 12 , for example by means of the serial number . alternatively , identification of the component type may also be effected from the three - dimensional x - ray image by means of a corresponding recognition algorithm .	6
referring now to fig1 an assembly 10 will now be described . the assembly 10 includes a container 20 and pump attachment 30 . the container 20 is illustrated partially filled with fluid 260 . the container 20 defines an internal space or reservoir 22 and a neck 24 which defines an opening or port 26 . the neck 24 desirably defines a series of external threads 28 . the attachment 30 includes a body 40 , which is secured on the container 20 by means of a coupler 70 . the attachment further includes a shaft 110 which is connected to a piston 130 . a handle 190 is mounted on the shaft 110 . a wand or spray nozzle 220 is connected to the handle 190 by tubing 222 . advantageously , the nozzle 220 includes a release valve , which controls the flow of fluid through the spray nozzle 220 and an actuator 240 for controlling the release valve . referring to fig5 the body 40 of the attachment 30 will now be described in detail . the body 40 defines an internal chamber 42 . the body 40 includes first or upper end 44 , a second or lower end 46 and a cylindrical internal wall 48 . the upper end 44 of the body 40 includes an outwardly tapering portion 50 and an upper cylindrical flange 52 , provided with internal threads 54 . the lower end 46 of the body 40 is provided with an annular overhanging lip 56 defining a series of openings 58 and a depending flange 60 extending downward from the annular lip 56 surrounding the opening 58 . referring to fig3 - 4 and 5 , the coupler 70 includes a disk - shaped base 72 which partially defines a central aperture 74 . a coupler 70 includes a pair of depending and concentric annular lips . the first or inner annular lip 76 likewise partially defines the aperture 74 . the second or outer annular lip 78 is spaced from and surrounds the inner annular lip 76 . the inner annular lip 76 defines an overhanging flange 82 and a depending ridge 84 . the inner lip 76 and the overhanging flange 82 cooperate to define a handle seat . the overhanging flange 82 and depending ridge 84 cooperate to define an inner o - ring seat . the first annular lip 76 and the depending ridge 84 likewise form an outer annular spring groove 88 . the inner annular lip 76 , the base 72 and outer annular lip 78 cooperate to define a first annular channel 90 . which defines a seat which receives an o - ring 91 . the outer annular lip 78 is provided with internal threads 96 . alternatively , the flange 52 of the body 40 could be provided with external threads and the lip 76 of the coupler 70 with internal threads . this arrangement would facilitate tooling to form the body . the shaft 110 has a first or upper end 112 and a second or lower end 114 . the upper end is provided with external threads 116 . the lower end 114 of the shaft 110 advantageously includes a radially outward extending portion 118 . the shaft includes an internal wall 120 which defines an internal flow channel 122 having a lower inlet end 124 and an upper outlet end 126 . referring to fig6 and 6a , the piston 130 is mounted around the shaft 110 . the piston includes a body 132 having a top 134 and bottom 136 . the piston defines an inner annular surface 138 , which defines an internal channel 140 . the inner annular surface 138 desirably defines a tapering portion 142 . the piston 130 desirably additionally includes a series of radially extending locating ribs which define a series of upper surfaces 144 . these surfaces 144 cooperate to define an outer annular groove 146 for receiving the biasing member 180 . referring to fig5 and 6 , the piston 130 divides the internal chamber 42 of the body 40 of the attachment into a first or upper portion 150 and a second or lower portion 152 . mounted within the opening 58 defined by the overhanging lip 56 of the lower end 46 of the body 40 is the inlet or check valve 160 . the check valve 160 permits the flow of fluid into the internal chamber 42 of the body 40 of the attachment , while preventing the flow of fluid out of the internal chamber 42 . advantageously , the check valve 160 is provided with an upper nipple 162 which mates with the inlet 124 of the shaft . the lower nipple 166 secures the check valve 160 in place . likewise , the check valve is provided with a lower nipple 166 depending from the overhanging lip 56 of the lower end 46 of the body 40 . the check valve defines a central flow channel 168 . the biasing member 180 has a first or upper end 182 which is seated in the outer annular spring groove 88 of the coupler and a second end 184 which is seated in the annular groove 146 in the top of 134 of the piston 130 . referring to fig5 the handle 190 is mounted on the upper end 112 of the shaft 110 . the handle includes a vertical stem 192 and a grip or horizontal portion 194 . the horizontal portion is desirably integrally formed with an upper end 196 of the stem 192 and the lower end 198 of the stem 192 is desirably secured to the upper end 112 of the shaft 110 . the stem desirably defines an internal flow channel 200 . the lower end 198 of the stem 192 desirably defines a larger mouth portion 202 which defines internal threads 204 with the external threads of 116 on the upper end 112 of the shaft 110 . the horizontal portion 194 desirably likewise defines an internal flow channel 206 which communicates with the internal flow channel 200 of the stem 192 , and includes a closed end 208 and an open end 210 . referring to fig1 and 1a - 1d , the attachment of the tubing 222 to the horizontal portion 194 of the handle 190 will now be described . to ensure a fluid - tight seal , the tubing 222 is locked to a connector or 300 and the adaptor 300 is locked to the horizontal portion 194 of the handle 190 . as seen in fig1 a , the adaptor 300 has a disc - shaped outer section 302 , a cylindrical intermediate section 304 and a smaller diameter cylindrical inner section 306 . a cylindrical wall 307 defines an interior flow channel 309 running the length of the adaptor . the intermediate section 304 includes an enlarged annular stop 308 proximate to the inner section 306 . the inner section 306 includes an annular locking flange 310 which mates with a corresponding annular detent in the horizontal portion 194 of the handle 190 . the inner section 306 further comprises a first sealing ring 312 and a second sealing ring 314 spaced inward from the locking flange and sized to form a fluid - tight seal with the wall defining the internal flow channel 206 of the horizontal portion 194 of the handle 190 . the outer section 302 defines a pocket 316 for receiving a locking ring 318 . as best seen in fig1 e , the locking ring 318 defines a plurality of gripping edges or corners 320 , which are adapted to apply pressure against the outer surface of the tubing 222 and prevent it from being inadvertently pulled from the adaptor 300 . fig1 shows an integrally formed one - piece handle and shaft or plunger 424 which may be used in place of the two - piece handle and shaft described above . the integral plunger 424 would eliminate a possible leak point between the handle and shaft . the plunger 424 includes a shaft portion 426 and a handle portion 428 which are joined at a stop collar 430 . the handle portion 428 includes as vertical stem section 432 and a horizontal grip section 434 . the shaft portion 426 of the plunger 424 includes an internal wall 436 , which mates with a plug 438 . the plug includes an insert portion 440 which is received within the shaft portion 426 and an exterior portion 442 which protrudes outside of the shaft portion 426 . the insert portion 440 includes a radially extending annular ridge 444 which mates with an annular recess 446 in the internal wall 436 of the shaft portion 426 . alternatively , it may be desirable to provide external threads on the distal end of the shaft portion 426 and an alternative plug with internal threads to mate therewith . this would eliminate the need for the annular recess 446 in the inner surface of the shaft which could facilitate the molding of the plunger 424 . illustrated in fig1 a is an alternative adaptor or connector 850 secured within the handle portion 428 of the one piece plunger 424 . the connector 850 has a larger diameter head portion and a smaller diameter body portion . importantly , the connector 850 avoids the use of a locking ring . the elimination of the locking ring facilitates the quick and easy attachment of the connector 850 to the plunger 424 , while an added o - ring 852 adjacent to the inner end of the head portion prevents leaks . fig1 a also illustrates an alternative plug 860 for blocking the flow channel through the stem section 432 of the handle portion 428 . the plug 860 is similar to the plug 344 , with the exception that the plug is solid and does not incorporate a second sealing flange . the solid plug has greater strength and the elimination of the second sealing flange reduces binding . to ensure proper operation of the assembly 10 , the assembly includes a number of additional sealing members , which will now be described . a first seal or o - ring 252 is mounted at the upper end 44 of the attachment 30 within the inner o - ring seat defined by the first annular lip 76 and overhanging flange 82 out of the coupler 70 . the first o - ring 252 is secured within the seat by means of an annular retaining clip 254 which desirably surrounds the depending ridge 84 . referring to fig6 and 6a , a second seal or o - ring 256 surrounds the second end 114 of the shaft 110 and desirably abuts against the radially outward extending portion 118 of the shaft 110 . to ensure that the piston 130 forms a sealing engagement with the internal wall 48 of the body 40 of the attachment 30 , the piston 130 is desirably provided with a first and a second sealing gasket or cup seals , 258 and 260 , respectively . specifically , the body 132 of the piston 130 desirably defines an annular space between the bottom 136 of the piston and the portion of the body 132 which defines the outer annular surface 144 and the gaskets 258 and 260 are resiliently secured to the body 132 filling the space . the gaskets 258 and 260 ensure that the piston 130 forms a fluid - tight seal with the internal wall 48 of the body 40 and prevent flow between the gaskets 258 and the external wall of the piston body . fig8 shows an alternative piston design which may be desirable to avoid the need for relatively expensive cup seals . specifically , the piston 400 defines an outer generally cylindrical surface 402 which is bisected by an annular triangular groove 404 which receives a sealing member or o - ring 406 . the o - ring 406 ensures a fluid - tight seal between the piston 400 and the internal wall of the body of the attachment . referring now to fig9 a and 9b , there is shown a second alternative piston 450 which may be desirable to avoid the need for separate seals . the piston 450 defines an outer cylindrical surface 452 , an upper annular lip 454 , and a lower annular lip 456 . advantageously , use of this piston 450 avoids the need for a separate o - ring seal and reduces the stacking of tolerances . specifically , in designs using separate o - rings , it is required to maintain the tolerance of the inner wall of the body , the external cylindrical wall of the piston , and the o - ring itself . by eliminating the use of the separate o - rings , it is only necessary to maintain the tolerances of the piston 450 and the inner wall of the body 40 . fig1 shows a third alternative piston design 470 . the piston 470 defines an outer cylindrical surface 472 , an intermediate recess 474 , an upper annular foot 476 and a lower annular foot 478 . other than the intermediate recess , the piston 470 is similar to the piston 450 . the intermediate recess 474 has the advantage of providing a piston with uniform wall thickness and a piston which requires less material to manufacture . the assembly 10 is desirably provided with a mechanism for locking the handle in a fully retracted position . referring to fig1 and 4 , the coupler 70 desirably defines a pair of parallel l - shaped overhanging flanges 270 . the flanges 270 are sized and shaped to permit a locking plate 272 to slide snugly between the flanges 270 . the locking plate includes a first end 274 and a second end 276 . the first end 274 defines a first grip portion 278 and the second end 276 defines a second grip portion 280 . desirably , the locking plate defines a vent passage 282 which cooperates with a corresponding vent opening 322 in the base 72 of the coupler 70 , when the locking plate is in its unlocked position . surrounding the top of the vent opening 322 is a sealing member 324 , such as an o - ring to prevent leakage of fluid when the locking plate 272 is in its locked position , as shown in fig1 c . the locking plate 272 defines an aperture 284 including a first smaller portion 286 defined by first edge 288 sized and shaped to snugly receive the portion of the stem 192 of the handle 190 above the larger mouth portion 202 . the aperture 284 further includes a larger second portion 290 defined by a second edge 292 which is sized and shaped to permit the free movement of the larger mouth portion 202 of the stem 192 of the handle 190 therethrough . referring to fig3 the base 72 of the coupler 70 desirably defines a raised dimple 325 positioned to abut the outer edge of the locking plate 272 to keep the locking plate from sliding when the locking plate 272 is in the open position . advantageously , the locking plate 272 is provided with a mating detent 326 to receive and retain the dimple 325 when the locking plate is in the closed position shown in fig4 . referring to fig1 - 21 , a sprayer 500 for use in connection with assembly will now be described in detail . the sprayer 500 includes a generally cylindrical grip 502 , a narrow nose 504 having a generally plus - shaped cross - section and a spray end 506 . advantageously , a separate spray piece 508 is provided to permit the spray to be adjusted . the sprayer 500 includes an actuator 510 surrounded by a thumb rest 512 ( fig1 ). as best seen in fig2 , the grip 502 of the sprayer 500 defines a pair of openings 514 . each opening is defined by a first generally c - shaped wall defining a larger portion of the opening 518 and a second c - shaped wall 520 defining a smaller portion of the opening 522 . the grip 502 also defines a slot 530 for receiving the connector 850 . the connector 532 is connected by a length of tubing 534 to a valve housing 550 . advantageously , the tubing 534 is wrapped around a valve housing to prevent any pulling on the tubing 534 from disconnecting the link tubing 534 from the valve housing 550 . as best seen in fig2 - 23 , the valve housing 550 includes an inlet portion 552 including a first wall 554 which defines an inlet channel 556 and a first port 558 . the valve body also includes an outlet portion 562 which includes a second wall 564 which defines an outlet channel 566 which in turn defines a second port 568 . the inlet portion 552 and the outlet portion 562 are connected by an intermediate portion 572 . the intermediate portion 572 includes a third wall 574 which defines a connecting chamber 576 . the third wall further defines a bottom vent port 578 . the inlet portion 552 defines a pocket 582 for receiving a locking ring 584 to secure the tubing 534 within the inlet channel 556 . the actuator 510 is connected to and is integrally formed with the valve . the valve has a valve shaft 588 including a narrow portion 590 . a first recess 592 is positioned above the narrow portion 590 and receives a first o - ring 594 . a second recess 596 is positioned below the narrow portion 590 and receives a second o - ring 598 . a third recess 600 is positioned below the second recess and receives a third o - ring 602 . fig2 shows the valve in a off position , with flow entering the inlet portion 552 and seeking to flow into the intermediate portion 572 through the first port 558 . flow , however , is blocked by the second o - ring 598 positioned just above the first port 558 and the third o - ring 602 positioned just below the first port 558 . fig2 illustrates the valve in a flow through position where the valve shaft 588 has been depressed so that both the second o - ring and the third o - ring are positioned below the first port 558 . as such , flow is able to pass through the first port 558 around the narrow portion 590 of the valve shaft 588 through the second port 568 and through the outlet portion 562 of the valve housing 550 . advantageously , the lower vent port 578 prevents fluids from being trapped in the valve body , which otherwise might prevent operation of the valve . fig2 illustrates a first alternative valve assembly including a valve housing 610 defining an inlet portion 612 having a first wall 614 which defines an inlet channel 616 and a first port 618 . the valve housing 610 further includes an outlet portion 622 including a second wall 624 which defines an outlet channel 626 and a second port 628 . the valve housing likewise includes an intermediate portion 632 between the inlet portion 612 and the outlet portion 622 . the intermediate portion 632 defines a third wall 634 which defines a connecting chamber 636 and a closed end 640 . the actuator includes a valve shaft 644 having a narrow portion 646 and a first recess 648 for receiving a first o - ring 650 . the valve shaft 644 likewise defines a second recess 652 for receiving a second o - ring 654 . fig2 illustrates the valve in a closed position . flow is prevented from flowing through the assembly by the third wall 634 of the connecting chamber and the second o - ring 654 . fig2 and 25a illustrate the valve assembly in an open position , with the valve depressed . in this position , the valve shaft 644 is depressed so that a portion of the narrow portion 646 of the shaft is aligned with the first port 618 so that flow through the first port 618 around a narrow portion 646 of the valve shaft 644 and through the second port 628 is permitted . importantly , fluid is not trapped within the closed end 640 of the valve body 610 because the first port 618 is sized , shaped , and positioned such that in the on position , fluid is permitted to flow not only through the inlet portion 612 above the second o - ring 654 but also from the closed end 640 of the valve body 610 beneath the second o - ring and back into the inlet portion 612 of the valve body . this arrangement prevents fluid from dripping out of the valve body , while at the same time preventing fluid trapped within the closed end of the valve body 610 from preventing proper operation of the valve . fig2 shows a second alternative valve assembly including an alternative valve housing 660 . the valve housing 660 includes an inlet portion 662 having a first wall 664 which defines an inlet channel 666 and a first port 668 . the valve housing 660 also defines an outlet portion 672 having a second wall 674 which defines an outlet channel 676 and a second port 678 . positioned between the inlet portion 662 and the outlet portion 672 , is an intermediate portion 682 . the intermediate portion 682 has a third wall 684 which includes an upper portion 686 and a lower portion 688 . the third wall defines a connecting chamber 690 . the valve shaft 700 includes an outer section 702 connected to the actuator , a narrow intersection 704 and an intermediate section 706 . the outer section 702 has a larger diameter than the intermediate section 706 and the intermediate section 706 has a larger diameter than the inner section 704 . a first sealing flange 710 is positioned between the outer section 702 and the intermediate section 706 of the valve shaft . a second sealing flange 708 is positioned at the distal end of the inner section 704 opposite the outer section 702 . advantageously , the first scaling flange 710 cooperates with the upper portion 686 of the third wall 684 to prevent fluid from passing out of the valve body 660 . similarly , the second scaling flange 708 cooperates with the lower portion 688 of the third wall 684 to prevent fluid from passing therebetween . fig2 illustrates the second alternative embodiment of the valve in a closed position . in this position , flow is permitted through the inlet portion 662 and into the connecting chamber 690 , but is prevented from flowing through the second port 678 by the second sealing flange 710 . fig2 illustrates the second alternative valve in an open position . in this position , the actuator shaft 700 is depressed and fluid flows through the inlet channel 666 through the first port 668 around the inner section 704 of the actuator shaft 700 , through the second port 678 and through the outlet channel 676 . referring to fig1 and 1d , during storage or shipment , the shaft 110 is secured in its fully retracted position , with the shoulder or mouth portion 202 of the handle 190 being retained in position by the locking plate 272 . during shipment , the tubing 222 connecting the spray nozzle 222 to the handle 190 may be secured in a hollow portion of the spray nozzle 220 . the nozzle 220 is desirably provided with a pair of openings 340 for receiving and retaining a pair of mating studs 342 projecting from the side of the container 20 . fig1 shows an alternative assembly 720 including a container 730 , a pump attachment 740 and a sprayer 750 . the container includes a pair of studs 752 positioned on the back wall of the container . each of studs is identically shaped . the assembly 720 is generally the same as the assembly 10 , with the exception of the shape of the studs . as shown in fig1 , the sprayer 750 is mounted on the container 730 by means of cooperation of the studs 752 and the wall of the sprayer defining the bayonet openings . as best seen in fig1 and 17 , the studs 752 include a stem portion 754 and a taller and wider head portion 756 . the head portion defines a first overhang portion 758 which extends beyond the edge of the stem portion 754 a distance d1 . similarly , the head portion 756 defines a second overhang 760 extending beyond the opposite side of the stem portion 754 a distance d2 . advantageously , the distances d1 and d2 are at least 0 . 015 inches , and are preferably 0 . 025 inches . this mounting arrangement is superior to the mounting arrangements of prior art in that it facilitates the manufacture of a simple , inexpensive and secure mounting means for the sprayer . fig1 - 14 illustrate a prior art assembly 770 including a container 772 , connected by tubing 774 to a sprayer 776 . the sprayer includes a nozzle 778 , a trigger 780 and a handle 782 . the container 772 defines a recess 784 and a sidewall for receiving the nozzle 778 , trigger 780 and handle 782 of the sprayer 776 . the container 772 defines a pair of generally rectangular raised protrusions 786 which extend outward from the side wall of the container 772 . as best seen in fig1 , the protrusion 786 defines side grooves 788 . the sprayer 776 defines a pair of i - shaped openings 800 corresponding in location to the location of the protrusions 786 on the container 772 . each i - shaped opening 800 defines a pair of opposing spring tabs 802 . as disclosed in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 469 , 993 , to monsanto , the opposing spring tabs 802 arc to be resiliently received by the side grooves 788 to secure the sprayer 776 to the container 772 during storage . the &# 39 ; 993 patent discloses that the container is preferably made by blow molding . as shown in fig1 , the protrusions 786 define a first overhang 804 extending beyond the inner portion of the recess a distance d3 and a second overhang 806 extending beyond the outer surface of the recess a distance d4 . unfortunately , this design is undesirable in that it is very difficult to manufacture the opposing spring tabs 802 of the sprayer 750 and the protrusions 786 of the container 730 to sufficient tolerances that the sprayer can be securely attached to the container 730 in this manner . in an effort to avoid having the sprayer detach from the container during shipment , sprayers of this design have been glued to containers or tied to the containers during shipping . neither of these approaches was desirable from an aesthetic , cost or functional basis . importantly , however , the assembly 720 of the present invention overcomes these drawbacks . the positioning of the studs 752 along the seam line 812 of the container 730 permits the studs 752 to be manufactured with a significantly larger first overhand distance d1 and second overhang distance d2 . as a result , the studs , in cooperation with the bayonet openings of the sprayer 750 , can secure the sprayer 750 securely to the container 730 during shipment . the reason that this larger overhang is possible is best understood in connection with fig1 which schematically illustrates the method of manufacturing a container 730 . a first mold half 814 and a second mold half 816 are positioned on either side of a break plane 818 . plastic is then blown into the mold to form the container 730 . because the mold halves separate in a direction perpendicular to the break plane , the first mold half 814 can define a first flange 820 which extends beyond the side of the stem 754 a distance approximately equal to d1 . similarly , the second mold half 816 can form a second flange 822 which extends beyond a recess a distance approximately equal to d2 . as shown in fig1 d , during shipment the inlet to the internal flow channel 204 of the stem 192 of the handle is blocked by a plug 344 mounted within the internal flow channel 206 of the horizontal portion 194 of the handle . the plug 344 includes first and second sealing flanges 346 and 348 which prevent the flow of fluid between them and the wall forming the internal flow channel 206 . the end of the plug 344 facing the open end 210 of the handle 194 defines a cutout 350 . importantly , the mating of the upper nipple 162 of the check valve 160 with the inlet 124 of the shaft prevents fluid from leaking out the handle during shipment and storage of the assembly 10 , prior to use . on the other hand , the plug 344 provides a fail - safe backup in the event the locking plate 272 is moved to the open position and the handle is raised . when it is desired to use the assembly 10 to dispense fluid 260 from the container 20 , the adaptor 300 on the end of the tubing 222 is inserted into the internal flow channel 206 of the horizontal 194 portion of the handle . this causes the inner section 306 of the adaptor 300 to push the plug away from the outlet of the internal flow channel 206 of the horizontal portion of the handle so that the sealing flanges 346 and 348 are pushed beyond the outlet of the internal flow channel 204 of the stem 204 , as shown in fig1 a . the inner section 306 of the adaptor 300 forms a port with the cutout 350 of the plug 344 through which fluid may flow from the internal flow channel 206 of the horizontal portion 194 of the handle 190 and the interior flow channel 309 of the adaptor 300 . the locking plate 272 is then moved from the locked position shown in fig4 to the unlocked position shown in fig3 . the grip portion 194 of the handle can then be lifted upward as illustrated in fig2 . this causes the second o - ring 256 to press against the tapering portion 142 of the body 132 of the piston 130 creating a fluid - tight seal . this also causes the fluid 260 to be drawn through the check valve 160 into the lower portion 152 of the chamber 42 . it is not necessary to draw the handle completely upward . on the other hand , to maximize the amount of fluid that may be dispensed without repressurizing the container , the handle may be drawn to its fully pressurized position as illustrated in fig5 . in this position , the spring 180 is fully compressed between the coupler 70 and the piston 130 . the handle 190 is then released , allowing the spring 180 to force the piston 130 downward against the fluid 260 in the lower portion 152 of the chamber 42 . as the check valve 160 prevents fluid from flowing out of the chamber 42 fluid is forced upward through the inlet end 124 of the internal flow channel 122 defined by the shaft 110 . this fluid flows through the internal flow channel 200 of the stem 192 and the internal flow channel 206 of the grip portion 194 of the handle 190 . the fluid is likewise forced through the tubing 222 to the spray nozzle 220 . fluid is dispensed from the spray nozzle 220 by depressing the actuator 240 operating the release valve ( not shown ) for the nozzle 220 . significantly , the assembly 10 of the present invention permits the quick and easy release of pressure within the pump attachment 30 . specifically , as shown in fig6 and 6a , the handle 190 can be forced rapidly downward so as to move the second end 114 of the shaft 110 downward relative the piston 130 . this causes the second o - ring mounted on the radially outward extending portion 118 of the lower end 114 of the shaft 110 to move downward away from the tapering portion 142 of the inner annular surface 138 . this releases a seal between the shaft 110 and the piston 130 and permits fluid 260 to flow through the channel 140 between the inner annular surface 138 of the piston 130 and the outer surface of the shaft 110 . this fluid 260 is eventually drained from the upper portion 150 of the body 40 of the attachment through a pair of outlet openings 346 . importantly , the release of pressure from the body 40 of the attachment 30 prevents fluid from inadvertently being released from the assembly 10 during operation , transport and storage of the apparatus . further , as illustrated in fig7 this release of pressure permits the shaft 110 to return to its fully retracted position so that the mouth portion 202 of the handle can be received within the aperture 74 in the coupler 70 against the coupler 70 and locked in place against the handle seat by the locking plate of the coupler . those of skill in the art will recognize that this invention may be embodied in several forms , without departing from the spirit of the invention , and the foregoing description is therefore intended to be illustrative and not restrictive .	6
turning first in detail to fig1 therein illustrated a spill containment bag for use in the present invention and generally designated by the numeral 10 . the containment bag 10 has a generally rectangular configuration and includes a main body portion 12 with an extension portion 14 having an upper opening 16 for accessing the interior of the containment bag 10 . the main body portion 12 and the extension portion 14 have lifting or support harnesses thereon and respectively designated by the numerals 18 and 20 for purposes to be hereinafter described . the main body portion 12 is manufactured from three pieces of sheet material with welded or heat bonded seams to provide a leak - proof container . the sheet material is preferably a foldable , durable synthetic rubber such as natural rubber ( e . g . butadiene / acrylonitrile copolymer , polychloroprene , polyisoprene ) polyethelene , polypropylene , and polyvinyl chloride , capable of withstanding highly concentrated acids , solvents , petrochemicals and other liquid chemical compounds of either hazardous or non - hazardous nature . the resin sheeting may be reinforced with cotton , rayon , nylon and other fibers , and may comprise a laminate of a woven material with a resin face providing the fluid impermeable structure . the pieces of sheet material of the main body 12 are initially cut to size to provide a central portion 15 and two side portions 17 . the central portion 15 forms the bottom wall 46 and two sides of the main body 12 . the rectangular configuration of the main body 12 is completed by welding the side portions 17 to the central portion along seams 19 . the areas of the intended seams 19 are cleaned and the overlapping portions are heated with a welding or heating tool to melt or bond the portions 15 and 17 together to create the seams 19 . attached to the main body portion 12 adjacent the upper end thereof is the lifting harness 18 and the extension portion 14 . the lifting harness 18 includes a strip or endless belt 22 of reinforcing material which overlies the sheet material of the main body 12 , a plurality of engagement means in the form of loop elements 24 , and an additional reinforcement strip or endless belt 26 . the reinforcing material 22 may comprise an additional or thicker layer of the same foldable sheet material as that used for the main body portion 12 , or a rugged woven fabric exhibiting the desired chemical resistance fabric which is attached or bonded to the outer portion of the main body 12 adjacent the upper edge thereof by plastic bonding or welding techniques , the loop elements 24 are preferably a polyester or nylon web material and are stitched to the main body portion 12 using high tensile strength polyester thread 28 . the loop elements 24 are attached to opposed sides of the bag 10 for reasons to be hereinafter described . the additional strip or endless belt 26 of polyester or nylon web material is stitched to the upper end of the main body portion 12 and overlies the loop elements 24 and the reinforcing material 22 to provide added support therefor . extending upwardly from the main body portion 12 is the extension portion 14 which is welded or otherwise bonded thereto . a rectangular sheet of foldable sheet material similar to that used in the main body portion 12 is used to fabricate the extension portion 14 and it is welded with a vertically extending seam 29 along one corner thereof . provided at the upper or terminal end of the extension portion 14 is the lifting harness 20 of a construction similar to the lifting harness 18 on the main body portion 12 , and it includes a reinforcing strip or belt 30 welded or otherwise secured to the upper end of the extension portion 14 , a plurality of loop elements 32 stitched thereon in a spaced apart relationship on opposed sides of the portion 14 , and a second reinforcing strip or belt 34 overlying the reinforcing strip 30 and the loop elements 32 . these components 30 - 34 of the harness 20 are manufactured from materials similar to the materials used for the harness 18 . additionally , the harness 20 is provided with a length of flexible cord or rope 36 secured to the reinforcing belt 30 below the reinforcing belt 34 with an overlying patch 38 stitched thereto . the inner circumference of the upper portion of the harness 20 has extending thereabout a self - adhering closure 40 , such as provided by an ever tacky or activatable adhesive or a hook and loop material of the type sold under the trademark velcro , which may be engaged upon itself to provide a closure for the extension portion 14 . turning now to fig2 therein illustrated is the spill containment bag 10 in a partially extended condition with the extension portion 14 having been pushed or inserted into the interior of the main body portion 12 to lie flush against the sidewalls thereof and create an opening 42 therein . also , a removable reinforcing member 44 preferably made from sheeting of similar to that utilized for the body portion 12 , or a more rigid sheeting , or a woven fabric having the desired chemical resistance is shown inserted into the bag 10 to reinforce the bottom wall 46 of the main body portion 14 . the reinforcing member 44 may be firmly secured to the inner or outer surface of the bottom wall 46 by utilizing welding or other bonding techniques . as best seen in fig3 the opening 16 of the extension portion 14 of bag 10 may be closed by folding the upper edge inwardly until the material of the self - adhering closure 40 comes into facing contact . turning now to fig4 the bag 10 is depicted in a completely collapsed condition to permit easy storage in a truck or the like . adjacent the bag 10 is an adjustable suspension or attachment strap 48 used to support the bag 10 in position to contain a spill of liquid material as will be hereinafter described . a pair of suspension straps 48 are provided with each bag and each would be adjustable by utilizing conventional length adjusting elements 47 to extend to a desired length , desirably a maximum of about twenty - two feet in length . preferably , the straps 48 are made from a high strength nylon web material and have stainless steel safety hooks 49 disposed at the ends thereof . illustrated in fig5 - 15 are methods of using the containment bag to contain spills of a liquid material . referring first to fig5 - 7 , a tanker truck , generally indicated by the numeral 50 , has a tractor 52 with a cab 54 used in combination with a tanker trailer portion 56 for highway hauling of liquid materials . as seen in fig5 the tractor 52 normally has a diesel or gasoline powered engine and at least one fuel tank 58 . in this instance , the fuel tank is below the cab 54 and a leak has developed allowing fuel to escape . the operator has brought the vehicle to a halt and has suspended one of the spill containment bags 10 from the tractor 52 by draping a pair of the straps 48 over the fuel tank 58 and inserting the safety hooks 49 through the loop elements 24 on harness 18 of the bag 10 . it should be noted that the bag 10 is in a partially extended condition with the extension portion 14 in the interior thereof and the straps 48 adjusted by use of the length adjustment elements 47 to partially enclose the tank 58 . any fuel leaking from the tank 58 will be collected or contained within the bag 10 and will not fall onto the pavement or surrounding area . the trailer 56 has a liquid containing tank 60 mounted on the chassis 62 for holding , transporting or storing liquids . located at the midpoint of the chassis to one side thereof are a series of valves 64 which permit liquid to be drawn from , or supplied to , the tank 60 . in this instance , one of the valves 64 has developed a leak therein and the operator , by utilizing the loops 24 and the straps 48 , has suspended the spill containment bag 10 below the valves 64 from a structural element 66 on the trailer 56 . thus he has contained the liquid spill in a manner similar to that described with respect to the fuel tank 58 . referring to fig6 the trailer 56 of the tanker truck 50 also has a valve 66 located at the rear portion 68 thereof . the bag 10 has been expanded to its fully extended condition which will permit the collection of a substantially larger volume of liquid material , and it has been suspended over the valve 66 by the loops 24 and straps 48 to collect the liquid from the leak in the valve 66 . another technique for suspending the bag 10 from the trailer 56 is illustrated in fig7 . the straps 48 are extended around the tank 60 and the chassis 62 and thereby support the bag 10 under the belly of the trailer 54 to collect the liquid from the leak . it is contemplated that multiple bags ( not shown ) can be placed alongside the first bag 10 suspended from the tanker truck , and the contents may be transferred from the initial containment bag by a pump or siphon ( not shown ) to the adjacent bags . this would permit a larger volume of liquid material to be collected without changing bags and afford the operator or an emergency response team more time to alleviate the leakage problem . after the leak is stopped , the liquid collected in the containment bag 10 can be pumped into an emergency tanker truck or back into the tanker 50 . thereinafter , the bag 10 can be decontaminated for reuse . turning now to fig8 - 11 , the bag 10 is constructed and designed for transporting and disposing of drums of material as an inexpensive and easily stored &# 34 ; overpack &# 34 ;. the fifty - gallon drum or barrel 70 containing liquid material has a leak which is causing a spill 72 . the user 74 simply draws the bag 10 over the upright drum 70 and then inverts the drum 70 and bag 10 . thereafter , the self - adhering closure 40 and the cord 36 are utilized to close the top portion of the containment bag 10 to enclose the drum 70 and collect the liquid 76 . alternatively , as seen in fig1 - 15 , the barrel 70 is set in an upright position ( fig1 ) and tilted onto one edge to allow the bag 10 to be placed thereunder ( fig1 ), and the bag 10 is then placed completely under the barrel 70 and raising or pulled in the direction indicated by arrows 78 to enclose the barrel as seen in fig1 . the self adhering closure 40 and the cord 36 can be used as previously described to enclose the drum 70 ( fig1 ). the bags of the present invention may be carried in a folded condition within a compartment of a vehicle so as to be readily accessible in an emergency situation to contain a spill of any liquid . the bags may be carried in the vehicles of state , local and federal authorities , or stored in strategic locations such as tool booths , state garages and weighing stations to enable rapid response to emergency spills and minimize the environmental impact . the bag may also be used to contain spills from railroad tank cars and the like . it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the containment bag 10 can be formed in a variety of sizes and in a variety of ways . the fabric material may be fabricated from polyamide , polybutylene , polyethylene , polyester , and polypropylene , and mixtures and laminates thereof providing the desired chemical inertness and capability of withstanding highly concentrated acids , alkalis , solvents , petrochemicals and other hazardous and non - hazardous liquid materials . the bags may be reinforced internally or externally with glass , resin , carbon or other fibers to increase strength , and they may be coated with surfacing materials to enhance their chemical resistance so long as they retain the necessary flexibility to enclose the leaking vessel . the bags may be color - coded or otherwise labelled to indicate the types of liquid material that may safely be contained therein . additionally , each bag may be labelled with an expiration date indicating the date on which the bag must be replaced because aging and exposure to fumes of materials being transplanted may be deterious to the fabric . finally , gloves and other personnel protective equipment may be provided with the bag as an emergency kit . thus , it can be seen from the foregoing specification and attached drawings that the spill containment bag and method of the present invention provide an effective means for providing a collapsible and reusable container for containing spills of liquid materials . the method enables rapid development of an easily stored container to control a hazardous leak , and the bag may be readily and relatively economically fabricated .	8
it is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the invention claimed . as used herein , the use of the singular includes the plural unless specifically stated otherwise . it will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that some of the compounds of the invention may contain one or more asymmetric centers , such that the compounds may exist in enantiomeric as well as in diastereomeric forms . unless it is specifically noted otherwise , the scope of the present invention includes all enantiomers , diastereomers and racemic mixtures . some of the compounds of the invention may form salts with pharmaceutically acceptable acids or bases , and such pharmaceutically acceptable salts of the compounds described herein are also within the scope of the invention . the present invention includes all pharmaceutically acceptable isotopically enriched compounds . any compound of the invention may contain one or more isotopic atoms enriched or different than the natural ratio such as deuterium 2 h ( or d ) in place of protium 1 h ( or h ) or use of 13 c enriched material in place of 12 c and the like . similar substitutions can be employed for n , o and s . the use of isotopes may assist in analytical as well as therapeutic aspects of the invention . for example , use of deuterium may increase the in vivo half - life by altering the metabolism ( rate ) of the compounds of the invention . these compounds can be prepared in accord with the preparations described by use of isotopically enriched reagents . as will be evident to those skilled in the art , individual isomeric forms can be obtained by separation of mixtures thereof in conventional manner . for example , in the case of diasteroisomeric isomers , chromatographic separation may be employed . compound names were generated with acd version 8 and some intermediates &# 39 ; and reagents &# 39 ; names used in the examples were generated with software such as chem bio draw ultra version 12 . 0 or auto nom 2000 from mdl isis draw 2 . 5 sp1 . in general , characterization of the compounds is performed according to the following methods : nmr spectra are recorded on varian 600 or varian 300 , in the indicated solvent at ambient temperature ; chemical shifts in [ ppm ], coupling constants in [ hz ]. all the reagents , solvents , catalysts for which the synthesis is not described are purchased from chemical vendors such as sigma aldrich , fluka , bio - blocks , combi - blocks , tci , vwr , lancaster , oakwood , trans world chemical , alfa , fisher , maybridge , frontier , matrix , ukrorgsynth , toronto , ryan scientific , silicycle , anaspec , syn chem , chem - impex , mic - scientific , ltd ; however some known intermediates , were prepared according to published procedures . solvents were purchased from commercial sources in appropriate quality and used as received . air and / or moisture - sensitive reactions were run under an ar — or n 2 — atmosphere . usually the compounds of the invention were purified by chromatography : combiflash companion and redisep rf silica gel 60 ( 0 . 04 - 0 . 063 mm ); preparative thin layer chromatography ( ptlc ): analtech ( silica gel 60 f 254 , 500 or 1000 μm ). s , m , h , d second , minute , hour , day nh 3 ammonia ch 3 cn acetonitrile ch 2 cl 2 dichloromethane dmf n , n - dimethylformamide naoh sodium hydroxide meoh methanol cd 3 od deuterated methanol hcl hydrochloric acid na 2 so 4 sodium sulfate hbtu 2 -( 1h - benzotriazole - 1 - yl )- 1 , 1 , 3 , 3 - tetramethyluronium hexafluorophosphate ) dipea n , n - diisopropylethylamine cui copper iodide cs 2 oc 3 cesium carbonate dmeda dimethylethylenediamine mgso 4 magnesium sulfate etoac ethyl acetate cdcl 3 deuterated chloroform dmso - d 6 deuterated dimethyl sulfoxide auto - column automated flash liquid chromatography tfa trifluoroacetic acid thf tetrahydrofuran k 2 co 3 potassium carbonate mcpba meta - chloroperoxybenzoic acid the following examples are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended , nor should they be construed as limiting the invention in any manner . those skilled in the art will appreciate that variations and modifications of the following examples can be made without exceeding the spirit or scope of the invention . to a solution of benzo [ c ] isothiazol - 3 ( 1h )- one ( cas 40352 - 87 - 2 ) ( 151 mg , 1 . 0 mmol ) in acetone ( 10 ml ) was added i - prl ( 0 . 5 ml , 5 . 0 mmol ) and k 2 co 3 ( 414 mg , 3 . 0 mmol ). the mixture was heated to 60 ° c . for 3 h , and was filtered and concentrated . the crude product was purified by flash column chromatography on silica gel eluting with 0 %→ 30 % etoac - hexane to yield intermediate 1 as brown syrup . 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , cdcl 3 ) δ ppm 7 . 79 ( d , 1h ), 7 . 47 - 7 . 57 ( m , 1h ), 7 . 21 ( d , j = 8 . 50 hz , 1h ), 7 . 01 ( t , j = 7 . 47 hz , 1h ), 4 . 55 - 4 . 73 ( m , 1h ), 1 . 37 ( d , j = 6 . 45 hz , 6h ). chlorosulfonic acid ( 25 ml ) was added to 1 - methylbenzo [ c ] isothiazol - 3 ( 1h )- one ( cas 23310 - 36 - 3 ) ( 4 . 4 g , 26 . 7 mmol ). the resulting solution was stirred at room temperature for 30 min and then at 100 ° c . for 10 min . the reaction was cooled to room temperature and was added dropwise with caution to ice . the yellow suspension was filtered , washed with h 2 o (× 3 ) and was dried to yield intermediate 2 as a golden yellow solid . 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , chloroform - d ) δ ppm 8 . 53 ( d , j = 2 . 05 hz , 1h ), 8 . 12 ( dd , j = 2 . 20 , 9 . 23 hz , 1h ), 7 . 24 - 7 . 34 ( m , 1h ), 3 . 62 ( s , 3h ). chlorosulfonic acid ( 1 . 0 ml ) was added to intermediate 1 ( 74 mg , 0 . 38 mmol ). the resulting solution was stirred at room temperature for 30 min and then at 100 ° c . for 10 min . the reaction was cooled to room temperature and was added dropwise with caution to ice . the yellow suspension was filtered , washed with h 2 o (× 3 ) and the solid was taken in thf , dried over na 2 so 4 and concentrated to yield intermediate 3 as a brown solid . the crude product was used without further purification and characterization . after a solution of catchol ( 1 equiv . ), k 2 co 3 , 18 - crown - 6 ( 2 equiv .) in dried acetone was refluxed under n 2 for 45 min ., a solution of 2 - chloro - 1 , 3 - dinitrobenzene ( 1 equiv .) in dried acetone was then added . the reaction mixture was refluxed under n 2 for 16 hours . after cooling , the reaction mixture was poured onto ice , and the yellow precipitate was collected and dried . the crude product was purified by flash column chromatography on silica gel to yield intermediate 4 as a yellow solid . 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , cdcl 3 ): δ ppm 7 . 53 ( dd , j = 8 . 4 , 1 . 6 hz , 1h ), 7 . 09 ( dd , j = 8 . 2 , 1 . 8 hz , 1h ), 6 . 94 - 7 . 03 ( m , 4h ), 6 . 84 - 6 . 93 ppm ( m , 1h ). a mixture of intermediate 4 ( 1 equiv .) and 10 % wt pd — c ( 0 . 1 equiv .) in etoac under h 2 balloon was stirred overnight . the catalyst was filtered . the crude product was purified by flash column chromatography on silica gel to yield intermediate 5 as a white solid . 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , cdcl 3 ): δ ppm 6 . 79 - 6 . 95 ( m , 6h ), 6 . 67 ppm ( dd , j = 7 . 5 , 2 . 2 hz , 1h ). n -( 3 - isopropylphenyl ) acetamide ( cas 7766 - 63 - 4 ), 2 . 2 g , crude ) was added drop - wise to fuming hno 3 at 0 ° c . the reaction was stirred at room temperature for 3 h , quenched with ice , extracted with etoac (× 2 ). the combined organic layer was washed with brine , dried over na 2 so 4 , and concentrated . the crude product was purified by flash chromatography on silica gel eluting with 0 %→ 50 % etoac - hexanes to yield intermediate 6 as a yellowish brown solid . 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , cdcl 3 ) δ ppm 10 . 43 ( br . s ., 1h ), 8 . 68 ( d , j = 1 . 76 hz , 1h ), 8 . 15 ( d , j = 8 . 50 hz , 1h ), 7 . 03 ( dd , j = 1 . 90 , 8 . 64 hz , 1h ), 2 . 90 - 3 . 08 ( m , j = 6 . 74 , 6 . 92 , 6 . 92 , 6 . 92 , 6 . 92 , 6 . 92 hz , 1h ), 2 . 29 ( s , 3h ), 1 . 28 ( d , j = 7 . 03 hz , 6h ). a solution of 4 -( dimethylamino ) benzenesulfonamide ( cas 6162 - 21 - 6 ) ( 1 equiv .) in dmf was cannulated into nah in dmf at room temperature . after stirring for 10 min , 4 - chloro - 1 - fluoro - 2 - nitrobenzene ( 1 equiv ) in dmf was added into the above solution and stirred for another 30 min . the reaction was quenched with water and extracted with etoac (× 2 ). the combined organic layer was washed with brine , dried over na 2 so 4 , and concentrated . the crude product was purified by flash column chromatography on silica gel to yield intermediate 7 as an orange solid ( 45 % yield ). 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , cd 3 od ) δ ppm 8 . 20 ( d , j = 1 . 47 hz , 1h ), 7 . 77 ( d , j = 9 . 08 hz , 2h ), 7 . 54 ( d , j = 2 . 93 hz , 2h ), 7 . 46 ( d , 2h ), 2 . 65 - 2 . 74 ( m , 6h ). intermediate 8 was prepared from 3 -( dimethylamino ) benzenesulfonamide ( cas 63935 - 19 - 3 ) according to the procedure described for intermediate 7 . 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , cd 3 od ) δ ppm 8 . 20 ( d , j = 2 . 34 hz , 1h ), 7 . 67 - 7 . 71 ( m , 1h ), 7 . 56 - 7 . 67 ( m , 3h ), 7 . 49 ( dd , j = 2 . 49 , 9 . 23 hz , 1h ), 7 . 29 ( d , j = 9 . 08 hz , 1h ), 2 . 72 ( s , 6h ). to a solution of li 2 s ( 5 . 7 g , 0 . 124 mol ) in h 2 o ( 1000 ml ) cooled to 0 ° c . in an ice bath was added hcl ( 1m , 186 ml , 0 . 186 mmol ) slowly with stirring . the ice bath was then removed , and 2 , 4 - dioxo - 2 , 4 - dihydro - 1h - benzo [ d ][ 1 , 3 ] oxazine - 6 - carboxylic acid ( 8 . 1 g , 0 . 050 mol ) was added slowly . the suspension was stirred for 1 h and was filtered . the filtrate was purged with n 2 for 30 min , and h 2 o 2 ( 30 %, 7 . 0 ml ) was added , stirred for 45 min . the ph of the reaction mixture was adjusted with 6m hcl to ˜ 5 and the resulting suspension was filtered . the solid was washed with h 2 o (× 3 ) and was dried to yield 3 - oxo - 1 , 3 - dihydrobenzo [ c ] isothiazole - 5 - carboxylic acid as an off - white solid . to a solution of 3 - oxo - 1 , 3 - dihydrobenzo [ c ] isothiazole - 5 - carboxylic acid 4 . 2 g , 27 . 8 mmol ) in acetone ( 100 ml ) was added mei ( 5 . 2 ml , 83 . 4 mmol ) and k 2 co 3 ( 7 . 7 g , 55 . 6 mmol ). the mixture was heated to 60 ° c . for 2 h , and was filtered and concentrated . the crude product was purified by flash column chromatography on silica gel eluting with 20 %→ 30 % etoac - hexane to yield intermediate 9 as a yellow solid . 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , cd 3 od ) δ ppm 8 . 39 ( d , 1h ), 8 . 20 ( dd , j = 1 . 76 , 9 . 08 hz , 1h ), 7 . 47 ( d , j = 9 . 08 hz , 1h ), 3 . 92 ( s , 3h ), 3 . 61 ( s , 3h ). bbr 3 ( 1m in ch 2 cl 2 , 7 . 0 ml , 7 . 0 mmol ) was added to a solution of intermediate 9 ( 157 mg , 0 . 70 mmol ) in ch 2 cl 2 ( 20 ml ), and the reaction was stirred at room temperature for 16 h , quenched with h 2 o , extracted with etoac (× 2 ). the combined organic layer was washed with brine , dried over na 2 so 4 , and concentrated . the crude product was purified by chromatography on silica gel to yield intermediate 10 . 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , cd 3 od ) δ ppm 8 . 41 ( s , 1h ), 8 . 22 ( d , j = 8 . 79 hz , 1h ), 7 . 45 ( d , j = 9 . 08 hz , 1h ), 3 . 60 ( s , 3h ). a solution of 4 - chloro - 2 - nitroaniline ( 1 equiv .) and 2 - thiophene sulfonyl chloride ( 2 . 5 equiv .) in pyridine was heated at 100 ° c . for 4 h , meoh was then added , followed by 4m naoh ( excess ), and the reaction was heated at 100 ° c . for 1 h , cooled to room temperature , acidified with 6m hcl , and extracted with etoac (× 2 ). the combined organic layer was washed with brine , dried over na 2 so 4 , and concentrated . the crude product was purified by flash column chromatography on silica gel to yield intermediate 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , acetone ) δ ppm 7 . 87 ( dd , 1h ), 7 . 44 - 7 . 53 ( m , 1h ), 7 . 16 ( dd , j = 3 . 81 , 4 . 98 hz , 1h ), 6 . 82 ( d , j = 2 . 34 hz , 1h ), 6 . 69 ( d , j = 8 . 50 hz , 1h ), 6 . 47 ( dd , j = 2 . 34 , 8 . 50 hz , 1h ), 5 . 00 ( br . s ., 1h ), 2 . 81 ( s , 2h ). the following compounds were prepared following the general procedures described above , in each case the starting materials and the nmr data are specified . 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , cd 3 od ) δ ppm 8 . 03 ( d , j = 2 . 05 hz , 1h ), 7 . 88 ( dd , j = 2 . 05 , 9 . 08 hz , 1h ), 7 . 46 ( d , j = 9 . 08 hz , 1h ), 7 . 38 ( dd , j = 1 . 47 , 8 . 20 hz , 1h ), 7 . 23 ( t , j = 8 . 35 hz , 1h ), 7 . 08 ( dd , j = 1 . 47 , 8 . 50 hz , 1h ), 3 . 57 ( s , 3h ). 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , cd 3 od ): δ ppm 8 . 13 ( d , j = 2 . 1 hz , 1h ), 7 . 93 ( dd , j = 9 . 1 , 2 . 1 hz , 1h ), 7 . 44 ( d , j = 9 . 1 hz , 1h ), 7 . 13 ( dd , j = 8 . 5 , 1 . 5 hz , 1h ), 6 . 96 ( t , j = 8 . 4 hz , 1h ), 6 . 75 ( dd , j = 8 . 2 , 1 . 5 hz , 1h ), 3 . 76 ( s , 3h ), 3 . 56 ( s , 3h ), 3 . 51 ppm ( s , 3h ). 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , acetone - d 6 ): δ ppm 8 . 21 ( s , 1h ), 8 . 12 ( d , j = 2 . 1 hz , 1h ), 7 . 94 ( dd , j = 9 . 1 , 2 . 1 hz , 1h ), 7 . 54 ( d , j = 8 . 8 hz , 1h ), 7 . 03 ( dd , j = 7 . 9 , 1 . 5 hz , 1h ), 6 . 76 ( t , j = 8 . 2 hz , 1h ), 6 . 60 ( dd , j = 8 . 2 , 1 . 5 hz , 1h ), 3 . 98 - 4 . 16 ( m , 4h ), 3 . 64 ppm ( s , 3h ). compound 4 was prepared from benzene - 1 , 2 - diamine , thiophene - 2 - sulfonyl chloride , and intermediate 3 . 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , chloroform - d ) δ ppm 8 . 16 ( d , j = 2 . 05 hz , 1h ), 7 . 84 ( dd , j = 2 . 05 , 9 . 08 hz , 1h ), 7 . 59 ( d , j = 4 . 10 hz , 1h ), 7 . 42 ( dd , j = 1 . 47 , 3 . 81 hz , 1h ), 7 . 21 ( d , j = 9 . 38 hz , 1h ), 7 . 00 - 7 . 15 ( m , 7h ), 4 . 67 ( dt , j = 6 . 48 , 13 . 11 hz , 1h ), 4 . 12 ( q , j = 7 . 13 hz , 1h ), 1 . 43 ( d , j = 6 . 74 hz , 6h ). 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , cd 3 od ): δ ppm = 8 . 09 ( d , j = 2 . 1 hz , 1h ), 7 . 90 ( dd , j = 9 . 1 , 2 . 1 hz , 1h ), 7 . 49 ( d , j = 9 . 1 hz , 1h ), 7 . 10 - 7 . 13 ( m , 1h ), 7 . 08 ( s , 1h ), 6 . 98 ( dd , j = 7 . 6 , 1 . 8 hz , 1h ), 3 . 58 ppm ( s , 3h ). 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , dmso - d 6 ) δ ppm 9 . 27 - 9 . 56 ( m , 1h ), 7 . 42 - 8 . 11 ( m , 8h ), 6 . 68 - 7 . 15 ( m , 2h ), 3 . 58 ( s , 3h ). compound 7 was prepared from 4 - chloro - 2 - nitroaniline , thiophene - 2 - sulfonyl chloride , and intermediate 2 . 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , cd 3 od ) δ ppm 8 . 02 ( d , 1h ), 7 . 87 ( dd , j = 1 . 76 , 9 . 08 hz , 1h ), 7 . 77 ( dd , j = 1 . 17 , 4 . 98 hz , 1h ), 7 . 49 ( d , j = 9 . 08 hz , 1h ), 7 . 38 - 7 . 43 ( m , 1h ), 7 . 18 ( d , j = 2 . 34 hz , 1h ), 7 . 00 - 7 . 11 ( m , 2h ), 6 . 87 ( d , j = 8 . 50 hz , 1h ), 3 . 59 ( s , 3h ). compound 8 was prepared from 5 - chloro - 2 - nitroaniline , thiophene - 2 - sulfonyl chloride , and intermediate 2 . 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , cd 3 od ) δ ppm 7 . 99 ( d , 1h ), 7 . 74 - 7 . 84 ( m , 2h ), 7 . 46 ( dd , j = 3 . 66 , 4 . 83 hz , 2h ), 6 . 99 - 7 . 13 ( m , 4h ), 3 . 58 ( s , 3h ). 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , cdcl 3 ): δ ppm = 8 . 34 ( d , j = 2 . 1 hz , 1h ), 7 . 90 ( dd , j = 8 . 9 , 1 . 9 hz , 1h ), 7 . 16 ( d , j = 9 . 1 hz , 1h ), 6 . 99 ( d , j = 8 . 5 hz , 1h ), 6 . 72 - 6 . 82 ( m , 1h ), 6 . 61 ( d , j = 8 . 8 hz , 1h ), 5 . 83 ( br . s ., 2h ), 3 . 54 ppm ( s , 3h ). compound 10 was prepared from benzene - 1 , 2 - diamine , 4 - chloro - 3 -( trifluoromethyl ) benzene - 1 - sulfonyl chloride , and intermediate 2 . 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , cdcl 3 ): δ ppm = 8 . 31 ( s , 1h ), 8 . 04 ( d , j = 1 . 8 hz , 1h ), 7 . 88 - 7 . 96 ( m , 2h ), 7 . 76 ( dd , j = 8 . 4 , 2 . 2 hz , 1h ), 7 . 63 ( dd , j = 8 . 9 , 1 . 9 hz , 1h ), 7 . 51 ( d , j = 8 . 2 hz , 1h ), 6 . 89 - 7 . 17 ( m , 4h ), 6 . 79 ( dd , j = 7 . 9 , 1 . 5 hz , 1h ), 3 . 47 ppm ( s , 3h ). 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , cdcl 3 ) δ ppm 8 . 22 ( d , j = 1 . 47 hz , 1h ), 7 . 86 ( dd , j = 2 . 05 , 9 . 08 hz , 1h ), 7 . 45 ( dd , j = 1 . 47 , 8 . 20 hz , 1h ), 7 . 12 - 7 . 25 ( m , 2h ), 6 . 92 ( dd , j = 1 . 47 , 8 . 50 hz , 1h ), 6 . 80 ( s , 1h ), 4 . 65 ( d , j = 6 . 45 hz , 1h ), 1 . 43 ( d , j = 6 . 45 hz , 6h ). 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , dmso - d 6 ) δ ppm 9 . 36 - 10 . 08 ( m , 1h ), 7 . 93 - 8 . 04 ( m , 1h ), 7 . 84 ( dd , j = 2 . 05 , 9 . 08 hz , 1h ), 7 . 63 ( d , j = 9 . 08 hz , 1h ), 7 . 54 ( dd , j = 1 . 17 , 3 . 81 hz , 1h ), 7 . 33 ( s , 1h ), 7 . 10 - 7 . 21 ( m , 2h ), 3 . 60 ( s , 3h ). 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , dmso - d 6 ) δ ppm 8 . 07 - 8 . 15 ( m , 1h ), 7 . 94 ( s , 1h ), 7 . 87 - 7 . 92 ( m , 1h ), 7 . 76 - 7 . 82 ( m , 1h ), 7 . 68 - 7 . 73 ( m , 1h ), 7 . 64 - 7 . 68 ( m , 1h ), 7 . 61 - 7 . 64 ( m , 1h ), 7 . 60 ( s , 1h ), 7 . 57 ( s , 1h ), 7 . 08 ( dd , j = 3 . 81 , 4 . 98 hz , 2h ), 3 . 59 ( s , 3h ). 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , cd 3 od ): δ ppm = 8 . 14 ( d , j = 2 . 1 hz , 1h ), 7 . 90 ( dd , j = 9 . 1 , 2 . 1 hz , 1h ), 7 . 47 ( d , j = 9 . 1 hz , 1h ), 7 . 24 - 7 . 36 ( m , 1h ), 7 . 06 ( s , 2h ), 6 . 88 - 6 . 98 ( m , 1h ), 3 . 56 ppm ( s , 4h ). 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , cd 3 od ): δ ppm = 8 . 15 ( d , j = 2 . 1 hz , 1h ), 7 . 80 ( dd , j = 9 . 1 , 2 . 1 hz , 1h ), 7 . 28 ( d , j = 9 . 1 hz , 0h ), 7 . 08 ( dd , j = 8 . 2 , 1 . 5 hz , 0h ), 6 . 66 - 6 . 94 ( m , 5h ), 6 . 57 ( dd , j = 8 . 1 , 1 . 6 hz , 0h ), 3 . 41 ppm ( s , 3h ). 7 - chloro - 2 , 3 - dihydrobenzo [ b ][ 1 , 4 ] dioxin - 5 - amine ( cas 698985 - 25 - 0 , 12 mg , 0 . 066 mmol ) and intermediate 2 ( 17 mg , 0 . 066 mmol ) in pyridine was heated at 100 ° c . for 3 hours and yielded compound 16 as a light yellow solid ( 7 mg , 25 %). 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , cdcl 3 ): δ ppm = 8 . 34 ( d , j = 2 . 1 hz , 1h ), 7 . 93 ( dd , j = 9 . 1 , 2 . 1 hz , 1h ), 7 . 18 ( d , j = 8 . 8 hz , 1h ), 7 . 10 ( d , j = 2 . 3 hz , 1h ), 6 . 95 ( s , 1h ), 6 . 61 ( d , j = 2 . 3 hz , 1h ), 4 . 04 - 4 . 24 ( m , 4h ), 3 . 54 ppm ( s , 3h ). compound 17 was prepared from benzene - 1 , 2 - diamine , 5 - chlorothiophene - 2 - sulfonyl chloride , and intermediate 2 . 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , dmso - d 6 ) δ ppm 9 . 56 - 9 . 65 ( m , 1h ), 9 . 28 - 9 . 38 ( m , 1h ), 7 . 95 ( d , j = 1 . 47 hz , 1h ), 7 . 84 ( dd , j = 2 . 05 , 9 . 08 hz , 1h ), 7 . 62 ( d , j = 8 . 79 hz , 1h ), 7 . 39 ( d , j = 4 . 10 hz , 1h ), 7 . 21 ( d , j = 4 . 10 hz , 1h ), 7 . 04 - 7 . 15 ( m , 4h ), 3 . 59 ( s , 3h ). compound 18 was prepared from benzene - 1 , 2 - diamine , 4 , 5 - dichlorothiophene - 2 - sulfonyl chloride , and intermediate 2 . 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , dmso - d 6 ) δ ppm 9 . 66 - 9 . 84 ( m , 1h ), 9 . 38 ( d , j = 1 . 47 hz , 1h ), 7 . 96 ( d , j = 2 . 05 hz , 1h ), 7 . 86 ( dd , j = 2 . 05 , 8 . 79 hz , 1h ), 7 . 62 ( d , j = 10 . 26 hz , 2h ), 7 . 08 - 7 . 18 ( m , 3h ), 7 . 03 ( dd , j = 3 . 96 , 6 . 89 hz , 1h ), 3 . 59 ( s , 3h ). compound 19 was prepared from benzene - 1 , 2 - diamine , benzenesulfonyl chloride , and intermediate 2 . 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , cdcl 3 ): δ ppm = 8 . 15 ( d , j = 1 . 5 hz , 1h ), 7 . 84 ( dd , j = 9 . 1 , 2 . 1 hz , 1h ), 7 . 63 - 7 . 75 ( m , 2h ), 7 . 35 - 7 . 62 ( m , 3h ), 7 . 20 ( d , j = 8 . 8 hz , 1h ), 6 . 81 - 7 . 12 ( m , 4h ), 3 . 53 ppm ( s , 3h ). compound 20 was prepared from benzene - 1 , 2 - diamine , 4 - chlorobenzene - 1 - sulfonyl chloride , and intermediate 2 . 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , cd 3 od ): δ ppm = 7 . 96 ( d , j = 2 . 1 hz , 1h ), 7 . 82 ( dd , j = 9 . 1 , 1 . 8 hz , 1h ), 7 . 58 - 7 . 69 ( m , 2h ), 7 . 41 - 7 . 54 ( m , 3h ), 7 . 02 - 7 . 13 ( m , 3h ), 6 . 91 - 7 . 02 ( m , 2h ), 3 . 58 ppm ( s , 3h ). compound 21 was prepared from benzene - 1 , 2 - diamine , furan - 2 - sulfonyl chloride , and intermediate 2 . 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , cdcl 3 ): δ ppm = 8 . 20 ( d , j = 2 . 1 hz , 1h ), 7 . 87 ( dd , j = 9 . 1 , 1 . 8 hz , 1h ), 7 . 61 ( br . s ., 1h ), 7 . 21 ( d , j = 8 . 8 hz , 1h ), 7 . 02 - 7 . 16 ( m , 4h ), 6 . 91 ( d , j = 3 . 5 hz , 1h ), 6 . 45 ( dd , j = 3 . 5 , 2 . 1 hz , 1h ), 3 . 55 ppm ( s , 3h ). compound 22 was prepared from 4 - bromo - 2 - nitroaniline , thiophene - 2 - sulfonyl chloride , and intermediate 2 . 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , methanol - d 4 ) δ ppm 8 . 01 ( d , j = 1 . 76 hz , 1h ), 7 . 83 - 7 . 89 ( m , 1h ), 7 . 75 - 7 . 80 ( m , 1h ), 7 . 45 - 7 . 52 ( m , 1h ), 7 . 40 - 7 . 45 ( m , 1h ), 7 . 29 ( d , j = 2 . 05 hz , 1h ), 7 . 17 - 7 . 23 ( m , 1h ), 7 . 06 - 7 . 11 ( m , 1h ), 6 . 84 ( d , j = 8 . 50 hz , 1h ), 3 . 58 ( s , 3h ). compound 23 was prepared from 2 - nitro - 4 -( trifluoromethyl ) aniline , thiophene - 2 - sulfonyl chloride , and intermediate 2 . 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , cd 3 od ) δ ppm 7 . 95 ( d , j = 2 . 05 hz , 1h ), 7 . 77 - 7 . 85 ( m , 2h ), 7 . 53 ( dd , j = 1 . 17 , 3 . 81 hz , 1h ), 7 . 48 ( d , j = 9 . 08 hz , 1h ), 7 . 36 - 7 . 43 ( m , 1h ), 7 . 29 - 7 . 33 ( m , 1h ), 7 . 23 ( d , j = 2 . 05 hz , 1h ), 7 . 10 ( dd , j = 3 . 81 , 4 . 98 hz , 1h ), 3 . 59 ( s , 3h ). compound 24 was prepared from benzene - 1 , 2 - diamine , 1 - methyl - 1h - imidazole - 4 - sulfonyl chloride , and intermediate 2 . 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , dmso - d 6 ) δ ppm 9 . 57 ( br . s ., 1h ), 9 . 32 ( br . s ., 1h ), 7 . 91 - 7 . 95 ( m , 1h ), 7 . 84 - 7 . 89 ( m , 1h ), 7 . 81 - 7 . 84 ( m , 1h ), 7 . 75 - 7 . 79 ( m , 1h ), 7 . 53 - 7 . 65 ( m , 1h ), 6 . 95 - 7 . 23 ( m , 4h ), 3 . 67 ( s , 3h ), 3 . 57 ( s , 3h ). compound 25 was prepared from benzene - 1 , 2 - diamine , 1 - methyl - 1h - pyrazole - 3 - sulfonyl chloride , and intermediate 2 . 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , cd 3 od ): δ ppm = 7 . 98 ( d , j = 2 . 1 hz , 1h ), 7 . 82 ( dd , j = 9 . 1 , 1 . 5 hz , 1h ), 7 . 67 ( d , j = 2 . 3 hz , 1h ), 7 . 43 ( d , j = 9 . 1 hz , 1h ), 7 . 00 - 7 . 23 ( m , 4h ), 6 . 54 ( d , j = 2 . 3 hz , 1h ), 3 . 97 ( s , 3h ), 3 . 56 ppm ( s , 3h ). compound 26 was prepared from benzene - 1 , 2 - diamine , 1 - methyl - 1h - pyrazole - 4 - sulfonyl chloride , and intermediate 2 . 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , dmso - d 6 ) δ ppm 9 . 31 ( br . s ., 1h ), 9 . 06 ( br . s ., 1h ), 8 . 20 ( s , 1h ), 7 . 90 ( d , j = 1 . 76 hz , 1h ), 7 . 81 ( dd , j = 2 . 05 , 9 . 08 hz , 1h ), 7 . 59 - 7 . 65 ( m , 2h ), 6 . 98 - 7 . 15 ( m , 4h ), 3 . 82 ( s , 3h ), 3 . 59 ( s , 3h ). 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , dmso - d 6 ) δ ppm = 9 . 29 ( br . s ., 1h ), 9 . 16 ( br . s ., 1h ), 7 . 98 - 7 . 88 ( m , 2h ), 7 . 78 ( dd , j = 1 . 8 , 9 . 1 hz , 1h ), 7 . 61 ( d , j = 9 . 1 hz , 1h ), 7 . 50 ( d , j = 2 . 9 hz , 1h ), 7 . 13 ( t , j = 4 . 4 hz , 1h ), 6 . 97 - 6 . 83 ( m , 3h ), 3 . 31 ( s , 3h ), 2 . 13 ( s , 3h ). 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , dmso - d 6 ) δ ppm = 7 . 96 ( d , j = 5 . 0 hz , 1h ), 7 . 93 ( d , j = 1 . 8 hz , 1h ), 7 . 77 ( dd , j = 2 . 1 , 9 . 1 hz , 1h ), 7 . 66 - 7 . 59 ( m , 2h ), 7 . 41 ( d , j = 4 . 4 hz , 2h ), 7 . 18 - 7 . 12 ( m , 1h ), 3 . 36 ( br . s ., 2h ). compound 29 was prepared from 4 - methoxy - 2 - nitroaniline , thiophene - 2 - sulfonyl chloride , and intermediate 2 . 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , dmso - d 6 ) δ ppm = 8 . 02 ( d , 1h ), 7 . 97 - 7 . 92 ( m , 1h ), 7 . 89 ( dd , j = 1 . 8 , 9 . 1 hz , 1h ), 7 . 63 ( d , j = 9 . 1 hz , 1h ), 7 . 41 ( dd , j = 1 . 3 , 3 . 7 hz , 1h ), 7 . 16 - 7 . 11 ( m , 1h ), 6 . 79 ( d , j = 8 . 8 hz , 1h ), 6 . 71 ( d , j = 2 . 6 hz , 1h ), 6 . 58 ( dd , j = 2 . 6 , 8 . 8 hz , 1h ), 3 . 62 ( s , 3h ), 3 . 59 ( s , 3h ). compound 30 was prepared from benzene - 1 , 2 - diamine , pyridine - 3 - sulfonyl chloride , and intermediate 2 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , cd 3 od ): δ ppm = 8 . 65 - 8 . 82 ( m , 2h ), 8 . 08 ( dddd , 1h ), 7 . 93 ( d , j = 2 . 1 hz , 1h ), 7 . 79 ( dd , j = 9 . 1 , 2 . 1 hz , 1h ), 7 . 54 ( dd , j = 8 . 2 , 5 . 0 hz , 1h ), 7 . 45 ( d , j = 9 . 1 hz , 1h ), 7 . 00 - 7 . 16 ( m , 4h ), 6 . 84 - 7 . 00 ( m , 1h ), 3 . 58 ppm ( s , 3h ). compound 31 was prepared from benzene - 1 , 2 - diamine , 4h - 1 , 2 , 4 - triazole - 3 - sulfonyl chloride , and intermediate 2 . 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , cd 3 od ): δ ppm = 8 . 52 ( s , 1h ), 7 . 89 ( d , j = 1 . 8 hz , 1h ), 7 . 66 ( dd , j = 9 . 1 , 2 . 1 hz , 1h ), 7 . 36 - 7 . 55 ( m , 5h ), 3 . 60 ppm ( s , 3h ). compound 32 was prepared from benzene - 1 , 2 - diamine , 1h - imidazole - 5 - sulfonyl chloride , and intermediate 2 . 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , cd 3 od ): δ ppm = 8 . 00 ( d , j = 1 . 8 hz , 1h ), 7 . 87 ( dd , j = 9 . 1 , 2 . 1 hz , 1h ), 7 . 81 ( d , j = 1 . 2 hz , 1h ), 7 . 53 ( d , j = 1 . 2 hz , 1h ), 7 . 45 ( d , j = 9 . 1 hz , 1h ), 7 . 19 ( d , j = 7 . 6 hz , 1h ), 6 . 99 - 7 . 13 ( m , 3h ), 3 . 57 ppm ( s , 3h ). compound 33 was prepared from benzene - 1 , 2 - diamine , 3 , 4 - dichlorobenzene - 1 - sulfonyl chloride , and intermediate 2 . 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , dmso - d6 ): δ ppm = 9 . 51 ( br . s ., 1h ), 9 . 32 ( br . s ., 1h ), 7 . 94 ( d , j = 1 . 8 hz , 1h ), 7 . 80 - 7 . 89 ( m , 3h ), 7 . 56 - 7 . 70 ( m , 2h ), 6 . 90 - 7 . 13 ( m , 4h ), 3 . 59 ppm ( s , 3h ). compound 34 was prepared from benzene - 1 , 2 - diamine , 2 , 5 - dichlorobenzene - 1 - sulfonyl chloride , and intermediate 2 . 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , cd 3 od ): δ ppm = 8 . 01 ( d , j = 1 . 8 hz , 1h ), 7 . 83 ( dd , j = 9 . 1 , 2 . 1 hz , 1h ), 7 . 71 ( d , j = 2 . 3 hz , 1h ), 7 . 53 - 7 . 64 ( m , 2h ), 7 . 46 ( d , j = 9 . 4 hz , 1h ), 7 . 12 - 7 . 21 ( m , 1h ), 6 . 99 - 7 . 12 ( m , 2h ), 6 . 90 ( dd , j = 7 . 5 , 1 . 9 hz , 1h ), 3 . 58 ppm ( s , 3h ). compound 35 was prepared from benzene - 1 , 2 - diamine , 2 - chlorobenzene - 1 - sulfonyl chloride , and intermediate 2 . 1 h nmr ( 600 mhz , dmso - d 6 ): δ ppm = 9 . 46 ( br . s ., 1h ), 9 . 43 ( br . s ., 1h ), 7 . 93 ( d , j = 1 . 8 hz , 1h ), 7 . 88 ( dd , j = 7 . 8 , 1 . 3 hz , 1h ), 7 . 81 ( dd , j = 9 . 1 , 1 . 8 hz , 1h ), 7 . 63 - 7 . 72 ( m , 2h ), 7 . 61 ( d , j = 9 . 4 hz , 1h ), 7 . 45 - 7 . 52 ( m , 1h ), 6 . 93 - 7 . 07 ( m , 4h ), 3 . 59 ppm ( s , 3h ). compound 36 was prepared from benzene - 1 , 2 - diamine , 2 - fluorobenzene - 1 - sulfonyl chloride , and intermediate 2 . 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , dmso - d 6 ): δ ppm = 9 . 53 ( br . s ., 1h ), 9 . 36 ( br . s ., 1h ), 7 . 92 ( d , j = 1 . 8 hz , 1h ), 7 . 81 ( dd , j = 9 . 1 , 2 . 1 hz , 1h ), 7 . 65 - 7 . 77 ( m , 2h ), 7 . 61 ( d , j = 9 . 1 hz , 1h ), 7 . 38 - 7 . 50 ( m , 1h ), 7 . 26 - 7 . 37 ( m , 1h ), 7 . 03 ( s , 4h ), 3 . 59 ppm ( s , 3h ). compound 37 was prepared from benzene - 1 , 2 - diamine , 3 , 5 - bis ( trifluoromethyl ) benzene - 1 - sulfonyl chloride , and intermediate 2 . 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , cdcl 3 ): δ ppm = 8 . 20 ( s , 1h ), 8 . 14 ( d , j = 2 . 1 hz , 1h ), 8 . 07 ( s , 1h ), 7 . 68 ( dd , j = 9 . 1 , 2 . 1 hz , 1h ), 7 . 11 - 7 . 34 ( m , 4h ), 6 . 98 - 7 . 11 ( m , 1h ), 6 . 73 ( dd , j = 8 . 1 , 1 . 3 hz , 1h ), 3 . 56 ppm ( s , 3h ). 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , dmso - d 6 ) δ ppm = 9 . 34 ( br . s ., 1h ), 9 . 10 ( br . s ., 1h ), 7 . 97 - 7 . 90 ( m , 2h ), 7 . 83 ( dd , j = 2 . 1 , 9 . 1 hz , 1h ), 7 . 61 ( d , j = 9 . 1 hz , 1h ), 7 . 44 ( d , j = 2 . 3 hz , 1h ), 7 . 15 - 7 . 08 ( m , 1h ), 6 . 97 ( s , 1h ), 6 . 85 ( s , 2h ), 3 . 59 ( s , 3h ), 2 . 14 ( s , 3h ). 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , acetone - d 6 ) δ ppm = 8 . 68 ( br . s ., 2h ), 7 . 94 ( d , j = 2 . 1 hz , 1h ), 7 . 88 ( dd , j = 1 . 2 , 5 . 0 hz , 1h ), 7 . 79 ( dd , j = 1 . 8 , 9 . 1 hz , 1h ), 7 . 64 ( dd , j = 1 . 2 , 3 . 8 hz , 1h ), 7 . 54 ( d , j = 9 . 1 hz , 1h ), 7 . 47 - 7 . 40 ( m , 1h ), 7 . 33 ( td , j = 6 . 0 , 8 . 3 hz , 1h ), 7 . 15 ( dd , j = 3 . 8 , 5 . 0 hz , 1h ), 6 . 90 - 6 . 80 ( m , 1h ), 3 . 67 ( s , 3h ). 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , acetone - d 6 ) δ ppm = 8 . 90 ( br . s ., 2h ), 8 . 03 ( d , j = 1 . 8 hz , 1h ), 7 . 92 ( dd , j = 1 . 2 , 5 . 0 hz , 1h ), 7 . 85 ( dd , j = 1 . 9 , 8 . 9 hz , 1h ), 7 . 68 - 7 . 51 ( m , 4h ), 7 . 41 ( d , j = 1 . 8 hz , 1h ), 7 . 19 - 7 . 13 ( m , 1h ), 3 . 67 ( s , 3h ). compound 41 was prepared from 4 - chloro - 2 - nitroaniline , 4 - chloro - 3 -( trifluoromethyl ) benzene - 1 - sulfonyl chloride , and intermediate 2 . 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , acetone - d 6 ) δ ppm = 8 . 71 ( br . s ., 2h ), 8 . 06 ( dd , j = 1 . 8 , 10 . 3 hz , 2h ), 7 . 98 - 7 . 92 ( m , 1h ), 7 . 91 - 7 . 83 ( m , 2h ), 7 . 58 ( d , j = 9 . 1 hz , 1h ), 7 . 20 - 7 . 10 ( m , 3h ), 3 . 67 ( s , 3h ). compound 42 was prepared from methyl 4 - fluoro - 3 - nitrobenzoate , thiophene - 2 - sulfonamide , and intermediate 2 . 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , acetone - d 6 ) δ ppm 8 . 73 ( br . s ., 1h ), 8 . 00 ( d , j = 1 . 76 hz , 1h ), 7 . 90 ( dd , j = 1 . 17 , 4 . 98 hz , 1h ), 7 . 84 ( dd , j = 2 . 05 , 9 . 08 hz , 1h ), 7 . 78 ( dd , j = 2 . 05 , 8 . 50 hz , 1h ), 7 . 59 - 7 . 65 ( m , 2h ), 7 . 56 ( d , j = 9 . 08 hz , 1h ), 7 . 44 ( d , j = 8 . 50 hz , 1h ), 7 . 12 - 7 . 17 ( m , 1h ), 3 . 79 ( s , 3h ), 3 . 67 ( s , 3h ). compound 43 was prepared from benzene - 1 , 2 - diamine , 4 - trifluoromethylbenzene - 1 - sulfonyl chloride , and intermediate 2 . 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , dmso - d 6 ): δ ppm = 7 . 17 ( d , 1h ), 6 . 96 - 7 . 11 ( m , 5h ), 6 . 67 ( d , j = 8 . 8 hz , 1h ), 6 . 10 - 6 . 34 ( m , 4h ), 2 . 78 ppm ( s , 3h ). compound 44 was prepared from benzene - 1 , 2 - diamine , furan - 3 - sulfonyl chloride , and intermediate 2 . 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , cd 3 od ): δ ppm = 7 . 98 ( d , j = 1 . 5 hz , 1h ), 7 . 84 ( dd , j = 9 . 1 , 2 . 1 hz , 1h ), 7 . 57 - 7 . 65 ( m , 1h ), 7 . 46 ( d , j = 9 . 1 hz , 1h ), 6 . 95 - 7 . 18 ( m , 5h ), 6 . 57 ( d , j = 2 . 6 hz , 1h ), 3 . 59 ppm ( s , 3h ). compound 45 was prepared from benzene - 1 , 2 - diamine , 3 - trifluoromethylbenzene - 1 - sulfonyl chloride , and intermediate 2 . 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , cd 3 od ): δ ppm = 7 . 84 - 7 . 98 ( m , 4h ), 7 . 81 ( dd , j = 9 . 1 , 2 . 1 hz , 1h ), 7 . 64 - 7 . 76 ( m , 1h ), 7 . 45 ( d , j = 9 . 1 hz , 1h ), 6 . 89 - 7 . 16 ( m , 4h ), 3 . 58 ppm ( s , 3h ). compound 46 was prepared from benzene - 1 , 2 - diamine , 3 , 5 - dichlorobenzene - 1 - sulfonyl chloride , and intermediate 2 . 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , cdcl 3 ): δ ppm = 8 . 94 ( br . s ., 1h ), 8 . 74 ( br . s ., 1h ), 8 . 17 ( d , j = 1 . 8 hz , 1h ), 7 . 69 ( dd , j = 9 . 1 , 2 . 1 hz , 1h ), 7 . 53 ( d , j = 1 . 8 hz , 2h ), 7 . 42 ( d , j = 1 . 8 hz , 1h ), 7 . 09 ( d , j = 9 . 1 hz , 1h ), 6 . 91 - 7 . 07 ( m , 4h ), 3 . 46 ppm ( s , 3h ). compound 47 was prepared from benzene - 1 , 2 - diamine , 3 , 5 - difluorobenzene - 1 - sulfonyl chloride , and intermediate 2 . 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , dmso - d 6 ): δ ppm = 9 . 58 ( br . s ., 1h ), 9 . 34 ( br . s ., 1h ), 7 . 94 ( d , j = 1 . 8 hz , 1h ), 7 . 85 ( dd , j = 9 . 1 , 2 . 1 hz , 1h ), 7 . 63 ( d , j = 9 . 1 hz , 2h ), 7 . 35 - 7 . 44 ( m , 2h ), 6 . 92 - 7 . 13 ( m , 4h ), 3 . 59 ppm ( s , 3h ). compound 48 was prepared from benzene - 1 , 2 - diamine , 3 - fluorobenzene - 1 - sulfonyl chloride , and intermediate 2 . 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , dmso - d 6 ): δ ppm = 9 . 46 ( br . s ., 1h ), 9 . 30 ( br . s ., 1h ), 7 . 93 ( d , j = 2 . 1 hz , 1h ), 7 . 83 ( dd , j = 9 . 1 , 2 . 1 hz , 1h ), 7 . 43 - 7 . 68 ( m , 5h ), 6 . 89 - 7 . 12 ( m , 4h ), 3 . 59 ppm ( s , 3h ). compound 49 was prepared from benzene - 1 , 2 - diamine , 4 - methoxybenzene - 1 - sulfonyl chloride , and intermediate 2 . 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , cd 3 od ): δ ppm = 7 . 96 ( d , 1h ), 7 . 84 ( dd , j = 9 . 1 , 2 . 1 hz , 1h ), 7 . 57 ( d , j = 9 . 1 hz , 2h ), 7 . 45 ( d , j = 9 . 1 hz , 1h ), 6 . 82 - 7 . 09 ( m , 6h ), 3 . 83 ( s , 3h ), 3 . 58 ppm ( s , 3h ). compound 50 was prepared from 4 - chloro - 2 - nitroaniline , 3 - chlorobenzene - 1 - sulfonyl chloride , and intermediate 2 . 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , cd 3 od ): δ ppm = 8 . 02 ( d , 1h ), 7 . 87 ( dd , j = 9 . 1 , 2 . 1 hz , 1h ), 7 . 44 - 7 . 67 ( m , 6h ), 7 . 12 ( d , j = 2 . 6 hz , 1h ), 7 . 06 ( dd , j = 8 . 8 , 2 . 4 hz , 1h ), 6 . 83 ( d , j = 8 . 5 hz , 1h ), 3 . 59 ppm ( s , 3h ). compound 51 was prepared from 4 - chloro - 2 - nitroaniline , 3 , 4 - dichlorobenzene - 1 - sulfonyl chloride , and intermediate 2 . 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , cd 3 od ): δ ppm = 8 . 02 ( d , j = 1 . 8 hz , 1h ), 7 . 85 ( dd , j = 9 . 1 , 2 . 1 hz , 1h ), 7 . 77 ( d , j = 2 . 1 hz , 1h ), 7 . 69 ( d , j = 8 . 5 hz , 1h ), 7 . 45 - 7 . 58 ( m , 2h ), 7 . 00 - 7 . 14 ( m , 2h ), 6 . 94 ( d , j = 8 . 5 hz , 1h ), 3 . 59 ppm ( s , 3h ). 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , dmso - d 6 ) δ ppm 9 . 30 ( br . s , 1h ), 9 . 15 ( br . s ., 1h ), 7 . 95 ( d , j = 4 . 40 hz , 1h ), 7 . 84 ( s , 1h ), 7 . 69 - 7 . 78 ( m , 1h ), 7 . 50 - 7 . 66 ( m , 2h ), 7 . 14 ( t , j = 4 . 25 hz , 1h ), 6 . 85 ( d , j = 8 . 50 hz , 1h ), 6 . 55 - 6 . 71 ( m , 2h ), 3 . 62 ( s , 3h ), 3 . 60 ( s , 3h ). compound 53 was prepared from 4 , 5 - dimethylbenzene - 1 , 2 - diamine , thiophene - 2 - sulfonyl chloride , and intermediate 2 . 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , dmso - d 6 ) δ ppm 9 . 24 ( br . s ., 1h ), 9 . 02 ( br . s ., 1h ), 7 . 89 - 7 . 96 ( m , 2h ), 7 . 80 ( dd , j = 2 . 05 , 9 . 08 hz , 1h ), 7 . 61 ( d , j = 9 . 08 hz , 1h ), 7 . 44 - 7 . 48 ( m , 1h ), 7 . 09 - 7 . 15 ( m , 1h ), 6 . 87 ( s , 1h ), 6 . 78 ( s , 1h ), 3 . 59 ( s , 3h ), 1 . 97 - 2 . 11 ( m , 6h ). 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , acetone - d 6 ) δ ppm 8 . 60 - 8 . 66 ( m , 1h ), 8 . 36 ( s , 1h ), 7 . 99 ( d , j = 2 . 64 hz , 1h ), 7 . 55 ( d , j = 4 . 10 hz , 1h ), 7 . 35 ( d , j = 1 . 47 hz , 1h ), 7 . 27 ( d , j = 9 . 08 hz , 1h ), 7 . 08 ( d , j = 8 . 20 hz , 1h ), 6 . 90 - 6 . 96 ( m , 1h ), 6 . 77 ( dd , j = 1 . 76 , 8 . 20 hz , 1h ), 3 . 57 ( s , 3h ). compound 55 was prepared from methyl 3 - fluoro - 4 - nitrobenzoate , thiophene - 2 - sulfonamide , and intermediate 2 . 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , acetone - d 6 ) δ ppm 8 . 85 ( br . s ., 2h ), 7 . 98 ( d , j = 1 . 76 hz , 1h ), 7 . 91 ( dd , j = 1 . 17 , 4 . 98 hz , 1h ), 7 . 83 ( dd , j = 2 . 05 , 9 . 08 hz , 1h ), 7 . 70 - 7 . 77 ( m , 1h ), 7 . 67 ( dd , j = 1 . 47 , 3 . 81 hz , 1h ), 7 . 59 - 7 . 65 ( m , 1h ), 7 . 57 ( d , j = 9 . 08 hz , 1h ), 7 . 45 ( d , j = 2 . 05 hz , 1h ), 7 . 16 ( dd , j = 3 . 81 , 4 . 98 hz , 1h ), 3 . 66 ( s , 3h ), 2 . 94 ( s , 3h ). compound 56 was prepared from 4 - chloro - 2 - nitroaniline , 3 , 5 - dichlorobenzene - 1 - sulfonyl chloride , and intermediate 2 . 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , cd 3 od ): δ ppm = 8 . 03 ( d , j = 2 . 1 hz , 1h ), 7 . 86 ( dd , j = 9 . 2 , 1 . 9 hz , 1h ), 7 . 72 ( t , j = 1 . 8 hz , 1h ), 7 . 56 ( d , j = 2 . 1 hz , 2h ), 7 . 50 ( d , j = 9 . 1 hz , 1h ), 7 . 05 - 7 . 14 ( m , 2h ), 6 . 93 ( d , j = 8 . 5 hz , 1h ), 3 . 60 ppm ( s , 3h ). compound 57 was prepared from 4 - chloro - 2 - nitroaniline , 3 - methoxybenzene - 1 - sulfonyl chloride , and intermediate 2 . 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , dmso - d 6 ): δ ppm = 9 . 49 ( br . s ., 1h ), 8 . 00 ( d , 1h ), 7 . 84 ( dd , 1h ), 7 . 64 ( d , 1h ), 7 . 37 - 7 . 52 ( m , 1h ), 7 . 14 - 7 . 29 ( m , 3h ), 7 . 02 - 7 . 17 ( m , 2h ), 6 . 92 ( d , 1h ), 3 . 78 ( s , 3h ), 3 . 61 ppm ( s , 3h ). compound 58 was prepared from 4 - chloro - 2 - nitroaniline , 5 - methylthiophene - 2 - sulfonyl chloride , and intermediate 2 . 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , cd 3 od ): δ ppm = 8 . 02 ( dd , j = 2 . 1 , 0 . 6 hz , 1h ), 7 . 88 ( dd , j = 9 . 1 , 1 . 8 hz , 1h ), 7 . 49 ( d , j = 8 . 5 hz , 1h ), 7 . 19 ( dd , j = 7 . 5 , 3 . 1 hz , 2h ), 7 . 04 ( dd , j = 8 . 5 , 2 . 3 hz , 1h ), 6 . 91 ( d , j = 8 . 5 hz , 1h ), 6 . 77 ( dd , j = 3 . 8 , 1 . 2 hz , 1h ), 3 . 59 ( s , 3h ), 2 . 48 ppm ( d , j = 1 . 2 hz , 3h ). compound 59 was prepared from 4 - chloro - 2 - nitroaniline , 4 - methoxybenzene - 1 - sulfonyl chloride , and intermediate 2 . 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , cd 3 od ): δ ppm = 8 . 01 ( d , j = 1 . 5 hz , 1h ), 7 . 87 ( dd , j = 9 . 1 , 2 . 1 hz , 1h ), 7 . 52 - 7 . 64 ( m , 2h ), 7 . 48 ( d , j = 9 . 1 hz , 1h ), 7 . 14 ( d , j = 2 . 6 hz , 1h ), 6 . 91 - 7 . 05 ( m , 3h ), 6 . 77 ( d , j = 8 . 8 hz , 1h ), 3 . 83 ( s , 3h ), 3 . 59 ppm ( s , 3h ). compound 60 was prepared from 4 - chloro - 2 - nitroaniline , 3 , 4 - dimethoxybenzene - 1 - sulfonyl chloride , and intermediate 2 . 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , cd 3 od ): δ ppm = 8 . 01 ( d , j = 1 . 8 hz , 1h ), 7 . 85 ( dd , j = 9 . 2 , 1 . 9 hz , 1h ), 7 . 48 ( d , j = 9 . 1 hz , 1h ), 7 . 21 ( dd , j = 8 . 4 , 2 . 2 hz , 1h ), 7 . 15 ( d , j = 2 . 1 hz , 1h ), 7 . 00 - 7 . 11 ( m , 2h ), 6 . 97 ( d , j = 8 . 5 hz , 1h ), 6 . 86 ( d , j = 8 . 8 hz , 1h ), 3 . 86 ( s , 3h ), 3 . 77 ( s , 3h ), 3 . 59 ppm ( s , 3h ). compound 61 was prepared from 4 - isopropyl - 2 - nitroaniline ( cas 63649 - 64 - 9 ), thiophene - 2 - sulfonyl chloride , and intermediate 2 . 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , acetone - d 6 ) δ ppm 8 . 41 ( br . s ., 2h ), 7 . 95 ( d , j = 1 . 76 hz , 1h ), 7 . 82 - 7 . 88 ( m , 2h ), 7 . 55 ( d , j = 9 . 08 hz , 1h ), 7 . 46 ( dd , j = 1 . 17 , 3 . 81 hz , 1h ), 7 . 12 ( dd , 1h ), 7 . 05 ( d , j = 8 . 21 hz , 1h ), 6 . 97 - 7 . 02 ( m , 1h ), 6 . 94 ( d , j = 1 . 76 hz , 1h ), 3 . 64 ( s , 3h ), 2 . 66 - 2 . 79 ( m , 1h ), 1 . 03 ( d , j = 7 . 03 hz , 6h ). compound 62 was prepared from 5 - isopropyl - 2 - nitroaniline ( cas 261712 - 00 - 9 ), thiophene - 2 - sulfonyl chloride , and intermediate 2 . 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , acetone - d 6 ) δ ppm 8 . 41 ( br . s ., 1h ), 7 . 83 - 7 . 99 ( m , 3h ), 7 . 54 ( d , j = 9 . 08 hz , 1h ), 7 . 45 ( d , j = 3 . 81 hz , 1h ), 6 . 89 - 7 . 17 ( m , 4h ), 3 . 65 ( s , 3h ), 2 . 62 - 2 . 75 ( m , 1h ), 1 . 07 ( d , j = 7 . 03 hz , 6h ). compound 63 was prepared from 4 - chloro - 2 - nitroaniline , p - tolyl - 1 - sulfonyl chloride , and intermediate 2 . 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , cd 3 od ): δ ppm = 8 . 01 ( d , j = 1 . 5 hz , 1h ), 7 . 87 ( dd , j = 9 . 1 , 2 . 1 hz , 1h ), 7 . 43 - 7 . 56 ( m , 3h ), 7 . 29 ( d , j = 8 . 2 hz , 2h ), 7 . 14 ( d , j = 2 . 3 hz , 1h ), 6 . 98 ( dd , j = 8 . 6 , 2 . 5 hz , 1h ), 6 . 74 ( d , j = 8 . 8 hz , 1h ), 3 . 58 ( s , 3h ), 2 . 38 ppm ( s , 3h ). to a solution of compound 59 ( 1 equiv .) in ch 2 cl 2 was added bbr 3 ( 2 equiv .) at room temperature and the mixture was stirred overnight . the reaction was quenched with water and extracted with ch 2 cl 2 (× 2 ). the combined organic layer was washed with brine , dried over na 2 so 4 , and concentrated . the crude product was purified by flash column chromatography on silica gel to yield compound 64 as a brown solid . 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , acetone - d 6 ): δ ppm = 7 . 92 ( dd , 1h ), 7 . 53 ( d , j = 8 . 8 hz , 5h ), 7 . 26 ( s , 2h ), 6 . 94 ( s , 2h ), 6 . 91 ( d , j = 8 . 8 hz , 4h ), 4 . 05 ( d , j = 7 . 3 hz , 3h ), 3 . 67 ( s , 6h ), 2 . 83 ( s , 9h ), 2 . 03 - 2 . 08 ( m , 9h ), 1 . 96 ( s , 4h ), 1 . 20 ppm ( t , j = 7 . 2 hz , 4h ). compound 65 was prepared from 5 - chloro - 4 - methyl - 2 - nitroaniline , intermediate 2 , and thiophene - 2 - sulfonyl chloride . 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , acetone - d 6 ) δ ppm 8 . 55 ( br . s ., 2h ), 8 . 02 ( d , j = 2 . 05 hz , 1h ), 7 . 84 - 7 . 92 ( m , 2h ), 7 . 57 ( d , j = 9 . 08 hz , 1h ), 7 . 50 ( dd , j = 1 . 17 , 3 . 81 hz , 1h ), 7 . 11 - 7 . 18 ( m , 2h ), 7 . 06 ( s , 1h ), 3 . 67 ( s , 3h ), 2 . 20 ( s , 3h ). compound 66 was prepared from 5 - chloro - 4 - methyl - 2 - nitroaniline , thiophene - 2 - sulfonyl chloride , and intermediate 2 . 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , acetone - d 6 ) δ ppm 8 . 59 ( br . s ., 2h ), 8 . 02 ( d , j = 2 . 05 hz , 1h ), 7 . 82 - 7 . 92 ( m , 2h ), 7 . 49 - 7 . 57 ( m , 2h ), 7 . 12 - 7 . 18 ( m , 2h ), 7 . 08 ( s , 1h ), 3 . 65 ( s , 3h ), 2 . 20 ( s , 3h ). 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , dmso - d 6 ) δ ppm 9 . 61 ( s , 1h ), 7 . 91 ( s , 1h ), 7 . 73 ( d , j = 2 . 05 hz , 1h ), 7 . 64 ( d , j = 11 . 14 hz , 1h ), 7 . 15 - 7 . 40 ( m , 5h ), 6 . 55 ( d , j = 8 . 79 hz , 2h ), 3 . 38 ( s , 3h ), 2 . 52 ( s , 6h ). compound 68 was prepared from n1 , n1 - dimethyl - 3 - nitrobenzene - 1 , 4 - diamine , thiophene - 2 - sulfonyl chloride , and intermediate 2 . 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , acetone - d 6 ) δ ppm 8 . 32 ( s , 1h ), 8 . 12 ( s , 1h ), 7 . 94 ( d , j = 1 . 76 hz , 1h ), 7 . 85 ( dd , j = 1 . 32 , 5 . 13 hz , 1h ), 7 . 79 ( dd , j = 1 . 76 , 9 . 08 hz , 1h ), 7 . 47 - 7 . 58 ( m , 2h ), 7 . 13 ( dd , j = 3 . 81 , 4 . 98 hz , 1h ), 6 . 68 ( d , j = 9 . 08 hz , 1h ), 6 . 61 ( d , j = 2 . 93 hz , 1h ), 6 . 35 ( dd , j = 2 . 93 , 8 . 79 hz , 1h ), 3 . 65 ( s , 3h ), 2 . 83 ( s , 6h ). compound 69 was prepared from n1 , n1 - dimethyl - 4 - nitrobenzene - 1 , 3 - diamine , thiophene - 2 - sulfonyl chloride , and intermediate 2 . 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , acetone - d 6 ) δ ppm 8 . 22 ( br . s ., 2h ), 8 . 10 ( d , j = 1 . 76 hz , 1h ), 7 . 96 ( dd , j = 1 . 76 , 9 . 08 hz , 1h ), 7 . 85 ( dd , j = 1 . 47 , 4 . 98 hz , 1h ), 7 . 55 ( d , j = 9 . 08 hz , 1h ), 7 . 37 ( dd , j = 1 . 32 , 3 . 66 hz , 1h ), 7 . 11 ( dd , j = 3 . 81 , 4 . 98 hz , 1h ), 6 . 60 - 6 . 65 ( m , 2h ), 6 . 33 ( dd , j = 2 . 93 , 9 . 08 hz , 1h ), 3 . 65 ( s , 3h ), 2 . 84 ( s , 6h ). compound 70 was prepared from 4 - chloro - 2 - nitroaniline , 4 - isopropylbenzene - 1 - sulfonyl chloride , and intermediate 2 . 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , cd 3 od ) δ ppm 8 . 02 ( d , j = 1 . 76 hz , 1h ), 7 . 88 ( dd , j = 1 . 76 , 9 . 08 hz , 1h ), 7 . 52 - 7 . 63 ( m , 2h ), 7 . 49 ( d , j = 9 . 08 hz , 1h ), 7 . 30 - 7 . 41 ( m , 2h ), 7 . 16 ( d , j = 2 . 64 hz , 1h ), 6 . 98 ( dd , j = 2 . 34 , 8 . 50 hz , 1h ), 6 . 73 ( d , j = 8 . 50 hz , 1h ), 3 . 59 ( s , 3h ), 2 . 83 - 3 . 11 ( m , 1h ), 1 . 24 ( d , j = 6 . 74 hz , 6h ). 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , dmso - d 6 ) δ ppm 7 . 79 ( d , j = 1 . 76 hz , 1h ), 7 . 63 ( dd , j = 2 . 05 , 9 . 08 hz , 1h ), 7 . 36 ( d , j = 2 . 64 hz , 1h ), 7 . 13 - 7 . 30 ( m , 4h ), 6 . 99 ( d , j = 6 . 74 hz , 1h ), 6 . 63 - 6 . 76 ( m , 2h ), 3 . 42 ( s , 3h ), 2 . 58 ( s , 6h ). to a solution of intermediate 10 ( 69 mg , 0 . 33 mmol ) and et 3 n ( 230 μl , 1 . 65 mmol ) in thf ( 5 ml ) at room temperature was added clco 2 et ( 31 μl , 0 . 33 mmol ). the mixture was stirred for 1 h and intermediate 11 ( 143 mg , 0 . 50 mmol ) was added . the reaction was stirred for 22 h , quenched with h 2 o , extracted with etoac (× 2 ). the combined organic layer was washed with brine , dried over na 2 so 4 , and concentrated . the crude product was purified by chromatography on silica gel to yield compound 72 . 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , acetone - d 6 ) δ ppm 9 . 53 ( br . s ., 1h ), 8 . 85 ( s , 1h ), 8 . 14 - 8 . 25 ( m , 2h ), 7 . 94 ( d , j = 1 . 47 hz , 1h ), 7 . 81 ( dd , j = 1 . 17 , 4 . 98 hz , 1h ), 7 . 59 ( d , j = 8 . 79 hz , 1h ), 7 . 40 ( dd , j = 1 . 17 , 3 . 52 hz , 1h ), 7 . 21 - 7 . 30 ( m , 2h ), 7 . 09 ( dd , j = 3 . 81 , 4 . 98 hz , 1h ), 3 . 68 ( s , 3h ). compound 73 was prepared from 4 - chloro - 2 - nitroaniline , 2 - methoxybenzene - 1 - sulfonyl chloride , and intermediate 2 . 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , cd 3 od ) δ ppm 8 . 01 ( d , j = 1 . 47 hz , 1h ), 7 . 80 ( dd , j = 2 . 05 , 9 . 08 hz , 1h ), 7 . 52 - 7 . 63 ( m , 2h ), 7 . 47 ( d , j = 8 . 79 hz , 1h ), 7 . 21 ( d , j = 8 . 20 hz , 1h ), 7 . 17 ( d , j = 8 . 50 hz , 1h ), 7 . 04 ( dd , j = 2 . 49 , 8 . 64 hz , 1h ), 6 . 95 ( t , j = 7 . 62 hz , 1h ), 6 . 80 ( d , j = 2 . 34 hz , 1h ), 4 . 05 ( s , 3h ), 3 . 59 ( s , 3h ). compound 74 was prepared from 4 - chloro - 2 - nitroaniline , 4 - acetamidobenzene - 1 - sulfonyl chloride , and intermediate 2 . 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , cd 3 od ) δ ppm 8 . 02 ( d , j = 1 . 47 hz , 1h ), 7 . 85 ( dd , j = 2 . 05 , 9 . 08 hz , 1h ), 7 . 63 - 7 . 70 ( m , 2h ), 7 . 52 - 7 . 59 ( m , 2h ), 7 . 48 ( d , j = 8 . 79 hz , 1h ), 7 . 14 ( d , j = 2 . 64 hz , 1h ), 7 . 00 ( dd , j = 2 . 49 , 8 . 64 hz , 1h ), 6 . 78 ( d , j = 8 . 79 hz , 1h ), 3 . 59 ( s , 3h ), 2 . 13 ( s , 3h ). compound 75 was prepared from 4 - chloro - 2 - nitroaniline , 4 - methoxybenzoyl chloride , and intermediate 2 . 1 h nmr ( 300 mhz , cdcl 3 ) δ ppm 8 . 05 ( d , j = 2 . 05 hz , 1h ), 7 . 78 ( d , j = 8 . 79 hz , 1h ), 7 . 64 - 7 . 72 ( m , 2h ), 7 . 55 ( dd , j = 2 . 05 , 9 . 08 hz , 1h ), 7 . 12 ( dd , j = 2 . 34 , 8 . 79 hz , 1h ), 7 . 02 ( d , j = 9 . 08 hz , 1h ), 6 . 75 - 6 . 89 ( m , 3h ), 3 . 76 ( s , 3h ), 3 . 41 ( s , 3h ). hek - gqi5 cells stably expressing ccr2 were cultured in ( dmem high glucose , 10 % fbs , 1 % psa , 400 μg / ml geneticin and 50 μg / ml hygromycin . appropriate positive control chemokines ( mcp - 1 , mip1a or rantes ) was used as the positive control agonist for screening compound - induced calcium activity assayed on the flipr tetra . the drug plates were prepared in 384 - well microplates using the ep3 and the multiprobe robotic liquid handling systems . compounds were synthesized and tested for ccr2 activity .	2
fig1 illustrates a block diagram of one embodiment of the electronic wagering system of the present invention . a user computer 11 is linked , telephonically including isdn lines , adsl lines and dsl lines , wireless connections , such as radio frequency transmissions and satellite transmissions , or via any other communication methods , to a number of other computers . these other computers include a wager server 13 . the wager server 13 , in one embodiment , is a web and database server providing administrative and other functions for the electronic wagering system . in a preferred embodiment , the wager server is a computing device having computer memory storage devices and network interface cards and operating under a unix operating system . the user computer 11 may comprise a personal computer ( pc ), an engineering workstation , a palm computer , a cellular phone , a large mainframe computer , or any other system capable of supporting internet and / or other types of communication media and display functions . alternatively , a television equipped with a digital or analog set top box or a separate access terminal is used to connect to the internet and / or the wager server . the separate access terminal includes cellular phones , wireless modems and other phone modems providing connection to the internet and / or the wager server over a telephone network . similarly , access to the internet can be through television cables or satellite delivery systems . various other devices can be used to provide access to the internet or send an e - mail to the wager server . in another embodiment , the gift giver uses a cellular , “ land - line ”, or wireless telephone which communicates with a telephone network or cellular network to access the wager server or a customer representative with access to the wager server . the description of the particular devices and access is exemplary and is not intended to be limiting in any sense . in a preferred embodiment , the user computer 11 may be a low cost machine specially designed for internet browsing . the user computer includes various application programs , including a web browser . the web browser retrieves information from web servers , such as the wager server , for display on the user &# 39 ; s computer display terminal . the web browser obtains a copy of the requested material from the wager server when a user , via the user computer , requests information from a wager server . the web browser uses hypertext transfer protocol ( http ) as a protocol for communicating over the internet with the wager server . standard tcp / ip is utilized as a protocol to communicate between the user computer and the wager server , and generally according to the simple mail transfer protocol ( smtp ), smtp being a tcp / ip protocol that operates at layers 5 - 7 of the open systems interconnection ( osi ) model . web browsers are widely commercially available , and include microsoft internet explorer , available from microsoft corporation and netscape navigator , available from netscape communication corporation , and others . both microsoft internet explorer and netscape navigator are suitable web browsers for use in conjunction with the present invention , with netscape navigator version 4 . 0 and microsoft internet explorer version 4 . 0 being the preferred versions . in one embodiment , the wager server 13 is coupled to a mass storage device , such as a hard disk drive , a redundant array of independent disks ( raid ) or a group of disks , also known as “ just a bunch of disks ” ( jbod ). the mass storage device hosts at least one database , a gift wager database 15 , that contains information about wagers placed for others . the wager server is configured to access the gift wager database to store and retrieve information for the gift wager database . the information contained in the gift wager database including information about wagers placed for others is in the form of a series of records . in one embodiment , the series of records include a gift giver record , a gift wager record and a gift recipient record . the gift giver record includes , for example , a gift giver profile including his or her e - mail address , home and / or business addresses , home and / or business numbers , an unique identification number , a history of past gift wagers , and so on . the gift giver profile can contain preferences such as preferred styles of bets , particular themes of wagers , and other similar types of information . likewise , the gift recipient record includes a gift recipient profile including , for example , his or her e - mail address , home and / or business addresses , and home and / or business numbers , an unique identification number , a history of past gift wagers received , and so on . the gift wager record , in one embodiment , includes pointers or logical links to an associated gift giver and gift recipient records , such as address to the records or unique identification numbers for each record . the gift wager record includes , for example , dates when the gift or bet was made , when the winnings were or will be paid , when the outcome of the wager happened or will happen , how much and to which charity will some of the winnings will go to and so on . other information included in the gift wager record can include what theme is related to the gift wager , how much is or was the wager for , what are the odds of the wager and so on . fig2 illustrates a flow diagram of an operational overview of the electronic wagering system illustrated in fig1 . in step 21 , a gift giver through the user computer 11 accesses wager server 13 . in step 23 , the gift giver selects a gift wager . in step 25 , the gift giver provides information about him or herself . in one embodiment the information provided about the gift giver includes the name , address , phone number and payment information , e . g ., a credit card number of the gift giver . in step 27 , the gift giver provides information about a gift recipient . with the gift wager prepared , the wager server , in step 29 , notifies the gift recipient that a gift wager has been made . in step 30 , the wager server periodically determines if the outcome of the gift wager has been determined . once the wager server in step 30 determines that the outcome of the gift wager has been determined then the wager server notifies the gift recipient and / or the gift giver regarding the outcome and winnings , if any , of the gift wager and then process ends . fig3 illustrates a block diagram of one embodiment of the wager server in fig1 . the wager server is configured to provide bi - directional communication between the user computer of the gift giver and the wager server . the wager server includes a wager interface 201 for receiving wager requests from the gift giver to allow gift givers to inform the wager server that they wish to compose a wager to be given away . the wager interface can be a web page , an e - mail , a customer service representative or a customized or standard software interface with access to the wager server , or an automated or interactive attendant telephone switching system . in one embodiment , the wager interface requests information from the gift giver through a series of displays , user - interface windows or screens , e - mails , text prompts , voice prompts , web pages , or various other forms of user interfaces . in a preferred embodiment , the gift giver accesses the wager interface through a web page of the wager server utilizing an internet connection . when a gift giver accesses the wager server , in one embodiment , the wager server greets the gift giver by providing an introduction web page to the user computer of the gift giver to direct the gift giver through the process of creating a gift wager . as shown in fig3 the wager server includes a registration module 203 . the registration module allows gift givers to enter specific personal information pertaining to the gift giver . in one embodiment , when the gift giver supplies the appropriate information to the registration module 203 , the wager server creates a gift giver record . the registration module requests personal information from the gift giver regarding specific information about the gift giver , such as contact information and other information to populate or develop some or all of a gift giver record . in one embodiment , a form is provided by the registration module for the gift giver to provide personal information . the information is generally returned as part of a url string , although other methods are also possible . the creation of forms and the reception of information from users by servers are well known methods to web site developers . in one embodiment , a gift giver record is populated or developed by the gift giver “ logging in ”, e . g ., using a name or identification number and / or a password , to the wager server . as such , the registration module 203 is able to access an old record from the gift wager database about the gift giver and thereby develop the gift giver record . in one embodiment , the registration module 203 downloads a “ cookie ” file to the user computer , such that personal contact information pertaining to the user remains persistent and thus permits the user to navigate between the wager server and the multitude of other web sites and / or web servers without having to re - enter the user &# 39 ; s personal or identification information . as further shown in fig3 the wager server further includes wager construction module 205 and outcome tracking module 207 . the wager construction module 205 requests information from the gift giver or provides the gift giver a series of prompts or questions to develop a gift wager . in one embodiment , the wager construction module 205 provides the gift giver a predetermined selection of gift wagers . in one embodiment , the wager construction module provides the gift giver a selection of topics or categories grouping a series of bets , such as bets on particular events such as sports , weather reports , e . g ., if it will rain in los angeles on a particular day , and so on . the wager construction module also provides selections of odds , bet amounts or stakes , and other types of information to the gift giver to create the gift wager . optionally , the wager construction module also provides a selection of messages to be attached to gift wager , such as an e - mail , a simple text message , or an electronic greeting card . additionally , the wager construction module , in one embodiment , further provides the option of attaching a tangible gift , such as flowers or candy . in one embodiment , the wager construction module accesses a gift and message server . the gift and message server , in one embodiment , is a computing device , such as a server , workstation , or personal computer . in one embodiment , the gift and message server and the wager server are one in the same and / or the outcome database is included with the gift wager database . the gift and message server provides information to the wager construction module to direct the gift giver through the process of selecting or creating a gift and / or message , and attaching the gift and / or message , such as an electronic greeting card , e - mail or another type of communique . the gift and message server prepares the message and gift for viewing by the gift giver and eventually the gift recipient , and stores the viewable message and gift in a gift and message viewing storage . in one embodiment , the gift and / or message are stored as records in the gift wager database and linked to or associated with the gift wager record for the gift wager created by the wager construction module . in one embodiment , the wager construction module of the wager server releases control to the gift and message server to direct the gift giver through the gift and / or message selection process . once , the gift giver completes the gift and / or message selection process , the gift and message server releases control back to the wager server . in one embodiment , the gift and / or message selection process begins with the gift giver being provided a selection of topics of different types of gifts and / or messages . in one embodiment , the series of topics provided relate to the gift wager , holidays or special occasions , or other types of common interests . the gift and message server provides a selection of gifts , such as candies , flowers , perfume or other types of retail items , and messages , such as electronic or conventional greeting cards , postcards , voice mails , and other types of correspondence , based on the topic chosen . the gift giver is provided an option to customize the gift or message , such as adding or modifying the specific greeting on the message or color of the gift . the gift and message server also provides an option to preview the message or gift in which the gift and message server displays the message or gift . the gift giver is also provided the option to attach additional gifts and messages . in one embodiment , the gift and message server provides a verification stage for the gift giver to verify the previously provided information . if the gift giver wishes to change any information provided , gifts or messages attached , the gift and / or message selection process is repeated . the gift and message server then attaches the gifts and / or messages to the gift wager , by associating or adding the information about the gifts and / or messages to the gift wager record in the gift wager database . once the gift and / or message selection process ends , the gift and message server releases control back to the wager server , e . g ., the wager construction module . the wager construction module 205 also requests information about the gift recipient , such as contact information and other information to populate or develop some or all of a gift recipient record . in one embodiment , a gift recipient record is populated or developed by the gift giver selecting , browsing or searching for a name , nickname , or another identifying mark for the gift recipient as provided by the wager server in an address book or another type of contact list . therefore , the wager construction module 205 with the information gathered from the gift giver is able to populate or develop a gift wager record with links to the gift giver record , information identifying the gift giver , and the gift recipient record , information identifying the gift recipient . fig4 illustrates a flow diagram of one embodiment of the wager construction module 205 of fig3 creating a gift wager . in step 31 , the wager construction module provides a series of topics or categories of different gift wagers along with a series of specific gift wagers . in one embodiment , the series of topics provided relate to , sporting events , weather reports , or other similar outcome - based programming . in step 33 , the gift giver selects a gift wager topic . in step 35 , the wager construction module in response to the gift wager topic being selected displays a selection of wagers and odds associated with the wagers displayed . in step 37 , if the gift giver wants specific information on a particular gift wager , then , if available , the wager construction module provides or displays a description of a specific gift wager to the user computer in step 39 . for example , a display , voice message , web page and the like could provide a description of a specific gift wager including the odds and other specific information . in another example , a display , voice message , web page and the like could provide a description of how to obtain information about a specific gift wager including the odds and other specific information . if the gift giver does not want specific information on a particular gift wager or if no specific information is available , then the gift giver selects a wager in step 41 . the wager construction module then displays a range of gift wager amounts for selection by a gift giver in step 43 . in one embodiment , the gift wager amounts range from ten dollars to a hundred dollars . alternatively , in step 43 and 45 , the gift giver selects or inputs a specific gift wager amount . in step 47 , the gift giver is given a choice to attach a gift and / or a message to the gift wager to be sent to the gift recipient ( optional ). also , optionally , in step 49 , the gift giver is given a choice by the wager server to choose a charity and then the process ends . the charity chosen receives a portion of the gift wager amount selected by the gift giver in step 45 . upon completion of the process , the wager construction module in one embodiment , creates or populates a wager record based on the information gathered through the process described and stores the wager record in the gift wager database . in one embodiment , the wager server provides a verification stage for the gift giver to verify the previously provided or selected information by the gift giver or wager server concerning , for example , the gift giver , the gift wager and / or the gift recipient . if the gift giver wishes to change the information provided , the wager server provides the gift giver an option to re - input or modify the provided or selected information otherwise the process ends . referring back to fig3 in one embodiment , the outcome tracking module 207 requests information from the gift giver about how the gift wager should be transmitted to the gift recipient . in another embodiment , the outcome tracking module 207 is configured to transmit the information about the gift wager to the gift recipient via a predetermined manner . in one embodiment , notification information about the gift wager can be transmitted via e - mail . thus , the outcome tracking module is able to notify the gift recipient that a wager , any attached messages and / or gifts for the gift recipient has been made by a gift giver . similarly , in one embodiment , the outcome tracking module is configured to provide additional information , via e - mail , pertaining to details required to access additional information about the gift wager or winnings associated with the gift wager from the wager server . in a preferred embodiment , the e - mail , provided to the gift recipient by the outcome tracking module 207 , includes a uniform resource locator ( url ) designating a specific location of information on . the internet . the url is a string expression representing a location identifier on the internet or on a local transmission control protocol / internet protocol ( tcp / ip ) computer system . the location identifier generally specifies the location of a server on the internet , the directory on the server where specific files containing information are found , and the names of the specific files containing information . certain default rules apply so that the specific file names , and even the directory containing the specific files , need not be specified . thus , the user may enter the url on the user &# 39 ; s computer in conjunction with execution of the browser software to obtain the desired information from a particular web server to view the gift wager created , attached gifts and / or messages . in another embodiment , the gift wager notification and access information can be transmitted via a voice mail message or by a customer representative over a telephone network . in one embodiment , the outcome tracking module triggers an automated telephone system to place a telephone call to the gift recipient providing notification and access information about the gift wager , attached gifts and / or messages or providing a link , such as a number to contact or an web address to access in order to obtain notification and access information about the gift wager , attached gifts and / or messages , through , for example , an automated voice recording . in other embodiments , the outcome tracking module 207 provides pager and / or cellular phone messaging or notifications , such as numeric and alphanumeric messages , voice mails , internet connection messaging , such as instant messages and / or banner advertising , or specific propriety or public service provider connections , such as electronic programing guide providers through , for example , a vertical blanking interval in a television signal , or specific advertising by internet service providers , and various other forms of electronic transmission and communications is utilized to provide notification and / or access information about the gift wager , attached gifts and / or messages or providing a pointer or link to access and obtain notification and access information about the gift wager , attached gifts and / or messages . in another embodiment , the notification and / or access information about the gift wager , attached gifts and / or messages is provided via mail , delivery service , or another non - electronic method of transmission . furthermore , in most cases , the gift wager placed by the gift giver for the gift recipient has not matured . in other words , the outcome is yet to be determined . in this case , reminder communications , such as e - mails , voice messages and the like and the other forms of communication described above for the notification and access information , are sent to the gift recipient by the outcome tracking module to periodically inform or to check the outcome of the gift wager . using the name and password provided to the gift recipient as described above , the gift recipient at a later time , is able to periodically check the status of the gift wager . additionally or in the alternative , an outcome communication , such as an e - mail , voice message , and the like and the other forms of communication described above for the notification and access information , is sent to the gift recipient and / or gift giver once the gift wager has matured . furthermore , in one embodiment , a receipt is sent , via the above - mentioned forms of communication described for the notification , access , reminder , and outcome information , to the gift giver containing information about the gift wager created by the wager construction module 205 . in one embodiment , the information provided includes the type of gift wager and the amount charged to the gift giver &# 39 ; s credit card and / or other payment type information . once , the gift recipient accesses and / or views the gift wager , a received notification is sent by the outcome tracking module 207 to the gift giver to notify the gift giver that the gift wager created has been accessed and / or viewed by the gift recipient . in one embodiment , the outcome tracking module 207 determines if the outcome of the gift wager has been established by checking an outcome database that includes status records . the status records include information about a particular event or events , such as a football game , total number of rushing yardage by a particular team in the football game , and so on , the outcome ( s ) or final result ( s ) of the particular event ( s ) and the like . the status records could further include pointers or links or unique identification number to various gift wager records created in the gift wager database . in one embodiment , gift wager records include links or unique identification numbers to the various status records . in one embodiment , the status records are managed and updated manually by an authorized administrator of the outcome database . in another embodiment , the status records are managed by a status server . the status server , in one embodiment , is a computing device , such as a server , workstation , or personal computer . the status server is coupled to a mass storage device , such as a hard disk drive , a raid or a jbod . the mass storage device hosts the outcome database . in one embodiment , the status server and the wager server are one in the same and / or the outcome database is included with the gift wager database . also , the mass storage device coupled to the status server could be the same mass storage device coupled to the wager server . in another embodiment , the status server is a service or content provider containing a digital feed of real - time and / or periodically updated information concerning events relevant to one or more gift wagers . the service provider could include a news service , a sports news service and the like . in another embodiment , the final results of the events for each status record could be updated manually as the information becomes available . fig5 illustrates a flow diagram of one embodiment of the outcome tracking module 207 of fig3 notifying a gift recipient and / or a gift giver concerning the outcome of a gift wager . in step 71 , the outcome tracking module receives information pertaining the outcome of a particular event , such as a final score of a football game . in another embodiment , the outcome tracking module periodically searches the outcome database for the outcome of a particular event . in step 73 , the outcome tracking module searches the gift wager database to locate the gift wager record or records that pertain to the particular event in which an outcome has been determined . in step 75 , if the outcome tracking module search finds the gift wager record or records , the outcome tracking module extracts the associated gift recipient information in step 77 . in one embodiment , the gift wager record or records include links to associated gift recipient records containing gift recipient information . also , in step 77 , the outcome tracking module notifies the associated gift recipient or gift recipients with result data pertaining to the outcome of the particular event and thus associate gift wager ( s ). optionally , in step 79 , the outcome tracking module also extracts the associated gift giver information . in one embodiment , the gift wager record or records include links to associated gift giver records containing gift giver information . thus , also , in step 79 , the outcome tracking module notifies the associated gift giver or gift giver with result data pertaining to the outcome of the particular event and thus associate gift wager ( s ). if , in step 75 , the outcome tracking module search does not find a gift wager record pertaining to the particular event in step 71 , the process ends . thus , once the outcome of the gift wager is determined , the gift recipient and / or the gift giver is notified of the outcome , whether the outcome is favorable or unfavorable . if the determined outcome of the gift wager is favorable , e . g ., the bet is that team a will win game y and team a does win game y , then the wager server determines the winnings or payoff owed to the gift recipient . the outcome tracking module 207 determines the winnings based on predetermined odds associated with the gift wager or other similar predetermined tables or calculations to assess the winnings . the gift recipient is provided the winnings of the gift wager in various ways . in one embodiment , the gift recipient is sent a check or other similar types of payment via mail for the amount of winnings of the gift wager . in one embodiment , the gift recipient is provided information about how to obtain the winnings of the gift wager via mail , e - mail , voice message ( s ), similar forms of communication as described above for the notification and access information , or other similar forms of communication . in one embodiment , the wager server or the status server creates and sends an e - mail to the gift recipient notifying the gift recipient of his / her winnings and providing the gift recipient a unique winning identification number . in one embodiment , the unique winning identification number is linked or associated with the gift recipient record , the gift giver record and the gift wager record in the gift wager database . using this unique winning identification number to identify the gift recipient and / or the gift wager to the wager server or status server , the gift recipient can provide further contact information in order for the gift recipient to receive his / her winnings . in a preferred embodiment , the wager server creates and sends an e - mail to the gift recipient notifying the gift recipient of his / her winnings and providing the gift recipient a winning url identifying unique internet location and including a unique winning identification number . using the winning url , the gift recipient is able to access the wager server that is configured to recognize the unique winning identification number included in the winning url . upon recognition of the unique identification number , the wager server retrieves the gift wager record from the gift wager database that is associated with the unique identification number to provide additional information or options in order for the gift recipient to receive his / her winnings . in one embodiment , the gift recipient is provided a coupon , voucher , or certificate in which the gift recipient must redeem at a specified location and / or time to receive the winnings of the gift wager . in one embodiment , the gift recipient is provided a certificate or credit in which the gift recipient can use to purchase various products or services at various business establishments . in one embodiment , the gift recipient is provided electronic cash or electronic credit in which the gift recipient can use to purchase various products or services at various on - line business establishments . in one embodiment , the gift recipient is provided credit with the electronic wagering system . thus , the gift recipient may then use the credit to create a gift wager , such that the gift recipient now becomes the gift giver . also , if a charity was previously selected by the gift giver , all or a portion of the winnings , as previously indicated by the gift giver , are set aside for the selected charity . as with the gift recipient , all or a portion of the winnings for the charity are similarly provided to the selected charity . in one embodiment , periodic payments such as monthly or bi - monthly payments are made to the selected charity in which all winnings for all the gift wagers made during a predetermined period are paid in one lump sum . all the various ways described above to provide the winnings of the gift wager to the gift recipient and / or the selected charity , can be performed via mail , e - mail , voice messages , similar forms of communication as described above for the notification and access information , other types of electronic communication and so forth . furthermore , the described manners in which the winnings of the gift wager are provided are similarly used to provide the attached gifts and / or messages to the gift recipient . fig6 illustrates a flow diagram of one embodiment of a gift recipient obtaining the winnings of a gift wager . in step 51 , the gift recipient accesses the wager server or the status server . in one embodiment , the gift recipient accesses the wager or status server using the winning url . in another embodiment , the gift recipient accesses the wager or status server using a login procedure by providing the wager or status server a unique identification number or a name and password . as described above , the unique identification number or name and password could be provided previously by the wager or status server upon notifying the gift recipient about the outcome and winnings of the gift wager by the outcome tracking module 207 . in one embodiment , once the gift recipient accesses the wager or status server , the wager server searches the gift wager database to retrieve the gift wager record pertaining to the gift wager and the associated gift giver and gift recipient records . the wager server extracts the contact information of the gift giver from the gift giver record . using the contact information of the gift giver , such as an e - mail address , the wager server notifies the gift giver , such as sending an access notification e - mail , that the gift recipient has accessed the gift wager for obtaining more information or to obtain winnings as a result of the gift wager . in step 53 , the gift recipient selects a way of obtaining the winnings , for instance , as a credit or certificate , a check mailed to the gift recipient and the like . in one embodiment , the form of the winnings , e . g ., a credit or certificate , is predetermined . in step 55 , the wager or status server determines if the gift recipient needs to provide information such as an address , phone number , and the like to receive the winnings . if the wager or status server determines that the gift recipient needs to provide information , then in step 57 , the wager or status server requests and receives the required information from the gift recipient . however , if the wager or status server determines that the gift recipient does not need to provide any information or after the gift recipient provides the requested information , then the winnings of the gift wager are prepared and sent to the gift recipient , in step 59 , and then the process ends . in one embodiment , the wager interface , the registration module , the outcome tracking module and other functions of the wager server comprise programs in the c or c ++ programming language or scripts in the perl ( version 5 . 0 ) programming language . c and c ++ compilers , perl interpreters and the c , c ++ and perl programming languages , and the uses thereof , are well known and often used by web and software developers . furthermore , even though the wager interface , the registration module , and the outcome tracking modules are described as separate items , all the modules could be combined as a single program or hardwired in the wager server , separately or as one . also , although a gift giver , gift wager , gift recipient and wager server are described in a singular sense , one skilled in the art would recognize that two or more gift givers , gift wagers , gift recipients , and wager servers and any combination thereof , e . g ., a single gift giver , a single gift wager , three gift recipients and two wager servers , could be included in the present invention and likewise each could be provided separately . accordingly , the present invention provides a system and method of creating and placing wagers as a gift by a first user using a wager server such that any winnings are received by a second user , the intended recipient of the gift . although this invention has been described in certain specific embodiments , many additional modifications and variations would be apparent to those skilled in the art . it is therefore to be understood that this invention may be practiced otherwise than is specifically described . thus , the present embodiments of the invention should be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restricted , the scope of the invention to be indicated by the appended claims rather than the foregoing description .	6
this disclosure is submitted in furtherance of the constitutional purposes of the u . s . patent laws “ to promote the progress of science and useful arts ” ( article 1 , section 8 ). material curing constructions and methods for curing material are provided with reference to fig1 - 14 . referring to fig1 , curing construction 10 is shown that includes a flexible sheet 12 having multiple ribs 14 extending from at least one surface of the flexible sheet . sheet 12 can be constructed of a polymeric material such as polyethylene . sheet 12 may be from about 3 mils to about 20 mils in thickness . sheet 12 may also be a scrim reinforced film . ribs 14 can also be constructed of a polymeric material such as polyethylene / eptm . ribs 14 may extend from the surface of flexible sheet 12 a sufficient amount to engage a material to be cured and form a depression therein upon removal of construction 10 from the cured material . ribs 14 can extend from about 1 / 16 inch to about ½ inch . according to an example embodiment , ribs 14 are configured to form a mesh of material , and according to another example embodiment , ribs 14 can be configured to form a decorative pattern . in another embodiment , ribs 14 can be configured to form an architectural feature . referring to fig1 , construction 10 can be expanded over an interior portion of one form defining a perimeter of a material to be cured . consistent with the field of art , forms can be used to define a boundary for curing materials such as concrete or any other building construction materials . in this embodiment , the form consists of a semi -, or almost completely flat substrate that forms a perimeter of the material to be cured . as is shown in fig1 , construction 10 can be placed against form 16 , and construction 10 can be configured with ribs 14 extending from a surface of the sheet within the perimeter defined by the form . in accordance with exemplary methods of curing material , material to be cured within the form can be provided , and the material can receive at least a portion of ribs 14 of sheet 10 . the material can then be cured and the sheet removed from the material . referring to fig1 again , upon removal of construction 10 , ribs 14 provide openings 20 within cured material 18 . according to an additional example embodiment , additional materials can be provided between the material to be cured and construction 10 to provide even more additional architectural features . for example , these materials can be provided to demonstrate peaks and / or valleys within the material . exemplary materials include corrugated paper , for example , or any rough surface materials that can imprint an architectural feature . referring to fig2 , an example apparatus 30 for preparing construction 10 is shown . apparatus 30 can include at least two feed rollers , or as shown , at least three feed rollers . feed rollers 32 , 34 , and 36 can be operatively configured across forming bed 38 , which can be placed below ceiling apparatus 40 , and then upstream of receiving roll 42 . according to an exemplary embodiment , apparatus 30 can be used to produce a form insert , and part of the construction can include providing a sheet of flexible material from roller 32 and adhering a flexible mesh from roller 34 to the sheet . according to an exemplary embodiment , the flexible mesh can form ribs extending from at least one surface of the sheet . the adhering process can be formed utilizing adhering apparatus 40 . for example , adhering apparatus 40 can be a heat supply that melts pliable polymeric material from roller 32 engaging mesh material from roller 34 . alternatively , mesh material 34 can be pliable and adhere to flexible material 32 utilizing adhering apparatus 40 . according to an example embodiment , at least one of the two rolls of material to be adhered together can be oriented above the other rolls of material . for example , roll 34 can be oriented above roll 32 in relation to forming bed 38 . according to another embodiment , the adhering process can encase mesh from roll 34 within the flexible material from roll 32 . referring to fig3 , an example sheet 44 is shown that includes scrim material 45 within polymeric materials 46 and 47 . scrim material 45 can include a webbing such as nylon or even cotton webbing . polymeric materials 46 and 47 can either or both be polyethylene , for example . referring to fig4 and 5 , another embodiment of the present disclosure is provided . form insert 50 can be configured to be provided in folded sheets , for example , to conserve storage space at the construction site . as such , these sheets can be stacked on top of one another and stored away in relatively small spaces until needed for use . sheets 50 can then be unfolded and then aligned in a cylindrical fashion and as aligned , they can form an insert to be provided within a form to house material to be cured . as an example embodiment , forms 50 can include ribs 54 defining a perimeter of the columnar form . the ribs can be coupled to one another by interconnecting members to form a frame . for example , opposing ends of form 50 can be coupled to one another to form a cylindrical construction . as such , upon material curing , columns can be provided that can include architectural features such as indentations outlining a brick construction . indentations 60 can be consistent with ribs 54 , for example . referring to fig5 , another example embodiment for the coupling of opposing ends of material 50 is shown . as can be seen , portion 66 of material 50 can form a complimentary hook portion to a hook portion of portion 64 of material 50 . these hooks can be aligned together and compliment one another , engaging one another at portion 62 , for example . referring to fig6 , and still another embodiment , construction 70 can include a frame or mesh of ribs that can be aligned within a form 72 having cured material therein . according to an exemplary embodiment and referring to fig7 , construction 70 can be placed within a form 72 and then upon curing of material 74 , the construction 70 can be removed , as well as form 72 , to provide a column 74 of the cured material having exposed architectural features . referring to fig8 and 9 another form embodiment is shown as form 80 . form 80 can be comprised of scrim reinforced film 82 . the film can have a scrim of a fabric such as nylon and polymeric component such as polyurethane , polyvinylchloride , and / or polyethylene . the sheet may be able to withstand tensile loads of 1 , 000 psi without bursting . referring to fig9 , form 80 may be formed using heat sealing . for example , seal tape 84 may be applied to abutting ends of film 82 , and heat applied to couple abutting ends of film 82 constructing a tubular form . at least some advantages utilizing embodiments of these forms include : the film of the form can be folded , cut and reused between construction jobs with limited clean up and without application of release agents ; the film is much stronger than the pressed board currently used ; and the film leaves a smooth finish surface according to example applications . furthermore , form 80 of film 82 can be self - supporting without additional supporting material . however , with reference to fig1 an embodiment is depicted that includes form 100 constructed of film 102 having support material 104 extending therefrom . according to example embodiments , material 104 can be a scrim reinforced film as well and can be coupled to a lower portion of form 100 . material 104 can be hot melted , sewn , or even latched to the lower portion . in the shown embodiment , material 104 extends the entire perimeter defined by the lower portion . however , alternative embodiments are contemplated in which a plurality of individual members extend from the lower portion . openings 106 can be in material 104 and configured to receive spikes that may facilitate the coupling of the form to the surface which may further facilitate the self - support of form 100 . referring to fig1 another embodiment of the form of the present disclosure is provided with reference to form 110 which includes a taper portion 118 between material 114 and film 112 . portion 118 can facilitate the formation of an additional supportive footing when preparing concrete pillars using form 100 . referring to fig1 , yet another embodiment of the form of the present disclosure is provided with reference to form 120 which includes architectural decorative material 124 within film 122 . form 120 is also coupled to construct a cylindrical form with metal latches 126 . complimentary portions of latches 126 can be affixed to opposing abutting ends of film 122 and clasp to construct a cylinder . referring to fig1 and 14 still additional embodiments of the disclosed forms are depicted . referring to fig1 form 130 includes film 132 coupled to base 134 . base 134 can also be constructed of scrim reinforced polymer but base 134 is configured to contain support / ballast materials such as water and / or sand . ballast materials may be provided to within opening 136 to fill a void between the configured film of base 134 . referring to fig1 , both film 142 and base 144 of form 140 may be configured to contain water and or sand to further stabilize form 140 . with reference to an additional embodiment , form 120 can be configured with both upper ( not shown ) and lower flanges . these flanges can include openings aligned between the flanges to receive plates . individual supports , such as posts can be configured to extend between the plates and support form 120 in its upright configuration . in compliance with the statute , embodiments of the invention have been described in language more or less specific as to structural and methodical features . it is to be understood , however , that the entire invention is not limited to the specific features and / or embodiments shown and / or described , since the disclosed embodiments comprise forms of putting the invention into effect .	8
a means for generating a cfpsk signal is illustrated in fig1 . digital binary data is input to the balanced modulator 1 and to the shift register 2 where the data is delayed &# 34 ; δ &# 34 ; bits . the mark / space frequency synthesizer 3 generates a mark or space frequency as directed by the output of the shift register 2 . the phase of the mark or space frequency generated by the synthesizer is shifted by zero or 180 degrees in the balanced modulator 1 and then output as the cfpsk signal . fig2 illustrates the format of the cfpsk signal for δ = 2 . the phase of the signal is controlled by the instant binary digit ( bit ) while the instant frequency of the signal is controlled by the bit occurring two bit periods earlier . with the exception of the 180 ° phase shifts dictated by the stream of data , the phases of the space and mark frequencies are each coherent . for simplicity of operation , the difference between the mark and space frequencies should be selected to be a multiple of the keying rate . referring to fig3 the received data , after a delay of two bit periods ( or some other fixed number of periods ), is used to select the space or the mark frequency for examination to determine the state of the bit being presently received . fig4 illustrates a preferred embodiment of the cfpsk demodulator . following reception , the modulated carrier is applied simultaneously to four mixers 41 . a mark frequency , generated by the mark frequency synthesizer 42 , is applied with zero phase to one of the mixers 41 , and , with its phase shifted 90 °, to a second mixer . the space frequency , from the space frequency synthesizer 43 , is supplied to a third mixer with zero phase , and to the fourth mixer with a 90 ° phase shift . the outputs of each of the four mixers are integrated individually by the four integrators and dumpers 44 and the integrals dumped into the four analog - to - digital converters 45 . the outputs of the four analog - to - digital converters 45 are proportional to the in - phase and quadrature components of the signals received on the space and mark frequencies . ( m i and s i denote the in - phase components at the mark and space frequencies respectively , and m q and s q denote the quadrature components .) the four components are processed within the arithmetic logic processor 46 to detect the binary data . the mcs - 6500 microprocessor made by mos technology is suitable for use as the arithmetic logic processor 46 . any of a number of other microprocessors , such as the sy - 6500 / mcs - 6500 made by synertek or the motorola 6080 , could alternatively be used as the microprocessor . in each case , the microprocessor is programmed to execute the equations described below . there are a number of methods which may be used to derive a phase reference θ r ( h ) at each of the space and mark frequencies . the method described here will track both phase and frequency with zero error when the time rate of change of phase is constant . the reference phase for either the space or mark frequency is given by : where h is an integer which denotes the keying interval and k 1 is a constant which determines the amount of smoothing of the phase . h ( h ) is then calculated in the following manner : h denotes the change of h from one keying interval to the next as determined by the difference between h ( h - 1 ) and h ( h - 2 ) as given by the constant k 2 determines the amount of smoothing of the time rate of change phase . in order to avoid π radian ambiguities in the phase reference , the process must be initiated with an unmodulated carrier in which case ## equ1 ## where and θ m / s is the phase of the received signal on the respective space or mark frequency . after modulation of the carrier commences , δθ &# 39 ;( h ) is given by : ## equ2 ## the above definition of δθ &# 39 ;( h ) serves to remove the phase modulation from the carrier for the purpose of maintaining a phase reference . the operation of the arithmetic logic processor (&# 34 ; alp &# 34 ;) 46 can be described by the following equations . the amplitude and phase of the mark signal ( a m and θ m ), of the space signal ( a s and θ s ), and of the combined mark and space signals ( a ms and θ ms ) respectively , are given by : the angles are constrained to lie between - π and + π radians . the arithmetic logic processor performs the quasi - cpsk demodulation as follows : the state of the received demodulated bit , b r ( j ), for the jth bit period is determined as follows : ## equ3 ## where ## equ4 ## and θ m / s represents the phase of the signal detected in the mark or space channel , whichever has been selected in the manner previously described . θ r is the corresponding phase reference . the portion of the arithmetic logic processor which performs the frequency demodulation analogous to ncfsk demodulation can be described mathematically as the following : ## equ5 ## depending upon propagation conditions , the arithmetic logic processor generates output data bits , b r ( j ) either in accord with equation ( 13 ) as a quasi - cpsk demodulator , or in accord with equation ( 16 ) as a frequency demodulator . fig5 contains a flow diagram of the logical process mechanized in the alp to select between the two demodulation methods . whenever the channel quality drops below a predetermined level the alp switches from whatever method of modulation is in use to the other method . the measure of channel quality is based on the fraction of a selected period of time during which the error predictor indicates that errors are likely . in addition , whenever the error predictor indicates that it is sufficiently likely during the next bit period that the quasi - cpsk demodulator may incorrectly select the mark or the space channel for demodulation , the operation of the alp as described by equation ( 13 ) is modified so that the outputs from the analog to digital converter 45 in fig4 are combined prior to detection , that is , θ &# 39 ; m / s ( j ) in equation ( 13 ) is replaced by θ &# 39 ; ms ( j ). the detected bit , b r ( j ), is then used in either of two ways . in uncoded modification &# 34 ; a &# 34 ;, the alp generates output data in accord with b r ( j ), while in uncoded modification &# 34 ; b &# 34 ;, each of the b r ( j ), is used &# 34 ; δ &# 34 ; bit periods later , to select the mark or the space frequency which is then demodulated in a quasi - cpsk manner to generate the output data . although an error predictor may be obtained from any of a number of sources , the error predictor , p ( j ), for the quasi - cpsk demodulator in the preferred embodiment can be described by the following equations : ## equ6 ## where a c and θ c are given by : ## equ7 ## when p ( j )= 0 , errors are considered to be unlikely , and when p ( j )= 1 , errors are considered to be likely . r is set equal to 1 for a signal referenced error predictor or equal to ## equ8 ## for a noise referenced error predictor and δ is adjusted to a value that maximizes system performance . the system of this invention may be used with particular advantage for the demodulation of binary data strings which have been encoded prior to transmission . in a coded system each successive group of k bits is encoded as a single word , n bits in length ( where n & gt ; k ). orthogonal or bi - orthogonal codes normally are utilized for this purpose . the delay between the determination of the phase of the transmitted signal in accord with the transmitted bit and the subsequent determination δ bit periods later of the frequency of the transmitted signal is increased to encompass an entire n - bit word . after detection of the received bits , the arithmetic logic processor selects the word , consisting of n bits , which exhibits the largest positive correlation with the received string of n bits as being the received word and then generates the corresponding decoded set of k bits as the output . the decoded word is re - encoded and the re - encoded bits are then used to determine the sequence of channel selection during the reception of the following word , thus taking advantage of the error reduction exhibited by the redundant coding system . for coded cfpsk , the preferred embodiment of the error predictor is based on the ratio of the correlation between the received word of n bits , to the correlation which would have been obtained if no errors were present . whenever this ratio falls below a specified threshold , errors are considered likely and the demodulation process is altered accordingly . an error predictor for coded cfpsk can also be based on the difference between the two largest correlations of the n received bits with the various code words . whenever the difference in these two correlations is less than a specified threshold , errors would be considered likely . when a significant number of errors are expected , the system for the demodulation of coded cfpsk is modified to reduce the effects of such errors . one modification method is similar to the uncoded type &# 34 ; a &# 34 ; modification previously described and is illustrated in fig6 . in the coded type &# 34 ; a &# 34 ; modulation , when errors are likely , the space and mark channels are combined to yield the words consisting of n bits , which are then decoded to provide the output data stream . a different modification , similar to the uncoded type &# 34 ; b &# 34 ; modification , could be used instead . as illustrated in fig7 whenever errors are likely , the space and mark channels would be combined , detected , and decoded as in the type &# 34 ; a &# 34 ; modification . however , this data would then be re - encoded , delayed and used to select either the space or mark channel whose output would then be detected and decoded to provide the output data . thus , in the coded type &# 34 ; b &# 34 ; modification , the output of only a single channel at a time would be used always to generate the output data , although when errors are likely , the combined channels would be used to select which sequence of single channels is to be used to generate the output . while this invention has been described and illustrated in detail , it is to be clearly understood that this description is intended by way of illustration and example only and is not to be taken by way of limitation , the spirit and scope of this invention being limited only by the terms of the following claims .	7
the present invention will be better understood by reference to the accompanying drawings . fig1 depicts a mobile device according to an embodiment of the present invention . mobile device 100 may be a pda , a laptop computer , an internet capable phone , or another similar device . preferably , the mobile device has an operating system with java vm 1 . 1 . 4 or personaljava and at least about 5 mb of memory . preferably , mobile engine 110 is based on java , so that it may run on any platform supporting java . mobile device 100 contains an internet browser 105 . it also contains mobile engine 110 . mobile engine 110 should be capable of generating any standard markup language , such as html , so that internet browser 105 may be a standard browser , such as microsoft internet explorer or netscape , rather than a proprietary one . however , a proprietary browser could be used on mobile device 100 in addition to or in lieu of the standard browser if desired . when mobile device 100 is operating with a computer system over the internet in an online mode and applications are being run from computer system 200 across the connection , browser 105 is connected to computer system 200 , such as an application server , in a traditional manner represented by box 197 . when mobile device 100 is operating in an offline mode and applications are being run locally on mobile device 100 , mobile engine 110 is engaged . mobile engine 110 contains two major components : a java plug - in 90 and various components for data synchronization and deployment . the java plug - in contains web server 115 , servlet engine 120 , modular offline application building blocks 125 , 130 and 135 , and api layer 145 . all of the information to start and run the java plug - in is preferably held in separate property files . for instance , the information related to the web server , including host , port , and wwwroot , can exist in a file named webserver . properties . the information related to mappings , such as url to servlet mappings , can exist in a file named mappings . properties . the information relating to mimes , such as mime types , can exist in a file named mime . properties . web server 115 is preferably programmed in java and provides the ability for the user of mobile device 100 to log onto web server 115 contained within mobile device 100 when operating offline . by doing so , the user is provided with the same or similar look and feel to operating online over the internet and can run the same applications offline that the user could run over the internet in an online mode . preferably , web server 115 is single threaded and has a small footprint . web server 115 is connected to servlet engine 120 . servlet engine 120 enables the mobile device &# 39 ; s user to engage various offline applications locally on mobile device 100 through web server 115 . servlet engine would preferably be based upon java servlet api 2 . 1 . web server 115 and servlet engine 120 preferably would meet the sun java webserver 2 . 0 specification . various different programming models can be deployed in mobile engine 110 as modular offline building blocks . for instance , a proprietary model 125 , like sapmarket &# 39 ; s microits , may be deployed which is designed to maximize certain types of transactions based upon the foreseen use of mobile device 100 . microits model 125 contains a flow logic parser , html business parser , language resource parser / preparser and module provider . a java server pages model 130 may be deployed to take advantage of java features . java server pages model 130 would preferably be based upon tomcat . other models , such as custom plug - in model 135 , can also be used as needed . custom plug - in model would permit users to implement their own logic . these other models may be proprietary or standards - based . by using modular offline application building blocks and permitting the use of one or more models , the mobile engine architecture is easy to enhance or modify . moreover , new offline application building blocks can be downloaded and installed via the deployment and installation process discussed hereinafter with respect to fig6 and 7 . mobile engine api layer 145 , which will be discussed in more detail below , provides independence between modular offline application building blocks 125 , 130 , 135 and servlet engine 120 . modular offline application building blocks 125 , 130 , and 135 utilize programming sources stored in memory 140 . while memory 140 is shown within mobile engine 110 , it may be located elsewhere . mobile engine api layer 145 forms an interface between the various programming models 125 , 130 and 135 and the application data that resides on database 180 within mobile device 100 . while database 180 is shown within mobile engine 110 , it may be located elsewhere . by providing api layer 145 , alternative programming models , offline applications and services may be incorporated , activated or substituted for existing models , offline applications and services in the future without having to completely reprogram mobile engine 110 . api layer 145 contains file i / o apis , database apis , synchronization layer apis and xml parsing apis . this mobile engine api layer 145 also provides device independence so that any application can run on any device without specific programming for device specific dependencies . referring now to fig2 , api layer 145 provides an interface between application or service 50 and the mobile device &# 39 ; s file programming interface 40 on the mobile device platform 45 . service 50 may be any of the previously mentioned services , such as data exchange 150 , or the like , or an offline application . api layer 145 consists of various module providers , such as ebp . class 5 , isales . class 10 and my . class 15 . java methods grouped in packages 20 , 30 , and 35 , such that all methods needed for a specific function are part of a corresponding package , also form part of api layer 145 . these methods can be called by the appropriate module provider . for instance , enterprise buyer professional is a product available from sap markets , inc . it provides the ability to coordinate the internet business procurement process . the product permits the creation of shopping baskets and catalogs . a package for enterprise buyer professional would include the module provider of ebp . class 5 and the groups of methods basket . class 20 a and catalog . class 20 b . module providers 5 , 10 , and 15 instantiate the appropriate java method calls and make them available for the flow logic in an application or service . there is always one module provider assigned to each package of the api layer 145 . various services that can be integrated that operate through api layer 145 are shown . data exchange 150 is utilized during a synchronization procedure when data is to be exchanged between a computer system and mobile device 100 . many business applications utilize xml . so an xml translation service 155 can be provided . a personalization service 160 can be included . personalization permits the manipulation of settings necessary to operate within a given server environment , such as a server url , logon data , proxy , etc . multiple user control can be included if more than one user of a device would be anticipated . an installation service 165 can also be provided . installation service 165 automatically installs or uninstalls offline applications , offline application building blocks and other software so that the device is outfitted as it should be based upon a deployment console , as will be discussed in detail later , located at the computer system . the installation service 165 creates a new entry in registry service 175 ( discussed below ) when a new application is installed and deletes an entry when an offline application is deleted . this function occurs in the background so as to be transparent to the user . local database access 170 is provided to permit access to database 180 . a home service 172 can be provided that sets up a homepage that the user accesses offline that provides links to the offline applications resident on the mobile device . preferably , the synchronization service is accessible through this page by clicking on an icon , for example . library service 174 offers standard functionality for application methods . it handles file operations and parsing . library service 174 contains an open catalog interface and parser for xml parsing , as well as a local data storage encryptor . registry service 175 maintains a list of all installed offline applications . alternatively , registry service 175 can maintain a list of all installed software subject to deployment from the deployment console , which would include at least offline applications and modular offline application building blocks . preferably , information from the registry 175 is provided to the deployment console during a synchronization and used by the deployment console to make sure that mobile device 100 is outfitted as it should be . the operation of registry service 175 will be discussed in more detail later . synchronization layer 185 is part of mobile engine 110 . synchronization layer 185 controls the synchronization of data on mobile device 100 with computer system 200 once the mobile device achieves connection through the internet ( or alternatively , through another means ) to computer system 200 , such as an application server , as is represented by box 195 . the synchronization layer 185 does this by sending the data containers resident in synchronization folder 187 . synchronization layer 185 preferably will contain an inbound / outbound queue , module ( s ) supporting different types of synchronization , a file handler , an error handler , a soap connector for xml , a data transmission security module , a synchronization security module and an authority checker . the details of the creation of such components would be apparent to one skilled in the art . this synchronization layer 185 and synchronization process will be discussed in greater detail later . a few examples of offline applications that can be run on mobile device 100 are now discussed . such applications can be created through the use of a tool such as web application builder by sap , ag . one such application is an easy shopping application . easy shopping permits one - step wireless shopping and buying , personalized product offerings , seamless integration into a full internet sales cycle , seamless integration into a procurement cycle , intelligent status tracking / synchronization , easy changing web templates , xml catalog content exchange , and provides the identical look and feel for sales and procurement . functions supported could be catalog , shopping cart , synchronization , and order status . the catalog can include search functionality and can hierarchically group products . the shopping basket allows for the creation of multiple orders and provides order status information . when this data from this application is synchronized with the central computer system , catalog content , orders , and software can be updated . manager &# 39 ; s inbox is another possible offline application . manager &# 39 ; s inbox contains an inbox overview listing incoming messages and work items . view selection can be available . when an inbox item is clicked , the message or the work item can be displayed . work item details such as the ability to approve or reject a work item and forms can be shown . during synchronization , inbox items , item details , and approvals / forms would be updated . plant maintenance is another application . plant maintenance includes an order section . functions possible with plant maintenance could include searching for open or released , orders , selecting operations , and adding components . the catalog function can provide a hierarchical view catalog with search functionality . during synchronization open and released orders would be exchanged , catalogs would be updated and new components would be added . the discussion above , with respect to fig1 , focused on the use of the framework with a mobile device . another use for this framework would be to install it as described above on a desktop computer rather than a mobile device or on a laptop that has a more or less permanent network connection . having such a framework would permit users to run applications offline and then exchange information between the desktop and the computer system during a synchronization process . thus , when offline application data needs to be provided to the computer system , it is provided to the system through the synchronization layer . the synchronization process can occur upon the clicking of an icon or hyperlink or the like , or alternatively , because a network connection does exist , it can automatically be provided without user intervention when data is available to be sent . by using the mobile engine framework on a desktop , or laptop with a somewhat permanent network connection , the volume of exchange of information between the computer system and the desktop can be minimized . this would mean that entire html pages would no longer need to be exchanged . instead , just the data of the business objects would be exchanged . in fig3 , a synchronization system according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown . mobile device 100 is shown connected to computer system 200 through a connection such as the internet . other networks or a direct connection can alternatively be used . the synchronization process could begin through clicking on an icon , button , hyperlink or the like , on a home page displayed via the browser . alternatively , it could automatically occur upon a link being established between mobile device 100 and computer system 200 . mobile engine 110 , through api layer 145 and synchronization layer 185 , talks with functional module 220 on computer system 200 through synchronization rfc 210 . this communication is carried out through the use of data containers , such as data container 230 . data container 230 is normally made up of a header 240 and a body 250 . however , certain types of containers may not require a body 250 . the header 240 can be made up of the following parts : 1 ) a container id that uniquely identifies the particular container ; 2 ) an identification of the user of the device ; 3 ) an identification of the type of container ; 4 ) the method describing which function module should be called in the computer system to process the data ; 5 ) the date the container is sent ; 6 ) the time the container is sent ; 7 ) the date the method was executed to create the data container ; 8 ) the time the method was executed ; and 9 ) the status relating to the data . the body 250 of container 230 can be made up of a container id , line number , field name and field value . the following is sample java code for an outgoing data container : fig4 shows a computer system with synchronization capability and fig5 shows a synchronization process according to an embodiment of the present invention . preferably , the synchronization layer on the computer system has an inbound / outbound queue , module ( s ) for different types of synchronization , a dispatcher , a spooler , a file handler , an error handler , a mapping algorithm , a data transmission security module , a synchronization security module , and an authority checker . the details of the creation of such components would be apparent to one skilled in the art . the embodiment shown in fig5 includes an optional data preservation scheme . in order to preserve the containers , a container is maintained on at least one location . the container on the mobile device will remain on the mobile device if a problem occurs such as the connection getting lost during synchronization . if that occurs , it will be sent automatically with the next synchronization . if there is no entry in the mapping table for the function module call , the container remains in the incoming table on the computer system and a program is used to generate an automatic mapping , as will be discussed later . if the called function module aborts and creates a dump , the container remains in the incoming table . if the called function module has the wrong interface implemented , it remains on the incoming table . if the data contained in the container is errored , the called function module returns an error message to the mobile device for processing by the offline application . making reference now to fig4 and 5 , in step 230 of fig5 , the user of mobile device 100 clicks the synch icon , button , hyperlink , or the like , on the home page to initiate the synchronization process . the synchronization class reads all data containers in the synchronization folder and compares the containers with a history table that records the container ids for containers already sent by the mobile device 100 and received by computer system 200 as shown in step 232 . this is done so that duplicate containers , should they arise for some reason , such as a reboot of the mobile device , can be deleted from the mobile device without sending them . in step 234 , the synchronization class sends the remaining containers over the synchronization transport layer to synchronization rfc function module 210 in the computer system in step 252 . in step 236 , the synchronization rfc function module 210 writes the incoming containers into container database 260 . the incoming containers are stored in database 260 as a failsafe to ensure that the containers are available should a problem occur after they are passed on to mapping layer 265 . synchronization rfc function also reads out from the outgoing container database 275 any data containers with the same class and user as those received and sends them to mobile device 100 . additionally , it sends an acknowledgement for the containers just received and stored in incoming container database 260 . in step 238 , the mobile device 100 then writes the container id referred to by the acknowledgment into a history table indicating that it was previously received by the computer system 200 and no longer needs to be maintained on the mobile device 100 . the container is then deleted off of mobile device 100 . in step 240 , the incoming containers are read out of inbound container database 260 by scheduled function module 265 . in step 242 , scheduled function module 265 consults mapping table stored in database 270 to map the data within the container so that it may be processed accordingly . scheduled function module 265 then calls the appropriate function module 220 to execute the function required in step 244 . one such function module could be an ebp processing function , for example . in step 246 , appropriate function module 220 sends back responsive data , such as status , to scheduled function module 265 . scheduled function module 265 then places the data in a container and writes it to outgoing container database 275 in step 248 . depending on the type of incoming containers , the responsive outgoing containers may be sent immediately in step 249 or may be stored until the next time a synchronization process is initiated . at least three separate types of synchronization would preferably be supported . the first type is publish synchronization . in publish synchronization , the type of container used can be called an outbound container . the outbound container is created in mobile device 100 and , when a connection is present , is sent to computer system 200 for processing . once it has been received by computer system 200 , any return containers waiting to be sent to the same user and of the same method are sent back to the user . the connection is terminated however , prior to any outgoing containers responsive to the data just sent by the user being sent back to the mobile device . the second type of synchronization is online processing . this type is similar to publish but includes return of responsive outgoing containers having processed data relating to the container that was just sent . with online processing synchronization , the owner sends a request - type container . first the connection is made . then the request - type container is sent . the container is then received by the computer system 200 . because it is a request type container , the computer system returns not only any containers waiting to be sent to the same owner of the same method , but also processes the incoming container and sends a response to that container prior to the connection being terminated . the third type of synchronization is subscribe . subscribe synchronization is used to check on the status of previously sent containers . for instance , it can be used to check on the status of an electronic order placed through a shopping cart . the owner sends a notify - type container to computer system 200 . computer system 200 then returns containers of same method and user . such containers need not include a body , as the status information is contained within the head of the containers . development tools can be utilized with the mobile engine according to an embodiment of the present invention . on the computer system , a generator tool can generate the wrapper function module that maps the generic structure of a container to the individual interface of a function module and generate the table entries for the mapping table . preferably , the tool will utilize the programming language of the computer system . a tool can also be used as a java class generator to handle flow logic to java for modular offline application building blocks 125 and / or 135 . preferably , the tool utilizes java on the mobile device . these tools are essentially translators . creation of such translators would be well within the abilities of one of ordinary skill in the art . a computer aided test tool can also be created and used for modular application building blocks 125 and / or 135 . referring now to fig6 , to handle the management of the myriad of differently programmed mobile devices , a deployment console 400 is resident on the computer system as one of the application function modules 220 . deployment console 400 is preferably programmed in a language supported by computer system 200 . for example , if the computer system is a mysap workplace system by sap , ag , then the deployment console could be programmed in abap . deployment console 400 has an overview of all installed offline applications per user and device through an installation log 432 that records that an installation has occurred whenever an offline application , modular offline application building blocks or other software is deployed and installed on a device . some computer systems serving a plurality of users install applications according to user roles . for example , an employee may have a role of salesman , field engineer , secretary , or the like . role assignment module 410 permits an administrator to assign a user to a role and to assign what software should be installed for each role . a user may have one or more roles if desired . because , in some cases , deviation from a strict role - based regiment may be desired , personal assignment module 412 can be provided . personal assignment module 412 would permit an administration to assign an application that may be needed by an individual , but not by others within the same role . for example , a vice president of sales may be assigned a role of vice president , but may need some but not all applications of the salesman role . personal assignment module 412 would permit such customization . the deployment console 400 can also manage versions of software for deployment by defining the current version of each offline application that should be installed . version control module 416 provides an administrator with this functionality . storage media , such as database 418 , keeps track of what software should be installed on each device for each user . this data stored therein is based upon the parameters set by role assignment module 410 , personal assignment module 412 and version control module 416 . storage media 436 is provided upon which software that may be downloaded to a device and installed thereupon is provided . such software may include offline applications , modular offline application building blocks , patches , and other software . installation protocol module 434 is provided . it permits an administrator to update or alter installation protocol . device type / id handler 440 is provided which determines how to handle different device types . installer 430 is provided that retrieves software from storage media 436 for downloading and installation on a device . this is done based upon the comparison of information from a registry service on a device to information stored in database 418 relating to what is supposed to be resident on that particular device . additionally , installer 430 is equipped to provide mobile device with a deinstall instruction should the information from the registry service indicate that software is installed on the device that should not be . when installer 430 retrieves software from storage media 436 and sends it off to a device and retrieves a notice from the device that the software was received , it stores the information relating to the download and install in install log 432 . install log 432 , database 418 , and storage media 436 may be collocated or separate . moreover , they may be a part of deployment console 400 as shown , or alternatively , any of them may be located externally . a process for deploying and installing the framework according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown in fig7 . in order to install the mobile engine framework , a user opens browser 105 on mobile device 100 and connects to computer system 200 online as shown in step 300 . once online , an install mobile engine icon , hyperlink or the like is displayed . in step 305 , the user selects to install mobile engine 110 by clicking on the icon , hyperlink or the like . in step 310 , the mobile engine framework is downloaded to mobile device 100 and , preferably , is automatically installed by installation service 165 . once installation is complete , the user connects into the deployment console system in step 315 . upon this connection , a data container containing information from registry service 175 is sent to a deployment console on computer system 200 . as shown in step 325 , the console reads the registry and determines that no offline applications are currently installed on mobile device 100 and then downloads the appropriate applications that are supposed to reside on mobile device 100 . these offline applications are installed automatically by installation service 165 . installation service 165 also automatically updates registry service 175 to reflect the installation of the new offline applications . when a deployment console receives information from a registry service that indicates an outdated version of a program or a version requiring a patch is resident on a mobile device , the current version and / or patch can be sent to the device and installed and the old version deinstalled , as needed , just as any other program , as will be described with respect to fig8 . it should also maintain error logs sent by the mobile devices . in fig8 , a process using the registry in association with the deployment console is depicted . in step 350 , the user opens browser 105 and connects to computer system 200 through the internet , or the like , using the synchronization function . as part of the synchronization process , mobile device 100 then sends a data container containing the data within the registry service 175 that is eventually retrieved by the deployment console as shown in step 355 . this retrieval may be in the manner discussed above relating to the retrieval of data from data containers during the synchronization process . the console then compares the data from registry service 175 to stored information that reflects what offline applications ( or alternatively what software that is subject to deployment through deployment console ) are supposed to be resident on mobile device 100 in step 360 . in step 365 , it is determined if changes need to be made to the mobile device . a few examples of changes that may need to be made include : 1 ) an offline application may no longer be authorized and may need to be deleted from the mobile device ; 2 ) a new application may need to be added ; 3 ) a new version of an existing application may need to be placed on the mobile device ; 4 ) a patch for an existing application may need to be installed on the mobile device ; 5 ) modular application building blocks may need to be deleted and / or installed ; and 6 ) other software such as special extra html pages and / or graphics , for example , may need to be added or deleted , such as for a “ christmas ” special . if no changes need to be made , then the routine ends . if changes do need to be made , it is determined if a deinstall or an install needs to be performed . in step 370 , it is determined if a deinstall is needed . if one is , then a data container is sent to mobile device 100 directing installation function 165 to deinstall the appropriate offline application or other software . it is then determined if an install is necessary in step 385 . if no install is needed , then the routine ends . if an install is needed , in step 390 , the offline application or other software to be installed is downloaded to - mobile device and installed automatically through the installation function 165 . this sending of the registry occurs each time there is a synchronization process . this way the deployment console keeps the mobile devices outfitted as they should be . although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described and illustrated in detail , it will be evident to those skilled in the art that various modifications and changes may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims and equivalents thereof .	8
referring to fig1 and 2 , shown therein is a gas leakage measuring device in accordance with the teachings of the present invention . the gas leakage measuring device 10 comprises a hollow container 20 , a liquid container 30 which is located within hollow container 20 , a balance mechanism 40 contained within hollow container 20 , a conduit 50 coupled to hollow container 20 supplying a reference pressure gas , a detector 60 , a measuring means 70 and a restoring mechanism 80 . the hollow container 20 is made of thin plate with openings for inlet 21 for reference pressure gas in the lower part and an outlet 22 in the upper part . inlet 21 is connected to a gas supply unit 25 of reference pressure gas by a gas pipe 23 via electromagnetic valve 24 and mechanical valve 24a . gas outlet 22 , on the other hand , is connected to a test container 28 by a gas pipe 26 via mechanical valve 27 . liquid container 30 is contained within hollow container 20 . the central portion 31 of liquid container 30 is of the same height as the outer upper edge of liquid container 30 . inlet port 32 for reference pressure gas is provided in the upper surface of central portion 31 while liquid exit port 33 is provided near the upper edge of the side wall . inlet port 34 for liquid is provided in the bottom of liquid container 30 . inlet port 32 is coupled to gas supply unit 25 via conduit pipe 50 and valve 24a . inlet port 34 is connected to liquid tank 38 which is outside hollow container 20 by pipe 35 via valve 37 . the elevation of liquid tank 38 is higher than that of liquid container 30 so that the liquid contained in liquid tank 30 will flow into liquid container 30 when the valve 37 is opened . pipe 36 is connected to exit port 33 and extends down to drain tank 39 via valve 37a which is also located outside hollow container 20 . liquid exit port 33 permits draining of a portion of the liquid in the liquid container 30 that is at a higher elevation than exit port 33 when valve 37a is opened . drain cock 37b is coupled to pipe 35 and pipe 35a extends from drain cock 37b to drain tank 39 . balance mechanism 40 comprises a balance beam 43 which is supported on an edge support 41 via a knife edge 42 . edge support 41 is installed in the central portion of hollow container 20 and screws 44 are provided at both ends of beam 43 onto which balance weights 45 are screwed . inverted floating cup 46 is attached to the underside of balance beam 43 . the opening of floating cup 46 is of a size to fit within the space between the outside of liquid container 30 and its central portion 31 . furthermore , the depth of cup 46 is such that the bottom edge of the cup will remain in contact with the fluid in liquid container 30 even when the balance beam 43 tilts and floating cup 46 raises to its uppermost position . because floating cup 46 is always in contact with the liquid in liquid container 30 , floating cup 46 divides the internal space of hollow container 20 into a cup chamber 47 within the floating cup , and a container chamber 48 . the balance mechanism 40 is so constructed that it can be balanced with floating cup 46 attached . detector 60 is a differential transformer , flexibly mounted inside hollow container 20 . the core 61 , one end of which is flexibly coupled to , and of said balance beam 43 , is slidably inserted into detector 60 . a tilt in balance beam 43 , that is an upward displacement of floating cup 46 , is measured by detector 60 as a voltage change . the voltage change is transmitted to a regulator 62 . regulator 62 is electrically coupled to a measuring apparatus 70 to measure the tilt of the balance beam 43 as a function of time . the restoring device 80 of balance beam 40 comprises a support 81 , and electro magnetic coil 82 mounted on the support 81 , and a magnet 83 attached to the underside of balance beam 43 . the device is excited by a control signal which the regulator 62 emits when the tilt of the balance beam reaches a prescribed magnitude , and it returns the balance beam 43 to a horizontal position by repulsive force between the coil 82 and the magnet 83 . stopper 49 which is fixed to the edge support 41 engages with balance beam 43 when balance beam 43 is horizontal , and prevents any further counter clockwise rotation of balance beam 43 . furthermore , electro magnetic valve 24 is electrically connected to and controlled by regulator 62 . in practice , the circuits that comprise regulator 62 are well known in the art , and the design of regulator 62 is within the knowledge of a person skilled in the art . in operation , balance mechanism 40 is set at equilibrium by adjusting the balance weights 45 with valves 24a , 27 , 37 , 37a , 37b , and electro magnetic valve 24 closed . valves 37 and 37a are then open to admit liquid into liquid container 30 . since the liquid container has liquid exit port 33 on the side wall of its central portion 31 , the liquid level will stay at this height without rising further . the valves 37 and 37a , are then closed when the liquid reaches the point . as for the liquid used , a sealing fluid with low viscosity and low volatility is preferred . valve 24a and 27 are then opened . electro magnetic valve 24 is open by a control signal from regulator 62 to equalize the pressure between the chamber 47 under floating cup 43 , the chamber 48 , test container 28 and the reference pressure gas supply unit 25 . regulator 62 then excites electro magnetic coil 82 , thus repelling magnet 83 of balance beam 43 , thereby placing balance beam 43 in a horizontal position . the signal from regulator 62 to electro magnetic coils 82 is terminated after closing valve 24 , and the inclination of balance beam 43 is measured by measuring apparatus 70 . it is desirable to start this measurement after waiting for the level in container 30 to stabilize or the inclination of the balance beam to become stationary . if there is a leak in the test container 28 , the pressure in chamber 48 will decrease with time after the start of the measurement while the pressure in floating cup chamber 47 will remain constant . accordingly , the pressure in chamber 47 will become relatively higher than the pressure in chamber 48 , thereby causing floating cup 46 and the balance beam 43 to which it is attached to rise . the inclination of the balance beam 43 will keep increasing until a pressure equalization is achieved between floating cup chamber 47 and chamber 48 . the pressure in chamber 48 is equal to that of the test container 28 . the beam inclination is converted into a voltage change by detector 60 and the inclination is measured as a function of time by means of measuring apparatus 70 . when the inclination of balance beam 43 exceeds a prescribed limit , regulator 62 dispatches a signal to open electromagnetic valve 24 , thus equalizing the pressures in test container 28 and chamber 48 with the pressure in the floating cup chamber 47 and the reference pressure gas supply unit 25 . at the same time regulator 62 temporarily excites the coil 82 to bring the balance beam 43 back to the horizontal position and the measurement is resumed . if there is a continuous leakage of gas in the test container 28 , the actions described above will occur cyclically and the continuous operation is measured and recorded by the measuring device 70 . upon termination of the test , the liquid and liquid container 30 is extracted into drain tank 39 by opening drain cock 37 for the convenience of transporting the equipment . referring to fig3 shown therein as an example of a test result where the inclination of the balance beam 43 measured by measuring device 70 is plotted as a function of time . point a in fig3 is where the pressures of the test chamber 28 , floating cup chamber 47 and chamber 48 are all brought to the same reference pressure and the balance beam 43 is in the horizontal position . as the balance beam tilts , the position of the floating cup 46 moves to points b and c . it is desirable to compute the amount of leakage beginning in the vicinity of point b with an upward motion of the floating cup stabilizes . point c in the figures where the balance beam 43 is returned to the horizontal position due to the action of restoring device 80 and point a time is where the restored floating cup resumes its upward motion . by measuring the amount of rise of the floating cup in a span of time bc in the figure , the amount of leakage δ l of the test container 28 over the time increment can be computed by the following relation . here r is the radius of the floating cup , h is its upward displacement , v 1 is the internal volume of the reference tank , and v 2 is the internal volume of the test container . it should be apparent to one skilled in the art that even though the above described embodiment is prescribed in terms of restoring device 80 being triggered by prescribed angle of inclination of balance beam 43 , it is also possible to use a timer and to operate the restoring device 80 at a prescribed time after initiation of a measurement . furthermore , it should be apparent that restoring device 80 is not limited only to electromagnetic repulsion devices but could be an electromagnetic attraction device by altering its placement or some other mechanical or other means that will restore the balance beam to a horizontal position . furthermore , detecting device 60 is not limited to a differential type transformer , but could be a potentiometer , or a variable capacitor or any other means that will detect a displacement of the balance beam . in addition , the application of the apparatus of the present invention is not limited to the measurement of gas leakage of a gas - tight container , but can also be used to test function of other test specimens such as open - closed systems , pipeline systems , and so on . as stated above , the present invention , which is an apparatus for measuring gas leakage in which a hollow container is connected to a reference gas supply and a test container . a liquid container and a balance mechanism are mounted in the hollow container and inverted floating cup is attached to the underside of a balanced beam of a balanced mechansim and is immersed in the liquid container . a reference pressure gas is introduced by a conduit into the floating cup , and the upward displacement of the floating cup is detected by the detector and measured by the measuring device , and the equilibrium of the inclined balance beam is restored by a restoring device . this device eliminates the dead zone of measurement which has been unavoidable due to an unbalanced weight of the balance beam using conventional methods , and achieves a highly sensitive and accurate quantitative measurement of the gas leakage . in all cases , it is understood that the above - described embodiment is merely illustrative of but one of many possible specific embodiments which represent the application of the principles of the present invention . furthermore , numerous and varied other arrangements can be readily devised in accordance with the principles of the present invention by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention .	6

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