Split (3)

train · 25k rows

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the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in a clearly and fully understandable way in connection with the drawings . it is obvious that the described embodiments are just a part but not all of the embodiments of the present disclosure . based on the embodiments of the present disclosure , those skilled in the art can obtain other embodiment ( s ), without any inventive work , which should be within the scope of the present disclosure . in a related art , because an array substrate and a color filter substrate respectively include a glass substrate and a layer structure formed on the glass substrate , a thickness of the glass substrate is generally 0 . 5 mm in order to provide a supporting strength during manufacturing the layer structure . after the array substrate and the color filter substrate are cell - assembled , thinning treatment needs to be performed on the glass substrates , to reduce a thickness of a display panel . in the related art , the thinning treatment is performed after a display panel motherboard is formed , the thickness of the glass substrate is generally reduced by etching the glass substrate with an etching solution , and a general etching solution is acidic etching solution . in order to prevent the display panel from being corroded by the etching solution , when the array substrate motherboard and the color filter substrate motherboard are cell - assembled , first sealant is arranged in a first packaging region of the array substrate motherboard and the color filter substrate motherboard , the first packaging region surrounding all display panel units , so as to perform sealing . meanwhile , second sealant is arranged in a second packaging region in a periphery of the array substrate and the color filter substrate of each display plane unit , and the second sealant is mainly used for sealing a liquid crystal layer . in the related art , the second sealant is same as the first sealant and has a good water vapor isolation effect and good adhesiveness . but , because , generally , the second sealant is formed by screen printing , while the first sealant is formed by coating , when bubbles and foreign substances present in the first sealant 11 , breakage is likely to happen to form a notch . therefore , when the thinning treatment is performed on the glass substrate , the acidic etching solution easily enters the display panel and etches the display panel unit , and a yield of a product is reduced . embodiments of the present disclosure provide a sealant and a preparation method thereof , and a display panel motherboard and a manufacturing method thereof , in which the sealant swells in water , and therefore a notch position can be automatically healed , which thus reduces a possibility that when thinning treatment is performed on a glass substrate , acidic etching solution enters a display panel and etches the display panel , and improves a yield of a product . an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a sealant , including : a body adhesive material and a water swellable material dispersed and doped in the body adhesive material . the water swellable material can be any substance swelling after absorbing water . for example , the water swellable material includes at least one of sodium polyacrylate , polyvinyl alcohol , hydrophilic polyurethane or hydrophilic rubber . taking that the water swellable material is the hydrophilic rubber which contains enough amount of hydrophilic groups or substances as an example , when the hydrophilic rubber makes contact with water , the water can enter the hydrophilic rubber by means of surface adsorbing , capillary action , diffusion and the like and forms strong bonding force with the hydrophilic groups or substances in the rubber ; along with continuous increase of water molecules , the rubber expands and deforms , and when anti - deformation force and osmotic pressure reach balance , a shape of the hydrophilic rubber is kept relatively stable . the body adhesive material mainly includes an adhesive material with adhesiveness , and components of the body adhesive material are not limited in the embodiment of the present disclosure . in the sealant provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure , the water swellable material is dispersed and doped in the body adhesive material . therefore , in a case that the sealant is disconnected in the middle , automatic connection can be achieved after the sealant encounters water , absorbs the water and swells . for example , a value of a water swelling rate of the water swellable material ranges from 110 % to 200 %. herein , the water swelling rate of the water swellable material refers to a ratio in percentage of a size after the water swellable material absorbs water to a size before the water swellable material absorbs water , in percentage . it should be noted that , a water swelling rate of an existing water swellable material is generally greater than 100 %, and the water swellable material in the sealant can be materials with different water swelling rates according to application of the sealant . the embodiment of the present disclosure is illustrated with that the sealant is mainly used for cell - assembling an array substrate motherboard and a color filter substrate motherboard , taking the value of the water swelling rate of the water swellable material ranging from 110 % to 200 % as an example . for example , the body adhesive material includes : light - cured resin , a photoinitiator , a curing agent , a coupling agent and a silicone ball . for example , a value of a mass percentage of the water swellable material in the sealant ranges from 20 % to 30 %. considering that the water swellable material mainly swells in water , a mass percentage of the water swellable material in the sealant should not be too high . the embodiment of the present disclosure is illustrated with that the sealant is mainly used for cell - assembling of the array substrate motherboard and the color filter substrate motherboard , and the value of the mass percentage of the water swellable material in the sealant ranges from 20 % to 30 % as an example . exemplarily , the sealant can includes , in mass percentage , 40 %- 50 % of light - cured resin , 1 %- 5 % of epoxy resin , 0 . 5 %- 1 % of photoinitiator , 5 %- 10 % of curing agent , 1 %- 2 % of coupling agent , 1 %- 5 % of si ball processed by safety gas , and 20 %- 30 % of the water swellable material . for example , the light - cured resin can be low - viscosity epoxy acrylate light - cured resin with relative molecular mass being 5000 - 100000 , and for example , can be bisphenol a type epoxy acrylate , phenolic epoxy acrylate and the like . the photoinitiator can be a peroxide such as benzoperoxide , lauroyl peroxide , azodiisobutyronitrile . the curing agent can be a common curing agent such as fatty amine , aromatic amine an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a preparation method of a sealant , including : mixing and stirring a water swellable material and a material forming a body adhesive material in proportion in a dry environment , so that the water swellable material can be dispersed and doped in the material forming body adhesive material . exemplarily , a composition material of the body adhesive material includes light - cured resin , a photoinitiator , a curing agent , a coupling agent and the like . according to the mass percentage of the sealant provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure , the light - cured resin , the photoinitiator , the curing agent , the coupling agent and the water swellable material are mixed and stirred . it should be noted that in a case that the body adhesive material further includes a silicon ball , the silicon ball is added and stirred after the light - cured resin , the photoinitiator , the curing agent , the coupling agent and the water swellable material are mixed and stirred . for example , the dry environment can be an environment with relative humidity being 10 % or less . in order to guarantee quality of the sealant , mixing and stirring are performed , for example , in an environment with cleanliness of level 10000 ( for example , a maximum allowed number of dust particles greater than or equal to 0 . 5 micron per cubic meter is 350000 , a maximum allowed number of dust particles greater than or equal to 5 micron per cubic meter is 2000 , a maximum allowed number of airborne bacterium microorganisms per cubic meter is 100 , and a maximum number of settling microbes per dish is 3 ). viscosity of the formed sealant is generally 240 pa · s - 360 pa · s . for example , the viscosity of the formed sealant is 300 pa · s . for example , after the water swellable material and the material forming the body adhesive material are mixed and stirred in proportion , defoaming treatment is performed on the body adhesive material where the water swellable material is dispersed and doped . for example , the body adhesive material where the water swellable material is dispersed and doped can be placed in a vacuum kettle , air pressure is controlled at 10 − 6 pa or less , and stirring is performed for 30 minutes , so that bubbles in the sealant can be further reduced . an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a display panel motherboard , as shown in fig1 to fig3 , including : a first substrate motherboard 10 and a second substrate motherboard 20 which are cell - assembled with each other . as shown in fig1 and fig2 , the first substrate motherboard 10 includes a plurality of first substrate units 100 , the second substrate motherboard 20 includes a plurality of second substrate units 200 , and the first substrate units 100 correspond to the second substrate units 200 in one - to - one correspondence . the first substrate motherboard 10 and the second substrate motherboard 20 is provided with first sealant 11 in a first packaging region r 1 , and the first packaging region r 1 is a region surrounding the plurality of first substrate units and the plurality of second substrate units , wherein , the first sealant 11 is the sealant provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure . the first substrate unit 10 and the second substrate unit 20 are provided with second sealant 12 in a second packaging region r 2 . as shown in fig1 to fig3 , taking that the display panel is a liquid crystal display panel as an example , the liquid crystal layers 30 are filled between the first substrate motherboard 10 and the second substrate motherboard 20 , wherein the second packaging region is a region surrounding the liquid crystal layer 30 . of course , the display panel can also be an oled display panel or an electronic paper display panel or the like . the embodiment of the present disclosure and the drawings are only illustrated in detail by taking that the display panel is the liquid crystal display panel as an example . the first sealant 11 is the sealant provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure , and thus a water swellable material is dispersed and doped in the first sealant . the second sealant is used for surrounding the liquid crystal layer and thus mainly needs to have a good water vapor isolation effect and good adhesiveness , and therefore the second sealant may not be the sealant provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure . a function of the first sealant in manufacturing of the display panel motherboard is illustrated in detail in combination with a manufacturing method of the display panel motherboard . an embodiment of the present disclosure provided a manufacturing method of a display panel motherboard , as shown in fig4 , including : s 201 : forming a first substrate motherboard and a second substrate motherboard , wherein the first substrate motherboard includes a plurality of first substrate units , and the second substrate motherboard includes a plurality of second substrate units . for example , taking that the display panel is a liquid crystal display panel as an example , the first substrate motherboard can be an array substrate motherboard , the second substrate motherboard can be a color filter substrate motherboard . then , the first substrate unit can be an array substrate , and the second substrate unit can be a color filter substrate . one array substrate and one color filter substrate are cell - assembled to form the display panel unit , such as a mobile phone display panel . s 202 : forming first sealant on the first motherboard in a first packaging region , and forming second sealant on the first substrate unit in a second packaging region . the first packaging region is a region surrounding the plurality of first substrate units , and the first sealant is the sealant provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure . as shown in fig1 , the first sealant 11 surrounds a plurality of display panel units p . s 203 : arranging the first motherboard unit and the second motherboard opposite to each other , and bonding the first substrate motherboard and the second substrate motherboard by the first sealant and the second sealant . as shown in fig2 , the first substrate units 100 in the first substrate motherboard 10 correspond to the second substrate units 200 in the second substrate motherboard 20 in one - to - one correspondence . s 204 : performing thinning treatment on the first substrate motherboard and / or the second substrate motherboard , to obtain the display panel motherboard . the display panel motherboard includes a plurality of display panel units . as shown in fig3 , one display panel unit includes the first substrate unit and the second substrate unit cell - assembled with each other by the second sealant 12 . for example , the thinning treatment performed on the first substrate motherboard and / or the second substrate motherboard , generally is etching a glass substrate of the first substrate motherboard and / or the second substrate motherboard by acidic etching solution , so as to reduce a thickness of the glass substrate , and therefore the display panel can be lighter and thinner . in the manufacturing method of the display panel motherboard provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure , the first substrate motherboard and the second substrate motherboard are packaged by the first sealant , wherein the water swellable material is dispersed and doped in the body adhesive material in the first sealant . in this way , when the thinning treatment is performed on the first substrate motherboard and / or the second substrate motherboard , if the first sealant has a notch , the acidic etching solution makes contact with the first sealant at a position of the notch , the water swellable material in the first sealant adsorbs water and then swells , and the notch is made to be automatically closed , which thus prevents the acidic etching solution from etching the display panel , and improves a yield of a product . for example , before the thinning treatments is performed on the first substrate motherboard and / or the second substrate motherboard , the manufacturing method of the display panel motherboard further includes : performing curing treatment on the first sealant . as shown in fig5 , after the above step s 204 , the manufacturing method of the display panel motherboard provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure , further includes : s 205 : cutting the display panel motherboard to form a plurality of display panel units . the display panel motherboard is cut along a dashed line as shown in fig2 , and the obtained display panel units are as shown in fig3 . although the embodiment of the disclosure has been described above in great detail with general descriptions and specific embodiments , on the basis of the embodiment of the disclosure , various changes and improvements may be made , which is apparent to those skilled in the art . therefore , all such changes and improvements without departing from the spirit of the disclosure are within the scope of the claims of the disclosure . the present application claims priority of chinese patent application no . 201510629709 . 2 filed on sep . 28 , 2015 , the present disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety as part of the present application .	7
the present inventors noted that cellular providers might be able to make more income if they provided incentives for use of the cellular network . game use over the cellular network might be one way to obtain more use . however , since the games that are typically packaged with a cellular phone are free , it is believed that there would be significant resistance from consumers if one were to attempt to charge for playing other games over the mobile network . the present application describes a technique whereby people are incentivized by a revenue participation model . according to an embodiment shown in fig1 , an owner of a cellular phone 100 produces a video or takes a picture , or makes a game to be played by others , using their mobile phone . in the embodiment , the video / image / game is sent wirelessly over 105 to the switching office 110 , from which it can be downloaded by other cell phone users 115 , or laptop / desktop etc users 120 . the mobile network may produce a “ downloads ” screen 113 , which shows and arranges the items that can be downloaded . for example , this may include videos and games , and further detail within each of those items that is selected . the owner receives a reward , e . g . money , credit , promotional items , or the like for successful production . one embodiment uses the built - in video camera 101 that is part of a cellular phone 100 or other portable handheld device . this allows phone owners , e . g ., teenagers and other mobile phone owners , to create their own content driven videos . the teenagers can edit clips that they receive or make , and publish those clips on the internet 116 or over a special network over the mobile phones . fig2 illustrates the revenue stream . each time someone views the clip that is created , the author receives some kind of reward . the reward is received from either the host internet platform provider , from the cellular provider , or from an advertiser , for example . for example , cellular network providers such as sprint or t - mobile may charge subscribers to send and receive videos , still pictures , or download games . at present , the cellular provider charges $ 0 . 99 to send or receive video clips , and between $ 1 . 99 and $ 6 . 99 to download video games which can be played on the cell phone or pda . the present system can be used in connection with a cellular provider who receives payment for the use of the cellular network . once so paid , the provider compensates the originator of the content so downloaded , as a bonus for the originator causing the cellular network to be used in this way . in this way , the cellular provider provides rewards for those users who create interesting content that is used by other users of the cellular provider . it encourages users to make content that can be used over the cellular network , and hence encourages those users to use the cellular network . moreover , it encourages users to create content that they think will be popular , since such creation ends up getting them some monetary rewards . take an example of a teenager named johnny who captures a 30 second clip of someone surfing a big wave in hawaii . the teenager can then send that clip via the cellular phone to the internet gateway provider who broadcasts the clip from their website via the internet . each time that clip is downloaded , the individual may be billed some amount , for example $ 0 . 99 . some portion of that billed fee goes to johnny , for example in this embodiment , johnny may receive $ 0 . 10 each time the cellular clip is downloaded . users are hence rewarded for making popular clips . for example in the embodiment above , if 10 , 000 teenagers download the surfing clip , then johnny will make $ 1000 in cash , prizes or cash equivalents . the cellular provider also collects 89 cents each time the clip is downloaded , hence also making substantial income from this operation . an internet access counter 200 keeps track of the number of viewers of a clip . this allows telling and compensating the clip provider , so that the clip provider can understand how many people have actually viewed , and are actually viewing , the clip . in addition , moreover , while the above has described the clip producer receiving cash rewards , it should be understood that the producer can alternatively receive other kinds of rewards , such as free services , discounts , or the like . another embodiment shows the most commonly downloaded items as 205 . for example , these most commonly downloaded items may be the most commonly downloaded videos or games . human nature may dictate that people would prefer now to download more popular items , so these most popular items are preferentially shown to the users . other embodiments may allow posting artistic style photos that can be shared , or games that can be shared . for example , a user may obtain a software development kit for games , and make games that are played on the portable device . the games are then downloadable , and can be played on the portable devices . the general structure and techniques , and more specific embodiments which can be used to effect different ways of carrying out the more general goals are described herein . although only a few embodiments have been disclosed in detail above , other embodiments are possible and the inventors intend these to be encompassed within this specification . the specification describes specific examples to accomplish a more general goal that may be accomplished in another way . this disclosure is intended to be exemplary , and the claims are intended to cover any modification or alternative which might be predictable to a person having ordinary skill in the art . for example , other items can be downloadable in this way . also , the inventors intend that only those claims which use the words “ means for ” are intended to be interpreted under 35 usc 112 , sixth paragraph . moreover , no limitations from the specification are intended to be read into any claims , unless those limitations are expressly included in the claims . the computers described herein may be any kind of computer , either general purpose , or some specific purpose computer such as a workstation . the computer may be an intel ( e . g ., pentium or core 2 duo ) or amd based computer , running windows xp or linux , or may be a macintosh computer . the computer may also be a handheld computer , such as a pda , cellphone , or laptop . the programs may be written in c or python , or java , brew or any other programming language . the programs may be resident on a storage medium , e . g ., magnetic or optical , e . g . the computer hard drive , a removable disk or media such as a memory stick or sd media , wired or wireless network based or bluetooth based network attached storage ( nas ), or other removable medium . or other removable medium . the programs may also be run over a network , for example , with a server or other machine sending signals to the local machine , which allows the local machine to carry out the operations described herein . where a specific numerical value is mentioned herein , it should be considered that the value may be increased or decreased by 20 %, while still staying within the teachings of the present application , unless some different range is specifically mentioned . where a specified logical sense is used , the opposite logical sense is also intended to be encompassed .	6
referring first to fig1 and 2 , the device 10 of the invention includes a tubular , generally parallelepiped - shaped framework 12 . a generally cylindrical seed - metering chamber 14 is supported above floor level by transverse frame members 12 . 1 , 12 . 2 , and has an upper open end to receive seeds from an upper seed hopper 16 . the seed - metering chamber 14 has an inwardly tapered bottom with an open lower end 14 . 1 for releasing seeds into a receiving chamber 18 . a liquid metering tank , shown generally as 20 is also supported by the framework at approximately the same level as the seed - metering chamber , and a liquid conduit 20 . 1 leads from the liquid - metering tank 20 to the receiving chamber 18 to contact seeds released from the seed - metering chamber 14 . treating liquid is stored in storage tanks 20 . 2 positioned at either side of and below the liquid - metering tank 20 , and electrically powered pumps 20 . 3 convey liquid upwardly to the liquid - metering tank through pipes 20 . 4 . extending upwardly at an oblique angle is an auger designated generally as 24 for conveying seeds and liquid from the receiving chamber 18 with concurrent agitation of the seeds to provide thorough and intimate contact of the seeds with the liquid . the upper end of the auger 24 includes a spout 24 . 1 from which the treated seeds issue for collection in a suitable container . the auger is driven by an electric motor ( not shown ) at its lower end beyond its intersection with the receiving chamber 18 . referring now to fig3 the seed - metering chamber 14 has generally cylindrical upright walls 14 . 2 and a tapered , cone - shaped bottom 14 . 3 for guiding seeds ( shown as 13 ) through its open lower end into the upper open end 18 . 1 of the receiving chamber 18 . the metering chamber 14 is provided at its open upper end with a cover 14 . 4 having a central opening which receives the open lower end 16 . 1 of an upper seed hopper 16 . an adjustable gate 14 . 5 which rides on the top of the cover 14 . 4 is movable through a horizontal slot in the mouth 16 . 1 of the hopper to adjust the flow rate of seeds from the hopper . an axle 14 . 6 passes transversely through the seed - metering chamber 14 and extends from the opposing side walls 14 . 2 . rigidly mounted to the axle 14 . 6 is a &# 34 ; flip - flop &# 34 ; metering balance shown generally as 17 in fig3 the balance having a bottom plate 17 . 1 and a center plate 17 . 2 arising from the center of the bottom plate 17 . 1 and making a right angle with the bottom plate . side walls 17 . 3 are mounted at either side of the upright plate 17 . 2 and bottom plate 17 . 1 as shown in fig3 so that the balance is generally u - shaped in cross section with the side walls 17 . 3 forming the legs of the u and the bottom plate 17 . 1 forming the crossbar of the u . the metering balance is rigidly attached to the axle 14 . 6 , the latter passing through the opposed side walls 17 . 3 and closely adjacent the upright plate 17 . 2 spaced slightly above the bottom plate 17 . 1 . rigidly attached to one end 14 . 7 of the axle which protrudes through a side wall of the metering chamber is a generally upright staff 14 . 8 having a weight 14 . 9 movable along its length . the weight is positioned above the level of the axle 14 . 6 so that the center of gravity of the balance and weighted staff 14 . 8 is above the axle 14 . 6 . in this manner , the balance plate may cycle ( flip - flop ) between the position shown in solid lines and in phantom lines in fig3 . suitable stops ( not shown ) are employed to limit the amount of movement from one side to other of the balance . the center plate 17 . 2 of the balance divides the balance into two seed - receiving compartments , and the cycling of the balance from one side to the other positions one or the other of these compartments directly underneath the mouth 16 . 1 of the upper seed hopper 16 . as will now be understood , seeds which are dropped from the hopper mouth 16 . 1 will fall into one of the balance compartments ( the right hand compartment shown in solid lines in fig3 ) until the weight of seeds in that compartment is sufficiently great to cause the balance and weight staff 14 . 8 to move to its other position as shown in phantom lines in fig3 . the seeds contained in the right hand compartment will thus be discharged from that compartment and released to the conical bottom wall 14 . 3 of the seed - metering chamber and thence into the receiving chamber 18 . simultaneously , the seeds which continue to fall onto the balance will be received in the left hand most compartment until the seeds in that compartment become too weighty , at which time the process is repeated . the axle 14 . 6 , metering balance 17 and weighted staff 14 . 8 form a rigid structure , and movement or flip - flop of the balance from one side to the other as it releases consecutive batches of seeds to the receiving chamber causes the axle 14 . 6 to rock back and forth about its axis . the weight of each batch of seeds which is released ( and hence the frequency of consecutive batches ) can be adjusted closely by varying the position of the weight 14 . 9 along the length of the staff 14 . 8 . although the frequency with which consecutive batches of seeds are released to the receiving chamber does not change the overall through put of seeds , it does have a controlling influence upon the rate at which liquid is added to the receiving chamber , as will now be explained . the liquid - metering tank 20 is shown best in fig5 and 6 and includes a generally rectangular walled container 20 . 5 having a removable cover 20 . 6 and a tapered , generally rounded bottom 20 . 7 . a supply pipe 20 . 4 ( fig1 and 5 ) supplies seed - treating liquid from the storage tanks 20 . 2 to the liquid - metering tank on a substantially continuous basis . an upright level control tube 20 . 8 is mounted in the tank and has its open upper end at a level with the desired level of liquid in the tank . the tube 20 . 8 is equipped with a fitting through the bottom of the tank to drain excess fluid through tube 20 . 9 back into the liquid tanks 20 . 2 . a receiver tube 21 rises from the bottom of the tank 20 and has an outwardly flared upper end 21 . 1 with an upright lip 21 . 2 arising from its periphery . a horizontal filter screen 21 . 3 is carried within the lip 21 . 2 , as shown best in fig6 . at its lower end , the receiver tube 21 is provided with appropriate fittings 21 . 4 for passage through the bottom of the tank , and a flexible tube 20 . 1 is attached to the tube 21 exteriorly of the tank to convey liquid downwardly to the receiving chamber 18 . containers 21 . 5 , 21 . 6 are movably mounted at either side of the mouth 21 . 7 of the receiver tube 21 , as shown best in fig6 by means of transport linkages , so that the containers alternately dip into the liquid 21 . 8 in the tank and convey a predetermined amount of liquid upwardly and dump the liquid into the mouth 21 . 7 . the liquid thence passes through the filter 21 . 3 , through the receiver tube 21 and is conveyed by tube 20 . 1 to the receiving chamber 18 of the device . as shown best in fig6 - 8 , each of the containers 21 . 5 , 21 . 6 has a base plate 21 . 9 from which arises side plates 22 , 22 . 1 and end plate 22 . 2 . as shown in fig7 the side and end plates may be formed from a single length of metal sheeting by bending the sheet into a generally u - shaped cross section with the legs of the u forming the side walls 22 , 22 . 1 , and then welding or soldering the u - shaped sheet to the periphery of the base plate 21 . 9 . an axle 22 . 3 is affixed to the container adjacent the juncture of the base and end plates , and the ends of the axle protrude slightly from the side plates . the axle 14 . 6 , which is rocked back and forth about its axis by the metering balance 17 , has an end 15 which protrudes from the side of the seed - metering chamber 14 . a crank arm 15 . 1 is rigidly connected to the end 15 of the axle by a connecting arm 15 . 2 , and extends parallel to the axle so that as the latter rocks back and forth about its axis , the crank arm 15 . 1 sweeps out an arc above the axis of the axle 14 . 6 . the walls 20 . 5 of the tank 20 are provided with a large , central notch 23 to afford room for movement of the crank arm 15 . 1 . a connector block 15 . 3 is mounted to the crank arm 15 . 1 by means of bolts or the like . from the sides of the connector block extend bars 15 . 4 , 15 . 5 , with transversely bent outward ends . pivotally mounted to the ends of the bars 15 . 4 , 15 . 5 are struts 15 . 6 , 15 . 7 which are pivotally attached at their other ends to the upper edge of the end wall 22 . 2 of the containers 21 . 5 , 21 . 6 , respectively . shorter struts 15 . 8 , 15 . 9 are pivotally mounted at their ends to the mouth 21 . 7 of the receiving tube 21 , and to the outwardly projecting ends of the axle 22 . 3 mounted to the containers 21 . 5 , 21 . 6 . the various lengths of the struts 15 . 6 , 15 . 7 , 15 . 8 , 15 . 9 are so chosen that when the crank arm 15 . 1 is in its right - most position as shown in fig6 and 8 , the left - most container 21 . 5 is in position to dump its contents into the receiving tube 21 ; that is , the base plate 21 . 9 of the container 21 . 5 slopes downwardly toward its open end which in turn protrudes within the mouth of the receiving tube 21 . in this position , the other container 21 . 6 is oriented so that any fluid therewithin may drain along its downwardly and outwardly slanted end plate 22 . 2 . as the crank arm 15 . 1 is thereafter swung to the left toward the position shown in phantom lines in fig8 the strut 15 . 7 ( fig6 ) is moved upwardly , causing the container 21 . 6 to initially rotate generally counterclockwise about the axle 22 . 3 into a liquid - carrying position . further movement of the crank arm 15 . 1 to the left causes the container 21 . 6 to swing upwardly and to dump its contents into the mouth of the receiving tube . concurrently , the strut 15 . 6 swings the left - most container 21 . 5 outwardly and downwardly into the position shown in phantom lines in fig8 in which it also is in a draining position . in this manner , each release of a batch of seeds from the metering balance results in a discharge of liquid from one of the containers into the receiving tube 21 . the rate at which liquid is discharged into the receiving tube is a function of the frequency with which the axle 14 . 6 is rocked back and forth on its axis . it may in some instances be desirable to change the capacity of the containers 21 . 5 , 21 . 6 , and for this purpose a plug 23 . 1 of plastic or other inert material ( shown in phantom lines in fig7 ) may be inserted into the containers to reduce their liquid - holding capacity . the auger , shown generally as 24 in fig1 and 2 , comprises an upwardly and outwardly slanted shaft 24 . 2 carrying a helical thread or ribbon 24 . 3 , the lower end of the shaft passing through a bearing 24 . 4 at the bottom of the receiving chamber 18 , and being driven by an electric motor ( not shown ) by means of belt and pulley 24 . 5 , 24 . 6 . a barrel 24 . 7 , of circular cross section , spacingly surrounds the helical threads 24 . 3 . the shaft 24 . 2 is driven in a direction so as to transport seeds from the receiving chamber upwardly within the barrel 24 . 7 . at its upper end , the barrel 24 . 3 is provided with a t - coupling 24 . 1 for use as a spout in discharging treated seeds from the device of the invention . the receiving chamber 18 , as shown best in fig1 is a generally y - shaped structure with one leg of the y rising generally vertically and terminating in an enlarged section 18 . 1 within which is received the lower open end 14 . 1 of the seed - metering chamber 14 . the other leg of the y extends outwardly and upwardly at an oblique angle to the horizontal and terminates upwardly in an enlarged diameter portion 18 . 2 within which is received the lower end of the barrel 24 . 7 . the latter - mentioned leg of the y - shaped receiving chamber extends downwardly and abuts the slanted upper plate 18 . 4 of a housing 18 . 3 , within which is also received the lower end of the rotating shaft 24 . 2 . the generally upright leg of the receiving chamber merges into and is joined to the slanted leg approximately midway along the length of the slanted leg , all as shown in fig1 . the slanted upper plate 18 . 4 of the housing 18 . 3 is provided with a pair of outwardly extending curved flanges 18 . 5 , 18 . 6 ( fig1 and 4 ). the flanges are so curved as to respectively lie flushly against the outer and inner peripheral surfaces of the lower , slanted end of the receiving chamber 18 , as shown best in fig4 . a spring loaded clamp 18 . 7 passes around the flanges and lower end of the receiving compartment to rigidly hold the lower receiving compartment end flushly against the slanted plate 18 . 4 of the gear box . at its upper end , the barrel 24 . 7 is provided with a bearing ( not shown ) through which the shaft 24 . 2 protrudes to center the shaft and its helical threads within the barrel . the seed - metering chamber 14 , hopper 16 and liquid - metering tank 20 preferably are all made of stainless steel sheeting to avoid any corrosive effect of various treating liquids . the receiving chamber 18 , and the barrel 24 . 7 enclosing the helically threaded shaft 24 . 2 , however , are desirably of plastic such as polyvinyl chloride . the barrel 24 . 7 may have an inner diameter of four inches , whereas the outer diameter of the threads 24 . 3 may be on the order of three inches . the barrel and receiving chamber may be economically fabricated from commercially available plastic pipe and &# 34 ; y &# 34 ; pipe connectors , of the type employed in conventional residential and commercial plumbing systems . as described , the device of the invention is extremely easy to disassemble and clean . by disengaging the spring loaded clamp 18 . 7 from the bottom of the receiving chamber 18 , and by lifting the seed - metering chamber 14 upwardly slightly , the barrel 24 . 7 and the receiving chamber 18 may be removed as a unit from the device for cleaning . this also permits the exposed flights of threads 24 . 3 to be cleaned . similarly , the hopper 16 and the cover 14 . 4 of the seed - metering chamber may be removed for cleaning . by removing the cover 20 . 6 of the liquid - metering tank , the liquid - metering device is fully exposed for cleaning . in operation , the seeds to be treated are placed in the hopper 16 and are permitted to fall at a regulated rate through the open bottom or mouth 16 . 1 of the hopper into one or the other of the compartments of the metering balance 17 . as the metering balance compartments are alternately filled and emptied , the axle 14 . 6 is caused to rock back and forth which in turn causes the crank arm 15 . 1 in the liquid metering tank to similarly move back and forth through an arc . the containers 21 . 5 , 21 . 6 are thus alternately dipped into the liquid 21 . 8 in the tank and are emptied into the large mouth of the receiving tube 21 . the seeds from the metering chamber 14 merge with the liquid from the metering tank 20 in the receiving chamber 18 . operation of the auger causes the seeds and liquid to be augered upwardly through the barrel 24 . 7 , and the augering action causes the seeds , which fill the barrel , to rub against each other and thus to spread treating liquid over substantially the entire surface of the seeds . the thus treated seeds exit from the spout 24 . 1 at the top of the auger . the rate at which seeds are treated in the device of the invention depends upon the rate at which seeds are permitted to pass by the gate 14 . 5 at the bottom of the seed hopper 16 , as shown in fig3 . the quantity of treating liquid which enters the receiving chamber 18 depends upon the frequency with which the metering balance 17 flip - flops back and forth , and upon the capacity of the containers 21 . 5 , 21 . 6 in the liquid metering tank . the frequency with which the metering balance 17 flip - flops in turn depends upon the position of the weight 14 . 9 along the staff 14 . 8 . the capacity of the containers 21 . 5 , 21 . 6 may be changed by the use of inserts ( 23 . 1 in fig7 ). the relative amounts of seeds and treating liquid thus can be varied widely . after use , the liquid metering tank 20 is appropriately drained to the storage tanks 20 . 2 . as the liquid level in the tank 20 falls below the level of the containers 21 . 5 , 21 . 6 , the containers drain into the tank , and very little liquid is thus retained . the struts 15 . 6 - 15 . 9 may be made of stiff , stainless steel wire having looped ends so that the wires , and the containers , can be easily removed for separate cleaning . the filter screen 21 . 3 desirably is removable upwardly from the receiving tube 21 for cleaning . thus , i have provided relatively low cost device for treating seeds with liquid so that seeds may be treated economically by individual farmers at their farms . the device is easily and inexpensively manufactured and assembled , and can be easily disassembled for cleaning following a seed - treating operation . the liquid - metering device is self - draining to greatly reduce the retention of treating liquid in the device , and the ratio of seeds to liquid can be varied widely to accommodate different sizes and types of seeds and different types of treating liquid . with the device of the invention , for example , each of the containers may have a capacity of approximately ten cubic centimeters and the device may be capable of handling from eightly to ninety bushels per hour of small grains such as wheat , or up to seventy bushels per hour of larger grains such as corn . in normal operation , the frequency of flip - flops of the metering balance may be on the order of one per second . despite the space between the threads of the threaded shaft and the surrounding tube , the device operates to yield substantially completely coated seeds . the through put of the device can , of course , be reduced greatly from the figures set out above simply by adjusting the slide plate restricting the flow rate of seeds from the hopper into the metering balance compartment ; in this event , it is desirable to adjust the device so that the metering balance flip - flops ( and the liquid containers discharge into the receiving chamber ) at a relatively high frequency . the amount of liquid conveyed during each cycle may be reduced through the use of the inserts , as explained above . while i have described a preferred embodiment of the present invention , it should be understood that various changes , adaptations , and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claims .	0
the preferred embodiments of the present invention described herein are designed for use in a seatbelt pretensioner device . the gas generant of the preferred embodiments consists essentially of a fuel source comprising 5 - at , adca , and superfine aluminum powder , an oxidizer , and a binder . the fuel source preferably comprises a ternary solid solution of the 5 - at , adca , and nano - aluminum powder , and the gas generant preferably includes an inorganic oxidizer such as potassium perchlorate , ammonium perchlorate , sodium nitrate or mixture thereof , or an organic oxidizer such as guanidine nitrate . a binder material ( preferably hydrocarbon - based ) such as isobutylene rubber , nipol ® rubber or isoprene rubber is also incorporated in a very low concentration . the oxidizing agent is not limited specifically and can be selected from those conventionally used in this field . preferred are those with high oxygen balance , for example , nitrates , oxides , perchlorates , etc . also , other certain metals of a suitably fine particle size ( in the nanometer or micron range ) may serve as a suitable flame spread enhancer and burn rate catalyst in place of the aluminum , such as fine boron powder . the generally acceptable ranges for each important constituent of the present invention are set forth in table 1 , although it will be recognized by one of ordinary skill in the art that further additives may also be included within the scope of the present invention , for purposes such as processing control and other common objectives . the examples of table 2 were prepared as follows . first , a ternary mixture of 5 - at ( 97 % min . purity , from aldrich chemical co . of milwaukee , wis . ), adca ( 2 . 0 to 2 . 4μ avg . particle size , from crompton corp . of middlebury , ct ), and nano - aluminum powder ( 0 . 09 to 5μ particle size , available from technanogy corp of irvine , calif . or hummel croton of south plainfield , n . j .) was prepared by adding the prescribed amount of each component to a carrier solvent ( preferably ethyl acetate or acetone ), with the nano - aluminum powder preferably being added last , and blending in a high - shear blender for fifteen minutes . the resulting solid solution was then oven - dried and spatulated to a dry powder , although it alternately ( and preferably for cost - effective processing ) can be used as a slurry in the carrier solvent . next , the prescribed amount of rubber binder ( nipol ® ar53l — acrylonitrile & lt ; 10 ppm , from zeon chemicals of louisville , ky .) was added to acetone ( although any other compatible carrier solvent could be used ) in a bottle and rolled on a jar mill until completely dissolved . then , the prescribed amount of the prepared ternary solid solution was weighed out and added to a two - gallon high - shear mixer . after this , the prescribed amount of dissolved binder was also added to the mixer , which was then operated for five minutes . next , the oxidizer for examples 1 - 3 , 5 , and 6 ( kclo 4 , 99 % min . purity , from gfs chemical of columbus , ohio ) was ground to 7 micron particle size except in example 2 , in which the oxidizer was left un - ground . the oxidizer in example 4 ( 50 % nano 3 , 99 % min . purity , from columbus chemical co . of columbus , wi , mixed with 50 % nh 4 clo 4 , 98 . 5 % min . purity , also from gfs chemical ) was also left un - ground . the oxidizer in each example was then added to the solvent / ternary solid solution / binder mix , and the mixer was operated for an additional twenty minutes . the mixer was then stopped , and the blades and the bowl were scraped down to ensure all of the ingredients are in the mixture . a vacuum was then applied to the mixer while mixing until the mix formed spherical grains ( generally ranging from 0 . 2 to 2 mm in diameter ). the propellant mix was then placed in a stainless steel pan in an oven ( at about 70 ° c .) until completely dry , and the resulting dried propellant mix removed from the oven and sieved to classify to different cuts ( different particle size ranges ). many other suitable variations and alternates to the foregoing formulas and processes will be readily apparent to one of skill in the art . for example , it will be appreciated that the ratio of the ternary solid fuel to the oxidizer can be varied to adjust the resulting gaseous output , burn rate , and propellant performance , within the constraints of the applicable pretensioner performance specification . as another example , it will be readily appreciated that the grain geometry of the propellant can be varied to produce desired pressure versus time combustion characteristics tailored to a particular application as is commonly done with solid propellants . each of the compositions of examples 1 - 6 were subjected to 10 cc closed - bomb testing , the results of which are shown in fig1 - 6 ( in each of which the pertinent example no . discussed herein is noted at the top of the figure ). the 10 cc closed - bomb used in these tests was a multi - part cylindrical stainless steel fixture with a fixed volume central perforation bored in the main body , a transducer port in the side of the main body , an “ o ”- ring groove in both ends of the main body , and a solid base used to close the bottom of the bomb . an adapter specific to the part being tested was placed in the top of the bomb , to hold a specific micro gas generator ( mgg ) assembled to include the propellant of interest . to perform the tests , the mgg was placed in the adapter and assembled with the bomb , which was then held under pressure in a hydraulic ram until the propellant is fired with an initiator . the resulting data was conveyed from the transducer to a charge amplifier and then to an oscilloscope . from the data reflected in fig1 - 6 , it was determined that each of the examples would meet the propellant performance requirements of pretensioner specifications . specifically , it was determined that the examples utilizing kclo 4 as the oxidizer perform well overall and meet the 3 inch / sec burn rate generally needed to reach the required pretensioner peak pressure . likewise , it was determined that using the nh 4 clo 4 / nano 3 co - oxidizer in place of kclo 4 ( as in example no . 4 ) also results in a suitable propellant for a pretensioner , and it provides a higher oxygen balance and yields very low toxicity combustion products so as to be suited for applications where a very low toxicity effluent is required . on the other hand , this oxidizer is preferably employed in a propellant that is hermetically sealed , while kclo 4 is less sensitive to the environment and has been found suitable for use in non - hermetic ( crimped ) mggs . although adca and 5 - at have been associated with thermal decomposition problems ( see a . helmy and w . tong , “ thermal decomposition of 5 amino tetrazole propellant ” 36th aiaa / asme / sae / asee joint propulsion conference and exhibit , aiaa publication no . 2000 - 3330 ; and u . s . pat . no . 6 , 475 , 312 to burns et al . ), the above examples of the present invention were tested and found to exhibit high thermal stability . the compositions do not decompose when subjected to temperatures of 107 ° c . for periods of up to 408 hours , and did not show any performance loss or weight loss after such exposure . in this regard , fig7 illustrates the performance at 0 hours and at 408 hours for the gas generant of example 5 . other examples were similarly tested and found to exhibit very similar aging performance , such as that shown for example 6 in fig8 . for the aging study , a number of parts were tested in the 10 cc bomb apparatus described above to obtain a baseline determination , and other units were put into an environmental chamber at 107 ° c ., with a number of units then being removed and test - fired every three days until the final units had completed 408 hours at 107 ° c . the impetus , flame temperatures , gas output , and specific heat ratios were calculated for each of the examples using the propellant evaluation code ( pep ) authored by the us naval weapon center , indian head . impetus was also assessed through calculations based on the pressure - time results derived from the 10 cc closed - bomb testing . through these and other calculations and tests , it was determined that the relative makeup of the ternary solid solution of example 1 provides the highest possible impetus , however , examples 2 and 3 are advantageous in that they provide very high burn rate ( 3 m sec to peak pressure ). it was also determined that the ternary solid solution must include at least about 1 wt . % of 5 - at in order to have sufficient energy for use in a seatbelt pretensioner . as can be seen from table 3 , example 5 , in which the ternary solid includes only 3 wt . % of 5 - at , results in 628 j / g impetus . yet if the 5 - at is eliminated completely , the resulting impetus is only about 500 j / g . on the other hand , the amount of 5 - at that can be included is limited by the combustion stoichiometry and its effect on the propellant energy output . it was determined that if the amount of adca is decreased too far ( below about 5 wt . % of the ternary solid ), the impetus produced dramatically decreases due to the reduction in the resulting amount of gas created . the nano - aluminum in the examples serves as a burn rate catalyst , flame propagation enhancer and flame temperature improver . in this regard , it was determined that if the amount of nano - aluminum is decreased too far ( below about 0 . 01 wt . % of the ternary solid ), the flame spreading and burn rate are disadvantageously reduced . although the 5 - at used in the present invention has been described in its anhydrous form , it will be understood that the teachings herein encompass the hydrated forms as well . further , one skilled in the art will appreciate that certain other variants might be substituted for the 5 - at and adca of the present invention . for example , it is possible that a suitable related chemical such as adca dinitrate , or another suitable blowing agent , could be used in place of the adca of the present invention , with appropriate modifications to the formula . thus , while the foregoing examples illustrate and describe the use of the present invention , they are not intended to limit the invention as disclosed in certain preferred embodiments herein . variations and modifications commensurate with the above teachings and the skill and / or knowledge of the relevant art are within the scope of the present invention .	2
fig1 shows the block diagram of a known switched - mode power supply ps in combination with a rechargeable shaver rs . the a . c . mains voltage or a suitable direct voltage is applied to the input terminals 2 and 4 . if desired , the a . c . mains voltage can be applied via a transformer ( not shown ). the alternating voltage is rectified by means of a diode bridge 6 and is smoothed and filtered by means of capacitors 8 and 10 and a coil 12 . it is also possible to use a single rectifier diode instead of a diode bridge . an optional resistor 14 limits the current through the diode bridge 6 . the negative terminal of the rectified input voltage is connected to a ground terminal 16 . the positive terminal 18 is connected to the primary winding 20 of a transformer 22 . a zener diode 24 and a diode 26 are arranged in parallel with the primary winding 20 and limit the voltage across the primary winding 20 when the current through the primary winding 20 is interrupted . instead of the zener diode 24 and the diode 26 shown here , alternative circuits , for example , a series arrangement of a capacitor and a resistor , can be used in order to define the variation of the voltage across the primary winding 20 . the transformer 22 also has a secondary winding 28 whose alternating voltage is rectified by means of a rectifier diode 30 and is smoothed by means of a capacitor 32 . the voltage across the capacitor 32 powers a load , which is shown , by way of example , as a rechargeable shaver rs having a down - converter cnv which charges a rechargeable battery b of the shaver . the switched - mode power supply ps can be accommodated in the electrical apparatus itself , in a wall mount or a stand , or in a mains voltage adapter , also referred to as a power plug . in the two last - mentioned cases the load is connected to the capacitor 32 via two pairs of contacts 34 / 36 and 38 / 40 . fig1 further shows a switcher ic type top210 which is commercially available from power integrations , inc . the switcher ic 42 has a terminal drn (&# 34 ; drain &# 34 ;) to which the primary winding 20 is connected , a terminal src (&# 34 ; source &# 34 ;), which is connected to the ground terminal 16 , and a terminal ctl (&# 34 ; control &# 34 ;), which is connected to a first terminal of an auxiliary winding 48 of the transformer 22 via a resistor 44 and a diode 46 , which auxiliary winding has its other terminal connected to the terminal src of the switcher ic 42 . an alternating voltage proportional to the alternating voltage across the secondary winding 28 appears across the auxiliary winding 48 . this voltage is rectified by means of a diode 46 and is stored in a smoothing capacitor 50 connected between the terminals ctl and src . the switcher ic comprises a control circuit 52 which controls the duty cycle of a switching transistor 54 connected between the terminals src and drn . the duty cycle is controlled in response to the current applied to the terminal ctl . special means in the control circuit 52 maintain the voltage on the control input ctl constant so as to obtain a fixed voltage which also serves as the supply voltage for the control circuit 52 . for more details on this , reference is made to the data sheets of said switcher ic . since the smoothing capacitor 50 is connected to the control input ctl , the voltage on the smoothing capacitor 50 in normal operation is equal to the fixed voltage . as a result of this , there is a fixed relationship between the amplitude of the alternating voltage across the auxiliary winding 48 and the fixed voltage . the turns ratio between the auxiliary winding 48 and the secondary winding 28 then defines the amplitude of the alternating voltage across the secondary winding 28 and , consequently , that of the rectified voltage across the load . in this way there is a fixed relationship between the direct voltage across the load to be powered and the fixed voltage on the control input ctl of the control circuit of the switcher ic . this known switched - mode power supply is very suitable as a flyback converter with a constant output voltage , for example 12 v on the terminals 34 and 36 across the capacitor 32 . the down - converter in the rechargeable shaver rs converts the 12 v into a charging current for the battery b . such a configuration has the advantage of a comparatively small current through the connection lead between the power supply circuit ps and the rechargeable shaver rs . moreover , it is thus achieved that batteries with a comparatively low terminal voltage , for example 2 . 5 v , can still be charged by means of the known switcher ic . a direct connection of a rechargeable 2 . 5 v battery causes the a . c . component across the secondary winding 28 and , as a result of this , also the a . c . component across the auxiliary winding 48 to decrease . the rectified voltage across the smoothing capacitor 50 , which also forms the supply voltage for the control circuit 52 , then drops below a critical limit , upon which the control circuit 52 is set to the so - called auto - restart mode , in which the control circuit 52 attempts to build up enough voltage , with a duty cycle of 5 percent , across the load to be powered and , consequently , also across the smoothing capacitor 50 to eventually allow a return to normal operation . for more details reference is made again to the data sheets of said switcher ic . under these conditions , in the known power supply circuit some power is supplied to the load to be powered , but this is usually much lower than the power required to charge the still exhausted rechargeable battery b until the battery voltage has increased far enough to restore the switcher ic to normal operation . in order to enable batteries with a low terminal voltage to be charged without a down - converter and thus save costs , the power supply circuit ps has been modified as shown in fig2 . the rechargeable shaver rs , or any other rechargeable apparatus whatsoever , has a rechargeable battery b which is connected directly to the capacitor 32 of the power supply circuit ps . the rechargeable shaver further comprises an electric shaver motor m , which can be connected to the battery b via a switch sw . the power supply circuit ps comprises a charge pump cp which converts the alternating voltage across the auxiliary winding 48 into charge which is applied to the smoothing capacitor 50 . the charge pump cp prevents restarting of the switcher ic 42 . owing to the low terminal voltage of the battery b the alternating voltage across the auxiliary winding 48 would fall below an amplitude for which the rectified voltage across the smoothing capacitor 50 decreases below the fixed voltage . this would cause the control circuit 52 to switch to the auto - restart mode . however , the charge pump provides extra charge for the smoothing capacitor 50 , as a result of which the voltage across the smoothing capacitor 50 can be maintained at the fixed voltage for a longer time and the control circuit 52 does not yet change over to the auto - restart mode . as long as the amplitude of the alternating voltage across the auxiliary winding 48 is still sufficiently large the switched - mode power supply behaves as a source of constant power when the voltage across the load to be powered decreases below the nominal value . as a matter of fact , the control circuit 52 remains operative and in each switching cycle of the switching transistor 54 a power proportional to the switching frequency and the square of the peak current through the primary winding 20 builds up in the primary winding 20 . since both the switching frequency and the peak current are constant , a constant average power is supplied to the load to be powered . the charge pump cp comprises a capacitor 56 and a zener diode 58 , arranged in series across the auxiliary winding 48 , and a diode 60 , connected between the smoothing capacitor 50 and a node between the capacitor 56 and the zener diode 58 . an optional current - limiting resistor 62 is arranged between the capacitor 56 and the zener diode 58 . the zener diode 58 prevents the charge pump cp from being operative in normal operation . the zener diode 58 limits the alternating voltage , which prevents the diode 60 from being turned on when the constant voltage which is characteristic of normal operation of the control circuit 52 appears across the smoothing capacitor 50 . the power supply circuit in accordance with the invention is suitable for electrical apparatuses having rechargeable batteries , for example , nicd or nimh batteries , which are charged from the mains voltage . fig3 shows , by way of example , an electric shaver having a housing h , which accommodates the power supply circuit , referenced ps , the rechargeable battery b and the motor m . the motor drives the shaving heads sh and is activated by means of the switch sw . fig4 shows a mains voltage adapter or power plug pp including the power supply circuit ps . the power plug has a connection lead which can be connected to the shaver of fig3 in which case the shaver does not include the power supply circuit ps .	7
the functional training rig and functional training rig kit shown in fig1 to 4 comprises a box 1 which may or may not be provided with a lid , such as a hinged lid or a removable lid . the box is made of a suitable material , such as steel or aluminium , and is dimensioned to fit into many normal vehicles , having a width , for example , of about 1200 mm and a depth and height of about 500 mm . provided within the box 1 is a plurality of supports 3 which are designed to receive frame components of the functional training rig . the supports 3 are secured within the box 1 , for example by welding . the box is provided with handles 5 at each end thereof . the frame components of the functional training rig may also be made of steel or aluminium and are ideally primarily of square hollow section . the frame components will be described in more detail hereinafter . the frame components and the box 1 combine to form a functional training rig kit which can readily be assembled and dismantled , with frame components being stored within the box when not in use and the box 1 forming part of , and contributing to the stability of , the rig when assembled . the frame components include two upright posts 7 which are formed by a plurality ( two as shown in fig1 to 4 ) of elongate members 9 which are interconnected end - to - end by means of an external sleeve 11 or other means of interconnecting the elongate members ( such as an internal connector ) which is secured to each of the elongate members . the elongate members 9 are dimensioned to fit within the box 1 , whereas the upright posts , at nearly 2400 mm , are too long to fit within the box . the resulting posts 7 are inserted into complementary recesses 13 formed in corners of the box at opposite ends of one elongate side thereof , the recesses ideally extending substantially from the base of the box to the upper edge thereof . alternatively , one of the elongate members 9 forming each of the posts 7 may be hinged to the box 1 . thus , the box 1 contributes to the stability of the upright posts 7 . the elongate members 9 , and therefore the posts 7 , may be provided with through holes 15 at intervals for receiving accessories for the functional training rig to facilitate particular exercises . adjacent through holes 15 may be arranged at right angles to each other , as illustrated , although other arrangements are also possible . as a further alternative , the through holes may be omitted . each upright post is further stabilised by means of two angled support members which extend in opposing directions from the posts at a downward angle so as to engage with the ground and / or with the box 1 . the support members are dimensioned to fit within the box when not in use . as illustrated , one of the support members engages with the box 1 at its lower end , but alternatively the support member may engage with the ground . thus , in fig1 to 4 a support member 17 extends at a downward angle from each of the upright posts 7 to contact the ground . at its upper end , the support member 17 is provided with an upright plate 19 which enables the support member to be removably secured to the upright post 7 , for example by means of threaded fasteners , and at its lower end the support member is provided with a lateral ground - engaging foot 21 . in addition , a support member 23 for each of the upright posts 7 is provided at its upper end with an upright plate 25 which enables the support member to be removably secured to the upright post 7 , for example by threaded fasteners , and at its lower end the support member is provided with a foot 27 , for example of l - shaped cross section , which is removably secured to an elongate edge of the box 1 opposite to the edge at which the upright posts 7 are secured . the foot 27 is therefore able to engage both an upper surface and a side surface of the box 1 , although other arrangements are possible . the foot 27 may be secured to the box 1 by means of suitable fasteners , such as threaded fasteners . alternatively , the support member 23 may extend to the ground and may be provided with a lateral ground - engaging foot in a similar manner to support member 17 . the upper ends of the upright posts 7 are removably secured together by means of a lateral bar 29 , for example of circular cross - section , which is mounted at each end thereof on a cantilever assembly 31 . the lateral bar and the cantilever assemblies are dimensioned to fit within the box when not in use . as illustrated in fig1 to 4 , each cantilever assembly 31 comprises two angled arms 33 , 35 which are mounted on an upright plate 37 which is removably secured to the upright posts 7 , for example by way of threaded fasteners . as can be seen from fig2 , one of the arms 33 , 35 is longer than the other arm so as to form a triangular assembly with the free ends of the arms 33 , 35 secured together at lateral bar 29 . in the illustrated arrangement the lateral bar is at a higher level than the top of the posts 7 , but other arrangements are possible . it should be noted the cantilever assembly can take other forms , such as a triangular plate replacing the two arms 33 , 35 . the functional training rig and functional training rig kit shown in fig5 to 7 is a modification of that shown in fig1 to 4 and the same references are used to denote the same or similar features . features from this second embodiment may be exchanged with features from the first embodiment and vice versa . the box 1 is provided with a hinged lid 2 which is formed with cutouts in the free corners to accommodate the upright posts 7 and with supports 3 to receive frame components of the functional training rig . the box 1 is provided with handles 5 at each end thereof and with an apertured member 6 secured externally to corners of the box , for example at a level beneath the handles 5 . the apertured members 6 are dimensioned to receive the elongate members 9 to allow a number of people , for example four , to lift the box by way of the elongate members . the elongate members 9 forming the upright posts 7 are interconnected end - to - end by means of an internal sleeve ( not shown ) in combination with external plates 10 which are secured to opposing faces of the elongate members bridging the joint between adjoining elongate members , for example by threaded fastenings . in contrast to the embodiment of fig1 to 4 , the elongate members 9 are not provided with through holes for receiving accessories . the support members 17 and 23 are formed with sleeves 19 rather than with upright plates for securing to the upright posts 7 . the lateral bar 29 is mounted at each end thereof on a cantilever assembly 31 . the cantilever assembly comprises an angled arm attached to a sleeve which engages over the top of the upright post 7 , the upper end of the sleeve being closed to limit travel relative to the upright post . the functional training rig shown in fig8 to 20 is similar to those shown in fig1 to 4 and 5 and the same references are used to denote the same or similar parts . the functional training rig of fig8 differs in a number of respects . for example , the support member 23 is omitted . a plate 113 supports the ends of the handle 5 is combined with aperture member 6 to strengthen the aperture member . an additional handle - supporting plate is positioned substantially mid - way along the handle 5 and bearer lugs 116 and locking pins 114 are provided on the additional handle - supporting plate for receiving and securing the elongate members 9 as shown in fig1 . thus , to improve safety , the elongate members 9 are locked in place when the rig is being carried . the lid 2 is no longer a substantially planar plate , but now is formed with a lip which extends around the three sides of the lid other than the side at which it is hinged . this assists in minimising water penetration into the box . as shown in fig1 , two slotted holes may be formed in the lip , for example along one of the sides of the box , and corresponding holes may be formed in the wall of the box to accept a ( long shank ) padlock or other securing device . this provides security for the items stored in the box when the rig is being transported or is in storage and , when the rig is in use , prevents the lid being opened so improving safety , especially where the holes are at a side of the box as illustrated . further , the outer surface of the lid may be profiled ( such as durbar plate ) to provide a more secure footing during use . in addition , water drainage holes 112 ( fig1 ) are provided in the region of the bottom corners of the rear of the box to allow for water drainage and / or ventilation . wheels 103 have been added to one end of the box 1 to facilitate moving of the rig without the need for it to be carried . as shown in particular in fig1 the cantilever assembly 31 is mounted on the upright post 7 by way of an external sleeve which is closed at one end . in addition to this arrangement , which is the same as that shown and described in relation to fig1 to 7 , the external sleeve is also provided with a locator in the form of an internal dowel which engages within the top of the upright post 7 to improve the stability of the rig . although not shown in the drawings , a corresponding internal dowel may be provided at the base of the recesses 13 for receiving and locating the lower end of the upright post 7 . the various components may be numbered where they interconnect in order to facilitate assembly of the rig ( for example by following instructions referring to the numbers ). this applies in particular to the elongate members 9 , support member 17 and cantilever assembly 31 . fig1 and 20 show an accessory 117 to be mounted to the upright posts 7 to increase the range of exercises that can be performed . as illustrated , the accessory is in the form of a safety squat arm to support weights . as shown the safety squat arms are left - and right - handed to minimise the risk of disengagement from the upright posts 7 when in use . the accessories , where provided , are dimensioned to fit within the box when the rig is not in use . fig2 to 25 show arrangements involving more than one of the rigs shown in fig8 . fig2 shows two rigs positioned back to back with the cantilever assemblies both extending outwardly . an external sleeve 104 slides through the adjacent handle plates 113 at each end of each of the two boxes and over the respective bearer lug 116 shown in fig8 of each of the boxes , with the locking pins 114 ( see fig1 ) securing the external sleeve to each of the boxes by way of openings provided in the end regions of the external sleeve . in this way the two boxes are secured together at each end and the two rigs are secured together . the external sleeves are dimensioned to fit within the boxes when not in use . as shown in fig2 , two ( or more ) rigs may be placed in an end - to - end series with spaces between adjacent boxes . the boxes may face in the same direction or they may face in different directions . adjacent boxes are joined together by means of a lateral bar 29 secured to the cantilever assembly 31 . as shown , the lateral bar may be secured to the cantilever assembly by way of a hand wheel provided with a threaded member . it will be noted that fig8 shows a hole 108 through the cantilever assembly 31 for mounting the additional lateral bar 29 . the additional lateral bar may be dimensioned to fit within the boxes . fig2 shows a combination of back - to - back and end - to - end boxes . fig2 shows two back - to - back boxes with a set of monkey bars secured to the tops of the four upright posts 7 . the monkey bars may be mounted by way of a cantilever assembly to lengthen the monkey bars and to provide a chip - up point at each end . fig2 corresponds to fig2 but with the addition of a monkey bar assembly as shown in fig2 .	1
referring now to the drawings and , more particularly to fig1 there is shown a typical multi - media system or group 10 of various multi - media devices including multi - media terminal 12 ( which can be a set - top box , a receiver , dss receiver , other satellite receiver , or any similar type a / v device ), digital video disk ( dvd ) 14 , video cassette recorder ( vcr ) 16 , television or monitor 18 , and telephone 20 . these devices are controllable via remote 21 solely , or in addition to front panel keys and / or buttons on the particular device . of course , it should be understood that the particular devices or components depicted in fig1 is only representative of the many devices that may be coupled in a multi - media system . dvd 14 is coupled to multi - media terminal 12 via cable 22 which is representative of a communications bus and a / v input / output . vcr 16 is coupled to multi - media terminal 12 via cable 24 which is representative of a communications bus and a / v input / output . television 18 is coupled to multimedia terminal 12 via cable 26 which is representative of a communications bus and a / v input / output . telephone 20 is coupled to multi - media terminal 12 via cable 28 which is representative of a communications bus and a / v input / output . additionally , telephone 20 is coupled via communications line 30 to communications jack 32 that is representative of being coupled to a usual communications medium . multi - media terminal 12 also includes an internal modem coupled via modem line 34 to communications jack 32 which allows two - way communications to occur between multi - media terminal 12 and any type of outside device ( not shown ) such as a computer or the like . additionally , multi - media terminal 12 includes input / output line 36 that accepts input from an antenna , satellite dish , cable company , or the like represented by jack 38 . line 36 may also allow two - way communications to occur between a cable company or the like . cables 22 , 24 , 26 , 28 , 34 , and 36 allow bi - directional data transfer . such types of data buses may be scart , 1394 , or other which permits such bi - directional data transfer between multi - media terminal 12 and the various devices . multi - media terminal 12 includes macro key 40 in addition to other typical buttons , display devices , and the like . with additional reference to fig1 macro key 40 is coupled internally to cpu 42 which is in turn coupled to memory 44 via communication line / bus 43 . other typical internal components are not shown . any or all multi - media devices may include a macro key and thus some type of processor and memory . at a minimum , each multi - media device includes memory and a processor to permit data receipt and transfer . while each device may not have a macro key , and thus may not function as a master device , each device does include the software necessary to implement the present invention . it is assumed that each device includes at a minimum , the memory and processing necessary to store and execute the necessary implementation software as well as the memory configured in the following manner . with reference to fig3 the structure of memory within a device is depicted . memory 46 , which can be any type of memory , is divided into master data memory 48 and slave data memory 50 . when the device is a master device , master data memory 48 is utilized . when the device is a slave device , slave data memory 50 is utilized . master data memory 48 is subdivided into a plurality of memory banks 52 with eight ( 8 ) such memory banks being shown . it should be understood that eight ( 8 ) memory banks is by way of example and not a limitation on the number of memory banks as there could be more or less memory banks . every memory bank 52 contains a macro , such that with eight ( 8 ) memory banks , there can be a total of eight ( 8 ) macros that can be stored therein . each memory bank 52 contains a 4 bit command counter such that there is a maximum of sixteen ( 16 ) commands per macro . thus , each memory bank 52 is further subdivided into command sections 54 of which there are sixteen ( 16 ), the total number of command section 54 corresponding to the maximum number of commands per macro . each command section 54 contains all of the data necessary for retrieving one macro command . in particular , data area 56 contains an eight bit macro command number ( mcn ) designated a 7 , a 6 , a 5 , a 4 , a 3 , a 2 , a 1 , and a 0 . the most significant bits ( msb ) a 7 , a 6 , a 5 , and a 4 are determined by the slave device , while the least significant bits ( lsb ) a 3 , a 2 , a 1 , and a 0 are determined by the master device . for safe data handling , the master device only determines the four least significant bits of the mcn while the active slave device only determines the most significant bits . the four ( 4 ) most significant bits and the four ( 4 ) least significant bits comprise the first byte of the two - byte ( or sixteen bit ) master status word ( msw ). in accordance with an aspect of the present invention , the msw is the only data that appears on the bus during a macro . with additional reference to fig2 a msw 58 is depicted which shows the mcn bits a 7 , a 6 , a 5 , a 4 , a 3 , a 2 , a 1 , and a 0 . slave mcn bits 60 ( a 7 , a 6 , a 5 , and a 4 ) and master mcn bits 62 ( a 3 , a 2 , a 1 , and a 0 ) form the first part of the two - byte msw 58 . data area 56 also contains a data byte counter comprising four ( 4 ) bits b 3 , b 2 , b 1 , and b 0 , and the current macro number comprising three ( 3 ) bits c 6 , c 5 , and c 4 . the current macro number , designated 64 in fig2 indicates the current macro in use . the current macro number table depicted in fig2 shows the assignment of the various combinations of bits to the various macro numbers . the last data contained in data area 56 is the internal command bytes of which there is a maximum of sixteen ( 16 ). the second byte of msw 58 , as depicted in fig2 consists of current macro number 64 , comprising bits c 6 , c 5 , and c 4 , current operating mode 72 , consisting of bits c 3 , c 2 , c 1 , and c 0 , and master / slave bit 74 . current operating mode 72 has three ( 3 ) valid bit configurations as depicted in the current operating mode table in fig2 . as the name suggests , these four ( 4 ) bits c 3 , c 2 , c 1 , and c 0 indicate the current operating mode which can be 1 ) end of macro ; 2 ) run macro ; and 3 ) program macro . msw 58 further includes master / slave bit 74 which is used as an acknowledge message from the slave device to the master device . master / slave bit 74 is set to logical “ 1 ” when coming from the master device , while master / slave bit 74 is set to logical “ 0 ” when coming from the slave device . the rest of the status word 58 remains the same . a slave device only considers the status word of the master device and ignores other slave status words on the bus . thus , when the user depresses the macro key of the selected device it becomes the master device and generates four ( 4 ) least significant bits of the first byte , being the macro command number . the slave device determines the four ( 4 ) most significant bits of the first byte , being the macro command number . with reference back to fig3 slave data memory 50 , which is only used when a device is configured as a slave in a macro , is divided into memory banks 66 . while slave data memory 50 could have a number of banks that is as large as the number of possible slave macros , i . e . five ( 5 ) devices times eight ( 8 ) macros which results in forty ( 40 ) banks , fig3 depicts sixteen ( 16 ) memory banks 66 and thus is only exemplary . the sixteen ( 16 ) memory banks have select bits 000 to 1111 binary , which are used to select the appropriate memory bank . each memory bank 66 is divided into command sections 68 wherein there are sixteen ( 16 ) commands available for each macro stored in the memory bank 66 . additionally , each command section 68 is further divided into data area 70 which is the same structure as data area 56 of master data memory 48 . fig8 depicts four ( 4 ) typical status words , labeled 76 , 78 , 80 , and 82 . status word 76 is sent onto the bus connecting the a / v devices by the master a / v device ( selected by the user by the pressing of the macro key ) at the start of macro programming . bits a 7 , a 6 , a 5 , and a 4 are undetermined since they are selected or determined by the slave device . bits a 3 , a 2 , a 1 , and a 0 are determined by the master device and constitute the macro command number ( mcn ) here logical “ 0000 ”. bits c 6 , c 5 , and c 4 are the current macro number , here logical “ 100 ” being macro “ 5 ”. bits c 3 , c 2 , c 1 , and c 0 designates the current operating mode from the three ( 3 ) valid operating modes , here logical “ 1010 ” being the program macro code ( see current operating mode table , fig2 ). the master / slave ( m / s ) bit is set to logical “ 1 ” since the status word 76 is coming from the master device . status word 78 is an end the macro word by the master device . here , since the macro is ending and there will be no more programming , the only bits of significance are c 3 , c 2 , c 1 , and c 0 , the current operating mode . per the current operating mode table of fig2 logical “ 0000 ” for these bits indicates that the macro is ending . again , since the word is coming from the master device , the m / s bit is set to logical “ 1 ”. it should be noted that in this example the current macro number , indicated by bits c 6 , c 5 , and c 4 , is again macro “ 5 ” or logical “ 100 ”. status word 80 is a run the macro command by the master device , which is indicated by bits c 3 , c 2 , c 1 , and c 0 , the current operating mode bits , set to logical “ 1111 ”. since it is the master device that is sending this word on the bus , the m / s bit is a logical “ 1 ”. here , the macro command number ( mcn ) bits a 7 , a 6 , a 5 , and a 4 set by the slave device is logical “ 0010 ” being bank “ 0010 ” while the macro command number ( mcn ) bits a 3 , a 2 , a 1 , and a 0 set by the master device is logical “ 0000 ” for storing in slave memory bank “ 0010 ”. status word 82 is an acknowledge word during the program mode since the m / s bit is set to logical “ 0 ” and bits c 3 , c 2 , c 1 , and c 0 , the current operating mode bits is logical “ 1010 ”. here , the slave device stores macro command number ( mcn ) logical “ 0000 ”, bits a 3 , a 2 , a 1 , and a 0 , in slave memory bank 1111 indicated by bits a 7 , a 6 , a 5 , and a 4 set to logical “ 1111 ”. it should be understood that the master device is selected by the user by the pressing of the macro key of one of the available a / v devices and this does not change for the programming of the macro . the slave device is variable , depending on the programming selection of the user . in order to program a macro , a device is selected that has a macro key such as multi - media terminal 12 . the device selected , here the multi - media terminal 12 , becomes the master device with the remaining devices becoming slave devices . a device can be a master or a slave , with the only constraint being that the master device naturally must have a macro key . with reference to fig4 flow chart 84 shows the program flow or steps performed by a master device in the macro programming mode . initially , a device is selected by the user to program a macro , which is initiated by the pressing of a key 86 which is the macro key of the device . the program determines if the macro key is held for a predetermined period of time 88 , here longer than two ( 2 ) seconds . if the macro key is not held for more than the predetermined time period , then the device performs any other functions as required 90 and the present program returns to the idle state 92 . if the macro key is pressed for more than the predetermined time period , then the device becomes a master device and sends a status word 94 on the bus and the master device awaits for a key to be pressed 96 on a device , which can be itself or another a / v device coupled in the group . if no key is pressed , the program checks to see if a slave status word is on the bus 112 . if no such slave status word has been generated by a slave device and thus is not on the bus , the program awaits for a key to be pressed 96 . should a slave status word be present on the bus 112 , the slave status word is read 114 and the macro control number ( mcn ), the master / slave ( m / s ) bit , and the current macro number bits c 4 , c 5 , and c 6 are stored 116 in the master memory of the master device . additionally , the command counter is incremented 118 and the macro control number ( mcn ) counter is incremented 120 . thereafter , the master device sends a status word 94 on the bus and then awaits for a key to be pressed 96 . if a key is pressed on one of the devices , the program checks to determine if the key pressed is the macro key 98 . if the macro key is pressed , this means that the user wants to end the macro . the program fetches the code for the end of macro 122 , sends a status word 124 onto the bus indicating that the end of the macro has been reached , and then returns to the idle state 92 . however , if the key pressed 96 is not the macro key 98 , the data byte counter is reset 100 and internally stored 102 in memory . if more data bytes 104 appear , the data byte counter is incremented 110 and internally stored 102 . this loop continues until there are no more data bytes , wherein the master / slave ( m / s ) bit and the current macro number bits c 4 , c 5 , and c 6 are stored 106 . after storage of the master / slave ( m / s ) bit and the current macro number bits c 4 , c 5 , and c 6 106 , the command counter is incremented 108 , and then the program awaits another key pressed 96 . with reference now to fig5 there is depicted flow chart 126 showing the program flow or steps performed by a slave device ( s ) in the macro programming mode . the slave device determines whether there is a status word on the bus 128 as sent by the master device and if so , latches the status word 130 . the latched status word is read 132 to determine the setting of the master / slave ( m / s ) bit 134 . if the m / s bit is not set to logical “ 1 ”, then the program awaits another status word , since an m / s bit set to logical “ 0 ” means it was generated by a slave device and should not be accepted . if the m / s bit is set to logical “ 1 ” the program determines if the status word signals the end of the macro 136 . if the end of the macro is received , the device / program returns to the idle state 138 . however , if the end of the macro signal is not received , then the program determines whether the status word / signal is program macro 140 . if the status word is not to program a macro , the device / program performs other function as required 142 and then returns to the idle state 138 . if the status word is to program a macro , it is determined whether a key has been pressed 144 . no key pressed returns the program to read status word 132 . if a key has been pressed the device reads the internal data bytes counter 146 . when the bytes counter is not equal to zero ( 0 ) the next memory bank is reviewed 150 and then read 146 . when the bytes counter is equal to zero ( 0 ) the macro command number , bits a 0 , a 1 , a 2 , and a 3 are stored 152 , the data bytes counter is reset 154 , and the internal data byte is stored 156 . thereafter , it is determined whether there are more data bytes 158 . if there are more data bytes , the data bytes counter is incremented 160 then stored 156 . if there are no more data bytes , the master / slave ( m / s ) bit is set to zero ( 0 ) 162 , the bank select bits are stored as a 4 , a 5 , a 6 , and a 7 164 , and the slave sends a status word 166 onto the bus . thereafter , the program waits for another status word on the bus . with reference now to fig6 there is depicted flow chart 170 showing the program flow or steps performed by the master device during the macro run mode . initially , a device waits to see if a key has been pressed 172 . if a key press has been detected , and it is the macro key , the program determines if the macro key has been depressed for less than a predetermined time period , in this case two ( 2 ) seconds . when the macro key has been pressed for longer than two ( 2 ) seconds , the device performs other functions as required 176 then returns to the idle state 178 . if the macro key has been pressed for a time period shorter than the predetermined time period , the program goes to the corresponding memory bank 180 and the command counter is checked . when the command counter is equal to zero ( 0 ), there is no macro available 184 and the device returns to the idle state 178 . if , however , the command counter is not equal to zero ( 0 ), the master / slave ( m / s ) bit is checked to determine if it is set to logical “ 1 ” 186 , and if not , a status word is sent 188 on the bus . thereafter , the master device awaits a slave acknowledge 190 and loops until the slave does acknowledge . when the slave does acknowledge , the commands counter is decremented 192 , and then checked to determined if the command counter is equal to zero ( 0 ) 194 . when the command counter is equal to zero the device returns to the idle state 178 . when the command counter is not equal to zero , the next macro control number is read 196 and then loops to determine if the master / slave ( m / s ) bit of the next macro control number is set to logical “ 1 ” 186 . if the master / slave ( m / s ) bit is set to logical “ 1 ” the command data byte is read 198 and the byte counter is checked to determine if the byte counter is zero ( 0 ). when the byte counter is not equal to zero ( 0 ), the byte counter is decremented 202 and then the command data byte is read 198 . when the byte counter is equal to zero ( 0 ), the commands counter is decremented 192 and then checked to determined if the command counter is equal to zero 194 . as above , when the commands counter is then equal to zero ( 0 ), the device returns to the idle state 178 , else the next macro control number 196 is read . with reference now to fig7 there is depicted program flow 204 showing the program flow or steps of the slave device during the macro run mode . the slave device determines if there is a status word on the bus 206 and if so latches the status word 208 and reads same 210 . if the read status word has a master / slave ( m / s ) bit not set to logical “ 1 ” 212 , the program returns to the read status word state 210 . when the master / slave ( m / s ) bit is set to logical “ 1 ”, the program determines if the status word indicates the end of the macro . when the end of the macro is received , the program returns to the idle state 216 . when the end of the macro is not received as part of the status word , the program determines whether the status word indicates the program macro mode . if so , this function is performed as required 220 and then returns to the idle state 216 . when a program mode is not detected , the device determines if the status word indicates to run the macro . if the status word does not indicate to run the macro , other functions are performed as required 224 and then returned to the idle state 216 . when the status word indicates to run a macro 222 , the bank select bits are read 226 and the appropriate bank in the slave memory is read 228 to determined if there is a macro control number match 230 . no match between the macro control number of the status word and the macro control number in the selected slave memory bank returns the device to read the next status word 210 . when there is a match between the macro control number of the selected slave memory bank and the macro control number of the status word , the device determines whether there is a macro number match 232 . no match again returns the program to read status word 210 . a macro number match 232 makes the program read the command data byte 234 , perform the command 236 , and then read the byte counter 238 . if the byte counter at this point is equal to zero ( 0 ), the slave device sends an acknowledgement signal on the bus 242 and awaits reading of the next status word 210 . when the byte counter is not equal to zero ( 0 ), the byte counter is decremented 240 . thereafter , the command data byte is read 234 . of course , it should be understood that the above program flows are not accomplished mutually exclusive of the other devices or each other , as there is interaction between the master and all slave devices during both the macro program mode and the macro run mode . depending on what is stored in the slave memory portion of the slave devices , the appropriate slave will acknowledge the status word of the master device . also , the type of bus utilized in the present invention can be any type of bus , but generally is a slower type of bus . such a bus may be a scart type bus or a 1394 type bus . with particular reference now to fig9 a specific programming example will be described , utilizing the multi - media system 10 depicted in fig1 . fig9 depicts the master data memory portion 246 of multi - media terminal 12 selected as the master device , the slave data memory portion of the slave tv 18 , and the slave data memory portion 250 of the slave vcr 16 for the following commands . the tv 18 , multi - media terminal 12 , and vcr 16 are turned on . thereafter , a favorite program / channel is selected for the vcr 16 and the multi - media terminal 12 . additionally , the shopping channel is selected for the multi - media terminal 12 . finally , the vcr 16 is set to record . with this command structure , initially the macro key 40 of the multi - media terminal 12 is depressed and held for the appropriate period of time . then the actions or commands for each device is inputted on the individual device itself . when the last action or command has been inputted , the macro key 40 is depressed again . in view of the foregoing flow charts , the resulting memory structures for the vcr , tv and multi - media terminal are as depicted in fig9 . the slave tv memory section 248 contains two ( 2 ) lines of bits . the slave vcr memory section 250 contains . three ( 3 ) portions 256 , 260 and 264 each having two ( 2 ) lines of bits . the multimedia terminal master data memory section 246 contains eight ( 8 ) portions , 252 , 254 , 258 , 262 , 266 , 268 , 270 , and 272 each having two ( 2 ) lines of bits . with reference now to fig1 a , 11 b , and 11 c , there are depicted three exemplary screen displays 244 , 251 , and 257 respectively , that could be displayed on display device 18 during on - screen macro programming via menus according to an aspect of the present invention . since most multi - media devices utilize menus and particularly on - screen menus for programming the particular device or to access various functions of the particular device , a macro in accordance with the principles of the present invention can be programmed , edited , and / or invoked via on - screen displays . generally , device functions are selected / controlled from a remote ( see fig1 ), and such can be used for on - screen programming . thus , instead of a macro key on a multi - media device as described above , a remote can be used to select on - screen menu choices . in fig1 a exemplary screen display 244 may be a main screen display which is indicated by screen display mode indicator 247 , here menu . below menu are various functions / commands / features 249 that may be selected by the user . such menu selections 249 includes macros that upon selection may invoke screen display 251 of fig1 b . screen display 251 again indicates at 253 the display mode , here choose macro number having various functions / commands / features 255 underneath . for illustration , screen display 251 may be for programming , editing or running a macro . in this instance when macro 5 is selected from screen display 251 , screen display 257 of fig1 c may be displayed which again may pertain to programming , editing or running the macro . screen display 257 again includes a screen mode indicator 259 , here macro 5 to indicate that macro number 5 has been selected . area 261 displays the currently selected or stored steps of the macro . of course , fig1 a , 11 b , and 11 c are only exemplary and aid in the illustration of the principle of use of the present invention with on - screen programming . further , screen displays 244 , 251 , and 257 are only three of many possible screen displays as are usual in on - screen menus . while this invention has been described as having a preferred design , the present invention can be further modified within the spirit and scope of this disclosure . this application is therefore intended to cover any variations , uses , of adaptations of the invention using its general principles . further , this application is intended to cover such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice in the art to which this invention pertains and which fall within the limits of the appended claims .	7
in hospitals , a hospital bed 12 is usually provided with side rails 14 to prevent the patient from accidentally falling out of the bed 12 . the side rails 14 can provide another benefit by providing a support for a serving tray or a holder of personal items . a rectangular structure which can be used as a tray for serving food , a book rest , or a storage means for the patient can be releasably attached to the side rails and slidably moved along the length of the side rails 14 . looking at fig1 - 5 , in the present invention , the rectangular structure 16 has a width ( w ) approximately the width of the bed 12 . preferably , the rectangular support 16 has a width ( w ) that is slightly smaller than the width of the bed so that hooks 18 extending from each lateral end 20 of the rectangular structure 16 can hook onto the rails 14 . the hooks 18 are sized and configured for encircling the rails . the hooks 18 are configured also to allow the rectangular structure 16 to glide along the upper surface of the rails 14 . the rectangular structure 16 has an upper surface 22 having at least one , but preferably multiple cavities 24 formed therein . the cavities 24 are preferably sized and configured for holding specific items such as a box of tissue , a beverage glass , a waste receptacle and / or a storage area for small items . the cavities capture the aforementioned items and prevent spillage or shifting of the items when the rectangular structure 16 is moved . to provide further versatility for the patient , a removable tray 26 is provided for setting on the rectangular structure 16 . the tray 26 has a rectangular shape and an upper planar surface 28 . a lip 29 is preferably located along the periphery of the planar surface 28 of the tray 26 to prevent papers , cards or similar items from sliding off the planar surface 28 . the tray 26 further has means for maintaining the tray 26 in sliding communication with the rectangular structure . the planar surface 28 of the tray 26 complements the cavities 24 located in the rectangular structure 16 . having one rectangular member 16 with cavities for holding various items and another rectangular structure 26 providing a planar upper surface 28 provides the patient with the advantage of optionally having a planar surface available for receiving a serving meal tray or for playing a game of cards or as a writing surface ; and at the same time having easy access to stored items which are stored in the cavities 24 of the bottom rectangular structure 16 . as stated , supra , the upper tray 26 is provided with means for maintaining the tray 26 in a predetermined orientation relative to the rectangular structure 16 . further , the tray 26 also has means for slidably moving the tray 26 to traverse the rectangular structure 16 between the opposing hooks 18 , from one side of the bed 12 to the other side , while maintaining the upper tray in a predetermined orientation relative to the lower rectangular structure 16 . the means for maintaining the tray 26 on the rectangular structure 16 includes a pair of parallel brackets 32 spaced from each other at a distance slightly greater than the length ( l ) of the rectangular structure 16 . the brackets 32 are secured to the lower or bottom surface 30 of the tray 26 and orientated perpendicular to the upper and lower surfaces of the tray 26 . the brackets 32 may be directly glued , screwed or nailed through the planar surface 28 of the upper tray 26 , as shown in fig3 . the brackets 32 maintain the tray 26 in proper alignment with the rectangular structure 16 and prevents the tray 26 from sliding off the structure 16 . in another embodiment , it is preferable to attach a wooden brace bar 36 to the bottom surface 30 of the tray . the brace bar 36 preferably extends perpendicular to the axial length of each brackets 32 so that the brace bar 36 can be secured to the lower surface 30 of the tray 26 by means of adhesive , nails , staples , or screws . the brace bar 36 provides added strength at the connection points of the brackets 32 to the tray 26 . in yet another embodiment , as shown in fig5 , the brace bar 36 is inserted into notches 40 located within the upper edge of the brackets 32 . the notches 40 are configured for snugly receiving a portion of the brace bar 36 . the configuration as shown in fig5 allows the upper edges 42 of the brackets 32 to lie adjacent and flush to the lower surface 30 of the tray 26 . the brackets 32 may be secured to the brace bar 36 by adhesives , nails , staples , or screws . this configuration provides optimal stability to the brackets 36 and the tray 26 . in each of the aforementioned embodiments , adhesive is preferred over nails , screws and staples to eliminate sharp points that can injure a patient . although it is preferable to provide the combination rectangular structure 16 and tray 26 with hooks 18 for use on bed rails 14 , the combination may also be used on a cart ( not shown ) that can be moved along the floor adjacent the bed 12 . in this embodiment , the rectangular structure 16 can be permanently or releasably mounted on a post 50 , as shown in fig3 . the post is rightly attached to the moveable cart . the tray 26 is shown sitting on the structure 16 , with the brackets 32 disposed on opposing sides of the rectangular structure 16 . as can be seen in fig3 , the brackets 32 preferably extend below the bottom surface of the rectangular structure 16 so that the tray 26 can not be easily tipped off the structure 16 , if excessive weight is placed on one side of the tray 26 . the combination of the dual trays provides a number of advantages over the prior art . the lower tray or rectangular structure 16 is slidable to and from the patient or the head of the bed frame by the hooks 18 that can glide over the rails 14 . the brackets 32 configuration on the upper tray 26 allows the upper tray to slide laterally across the width of the rectangular structure 16 . the upper tray 26 allows a planar upper surface having multiple uses ; and the upper tray 26 may be easily removed from the rectangular structure 16 by merely lifting the tray 26 up and away from the rectangular structure 16 . another embodiment for a movable book tray 100 is shown in fig6 and 7 . in this embodiment , a pair of triangular planar members 110 , 111 form a base for the moveable book tray 100 . the triangular members 110 , 111 are preferable made of a wood or resin material . extending between the two triangular members 110 , 111 are tubular members 112 a , b , c . the tubular members 112 a , b , c are positioned at each of the three vertexes 110 a , b , c , 111 a , b , c of the triangular members 110 and 111 . the tubular members 112 a , b , c have a length approximately equal to the width of the bed . the tubular members 112 a , b , c provide stability of the structure 100 and allow the tray to be set on a planar surface or supported on the bed rails 14 as discussed hereinafter . the tubular members 112 a , b , c extend through apertures 117 on the triangular planar members 110 , 111 so that the ends 113 a , b , c , of the tubular members 112 a , b , c are exposed on the outside planar surfaces 114 , 115 . the end portions 1113 a , b , c of the tubular members 112 a , b , c , respectively , are exposed through the triangular members 110 , 111 so that the two of the tubular members 112 b , 112 c are fitted with hooks 116 at each end 113 b , c . the hooks 116 are configured to be slidingly received on the bed rails 14 . although the holes 116 are shown to form an arcuate configurations , the hooks 116 may also be other shapes , such as an inverted , squared u - shape , to accommodate rails 14 of other shapes . the uppermost triangular member 112 a has ends 113 a that are covered with rubber pads or stoppers 118 . the rubber stoppers 118 prevent injury from the ends 113 a of the tubular member 112 a . the rubber stoppers 118 also prevent the tubular member 112 a from shifting out of the through apertures 117 in the triangular planar members 110 , 111 . when the tray 100 is connected to the bed rails 14 , the angle displacement from the plane formed by tubular members 112 b and 112 c with tubular member 112 a is approximate 45 - 75 % to provide an angled surface to facilitate 112 a reading of a book , magazine or other reading material . to further facilitate reading a book , the tray 100 further includes a book support 120 slidably moveable horizontally along tubular members 112 a and 112 a . the book support 120 includes a frame 122 . in the preferred embodiment , the frame 22 is made of wood . however , it is envisioned that other materials , such as plastic , may be substituted . a planar member 124 is attached to the frame 122 . in the preferred embodiment , the planar member 124 is a transparent plastic material so that the patient can see beyond the book support 120 when there is no reading of material thereon . although a transparent plastic material is preferred , a solid planar material may be used for the planar member 124 without the see - through advantage so stated , supra . the planar member 124 is connected to the frame 122 by screws 126 . the book support 120 is mounted to the tubular member 112 a , 112 c so that the book support can slide between the triangular members 110 , 111 . in the preferred embodiment apertures 128 are drilled through the vertical portions 130 of the frame 122 . the apertures 128 are sized for receiving the tubular members 112 a , 112 c therethrough . the lower horizontal portion of the frame 122 extends at a right angle from the vertical portions 130 to form a ledge 132 for placement of the book or other reading material . the ledge 132 extends from cut out portions 134 in the vertical positions 130 . the ledge 132 is secured to the frame 122 by adhesive located in the cut out portions 134 . a dowel 136 is used for holding flat a book placed on the ledge 132 against planar member 124 . the dowel 136 is used for holding flat a book placed on the planar member 124 . the dowel 136 is secured in a small aperture 138 drilled in the center of the ledge 132 and extends vertically upward adjacent the planar member 124 . as can be seen in fig7 , the dowel 136 may be moved slightly way from the planar member 124 for placing a book behind the dowel 136 or for turning a page of the reading material . the dowel 136 is biased to remain adjacent and parallel to the planar member 124 . while the invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment , it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the disclosed embodiments but , on the contrary , is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims , which scope is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent structures as is permitted under the law .	0
fig1 shows a resistance characteristic curve as a function of a magnetic field m ( h ) relative to the direction of a measuring current flux i s through an amr resistance strip 102 of a magnetic field sensor device 100 . the resistance characteristic curve r ( m ) is determined by the formula r = r ⊥ +( r ∞ − r ⊥ ) cos 2 ( θ ), θ representing the angle between the current flow direction i s and an overall magnetic field m ( h ). the overall magnetic field m ( h ) is made up of a magnetic field of an internal premagnetisation m 0 and an external magnetic field h e which is to be measured . it can be seen that in the case of small magnetic fields h e & lt ; m 0 , only a slight change in resistance r occurs when the external magnetic field h e changes . such a configuration is thus disadvantageous , because sensitivity to small magnetic fields is relatively low due to the resistance characteristic curve having only a shallow gradient in this region . fig2 shows a prior art amr resistance device 100 in which an amr resistance strip 102 is provided which has barber &# 39 ; s pole structures 104 , i . e . highly conductive metallised strips such as gold or copper metallised coatings , inclined at 45 ° on the amr resistance strip 102 . as shown in the schematic diagram , the amr resistance strip 102 gives rise to a current flux i s through the amr resistance strip 104 in a substantially 45 ° direction to the lengthwise extent of the resistance strip 102 , such that the current flux adopts a linearisation angle α of 45 ° relative to a parallel internal magnetisation m 0 or a perpendicular external magnetic field h e . accordingly , the resistance curve shown in fig1 is displaced , specifically in a region of a steep flank of the curve profile , in which resistance is linearly dependent on magnetic field , such that a slight change in an external magnetic field h e causes a linear change in the overall resistance r of the resistor of the amr magnetic field sensor device . the sensitivity of the magnetic field sensor device can be distinctly increased thanks to linearisation by barber &# 39 ; s pole structures . the diagram in fig3 is based on a diagram from de 10 2008 041 859 a1 and is a first exemplary embodiment of a magnetic field sensor device 10 according to the invention . the magnetic field sensor device 10 shown schematically in fig3 consists of a magnetically soft flux concentration element 22 which is located on the surface of a substrate 32 , in this case a semiconductor chip as support for example of amr sensors as magnetic field - sensitive bridge resistors 18 . it is clear from fig3 that for example flux lines of a magnetic field hz 24 which is to be detected and is oriented in the z direction are deflected at the peripheral zone of the flux concentration element 22 from their originally vertical z direction into a horizontal x direction , such that said flux lines become measurable by the magnetic field - sensitive bridge resistors 18 . antisymmetric hx components 34 are formed which act in opposing directions on the resistors 22 arranged adjacent to the peripheral zone of the element 22 . since the distance covered by the field lines 24 in the material of the flux concentration element 22 for the vertical to horizontal deflection is shorter than the distance covered for the horizontal to vertical deflection , a slight deflection effect is obtained , i . e . in relation to the hz field strength of distinctly smaller hx components which can be determined thanks to elevated sensitivity of the bridge resistors 30 . in order to increase the measuring effect , the flux concentration element 22 may be countersunk in a manner which is not shown here into the substrate layer 32 of the semiconductor chip . the x / y magnetic field sensor plane , i . e . the parallel plane to the chip substrate 32 , in which hx components bring about the greatest changes in resistance in the bridge resistors 18 , is located at the level of the surface of the cuboidal flux concentration element 22 . when the hz component enters the flux concentration element 22 , as shown in fig3 , the hx components are at their highest level in the field strength profile of the hz component and may accordingly be detected highly sensitively by the bridge resistors 18 . fig4 to 11 show two further exemplary embodiments of magnetic field sensor devices 10 according to the invention , in which amr magnetic field resistors 18 with barber &# 39 ; s pole structures are used , the resistance characteristic curves of which may be switched by a modification of an internal premagnetisation , as shown in fig2 . reference signs are shown only in the upper subfigure of fig4 they may be transferred mutatis mutandis to all of the further fig5 to 11 where they have been omitted for clarity &# 39 ; s sake . fig4 to 7 show a 2d magnetic field sensor device 10 which comprises two half - bridges 16 a , 16 b of a wheatstone measuring bridge 14 . a cuboidal flux concentration element 22 of a high permeability material such as for example permalloy is arranged between the two half - bridges 16 a , 16 b . each half - bridge 16 a , 16 b comprises a pair of two bridge resistors 30 a - 30 c and 30 b - 30 d respectively . the mutually associated lower bridge resistors 30 a , 30 b of the two half - bridges 16 a , 16 b take the form of magnetic field - sensitive bridge resistors 18 a , 18 b . the further associated bridge resistors 30 c , 30 d are ohmic resistors which are unaffected by magnetic fields . each of the two magnetic field - sensitive resistors 18 a , 18 b has a resistance characteristic curve 36 a and 36 b respectively , which are indicated by black arrows and correspond to the resistance characteristic curves 36 a , 36 b shown in fig2 . fig4 shows a first state m 1 , in which resistor 18 a has a resistance characteristic curve 36 a shown on the left in fig2 and resistor 18 b has a resistance characteristic curve 36 b , shown on the right in fig2 , with regard to an hx component 34 . as is clear from the upper subfigure of fig4 , when the hx component 34 increases , the voltage u 1 of the first half - bridge 16 a rises while the voltage u 2 of the second half - bridge 16 b falls , such that the differential voltage δu is enlarged . the lower subfigure of fig4 shows behaviour with regard to a z magnetic field component 24 hz . the hz component 24 brings about an fix component in the negative x direction with regard to the first half - bridge 16 a and an antisymmetric hx component in the positive x direction with regard to the second half - bridge 16 b . consequently , in the specified state m 1 , the two half - bridge voltages u 1 , u 2 fall , such that the differential voltage δu tends towards zero . fig5 shows with regard to a second state m 2 , in which both resistors 18 a , 18 b follow a right - hand resistance characteristic curve 36 b of fig2 , behaviour of the magnetic field sensor device in response to an hx and hz component . in this case , an hx component 34 brings about a differential voltage δu which tends towards zero and an hz component 24 brings about a positively rising differential voltage δu . fig6 shows a state m 3 which corresponds to the state m 1 of fig4 , but the two resistors 18 a , 18 b now have antisymmetric resistance characteristic curves 36 b and 36 a respectively . the same applies to fig7 with state m 4 in respect of state m 2 of fig5 . fig8 to 11 show further exemplary embodiments of a 2d magnetic field sensor device 10 , wherein all the bridge resistors 30 are magnetic field - sensitive resistors 18 . fig8 , which corresponds to fig4 , shows a first state m 1 of the four bridge resistors 18 a to 18 d shown in the drawings . fig9 to 11 show further states m 2 to m 4 corresponding to fig5 to 7 . states m 1 and m 3 correspond to one another , wherein the characteristic curve profiles 36 a , 36 b of resistors 18 a to 18 d are antisymmetric in pairs . the same applies to states m 2 and m 4 with symmetrical resistance characteristic curves 36 a , 36 b of the respectively associated lower and upper resistors 18 a - 18 b and 18 c - 18 d in half - bridges 16 a , 16 b . an upper subfigure shows voltage behaviour u 1 , u 2 with regard to an fix component 34 and a lower subfigure shows voltage behaviour u 1 , u 2 with regard to an hz component 24 . states m 1 , m 3 may be used for determining the direction and strength of the hx component 34 and states m 2 , m 4 for determining the direction and strength of the hz component 14 . fig1 shows a further exemplary embodiment of a magnetic field sensor device 10 for determining three - dimensional magnetic field profile by means of two wheatstone measuring bridges 14 a , 14 b . in the case of a 3d sensor device 10 , the flux concentration element 22 has a substantially square shape , wherein thanks to the definition of a plurality of states not only an hx but also an hy and an hz component may be determined by means of two differential voltages δua and δub . the magnitude of the hz component may be detected both by measuring bridge 14 a and by measuring bridge 14 . increased accuracy may be achieved by averaging the two determined hz values . finally , fig1 a and fig1 b show electrical equivalent circuit diagrams of a further exemplary embodiment of a magnetic field sensor device 10 . fig1 a accordingly shows in the left - hand subfigure a bridge circuit which corresponds to the configuration of fig9 as state m 2 . the arrangement is sensitive for measuring components in the z axis . if all the terminal contacts of the bridge resistors 18 a to 18 d are mutually independently contactable , the right - hand subfigure of fig1 a shows the individual bridge resistors 18 a to 18 d in contact with the supply voltage vss , the ground potential gnd or the centre tap voltages u 1 , u 2 and the resultant differential voltage δu = u 1 − u 2 . fig1 b shows three configurations based on fig1 a which , in comparison with fig1 a , have a direction of sensitivity in the x direction . in addition to switching of the direction of magnetisation of elements 18 d and 18 b ( left - hand subfigure ), switching of the direction of sensitivity is achieved by switching the supply voltage of the right - hand half - bridge 16 b ( middle subfigure ), or by swapping the circuit arrangement of resistors 18 b and 18 d in the right - hand half - bridge 16 b in comparison with fig1 a . the invention combines the deflection of a perpendicular magnetic field component with the assistance of a ferromagnetic flux concentration element into antisymmetric magnetic field components in the sensor plane with the advantages for switching and / or flipping the direction of sensitivity , wherein a measurement offset may be eliminated by suitable evaluation electronics .	6
for the purpose of understanding the present disclosure , the present disclosure is exemplified as follows . it will be appreciated for those skilled in the art that the examples are merely illustrative and should not be construed as a particular limit of the disclosure . example 1 the process of constructing a sequencing library proposed by the present disclosure the genomic dna sample derived from yanhuang 1 # can be fragmented in several ways , such as physical ultrasonication and enzyme digestion , both of which has well - established procedures commercially available . in the present example , the physical ultrasonication was used for fragmentation . to a 96 - well pcr plate , one polytetrafluoroethylene wire , 1 μg genomics dna and tris - edta ( te ) buffer or nuclease - free water were added up to 100 μl for each well . after sealing , the 96 - well pcr plate was placed onto covaris e220 for fragmentation under conditions as below . the fragmented genomic dna can be selected out by magnetic beads purification or gel - recovery . in the present example , the magnetic beads purification was used for selection . the fragmented genomic dna was mixed with 45 μl ampure xp magnetic beads to be uniform , followed by still standing for 7 min to 15 min . the first supernatant collected after placed onto magnetic separator for a while was mixed with 18 μl fresh ampure xp magnetic beads to be uniform , followed by still standing for 7 min to 15 min after still standing on the magnetic separator for another while and thus removing the second supernatant , the remaining beads were washed with 75 % ethanol twice . those dried magnetic beads were then dissolved in 50 μl te buffer to retrieve fragmented dna , followed by still standing for 7 min to 15 min . 3 . phosphorylating and end - repairing those selected dna fragments in one reaction a first solution was formulated with the components listed in the table below . those selected dna fragments obtained in step 3 was mixed with the first solution to be uniform followed by incubation at 20 ° c . for 30 minutes . after reaction , resulting product was purified with 70 μl ampure xp magnetic beads and dissolved in 40 μl te buffer . the resulting product can be purified in several ways , i . e ., using magnetic beads , passing through a column , running a gel and isolating a target product therefrom , etc , which are used exchangeable . in the present example , the resulting product was purified with magnetic beads , unless otherwise specified . 4 . adding “ a ” to the phosphorylated and end - repaired dna fragment respectively at two terminals a second solution was formulated with the components listed in the table below . the phosphorylated and end - repaired dna fragment obtained in step 3 was mixed with the second solution to be uniform , followed by incubation at 37 ° c . for 30 minutes . the resulting product was purified with 60 μl ampure xp magnetic beads and dissolved in 40 μl te buffer . in the present example , the used adaptor element 1 has a long - chain nucleic acid 1 of / phos / ctgctgacgtactgtgtcataaatagcacgagacgttctcgact / ddc /, and a short - chain nucleic acid 1 of gagaacguctcgtgcuacgttctcgactcagcagt . it should be note that the sequence is written from the 5 ′- end to the 3 ′- end in a left - to - right manner ; “//” means a group therein is a modifying group for a terminal nucleotide , or a terminal nucleotide therein has been modified ; “ phos ” indicates phosphorylation ; “ dd ” indicates dideoxy ; and “ bio ” represents biotin ; and bases in bold font forms the barcode sequence . a third solution containing the adaptor element 1 ( 25 μm ) was formulated in advance with the components listed in the table below . a fourth solution for ligation was formulated in advance with the components listed in the table below . in the present example , the ligating buffer 1 used was formulated as below . the dna fragment added with “ a ” obtained in step 4 was mixed with 6 μl of the third solution ( 25 μm ) to be uniform , thereby obtaining a first mixture . such a first mixture was then mixed with the fourth solution for ligation to be uniform , followed by incubation at 20 ° c . for 30 minutes , thereby obtaining a second mixture . after the reaction , the second mixture was further mixed with 35 μl of ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid disodium salt ( 35 μm ) to be uniform , thereby obtaining a third mixture . such a third mixture was purified with 50 μl ampure xp magnetic beads , and then dissolved in 52 μl te buffer to retrieve the dna product ligated with the adaptor element 1 . such steps achieve ligation of the adaptor element 1 to a target nucleic acid fragment . the electrophoresis result showing the dna fragment ligated with and without the adaptor element 1 as well as pcr amplified product for each is shown in fig5 . a primer 1 has a sequence of agtcgagaacguctcg / ibiodt / gct ( seq id no : 5 ). a primer 2 has a sequence of acgttctcgacucagcag ( seq id no : 6 ). a fifth solution was formulated in advance with the components listed in the table below . 50 μl of the dna fragment ligated with the adaptor element 1 obtained in step 5 was mixed with the fifth solution to be uniform , followed by first pcr amplification with the procedures as shown in the table below . after the pcr amplification , a resulting product was purified with 450 μl ampure xp magnetic beads , and then dissolved in 65 μl te buffer to retrieve a first amplified product . 1 μl of the first amplified product was quantified with a qubit dsdna hs assay kit ( invitrogen ). 2 . 4 μg of the first amplified product was used for the next step . a sixth solution was formulated in advance with the components listed in the table below . 37 μl of the first amplified product ( 2 . 4 μg ) was mixed with the sixth solution to be uniform , followed by incubation at 37 ° c . for 1 hour . a reaction system 1 was formulated in advance with the components listed below . a reaction system 2 was formulated in advance with the components listed below . the dna fragment after digested at the uracil site obtained in step 7 was mixed with the reaction system 1 to be uniform , followed by first incubation in a 60 ° c . water bath for 30 minutes and second incubation at 37 ° c . water bath for 20 minutes , thereby obtaining a fourth mixture . such a fourth mixture was further mixed with the reaction system 2 to be uniform , followed by incubation at room temperature for 1 hour , thereby obtaining a fifth mixture . 500 μl of the fifth mixture was mixed with 33 μl ampure xp magnetic beads to be uniform , followed by still standing for 7 minutes to 15 minutes and then placed onto a magnetic separator for adsorption . resulting supernatant was collected and mixed with additional 170 μl ampure xp magnetic beads to be uniform , followed by still standing for 7 minutes to 15 minutes and placed onto the magnetic separator for adsorption . after discarding supernatant , the remaining magnetic beads were washed twice with 75 % ethanol . those dried magnetic beads were then dissolved in 68 . 1 μl te buffer to retrieve the cyclized dna . a seventh solution was formulated in advance with the components listed in the table below . the dna product after cyclization obtained in step 8 was mixed with the seventh solution to be uniform , followed by incubation at 37 ° c . for 1 h , so as to digest and remove linear dna which was not cyclized after cyclization . the cyclic double stranded dna thus collected was purified with 80 μl ampure xp magnetic beads , and dissolved in 82 μl te buffer . an eighth solution was formulated in advance with the components listed in the table below . the cyclic double stranded dna was mixed with the eighth solution to be uniform , followed by incubation at 37 ° c . for 16 hours . 90 μl myone streptavidin c1 magnetic beads was washed with 1 × magnetic beads binding buffer twice ( 450 μl for each time of washing ) ( it was required to discard supernatant after each washing ), and then resuspended in 90 μl magnetic beads binding buffer , which was mixed with 0 . 9 μl of 0 . 5 % tween 20 , ready for use . 360 μl digested cyclic double stranded dna obtained in step 10 was mixed with 72 μl sodium chloride solution ( 3m ), 90 μl myone streptavidin c1 magnetic beads after washed to be uniform , followed by still standing at room temperature for 10 minutes and then placed onto a magnetic separator for 3 minutes allowing adsorption . after the resulting supernatant was discarded , the remaining beads were washed twice with 1 × low - salt washing buffer ( containing 0 . 05 % tween 20 ) ( 150 μl for each time of washing ) ( it was required to discard supernatant after each washing ), and then resuspended in 90 μl 1 × low - salt washing buffer . 12 . end - repairing and adding “ a ” to the digested product from the cyclic double stranded dna in one reaction a ninth solution was formulated in advance with the components listed in the table below . the magnetic beads conjugated with the digested cyclic double stranded dna obtained in step 12 was mixed with the ninth solution to be uniform , followed by incubation at 37 ° c . for 1 hour , thereby obtaining a sixth mixture . after incubation , the sixth mixture was further mixed with 2 . 2 μl of ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid disodium salt ( 0 . 5 m ) to be uniform , followed by still standing for 1 minute and discarding the resulting supernatant . the remaining magnetic beads were washed twice with 1 × low - salt washing buffer ( containing 0 . 05 % tween 20 ), and then resuspended in 80 μl 1 × low - salt washing buffer . a tenth solution containing the adaptor element 2 ( 10 μm ) was formulated in advance with the components listed in the table below . an eleventh solution for ligation was formulated in advance with the components listed in the table below . the dna product after end - repaired and added with “ a ” obtained in step 12 was mixed with 30 μl of the tenth solution containing the adaptor element 2 ( 10 μm ) to be uniform , thereby obtaining a seventh mixture . the seventh mixture was mixed with the eleventh solution for ligation to be uniform , followed by incubation at room temperature for 30 minutes , thereby obtaining an eight mixture . such an eighth mixture was then mixed with 3 . 42 μl of ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid disodium salt ( 0 . 5 m ) to be uniform , followed by incubation for 1 minute . after the resulting supernatant was discarded , the remaining magnetic beads were washed twice with 1 × low - salt washing buffer ( containing 0 . 05 % tween 20 ), and then resuspended in 80 μl 1 × low - salt washing buffer . such steps achieve ligation of the adaptor element 2 to a target nucleic acid fragment . the ligation efficiency can be proven by eluting 3 μl of the single stranded nucleic acid , amplifying for 8 cycles and applying 6 μl of an amplified product to electrophoresis detection , as shown in fig6 . 14 . enzyme - digesting at uracil and isolating a single stranded nucleic acid the magnetic beads resuspended in step 13 were mixed with 1 μl user enzyme to be uniform , followed by incubation at 37 ° c . for 1 hour , thereby obtaining a ninth mixture . after the incubation , the ninth mixture was mixed with 8 . 1 μl of ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid disodium salt ( 0 . 1 m ) to be uniform , followed by incubation for 1 minute . after the resulting supernatant was discarded , the remaining magnetic beads were washed twice with 1 × low - salt washing buffer ( containing 0 . 05 % tween 20 ), and then resuspended in 75 μl sodium hydroxide ( 0 . 1 m ), followed by incubation at room temperature for 5 minutes . the supernatant thus obtained was neutralized with 37 . 5 μl acidic buffer , thereby obtaining a single stranded product in a total volume of 112 . 5 μl . a reaction system 3 was formulated in advance with the components listed below , in which the bridge fragment has two ends capable of complementary combining with two terminals of the isolated single stranded nucleic acid obtained in step 14 , and has a sequence of atcgtacactacatgtcctaagca ( seq id no : 7 ). a reaction system 4 was formulated in advance with the components listed below , the isolated single stranded nucleic acid obtained in step 14 was mixed with the reaction system 3 , and then reaction system 4 to be uniform , followed by incubation at 37 ° c . for 1 . 5 hours . a twelfth solution for digestion was formulated in advance with the components listed in the table below . 350 . 5 μl of the dna product after cyclization obtained in step 15 was mixed with 20 μl of the twelfth solution to be uniform , followed by incubation at 37 ° c . for 30 minutes , thereby obtaining a tenth mixture . such a tenth mixture was mixed with 15 . 4 μl of ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid ( 500 mm ) to be uniform , thereby obtaining an eleventh mixture , followed by purifying with 500 μl peg32 magnetic beads and dissolving in 70 μl te buffer to retrieve a final product . in the present example , seven final products were obtained , each have a concentration , a total amount and a molecular weight as shown below , and their electrophoresis results are shown in fig7 . it can be seen from the results that each product is of a concentration and a total amount meeting requirement of the subsequent sequencing ( molecular weight □ 0 . 12 pmol ). the electrophoresis result shows that the dna fragment finally obtained is concentrated , indicating that the sequencing library constructed is in good quality . it is thus proved in the above example that the technical solution proposed in the present disclosure is completely successful . the applicant has stated that the present disclosure illustrates the detailed process equipment and process flow of the present disclosure by the examples described above , but the present disclosure is not limited to the detailed process equipment and process flow described above , that is it is not meant that the present disclosure has to rely on the detailed process equipment and process described above to be implemented . it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that any improvements to the present disclosure , equivalents of the raw materials of the present disclosure and addition of auxiliary ingredients , selection of specific means and the like all fall within the scope of the protection and disclosure of the present disclosure .	2
as is shown in fig1 the conveyor comprises a frame 1 , in which a driving means 2 in the shape of a conveyor chain is guided . the conveyor chain is provided with links 3 and 4 respectively , which are pivotable about horizontal and vertical pivot axes with respect to each other . guide wheels 5 , which are rotatable about horizontal and vertical axes , are connected to the conveyor chain 2 at a point near the pivot axes , said guide wheels co - operating with guide rails 6 accommodated within the frame 1 of the conveyor . the construction of such a driving means or conveyor chain is for example described in dutch patent application no . 8900974 . carriers 8 are secured to at least a number of the links 3 and / or 4 by means of upwardly extending supports 7 . in the illustrated embodiment the carriers have a substantially t - shaped configuration , when seen in plan view , whereby they are made up of a beam 9 extending transversely to the longitudinal direction of the conveyor chain 2 and a platform 10 joining the centre of the beam . a sliding piece 11 is movable along the carrier 8 , transversely to the longitudinal direction of the conveyor chain 2 ( arrow a ). the sliding piece 11 comprises a coupling piece 12 , by means of which the sliding piece 11 is movably coupled to the beam 9 , and furthermore a frame - like part 13 , which bounds a receptacle 14 which is open at its upper side and its bottom side . dependent on the objects to be conveyed it will not always be necessary for the receptacle to be closed on all sides . as will be apparent from fig1 the size of the frame 13 bounding the receptacle 14 is adapted to the size of the platform 10 , so that the receptacle 14 is closed by the platform 10 at its bottom side when the sliding piece 11 is positioned near the center of the carrier 8 . as is diagrammatically indicated in fig2 and 3 , two guide wheels 15 are secured to the bottom side of the coupling piece 12 positioned under the beam 9 , said guide wheels being freely rotatable about axes of rotation extending perpendicularly to the beam 9 . two switch pieces 16 and 17 are disposed near a switch station , which is diagrammatically indicated in fig3 said switch pieces each being adjustable , by setting means not shown , between the position illustrated in full lines in fig3 and the position illustrated in dotted lines in fig3 . guide rails 18 and 19 respectively , which extend obliquely to the direction of movement of the chain , are disposed downstream of said switch pieces , seen in the intended direction of movement of the conveyor chain 2 according to arrow b . it will be apparent that when a carrier with a sliding piece connected thereto passes the switch station shown in fig3 . while the two switch pieces 16 and 17 are in the position illustrated in dotted lines in fig3 the guide wheels 15 can pass the switch station without impediment and the sliding piece 11 will thus not be moved relative to the carrier 8 . when the switch piece 16 has for example been moved to the position illustrated in full lines , however , the left - hand ( seen in fig2 and 3 ) guide wheel 15 will come into contact with the left - hand ( seen in fig3 ) guide face of the switch piece 16 and start to move along said guide face and along the rail 18 , which will cause the sliding piece 11 to move towards the left with respect to the carrier 8 . in a similar manner the sliding piece 11 will move towards the right along the carrier 8 when instead of the switch piece 16 the switch piece 17 is moved to the position shown in full lines in fig3 . during operation of the above - described conveyor , objects to be moved may be supplied in a certain supply station , along which the carriers and the sliding pieces connected thereto are passed , while the sliding pieces are positioned in such a manner , that the frame - like parts 13 are located above the platforms 10 . the supply of objects may for example take place via a chute or the like . one or more objects may thereby be placed in each receptacle 14 as desired . the objects supplied may be delivered at a desired station by moving the sliding piece in the above - described manner with respect to the respective carrier , whereby the receptacle 14 will come to lie beside the platform 10 , and an object present within the receptacle 14 can fall through the open bottom side of the receptacle , where said object may be caught by means of a chute or the like ( not shown ). then the shifted sliding pieces may be returned to their central position by guide means ( not shown ) which are known per se , before being passed along the supply station again so as to receive objects to be moved . of course variations and / or additions to the construction described above and illustrated in the figures are conceivable . when it is for example only necessary to discharge objects on one side of the conveyor , it will be possible to use l - shaped carriers instead of the t - shaped carriers that are shown in fig1 . furthermore it is possible , of course , to adapt the shape of the receptacle to the shape of the objects to be moved , if desired . the conveyor shown in fig4 - 9 comprises a guide means 20 in the shape of a rail for carriers 21 which are movable along said guide rail 20 . as is apparent more in particular from fig8 and 9 , a carrier 21 is substantially u - shaped , with two legs 22 and 23 extending perpendicularly to the longitudinal direction of the guide rail 20 and a web 24 extending in the longitudinal direction of the guide rail 20 , which connects said legs . a passage 25 extending in the longitudinal direction of the web 24 is provided in said web , through which the guide rail 20 extends . four guide wheels 26 supported by the carrier 21 are near each of the two ends of the passage 25 , said guide wheels supporting the carrier on the guide rail 20 , as will be apparent in particular from fig4 and 8 . in order to achieve a satisfactory guiding along the rail 20 one of the wheels 26 present at the bottom side of the rail 20 is biased against the rail by means of a spring element at one end of the passage 25 , while at the other end of the passage 25 both wheels 26 present at the bottom side of the rail 20 are biased against the rail 20 with spring elements . for their movement along the guide rail 20 the carriers 21 may for example be interconnected by means of a transport chain of the type described above . another possibility is for example to provide each carrier 21 with a driving motor , by means of which at least one of the wheels 26 can be driven . each carrier 21 supports a bottom plate 27 located between the legs 22 and 23 of the carrier , in such a manner that said bottom plate can be moved from a central position illustrated in full lines in fig4 and 5 and in dotted lines in fig8 transversely to the longitudinal direction of the guide rail 20 , both in the direction according to the arrow c and in the direction according to the arrow d . racks 28 extending in the longitudinal direction of the bottom plate are mounted on the sides of the bottom plate . each of the legs 22 and 23 supports two spaced - apart pinions 29 , in such a manner that said pinions 29 are freely rotatable about axes of rotation extending parallel to the longitudinal direction of the guide rail 20 . the pinions 29 are thereby in engagement with the racks 28 . furthermore said pinions 29 are integral with pinions 30 , which have a larger diameter than the pinions 29 . a sliding piece 31 in the shape of a rectangular bin which is open at its upper side and bottom side is arranged above the bottom plate . said sliding piece 31 is likewise supported by the carrier 21 , in such a manner that said sliding piece can move from a central position illustrated in full lines in fig4 and 5 and in dotted lines in fig8 both in the direction according to the arrow c and in the direction according to the arrow d . the sliding piece is on both sides provided with racks 32 extending in the longitudinal direction of the sliding piece , with which the pinions 30 are in engagement . two guide means in the shape of guide grooves 33 and 34 are provided in the bottom side of the bottom plate 29 . as will be apparent in particular from fig8 the longitudinal axes of the curved grooves 33 and 34 include an angle with the longitudinal axis of the guide rail 20 , whilst the distance between the guide grooves gradually decreases in a direction opposed to the intended direction of movement of the carriers according to the arrow e . the front ends of the grooves 33 and 34 are thereby positioned on either side of the guide rail 20 in the central position of the bottom plate . a guide cam or guide roller 35 co - operating with the guide groove 33 and / or a guide cam or guide wheel 36 co - operating with the guide groove 34 is arranged near each destination station in which an object must possibly be delivered . the guide wheels 35 and 36 can be moved upwards , by setting means not shown , from a lowermost position , in which the bottom plates can move over the respective guide wheels 35 and 36 without touching them , so that either the guide roller 35 engages the guide groove 33 or the guide roller 36 engages the guide groove 34 . if the guide roller 35 comes into engagement with the guide groove 33 , as is shown in fig8 and 9 , the bottom plate will be moved in the direction according to the arrow c . movement of the bottom plate in the direction according to the arrow c will cause the pinions 29 and the pinions 30 secured to the pinions 29 to rotate . rotation of the pinions 30 will cause the slide 31 to move in the direction according to the arrow d . since the pinion 29 has a smaller diameter than the pinion 30 , the slide will be moved in the direction according to the arrow d over a greater distance than the bottom plate 27 is moved in the direction according to the arrow c . it will be apparent , that in this manner an object 37 present within the slide 31 , which is supported by the bottom plate in the central position of the bottom plate and the slide 31 , is moved in the direction according to the arrow d , seen in fig8 and may subsequently fall out of the slide 31 in the direction according to the arrow f . the object falling out of the slide in this manner may be caught in the destination station , for example by further transport means 38 or the like diagrammatically indicated in fig6 . furthermore it will be apparent that , because the bottom plate is moved in a direction opposite to the slide in a destination station , the bottom side of the slide may be completely opened when the slide takes up a position close to the frame of the conveyor , so that it is possible to obtain a compact construction of the installation made up of the conveyor and the destination stations connecting thereto . the configuration of the guide grooves has been selected such that when the bottom plate 27 moves in one direction the slide 31 will evenly move in the opposite direction , without any sudden changes as regards place , speed and / or acceleration .	1
fig1 illustrates the use of a swing speed timer 10 by a golfer 11 , according to certain principles of the present invention . the embodiment of the timer 10 that is illustrated in fig1 is configured to measure the duration of the swing of a golf club 12 . in certain embodiments , the timer 10 is also configured to measure the peak speed of the club head 13 of the golf club 12 . when the club 12 is swung by the golfer 1 , the peak speed of the club head 13 typically occurs at approximately the moment of impact of the club head 13 with a golf ball 14 , or , in the case of a practice swing without a golf ball 14 present , when the club head 13 passes over the point 15 on a tee 16 , or on the ground at which the golf ball 14 would normally be located . a diagram of an embodiment of the architecture of the timer 10 is illustrated in fig2 . it includes a transmitter / receiver 20 to which is connected a transmit / receive antenna 21 from which a signal is transmitted and to which a signal is received from a moving object such as the club head 13 . the timer 10 includes a speed signal detector 22 that detects a speed signal from the moving object at an input connected to the transmitter / receiver 20 , a processor 23 that interprets and further processes the speed signal , a timing unit 24 , and an annunciator 25 . when a portion of a transmitted continuous wave signal is reflected from a club head 13 that is moving toward or away from the antenna 21 , the received signal can contain a doppler shift that is proportional to the frequency of the transmitted signal and the velocity of the club head 13 toward or away from the antenna 21 , as in the timer embodiment 10 a of fig3 . in the timer 10 a , detector 22 a , which has an input connected to the transmitter / receiver 20 , detects the amount of the doppler shift between the transmitted and doppler - shifted received signals and outputs a doppler signal to the processor 23 , which may be a microprocessor 23 a . the processor 23 a derives information from the doppler signal and correlates it with information from a timing unit 24 a to measure the duration of the swing of the club 12 by the golfer 11 . the microprocessor 23 a outputs signals to the annunciator 25 . the processor 23 may also derive the speed of the club head 13 and output it to the annunciator 25 . the transmitter / receiver 20 is one that transmits and receives a signal that is capable of capturing the speed of the club head 13 . preferably , it transmits and receives a continuous wave signal from which the speed of the club head can be captured by returning a doppler signal . the continuous wave signal may be an ultrasonic signal , an electromagnetic signal or some other continuous wave signal . in fig3 , the embodiment of the timer 10 a that is illustrated has a transmitter / receiver 20 a that transmits and receives an rf signal , of which c - band and x - band signals are practical examples . the annunciator 25 is one that converts an output signal received over a wired or wireless link from the processor 23 into a form for use or interpretation . in its simplest and most useful form , annunciator 25 converts the outputs into an audible or visual representation perceivable by the golfer 11 . in the embodiment of fig3 , the annunciator is an lcd display 25 a on which the swing duration of the club head 13 is displayed to the golfer 11 as a direct and immediate measurement of each swing of the golf club 12 by the golfer 11 . the processor 23 in the embodiment of fig3 is a microprocessor 23 a that is capable of interpreting the doppler signal from the detector 22 to determine whether or not an object , namely the club head 13 , in the field of the antenna 21 is moving , and if so at what speed . the interpretation that the club head 13 is moving is used to determine that the club head 13 is being pulled back from the ball 14 or point 15 , and hence that a swing has begun . this determination is used by the processor 23 to start the timing circuit 24 to time the swing of the club 12 . the interpretation that the club head 13 is moving is also used to validate that the swing is taking place and to distinguish a full swing of the club head 13 from minor motion of the club head 13 or a waggle of the club head 13 as when a golfer 11 is merely addressing the golf ball 14 . this validation can be conducted in a number of ways . one such way can be by integrating the detected motion over a time interval . such a time interval of , for example 0 . 05 or 0 . 10 seconds , during which continuous motion of the club head 13 may be sensed , can be used by the processor 23 to support a determination that a complete swing is taking place . the measurement of the speed of the club head 13 can be used by the processor 23 to determine when the maximum speed of the club head 13 has been reached in a swing , to calculate what the maximum speed of the club head 13 is , and to determine the point in time when the swing of the club 12 has been completed . this end - of - swing determination can be defined as the point of contact between the club head 13 and the ball 14 , and can be taken as the point in the swing at which the speed of the club head 13 is at a maximum . the detection of motion is also useful to the processor 23 in controlling the operation of the timer 10 . this enables the timer 10 to be operated by a golfer 11 or other user in a hands - off manner . for example , one embodiment of timer 10 can be operated by merely turning it on . then , the sensing of motion of the club head 13 can be used to operate the timing unit 24 by starting a time measurement at the beginning of a swing and stopping the measurement of the swing duration at the end of a swing . the processor 23 can also determine when to enable and disable the timer 10 , when to measure the speed of the club head 13 , and when and how to operate the display 25 a or other annunciator 25 . in fig1 , timer 10 a is illustrated in a plastic housing 30 having a three digit lcd display 25 a mounted therein and one or more user interface buttons , which , in this embodiment , include a single momentary push - button 31 on the front of the housing 30 . a support leg 32 is provided on the housing 30 to allow it to be set on the ground . within the housing 30 are battery operated components that include the transmitter / receiver 20 , the antenna 21 , the detector 22 , the processor 23 and the timer 24 . these components may be configured according to the principles set forth in detail in the related patents and applications that are identified at the beginning of this application and have been incorporated by reference herein . the display 25 a and push button 32 are connected to the processor 23 . the use and operation of the timer 10 can be considered with reference to fig1 , where the golfer 11 can set the compact housing 30 of the timer 20 on the ground adjacent a point 15 at which a golf ball 14 or tee 16 may be located during the practice of a golf swing . the housing 30 is shown placed even with the point 15 , eight to ten inches on the opposite side thereof from the golfer 11 , and facing parallel or at a slight angle , preferably less than forty - five degrees , to the path of the club head 13 of the golf club 12 , pointing generally toward the face of the approaching club head 13 during a swing . in this location , the timer 10 can be used to measure a golf swing when the golfer 11 is actually hitting golf balls . alternatively , the timer 10 can be placed directly behind the ball 14 or point 15 , facing forward in the direction of the motion of the club head 13 , close to the ball but sufficiently behind the ball to avoid being hit by the club head 13 . as long as the transmitted power is low and the timer 10 sensitivity is carefully limited , the timer 10 can measure club head motion from this position without substantial errors due to a detecting of the motion of the golf ball . the timer 10 can also be similarly placed in front of the ball , facing the approaching club head 13 , provided that no actual golf ball or other hard object is being hit . placed in front , the timer 10 is susceptible to being hit by the golf ball which can injure the golfer 11 or damage the timer 10 . a further embodiment of the timer 10 is illustrated in fig4 , which shows timer 10 b in a housing 30 b shaped to protect the timer 10 b from being hit by a golf ball 14 so that the timer 10 b can be used to measure the speed of the golf ball 14 being hit by the golfer . in this embodiment , the housing 30 b is shaped to deflect a ball if one were to hit the housing 30 b without bounding it back toward the golfer 11 . the antenna 21 of the unit can be aimed toward the point 15 to measure the speed of the ball 14 leaving the tee . in this case , the swing speed can also be measured as described above . however , distinguishing club head motion and ball motion could require careful adjustment and placement to avoid erroneous measurement results . this can be avoided , particularly when measuring only the speed of a ball hit from a low - angled club head , by orienting the timer 10 b so that the antenna 21 faces away from the tee toward the path of the ball . while fig4 shows the antenna 21 facing away from the tee toward the path of the ball , which would be away from the tee , toward the fairway , or the direction that the ball is traveling toward , the ball speed can either be measured with the radar antenna looking back at the ball coming off of the tee , or after the ball has traveled over the radar antenna and is moving away from it . alternatively , the radar antenna can be located forward of the ball , for example approximately two to three feet from the tee where it can also read the speed of the club head . the reflected signal will contain two doppler components , one representing the speed of the club head and one representing the speed of the ball . the club head speed will be at one speed , for example 150 mph , while the ball speed might be about 30 % to 50 % faster than the ball speed . the two speeds can be distinguished by an appropriately configured detector and processor . either the output of the club head speed and that of the ball speed may be output by the annunciator . alternatively , the separate club head and ball speed readings can be toggled or alternated to display both club head and ball speed , or sent to a remote annunciator for output or to a compute for recording or analysis . with the radar antenna on the ground in front of the tee , the ball speed is best detected when the ball is launched from the tee or other surface at a relatively shallow angle , for example , less than 12 degrees . this occurs when balls are hit by low angled woods such as drivers , rather than irons or lofted woods . with any of the embodiments of the above , particularly the timer 10 b of fig4 , the annunciator 25 can be an annunciator 25 b located remote from the transmitter / receiver 20 or at least the antenna 21 . communication of information can include a wired or wireless link between the locations of the antenna 21 and annunciator 25 . the wireless link , if used , can be placed between two components of the system or in more than one location . a wireless link between the processor and annunciator is a practical arrangement . locating the wireless link between the transmitter and detector or between the detector and processor are also useful configurations . the annunciator 25 can be in the form of a computer or other data processing unit or output device . the use and operation of the timer 10 can be understood by reference to a sample flowchart as set forth in fig5 in the description of which the boxes are referenced in parenthesis . when placing the timer 10 a as described above in connection with fig1 , the golfer 11 need only press ( 50 ) the button 31 to turn the timer 10 a “ on ”. a “ ready ” indicator 33 is provided on the display 25 a to indicate that the timer 10 a is enabled and ready to detect and measure a swing . as the unit powers up , the “ ready ” indicator turns on ( 52 ), the timer 24 is reset to zero ( 60 ) and proceeds to measure time from that point . when the “ ready ” indicator 33 is on ( 70 ), if no motion is detected ( 54 ) by the timer 10 a within a timeout interval ( 56 ), of for example 5 minutes , the timer 10 a is programmed to turn itself off ( 58 ). if any motion is detected ( 54 ) during this interval ( 56 ), the processor proceeds to interpret the signal . at this point in time , the timer 10 a is looking for motion in the form of a pullback of the club head 13 from the point 15 , where the ball 14 would be located . if , when the timer is on and in the “ ready ” condition ( 62 ), any motion that is detected ( 54 ) within the field of the antenna 21 will be processed as a possible beginning of a swing . therefore , when any doppler signal is detected by the detector 22 , the timing unit 24 is started ( 64 ) and the “ ready ” indicator is turned off ( 66 ). but since not every detected doppler signal is necessarily indicative of the beginning of an actual swing , the detection of an actual swing must be validated ( 68 ). this validation is accomplished by analysis by the processor 23 of the output of the detector 22 . in the described embodiment , the analysis involves determining the presence of a continuous speed signal , namely the continuous presence of a doppler signal , for a time interval long enough to be the result of the beginning of an actual swing . therefore , the processor 23 a continues to test ( 68 ) for the presence of a doppler signal for a period of 50 or 100 milliseconds , which is likely to be produced by the pullback of a club head 13 for one or two feet , and not produced by other motion of the club head 13 , such as occurs when a golfer merely waggles the club head 13 in addressing the ball , or the golfer terminates the swing . if , after motion is sensed ( 54 ), motion stops ( 54 ) before the validation interval has expired ( 68 ), a false start is detected . in the case of a false start , after waiting an interval ( 74 ) that is longer than that needed for a valid swing , the timing unit 24 is reset ( 60 ) and the “ ready ” indicator 34 is turned back on ( 52 ). in the example of fig5 , the resetting waits 4 seconds before a new swing can start . if the sensed pullback of a club head is validated ( 68 ) as an actual swing by sensing the presence of a club head speed signal for the required minimum amount of time , the processor 23 ignores ( 80 ) any detected speed signal within a time interval after the start of the timer unit 24 that is less than the shortest possible swing . in the example , that is taken to be one - half second . after this minimum swing time interval ( 80 ) elapses from the sensed start of the swing ( 64 ), assuming the swing is validated as a probable full swing ( 68 ), the processor 23 a stores a value for the maximum swing speed , initially at zero ( 82 ), then continues to measure the speed of any sensed motion ( 84 ) for a given period of time ( 86 ) that is longer than the longest anticipated swing duration , which is chosen as four seconds in the illustrated example . during this period , the stored value for maximum speed is replaced ( 88 ) by any measured speed that is greater than the previously stored speed . further , whenever new maximum speed is stored ( 88 ), the value of the timer 24 is also stored ( 90 ). at the end of the given speed measurement ( 86 ), the values of maximum sensed club head speed ( 92 ) and swing duration ( 94 ) will be stored in memory to be output to the annunciator 25 . the output swing duration ( 94 ) will be the length of time from when the club head pullback was first sensed ( 64 ) until the maximum club head speed was measured ( 88 ), which typically occurs at the point 15 at which the club head contacts the ball 14 . when a display 25 a is the annunciator 25 , numerical values for swing speed and swing duration are displayed according to the display mode selected . if two consecutive numbers to be displayed are the same ( 96 ), the display is made to switch ( 98 ) from a steady display to a flashing display so that the golfer 11 or other user knows that there has been a reading taken that is unchanged in value . when consecutive measurements differ , the values are displayed as steady readings ( 100 ). the mode of operation can be selected by the user to measure either only swing speed ( 102 ), only swing duration ( 104 ), or both ( 106 ). when both swing speed and swing timing are to be displayed , they are displayed alternately on the three digit lcd screen of the display 25 a . when new measured values have been displayed , the timer 24 returns ( 110 ) to the beginning of the program to await another swing . the timer 24 is reset to zero ( 60 ), the “ ready ” indicator 34 is turned on ( 52 ), and the timer 10 a proceeds to the sensing of the motion ( 54 ) of the next swing to be measured . if no such motion is sensed within the maximum time - out interval ( 56 ), the timer 10 turns itself off ( 58 ). alternatively , the timer 10 can be turned off manually by pressing the on / off button 31 when the timer is on . other applications of the invention can be made . those skilled in the art will appreciate that the applications of the present invention herein are varied , and that the invention is described in preferred embodiments . accordingly , additions and modifications can be made without departing from the principles of the invention . accordingly , the following is claimed :	6
fig1 shows a portion of a cabin of an aircraft . in the view , the cabin has an interior equipment element 2 attached to an outer shell 1 of the aircraft . in the present case , the interior equipment element 2 is side wall cladding 3 in the region of two windows 4 incorporated in the outer shell 1 . between the outer shell 1 and the interior equipment element 2 , the windows 4 are provided on the edge with frame - like cladding elements , not disclosed further here . the interior equipment element 2 arranged upstream of the windows 4 in the direction of the cabin interior , and / or the side wall cladding 3 , comprises a frame 5 and a pane 6 held in the frame 5 . the construction of the side wall cladding 3 is described in more detail in connection with fig2 , which shows a cross section of a portion of the side wall cladding 3 . the pane 6 of the side wall cladding 3 comprises an optically transparent carrier material 7 , which is provided on both sides with a glass coating 8 . the glass coating 8 has a comparatively small thickness relative to the thickness of the carrier material 7 . the thickness of the glass coating 8 is , in any case , selected so that , mechanically , said glass coating is sufficiently stable , and optionally further requirements are fulfilled . the carrier material 7 may , in particular , be an optically transparent , preferably clear plastics material , in particular a plastics pane . the carrier material 7 may thus be constructed in a single piece , i . e . from a single material . it is also possible that the carrier material 7 is configured as laminate or composite material . the pane 6 is , as already mentioned , held by or in the frame 5 . in this connection , it is possible that the pane is held by a material connection , positive connection and / or non - positive connection . in particular , adhesive connections , latching connections , tongue and groove connections , retaining clamps , retaining strips , clamped connections and the like are considered . it is also possible that the pane 6 is connected to the frame 5 during the production of the frame 5 . in particular , when the frame 5 is produced as a multi - layered element the pane 6 may be incorporated during the production of the frame 5 . if the frame 5 comprises , for example , a honeycomb core reinforced by fibre mats impregnated with resin , it is possible that , during the curing of the resin , the pane 6 is laminated along the edge and thus fixedly connected to the frame 5 . in the figures , the interior equipment element 2 has been substantially disclosed as side wall cladding 3 . this , however , is not intended to be understood as a restriction . within the meaning of the invention , it is also possible that the interior equipment element is generally a cladding element . such cladding elements may , for example , be used as wall cladding , ceiling cladding and the like . thus the interior equipment element may also simply form a portion of a larger cladding element , to which the interior equipment element is fastened . apart from this , it is also possible that the interior equipment element forms a partition or a part of a partition between individual cabin regions or cabin portions . moreover , the interior equipment element may be used as a door or window element , or may be used as a component of a door or a window of the cabin . it is also conceivable that the interior equipment element is a component of an item of furniture or any other equipment or fitting element for the cabin . the term “ item of furniture ” is intended , therefore , generally to be understood in the sense of a furniture - like equipment element or fitting element for a vehicle cabin , in particular of an aircraft . thus , in particular , equipment elements or fitting elements or fittings are considered which are fixedly mounted and / or installed in the vehicle cabin and / or incorporated in the vehicle cabin and , in particular , depending on their meaning and purpose , fulfill the function of a conventional item of furniture or fitting . moreover , all types of movable fittings are considered . a glass coating 8 applied to an optically transparent carrier material 7 , as in the exemplary embodiment disclosed in the figures , may also be used in any other carrier materials which are also not transparent . the advantage of such a glass coating is that lightweight construction elements may be provided at least partially with the advantageous properties of the glass material , such as scratch resistance , heat resistance , easy cleaning , and the like , without the weight of the lightweight construction element being significantly increased . additionally , a high quality appearance may be produced for corresponding interior equipment elements .	1
referring now in greater detail to the drawings , in which like numerals represent like components throughout the several views , the preferred embodiment of the object retention device 20 of the present invention is shown in fig1 and 2 as including an outer body 21 and an inner body 22 which can be coupled , as in fig1 or separated into two parts , as shown in fig2 . outer body ring 25 is attached to outer body 21 through attachment swivel 24 , and inner body ring 27 is attached directly to inner body outer end 26 . fig3 is a cross - sectional top view of the preferred embodiment of fig1 taken along line 3 -- 3 of fig1 and shown without rings 25 and 27 of fig1 and 2 . in addition , an alternate embodiment of inner body outer end 26 is shown having a smaller diameter than that of the preferred embodiment shown in fig1 and 2 . inner body 22 is seen located within outer body cavity 41 of outer body 21 . retaining loop 45 is seen located within outer body loop channel 46 , with which inner body loop channel 23 is aligned . as is discussed in greater detail below , the lower section of retaining loop 45 ( not shown in fig3 ) interacts with both outer body loop channel 46 and inner body loop channel 23 to couple inner body 22 to outer body 21 . attachment swivel 24 is linked to outer body 21 in the preferred embodiment by washer 51 located partially within both swivel washer channel 52 and outer body washer channel 50 . during assembly , washer 51 , manufactured in a ` c ` shape , is compressed into swivel washer channel 52 as attachment swivel 24 is inserted into outer body 21 . as washer 51 aligns with outer body washer channel 50 , washer 51 expands into outer body washer channel 50 to securely connect attachment swivel 24 to outer body 21 . washer 51 is preferably made of nylon . outer body ring hole 12 and inner body ring hole 11 are also seen in fig3 and are considered to teach one of many acceptable methods of attaching objects to bodies 21 and 22 . fig4 a shows a cross - sectional top view , similar to fig3 of inner body 22 with disconnected elements . cap 32 is seen removed from vial 29 and inner body 22 , thus providing access to vial 29 and storage area 28 . vial 29 forms an elongated container , with vial opening 30 at one end . a raised bead 31 ( or &# 34 ; domed &# 34 ; section ) is defined around the interior of vial opening 30 . in the preferred embodiment , cap 32 is designed for at least two purposes : insertion into vial opening 30 to seal the contents of vial 29 , and insertion into and sealing of storage area 28 . to effect a seal between cap 32 and vial 29 , vial retention ring 35 engages with raised bead 31 of vial 29 , and to effect a seal between cap 32 and inner body 22 , body retention ring 36 engages with cap retention channel 37 of inner body 22 . cap 32 can be easily removed through gripping textured grip end 33 . one feature of cap 32 is to enable separation between cap 32 and inner body 22 while maintaining a connection between cap 32 and vial 29 . in the preferred embodiment , compression channel 34 begins at appendage 42 of cap 32 and extends at least partially through the center of cap 32 . the design of compression channel 34 and the flexibility of the preferred construction material allow cap 32 to compress in a limited area near body retention ring 36 without dislodging vial 29 from cap 32 . cap 32 and vial 29 of the preferred embodiment are made of plastic . because one possible use of vial 29 is to carry various substances , such as perfume , the plastic selected should not be affected by nor have an effect on the substance vial 29 is intended to hold . fig4 b shows cap 32 &# 39 ;, an alternate embodiment which includes wick 60 inserted into compression channel 34 &# 39 ;. appendage 42 &# 39 ; of cap 32 &# 39 ; is longer than appendage 42 seen in fig4 a so that wick 60 will not interfere with the previously discussed functions of compression channel 34 . the extension of appendage 42 &# 39 ; includes an extension of compression channel 34 &# 39 ; with a greater diameter for receiving wick 60 . the diameter transition provides a shoulder for limiting the depth of insertion of wick 60 . wick 60 , constructed of cellulose in the preferred embodiment , is provided primarily as a tool for accessing liquids stored inside vial 29 , for example , without limitation , cologne or perfume . furthermore , when the supply of liquid in vial 29 and on wick 60 has been exhausted , wick 60 can be dipped into a reservoir of the liquid to replenish the supply . in still other embodiments , vial 29 is not used to store fluid , but to simply slow down evaporation of liquid on wick 60 . fig5 a shows a cross - sectional right side view of the preferred embodiment of outer body 21 , taken along line 5 -- 5 of fig2 . outer body cavity 41 is seen extending through outer body 21 , and outer body washer channel 50 appears similar to its representation in fig3 . release aperture 44 is shown above release shoulder 47 , and outer body loop channel 46 is seen extending downward into outer body cavity 41 . fig5 b is a cutaway top view of the rear end of the preferred embodiment of outer body 21 showing the circular shape of release aperture 44 . loop slot 49 is seen extending from each end of outer body loop channel 46 with a length indicated by distance &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ;. loop slot 49 also provides access to outer body cavity 41 , represented by dotted lines extending throughout outer body 21 . the preferred embodiment of the present invention further includes a release assembly 70 which is seen in more detail in fig6 and 7 . fig6 is a cutaway cross - sectional right side view , similar to fig5 a , showing the rear end of outer body 21 along with release assembly 70 . fig7 is a cross - sectional front view of outer body 21 and release assembly 70 , taken along line 7 -- 7 of fig6 . fig7 also shows a sectional view of inner body 22 cut at inner body loop channel 23 . referring to fig6 retaining loop 45 is seen extending down into outer body cavity 41 . fig8 a and 8b are isolated rear and cross - sectional left side views , respectively , of retaining loop 45 . according to the preferred embodiment , loop taper 71 is seen included in loop bottom 75 , and loop spring recess 74 is seen included in loop top 73 , which extends between loop shoulders 72 with a length indicated by distance &# 34 ; t &# 34 ;. furthermore , in the preferred embodiment , the length of retaining loop 45 between the ends of loop shoulders 72 , indicated by distance &# 34 ; s &# 34 ;, is slightly less than the length of release slot 49 , shown in fig5 b as length &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ;. referring back to fig6 and 7 , release button 43 is seen connected to loop top 73 . fig9 a , 9b , and 9c show bottom , cross - sectional right side , and cross - sectional front views , respectively , of release button 43 . cap loop recess 76 is formed to securely receive loop top 73 as shown in fig6 and 7 , and cap spring recess 77 is formed to receive leaf spring 80 as shown in fig6 and 7 . referring again to fig6 and 7 , retaining ring 65 is seen resting on release shoulders 47 of outer body 21 . fig1 a and 10b show top and cross - sectional side views , respectively , of retaining ring 65 . in the preferred embodiment , multiple ring wings 67 are seen extending radially out from the center of ring passage 66 and curving away from the plane of retaining ring 65 . in other alternate embodiments , ring wings 67 are omitted , yet the overall diameter is maintained so that the functions of the two alternate retaining rings 65 are similar . in the preferred embodiment , the diameter of ring passage 66 , indicated as distance &# 34 ; d &# 34 ;, is slightly greater than the length of loop top 73 between loop shoulders 72 , indicated as distance &# 34 ; t &# 34 ; in fig8 a . also , leaf spring 80 is seen extending through loop spring recess 74 between loop top 73 and retaining ring 65 . fig1 a and 11b are side and top views , respectively , of leaf spring 80 . to assemble release assembly 70 , retaining ring 65 is placed over loop top 73 to rest on loop shoulders 72 so that ring wings 67 are curved away from loop shoulders 72 . leaf spring 80 is then inserted through loop spring recess 74 so that the center of leaf spring 80 is in contact with loop top 73 , and the ends of leaf spring 80 curve down to and press against retaining ring 65 . this assembly is then inserted into release aperture 44 of outer body 21 so that the majority of retaining loop 45 passes through release slot 49 ( shown in fig5 b ) into outer body cavity 41 . as retaining ring 65 enters release aperture 44 , ring wings 67 come into contact with and wedge against the sides of recess release aperture 44 . because the length (&# 34 ; s &# 34 ;) of release loop 45 is greater than the diameter (&# 34 ; d &# 34 ;) of ring passage 66 , loop shoulders 72 interact with retaining ring 65 to hold retaining loop 45 at least partially within outer body 21 . release button 43 is then attached to loop top 73 . in the preferred embodiment , release button 43 snaps securely over loop top 73 so that friction holds release button 43 in place . other attachment methods are contemplated , such as gluing or ultrasonically welding release button 43 to loop top 73 . in the preferred embodiment , outer body 21 , inner body 22 and release button 43 are made from brass or molded plastic . retaining loop 45 is made from stamped brass . while these materials are preferred , other materials may be substituted , as appropriate , without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention . during normal use , with reference to fig1 - 7 , inner body 22 is ordinarily coupled within outer body 21 . to access vial 29 , bodies 21 and 22 must first be separated . this can be accomplished by depressing release button 43 and pulling inner body ring 27 away from outer body 21 . during the coupled stage , inner body loop channel 23 of inner body 22 is aligned with outer body loop channel 46 , and loop bottom 75 is partially positioned within inner body loop channel 23 , as is shown in fig7 . the front , non - tapered , side of loop bottom 75 contacts the front side of inner body loop channel 23 to prevent inner body 23 from becoming separated from outer body 21 . leaf spring 80 maintains this position of retaining loop 45 by biasing retaining loop 45 upward . as release button 43 is depressed , compressing leaf spring 80 , retaining loop 45 is moved downward so that loop bottom 75 clears inner body loop channel 23 . retaining loop 45 then no longer restrains inner body 22 and allows it to be easily removed from outer body 21 . when bodies 21 and 22 are separated , textured grip end 33 of cap 32 is revealed . to remove cap 32 from inner body 22 , textured grip end 33 is grasped and pulled away from inner body 22 . as a result , vial 29 also exits from storage area 28 . compression channel 34 is designed to allow cap 32 to be compressed in the immediate area of body retention ring 36 without releasing the seal between appendage 42 of cap 32 and vial opening 30 , as is discussed above . finally , cap 32 can be removed from vial 29 to allow access to the interior of vial 29 . for the most part , reversal of this process will return object retention device 20 to its original , coupled status . however , release button 43 need not be depressed for re - insertion of inner body 22 into outer body cavity 41 . in the preferred embodiment , as inner body 21 engages loop taper 71 of loop bottom 75 , retaining loop 45 is moved downward to enable easy insertion of inner body 22 . in other embodiments , loop taper 71 is omitted , and the front end of inner body 21 is constructed with a sufficient taper so as to move retaining loop 45 downward . as inner body loop channel 23 becomes aligned with outer body loop channel 46 , loop bottom 75 moves into inner body loop channel 23 due to force from leaf spring 80 . a first acceptable alternate embodiment of release assembly 70 of fig6 and 7 , is shown , in part , in fig1 - 14b . this alternate embodiment utilizes release button 43 and retaining loop 45 of the preferred embodiment . ( subsequent references to these elements should be understood as referring to fig6 and 7 .) however , outer body 21 , leaf spring 80 , and retaining ring 65 of fig6 and 7 are replaced by the alternate elements shown in fig1 - 14b . fig1 is a top view of outer body 21 &# 39 ; similar to the view of the preferred embodiment shown in fig5 b . release aperture 44 , release shoulder 47 , and release slot 49 are roughly similar in shape and dimensions to the preferred embodiment . yet the salient addition to this alternate embodiment is the multitude of tapered anchor holes 54a - 54d . fig1 a is a top view of spring plates 57a and 57b . anchor passages 56a - 56d , spring arms 55a and 55b , and spring plate loop recesses 58a and 58b are shown formed into spring plates 57a and 57b . fig1 b is a front view of spring plate 57b , showing the vertical extension of spring arm 55b . fig1 a is a top view of anchor plates 61a and 61b . anchor pins 62a - 62d and anchor plate loop recesses 63a and 63b are seen formed into anchor plates 61a and 61b . fig1 b is a right side view of anchor plate 61a , showing the vertical extension of anchor pins 62a and 62b . in this embodiment , spring plates 57a and 57b are preferably made from stamped spring steel , and anchor plates 61a and 61b are preferably made from die cast brass , die cast zinc , molded nylon , or stamped metal . with reference to fig1 - 14b , assembly of this first alternate release assembly embodiment begins with the insertion of retaining loop 45 into release slot 49 . spring plates 57a and 57b are then inserted into release aperture 44 so that spring arms 55a and 55b extend upward away from anchor holes 54a - 54d , and so that anchor passages 56a - 56d are aligned with anchor holes 54a - 54d , respectively . in other words , anchor passage 56a is aligned with anchor hole 54a , and so on . furthermore , when spring plates 57a and 57b are placed in release aperture 44 , spring plate loop recesses 58a and 58b come together to form a rectangle which resembles and is positioned directly over release slot 49 . this newly formed rectangle has a width that is roughly equivalent to the width of release slot 49 . however , the length of this newly formed rectangle is smaller than the length of release slot 49 . the length of this rectangle is the length of spring plate loop recesses 58a and 58b , indicated by distance &# 34 ; p &# 34 ;, and is slightly greater than the length of loop top 73 , indicated as distance &# 34 ; t &# 34 ; in fig8 a . because loop shoulders 72 extend longer than the length of this new rectangle , retaining loop 45 is held in place as long as spring plates 57a and 57b remain in release aperture 44 . anchor plates 61a and 61b are then placed into release aperture 44 over spring plates 57a and 57b . anchor pins 62a - 62d are inserted through anchor passages 62a - 62d , respectively , and into anchor holes 54a - 54d , respectively . in other words , anchor pin 62a is inserted through anchor passage 62a and into anchor hole 54a , and so on . anchor pins 62a - 62d and anchor holes 54a - 54d are designed so that anchor pins 62a - 62d can be wedged tightly into anchor holes 54a - 54d , thereby securely holding spring plates 57a and 57b , and thus retaining loop 45 , in place . the rectangle formed from anchor plate loop recesses 63a and 63b by placement of anchor plates 61a and 61b will be directly over , and have essentially the same dimensions , as the previously discussed rectangle formed from placement of spring plates 57a and 57b . release button 43 is then attached to loop top 73 as in the preferred embodiment . forces from spring arms 55a and 55b then , through contact with the bottom of release button 43 , bias retaining loop 45 upward . an alternate method of construction considered to be within the scope of the present invention includes the steps of first placing retaining loop 45 within release slot 49 , placing anchor plates 61a and 61b ( in an upside down orientation ) onto a separate movable holder having four magnetic prongs oriented similar to anchor holes 54a - 54d , placing spring plates 57a and 57b ( in an upside down orientations ) onto the movable holder and on top of anchor plates 61a and 61b , mechanically moving the holder to place plates 61a , 61b , 57a , and 57b in the previously mentioned locations within release aperture 44 . a second alternate release assembly embodiment is shown in fig1 and 16b . fig1 is a cross - sectional front view of this alternate embodiment which is similar to that of fig7 of the preferred embodiment . outer body 21 and inner body 22 , complete with inner body loop channel 23 , are similar to the corresponding elements in the preferred embodiment . however , release button 43 &# 39 ;, retaining loop 45 &# 39 ;, retaining ring 65 &# 39 ;, and coil spring 81 are different from the corresponding elements of the preferred embodiment . fig1 a shows a bottom view of release button 43 &# 39 ;. fig1 b shows a cross - sectional front view , taken along line 16b of fig1 a . release button 43 &# 39 ; is seen including button plug 17 . it can be seen from fig1 that retaining loop 45 of this embodiment is configured differently from the retaining loop of previous embodiments . included in loop top 73 &# 39 ;, are spring coves 15 defined on each side of loop top 73 &# 39 ; and a plug catch 16 defined in the center of loop top 73 . plug catch 16 creates a one - way grip on button plug 17 when release button 43 &# 39 ; is assembled onto retaining loop 45 . retaining ring 65 &# 39 ; is seen positioned within release aperture 44 without the ring wings of the preferred embodiment , but performing the similar function of holding retaining loop 45 &# 39 ; in place . coil spring 81 is positioned in spring coves 15 , between the top portion of loop top 73 &# 39 ; and retaining ring 65 &# 39 ; so that upward force from coil spring 81 is first received by retaining loop 45 &# 39 ;, rather than by release button 43 &# 39 ;. also , the shoulders of spring channel 18 provide alignment for coil spring 81 , ensuring that coil spring 81 remains in a proper position . in other alternate embodiments , an elastic &# 34 ; o - ring &# 34 ; or other elastic material is used in place of coil spring 81 . another alternate embodiment of the present invention includes whistle inner body 13 shown in fig1 , a cross - sectional right side view . whistle inner body 13 is insertable into outer body cavity 41 of outer body 21 , shown in fig5 a . when inserted , whistle front 14 of whistle inner body 13 is kept clean . whistle inner body 13 is shown including inner body loop channel 23 and inner body ring hole 11 . by blowing through whistle front 14 , a whistling noise may be generated for various well - known purposes . fig1 shows a cross - sectional front view of another alternate release assembly embodiment . release button 43 &# 34 ; and retaining loop 45 &# 34 ; are seen assembled as a unitary construction . other embodiments include attaching separate button and loop elements through glue or other similar adhesive . resting within release aperture 44 and between release button 43 &# 34 ; and outer body 21 is elastic o - ring 82 . elastic o - ring 82 is preferably constructed with adhesive on top and bottom surfaces for attachment to release button 43 &# 34 ; and outer body 21 . during operation , when release button 43 &# 34 ; is depressed , ( compressing elastic o - ring 82 ) retaining loop 45 &# 39 ; moves downward to clear outer body loop channel 46 &# 39 ;, thus releasing inner body member 22 , shown in fig4 a , in a manner relatively similar to that discussed above . fig1 - 23 show another alternate embodiment of the present invention . fig1 is a pictorial view of object retention device 20 &# 39 ; with body members joined together , and fig2 is a pictorial view of the embodiment of fig1 , showing the body members separated . outer body ring 25 is attached to outer body 21 &# 39 ; through swivel 24 &# 39 ;, and inner body ring 27 is attached to inner body 22 &# 39 ; through inner body swivel 126 . release button 43 &# 34 ;&# 39 ; is attached to the side of outer body 21 &# 39 ;. a relatively rectangular - shaped outer body cavity 41 &# 39 ; is defined within outer body 21 &# 39 ;. inner body 22 &# 39 ; includes release channels 123 , and textured grip end 33 of cap 32 is seen partially inserted into inner body 22 &# 39 ;. fig2 and 22 are top and cross - sectional top views , respectively , of inner body 22 &# 39 ;. storage areas 28a &# 39 ; and 28b &# 39 ; are defined by inner body 22 &# 39 ;. cap 32 and vial 29 are seen partially inserted into storage area 28b &# 39 ;. similar to the preferred embodiment , vial 29 includes raised bead 31 , and cap 32 includes compression channel 34 , vial retention ring 35 , and body retention ring 36 . storage channels 28a &# 39 ; and 28b &# 39 ; also define cap retention channels 37a &# 39 ; and 37b &# 39 ;, respectively . fig2 is a cross - sectional top view of outer body 21 &# 39 ; which also shows outer body ring 25 and swivel 24 &# 39 ;. release button 43 &# 34 ;&# 39 ; is attached to spring arm 83 which is attached to outer body 21 &# 39 ; at spring arm fixed end 86 and extends down into outer body cavity 41 &# 39 ; at spring arm free end 85 . fulcrum 84 is also seen contacting the bottom of spring arm 83 between release button 43 &# 34 ;&# 39 ; and spring arm free end 85 . it should be clear that cap 32 can be used with or without vial 29 to seal either storage area 28a &# 39 ; or 28b &# 39 ;. an additional cap 32 may also be used so that both storage areas are sealed . alternately , storage areas 28a &# 39 ; and 28b &# 39 ; can be used without cap 32 when solids , such as pills , are stored . furthermore , the operation and utility of cap 32 and vial 29 are similar to that discussed above with reference to the preferred embodiment . when inner body 22 &# 39 ; of this embodiment is inserted into outer body cavity 41 &# 39 ;, release channel 123 catches on spring arm free end 85 to couple inner body 22 &# 39 ; within outer body 21 &# 39 ;. depressing release button 43 &# 34 ;&# 39 ; causes spring arm 83 to cooperate with fulcrum 84 to drive spring arm free end 85 upward , out of release channel 123 . inner body 22 &# 39 ; may then be separated from outer body 21 &# 39 ;. it should be understood that the scope and spirit of the present invention includes other applications of the various elements and features of the present invention . for example , the various release assemblies disclosed herein have application in other devices unrelated to object retention . while the embodiments of the present invention which have been disclosed herein are the preferred forms , other embodiments of the method and apparatus of the present invention will suggest themselves to persons skilled in the art in view of this disclosure . therefore , it will be understood that variations and modifications can be effected within the spirit and scope of the invention and that the scope of the present invention should only be limited by the claims below . it is also understood that the relative dimensions and relationships shown on the drawings are given as the preferred relative dimensions and relationships , but the scope of the invention is not to be limited thereby .	8
according to some aspects of the present invention , a contact ring having a plurality of electrical contacts is provided to supply an electrical bias to a substrate in a processing system . an average thickness of the contact ring may be increased via protrusions , or “ scallops ,” formed in the contact ring below the contacts . the scallops may help control variations in current density between the contacts by compensating for increased seed layer resistance that exists between the contacts . as used herein , the term scallop generally refers to portions of a contact ring having an increased thickness at or near the contacts relative to ( thinner ) portions of the contact ring in between the contacts . for example , scallops may be formed on a bottom surface of a contact ring , below electrical contacts . further , as used herein , top and bottom are relative terms , not limited to any specific orientation , generally applying to portions of a contact ring away from ( top ) or facing ( bottom ) a plating bath . in other words , in a processing system where a plating surface of a substrate faces up , what is referred to herein as a top surface of the contact ring may actually face down . fig1 illustrates a partial perspective and sectional view of an exemplary electrochemical plating ( ecp ) system 100 utilizing a contact ring 150 with scallops 156 according to one embodiment of the present invention . the ecp system 100 generally includes a head assembly 102 , a substrate securing assembly 110 and a plating bath assembly 161 . the head assembly 102 is attached to a base 104 by a support arm 106 . the head assembly 102 is adapted to support the substrate securing assembly 110 at a position above the plating bath assembly 161 in a manner that allows the head assembly 102 to position a substrate 120 ( held in the substrate securing assembly 110 ) in a plating bath 165 for processing . the head assembly 102 may also be adapted to provide vertical , rotational , and angular movement to the substrate securing assembly 110 before , during , and after the substrate 120 is placed in the plating bath 165 . the plating bath assembly 161 generally includes an inner basin 167 , contained within a larger diameter outer basin 163 . any suitable technique may be used to supply a plating solution to the plating assembly 160 . for example , a plating solution may be supplied to the inner basin 167 through an inlet 166 at a bottom surface of the inner basin 167 . the inlet 166 may be connected to a supply line , for example , from a reservoir system ( not shown ). the outer basin 163 may operate to collect fluids from the inner basin 163 and drain the collected fluids via a fluid drain 168 , which may also be connected to the electrolyte reservoir system . an anode assembly 170 is generally positioned within a lower region of the inner basin 163 . the anode assembly 170 may be any suitable consumable or non - consumable - type anode . for some embodiments , a membrane ( not shown ) may be generally positioned across the diameter of inner basin at a position above the anode assembly 170 . the membrane may be any suitable type membrane , such as a cation membrane , an anion membrane , an uncharged - type membrane , or a multi - layer diffusion differentiated permeable membrane . any suitable method may be used to provide an electrical connection to the anode assembly 170 . for example , an electrical connection to the anode assembly 170 may be provided through an anode electrode contact 174 . the anode electrode contact 174 may be made from any suitable conductive material that is insoluble in the plating solution , such as titanium , platinum and platinum - coated stainless steel . as illustrated , the anode electrode contact 174 may extend through a bottom surface of the plating bath assembly 161 and may be connected to an anode connection of a power supply ( not shown ), for example , through any suitable wiring conduit . a cathode connection of the power supply may be connected to the contact ring 150 to supply an electrical bias between the anode assembly 170 and the substrate 120 . in response to the electrical bias applied between the anode assembly 170 and a plating surface 122 of the substrate 120 , electrical current , represented by current flux lines 180 , generally flows from the anode assembly 170 to the substrate 120 . the current flux lines 180 may tend to gather at a perimeter edge of the substrate 120 . therefore , the contact ring 150 may include a plurality of scallops 156 generally formed beneath a plurality of contacts 154 . the scallops 156 may serve to control the current flux lines 180 at the perimeter edge of the substrate 120 at or near the contacts 154 , in an effort to control variations in current density along a perimeter edge of the substrate 120 , as will be described in more detail below . the substrate securing assembly 110 generally includes a mounting member 112 attached to the contact ring 150 via attachment members 116 . the attachment members 116 may be spaced sufficiently to allow insertion of the substrate 120 ( i . e ., a spacing of the attachment members 116 may be greater than a diameter of the substrate 120 ). the mounting member 112 may allow for attachment of the substrate securing assembly 110 to the head assembly 102 , via a mounting plate 146 of a thrust plate assembly . other embodiments of the substrate securing assembly 110 may lack the mounting member 112 and may be attached , for example , directly to the mounting plate 146 via the contact ring 150 . the mounting member 112 , contact ring 150 , and the attachment members 116 may each be coated with a plating - resistant material , such as a ptfe material ( e . g ., aflon ® or tefzel ®) or any other suitable plating - resistant coating material . the contact ring 150 may have a substrate seating surface 152 generally adapted to receive the substrate 120 with the plating surface 122 of the substrate facing the plating bath 165 . the substrate securing assembly 110 may also include a thrust plate 144 with an attached seal plate 142 generally adapted to exert a securing force on the substrate 120 for securing the substrate 120 to the substrate seating surface 152 . the securing force applied by the thrust plate 144 may be sufficient to ensure adequate sealing between an annular sealing member 148 disposed on the seal plate 142 and the non - plating surface 124 of the substrate . as illustrated , the annular sealing member 148 may be adapted to contact the non - plating surface 124 of the substrate 120 at a substantially equal location radially inward from an edge of the substrate as the contacts 154 engage the plating surface 122 of the substrate . for some embodiments , the substrate securing assembly 110 may include an inflatable bladder assembly ( not shown ) adapted to apply a downward force that is evenly distributed along the non - plating surface 124 of the substrate 120 . the securing force exerted by the thrust plate 144 may also be sufficient to ensure adequate electrical contact between the plating surface 122 of the substrate and the contacts 154 extending from the substrate seating surface 152 of the contact ring 150 . the contacts 154 are generally adapted to electrically contact the plating surface 122 of the substrate 120 in order to supply an electrical plating bias to the plating surface 122 . the contacts 154 may be made of any suitable conductive material , such as copper ( cu ), platinum ( pt ), tantalum ( ta ), titanium ( ti ), gold ( au ), silver ( ag ), stainless steel , an alloy thereof , or any other suitable conducting material . as illustrated in fig2 , the contacts 154 may be formed above the scallops 156 in a generally circular pattern around the substrate seating surface 152 of the contact ring 150 . the contacts 154 may vary in number , for example , according to a size of the substrate 120 ( not shown in fig2 ). the contacts 154 may also be flexible to contact non - plating surfaces with non - uniform heights . power may be supplied to the contacts 154 via a power supply ( not shown ). the power supply may supply electrical power to all of the electrical contacts 154 cooperatively , banks or groups of the electrical contacts 154 separately , or to the individual contacts 154 . in embodiments where current is supplied to groups or individual contacts 154 , a current control system may be employed to control the current applied to each group or pin . for some embodiments , the contact ring 150 , attachment members 116 and mounting member 112 may all be made of an electrically conductive material . as with the contacts 154 , the contact ring 150 , attachment members 116 and mounting member 112 may be made of any suitable electrically conductive material and , for some embodiments , may be made of stainless steel . accordingly , the attachment members 116 may electrically couple the mounting member 112 and the contact ring 150 . therefore , power may be supplied to the contacts 154 by one or more electrical connections between the mounting member 112 and a power supply . further , for some embodiments , the mounting member 112 may be physically and electrically coupled with the thrust plate mounting plate 146 , which may also be made of an electrically conductive material and may be attached to a power supply . the mounting member 112 or mounting plate 146 may be connected to the power supply via any suitable attachment means adapted to provide power to the contacts 154 as the substrate securing assembly 110 is moved ( i . e ., raised , lowered and rotated ) by the head assembly 102 of fig1 . as previously described , the seal plate 142 may be attached to the thrust plate 144 . the thrust plate 144 may be adapted to move ( i . e ., up and down ) independently of the contact ring 150 to exert a securing force with the sealing member 148 on the non - plating surface of a substrate to secure the substrate to the substrate seating surface 152 of the contact ring 150 . the sealing member 148 may be designed to provide a uniform contact force between the contacts 154 and the plating surface of the substrate . for example , the sealing member 148 may be made of a pliable material designed to decrease an effective spring constant of the sealing member 148 . in other words , the sealing member 148 may compress to adapt to slight non - uniformities in the non - plating surface of the substrate ( or slight non - uniformities in the annular sealing member 148 ). for example , as the sealing member 148 compresses , less force may be needed to seal against the highest point of the non - plating surface before sealing against the lowest point . with less force difference between the highest and lowest points , the local force on the non - plating surface of the substrate , and therefore on the contacts 154 in contact with the plating surface of the substrate , may be more uniform . a more uniform force on the contacts 154 may lead to uniform contact resistance and improved plating uniformity . the plurality of scallops 156 may be formed on a bottom surface of the contact ring 150 below the plurality of contacts 154 . the size and shape of the scallops 156 are not limited and may vary according to different applications . for example , as illustrated in fig2 , the scallops 156 formed below the contacts 154 may be substantially rectangular in shape . for other embodiments , however , scallops may be other shapes , including , but not limited to rounded shapes ( e . g ., semi - cylindrical or hemispherical ) and triangular shapes ( e . g ., pyramid or saw - tooth shaped ). as illustrated , the scallops 156 may extend from a bottom surface of the contact ring 150 ( e . g ., opposite the substrate seating surface 152 ). however , for other embodiments , scallops may extend from the substrate seating surface 152 , in effect raising the contacts 154 . fig3 a is a detailed cross sectional view of the contact ring 150 . as illustrated , the contact ring 150 may have a thickness t 1 between contacts 154 , and a thickness t 2 at the scallops 156 . the thickness t 1 and t 2 may be measured from the substrate seating surface 152 to a bottom surface 162 of the contact ring 150 between the contacts 154 and a bottom surface 164 of the contact ring 150 below the contacts , respectively . in general , as t 2 increases , an amount of current density at or near the contacts 154 decreases , and an amount of plating at or near the contacts 154 decreases . similarly , as t 1 decreases , an amount of current density between the contacts increases , and an amount of plating between the contacts 154 increases . by controlling the ratio of thickness t 2 to t 1 , uniform current density and , thus , non - uniformities in plating thickness around a perimeter edge of the substrate 120 may be reduced . as illustrated , the contact ring 150 may be formed of an electrically conductive core 160 surrounded by a plating - resistant coating 158 . for some embodiments , the conductive core 160 may be a solid piece of conductive material . the contacts 154 may extend from the plating surface 152 through the plating - resistant coating 158 . in an effort to maximize a surface area of the plating surface 122 exposed to plating solution , the contacts 154 may be adapted to engage the plating surface 122 of the substrate 120 at or near a perimeter edge . for example , for different embodiments , the contacts 154 may be adapted to engage the plating surface 122 less than 5 mm from an edge of the substrate 120 ( e . g ., 2 . 5 mm or 4 . 5 mm ). as previously described , a thrust plate assembly may include a sealing member ( not shown in fig3 a ) adapted to exert a securing force against the non - plating surface 124 of the substrate 120 , at a location just opposite the contacts 154 , to secure the substrate 120 against the substrate seating surface 152 of the contact ring 150 . the sealing member may be adapted to provide a uniform sealing force between the contacts 154 and the plating surface 122 , which may help to provide a uniform contact resistance which may help provide a uniform current across the plating surface 122 . as illustrated in fig3 b , for some embodiments , a sealing member 130 attached to the contact ring 150 may be adapted to engage the plating surface 122 of the substrate 120 radially inward from the electrical contacts 154 . accordingly , the sealing member 130 may shield the contacts 154 from the flow of plating solution , which may also help to provide a uniform contact resistance , for example , by preventing plating on the contacts 154 . the current at any point on the plating surface 122 is generally inversely proportional to a sum of seed layer resistance , contact resistance , and electrolyte resistance . as previously described , points on the plating surface 122 between the contacts 154 may see a larger effective seed layer resistance than points on the plating surface at or near the contacts 154 . this increase in seed layer resistance may result in decreased current and , therefore , less plating between the contacts 154 . however , as illustrated in fig3 c and 3d , the thicker dimension of the scallops 156 may compensate for the increased seed layer resistance between the contacts and , therefore , reduce variations in current along the perimeter of the plating surface 122 . fig3 c illustrates current flux lines 180 extending to the plating surface 122 beneath the contacts 154 , while fig3 d illustrates flux lines 180 extending to the plating surface 122 between the contacts 154 . as illustrated , in either case , the flux lines 180 tend to squeeze together around the contact ring 150 , which effectively increases an effective resistance of the plating solution . however , due to the increased thickness of the scallops 156 , the flux lines 180 in fig3 c are squeezed together for a longer distance than the flux lines 180 in fig3 d . accordingly , in regions between the scallops 156 , there is a lower effective resistance of the plating solution , which may compensate for increased seed layer resistance between the contacts 154 . fig4 a – b are graphs illustrating plating uniformity achieved using a conventional contact ring and a scalloped contact ring , respectively . the graphs each show sampled plating thickness along a perimeter edge for 2 300 mm substrates having a 40 nm seed layer . the plating thickness were sampled along a half quadrant ( e . g ., 45 degrees ) of a perimeter . as illustrated , the half quadrant may include 6 contacts , labeled as pins in the figures ( i . e , there may be 48 contacts total ). the sample substrates of fig4 a were plated using a conventional contact ring having a uniform thickness of approximately 7 mm ( i . e ., below and between the contacts ). the sample substrates of fig4 b were plated using a scalloped contact ring having a thickness of 5 mm between the contacts ( t 1 ) and 7 mm below the contacts ( t 2 ). as illustrated in fig4 a , using the conventional contact ring , plating thickness increases at or near the contacts , and decreases between the contacts . for example , the plating thickness may vary from approximately 8000 angstroms at or near the contacts to less than 6500 angstroms at points between the contacts . in contrast , as illustrated in fig4 b , using the scalloped contact ring , plating thickness varies only slightly . of course actual plating uniformity may vary for different embodiments and for different applications . accordingly , for different applications , the size and shape of the scallops may be varied to achieve optimal plating uniformity . for example , the thickness of the contact ring between the scallops ( t 1 ) and the thickness of the contact ring ( t 2 ) may be varied based on different application parameters , such as seed layer thickness , desired plating thickness , substrate size , strength of the electrical bias , material being plated , etc . in other words , t 2 may be increased as necessary to decrease plating thickness at or near the contacts , while t 1 may be decreased as necessary to increase plating thickness between the contacts . as illustrated in the example above , for one embodiment , the thickness t 2 may be approximately 7 mm , while the thickness t 1 may be approximately 5 mm . the thickness t 2 ( beneath the contacts ) may typically be in a range from 3 mm to 9 mm , while the thickness t 1 ( between the contacts ) may typically be in a range from 1 to 5 mm . as described above , uniform contact resistance may also promote uniform plating thickness . therefore , for some embodiments , a contact ring may be fabricated according to a process with operations intended to ensure uniform contact resistance . fig5 a – 5f illustrate top views ( e . g ., looking down at the substrate seating surface ) of an exemplary contact ring 550 at different steps of a fabrication process according to still another embodiment of the present invention . for example , in fig5 a , the contact ring 550 may include a single piece of conductive material 560 ( e . g ., stainless steel ). a contact may be formed on the contact ring 550 by bonding a piece of contact material 570 to the contact ring 550 . the piece of contact material 570 may be bonded to the contact ring 550 by any suitable bonding technique , such as soldering or welding . ( generally , soldering is performed with metals having melting temperatures below 450 ° c ., while brazing is performed with metals having melting temperatures above 450 ° c .) for some embodiments , the piece of contact material 570 may be bonded via a brazing process . for example , the piece of contact material 570 may be placed in a cavity 562 formed in the contact ring 550 , with a top portion of the contact material 570 protruding above a top surface of the cavity 562 . as illustrated in fig5 b , one or more pieces of brazing material 572 may be placed in the cavity 562 adjacent the piece of contact material 570 . in general , the brazing material 572 should also have a melting temperature below a melting temperature of the conductive material 560 and the contact material 570 . the brazing material 572 may also be chosen to have a high corrosion resistance , high purity to avoid contamination , a low vapor pressure at a braze temperature , and the ability to wet the contact material 570 and the conductive material 560 . for example , for some embodiments , the contact material 570 may be a platinum - indium alloy ( e . g ., 85 % platinum , 15 % indium ) having a melting temperature of approximately 2230 ° c . and the conductive material 560 may be stainless steel having a melting point of approximately 1650 ° c . one example of a suitable brazing material 572 for brazing platinum - indium alloy contacts to a stainless steel contact ring ( e . g ., with the properties described above ) is a palladium - cobalt alloy ( e . g ., 65 % palladium , 35 % cobalt ) having a melting temperature of approximately 1220 ° c . in other words , the contact ring 550 may be heated ( e . g ., in a furnace ), to a temperature above the melting point of the brazing material 572 ( e . g ., above 1220 ° c . ), causing the brazing material 572 to melt and form a single piece of brazing material 574 that anchors the contact material 570 to the contact ring 550 , as illustrated in fig5 c . advantages of brazing may include increased contact lifetime , more uniform contact height and more uniform contact resistance . as previously described , it is generally desirable to maximize an amount of plating surface area of a substrate . therefore , for some embodiments , an inner annular portion of the contact ring 550 , indicated by dashed lines in fig5 d , may be removed ( e . g ., machined off ) to prevent the removed portion from shielding the substrate from plating solution and to allow the contacts being formed to contact a plating surface of the substrate near an edge of the substrate . fig5 e illustrates the contact ring 550 after removing the annular inner portion . for some embodiments , prior to applying a coating of plating - resistant material 558 ( shown in fig5 f ), a surface of the conductive material 560 of the contact ring 550 may be treated to improve adhesion of the plating - resistant material 558 to the contact ring 550 . for example , the surface of the conductive material 560 may be grit blasted which may alter a surface finish of the conductive material 560 and improve adhesion of the plating resistant material 558 . grit blasting may also prevent the plating resistant material 558 from sliding over the top of the contact material 570 over time , which may prevent sufficient electrical contact between the plating surface of the substrate and the contact and , consequently , increase contact resistance . further , for some embodiments , a coating of primer material may be applied to the surface of the conductive material 560 in addition to , or instead of , grit blasting the surface , to improve adhesion of the plating - resistant material 558 . fig5 f illustrates the final contact ring 550 after applying the coat of plating - resistant material 558 . as illustrated , a portion of the contact material 570 is exposed through the coat of plating - resistant material 558 , allowing the contact material 570 to engage a plating surface of a substrate . for some embodiments , the contact material 570 may be masked prior to applying the coat of plating - resistant material 558 , to prevent coating the contact material with plating - resistant material 558 . for other embodiments , the coat of plating - resistant material 558 may be applied to the contact material 570 , and subsequently removed . while the foregoing is directed to embodiments of the present invention , other and further embodiments of the invention may be devised without departing from the basic scope thereof , and the scope thereof is determined by the claims that follow .	8
chemical treatment of the salt melt for the removal of moisture and hydroxyl ions in general in accordance with the invention is achieved by contacting the melt with a chlorine - containing gas , preferably bubbling the gas through the melt in a manner maximizing the contact between the gas and the molten salt . the chlorine - containing gas reacts with the moisture and hydroxyl to form hydrogen chloride gas and co - products depending on the nature of the chlorine - containing gas . the agitating action of the gas on the salt melt serves to drive the gaseous reaction products from the melt , thereby providing a melt substantially free of moisture , hydroxyl , or undesired reaction products ,. examples of the actual chemical form of chlorine - containing gas is not critical . a wide variety of chlorine - containing species may in fact be used . notably examples are cl 2 , pocl 3 , pcl 3 , socl 2 , so 2 cl 2 and ccl 4 . chlorine gas itself ( cl 2 ) is particularly preferred . the electrolysis is an alternative to the chlorine - containing gas . electrolysis is achieved by passing a current through the salt melt to hydrolyze any moisture or other hydroxyl present to hydrogen and oxygen gas which then escape from the melt . with the salt melt itself serving as the electrolyte , the current is established by impressing a voltage across a pair of electrodes in contact with the salt melt . conventional types of equipment and procedures may be used to accomplish this , provided that the materials are compatible with the salt melt , and inert with respect thereto other than their function in transmitting the current . in either case , it is preferably to precede the treatment ( either chemical or electrolytic ) with a purging of the salt melt by a maintenance gas , to remove at least a portion of the moisture by evaporation and entrainment . the purging process is preferably performed in such a manner that the purging gas agitates the salt melt in a manner which further promotes moisture evaporation and removal . at all times , of course , the salt melt is maintained at a sufficiently elevated temperature to keep it in liquid form . the term &# 34 ; maintenance gas &# 34 ; is used herein to include gases which are generally inert , i . e ., nonreactive toward any species ( and thus neither oxidizing nor reducing ), as well as species which are reactive with decomposition or degradation products of the salt melt to convert them back to their original form as part of the salt melt . for instance , where the salt melt has a tendency toward deterioration by reduction , the maintenance gas may be one which establishes an oxidizing atmosphere . oxygen gas itself is a notable example . as another example , nitrogen dioxide gas ( no 2 ) is particularly useful in salt melts which contain nitrate salts , since it enhances the stability of the salts against decomposition to nitrites ( by regenerating the nitrites back to nitrates ). decomposition of nitrates to nitrites occurs to a troublesome extent in salt baths used at very high temperatures , which are required for ion exchange with certain types of glass . the use of no 2 thus increases the versatility of the process , expanding the range of glasses to which it may be used effectively . in systems where no 2 is used , the no 2 may be diluted in another maintenance ( including oxidizing ) gas . the concentration of no 2 in such gaseous mixtures is not critical and may vary widely . for practical considerations of controlling exhaust gases , however , small concentrations are preferred . in most cases , a no 2 : diluent volume ratio between about 0 . 0001 and about 0 . 05 , preferably between about 0 . 001 and about 0 . 01 , will give the best results . examples of maintenance gases other than oxygen are nitrogen and argon . other possibilities will have unique advantages depending on the salt used in the salt melt . when a chlorine - containing gas is used , it may be diluted in the maintenance gas for improved efficiency . the amount of dilution is not critical and can vary widely . best results will generally be obtained at a volume ration ( chlorine - containing gas to maintenance gas ) of between about 0 . 0001 and 0 . 5 , with 0 . 001 to 0 . 1 preferred and 0 . 005 to 0 . 05 particularly preferred . in some cases , surface hydroxyl groups are already present on the glass surface prior to the ion - exchange strengthening treatment . these hydroxyl groups may be removed by contacting the glass part with a chlorine - containing gas prior to immersion in a salt melt . a variety of chlorine - containing gases may be used , including those listed above . here as well , it is preferably to dilute the chlorine - containing gas in an maintenance diluent gas . as a matter of convenience , the mixture may be the same as that used in the purge of the salt melt as described above . this gas treatment is preferably performed prior to the ion exchange treatment , and may further be used as a preheating step to bring the glass part to the temperature of the salt melt prior to immersion . when an electrolytic process is used for the removal of the moisture and other hydroxyl present after the maintenance gas purge , it is preferred to continue the purge through out the electrolysis . the following examples are offered primarily for illustration , and are intended neither to define nor limit the invention in any manner . this example demonstrates the use of a chlorine - containing gas in removing the final traces of moisture and other hydroxyl - bearing components from the salt melt following the maintenance gas purge . an amount of kno 3 sufficient to cover a 32 cm long laser slab ( i . e ., about 12 kg of kno 3 ) was melted in a reaction vessel at 350 ° c . a bubbling tube was lowered into the resulting melt , and dry o 2 gas was bubbled through the tube into the melt at 0 . 8 l / min for approximately 24 hours . the o 2 purge was then replaced with a purge by a mixture of o 2 and cl 2 , the cl 2 at a flow rate of 0 . 05 l /; min and the o 2 the same as before . the o 2 / cl 2 purge was continued for about 4 hours . a carefully cleaned zigzag slab of lsg91h laser glass ( a nd 2 o 3 - containing laser glass available from hoya optics , inc ., fremont , calif .) was mounted on an aluminum fixture , in which it was supported by a fused quartz rod connected to the top of the fixture with its brewster angle knife edge supported by a plate of boron nitride . the fixture with slab was placed in the reaction vessel in the gaseous atmosphere above the salt melt , where it was permitted to equilibrate to the prevailing temperature . a mixture of o 2 and cl 2 of the proportions described above was then passed through the atmosphere surrounding the slab , heating the slab to 350 ° c . the fixture with slab was then immersed in the salt melt and held there for 48 hours while the temperature was maintained at 350 ° c . after this treatment , the fixture with slab was lifted above the salt melt and permitted to cool in stages to about 200 ° c . followed by 40 ° c ., then removed from the reactor vessel . following treatment , the slab was cleaned with water and acetone , and tested for transmission in a total internal reflection zigzag beam propagation mode and found to be unchanged from an untreated slab within experimental error . the slab was also tested for its thermal loading capacity in a laser test bed , where it was found to withstand twice the flash lamp power input ( about 12 , 000 watts ) that could be withstood by an untreated ( non - strengthened ) slab . the breakage pattern of the slab was typical of a strengthened slab , with fragments of about 4 - 5 cm 2 from each of the slab faces . the effectiveness of the o 2 and o 2 / cl 2 purges was confirmed by the total lack of surface deterioration on the slab following removal from the salt melt . this compares with similar treatments without the purges , where visible surface deterioration was present . this example demonstrates the use of electrolysis in place of the treatment with a chlorine - containing gas . an aluminum container was used as the reaction vessel and also as one of the electrodes . the counter electrode was a ring - shaped aluminum electrode introduced through the top cover of the vessel , surrounding a glass frit at the bottom of the vessel used for the gas purge . the reaction vessel was charged with 12 kg of kno 3 , which was then melted at 350 ° c . dry o 2 gas was then bubbled through the frit into the melt for 24 hours at 0 . 5 l / min . ( in a separate experiment , the o 2 gas was substituted with argon .) the o 2 gas purge was then continued with no 2 added at a concentration of 0 . 3 % ( volume basis ) for 4 hours , followed by an additional hour of o 2 gas only to remove remaining no 2 from the salt melt . a laser glass slab was then mounted in a fixture as described in example 1 , and gradually lowered into the reaction vessel to be preheated to 350 ° c . prior to immersion in the salt melt . a voltage of 1 volt d . c . was then impressed across the electrodes , and the slab was immersed in the melt . the voltage was maintained between 0 . 5 and 1 . 5 volts while o 2 was continuously bubbled through the melt with the slab submerged and the temperature maintained at 350 ° c . this continued for 100 hours . the slab was then removed from the melt and gradually cooled down , rinsed in water at room temperature , and carefully cleaned to permit inspection of the optical surfaces . no surface deterioration was detected . the strength of the slab was measured in terms of its thermal loading as described in example 1 , and it was found to be about twice its original strength . this example demonstrates the use of a chlorine - containing gas in removing the final trace of moisture and other hydroxyl - bearing components from the salt melt following maintenance gas purge . this example also demonstrates the use of temperature control of the salt melt in acquiring higher compressive stress at surfaces of the treated phosphate glass . three sets of experiments were conducted using the kno 3 salt melt at three different temperatures ( i . e ., 350 ° c ., 380 ° c ., and 400 ° c ., respectively ) for treating the phosphate glass . in each set of experiments , twelve kilograms of kno 3 were charged into a quartz reaction vessel and were then melted at 350 ° c . in a dry oxygen atmosphere . dry o 2 gas was then bubbled through a frit disk into the melt for 24 hours at a flow rate 0 . 5 liters / minute . the o 2 bubbling was then replaced with a combination of o 2 , cl 2 , and no 2 bubbling , the cl 2 at a flow rate of 0 . 05 liter / minute , no 2 at a flow rate of 0 . 1 liter / minute , and o 2 at the same rate as before . the o 2 / cl 2 / no 2 mixture bubbling was continued for four hours . then the temperature of the salt melt was adjusted to a designated level ( namely , 350 ° c ., 380 ° c ., or 400 ° c .). in each set of experiments a number of phosphate glass samples each with a dimension of 25 mm × 15 mm × 2 mm were placed in separate sample holders made of aluminum wire . each sample holder was shaped like a wire cage which secured the sample position in the melt and allowed the maximum contact between glass surface and the salt melt . each sample holder was mounted separately to an aluminum fixture designed to either hold a large size laser glass slab ( e . g ., 320 mm × 100 mm × 20 mm ) or to hold many smaller glass samples , as in our experiments . the fixture with carefully cleaned glass samples and sample holders was then placed in the reaction vessel in the gaseous atmosphere above the salt melt , where it was preheated for twenty minutes to reach approximately the temperature of the salt melt . the fixture with a number of phosphate glass samples was then immersed in the salt melt and held there for a designated length of time ( e . g ., 24 hours ). after a designated treating time , the fixture with glass samples was lifted above the salt and permitted to cool in stages to 300 ° c ., 150 ° c ., and 50 ° c . then one or two glass samples with the sample holders were removed from the fixture . the fixture with the remaining glass samples was placed back in the reaction vessel following the same procedure as before , then immersing it into the salt melt again . the remaining glass samples were removed sequentially following the same procedure at various time intervals until all the samples were removed from the reaction vessel . each glass sample was carefully removed from its sample holder and cleaned with warm water and acetone . visual examination showed no sign of deterioration on the polished surface . the sample was then prepared for a sequence of examinations ( i . e ., transmission spectroscopy , surface strain scope test , electron probe micro analysis , and fracture test ). the transmission spectroscopy data showed that the change of percentage transmission of light between wave lengths of 1 . 1 μm and 0 . 95 μm did not exceed 0 . 1 % which is within the limit of experimental errors . a typical result from the surface strain scope showed that a phosphate glass sample treated for 39 hours at 350 ° c . acquired a 10 μm thick compressive stress layer with the maximum stress about 225 mpa . the thickness and the magnitude of the maximum stress of the compression layer were correlated to the treating temperature as well as the treating time , whereupon it was found that at 350 ° c ., the thickness of the stress layer ranged from 20 μm after 24 hours treatment to 50 μm after 250 hours treatment ; and the corresponding maximum compressive stresses within the layers were 350 mpa and 200 mpa , respectively . at 380 ° c ., the thicknesses of the stress layers ranged from 25 μm after 24 hours treatment to 50 μm after 150 hours treatment ; and the corresponding maximum compressive stresses within the layers were 250 mpa and 100 mpa , respectively . finally , at 400 ° c ., the thickness of the stress layers ranged from 32 μm after 24 hours treatment to 60 μm after 90 hours treatment , and the corresponding maximum stresses within the layers were from 200 mpa and 100 mpa , respectively . reduction in compressive stress at longer treatment and higher temperature is ascribed to a relaxation of the glass structure . the foregoing is offered primarily for purposes of illustration . it will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that one can introduce numerous variations and modifications of the materials , procedural steps and operating conditions disclosed herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention .	2
referring to the attached drawings , x indicates a closed space , e . g . a chamber , a furnace or the like . a indicates a fluid agitator of an embodiment of this invention in fig1 and 2 . in fig2 the closed space x is omitted for clarity . though the closed space x is illustrated in fig1 , as a rectangular parallele piped , it may be of any shape , for example it may be ring shape . the agitator a consists of a motor 1 , an agitating blade 2 , and a bearing 3 . a stator coil 11 of the motor 1 is placed in a closed space x . in this embodiment the stator coil 11 is set and sealed in a sealing chamber 13 made of a stainless steel which protects the stator coil 11 from atmosphere of high temperature , and / or high pressure and / or high humidity in the closed space x . the coil 11 and sealing chamber 13 have the shape of the rectangular ring having the hole in the center , through which a stator 10 passes . the stator 10 has a shape of an almost - square ring with an open edge , whose end faces facing each other are each formed in a semi - circle . an armature 12 is installed between the end faces . with such construction , the stator coil 11 is protected by the sealing box 13 , which does not magneticically affect the motor 1 because the sealing box 13 is not interposed between the stator 10 and the armature 12 . the sealing box 13 may be cooled according to demand . in the embodiment shown , the sealing box 13 is provided with two communication pipes 16a and 16b which extend outwardly through the partition of the closed space x . the holes in the partition through which the communication pipes 16 pass are sealed by o rings 19 , 19 or other equivalent sealing means . the communication pipe 16a is connected to a source of cooling gas ( not illustrated ), and carries the gas to the sealing box 13 for cooling the stator coil 11 . the communication pipe 16b is for the purpose of exhausting the cooling gas . the communication pipe 16b may be open to the air or may be connected to a suction pump ( not illustrated ) or the like . the communication pipe 16a , 16b also serve as the extending pipes for a cord 17 of the stator coil 11 , from which the cord 17 projects through a seal 18 . the sealing box 13 may be provided with a covering jacket or the like over the outside , and may be cooled by the cooling gas introduced therebetween . many other embodiments for cooling the sealing box 13 can be employed within the scope of this invention . the armature 12 is provided with a vertically - extending driving shaft 14 which is supported by bearing 3 , 3 at the top and bottom ends thereof . an agitating blade 2 is fixed to the upper part of the driving shaft 14 . the agitating blade 2 is made of any metallic material which is resistant to high temperature and / or high humidity . the bearings 3 consist of supports 7 , 7 which have a semi - spherical shape and include balls 8 therein . the supports 7 have holes therein which hold a plurality of balls 8 which rotatably support the end of the driving shaft 14 disposed therein . the upper support 7 is held in a supporting box 4 by the spring 5 which absorbs the vertical movement of the driving shaft 14 . the supporting box 4 includes the foot 6 having the crank shape which supports the supporting box 4 on the stator 10 . in this embodiment , the bearing 3 has the inventive construction which is resistant to high temperature and / or high speed rotation without an oil - supply . as shown in fig3 and 4 , the support 7 holds a plurality of the balls 8 . a second ball 8 &# 39 ; is disposed in rotatable contact with each of ball 8 . the ball 8 &# 39 ; is placed in a cone - shaped groove 9 formed on an end face of the driving shaft 14 . the driving shaft 14 is supported by the ball 8 &# 39 ;, which is in rolling contact with the groove 9 . a material which does not require lubricating oil and which has high wear and corrosion resistance is preferably utilized for the support 7 and the ball 8 , 8 &# 39 ;. for example , carbon , sic , cemented carbide , sapphire , ceramics or the like may be utilized . the material may be selected depending on the characteristic and the temperature of the fluid to be stirred . the number of the ball 8 , 8 &# 39 ; and / or of the packing of the ball 8 , 8 &# 39 ; are optional . for example , fig5 shows the embodiment where the driving shaft 14 has a pair of supports 7 , one at each upper and lower end thereof and the balls 8 are packed in three steps , that is , the balls 8 are placed in each of the supports 7 and the balls 8 &# 39 ; is placed between the pair of the supports 7 and in rolling contact with balls 8 . the inventive bearing having the construction mentioned above does not need an oil supply and is wear - resistant because the amount of rolling contact of the balls is less than that of the conventional pivot bearing . consequently the high pv value is obtained with such bearing in a high temperature atmosphere or liquid , and the driving shaft 14 can be resistant to high speed rotation . the material of the driving shaft 14 of the armature 12 and of the stator 10 may be selected depending on the atmosphere in the closed space x . 15 indicates the shading coil in fig1 and 2 . in such construction , since the stator coil 11 which is least resistant to high temperature , and / or high pressure and / or humidity is set and sealed in the sealing box 13 , the motor 1 may provide rotation without problems in such atmosphere of high temperature , and / or high pressure , and / or high humidity and makes the agitating blade 2 effectively agitate the fluid in the closed space x . when the cooling of the sealing box 13 is carried out , the heat resistance is further increased . moreover , since the sealing box 13 does not interfere with the magnetic field between the stator 10 and the armature 12 , and does not magnetically affect them , the powers of the motor 1 is the same as that of an ordinary motor . the bearing which is resistant to high temperature , and / or high pressure and / or humidity without an oil supply bears the driving shaft 174 so that the driving shaft 14 can rotate without problems and maintain substantial stirring by the agitating blade 2 . referring now to fig6 , another embodiment of the invention is shown . in fig6 a fluid agitator b of one aspect of the invention is installed in the closed space x which is provided with the fluid to be stirred . the agitator b is cylindrical in shape , whose under part is a turbine room 21 . the upper part constitutes a space for the agitation blade 25 to rotate therein . a turbine blade 22 is furnished in a turbine chamber 21 so as to rotate horizontally therein by means of driving fluid for driving the turbine blade 22 supplied from an injection nozzle 30 having a small bore . the injection nozzle 30 is set into the inner side - wall of the turbine chamber 21 and is connected with an introduction pipe 32 through a conduit hole 31 which passes through the bottom of the turbine chamber 21 . the introduction pipe 32 extends out of the closed space x passing through the wall of the closed space x , and is connected with a fluid source ( not shown ) through a control valve 33 and a condenser , pump , blower or the like 34 . the control valve 33 is controlled by the pressure controller 27 to be described hereinafter . the injection nozzle 30 , the conduit hole 31 , the introduction pipe 32 , the control valve 33 , the condenser , pump , blower or the like 34 , and the fluid source constitute a fluid supply device 23 . in this embodiment , the fluid which has driven the turbine blade 22 , is exhausted out of the turbine chamber 21 to the outside of the closed space x . a discharge hole 35 is formed in the bottom of the turbine chamber 21 , which is connected to a discharge pipe 36 , passes through the wall of the closed space x and extends outside of it . the discharge pipe 36 is provided with a control valve 37 which is also controlled by the pressure controller 27 . the fluid which has driven the turbine blade 22 is exhausted through the discharge hole 35 , the discharge pipe 36 and the control valve 37 . it is easy completely to seal the part of the closed space x where the introduction pipe 32 , the excluding pipe 36 pass through , and the prevent fluid leakage from the closed space x because the introduction pipe 32 , and the discharge pipe 36 are not rotatable , but in the other hand , are stationary . the turbine blade 22 is secured vertically on the driving shaft 24 which is set in the turbine chamber 21 and is supported by the bearings 26 , 26 at each upper and lower end thereof . the top and bottom of the turbine chamber 21 where the driving shaft 24 passes through is provided with a bearing and shaft seal 40 , 40 to improve the sealing performance of the turbine chamber 21 . many embodiments may be employed as the bearing and shaft seal 40 ; for example , a labyrinth seal with a bushing is utilized in fig6 . the material of the bearing and shaft seal 40 is preferably a solid - lubricant , e . g . carbon , ceramics or the like , where it is used in high temperature of the closed space x . the agitation blade 25 is set at the upper end of the driving shaft 24 . the driving shaft 24 transmits the rotation of the turbine blade 22 to the agitation blade 25 . the driving shaft 24 is the means in this embodiment to transmit the rotation of the turbine blade 22 . the agitation blade 25 rotates horizontally in rotation space 50 of the agitator b . the agitator b is provided with an inlet 51 at the top face thereof for the introduction of the fluid to be agitated into the rotation space 50 , and with an outlet 52 at the upper part of side wall . the rotation of the turbine blade 22 induces flow of the fluid in direction of the arrows in fig6 . the flow serves to stir the fluid in the closed space x . the setting position , scale , number and the like of the inlet 51 and / or the outlet 52 may be determined depending on the position of the agitator b in the closed space x and / or the amount of flow required substantially to agitate the fluid . the material of the turbine blade 22 , the bearing and shaft seal 40 or other elements may be selected at will . in the embodiment , carbon material is utilized so as to make the turbine blade 22 light and the bearing and shaft seal 40 into the oil - less bearing . other materials , for example , organic material , inorganic materials , metals , or complex materials made thereof can be utilized if such material is light and can be lubricated without oil . when the fluid to be stirred is liquid , it is preferred to use gas as the fluid for driving the turbine blade 22 and to provide no discharge hole and pipe in the turbine chamber 21 . with such construction , the gas to drive the turbine blade 22 leaks from the bearing and shaft seal 40 into the sealed space x and forms a bubble in the liquid and aids in agitation of the liquid . the introduction pipe 32 and the discharge pipe 36 each have a pressure gauge 70 and 71 which measure the pressures p1 , p2 thereof . the pressure gauge 72 to measure pressure p3 is set in the sealed space x . the pressure value p1 , p2 , and p3 input to a pressure controller 27 which controls the control valve 33 , 37 so as to make the following pressure condition : p1 = p2 + δp . though δp may be determined depending on the required speed of the rotation of the turbine blade 22 , δp is usually set at several atm . the pressure controller 27 also controls p2 to be almost equal to p3 in order to prevent the fluid which is to be stirred from leaking into the turbine chamber 21 through the bearing and shaft seal 40 or to prevent the fluid which is used to drive the turbine blade 22 from invading into the sealed space x . referring to fig7 a bearing is shown which has also the inventive construction which is resistant to high temperature and / or high speeds of rotation without oil supply . in the same manner as the construction shown in fig3 and 4 , the supports 60 , 60 hold a plurality of the balls 61 and hold a ball 61 &# 39 ; in rotational contact with the balls 61 in a well therein . the ball 61 &# 39 ; is placed in cone shaped groove 41 , which is formed on each end face of the driving shaft 24 . the ball 61 &# 39 ; supports the driving shaft 24 in sliding contact with the groove 41 . a material which does not require lubricating oil and which has high wear and corrosion resistance is preferably utilized for the support 60 and / or for the ball 61 . examples of such material include carbon sic , cemented carbide , sapphire , ceramics or the like . the material may be selected depending on the characteristics and the temperature of the fluid to be stirred . the number of the balls 61 , 61 &# 39 ; and / or the stacking of the balls 61 , 61 &# 39 ; are also optional . in the same manner shown in fig5 such construction may be employed that the driving shaft 24 has a pair of the supports 60 and has the balls stacked in three steps ; that is the ball 61 are placed in each support 60 and the ball 61 &# 39 ; is disposed between the pair of the support 60 . the lower support 60 is vertically movable and is supported by the spring 62 in order to absorb such movement as caused by the heat of expansion of the driving shaft 24 . the inventive bearing having the construction mentioned above does not need any oil supply and is wear - resistant because the amount of sliding of the ball 61 is less than that of the conventional pivot bearing . consequently the high pv value is obtained with such bearing in a high temperature atmosphere or liquid , and the driving shaft 24 can be resistant to high speed rotation . in such construction , the turbine blade 22 rotates by supplying the fluid , e . g . air , from the fluid supply 23 , and simultaneously rotates the agitation blade 25 , which induces stirring flow of the fluid in the closed space . there is no significant leakage of the fluid out of the closed space , because such construction includes no rotating shaft passing through the partition of the closed space x . this invention may be applied to a reaction chamber , an autoclave , a rubber vulcanizer , an electric furnace , a heat treatment furnace , a culture chamber , a moisture curing vessel for the light bubble concrete , and the like whose inner space is closed and is in high temperature , and / or under high pressure and / or high humidity and is hard or impossible to be agitated by the conventional art .	5
with reference to fig5 and 6 of the accompanying drawings , the antiballoon device according to the present invention consists of an element 10 having a frustoconical surface , onto the intrados of which there are formed a plurality of ribs 11 extending along generatrices of said surface , the ribs being distributed in a uniform manner over the directrices of said surface . the ribs 11 extend over a considerable length of said frustoconical element 10 and are apt to project to a constant extent ( as shown ), or to a variable extent , from the intrados of said element 10 ; also their specification can be either constant or variable . furthermore , the ribs 11 can extend exactly along the generatrices of the frustoconical surface of said element 10 -- as shown -- or else they can be slightly inclined in respect of said generatrices . the extension of the ribs 11 along the generatrices of the frustoconical surface of the element 10 defines , inside said element , an ideal low friction surface . in fact , thanks to such ribs , the weft yarn is prevented from contacting a wide surface of the element 10 . at the same time , the forces generating through contact of the weft yarn with the ribs 11 -- having the aforespecified configuration -- provide the advantage of drastically reducing the formation of a &# 34 ; residual &# 34 ; balloon between the winding unit of the weft feeder and the inlet to the antiballoon device . the positive results obtained -- as far as low tension of the weft yarn being unwound and , thus , possibility to insert the weft yarn into the loom shed in short times and with low levels of fluid pressure feeding the loom nozzles -- undoubtedly lead to a greater economy in loom operation and guarantee a constant quality of the fabric . tests have proved that the use of an antiballoon device as that described heretofore allows , compared to conventional devices , to reduce the weft insertion times by about 4 %, when using cotton with a ne 20 count , and up to about 10 %, when using thicker cotton with a ne 5 count . fig7 shows an alternative embodiment of the antiballoon device according to the invention . as seen , said device consists of an ailment 12 formed by associating two frustoconical surfaces 13 and 14 , of different taper , through an intermediate radiusing surface 15 . ribs 16 and 17 , formed on the intrados of each of the surfaces 13 and 14 , extend along the generatrices of said surfaces , while the radiusing surface 15 is smooth and comprises no ribs or projections . many other embodiments of the invention are of course possible , or variant could be introduced in the ones already described . for instance , as previously mentioned , the ribs -- which , in the described embodiments are shown with a constant section , uniformly projecting from the intrados of the element forming the device and extending exactly along the generatrices of its surface -- could instead be slightly inclined in respect of said generatrices ( fig9 ), could project from said surface to a variable extent over their length ( fig8 ), and could even vary in section or shape . likewise , instead of one or more sets of ribs evenly distributed over the directrices of the surface of said element -- as in the described embodiments -- groups of ribs could be unevenly distributed over the directrices of said surface . furthermore , instead of a single homogeneous set of ribs 11 -- as in the embodiment of fig5 -- or of two distinct homogeneous sets of ribs 16 and 17 -- as in the embodiment of fig7 -- the device could comprise more sets of ribs , equal or different , possibly penetrating into each other . it is understood that all these variants fall within the protection scope of the present invention .	3
the solid - state oxygen microsensor of the present invention preferably comprises a layered structure , as shown in the enlarged cross - sectional view of fig1 . according to one preferred embodiment of this invention , solid - state oxygen microsensor 10 comprises oxygen ion conducting solid electrolyte 14 with at least two spaced electrodes 15 and 16 in contact therewith , and heater film 13 . heater film 13 is capable of providing high operating temperatures at electrodes 15 and 16 , such as on the order of about 300 ° c .- 900 ° c ., and is configured to provide a measurable and preferably constant temperature gradient across electrodes 15 and 16 . electrodes 15 and 16 are spaced apart from one another so that they do not contact each other and are connected by leads 21 and 22 , respectively , to an external temperature differential measuring circuit , such as high impedance voltmeter 23 and / or processor 24 , as shown in fig2 . heater film 13 is energized at terminals 11 and 11a from an external circuit , known to those skilled in the art . heater film 13 may be mounted or embedded in dielectric layer 12 of oxygen microsensor 10 , to insulate heater film 13 from interaction with electrodes 15 and 16 . oxygen microsensor 10 may also form a bridge structure spanning a depression , or etch pit 130 as shown in fig6 - 9a , in support structure 119 . electrodes 15 , 16 , 115 and 116 preferably comprise platinum , palladium , rhodium , iridium or other metals or metallic alloys having a relatively high melting temperature and which are capable of catalyzing the dissociation and ionization of oxygen . electrodes 15 , 16 , 115 and 116 preferably comprise thin films which may be deposited on solid electrolyte 14 and 114 by means known within the art , such as ion beam sputtering techniques . each pair of independent sensor electrodes 15 and 16 , and 115 and 116 are preferably co - planar with respect to each other , as best shown in fig1 and 9a . as used throughout this specification and in the claims , the term &# 34 ; co - planar &# 34 ; is intended to mean that independent sensor electrodes 15 , 16 , 115 and 116 are generally positioned within the same plane . it is apparent that electrode 15 , 115 may have a slightly different thickness than electrode 16 , 116 or be slightly offset with respect to electrode 16 , 116 and such arrangements are intended to be generally described as &# 34 ; co - planar &# 34 ;. many different electrode configurations may be used in the oxygen microsensor of the present invention , but the configurations shown in fig2 a and 3b are preferred . fig2 shows electrodes 15 and 16 having a substantially rectangular or linear configuration . fig3 a shows one preferred radial configuration for electrodes 15 and 16 . fig3 b shows another preferred radial configuration for electrodes 15 and 16 , wherein electrode 16 has an overall circular shape and also functions as a heater , while electrode 15 has a concentric semi - circular or arcuate shape surrounding a portion of the circular electrode 16 . as shown in fig2 a and 3b , the distance between an internal surface edge at t 1 of electrode 15 and an external surface edge at t 2 of electrode 16 remains constant , so that the temperature gradient ( t 2 - t 1 ) remains constant at all points along such internal surface edge and such external surface edge . electrode 16 preferably operates at a higher temperature than electrode 15 , during oxygen microsensor 10 operation , according to this preferred embodiment . fig6 - 9 show plan views of various thin film oxygen microsensors 10 according to preferred embodiments of this invention . in fig6 - 9 , heaters 113 and sensor electrodes 115 and 116 are shown as exposed metal films , with separate but co - planar films and contact pads for heaters and electrodes . the crosshatch lines in fig6 - 9 are primarily for purposes of drawing clarity . it is apparent that oxygen microsensor 10 of this invention can operate either with such elements exposed to the surrounding ambient or with such elements covered with respect to the surrounding ambient . dielectric layer 112 is mounted on support structure 119 in any suitable manner known to those skilled in the art . dielectric layer 112 is fixed at one end and has an opposite free end , shown on the left portion of each of fig6 - 8 , which extends as cantilever portion 125 over etch pit 112 . as best shown in fig6 and 8 , dielectric layer 112 has an overall v - shaped structure which forms cantilever portion 125 that extends over etch pit 130 . etch pit 130 is preferably formed by a method such as anisotropic etching or the like , after patterning dielectric layer 112 as shown in fig6 - 9 . electrodes 115 and 116 are deposited and patterned to contact and preferably overlap the edges of solid electrolyte 114 and are thus used for measuring the temperature and oxygen potential on each side of solid electrolyte 114 . as best shown in fig6 - 9 , dielectric layer 112 supports solid electrolyte 114 over etch pit 130 . heater films 113 are preferably located on either side of solid electrolyte 114 , as shown in fig6 - 9 , and are supplied with current to maintain a desired and preferably constant temperature gradient across solid electrolyte 114 , which is sensed by the change in resistance of either heater films 113 or electrodes 115 and 116 . in another preferred embodiment of this invention , electrodes 115 and 116 can be omitted and heater films 113 can be located on both sides of solid electrolyte 114 , as shown in fig4 e . in such preferred embodiment , heater films 113 act both as heaters when power is applied to them and as electrodes when signals are read from them . thin film oxygen sensors having a silicon nitride bridge or diaphragm connection to a silicon substrate can severely deform due to thermal expansion , which often results in fracture at elevated temperatures . the v - shaped structure according to certain preferred embodiments of this invention uses the cantilever arrangement to relieve thermal expansion stresses . the v - shape also facilitates the anisotropic etching process under dielectric film 112 and provides adequate support for solid electrolyte 114 . solid electrolyte 114 expands in the same direction as dielectric film 112 when solid electrolyte 114 is heated . fig7 shows another embodiment according to this invention having an overall u - shaped structure with serpentine configured heater films 113 . fig8 shows yet another embodiment according to this invention , also having an overall v - shaped structure . in fig6 - 8 , solid electrolyte 114 is located between the legs of the &# 34 ; v &# 34 ; or &# 34 ; u &# 34 ;, so that cantilever portion 125 of dielectric layer 112 is suspended over etch pit 130 . cantilever portion 125 permits dielectric layer 112 to expand in the same direction as electrodes 115 and 115 , for example when solid electrolyte 114 is heated . fig9 shows a thin film oxygen microsensor 10 , according to another preferred embodiment of this invention . cantilever portion 125 forms an overall a - frame structure . both fig9 and 9a show solid electrolyte 114 and dielectric layer 112 . the a - frame structure accommodates relief of thermal stresses by directing the thermal expansions of dielectric layer 112 , electrodes 115 and 116 , and heater films 113 in the same direction , into an unconstrained or free space , such as that over etch pit 130 . dielectric layer 112 extends from both sides of oxygen microsensor 10 , over one edge of dielectric layer 112 that forms etch pit 130 , and thus permits all thermal expansion except the differential thermal expansion to act in the same direction , thereby reducing the stress on solid electrolyte 114 . fig9 a shows an enlarged cross - sectional view taken along line 9a -- 9a , as shown in fig9 . although fig6 - 9 do not show such feature , for clarity purposes , fig9 a shows one preferred embodiment wherein solid electrolyte 114 overlays heater films 113 and electrodes 115 and 116 . dielectric layer 112 supports heater films 113 , solid electrolyte 114 , and electrodes 115 and 116 as cantilever portion 125 over etch pit 130 . dielectric layer 112 preferably comprises al 2 o 3 , sio 2 , si 3 n 4 , mgo or other suitable high temperature insulating materials . referring again to fig2 electrodes 15 and 16 , and leads 21 and 22 are intended to transmit signals for obtaining sensor temperature differential or temperature gradient measurements across solid electrolyte 114 , as well as oxygen concentration measurements . leads 18 and 17 preferably comprise pt / 10 % rh , palladium or rhodium , or alloys thereof . switch a is preferably only closed during a temperature differential or temperature gradient measurement . switch a is preferably open during oxygen concentration measurement , and in such mode the connection of platinum leads 21 and 22 are used to measure the sensor output ( δe ) or potential difference across electrodes 15 and 16 . as shown in fig2 leads 21 and 22 are connected to high impedance voltmeter 23 to measure the potentials across solid electrolyte 14 . when switch a is closed , the high temperature thermocouple junctions formed by leads 21 and 18 and with leads 22 and 17 are used to measure and determine the temperature differentials or temperature gradients , typically between about 20 ° c . and about 200 ° c ., of oxygen microsensor 10 at absolute operating temperatures of about 300 ° c . to about 900 ° c . oxygen ion conducting solid electrolyte 14 which contacts electrodes 15 and 16 may comprise any suitable oxygen ion conducting material , such as zro 2 , ceo 2 , bi 2 o 3 , and other metal oxides having similar properties , such as the above zro 2 suitably doped with calcia or yttria to achieve crystallographic stability and preferred conductivity levels at the operating temperatures of oxygen microsensor 10 . suitable electrolyte materials are well known within the art . yttria stabilized zirconia ( ysz ) is a particularly preferable solid electrolyte . oxygen ion conducting solid electrolyte 14 preferably comprises a thin membrane which may be applied to the substrate material by techniques which are known within the art , such as ion beam sputtering . according to one preferred embodiment of this invention , heater film 13 is positioned in close proximity to oxygen ion conducting solid electrolyte 14 and electrodes 15 and 16 , and is preferably deposited on the surface of solid electrolyte 14 , opposite of electrodes 15 and 16 . preferred heater film 13 configurations are shown in fig4 a - 4f , but many other heater configurations which are known within the art would be suitable for use in oxygen microsensor 10 of this invention . the geometrical shapes of heater film 13 as shown in fig4 c , 4d and 4f are preferred when positioning heater film 13 beneath electrode 16 as shown in fig3 a and 3b , so that a uniform , radial temperature gradient can be formed . the geometrical shapes of heater film 13 as shown in fig4 a , 4b and 4e are preferred when positioning heater film 13 beneath electrode 16 as shown in fig1 and 2 . heater film 13 is energized at terminals 11 and 11a from an external circuit to provide suitable operating temperatures at heater film 13 . heater film 13 preferably comprises pt , sic , sno 2 , or other suitable materials having similar heat transfer properties . heater film 13 may have a continuous , uniform film between the pads , as shown in fig4 a ; a rectangular serpentine configuration with a lower temperature section on the right portion of the serpentine configuration , as shown by the wider section having lower resistance of heater film 113 in fig4 b ; a rolled serpentine heater configuration as shown in fig4 c ; a circular serpentine configuration as shown in fig4 d ; two separated rectangular serpentine heater units as shown in fig4 e , or a generally circular wider serpentine configuration as shown in fig4 f . the temperature gradient across electrodes 15 and 16 may be generated by two separated heaters energized to provide different absolute temperatures and thereby establish a temperature gradient , or by adjustment of the electrode placement and configuration with respect to heater film 13 , to provide the requisite temperature gradient . heater film 13 is preferably mounted or embedded within dielectric layer 12 , which preferably comprises aluminum oxide or silicon nitride , or can be an integral part of leads 21 and 22 , as shown in fig3 b and 4e . leads 21 and 22 of fig4 e are shown serving a dual role , each with heater film 13 . thus , certain pads are identified in fig4 e as &# 34 ; 21 , 13 &# 34 ; and &# 34 ; 22 , 13 &# 34 ; and one pad is identified as &# 34 ; 22 , 13 &# 34 ; in fig3 b for the same reason . as shown in fig4 e , heater films 13 and 13a represent two independent heater films . also , with respect to but not shown in fig4 e , one of the two serpentine configurations floats or is electrically ungrounded so that measurement readings can be taken . heater film 13 may be embedded within a single dielectric layer 12 , as shown in fig1 or may be sandwiched between two thin dielectric layers 12 . dielectric layer 12 provides support for the layer of solid electrolyte 14 and insulates heater film 13 from interaction with the sensor electrodes 15 and 16 , thus extending its operating lifetime . operation of the solid - state oxygen microsensor according to the process of one preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to fig2 . heater film 13 is initially energized to raise the temperature of oxygen microsensor 10 to suitable operating ranges and to establish a known and preferably constant temperature gradient across electrodes 15 and 16 . when switch a is closed , electrical contact is established between electrodes 15 and 16 and a temperature differential measurement device , such as high impedance voltmeter 23 . by opening switch a , output signals from electrodes 15 and 16 are conveyed to high impedance voltmeter 23 which measures the emf and to processor 24 . processor 24 can be any suitable processor means or computer , apparent to those skilled in the art , for calculating a partial pressure of oxygen when given a constant temperature gradient value and a corresponding sensor output ( δe ) value at such temperature gradient value . based upon the measurement of emf and a known temperature differential across electrodes 15 and 16 , processor 24 is used to determine or compute the partial pressure of oxygen in the ambient atmosphere , based upon a program containing data and known functions from the sensor output ( δe ) and the known temperature differential or temperature gradient across solid electrolyte 114 . according to one preferred embodiment of this invention , processor 24 is programmed to contain the functional relationships between the sensor output ( δe ), the temperature gradient , and the partial pressure of oxygen , preferably as shown in fig5 b , or even fig5 a . the temperature gradient across electrodes 15 and 16 must be maintained at a constant value only until a corresponding sensor output ( δe ) measurement is taken at such known temperature gradient . if both measurements , the temperature gradient value and the sensor output value , can be taken simultaneously , then it is not necessary to maintain the temperature gradient at the constant value . if the temperature differential maintained across the electrodes can be stabilized so that the temperature differential remains at a constant value , then measurement of the actual temperature differential would no longer be necessary , and the partial pressure of oxygen could be determined , for example by processor 24 , solely as a function of the sensor output ( δe ). fig5 b shows the relationship between the sensor output , the temperature differential , and the partial pressure of oxygen in the ambient atmosphere , based upon experimental data according to this invention . fig5 a shows a similar relationship generated from known seebeck coefficient data , i . e . thermoelectric potential data published by fadeev et al : &# 34 ; thermo - emf of cells with a zro 2 + y 2 o 3 electrolyte in atmospheres of different compositions &# 34 ;, soc . electrochem ( usa ), vol . 18 , no . 7 , p . 894 ( 1982 ). it is apparent that many elements shown in the various drawings and previously described in this specification , such as dielectric layers 12 and 112 , heaters 13 and 113 , solid electrolytes 14 and 114 , and electrodes 15 , 16 , 115 and 116 are interchangeable between the various embodiments . the configuration of oxygen microsensor 10 of the present invention has been described generally above without reference to specific or relative dimensions . preferred dimensions depend , of course , upon the specific application and components . in general , however , solid electrolyte 14 and 114 may be from about 200 to about 1000 μm in length , by 10 to about 1000 μm in width , preferably in a rectangular or circular pattern , and has a thickness of about 0 . 2 to about 20 μm , preferably about 0 . 3 to about 2 μm . electrodes 15 and 16 , according to the embodiments shown in fig3 a and 3b , for example , have an interelectrode spacing of about 5 to about 100 μm , preferably about 10 to about 40 μm , and have a thickness of about 500 to about 3000 å , preferably about 750 to about 1500 å . the dimensions of heaters 13 and 113 correspond generally to the dimensions such that their resistance ranges from about 100 to 1000 ohms . fig1 shows experimental results obtained with oxygen microsensor 10 according to this invention . the curve represents a step by step response to varying oxygen concentrations from 1 % to 100 % and then back to 1 %. the response time is less than one second and some trailing response is shown at the lowest concentration levels . the temperature gradient was maintained at about 150 ° c . by energizing two heaters across the zro 2 film by two different , isolated power supplies only one of which was grounded . oxygen microsensor 10 was fabricated so that the silicon substrate supported the si 3 n 4 film , which in turn supported the zirconia sensor film , and thus reduced undesirable stresses caused by mismatches in thermal coefficients of expansion . the center of the structure was heated to greater than approximately 700 ° c . while in the foregoing specification this invention has been described in relation to certain preferred embodiments thereof , and many details have been set forth for purpose of illustration , it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the invention is susceptible to additional embodiments and that certain of the details described herein can be varied considerably without departing from the basic principles of the invention .	6
the invention is described with respect to finger print registration . the method of this invention is applicable to other biometric verification processes as is evident to those of skill in the art . one of the problems with a finger print biometric is that a segment of the population can have temporary or permanent skin conditions which cause poor image quality on the scanning device which in turn causes them to experience high false rejection rates . by allowing candidates to use more than one finger during authentication , lower thresholds for authentication are combined in a way which confirms identities yet does not compromise the level of false acceptances for the system . thresholds from a set of distinct finger prints from a candidate that would usually be rejected for being too insecure are combined according to this method to allow acceptance in dependence upon a plurality of biometric information samples . thus a candidate lowers the chance of being falsely rejected by supplying multiple biometric information samples in the form of fingerprints for authentication . referring to fig1 a flow diagram of an embodiment of the invention is shown . biometric information in the form of fingerprints is provided to a processor . according to the invention , a plurality of samples from at least two biometric information sources are provided . these samples are in the form of fingerprints , palm prints , voice samples , retinal scans , or other biometric information samples . requiring an individual to enter biometric information samples from at least two biometric information sources , allows for improved registration results and reduced false acceptance . for example , some individuals are known to be commonly falsely accepted or identified . the false acceptance often is a result of similarities between biometric information samples from a biometric information source of a registered individual and from a biometric information source of another individual . these similarities are often only present for a specific similar biometric information source such as a left index finger or a right thumb . the provision and registration of two biometric information samples , reduces likelihood of similarity because , where before similarity of a single biometric information source resulted in false acceptance , now similarity in two different sources is unlikely . therefore , requiring a minimum of two biometric information sources reduces any likelihood of false acceptance . the use of a plurality of varied biometric information sources in the form of retinal scans , voice prints , finger prints , palm prints , toe prints , etc . further reduces probability of false registration ; it is unlikely that the varied biometric information from two individuals is similar . similarly , requiring an individual to enter biometric information samples from at least two biometric information sources reduces the probability of false rejection . as the likelihood of false acceptance decreases , a lower threshold for acceptance becomes acceptable . both false rejection and false acceptance are reduced . each biometric information sample is associated with a biometric information source in the form of a fingertip , a retina , a voice , a palm , etc . the association , allows for comparison between the biometric information sample and a template associated with the biometric information source . when an individual &# 39 ; s identity is provided to the processor or is known , the biometric information sample is only compared to a single template associated with the biometric information source . alternatively , the biometric information sample is compared against a plurality of templates . comparing biometric information samples is often referred to as registering the biometric information samples . many methods are known for performing the registration . commonly , the biometric information sample is characterized according to a method specific to the template . the template and the characterized biometric information sample are compared to determine a registration value . the registration value is then used to determine identification ; to provide access to a system or structure ; to log access ; to monitor use ; for billing ; or for other purposes . when an individual &# 39 ; s alleged identity is not provided to the processor or known to the processor , the characterized biometric information is registered against templates stored in a database of templates in order to locate those registrations which are indicative of a predetermined characteristic . the characteristic is often identity but other characteristics are also known . because a plurality of biometric information samples are provided , the registration against templates is for locating a plurality of templates which are indicative of a predetermined characteristic . when the characteristic is identity , the templates are from a same individual and the registration process tries to locate a set of templates that registers with the characterized biometric information samples resulting in a set of values indicative of accurate identification . referring to fig1 b , a flow diagram of an embodiment of the invention for identifying an individual is shown . an individual seeking authentication by a user authorization system is presented with a parameter entry means . parameter entry means are well known in the art of computer science . some examples of parameter entry means include dedicated switches ; software for execution on a processor and for providing an individual with means for selecting or customizing parameters in the form of prompts , a command line , or a graphical user interface ; cards or other storage means for provision to a device capable of reading stored parameters and providing them to a processor ; wireless data entry ; and voice data entry systems . using the parameter entry means , the individual determines biometric information sample parameters . the parameters are selected from a known group of available parameters . examples of known groups of biometric information samples include ( right index finger , left index finger , left thumb ); ( right index finger , voice ); ( retinal scan , voice ); ( left thumb , left middle finger ); etc . groupings reduce user entry requirements ; however , groupings also reduce flexibility . alternatively , parameters are entered by an individual selecting from all available parameters in order to determine a group . for example , an individual is presented with a graphical display , as shown in fig2 of biometric information sources in the form of fingers 11 and selects a number of samples for each source . when a voice recognition system is incorporated into the user authorization system , an icon 12 representing voice is also displayed . when a retinal scanning system is incorporated , an icon 13 representing the retinal scan is displayed . other icons are displayed when corresponding biometric identification systems are present . the individual enters parameters in the form of identifying biometric information sources and for each source a quantity of samples being provided . preferably a minimum set of requirements exist which , though flexible , ensures sufficient levels of security . requiring each individual to enter information from a minimum number of biometric information sources and perhaps a maximum number of samples from a same biometric information source , allows for maintenance of at least a predetermined security level . once the parameters have been entered , the individual enters biometric information in the form of fingerprints into the system in accordance with the parameters . preferably , the parameters once selected arc sent to a processor for analysis and the individual is prompted to enter each biometric information sample . alternatively , the parameters and the biometric information in the form of representations of fingerprints are sent to a processor together . the biometric information provided by the individual is related to the parameters selected . for example , referring to fig2 a , when the individual selects left ring finger once , right thumb once , and right index finger once , the individual then provides a sample of a fingerprint from the left ring finger , a fingerprint sample from the right thumb and a fingerprint sample from the right index finger . prompting , shown in fig2 b , allows the individual to select very complicated sets of biometric information sources or to select from predetermined sets without remembering the parameters and / or an order for the parameters . a biometric input means in the form of a live fingerprint scanning device is used to collect the biometric information in the form of images of fingerprints of the individual which are entered in a predetermined order . each biometric information sample is identified . when the individual is prompted for a biometric information sample , the processor labels the samples . alternatively , an individual enters parameters and biometric information simultaneously by entering a biometric information sample and identifying the sample as , for example , a specific fingerprint or a voice sample . optionally , the individual is provided with a means of reviewing and accepting or discarding biometric information samples . the authentication procedure determines an independent sequence of comparison scores from the input provided by the candidate . this sequence is considered to be a point , hereinafter referred to as p , in n - dimensional vector space , r n . a threshold function h . sub . α : r n → r is used to determine whether or not the point belongs to a set u . sub . α by pεu . sub . α h . sub . α ( p )≧ c . sub . α . the identity of the individual is confirmed if and only if pεu . sub . α . the biometric information sample identifiers are used to uniquely identify the input samples . let i be the set of input images , i ={ i i \| 1 ≦ i ≦ n }. for i i εi , let id i be the identifier of an image , let t i be the characterization or template of the image , and let t i * be the reference template of the image . are equivalence classes that partition the set of input images into sets of images that belong to a same finger tip . there are n of these classes where 1 ≦ n ≦ n . when τ is a set of all fingerprint templates generated by a given characterization algorithm and score : τ × τ → r is the measure generated by an associated matching algorithm , then we can construct a set of class representative , i r , which contains one representative for each h k : the set i r . or right . i , is then a set of images of the distinct input fingerprints that achieve the highest scores . alternatively , multiple samples of a same fingerprint are considered . for each i i εi r , 1 ≦ i ≦ n , let x i = score ( t i , t i ) correspond to scores from the matching algorithm . any ordering of these scores is a point in the vector space r n , simply by constructing the n - tuple ( x 1 , x 2 , . . . , x n )= p . essentially , as shown in fig1 once a set of parameters is selected , a graphical distribution of identifications is achievable in n - dimensions . the biometric information samples are provided to a processor . registration is conducted against known templates in dependence upon the selected parameters . once registration is complete , a single point is determined having coordinates equal to each of at least some of the registration results . alternatively , the point has coordinates determined in dependence upon the registration results but not equal thereto . plotting the point results in a point plotted in n - dimensional space . the processor then determines a probability distribution for the selected parameters . alternatively , this is performed prior to the registration process for biometric information samples . further , alternatively the probability distributions are determined or approximated in advance and stored in non - volatile memory . given an n - dimensional plot defined by a boundary function and a single point , a comparison determines whether or not the point falls below or above the function and optionally within or outside other known ranges . stated differently , the point is analyzed to determine whether it falls within a suitable region wherein region is defined as an n - dimensional region having at least some known boundaries . when the point falls within a predetermined or suitable region , the individual is identified . when the point falls outside the predetermined or suitable region , the individual is not identified . the identification system then responds accordingly . responses in the form of locking an individual out , denying an individual access , logging an attempted entry by an unidentified individual , etc . are well known and are beyond the scope of the present invention . referring to fig3 a simplified flow diagram of another method according to the invention is shown . biometric information samples are provided to a processor and associated with their biometric information sources in the form of finger tips , eyes , palm , or voice . the biometric information samples and the associated information are provided to a processor . the processor characterises the biometric information samples and registers them against templates . when the individual &# 39 ; s alleged identification is known , registration is performed against templates associated with the individual and associated with same biometric information sources . identification of an individual is conducted in a fashion similar to that set out for fig1 b above . referring to fig4 a simplified flow diagram of another method according to the invention is shown . a processor prompts an individual for biometric information samples associated with biometric information sources selected by the processor at random . the biometric information samples are provided to the processor . the processor characterises the biometric information samples and registers them against templates . when the individual &# 39 ; s alleged identification is known , registration is performed against templates associated with the same biometric information sources of the individual . identification of an individual is conducted in a fashion similar to that set out for fig1 b above . referring to fig5 a simplified flow diagram of another method according to the invention is shown . a processor prompts an individual for biometric information samples associated with biometric information sources selected by the processor according to a predetermined algorithm . optionally , the predetermined algorithm selects the biometric information sources in dependence upon the alleged identity of the user . the biometric information samples are provided to the processor . the processor characterises the biometric information samples and registers them against templates . when the individual &# 39 ; s alleged identification is known , registration is performed against templates associated with the same biometric information sources of the individual . identification of an individual is conducted in a fashion similar to that set out for fig1 b above . referring to fig6 a simplified flow diagram of another method according to the invention is shown . biometric information samples and associated parameters are provided to a processor . the processor characterises the biometric information samples and registers them against templates . when the individual &# 39 ; s alleged identification is known , registration is performed against templates associated with the individual and associated with same biometric information sources . identification of an individual is performed by evaluating resulting values from the registration to determine a probability , for those results , of false acceptance and false rejection . when the value is within predetermined limits for an acceptable value , identification is provided . when the value falls outside the predetermined limits identification is not provided . referring to fig7 a simplified flow diagram of another method according to the invention is shown . biometric information samples and associated parameters including an alleged identification of the individual are provided to a processor . the processor characterises the biometric information samples and registers them against templates . when the individual &# 39 ; s alleged identification is known , registration is performed against templates associated with the individual and associated with same biometric information sources . identification of an individual is performed by evaluating resulting values from the registration to determine a probability , for those results , of false acceptance and false rejection . when the value is within predetermined limits for an acceptable value , identification is provided . when the value falls outside the predetermined limits identification is not provided . referring to fig8 a simplified flow diagram of another method according to the invention is shown . biometric information samples and associated parameters are provided to a processor . the processor characterises the biometric information samples and registers them against templates . when the individual &# 39 ; s alleged identification is known , registration is performed against templates associated with the individual and associated with same biometric information sources . identification of an individual is performed by evaluating resulting values from the registration to determine a quality of user identification . when the quality is within predetermined limits for an acceptable quality , identification is provided . when the value falls outside the predetermined limits identification is not provided . referring to fig9 a simplified flow diagram of another method according to the invention is shown . biometric information samples from an individual and associated parameters arc provided to a processor . the processor characterises the biometric information samples and registers them against templates . a first set of templates associated with an individual and associated with same biometric information sources is selected . registration of the biometric information samples is performed against the selected templates producing registration values . in dependence upon these values a quality of user identification is determined . when the quality is within predetermined limits for an acceptable quality , identification is provided . when the value falls outside the predetermined limits identification is not provided and a next set of templates is selected . optionally , once all sets of templates are exhausted , an indication of failure to identify is provided . referring to fig1 , a two dimensional probability distribution is shown . the total area below the distribution curve is 1 unit area . using such a curve , false acceptance or false registration is described . most biometric information samples are easily characterized . the high initial point on the probability curve and the steep decent to an asymptotic curve approaching 0 shows this . the line t marks the cutoff for registration effectiveness . this is determined in dependence upon an algorithm chosen and upon system limitations such as processor speed , memory , and security requirements . the shaded region bounded by y = 0 , x & gt ; t , and the probability curve represents false acceptances . referring to fig1 , a truncated two dimensional probability distribution curve is shown . now , false acceptance is represented by a region of three dimensional space having a volume of 1 unit 2 . upon viewing the graph of actual data for fingerprint biometric information , it is apparent that the graph is symmetrical and that the graph extends toward infinity without reaching the plane z = 0 . further , the diagonal center of the surface x = y is a minimum for a given x and y . a plot showing an acceptance curve for registration is contained below the curve of fig1 . here two parameters either from separate registrations or from a same biometric information sample registration are evaluated to determine a point . when the point falls below the line , the biometric information is not identified and correspondingly the individual is not identified . alternatively , when the point falls within the shaded region , registration occurs . extending this to a plurality of biometric information samples results in regions allowing for excellent registration of some samples , as shown in fig1 at b , with moderate registrations of other samples . using a plurality of biometric information samples , allows equivalent registration algorithms to provide greatly enhanced security or alternatively , allows faster and simpler registration algorithms to provide equivalent security . in evaluating security of biometric authorization systems , false acceptance and false rejections are evaluated as a fraction of a user population . a security system is characterized as allowing 1 in 1 , 000 false acceptances or , alternatively , 1 in 1 , 000 , 000 . extending the graph of fig1 to n dimensions , results in a different distribution for a region representing acceptance and , therefore , a match scores of a single biometric information sample that falls outside the shaded region of fig1 , when combined with several other similarly weak biometric information samples , is more likely to fall within an acceptable region . a reasonable correlation among several identifiers is a good indication of identity . alternatively , using only a single biometric information sample , a low match score results in failure to authorize an individual . likewise , a different individual entering a plurality of biometric information samples and trying to gain unauthorized access by , for example , posing as an authorized individual , is unlikely to match evenly across all samples and , whereas a single biometric information sample may match well , several will not . further examination of an acceptance graph shows that excellent match scores of some samples reduces the necessary match scores for other samples for authorization to occur . the probability density function is discussed below . assume a probability density function , ƒ , of non - match scores exists . that is , if s ={ x \| x = score ( t a , t b ), where t a and t b are characterizations of distinct fingerprints }, then ƒ is 0 outside of s , and it should be noted that x εs x ≧ 0 since score is a measure . an n - dimensional probability density function , g for a sequence of non - match scores is constructed by : ## equ1 ## since each f ( x i )≧ 0 , then it follows that g ( p )≧ 0 and that for any subset u . or right . s n , the probability that a collection of n scores of non - matching fingerprints lies in u is given by : given an n - dimensional probability density function , g , a region , u . sub . α . or right . s n is defined , bounded &# 34 ; below &# 34 ; by a function , h . sub . α : r n → r . thus , given a collection of n fingerprint match scores in the form of a point p , we determine when pεu . sub . α by applying the threshold function h . sub . α . moreover , the probability that such a collection of scores belongs to u . sub . α is α which can be interpreted as a predetermined false acceptance rate . the criteria is used to accept the candidate when true , and reject the candidate otherwise . a large sample consisting of several million non - match comparisons has been generated from a database of fingerprint images in order to create a relative frequency distribution , f ( x ) of non - matching fingerprint scores . x = score ( t a , t b ), where t a , t b ετ are templates of different fingerprints . note that the frequency distribution is a function of a discrete variable . for the purposes of the test case , we assumed that a continuous probability density function , ƒ ( x ), of non - matching fingerprint comparisons exists , and all derivations are performed for the continuous case . when a calculation was required in dependence upon actual data , ƒ was approximated by f , and integration was replaced by summation . when we are given a sequence of n non - matching fingerprint scores , { x i }, 1 ≦ i ≦ n , then an n - dimensional probability density function , g , is derived as follows : let when u . or right . r n , the probability that a collection of n scores of non - matching fingerprints lies in u is calculated by iterated integrals over rectangles in r n by : where u . or right . r , and r is a rectangle in r n , and χu is the characteristic function of the set u ## equ3 ## assuming that χu and ƒ are integrable . in the discrete case , we analogously define ## equ4 ## g ( p ) gives the probability that the n independent scores , { x i } of non - matching finger prints occur in a particular sequence . ( note that g ( p ) does not give a probability at any specific point since the measure , and hence the integral , over a single point is zero ). for purposes of calculating false acceptance rates in n - dimensions , we must attempt to construct regions in r n that have desirable properties . suppose that α and β are false acceptance rates . we would like to define regions u . sub . α , u . sub . β . or right . r n such that : the first condition simply defines a false acceptance rate as a probability . the second condition indicates that regions are bounded below by a threshold function where c . sub . α , c . sub . β are non - negative constants . the third condition states that when a point is a member of a false acceptance region with a lower probability , it also belongs to a false acceptance region associated with a higher probability . one way to achieve this is to have h . sub . α = h . sub . β , ( i . e . use the same function ) and let c . sub . β ≦ c . sub . α . the last condition attempts to ensure that points along or proximate the region boundaries retain substantially level contours on the n - dimensional probability density function . this reduces uneven boundaries &# 34 ; favouring &# 34 ; certain combinations of match scores . it is worth noting that corresponding n - dimensional false rejection rates are calculated assuming that an analogous n - dimensional probability density function , g is constructed from the probability density function of fingerprint match scores . the corresponding false rejection rate for an n - dimensional false rejection rate . sub . α is given by : alternatively , the method is employed with retinal scanned biometric information . further alternatively , the method is employed with palm prints . further alternatively , the method is employed with non image biometric data such as voice prints . one consequence of two different biometric sources is that the above math is complicated significantly . as a false acceptance rate for fingerprints may differ significantly from that of voice recognition devices or retinal scans , a different f ( x ) arises for the two latter cases resulting in asymmetric regions . for only fingerprint biometric information , ordering of samples is unimportant as false acceptance rates are substantially the same and therefor , the regions defined for registration are symmetrical as shown in fig1 . when different biometric source types are used and different functions for false acceptance result , order is important in determining point coordinates and an axis relating to voice recognition false acceptance should be associated with a coordinate value for same . referring to fig1 and fig1 a - 12f , a method and different embodiments of improving security without requiring performance of additional steps by most individuals are shown . a user presents biometric information to a biometric input device . the information is characterised and the characterised information is matched against a template to determine a registration value . when the registration value is within predetermined limits , user identification is made and the process is complete . when the registration value is within other predetermined limits , the user is prompted for other biometric information . optionally , the system prompts for each biometric information source a plurality of consecutive times . for example , a user presents their index finger to a fingerprint scanner ; registration fails and access is denied . the user again presents their index finger to the fingerprint scanner ; registration fails and access is denied . the user again presents their index finger to the fingerprint scanner ; registration fails and access is denied . the user is prompted to present their middle finger to the fingerprint scanner . alternatively , the user selects and identifies their middle finger as the next biometric information source . the registration of the middle finger is performed according to the invention and therefore is not a same registration process as when the middle finger is the first finger presented to the scanner . the registration relies on the best registration value from the index fingerprints and , with the registration results from the middle finger , determines whether identification should proceed . when unsuccessful registration occurs , the middle finger is presented two more times . when registration is still unsuccesful , another biometric source is requested or is selected by the user . optionally , when registration results fall below a predetermined threshold , user identification fails . further optionally , when registration results are within third predetermined limits the method is recommenced , preferably with a biometric information sample of another biometric information source . alternatively , user identification fails when known biometric information sources of the user are exhausted . of course , whenever a resulting registration value considered with previous registration values according to the invention results in a sufficiently accurate identification , the user is identified . advantages to this method are that the convenience of current fingerprint registration systems is retained for a many individuals ; for a number of individuals , an extra fingerprint sample from another finger is required ; and , from a small number of individuals , several fingerprints are required . the number is dependent on fingerprint quality , fingerprint characterisation process , desired level of security , population size , etc . it is evident to those of skill in the art that when individuals are enrolled , biometric information from a plurality of biometric information sources is provided , characterised and associated / stored with their identification . because of the nature of , for example , fingerprints , the use of multiple fingerprints from a same individual provides an additional correlation as discussed herein . in an embodiment , with each fingerprint presented , analysis and registration provides one of three results -- identified , rejected , unsure . when unsure , more biometric information is requested . the individual provides additional fingerprint data and again one of the three results is provided . when an identification or rejection occurs , the process stops . optionally , a log of access attempts is maintained for later review . in a further refinement of the embodiment , the processor prompts a user for their identity . when the user provides identification , biometric information is requested from sources in an order that is most likely determinative of the user identity . for example , when biometric information from an index finger is provided and registered but fails to sufficiently identify the user , further biometric information is requested . the biometric information requested is selected such that a highest likelihood of identification results . alternatively , the biometric information source is selected such that a highest likelihood of rejection results . should the next sample of biometric information fail to be determinative -- identification or rejection , further biometric information from another source is requested again attempting to make a final determination fastest . when a user identity is not provided , a data structure indicating a next biometric information source to request is produced from all biometric information . in dependence upon a registration value of a current biometric information sample , user identification , rejection , or requesting further biometric information results . in the latter case , the requested information is determined based on the known biometric information and registration values associated therewith . for example , biometric information is provided from a first biometric information source . registration is performed and is inconclusive . it is determined that a particular biometric information source comprises information most likely to result in identification or failure thereby being determinative ; that biometric information source is polled . when selecting subsequent biometric information sources , preferably , all possible outcomes are analysed and the outcome of failed identification is not itself considered a single outcome but is weighted more heavily . the advantages to this approach are evident from the example below . in another example for use in identifying individuals by searching a database of enrolled individuals , biometric information is provided from a right thumb . registration is performed and is inconclusive determining that the right thumb is likely that of john , susan , or peter but may also be that of jeremy , gail , brenda , or joe . a next biometric information source is selected such that clear discrimination between the individuals results and a likely identification will occur . the next biometric information source is one that easily eliminates a large number of the potential individuals . in this example , the right ring finger is selected because susan and peter have very distinctive ring fingers . biometric information from the right ring finger is provided and registered with templates in the database . though the right ring finger is most likely that of jim or susan , it is evident that susan , appearing in both lists , is the front runner . also , the registration result for peter is sufficiently low that it is unlikely that peter is the individual . though neither registration value would identify susan on its own with the desired level of security , when the two registrations are taken together , susan is indeed identified . alternatively , when the resulting list is still not conclusive -- two or more people identified or noone identified with sufficient certainty , further biometric information from another biometric information source is requested . the data is arranged such that in dependence upon previous registration results a next biometric information source is polled . using such a system , searching large databases for accurate registration is facilitated and reliability is greatly increased . preferably , the database is precompiled to enhance performance during the identification process . in another embodiment , templates are formed by characterising a plurality of fingerprints of an individual and constructing a single composite template comprising fingerprint information from each fingerprint . using such a composite template , identification of biometric information sources is obviated . for example , an individual provides a fingerprint to a biometric imaging device . the imaged fingerprint is provided to a processor . the processor need not be provided with information regarding the biometric source -- the exact finger -- in order to perform template matching . the fingerprint is registered with a single composite template to produce a registration value . the registration value is used to identify the individual , prompt the individual for another fingerprint , or reject the individual . methods of forming composite templates include selecting a plurality of features from each fingerprint , selecting similar features from each fingerprint , forming a data structure indicative of fingerprint identification and indicative of features , etc . in an embodiment a data structure comprises a first feature to verify . when present , a next feature or set of features is verified . when absent a different feature or set of features is verified . by providing the data in a tree structure such as a binary tree , finger and registration values are identified simultaneously . also , a data structure allows for compilation of a known group of biometric information , e . g . 10 fingerprints , for use with the present invention wherein identification is dependent upon a plurality of different biometric information samples . alternatively , single composite templates having a plurality of features from each fingerprint are formed by mapping selected features and information regarding the features into the composite template . this allows for a processing of the template against a characterised fingerprint to produce a registration value . often , the registration process using composite templates is different from that using individual templates . another method of forming composite templates is to form templates having finer and finer resolutions each associated with a smaller group of templates . for example , a first coarse template determines whether or not to match the characterised fingerprint against other finer templates . in use , a fingerprint is compared against coarse templates . when a match within predetermined limits occurs , finer templates associated with the coarse template are also matched against the fingerprint . when the match is not within predetermined limits , the finer templates associated with the coarse templates and all finer templates associated therewith are excluded from further matching . this improves performance of the individual identification system . the arrangement of data for the present method is similar to that of a tree structure . a coarse template may be a same template for different finer templates . therefore , registration is performed against a small number of coarse templates in order to limit the number of finer templates . the process is repeated at each node of the tree until an identification of the individual or until a most likely node is determined . further biometric information from a different biometric information source is registered in a similar fashion . because each node as one descends throughout the tree structure toward the leaves is related to fewer individuals , an intersection of potential individuals from each search determines potential identifications . preferably , more than one potential node is identifiable with each biometric information source . for example , registration of the index finger results in a selection of two nodes -- a and b . each node is associated with a number of individuals . registration of the middle finger is associated with three different nodes -- c , d , and e . an intersection ( a ∪ b )∩( c ∪ d ∪ e ) results in potential identifications . when the intersection contains a small number of individuals , registration against individual templates is performed according to the method and using each biometric sample provided from a different biometric information source in order to identify the individual with a predetermined level of security . numerous other embodiments may be envisaged without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention .	6
hereinafter , embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings . in the following description of the present invention , a detailed description of known functions and configurations incorporated herein is omitted to avoid making the subject matter of the present invention unclear . fig2 is a block diagram of an mpeg decoder 200 according to a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention , and fig3 is a block diagram of an mpeg encoder 300 according the embodiment of the present invention . as shown in fig2 and 3 , the mpeg decoder and encoder 200 and 300 have a circuit based on h . 264 standards , and the same components are given the same reference numerals . in particular , the region labeled 100 is included in both the decoder 200 and the encoder 300 according to h . 264 standards . for brevity , the circuit configuration of the mpeg decoder 200 will solely be described . however , it would be recognized that the circuit configuration description is also applicable to an encoder . referring to fig2 , the mpeg decoder 200 includes a entropy decoding unit 10 for receiving an nal ( network abstraction layer ), which is a compressed bit stream , and performing entropy decoding , a reordering unit 20 for reordering the data into groups , an inverse quantization unit 30 for inversely quantizing data outputted by the reordering unit 20 , an inverse discrete cosine transform ( hereinafter , referred to as idct ) unit 40 for subjecting the inversely quantized data to idct , an intra / inter - screen data prediction unit 50 for performing intra - screen prediction or inter - screen prediction and compensation and an in - loop deblocking filter 90 for eliminating errors which have occurred during the inverse quantization process . the intra / inter - screen data prediction unit 50 includes an intra - screen prediction unit 60 for performing intra - screen prediction and a motion compensation unit 70 for performing inter - screen prediction . the motion compensation unit 70 includes an interpolation unit 500 for interpolating images so that motion compensation becomes more precise . the decoder 200 and encoder 300 respectively shown in fig2 and 3 follow h . 264 standards , and the interpolation unit 500 performs ¼ interpolation . more particularly , the interpolation unit 500 selectively conducts a ¼ interpolation process in response to a motion vector ( x_frac , y_frac ) provided by the entropy decoding unit 10 . during the interpolation process of the interpolation unit 500 , data stored in the register ( not shown ) of an external memory unit is obtained by simply shifting it row by row and column by column . this guarantees fast calculations . in addition , the interpolation unit 500 has a simple overall structure , because it has a minimum register applicable to all sub - macro blocks with various sizes . prior to description of the detailed construction of the interpolation unit 500 , the operation and result of interpolation of decoded images will now be described . fig4 shows examples of motion compensation blocks acting as a unit of motion compensation according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention . referring to fig4 , the memory unit consists of a number of motion compensation blocks , including not only 16 × 16 macro blocks according to the present embodiment , but also 16 × 8 reference blocks obtained by bisecting a macro block in the horizontal direction , 8 × 16 blocks obtained by bisecting a macro block in the vertical direction , 8 × 8 blocks obtained by bisecting a macro block in the horizontal and vertical directions , 8 × 4 or 4 × 8 blocks obtained by bisecting a 8 × 8 block in the horizontal or vertical direction , and 4 × 4 blocks obtained by bisecting a 8 × 8 block in the horizontal and vertical directions . fig5 is a flowchart shows an interpolation process according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention . with regard to a plurality of motion compensation blocks having various sizes , the interpolation unit needs an integer pixel value of a corresponding block , which has accessed the memory unit , and a pixel value adjacent to a region indicated by a motion vector ( x_frac , y_frac ) provided by the entropy decoding unit 10 . that is , for the purpose of sub - pixel interpolation regarding the corresponding block , access to the memory unit is necessary to load an integer pixel value related to the chrominance signal of the corresponding block ( s 500 ). in order to perform sub - pixel interpolation of the chrominance signal concerning the corresponding block , the interpolation unit searches for the location of the motion vector ( x_frac , y_frac ) provided by the decoding unit 10 ( s 510 ). when the motion vector ( x_frac , y_frac ) provided by the entropy decoding unit 10 indicates a ¼ location pixel value itself , the ¼ interpolation unit 580 outputs ¼ interpolation results as they are . when the motion vector ( x_frac , y_frac ) provided by the entropy decoding unit 10 indicates a ⅛ location pixel , the interpolation unit , which follows h . 264 standards , divides the ⅛ location pixel value by 2 and rounds it off so that it is converted into a ¼ location pixel ( s 520 ), as defined by equation ( 2 ). ¼ mv = ( ⅛ mv + 1 )& gt ;& gt ; 1 ( 2 ) wherein , “& gt ;& gt ;” refers to rightward bit - shift . in order to perform ¼ interpolation with regard to the corresponding block , the interpolation unit must create a pixel value of a sub - pixel location and uses a separate calculation formula , which has been optimized for each sub - pixel location , to obtain the sub - pixel value of the interpolated chrominance signal . fig6 partially illustrates pixels constituting a motion compensation block according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention . referring to fig6 , pixels locations due for ¼ sub - pixel interpolation by the interpolation unit are a , b , c , d , e , f , g , h , i , j , k , n , p , q , and r . in fig6 , a , b , c , and d refer to integer location pixel values . that is , interpolation is performed based on these pixel values a , b , c , and d to obtain sub - pixel values for respective locations a to r . particularly , sub - pixels of respective locations due for interpolation are calculated continuously , and intermediate result values used to calculate adjacent sub - pixels are used again . this means that six adjacent integer pixels are used to calculate two sub - pixel values ( a 1 , a 2 ˜ r 1 , r 2 ) ( see fig7 ). the ¼ sub - pixel interpolation according to the present invention can be performed in one of the following schemes , depending on the location of the motion vector ( x_frac , y_frac ) provided by the entropy decoding unit 10 with regard to a plurality of motion compensation blocks ( s 530 ). fig7 shows interpolation process according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention . referring to fig7 , the interpolation unit calculates sub - pixel values of locations a , b , c , d , h , and n by means of row - based shifting according to the location of the motion vector ( x_frac , y_frac ) provided by the entropy decoding unit 10 with regard to a plurality of motion compensation blocks . particularly , the interpolation unit calculates the sub - pixel value of the location indicated by the motion vector ( x_frac , y_frac ) by using integer pixel values adjacent to the corresponding block ( s 540 ). in this case , b 1 and b 2 refer to sub - pixel values of existing location b , and h 1 and h 2 refer to sub - pixel values of existing location h . in addition , calculation is made by using sub - pixel values adjacent to the location indicated by the motion vector ( x_frac , y_frac ) provided by the entropy decoding unit 10 , as well as integer location pixel values adjacent to the corresponding block . in this case , a 1 and a 2 correspond to location a shown in fig6 , i . e . they refer to sub - pixel values of existing location a . similarly , c 1 and c 2 refer to sub - pixel values of existing location c ; d 1 and d 2 refer to sub - pixel values of existing location d ; and n 1 and n 2 refer to sub - pixel values of existing location n . respective sub - pixel values are obtained as defined by equation ( 3 ) below . the interpolation unit calculates sub - pixel values of locations f , j , and q based on the location of the motion vector ( x_frac , y_frac ) provided by the entropy decoding unit 10 . particularly , the calculation is based on sub - pixel values adjacent to the location indicated by the motion vector ( x_frac , y_frac ) provided by the entropy decoding unit 10 , as well as integer pixel values adjacent to the corresponding block ( s 550 ). in this case , f 1 and f 2 refer to sub - pixel values of existing location f ; j 1 and j 2 refer to sub - pixel values of existing location j ; and q 1 and q 2 refer to sub - pixel values of existing location q . respective sub - pixel values are obtained as defined by equation ( 4 ). fig8 shows an interpolation process according to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention . referring to fig8 , the interpolation unit calculates sub - pixel values of locations i and k by means of column - based shifting according to the location of the motion vector ( x_frac , y_frac ) provided by the entropy decoding unit 10 with regard to a plurality of motion compensation blocks . particularly , the calculation is based on sub - pixel values adjacent to the location indicated by the motion vector ( x_frac , y_frac ) provided by the entropy decoding unit 10 , as well as integer pixel values adjacent to the corresponding block ( s 560 ). in this case , i 1 and i 2 refer to sub - pixel values of existing location i , and k 1 and k 2 refer to sub - pixel values of existing location k . respective sub - pixel values are obtained as defined by equation ( 5 ). fig9 shows an interpolation process according to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention . referring to fig9 , the interpolation unit calculates sub - pixel values of locations e , g , p and r by means of row - based shifting according to the location of the motion vector ( x_frac , y_frac ) provided by the entropy decoding unit 10 with regard to a plurality of motion compensation blocks . particularly , the calculation is based on sub - pixel values adjacent to the location indicated by the motion vector ( x_frac , y_frac ) provided by the entropy decoding unit 10 , as well as integer pixel values adjacent to the corresponding block ( s 570 ). in this case , e 1 and e 2 refer to sub - pixel values of existing location e ; g 1 and g 2 refer to sub - pixel values of existing location g ; p 1 and p 2 refer to sub - pixel values of existing location p ; and r 1 and r 2 refer to sub - pixel values of existing location r . respective sub - pixel values are obtained as defined by equation ( 6 ). it is to be noted with regard to the above equation that the value of j 1 and j 2 , which are used to created sub - pixel values for respective locations , are obtained in different methods . as mentioned above , the interpolation unit 500 according to the present invention does not perform ⅛ interpolation , which requires a large amount of calculation , but performs ¼ interpolation in a discrete and gradual manner . the ¼ interpolation process is selectively performed with reference to the motion vector , and ¼ interpolation computation is performed fast by simply shifting data , which is stored in the register , row by row and column by column . compared with conventional chrominance signal interpolation methods based on h . 264 , the inventive process has the advantages of fast computation because it involves no multiplication and undergoes infrequent memory access . in addition , the fact that all sizes of variable macro blocks are supported for the sake of interpolation , which is performed in the direction of motion of all pixels , simplifies the structure . the above - described methods according to the present invention can be realized in hardware or as software or computer code that can be stored in a recording medium such as a cd rom , an ram , a floppy disk , a hard disk , or a magneto - optical disk or downloaded over a network , so that the methods described herein can be rendered in such software using a general purpose computer , or a special processor or in programmable or dedicated hardware , such as an asic or fpga . as would be understood in the art , the computer , the processor or the programmable hardware include memory components , e . g ., ram , rom , flash , etc . that may store or receive software or computer code that when accessed and executed by the computer , processor or hardware implement the processing methods described herein . while the invention has been shown and described with reference to certain preferred embodiments thereof , it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims .	7
the turbine overspeed protection electro - mechanic subsystem of a turbine automatic control system is shown on fig1 . the overspeed system shown in fig1 is shown in schematic form . therefore , the orientation , that is , up and down and left and right , of the components in fig1 is not necessarily representative of an actual installation . however , it will be useful to refer to the orientation of fig1 in this specification . here a trip pilot valve 105 loaded by a spring 110 is connected with a trip lever 115 restrained ( while the turbine 120 is loaded normally ) by a hook on a protection lever 125 . hydraulic connections of the trip pilot valve 105 with a hydraulic resetting device and with stop and governor valve actuators are not shown . the protection lever 125 is loaded by a protection lever spring 130 . engaging an end of the protection lever 125 opposite the protection lever spring 130 , is a spring - loaded rod 135 within a solenoid trip assembly 100 . a trip spring 140 applies force to the spring - loaded rod 135 in a downward direction according to the orientation of fig1 . plates 145 , 150 are fastened to the rod 135 and function to anchor two solenoids 155 , 160 . the present invention is not limited to a specific number of solenoids 155 , 160 . a plurality of solenoids 155 , 160 provide greater reliability than a single solenoid since each solenoid 155 , 160 can provide adequate force to hold the trip spring 140 in compression . a sliding plate 165 engaged by the trip spring 140 can be forced upward ( in the orientation of fig1 ), by an auxiliary lever 170 . the auxiliary lever 170 is actuated by an electromechanical actuator 175 which is equipped with limit switches 180 , 181 . the solenoids 155 , 160 and the electromechanical actuator 175 are under the governance of a controller 185 . the controller 185 utilizes a signal from at least one ( typically three ) speed sensor such as a magnetic pickup unit ( mpu ) 190 activated by a gear 192 turning on a turbine shaft 195 on which the electric generator 198 is installed . before turbine startup , the electromechanical actuator 175 actuates the auxiliary lever 170 . the auxiliary lever 170 engages the sliding plate 165 and forces it against the spring to its high limit position . the achievement of the high limit position is sensed by the limit switch 181 and a signal to this effect is sent to the controller 185 . thus , the force of the spring 140 is removed from the rod 135 . when the sliding plate 165 reaches its high limit position , the controller 185 energizes the solenoids 155 , 160 , and they move the rod 135 to its upper position . as illustrated in fig4 , the force - displacement characteristics of the solenoids 155 , 160 are such that , when the rod 135 is in its upper position , the force exerted by the solenoids 155 , 160 to the rod 135 is significantly greater than when the rod 135 is in a lower position . with the rod 135 in its upper position , the electromechanical actuator 175 relaxes , permitting the sliding plate 165 to return to its lowered position . upon reaching this lowered position , the lower limit switch 180 sends a signal to the controller 185 . by returning the sliding plate 165 to its lowered position , spring force is returned to the rod 135 from the spring 140 . in this state , the spring - loaded rod 135 is in position to provide a turbine trip effected by de - energizing the solenoids 155 , 160 and permitting the spring - loaded rod 135 to engage the protection lever 125 . once the solenoids 155 , 160 are holding the spring 140 in compression , the trip pilot valve 105 is moved to its top limit via hydraulic pressure upon a hydraulic reset signal from the hydraulic reset device ( not shown ). the trip lever 115 is raised by the trip pilot valve 105 during this action . once the trip lever 115 is engaged to the protection lever 125 , the hydraulic reset signal ceases . in this position , the stop and governor valves may be manipulated by their actuators . the turbine 120 is now prepared for startup . under normal turbine load , the controller 185 monitors the turbine &# 39 ; s 120 rotational speed by the at least one speed mpu 190 activated by the gear 192 . the controller 185 controls the turbine &# 39 ; s 120 speed and / or droop . however , should the rotational speed reach its trip set point , the controller 185 will de - energize the solenoids 155 , 160 . with the solenoids 155 , 160 de - energized , the spring - loaded rod 135 is forced downward by the spring 140 to a lower position where the spring - loaded rod 135 engages the protection lever 125 , forcing one end of the protection lever 125 downward in the orientation of fig1 . this action releases the trip lever 115 from its captive position hooked on the protection lever 125 . when the trip pilot valve 105 is released along with the trip lever 115 , the spring 110 forces the trip pilot valve 105 to its lower position , causing the closing of the stop and governor valves via their actuators controlled by the trip pilot valve 105 . thus the turbine 120 no longer has energy input and is permitted to shut down . each solenoid 155 , 160 is sized to provide sufficient force , alone , to maintain the spring 140 in its compressed state . therefore , failure of either solenoid 155 , 160 , singly , will not result in a false trip of the turbine 120 . fig2 and 3 show how the present invention fits into a steam turbine control system and a gas turbine control system , respectively . in fig2 , a steam turbine 210 is shown driving a load 220 . examples of loads 220 driven by steam turbines 210 are generators 198 , compressors , and pumps . this invention is not limited to a particular load 220 . the load 220 may include a monitoring and / or control system for that load 220 . a speed controller 230 may comprise one or more separate components . the speed controller &# 39 ; s 230 functions may include any of the following : 1 . startup sequencing . 2 . turbine rotational speed control . 3 . generator droop control . 4 . overspeed protection . 5 . emergency shutdown . as input signals , the speed controller 230 receives information from at least one rotational speed sensor 240 such as an mpu . preferably , a plurality of said rotational speed sensors 240 are utilized for additional reliability . in a typical installation , three such rotational speed sensors 240 are found . additional input signals may include information about the load 220 such as a status of a generator breaker or an indication of surge in a compressor . valve position signals may be fed back into the speed controller 230 , and other signals , typically found in turbine installations , may also be received by the speed controller 230 . with the information received as inputs , the speed controller 230 manipulates a trip and throttle valve 250 and a throttling valve or a steam rack 260 used for metering a steam flow rate through the steam turbine 210 for governing purposes . an overspeed function within the speed controller 210 system also controls the electromechanical actuator 175 for resetting the spring - loaded rod 135 and the solenoids 155 , 160 within the solenoid assembly 100 . the solid arrows between the electromechanical actuator 175 , solenoid assembly 100 and the trip pilot valve 105 represent the mechanical interactions of the auxiliary lever 170 , protection lever 125 , and trip lever 115 . hydraulic fluid , shown as heavy , long dashed lines , passes through the trip pilot valve 105 before passing through individual pilot valves for the actuator manipulating the trip and throttle valve 250 and the throttling valve or steam rack 260 . in this way , if the trip pilot valve 105 is in its tripped position , the actuators for the trip and throttle valve 250 and the throttling valve or steam rack 260 will cause these valves to close , causing the steam turbine 210 to shut down . a corresponding system for a gas turbine 310 is shown in fig3 . the load 220 , potentially with its control and / or monitoring system , is shown being driven off the turbine shaft 195 . the fuel is metered into the gas turbine 310 through one or more fuel valves 350 , 360 . the positions of these fuel valves 350 , 360 are specified by the speed controller 230 . the actuators for the fuel valves 350 , 360 are charged with hydraulic fluid that passes through the trip pilot valve 105 . again , if the trip pilot valve 105 is in its tripped position , the actuators for the fuel valves 350 , 360 will cause these valves to close , causing the gas turbine 310 to shut down . the above embodiment is the preferred embodiment , but this invention is not limited thereto . it is , therefore , apparent that many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings . hence , it is to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims , the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described .	5
reference will now be made in detail to embodiments of the invention , examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings . an application of this invention can be to increase the production of esters , phbs and polyketides . coenzyme a ( coa ) and a - coa are precursors to fatty acid biosynthesis . hence with the manipulation of coa and a - coa , fatty acid biosynthesis can potentially be altered . esters are an important class of chemical compounds used in food and flavor industries . certain of the useful compounds derived from an increase in the levels of coa and a - coa include , but are not limited to , succinate , isoamyl alcohol and isoamyl acetate . esters such as isoamyl acetate may be used in nail polish , lacquer coatings , plasticizers and other industrial applications . fig1 shows the intersection of metabolic pathways at the a - coa node . pyruvate is oxidatively decarboxylated to a - coa by pyruvate dehydrogenase ( pdh ), which subsequently enters the tricarboxylic acid ( tca ) cycle . in the presence of an alcohol , a - coa may be converted to an ester using an alcohol acetyltransferase ( aat ). in the presence of inorganic phosphate ( pi ), a - coa may be converted to acetyl phosphate by phosphotransacetylase ( pta ), which in turn may be converted to acetate using acetate kinase ( ack ). fig2 shows the involvement of pantothenate kinase ( pank ) in the coa biosynthetic pathway . also shown is the negative regulation of pank by coa and acetyl coa . in general , the invention relies on the introduction of one or more genes into a microorganism , which in turn result in increased intracellular levels of coa and / or a - coa . in an embodiment of the invention , an isolated recombinant construct comprising the gene encoding pank is introduced into an e . coli strain . in an alternate embodiment of the invention , an isolated recombinant construct comprising the gene encoding pyruvate dehydrogenase ( pdh ) is introduced into an e . coli strain together with an isolated recombinant construct comprising the gene encoding pank . in an embodiment of the invention , an e . coli strain is transformed with an isolated recombinant construct comprising the gene encoding pank , where the pank gene is under the control of the lac promoter and additionally comprising the atf2 ( alcohol acetyltransferase 2 ) gene under the control of the ptb ( phosphotransbutyrylase ) promoter . in general , the invention relies on the introduction of one or more genes into a microorganism , where the genes encode enzymes that catalyze one or more rate limiting steps of a - coa biosynthesis . an example of an enzyme involved in a rate limiting step of a - coa synthesis is pantothenate kinase . overexpression of the gene encoding pantothenate kinase along with simultaneous supplementation of precursor pantothenic acid , significantly increases intracellular coa levels ( fig1 ). another example of an enzyme involved in a rate limiting step of a - coa synthesis is pyruvate dehydrogenase . overexpression of pyruvate dehydrogenase in the presence of elevated levels of pantothenate kinase along with simultaneous supplementation of precursor pantothenic acid , leads to the increased carbon flux from pyruvate to a - coa . a third example of an enzyme involved in a rate limiting step of a - coa synthesis is pyruvate oxidoreductase . overexpression of pyruvate oxidoreductase in the presence of elevated levels of pantothenate kinase along with simultaneous supplementation of precursor pantothenic acid , leads to the increased carbon flux from pyruvate to a - coa . the inventive system and methods described herein may be used to manipulate the production of a - coa through the overexpression of any active enzyme that is capable of increasing the carbon flux through the a - coa node . an embodiment of the invention provides a method of increasing the intracellular pool of a - coa by elevated expression of at least one gene which encodes an enzyme involved in a - coa biosynthesis . as used herein , the enzymes involved in a - coa metabolism includes all enzymes whose elevated expression results in an increase in the carbon flux through the a - coa node . these enzymes include enzymes that mediate the conversion of pyruvate to a - coa , as well as enzymes that catalyze one or more rate - limiting steps of the a - coa biosynthesis pathway . these enzymes include , but are not limited to , pyruvate dehydrogenase , pyruvate formate lyase , pyruvate oxidoreductase , pantothenate kinase , and mixtures thereof . another important enzyme that plays a role in the biosynthesis of coa is phosphopantetheine adenylytransferase ( coad ). in an embodiment of the invention , overexpression of coad leads to the increased carbon flux through the a - coa node . in other embodiments of the inventions , the a - coa level is enhanced through the deletion of an a - coa utilizing pathway . an alternate embodiment of the invention shows an enhancement of a - coa levels through the reduction of a - coa flux through one or more a - coa utilizing pathways . examples of such a - coa utilizing pathways include , but are not limited to , acetate formation pathway of acetate kinase and phosphotransacetylase , the tca cycle entry of citrate synthase ( citrate synthase formation ), the fatty acid biosynthesis pathway , the formation of malonyl - coa ( malonate formation ), and the condensation of acetyl - coa via a thiolase ( acetoacetate or acetoacetyl coa formation ). these strategies for reduction of utilization of a - coa can be used in combination with the strategies to increase acetyl - coa to yield additional incremental increases that are useful in directing metabolism in particular types of cells . additional ways to increase the level of a - coa directly through the enzymes that uptake acetic acid such as a - coa synthetase or other acyl - coa synthetases that uptake other acids ( e . g ., propionic acid or butyric acid ) could be used in combination with the above - listed strategies . plasmid pgs367 ( pyruvate dehydrogenase expression plasmid ) was obtained from dr j . r . guest of dept of molecular biology and biotechnology , university of sheffield , sheffield , uk . plasmid psj380 bearing the pank ( pantothenate kinase ) gene cloned in pet - 15b ( novagen ™) vector under the control of t7 promoter was obtained from dr . suzanne jackowski of biochemistry dept , st jude children &# 39 ; s research hospital , memphis , tenn . a 1 . 5 kb xbai - bamhi fragment containing the pank gene was cloned into the high copy number plasmid puc19 to yield the construct prv380 , following which it was cloned into the plasmid pdhk29 using the same restriction sites to yield the construct prv480 . the construct , prv480 , bearing the pank gene is compatible with pgs367 . the atf2 ( alcohol transferase 2 ) gene along with the ptb ( phosphotransbutyrylase ) promoter was amplified by pcr the construct ptaat ( which carries the atf2 gene of yeast ) as template dna . the forward and reverse primers used were as follows : seq id no : 1 5 ′- cccaagctttgtggatggagttaagtcagtagaaag - 3 ′ ( forward primer ) seq id no : 2 5 ′- ccatcgatttaaagcgacgcaaattcgcc - 3 ′ ( reverse primer ) the forward and reverse primers contain hindiii and clai restriction sites respectively , which allowed the amplified pcr fragment to be cloned into the corresponding restriction sites of the plasmid prv480 to yield patca ( fig3 ). the newly created patca construct contains pank gene under the control of the lac promoter and atf2 gene under the control of the ptb promoter . this newly constructed plasmid patca , bearing the genes pank and atf2 is compatible with pgs367 . relevant plasmid constructs were transformed into dh10b or ybs121 bacterial strain to carry out certain exemplary embodiments of the invention . the plasmids used in certain embodiments of the invention are set forth in table 1 below . the transformed bacterial strains used in certain embodiments of the invention are set forth in table 2 below . bioreactor studies were performed in a 1 liter ( l ) bioflo 110 fermentor with 0 . 5 liter working volume to provide a controlled environment with 0 . 5 l working volume . the dilution rate was maintained at either 0 . 15 / hr or 0 . 35 / hr until it reached a steady state after 4 to 6 residence times . the temperature was controlled at 37 ° c . the ph was measured using a glass electrode ( mettler - toledo ™) and controlled at a set point of 7 . 0 by adding 3n hno 3 or 3n naoh . dissolved oxygen ( do ) was monitored using a polarographic oxygen electrode ( mettler - toledo ™) and the do was maintained above 80 % saturation by an automated controller which adjusts the agitation appropriately using a feed back control loop . the air was filtered through a 0 . 22 - μm inline filter and delivered to the culture at a flow rate of 2 . 5 liters / min . the initial agitation speed was set at 500 rpm . the effluent gases were bubbled through a 1 m cuso 4 solution to prevent release of bacteria . samples were taken during the steady state phase after 4 , 5 and 6 residence times . since isoamyl alcohol and isoamyl acetate are volatile compounds , aerobic shake flask experiments were carried out in flasks capped with rubber stoppers . the rubber stopper facilitates headspace gas sampling for analysis of volatile compounds ( isoamyl acetate and isoamyl alcohol ) and also prevents their escape from the flask . for aerobic cultures , 10 ml culture medium was used in a 250 ml erlenmeyer flask and preliminary experiments have shown that the high headspace to culture medium ratio ( 240 : 10 air - to - liquid ratio ) provided sufficient aeration over the course of the experiment . the cultures were grown in an orbital shaker at the required temperature . at the end of the experiment ( 24 hrs ), the cultures were analyzed for isoamyl acetate production . isoamyl alcohol and isoamyl acetate content was determined by headspace gas chromatography . the flask or the tube , as the case may be , was heated at 50 ° c . for 30 minutes and 1 ml of head space gas was injected into hewlett - packard ™ 6000 series gas chromatograph equipped with an alltech ™ 6 ′× ¼ ″× 2 mm poropak ™ qs 80 / 100 column . a 6 % ethyl acetate solution was used as internal standard . the specific acetate production rate for the two strains dh10b ( puc19 ) and dh10b ( prv480 ) is shown in fig4 . the results show that the overexpression of pank leads to an increase in acetate levels and suggests that higher carbon flux through the a - coa node was achieved by expressing pank . this result was confirmed by the decreased levels of succinate in the strain expressing pank ( fig4 ). the variation in coa / a - coa levels was studied in a batch reactor to study the overexpression of pantothenate kinase . the intracellular coa / a - coa levels were studied using the recombinant strains dh10b ( puc19 ) and dh10b ( prv480 ) in a batch reactor using m9 medium . the results show that the overexpression of pank leads to an increase in coa / a - coa levels ( fig5 ). additionally , the increase in coa levels is greater than the observed increase in a - coa levels . the intracellular coa / a - coa levels were studied in the same two strains above in the presence of 5 mm pantothenic acid ( fig6 a ). the strain overexpressing pank showed higher levels of intracellular a - coa in the presence of pantothenic acid relative to the non - supplemented control experiments . two recombinant strains were constructed , dh10b ( pkmat , puc19 ) and dh10b ( pkmat , prv380 ). the latter strain overexpresses pank and displays higher isoamyl acetate production relative to the control strain ( fig6 ). the variation in coa / a - coa levels was studied in an aerobic chemostat to study the coexpression of pyruvate dehydrogenase and pantothenate kinase , and the results are shown in fig7 . the precursor compound pantothenic acid ( 5 mm ) was supplemented in all these experiments as a substrate for the overexpressed pantothenate kinase to increase intracellular coa / a - coa levels . the intracellular coa / a - coa levels were studied using the recombinant strains dh10b ( ptac - 85 , prv480 ) and dh10b ( pgs367 , prv480 ) in an aerobic chemostat using luria broth medium at two different dilution rates ( 0 . 15 / hr and 0 . 35 / hr ). both strains overexpress pantothenate kinase and are supplemented with pantothenate in the culture medium , which enables them to have an elevated levels of intracellular coa / a - coa . however , only the strain dh10b ( pgs367 , prv480 ) overexpresses pyruvate dehydrogenase whereas the strain dh10b ( ptac - 85 , prv480 ) carries a control plasmid . the intracellular levels of coa / a - coa are below the detection limit of hplc ( 0 . 04 nmol ) for both the strains at a dilution rate of 0 . 15 / hr . at such a low dilution rate the e . coli culture at steady state corresponds more to the stationary phase of cell growth . this observation is consistent with the observation that the coa / a - coa levels were negligible in the stationary growth phase . at a dilution rate of 0 . 35 / hr , the intracellular coa / a - coa levels were within the detectable range of hplc . at this higher dilution rate , the cell culture at steady state corresponds to exponential growth phase and the intracellular levels of coa and a - coa are significant and detectable . this is again consistent with earlier studies where high levels of coa and a - coa levels were observed during the exponential growth phase . however , there was no significant change in the intracellular a - coa level with the overexpression of pyruvate dehydrogenase in addition to pantothenate kinase ( fig7 ). the specific glucose uptake rate for the two strains dh10b ( ptac - 85 , prv480 ) and dh10b ( pgs367 , prv480 ) at two different dilution rates is shown in fig8 . both strains showed higher glucose uptake rate at the higher dilution rates . at a dilution rate of 0 . 35 / hr , the control strain dh10b ( ptac - 85 , prv480 ), exhibited a significantly higher uptake rate than dh10b ( pgs367 , prv480 ), which overexpresses both pank and pdh . the specific acetate production rate for dh10b ( pgs367 , prv480 ) is significantly higher than the control strain at both dilution rates ( fig9 ). at the dilution rate of 0 . 15 / hour , dh10b ( pgs367 , prv480 ) displays a 103 % increase in acetate production . at a dilution rate of 0 . 35 / hour , dh10b ( pgs367 , prv480 ) displays a 53 % increase in acetate production . these results suggested that higher carbon flux through the a - coa node was achieved by co - expressing both pank and pdh . two recombinant strains were constructed , dh10b ( ptac - 85 , patca ) and dh10b ( pgs367 , patca ). both strains overexpress pantothenate kinase due to which both strains have elevated coa / a - coa levels when the cell culture medium is supplemented with pantothenate . similarly both the strains overexpress alcohol acetyltransferase and therefore can produce isoamyl acetate when isoamyl alcohol is added externally to the cell culture medium . however , only the strain dh10b ( pgs367 , patca ) overexpresses pdh thereby enhancing the carbon flux from pyruvate to a - coa in this strain . the production of isoamyl acetate was studied in both strains to elucidate the effect of this coexpression on isoamyl acetate production . no increase in isoamyl acetate production was observed upon overexpression of pyruvate dehydrogenase in addition to pantothenate kinase ( data not shown ). the results of isoamyl acetate production can be explained if the competition of acetate production pathway at the a - coa node is taken into consideration . the enzyme alcohol acetyltransferase ( aat ), which condenses isoamyl alcohol and a - coa to form isoamyl acetate , might be competing less effectively with phosphotransacetylase for the common substrate a - coa . phosphotransacetylase ( pta ) catalyses the formation of acetyl phosphate from a - coa , the first step in the formation of acetate . the pta enzyme has greater affinity towards a - coa when compared to aat . this observation suggests that the acetate production pathway might be stronger than the ester production pathway and possibly drains the enhanced carbon flux . since the acetate production pathway is more competitive than the isoamyl acetate production pathway at the a - coa node , it was hypothesized that with the inactivation of acetate production pathway , the carbon flux could be more efficiently channeled to ester production . under such conditions the enhanced carbon flux through the a - coa node can have a beneficial effect on ester production . to test this hypothesis , a acka - pta deletion mutant ( a strain containing mutant copies acetate kinase ( acka ) and phosphoacetyltransferase ( pta )) ybs121 was used to construct two recombinant strains , ybs121 ( ptac - 85 , patca ) and ybs121 ( pgs367 , patca ). the supplementation of pantothenic acid is necessary in addition to overexpression of pantothenate kinase to increase intracellular coa / a - coa levels . this supplementation / non - supplementation of pantothenic acid to the culture medium was used as control parameter to maintain intracellular coa / a - coa levels at elevated / basal levels . a series of triplicate experiments were performed to study the effect of coa / a - coa manipulation and pdh overexpression on isoamyl acetate production both individually and in combination . even though the plasmid patca , overexpresses pank , the supplementation of the precursor pantothenic acid is required to increase coa / a - coa levels . the results of these experiments are shown in fig1 . the strain ybs121 ( ptac - 85 , patca ) produced 0 . 07 mm isoamyl acetate without supplementation of pantothenic acid . upon supplementation of pantothenic acid , the isoamyl acetate production in the same strain increased to 0 . 16 mm , a 225 % increase . these results indicate that the coa / a - coa manipulation leads to a 124 % increase in isoamyl acetate production . however , the strain ybs121 ( pgs367 , patca ) produced 0 . 23 mm isoamyl acetate without supplementation of pantothenic acid , which is a 223 % increase compared to the control strain ybs121 ( ptac - 85 , patca ) ( no pantothenic acid addition ). this result shows that overexpression of pyruvate dehydrogenase is more efficient in increasing isoamyl acetate production compared to coa / a - coa manipulation . however the same strain ( ybs121 ( pgs367 , patca )) produced 0 . 44 mm of isoamyl acetate upon supplementation of pantothenic acid . the increase in isoamyl acetate production is about 5 - fold , upon simultaneous manipulation of coa / a - coa levels and enhancing carbon flux from pyruvate node . this significant increase in isoamyl acetate production illustrate that the strategies of cofactor manipulation and carbon flux enhancement are synergistic and much more effective in increasing isoamyl acetate production , than using either of the strategies alone . when the above experiments are repeated without any supplementation of pantothenic acid , notable differences were observed in the accumulation of pyruvate and the results are as shown in fig1 . the acka - pta mutation relieves the highly competitive phosphotransacetylase enzymatic step of the acetate formation pathway and makes a - coa more accessible to alcohol acetyltransferase . however , the inactivation of the acetate formation pathway leads to metabolic imbalance at the pyruvate node . the carbon flux is bottled up at the pyruvate node leading to excretion of pyruvate to the extracellular medium . the recombinant strain , ybs121 ( ptac - 85 , patca ), an acetate pathway deletion mutant strain , produced 13 . 69 mm of pyruvate as expected . increasing intracellular coa / a - coa levels increases this excretion slightly . when the intracellular coa / a - coa levels were increased in the strain ybs121 ( ptac - 85 , patca ) upon pantothenic acid supplementation , it produced 13 . 81 mm of pyruvate . overexpression of pyruvate dehydrogenase could convert some of this excess pyruvate to a - coa leading to a decrease in pyruvate excretion . the strain ybs121 ( pgs367 , patca ), which overexpresses pyruvate dehydrogenase produced only 10 . 97 mm of pyruvate . this overexpression of pyruvate dehydrogenase lead to a 21 % decrease in pyruvate accumulation . however , a significant amount of pyruvate is still excreted even in this case . the same strain ybs121 ( pgs367 , patca ) when supplemented with pantothenic acid , produced only 1 . 1 mm of pyruvate , which is a significant drop in pyruvate excretion , when compared to the control strain ybs121 ( ptac - 85 , patca ). when the overexpression of pyruvate dehydrogenase is accompanied by an increase in availability of coa , most of the excess pyruvate could be efficiently converted to a - coa . the coexpression of pyruvate dehydrogenase and pantothenate kinase relieved the metabolic imbalance at pyruvate node and the pyruvate excretion dropped to negligible levels . this metabolic engineering strategy efficiently channels the excess carbon flux from pyruvate node to a - coa node in an acetate pathway deletion mutant . the drop in pyruvate excretion leads to a more efficient utilization of the carbon source without any loss at the pyruvate node .	2
the essential components of the locking means of the invention are described in detail below with reference to fig1 to 3 . fig1 is a schematic isometric , partly sectional view of a locking means 1 according to the present invention . locking means 1 includes an opening 2 , a top front wall panel 3 , a lower recessed wall panel 4 and two side elements 5 and 6 linking panels 3 and 4 . the lower wall panel 4 tilts inward and is most recessed immediately adjacent to top front wall panel 3 . a locking flap 7 , mounted on two levers 8 , is pivotable about an axis 9 extending parallel to wall panels 3 and 4 . to open locking flap 7 , it is pivoted upwards by a predetermined angular amount in the direction of arrow 10 . it is closed by being pivoted downwards about axis 9 in the direction of arrow 11 . locking flap 7 is arranged in such a manner that when opening 2 is blocked , it is positioned partly behind upper front wall panel 3 ( see in particular the encircled region 12 ) and partly in front of the lower recessed wall panel 4 ( see the encircled region 13 ). in upper region 14 , facing the outside , and in lower region 15 also facing the outside , locking flap 7 is substantially cylindrically shaped . between regions 14 and 15 , the outer surface of locking flap 7 is provided with a substantially planar recess or indentation 16 . the transition between cylindrical region 14 and recess or indentation 16 is designed as a step 17 . to match the pivotal range of locking flap 7 , inner face 19 of upper protruding wall panel 3 is inclined towards the top and the inside , with a gap 18 being formed between locking flap 7 and inner face 19 . as a result , a nose - shaped projection is formed in the region of lower edge 20 of the upper front wall panel above the transition between the cylindrical region 14 and substantially planar recess 16 with its step 17 . when the locking flap 7 is opened by being pivoted upwards in the direction of arrow 10 , the width of gap 18 between the outer elements of the locking flap 7 and inner face 19 of upper front wall panel 3 increases continually . the great advantage of this is that any ice formed in gap 18 is broken up and that jammed objects are not pulled farther inside the gap but are released , to be removed as the width of the gap increases . as may be seen from fig1 and the sectional arrangement of fig3 lower edge 20 , forming a nose - shaped projection above outer top region 14 of locking flap 7 , and lower region 15 of locking flap 7 , protruding over recessed wall panel 4 , effectively repel any ingress of water . to reliably seal locking flap 7 and outer surface 21 of the lower recessed wall panel , the shape of inner surface 22 of the lower portion of locking flap 7 is matched to outer surface 21 of wall panel 4 , which extends downwards towards the outside . the structure is such that the bottom - most edge 23 is bound to come to rest against outer surface 21 , so that reliable sealing is ensured in the extreme inclined position of about 25 °, as shown in the left bottom position in fig3 . fig2 is a schematic isometric , partly sectional view of locking flap 7 without wall panels 3 and 4 and side elements 5 and 6 . it may be seen that substantially planar recess or indentation 16 is positioned in the region of opening 2 ( fig1 ). to prevent any ingress of water in the regions below the side elements 5 and 6 , locking flap 7 is provided with cylindrically shaped side elements 24 and 25 in those regions . vertical grooves 26 and 27 , respectively , are provided on the outboard sides of elements 24 and 25 . by means of these grooves , any water entering via the cylindrical side elements 24 and 25 is discharged downwards . such water is also discharged by small channels 28 ( fig1 ) provided in the side elements . as may be seen from fig3 the side elements , in particular the inner portion of side elements 5 and 6 ( see element 6 , shown in fig3 on the right ), are substantially cylindrically shaped , thus mating with and sealing to cylindrically shaped elements 25 and 24 , respectively , of locking flap 7 . with regard to fig3 it has been mentioned that the wall - mount position is shown on the right . in that position , the face of locking means 1 is perpendicularly arranged , however it may be tilted to up to 25 ° from horizontal line 30 , giving a functional range f . this second position is shown on the left in fig3 . in the illustrated example , the slope of outer surface 21 of lower recessed wall panel 4 is such that any fluid , such as rain water , is still reliably discharged . the lower built - in position of fig3 illustrates a further essential advantage of the locking means . if , for example , wind drives water from right to left , that position would be the most susceptible to leakage . as lower edge 23 of locking flap 7 rests against outer surface 21 of lower recessed wall panel 4 ( not shown in the drawing ), the lower region is reliably sealed . in addition , step 17 prevents any wind - driven water from entering the upper region of gap 18 . it is clearly shown that when locking flap 7 is pivoted in the direction of arrow 10 , gap 18 increases between inner face 19 of upper front wall panel 3 and locking flap 7 . as a result , any ice formed in gap 18 is broken up and jammed objects are automatically released . a self - locking latch and actuator means 31 for pivoting a component to one of two positions will now be described with reference to fig4 to 8 . the component to be pivoted is locking flap 7 of locking means 1 ( shown in greater detail in fig1 to 3 ). the actuator used to pivot component 7 is a reversible geared electromotor 32 . a drive arm 34 is arranged on driven shaft 33 of motor 32 . a pin 35 is fixed to the end of drive arm 34 . when arm 34 is actuated , pin 35 moves along an arc 36 . pin 35 is fitted into a slot 37 provided in an actuating lever 38 . actuating lever 38 is pivotable about an axis 9 . one side of lever 38 is engaged by the actuator through pin 35 in slot 37 and its other side is attached to pivotable component 7 . guide slot 37 is divided into two parts , 39 and 40 . the first part 39 is designed such that its centerline lies substantially on arc 36 described by the movement pin 35 . the advantage of this is that in the starting phase of motor 32 , pin 35 is allowed to accelerate to the beginning of second part 40 of guide slot 37 while performing no displacement work on actuating lever 38 . second part 40 of guide slot 37 is arranged relative to first part 39 at such an angle that pin 35 applies displacement force to the sides 41 and 42 of the second part 40 of guide slot 37 in a direction which is substantially perpendicular to pivotal radius 43 . pivotal radius 43 represents a connecting line extending through pivot axis 9 of actuating arm 38 and substantially through the center of the locking flap 7 fixed thereto . the angle between first part 39 and second part 40 of guide slot 37 is chosen such that when actuating arm 38 is pivoted about its axis 9 , the direction of force action is retained , i . e ., it is substantially perpendicular to the pivotal radius 43 . this force direction is retained until the displacement end position is reached . at the driving end of actuating lever 38 , a component 44 is arranged which actuates a sensor 45 or 46 at its respective movement limits . the position of actuating lever 38 and pin 35 in guide slot 37 , ( fig4 ), is the latched position . in this position , the opening between the wall panels 3 and 4 is closed by locking flap 7 . if , for example , a force is applied to locking flap 7 in a direction from lower wall panel 4 to upper wall panel 3 , the force action of the actuating lever 38 on pin 35 and its arm 34 is such that actuating lever 38 is prevented from moving . fig5 shows the same arrangement as fig4 with actuator pin 35 assuming another position on arc 36 as a result of the pivotal motion of drive arm 34 of motor 32 . this position is shown at the very point where parts 39 and 40 of guide slot 37 coincide . pin 35 rests against side 41 of guide slot 37 . as shown in fig5 locking flap 7 is not yet removed from lower recessed wall panel 4 . this means , that the opening , although still being closed is unlatched at this stage . as drive arm 34 with its pin 35 is moved further along arc 36 in the direction of arrow 47 , actuating arm 38 is pivoted . fig6 shows the same arrangement as fig4 and 5 , but with the movable components assuming another position . compared with fig4 and 5 and the sequence shown therein ( from the latched to the unlatched position ), fig6 depicts pin 35 halfway along second part 40 of guide slot 37 . for this purpose , pin 35 , by being actuated by motor 32 and pivoting drive arm 34 in the direction of arrow 47 , slides along arc 36 on side 41 of second part 40 of guide slot 37 . in response , actuating lever 38 with its part 44 , ( for actuating the sensors ), assumes a position roughly halfway between sensors 45 and 46 . subsequently , locking flap 7 is removed from lower wall panel 4 , releasing half of the opening provided therein . the arrangement of fig4 and 6 is again shown in fig7 but in an end position opposite to that of fig4 . compared with fig6 motor 32 has moved pin 35 with its drive arm 34 further along arc 36 in the direction of arrow 47 . as a result , pin 35 resides in the second part of guide slot 37 and has moved to the end of that part , with drive arm 34 coming to rest against stop 52 . stop 52 may be made of a flexible material , so that the end position is reached smoothly . the end position is detected by part 44 of actuating lever 38 and associated sensor 46 . in that position , actuating lever 38 , by being pivoted about axis 9 , moves locking flap 7 to a position where it is at a maximum distance from recessed wall panel 4 . as a result , an opening is formed between the inner face 22 of the lower portion of locking flap 7 and lower edge 20 of upper front wall panel 3 on the one hand and top edge 49 of lower recessed wall panel 4 on the other . inner face 48 of lower wall panel 4 is inclined , and locking flap 7 is provided with a face 50 on its inside . these two faces 48 and 50 form a chute through which items to be released , such as bank notes or statements of account , are reliably passed to the outside . the operation of the locking means from the latched and / or closed position to the unlatched and fully opened position has been described above in the order of fig4 to 7 and with reference to the movement of drive arm 34 in the direction of arrow 47 . during that phase , pin 35 , by force transfer , acts on side 41 of part 40 of guide slot 37 . when motor 32 is started , this sequence may be reversed , so that pin 35 , from the position shown in fig7 acts on side 42 of part 40 of guide slot 37 , pivoting the actuating lever 38 in a direction causing the locking flap to be moved downwards in a closing direction about pivotal axis 9 . this movement continues until pin 35 has been restored to the position shown in fig5 in which the opening is already closed but not yet latched . by pivoting pin 35 from the position of fig5 to the position of fig4 the locking means is again latched . to ensure that the end positions are reliably reached , electromotor 32 is controlled such that its current , once it has reached an end position , is switched off only after a certain increase in current has been detected . this occurs whenever pin 35 encounters resistance at the end of part 39 or 40 of guide slot 37 , such as when drive arm 34 comes to rest against flexible stops such as those designated as 52 in fig7 . sensors 45 and 46 , which are used to detect the respective end position may be , for example , photosensors . the arrangement shown in fig4 to 7 is inclined relative to the horizontal . this inclination substantially corresponds to an ergonometrically satisfactory built - in position of about 30 ° to 35 ° to the horizontal . as a result , any items fed through the opening to the outside or placed therein for removal can be readily removed . fig8 is a schematic rear top view of the arrangement shown in fig4 to 7 . a carrier arm 53 is fixed to side element 5 which , as shown in particular in fig1 links upper front wall panel 3 with lower recessed wall panel 4 . motor 32 , whose shaft 33 moves drive arm 34 with pin 35 is fixed to carrier arm 53 . pin 35 is guided in guide slot 37 ( not shown in fig8 ). in response to the movement of pin 35 in the guide slot of actuating lever 38 , the latter along with the attached locking flap is pivoted about axis 9 . in addition to other components , not shown , sensor 45 is fixed to carrier arm 53 . component 44 , arranged on the actuating lever 38 , actuates sensor 45 in the respective end position . carrier arm 53 is also provided with a stop 52 against which drive arm 34 rests in the full open position . as can thus be seen locking means 1 enables water to be reliably repelled in different built - in positions . the formation of ice is either substantially avoided or any ice which is formed despite the indicated precautions , does not interfere with the operation of the locking means . this applies also to items that become jammed as a result of vandalism . the invention operates such that any jammed items are released as the width of the opening increases and they generally do not prevent the locking means from being opened . needless to say , the power of the motor used for this purpose and the force at which an item is introduced into the flap are significant . the self - locking latch and actuator means has a simple design and may be used to particular advantage for the locking means according to the invention . it should be understood that the foregoing description is only illustrative of the invention . various alternatives and modifications can be devices by those skilled in the art without departing from the invention . accordingly , the present invention is intended to embrace all such alternatives , modifications and variances which fall within the scope of the appended claims .	8
a detailed description of the present invention will now be provided with reference to the following embodiments , which are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention and which can be adapted for other applications . while the drawings are illustrated in detail , it is appreciated that the quantity of the disclosed components may be greater or less than that disclosed , except for instances expressly restricting the amount of the components . fig1 is a schematic block diagram showing a memory management system in a preferred embodiment of the present invention . according to the illustrated embodiment , the memory management system 10 comprises components including a cache buffer ( such as a pipe table look - aside buffer , pipe tlb ) 102 , a memory mapping table ( such as pipe mapping table ) 104 , a data backup cache ( such as scratchpad buffer address cache ) 106 , and a memory controller 108 . the cache buffer 102 is configured to store data structures ( such as endpoint data structures ) with 8 double words . in one embodiment , there are 32 endpoint data structures stored in the cache buffer 102 with those endpoint data structures being full association data structures . the memory mapping table 104 is configured to store the data addresses and other control information of the system memory corresponding to the endpoint data structures in the cache buffer 102 . in one embodiment , there are 32 entries corresponding to the endpoint data structures of the cache buffer 102 . the data backup cache 106 is configured to store a plurality of base addresses of all endpoint data structures such as the scratchpad buffer array base addresses and the scratchpad buffer entry base addresses . the memory controller 108 is configured to manage the reading and the writing of the endpoint data structures in the cache buffer 102 and the data backup cache 106 and search the correct endpoint data structures in an effective way according to the external signal request of the memory management system 10 . still referring to fig1 , the memory management system 10 further includes a first channel 110 , a second channel 112 , and an arbitrator 114 . the first channel 110 and the second channel 112 are configured to transfer an instruction 116 which includes address information of an endpoint data structure . in one embodiment , the first channel 110 is a super speed channel , and the second channel 112 is a high speed channel . the first channel 110 and the second channel 112 are selected in accordance with the data transfer speed of the instruction 116 . the arbitrator 114 is configured to determine which instructions 116 ( the instruction 116 in the first channel 110 or the instruction 116 in the second channel 112 ) to execute first in accordance with the priority of the instruction 116 . when the instruction 116 is transmitted to the memory controller 108 , the memory controller 108 will compare the addresses of the endpoint data structures in the memory mapping table 104 with the instruction 116 to search out ( e . g ., locate ) an address corresponding to the instruction 116 . if the address corresponding to the instruction 116 is available in the memory mapping table 104 , the endpoint data structure corresponding to the instruction 116 has been stored in the cache buffer 102 and the endpoint data structure is sent back to the memory controller 108 for further executing . if the address corresponding to the instruction 116 is not available in the memory mapping table 104 , the memory controller 108 will select an empty entry or a replaceable entry in the memory mapping table 104 . in accordance with the instruction 116 and the corresponding scratchpad buffer array base address and the corresponding scratchpad buffer entry base address stored in the data backup cache 106 , the memory controller 108 will find the endpoint data structure in the system memory , the address and other control information of the endpoint data structure will be written in the empty entry or the replaceable entry in the memory mapping table 104 , and the endpoint data structure will be stored in the cache buffer 102 . in addition , when the data flow control described above is finished or some error ( s ) has occurred in the memory management system of the present invention , the endpoint data structure stored in the cache buffer 102 is also in need of being updated . however , it should be noted that the data addresses shown in fig1 are updated according to a least recently used ( lru ) algorithm to refresh the entry of the memory mapping table 104 . there are four bits in the memory mapping table 104 configured as in - active counter ( iactcnt ), and those bits are configured to memorize the access records of the entries . according to the access records of the entries in the memory mapping table 104 , the lru algorithm is able to determine which entries is / are replaceable . as the lru algorithm is well - known in the prior art by those persons skilled in the art , a detailed description of the lru algorithm is omitted herein . in addition , the memory management system 10 further includes a microprocessor 118 , which is configured to update the addresses of the endpoint data structures stored in each of the entries of the memory mapping table 104 according to the different conditions for the memory operation . fig2 is a flow chart illustrating memory reading and writing functions in the memory management system of the present invention . as shown in the depicted process , a starting step 202 in which an initial status of the cache buffer 102 is idle is followed by step 204 in which an instruction 116 ( pipereq ) is read in the memory controller 108 succeeded by the memory controller 108 comparing the addresses of the endpoint data structures in the memory mapping table 104 with the instruction 116 . at step 206 , if the address corresponding to the instruction 116 is available in the memory mapping table 104 , the endpoint data structure corresponding to the instruction 116 has been stored in the cache buffer 102 and the endpoint data structure is read from the cache buffer 102 , and the memory reading steps are finished . at step 208 , if the address corresponding to the instruction 116 is not available in the memory mapping table 104 , an empty entry or a replaceable entry in the memory mapping table 104 is selected as a writable entry . at step 210 , the endpoint data structure is read from the system memory in accordance with the instruction 116 and the scratchpad buffer array base address and the scratchpad buffer entry base address stored in the data backup cache 106 , and the address of the endpoint data structure is written in the writable entry of the memory mapping table 104 found at step 208 . the endpoint data structure is written into the cache buffer 102 . fig3 is a state diagram illustrating the states of the memory management method in the present invention . as indicated in the exemplary implementation , an idle state 302 is followed by states 304 and 306 , in which the scratchpad buffer array base addresses and the scratchpad buffer entry base addresses of all the endpoint data structures are read from the system memory and stored in the data backup cache 106 . progression from the initial states 302 , 304 and 306 leads to state 308 , in which the cache buffer 102 in working state is made ready to read and write . in state 310 , the addresses of the endpoint data structures in the memory mapping table 104 are compared with the instruction 116 . in state 312 , if the address corresponding to the instruction 116 is available in the memory mapping table 104 , the 8 double words endpoint data structure has been stored in the cache buffer 102 and the 8 double words endpoint data structure is read from the cache buffer 102 , and then the state is returned to state 308 . in state 314 , if the address corresponding to the instruction 116 is not available in the memory mapping table 104 , an empty entry is sought and / or identified in the memory mapping table 104 . if the empty entry exists in the memory mapping table 104 , the empty entry is selected to be the writable entry followed by movement to state 318 . if the empty entry does not exist in the memory mapping table 104 , a replaceable entry in the memory mapping table 104 is selected to be the writable entry followed by movement to state 316 . in state 316 , the endpoint data structure in the cache buffer 102 corresponding to the writable entry in the memory mapping table 104 is written into the system memory , with the progression then going to state 318 . in state 318 , the endpoint data structure is read from the system memory and written in the cache buffer 102 , and the address of the endpoint data structure is written into the writable entry in the memory mapping table 104 , with the progression then returning to state 308 . in state 320 , the microprocessor 118 will request to ( and / or will ) update the next link pointer of the endpoint data structures . in state 322 , the microprocessor 118 requests to ( and / or will ) read the 8 double words endpoint data structure . in state 324 , according to an example in which “ doorbell ring ” is one of the addresses in the mapping table 104 , when the address of doorbell ring is 1 , the microprocessor 118 will request to ( and / or will ) update the address of dbpv ( an address name or mark , in the example ) in the memory mapping table 104 . in state 326 , the microprocessor 118 will request to ( and / or will ) remove an 8 double words endpoint data structure in the cache buffer 102 when the endpoint data structure should be removed from the asynchronous or periodic time table . when the instruction 116 has been executed or an error exists or occurs during executing the instruction 116 , the endpoint data structure in the cache buffer 102 will be updated . in state 328 , the microprocessor 118 will request to ( and / or will ) write the updated endpoint data structure in the cache buffer 102 back to the system memory . fig4 a , fig4 b , fig4 c , fig4 d and fig4 e are schematic diagrams illustrating an implementation of the memory mapping table of the memory management system according to an embodiment of the present invention . as shown in fig4 a , the data in addresses 0 ˜ 12 is the address of the endpoint data structure in the system memory . the data in addresses 13 ˜ 16 is configured for the microprocessor to control or confirm whether the entry in the memory mapping table is ready , whether the entry is available , and whether the entry is locked . the data in addresses 17 ˜ 20 is the in - active counter and configured to record the lru algorithm . the addresses 21 ˜ 31 are the reserved addresses . fig4 b is a schematic diagram illustrating the address arrangement in the memory mapping table when the next link pointer of the endpoint data structure needs to be updated when the endpoint data structure is in asynchronous status , and fig4 c is a schematic diagram illustrating the address arrangement in the memory mapping table when the address in the dbpv needs to be updated . the schematic diagram of fig4 d illustrates the address arrangement in the memory mapping table when the endpoint data structures in the memory endpoint data structure need to be removed . fig4 e is a schematic diagram illustrating the address arrangement in the memory mapping when the endpoint data structure in the cache buffer needs to be read . although specific embodiments have been illustrated and described , it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention , which is intended to be limited solely by the appended claims .	6
in the following discussion , the present invention is described for illustrative purposes with reference to the editing of raster image information . however , one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the invention , in its broadest aspect , is applicable to processes other than image manipulation , and it is not intended that the scope of the invention be so limited . for example , the present invention is also applicable to the editing of video data , and to media data in general . a computer graphics imaging system 1 is schematically depicted in fig1 . the graphics imaging system 1 includes a computer 2 that has a central processing unit ( cpu ) 3 which may include local memory 3 a , static memory 4 such as read - only memory ( rom ), main memory 5 such as random access memory ( ram ), mass memory 6 such as a computer disk drive , a system bus 7 , adaptor ( s ) for external input devices 8 , and a display adapter 9 which may include local memory 9 a . the computer 2 communicates with an alphanumeric input device 10 such as a keyboard , a pointer device 11 such as a mouse for manipulating a cursor and making selections of data via said input adapter 8 . the computer 2 communicates with a video display 12 such as a computer monitor via said display adapter 9 . the computer 2 executes imaging software described below to allow the system 1 to render high quality graphics images on the monitor 12 . the cpu 3 comprises a suitable processing device such as a microprocessor , for example , and may comprise a plurality of suitable processing devices . the graphics adaptor 9 may also be capable of executing instructions . instructions are stored in the cpu local memory 3 a , static memory 4 , display adapter local memory 9 a , main memory 5 , and / or mass memory 6 and are executed by the cpu 3 or the display adapter 9 . the static memory 4 may comprise read only memory ( rom ) or any other suitable memory device . the local memory may store , for example , a boot program for execution by cpu 3 to initialize the graphics imaging system 1 . the main memory 5 may comprise random access memory ( ram ) or any other suitable memory device . the mass memory 6 may include a hard disk device , a floppy disk , an optical disk , a flash memory device , a cdrom , a file server device or any other suitable memory device . for this detailed description , the term memory comprises a single memory device and any combination of suitable devices for the storage of data and instructions . the system bus 7 provides for the transfer of digital information between the hardware devices of the graphics imaging system 1 . the cpu 3 also receives data over the system bus 7 that is input by a user through alphanumeric input device 10 and / or the pointer device 11 via an input adaptor 8 . the alphanumeric input device 10 may comprise a keyboard , for example , that comprises alphanumeric keys . the alphanumeric input device 10 may comprise other suitable keys such as function keys for example . the pointer device 11 may comprise a mouse , track - ball , tablet and / or joystick , for example , for controlling the movement of a cursor displayed on the computer display 12 . the graphics imaging system 1 of fig1 also includes display adapter hardware 9 that may be implemented as a circuit that interfaces with system bus 7 for facilitating rendering of images on the computer display 12 . the display adapter hardware 9 may , for example , be implemented with a special graphics processor printed circuit board including dedicated random access memory 9 a that helps speed the rendering of high resolution , color images on a viewing screen of the display 12 . the display 12 may comprise a cathode ray tube ( crt ) or a liquid crystal display particularly suited for displaying graphics on its viewing screen . the invention can be implemented using high - speed graphics workstations as well as personal computers having one or more high - speed processors . the graphics imaging system 1 utilizes specialized graphics software particularly suited to take advantage of the imaging hardware included in the display system 1 depicted in fig1 . the software implements a user interface and related processing algorithms as described in subsequent sections to enable the user to produce graphical works viewed on the display 12 and which may be stored in mass memory 6 . the graphical works may involve the assembly of graphical objects such as bitmaps . source material for use with such a system can include previously digitized materials stored on a computer memory 6 such as images from digital cameras , scanning devices , or the internet , stored on a large capacity hard or fixed disk storage device . for the purposes of this invention a collage is defined as an arrangement of two - dimensional graphical objects , such as digital images , into a larger graphical object . as shown in fig2 , the regions 21 a - g within the collage 20 may tile ( 21 a , 21 b , 21 c ), overlap ( 21 d , 21 e ), be rotated to any angle ( 21 f ), skewed ( 21 g ), or otherwise affected by the user . collages which fit neatly together , with even spaces between adjacent images , are visually pleasing . as shown in fig3 , regular grids , such as 2 × 2 or 3 × 4 arrangements of four or twelve images respectively , are often used to assemble a composite image from several source images . users who wish collages of more visual complexity may choose to arrange the tiled images into non - grid patterns . as shown in fig4 , these collages may form a ‘ brick wall ’ interleaving or other more sophisticated arrangements . the current invention provides the user with tools for quickly constructing both regular grid and non - grid collages . the collage is composed of a set of user - manipulable frames that define regions within the collage . as shown in fig5 , each region 21 frames and contains exactly one graphical object 31 , such as a bitmapped image , which can be panned and zoomed within the frame . the graphical object is a reference to a source object 32 , such as a bitmap . as shown in fig6 , the user can apply several types of manipulation to a frame by manipulating controls ( 33 - 38 ) which in the preferred embodiment of the invention are built into the frame of each region . these controls can be driven via a user interface device such as a mouse , or using a keyboard . the operations include : rotating the region 21 ( see fig7 ) resizing the region 21 ( see fig8 ) panning the image 31 contained within the region 21 ( see fig9 ) cropping the image 31 contained within the region 21 ( see fig1 ) deleting the region 21 ( see fig1 ) segmenting the region 21 ( described below ). the present invention specifically relates to the segmentation , or splitting , of regions : the production of a set of smaller regions which in aggregate retain the overall dimensions of the initial region . segmentation is a useful tool for building collages : simple grid - based collage layouts can be constructed in a single operation ( fig1 ) while complex , irregular collages can be constructed by applying sequential segmentation operations ( fig1 ) referring again to fig6 , there is shown , in graphical form , a region 21 . in one embodiment of this invention , said region is decorated with interactive manipulator handles 33 - 38 enabling the user to apply various operations on the region and the image it contains via a pointing user interface device . in particular there exists a handle 33 which enables segmentation of said region 21 . said handle may appear anywhere in or about said region 21 . in one embodiment of this invention , the user segments the region by manipulating an input device such as a mouse as illustrated in fig1 : 1 . moving the mouse such that the pointer 40 is positioned over the split handle 33 the handle 33 may assume a new visual state , such as a brightened or highlighted representation , to indicate that it will become active if the user presses the mouse button . the handle 33 and other decoration on the frame may disappear to allow the user to concentrate on the image itself . as the user drags , the display may update to reflect the segmentation the user is currently specifying . for example , it may superimpose lines 41 on the region indicating the number of splits that will occur . the algorithm for calculating the number of splits and alternative visual representations are discussed below . the region will be segmented if it has not already done so the handle 33 and all other decoration on the frame may reappear if they were hidden in step 2 . the handles may be drawn smaller if necessary to fit within the new regions in step 3 above , the number of rows and columns that the region ( s ) will be segmented into is calculated by determining the distance from the current pointer position to the position at the time of the button press in step 2 . this distance is composed of an x and a y coordinate : the segmentation is computed as follows : void cpicinfomanager :: splitframe ( cpicinfo * in_ppi , long in_xcells , long in_ycells ) { assert ( in_ppi ); // set the rotated box based on the rotation of the frame rectf rcbox ( in_ppi -& gt ; getframebox ( )); real fangle = in_ppi -& gt ; getrotation ( ); matrix m ; m . translate ( rcbox . x , rcbox . y ); m . rotateat ( fangle , pointf (( rcbox . width / 2 ), ( rcbox . height / 2 ))); // determine the final cell size rcbox . width /= in_xcells ; rcbox . height /= in_ycells ; cpicinfo * ppi = in_ppi ; for ( long y = 0 ; y & lt ; in_ycells ; y ++) { for ( long x = 0 ; x & lt ; in_xcells ; x ++) { // if we &# 39 ; re the upper left cell , then we &# 39 ; re ourself if ( x \|\| y ) { ppi = createframe ( rectf ( 0 , 0 , 0 , 0 )); } // resize and rotate the frame ppi -& gt ; setframesize ( rcbox . width , rcbox . height ); ppi -& gt ; setrotation ( fangle ); // rotate it within the final box pointf ptbox (( x * rcbox . width ) + ( rcbox . width / 2 ), ( y * rcbox . height ) + ( rcbox . height / 2 )); m . transformpoints (& amp ; ptbox ); // set it &# 39 ; s new rotated position and show the item ppi -& gt ; setframepos ( ptbox . x −( rcbox . width / 2 ), ptbox . y −( rcbox . height / 2 )); ppi -& gt ; show ( true ); } } } once the mouse button was pressed while the cursor 40 was over the split handle 33 in step 2 of the previous section , and until the mouse button was released in the subsequent step 4 , the graphics system was in “ region segmentation mode ”. in another embodiment of this invention , the user has other means for entering and leaving this mode for a given selected region ( s ), such as via the use of a keyboard : 1 . pressing and releasing a key ( such as ‘ s ’) to enter region segmentation mode 2 . subsequently pressing a key ( such as ‘ enter ’, or ‘ s ’ again ) to exit the mode or 1 . pressing and holding a key ( such as ‘ s ’) to enter region segmentation mode in another embodiment of this invention , the user segments a selected region using a keyboard , as follows : 2a ). pressing and releasing a key which increases horizontal segmentation ( such as the right arrow key ) a column will be added to the previewed horizontal segmentation of the region 2b ). pressing and releasing a key which decreases horizontal segmentation ( such as the left arrow key ) a column will be removed from the previewed horizontal segmentation of the region 2c ). pressing and releasing a key which increases vertical segmentation ( such as the down arrow key ) a row will be added to the previewed vertical segmentation of the region 2d ). pressing and releasing a key which decreases vertical segmentation ( such as the up arrow key ) a row will be removed from the previewed vertical segmentation of the region in another embodiment of this invention , the user is able to abort the segmentation operation while in region segmentation mode . this is accomplished by pressing a key , such as the ‘ esc ’ key . this removes any previewed segmentation , refreshes the display to include the handles decorating the regions again if necessary , and exits region segmentation mode . in another embodiment of this invention , the user is provided with visual feedback as the segmentation operation progresses under his control . in the preferred embodiment of the invention , and as illustrated in fig1 , feedback regarding the progress of the segmentation is provided to the user while in region subdivision mode by means of a set of lines 41 drawn over the region ( s ) undergoing segmentation . the position of the lines indicates the actual location of row and / or column divisions that will result when region segmentation mode is exited . as the user increases or decreases the amount of segmentation , these lines are updated to reflect the new position of the splits ( fig1 ). these lines are drawn on top of the region ( s ) being subdivided ; without loss of generality they may be drawn above or below other regions which happen to overlap said region ( s ) ( fig1 ). when region segmentation mode is exited , the lines are removed . the new arrangement of regions resulting from the segmentation will exactly align with the final position of said lines . in another embodiment of the invention as illustrated in fig1 , feedback regarding the progress of the segmentation is provided to the user while in region subdivision mode by means of a grid of cells 41 drawn over the display , positioned at the location where interaction began . as the user increases or decreases the amount of segmentation , the cells in the grid are highlighted 42 to reflect the number of rows and columns that will result from the segmentation . the grid may have a minimum dimension ( say , 3 by 3 cells ). in the event that the user selects a segmentation of greater than this minimum dimension , the grid will be extended in the appropriate direction to completely contain the number of cells required to continue to reflect the desired segmentation . this grid of cells 41 is drawn on top of all regions on the display . when region segmentation mode is exited , the grid is removed . the new arrangement of regions resulting from the segmentation will reflect the number of cells there were highlighted during the region segmentation operation . when the user exits region segmentation mode without aborting , a set of new regions are added to the display such that their aggregate dimensions match the dimensions of the original region . in the preferred embodiment of the invention , the original region is replaced by the new regions which are independent and can be further manipulated or split by the user without affecting other regions . in another embodiment of the invention , the original region is retained and the new regions are considered as subregions of the original region in a parent - child relationship . in either case it is possible to retain the contents of the original frame , if any , within one of the newly - created regions . having described the invention , it should be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that the foregoing is illustrative and not limiting . numerous modifications , variations and alterations may be made to the described embodiments without departing from the scope of the invention by one of ordinary skill in the art and are contemplated as falling within the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims .	6
video game play may be monitored by asking selected households and / or corresponding audience members to keep a log and / or diary of activity when using a video game console . however , such demands may be viewed as invasive and / or cumbersome to the audience members . in general , the example methods and apparatus illustrated herein may be used to unobtrusively monitor video game activity of one or more audience members . the example methods and apparatus illustrated herein may be well suited for monitoring one or more game controllers communicatively coupled to a game console via control wire ( s ) and / or controllers that wirelessly communicate with the game console . turning to fig1 , an example system 100 to meter video game play is shown . the example system 100 of fig1 is adapted to monitor game play on a media presentation device 102 ( e . g ., a television , a monitor , etc .) operatively connected to a video game console 104 . in the illustrated example shown in fig1 , the video game console 104 is operatively connected to wire - based controllers 106 , 108 having wires 109 communicatively coupling the controllers 106 , 108 to the console 104 , and to a wireless controller 110 that sends game control signals to the video game console 104 wirelessly ( e . g ., using radio frequency ( rf ) signals ). each controller 106 , 108 , 110 includes one or more buttons 112 , switches , and / or joysticks 114 to allow a user to control game play , such as directional game character motion via the joystick . other types of controllers such as the wii ® nunchuck controller , a simulated golf club controller , etc ., could alternatively be used and can be monitored in an analogous manner to that described below ( e . g ., via an attached game tag ). the user may initiate any type of game with the example game console 104 via a media input port 116 . video game console manufacturers provide game media in several formats including , but not limited to , compact disk ( cd ) read only memory ( rom ) disks , digital versatile disks ( dvds ), game cartridges , memory cards / sticks , intranet connections ( e . g ., local area networks , etc . ), and / or internet connections . the game console 104 may be implemented by , for example , any of the x - box ® or x - box 360 ® by microsoft ®, the playstation ® ( e . g ., the playstation i , ii , or iii ) by sony ®, and / or the gamecube ® or wii ® by nintendo ®. in the illustrated example shown in fig1 , each controller 106 , 108 , 110 includes an attachable game tag 118 to detect if and / or when the user is interacting with the controller 106 , 108 , 110 . the example game tag ( s ) 118 include a motion sensor , discussed in further detail below , to detect orientation , tilt , and / or acceleration forces applied to the controller 106 , 108 , 110 . the game tag ( s ) 118 may attach to the wired controllers 106 , 108 by clamping on or around the wire 109 . the game tag ( s ) 118 may attach to the wireless controllers 110 by , for example , an adhesive material , velcro ® strip , and / or other connectors , brackets , etc . signals indicative of controller motion may be wirelessly transmitted from the game tag ( s ) 118 and received by a game tag meter 120 . in the illustrated example , each of the game tag ( s ) 118 includes an identification code so that , in the likely event multiple controllers are associated with the game console 104 , activity from each controller 106 , 108 , 110 may be independently identified . independent identification of multiple controllers allows a determination of how many individuals are participating in game play with the example game console 104 and how each member is using the controller . the wireless transmission from each game tag 118 may include an rf signal of any type including , but not limited to , bluetooth ® signals and / or wifi ® signals . additionally or alternatively , the wireless transmission from each game tag 118 may include ultrasonic signal ( s ) or optical signal ( s ) ( e . g ., infra - red ( ir )). rf signals may propagate through one or more walls , thus potentially become detected by an example game tag meter 120 in another room . on the other hand , ultrasonic and / or optical transmissions may reduce and / or eliminate the possibility of one or more game tags 118 located in alternate rooms ( e . g ., adjacent room ( s ), adjacent apartment ( s ), adjacent dorm - room ( s ), etc .) from communicating with the example game tag meter 120 and , thus , reduces the likelihood of errant detections . to the extent that the methods and apparatus described herein include specific type ( s ) of signal ( s ), such descriptions are used for ease of explanation and not meant to exclude usage of other signal types . a battery located within the game tag 118 provides power to the game tag 118 . the game tag 118 is constructed to detect motion and to store motion data indicative of the detected motion for a corresponding controller 106 , 108 , 110 . the example game tag 118 is also structured to transmit signals representative of the motion data to the game tag meter 120 . to conserve battery power consumption , the example game tag ( s ) 118 may be adapted to transmit a burst of energy ( e . g ., rf energy such as a bluetooth ® signal , a wifi ® signal , an ultrasonic signal , an ir signal , etc .) once every x unit ( s ) of time ( e . g ., once every five minutes ). however , any other time threshold may be employed ( e . g ., to accommodate for one or more battery types and / or number of batteries employed by the example game tag 118 ). additionally or alternatively , the example game tag ( s ) 118 may transmit only after some threshold amount of motion has been detected so that battery power is not needlessly consumed by transmitting information payloads when there is little or no motion data to report . in the illustrated example , the game tag ( s ) 118 transmit game tag signals ( referred to herein as payload information ) to the example game tag meter 120 which include information indicative of controller motion or lack thereof ( e . g ., a logic “ 1 ” for motion and a logic “ 0 ” for no motion ), a time at which the motion detection event occurred , a magnitude and / or direction of the detected motion , a game tag identification number , and / or an indication of available battery power associated with the game tag identification number . the information received by the example game tag meter 120 may then be transmitted to the central office and / or metering entity via any desired communication medium ( e . g ., land - line modem communication , cable modem communication ( e . g ., via an internet connection ), and / or a cellular / wireless telephone connection ). fig2 a illustrates an example implementation of any one of the example game tag ( s ) 118 of fig1 . in a preferred example , the form factor of the game tag 118 is more cylindrical than shown in fig2 a . in particular , the form factor of a preferred example is similar to a cord mount ferrite filter used on the power cored of , for example , a personal computer . in the illustrated example of fig2 a , the game tag 118 is annular . more specifically , the tag 118 has a front side 202 , a back side 204 , and is generally circular in shape with a centrally located hole 206 to allow the controller wire 109 to pass there through . for purposes of illustration , the example centrally located hole 206 is shown to be larger than the diameter of the controller wire 109 , but the diameter of the centrally located hole 206 is preferably configured such that an interference fit securely fastens the example game tag 118 to the controller wire 109 . additionally or alternatively , grommets , malleable filler material , and / or other padding material may be securably attached to the wall defining the centrally located hole 206 to achieve a relatively tight interference fit between the game tag 118 and the controller wire 109 . such added interface material may be used to conform the tag 118 to one or more different sizes of wire 109 . the example game tag 118 is shown in fig2 a as having a generally circular shape for illustrative purposes only . the game tag 118 may be implemented with any desired shape . the example game tag 118 of fig2 a also includes locking tabs 208 to facilitate attachment and / or removal of the game tag 118 to / from the example controller wire 109 . for example , the game tag 118 may separate into two halves with each side operatively coupled at a common boundary 210 . fig2 b illustrates the back side 204 of the example game tag 118 of fig2 a . as shown in fig2 b , the rear side of the example tag 118 includes two additional locking tabs 208 that ensure both halves of the tag 118 remain securely fastened to the controller wire 109 during operation . by way of illustration , not limitation , the tag 118 may alternatively employ hinges in place of the locking tabs 208 . returning to fig2 a , a tag circuit 212 is attached to or embedded within the example game tag 118 . in the illustrated example , the circuit 212 includes a housing , power supply ( e . g ., batteries ), and circuitry to detect motion , orientation , tilt , and / or acceleration . while the user is engaged with video game play , some of the motions / forces induced by the user with the game controller 106 , 108 , 110 propagate along the controller wire 109 and are imparted to the game tag 118 . on the other hand , for wireless game controllers , such as the example wireless game controller 110 of fig1 , at least some of the motions / forces induced by the user are imparted directly to the example game tag 118 ( which is attached to the wireless controller 110 via , for example , glue , velcro ®, etc .). in the illustrated example of fig2 a , the tag circuit 212 detects motion ( s ) and / or force ( s ) and saves detected motion ( s ) and / or force ( s ) in a memory . upon expiration of a periodic timer ( e . g ., every five minutes ), the tag circuit 212 measures a current battery capacity , retrieves the motion data from the memory , and transmits the payload information to the tag meter 120 . as discussed in further detail below , the tag circuit 212 of the illustrated example employs one or more types of motion sensors . the type ( s ) of sensor ( s ) employed depends on the granularity of the data desired . for example , the sensor ( s ) may simply detect movement and provide only an indication that some unspecified motion occurred . additionally or alternatively , the motion sensor ( s ) of the tag circuit 212 may comprise accelerometers oriented along different axes to , for example , measure an acceleration for an x - axis , a y - axis , and / or a z - axis . additionally or alternatively , the motion sensor ( s ) of the tag circuit 212 may include a digital compass to measure a change in orientation of the example game tag 118 as induced by user movement of the controller 106 , 108 , 110 . fig3 a , 3 b , and 3 c illustrate the example tag circuit 212 of fig2 a in greater detail . in the illustrated example of fig3 a , the tag circuit 212 includes a motion sensor 302 , a filter 304 , a memory 306 , a timer 308 , a processor 310 , and a power supply 312 . additionally , the example tag circuit 212 of fig3 a includes an encoder 314 and a transceiver 316 a . in the illustrated example , the transceiver 316 a includes an rf modulator 318 a , an rf receiver 320 , and an antenna 322 . as discussed in further detail below , the example tag circuit 212 may be configured to both transmit and receive information , or may be configured only to transmit information that is , for example , indicative of game play motion ( s ). in the latter case , the example transceiver 316 a includes the rf modulator 318 a and the antenna 322 , but excludes the receiver 320 . as described above , ultrasonic and / or optical signals may be employed to communicate to / from the example tag circuit 212 . accordingly , the example tag circuit 212 may employ , additionally or alternatively , an optical transceiver 316 b ( as illustrated in fig3 b ) and / or an acoustic transceiver 316 c ( as illustrated in fig3 c ). in the illustrated example of fig3 b , the optical transceiver 316 b includes a modulator 318 b , one or more light emitting diodes ( leds ) 324 , and a photodetector 326 . the example modulator 318 b may include an operational amplifier ( opamp ) to , for example , drive the leds 324 in response to signals from the processor 310 . the example processor 310 may be directly connected 317 to the example modulator 318 b of the optical transceiver 316 b . additionally or alternatively , tag circuits 212 that employ acoustic signals ( e . g ., ultrasonic ) for communication to / from the example game tag meter 120 may include an acoustic transceiver 316 c . in the illustrated example of fig3 c , the example acoustic transceiver 316 c includes an acoustic source 328 ( e . g ., an ultrasonic transducer , a speaker , etc . ), and an acoustic detector 330 ( e . g ., a microphone ). the example acoustic transceiver 316 c may also include one or more filters 332 to filter - out ambient noise / signals not associated with communication between the game tag 118 and the game tag meter 120 . the example motion sensor 302 of fig3 a may be of any type including , but not limited to , a single or multi - axis accelerometer , a tilt sensor , and / or a magnetic compass . an audience member holding a game controller 106 , 108 , 110 will typically shake , tilt , and / or otherwise move the controller 106 , 108 , 110 . such movements may be intended to be converted into electronic signals by the controller ( e . g ., the wii ® nunchuck ) or may result from adjusting a joystick 114 and / or pressing button ( s ) 112 . some games elicit relatively fast movements from the audience member and test the audience member &# 39 ; s hand / eye coordination ( for example , first - person shooter combat games ). in these and / or other examples , audience members may induce relatively strong forces on the controller 106 , 108 , 110 ( e . g ., when attempting to shoot , attack , and / or defend a character in the first - person shooter game ). relatively strong forces induced on the game controller 106 , 108 , 110 may also be caused by elements of surprise . relatively moderate forces may be induced on the game controller by the audience member when playing , for example , driving and / or flying games . for example , forces induced on the game controller 106 , 108 , 110 during a driving game may include relatively smooth movement transitions from left to right , and / or vice - versa , while the audience member attempts to steer the game vehicle through a track and / or obstacle course . of course , relatively strong forces may be induced by the audience member on the example controller 106 , 108 , 110 when , for example , the vehicle veers out of virtual control and crashes , but such moments of relatively strong audience member induced forces tend to be less frequent with driving / flying games than with first - person shooter games . additionally , some games may include very few moments in which the audience member induces one or more strong and / or moderate forces ( e . g ., rapid tilting and / or shaking , etc .) on the example controller 106 , 108 , 110 . for example , strategy - based video games and / or video games related to traditional board games , such as , for example , monopoly ®, typically involve a relatively gentle manner of control with the example controller 106 , 108 , 110 . while the example motion sensor 302 of fig3 a may include one or more transducers and / or sensors to provide an indication of movement , tilt , and / or orientation , some transducers and / or sensors may , additionally or alternatively , provide an indication of the magnitude of the movement . in the event that the example motion sensor 302 includes one or more accelerometers , then acceleration forces in one or more directions may be measured . some accelerometers may provide acceleration force data with respect to a single axis of movement and / or rotation . multiple accelerometers may be incorporated into the motion sensor 302 so that each axis of movement ( e . g ., an x - axis 302 x , a y - axis 302 y , a z - axis 302 z , one or more axes of rotation , etc .) may be monitored . in such examples , each of the accelerometers may produce a voltage that is proportional to the corresponding force it detects . any desired type of accelerometer may be employed , without limitation ( e . g ., piezoelectric accelerometers , capacitive accelerometers , piezoresistive accelerometers , etc .). in operation , the example motion sensor 302 collects the force and / or orientation data from one or more accelerometers 302 x , 302 y , 302 z and saves such data in the memory 306 . before , during , and / or after saving data to the example memory 306 that is indicative of motion of the tag circuit 212 ( and , thus , motion of the game controller 106 , 108 , 110 ), the processor 310 retrieves a time - stamp from the example timer 308 and associates the same with the motion data . the example timer 308 may be a real - time clock that is set and / or calibrated by a metering entity before sending the game tag to the audience monitored household ( which may be statistically selected to represent a population ( e . g ., demographic ) group of interest ). alternatively or additionally , the example timer and / or real - time clock 308 may be an integral function of the processor 310 such as , for example , the pic10f200 8 - bit flash microcontroller by microchip ®. the example processor 310 takes one or more measurements from the example motion sensor 302 . these measurements may be taken at periodic and / or predetermined times . the example processor 310 may save only those measurements that meet and / or exceed a threshold value . the threshold may be a magnitude of force threshold and / or a duration ( time ) of sustained movement threshold . for example , the example processor 310 may ignore motion data from the example motion sensor 302 if the magnitude of the measured forces do not exceed a particular force magnitude value , thereby masking force data that may be associated with game controller movement that corresponds to non - game - play activities . non - game - play activities may include , but are not limited to , moving the example game controller 106 , 108 , 110 within an entertainment console to access other entertainment media and / or media devices . in the event that the example game controller 106 , 108 , 110 is stored in a cabinet of an entertainment console that also houses a collection of dvds , cds , and / or vhs tapes , then an audience member may inadvertently and / or purposefully move the game controller 106 , 108 , 110 out of the way to access the one or more dvds , cds , and / or vhs tapes . accordingly , the example processor 310 may compare the magnitude ( s ) of the force ( s ) associated with such small movement ( s ) to one or more thresholds and prevent them from being saved to the memory 306 of the example tag circuit 212 if the threshold ( s ) are not exceeded . ignoring brief movements surrounded by long period of inactivity can similarly be used to screen non - play activity . additionally or alternatively , the example processor 310 may employ the filter 304 to mask one or more forces that are not associated with motions created by the audience member during game play . for example , some controllers 106 , 108 , 110 are provided with haptic technology , which seeks to provide the audience member with a tactile sensation during game - play . haptic technologies are sometimes referred to as “ force feedback ,” “ haptic feedback ,” and / or a “ rumblepak ®”, which is a term used by nintendo ® for some of their controllers . game scenarios that invoke one or more haptic forces include , but are not limited to , a game character being struck by enemy gun - fire and / or crashing a vehicle into a wall of a race track . in response to one or more such scenarios , the example controller 106 , 108 , 110 may vibrate and / or shake within the hand ( s ) of the audience member . vibration forces may be created by , for example , one or more electric motors within the example controller 106 , 108 , 110 that spin one or more weights in an eccentric path . the example filter 304 may be tuned to one or more frequencies exhibited by the haptic force ( s ) to differentiate between forces associated with the haptic technology and / or forces potentially caused by audience member movement ( s ). the example tag circuit 212 may collect data indicative of audience member game play for a predetermined time period and then send such collected data to the example tag meter 120 via a signal ( e . g ., rf , acoustic , optic ). for example , the example timer 308 may send a signal to the processor 310 every five - minutes to prompt the processor 310 to retrieve saved motion data ( if any ) from the memory 306 . in the illustrated example of fig3 a , the processor 310 also measures a capacity of the power supply 312 before sending the signal ( e . g ., rf , acoustic , optic ) to the tag meter 120 . the power supply 312 may include one or more batteries that provide power to the tag circuit 212 and may be serviceable by the audience member , or require that the audience member send and / or receive a new game tag 118 and / or tag circuit 212 when the battery power drops below a threshold value . the processor 310 employs the encoder 314 to encode a data payload that includes , for example , the battery capacity , the motion data indicative of audience member game play stored in the memory 306 including the associated time ( s ) of the detected motion event ( s ), and / or a tag circuit 212 identification number , which may be stored in the memory 306 . the identification number associated with the tag circuit 212 may be unique ( e . g ., a manufacturer may assign each tag circuit a unique alphanumeric identifier ) or locally unique to the game console 104 or household thereof ( e . g ., the tag circuits sent to a household are unique to each other but may be reused in other households ). the encoder 314 sends the encoded payload to the transceiver 316 , which modulates the encoded payload with the rf modulator 318 and transmits an rf signal of the payload via the antenna 322 . additionally or alternatively , the example tag circuit 212 may include a receiver 320 that receives a signal from the tag meter 120 requesting that a payload be sent . for example , to promote preservation of battery power , the example tag circuit 212 may be configured to only send payload data in response to one or more instances of audience game play being detected by the motion sensor 302 . game consoles 104 may not be used by audience members on a daily basis . indeed , such game consoles 104 may not be used for several days and / or weeks . as such , rather than the tag circuit 212 transmitting a chirp ( e . g ., an rf chirp , an ultrasonic chirp , an optical chirp ) every , for example , five minutes to maintain an updated awareness of tag circuit 212 functionality ( e . g ., sufficient battery power ), the tag meter 120 may initiate a payload request once per day , once per week , etc . if the battery capacity of the power supply 312 drops below a threshold level , the metering entity may send a new game tag 118 , one or more new batteries , and / or a new tag circuit 212 to the household . similarly , if the tag circuit 212 fails to transmit payload information and / or fails to respond to one or more requests to transmit payload information via the example receiver 320 , then the metering entity may , by default , send one or more new game tag ( s ) 118 , one or more new batteries , and / or new tag circuit ( s ) 212 to the household . in the event a new tag is sent , it may be accompanied by instructions to install the new tag and return the old tag ( e . g ., via a pre - addressed postage paid package ). fig4 illustrates the example tag meter 120 of fig1 in greater detail . in the illustrated example of fig4 , the tag meter 120 includes an rf transceiver 401 , which includes an antenna 402 and a receiver 404 to receive rf signals from one or more game tag ( s ) 118 . as described above in view of fig3 a - c , the example rf transceiver 401 may , additionally or alternatively , be replaced with or supplemented with an acoustic transceiver and / or an optical transceiver ( e . g ., to alleviate any complexities caused by rf signals traveling through walls ). the tag meter 120 also includes a decoder 406 to decode and / or otherwise extract payload information from received rf signals , and a processor 408 . the example game meter 120 of fig4 may also include an audio sensor 410 ( e . g ., microphone ) to detect audio signals associated with monitored information presenting devices such as media content played on a television ( e . g ., movies , situation comedies , video game audio , etc .). such audio data may be used to identify the program a game presented on the information presenting device ( e . g ., by collecting embedded audio codes identifying the content and / or collecting one or more signatures representative of the content .) additionally or alternatively , the example game meter 120 may include one or more proximity sensors 412 to detect whether audience members are present in the vicinity of the game console 104 and / or the information presenting device . the detection of the presence of audience members can be performed using the techniques disclosed in u . s . pat . no . 7 , 100 , 181 , which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety . in the illustrated example of fig4 , payload data received by the game meter 120 ( e . g ., as rf signals ) are sent by the processor 408 to a communication interface 414 , which is communicatively connected to the metering entity . for example , the communication interface 414 may be communicatively connected to the metering entity via an internet connection , intranet connection , a land - line telephone connection , a wireless telephone connection , and / or a communication network employed by a cable broadcast provider . the example game meter 120 of fig4 includes an rf modulator 416 to send a request signal to one or more game tag ( s ) 118 to initiate transmission of payload information . additionally or alternatively , where an ultrasonic transceiver is implemented on the game meter , an ultrasonic trigger may be used to send the request signal to the game tag ( s ) 118 . such a request may be prompted by the processor 408 that executes one or more programs to monitor for time periods of no game tag reporting activity , or the request may be initiated by the metering entity via the communication interface 414 . in the illustrated example of fig4 , the rf modulator 416 allows the metering entity to determine a health status of batteries in the power supply 312 , even if the game tag 118 has not been used by a household member for a relatively long period of time . as described above , if the game tag 118 is configured to transmit payload information ( e . g ., battery status information , detected motion events , etc .) at five - minute intervals , but only when motion is detected , then several days or weeks may elapse without a transmission from the game tag 118 to the metering entity . on the other hand , if the game tag 118 is configured to transmit payload information every five - minutes even if no motion has been detected , then the batteries in the power supply 312 of the tag circuit 212 may needlessly consume power . to address this concern , the rf modulator 416 in the tag meter 120 of the illustrated example is configured to prompt the tag circuit 212 to transmit payload information upon request , thereby avoiding the need for the game tag 118 to needlessly send battery status messages and , thus , conserving battery power of the tag circuit 212 . flowcharts representative of example machine readable instructions for implementing the example system 100 of fig1 are shown in fig5 , 6 , and 7 . in these examples , the machine readable instructions comprise one or more program ( s ) for execution by a processor ( e . g ., the processors 310 or 408 of fig3 a and 4 ), a controller , and / or any other suitable processing device . the program ( s ) may be embodied in software stored on a tangible medium such as , for example , a flash memory , a cd - rom , a floppy disk , a hard drive , a digital versatile disk ( dvd ), or a memory ( e . g ., the memory 306 of fig3 a ) associated with a processor ( e . g ., the processors 310 or 408 of fig3 a and 4 ), but all of the program ( s ) and / or parts thereof could alternatively be executed by another device and / or embodied in firmware or dedicated hardware ( e . g ., it may be implemented by an application specific integrated circuit ( asic ), a programmable logic device ( pld ), a field programmable logic device ( fpld ), discrete logic , etc .). for example , any or all of the filter 304 , the timer 308 , the encoder 314 , and the decoder 406 could be implemented by software , hardware , and / or firmware . also , some or all of the machine readable instructions represented by the flowcharts of fig5 , 6 and 7 may be implemented manually . further , although the example program is described with reference to the flowcharts illustrated in fig5 , 6 and 7 , many other methods of implementing the example machine readable instructions may alternatively be used . for example , the order of execution of the blocks may be changed , and / or some of the blocks described may be changed , substituted , eliminated , or combined . the program of fig5 begins at block 502 where the example timer 308 of the tag circuit 212 is initiated by the processor 310 . as described above , the timer may be configured to run for five - minute intervals , but any other time interval may be employed , as desired . for example , the timer may run at shorter intervals when motion has recently been detected and longer intervals when no motion has been detected for a significant time . an example of this approach is discussed below in view of fig6 . the processor 310 next clears a status bit of a movement flag stored in the memory 306 ( block 504 ). for example , the tag circuit 212 may employ a motion sensor to indicate movement and / or tilt . any number of motion sensors may be employed to detect potential indications of game play by the audience member including , but not limited to , controller tilt ( e . g ., via a mercury switch ( and / or alternative liquid metal switch ), an accelerometer , etc . ), orientation change ( e . g ., via an electronic compass ), and / or a magnitude of the detected motion event ( e . g ., one or more acceleration force ( s ) measured by a multi - axis accelerometer , etc .). accordingly , if movement is detected by the example motion sensor 302 ( block 506 ), then the processor 310 may set the movement flag in the memory 306 to a “ 1 ” or true value ( block 508 ). if movement is not detected ( block 506 ), then the processor determines whether the timer 308 has elapsed and / or reached its time limit ( block 510 ). if not , then control returns to block 506 to continue to monitor for game tag movement . however , if the timer 308 expires and / or reaches its time limit ( block 510 ), then the processor 310 measures the power supply 312 to determine the current battery capacity ( block 512 ). the resulting capacity information ( e . g ., a voltage level of the batteries ) may be saved in the memory 306 along with a timestamp indicating when that measurement occurred . the processor 310 assembles the payload information and encodes it using the example encoder 314 . that is , the processor 310 extracts a unique game tag identification number from the memory 306 , extracts the motion data ( e . g ., the movement flag , acceleration forces , etc .) from the memory 306 , extracts the battery capacity information from the memory 306 , along with any associated time stamps , and encodes all of this payload information using the example encoder 314 . the encoded payload information is sent to the transceiver 316 a , 316 b , 316 c where it is combined with a carrier ( if necessary ) and transmitted as a signal ( e . g ., an rf signal , an acoustic signal , an optical signal ) to the tag meter 120 ( block 514 ). the processor 310 then resets the timer ( block 516 ) and control returns to block 502 to begin another time period . as described above , if the example game tag 118 transmits a payload once per time period ( e . g ., once every five minutes ), then some payload transmissions may occur whether or not movement activity has been detected , thereby potentially wasting battery power . fig6 is a flowchart representative of example machine readable instructions for implementing the example system 100 of fig1 that avoids this potential waste . in the illustrated example of fig6 , the example tag circuit 212 is configured to operate at least two timers 308 , namely a first timer to prompt a payload transmission only if movement activity has been detected , and the second timer to prompt the payload transmission at a relatively longer time period even if no movement has been detected . for example , a first time period may be set to five minutes , in which the tag circuit 212 will transmit the payload information to the tag meter only if , within that five minute period of time , movement has been detected . as a result , battery power is conserved during relatively longer periods of time ( e . g ., multiple days , weeks , etc .) in which the audience member does not use the video game console 104 by restricting the frequency of payload transmissions on an occurrence basis . on the other hand , to minimize the problem of battery power dropping below a critical low - end threshold during one or more extended periods of inactivity without notice of the same , the second timer is employed to periodically transmit payload information at longer intervals , for example , once every week . as a result , even if the audience member does not use the video game console for an extended period of time ( e . g ., one month ), then the central office and / or metering entity will still receive an indication of the remaining battery life of each game tag 118 in the household once per week . in the event that one or more of the game tags &# 39 ; battery capacity drops below a threshold value ( e . g ., a voltage level ), then the metering entity may automatically reference the household address associated with the corresponding game tag identification number from a database of tags and send one or more new game tags or batteries to the household . returning to fig6 , timer t 1 and t 2 ( 308 ) are started ( block 602 ) and the example processor 310 of fig3 a monitors the motion sensor 302 for an indication of movement ( block 604 ). the example timer 308 may facilitate any number of independently running timers and / or registers to track one or more time values . without limitation , the functionality of the example timer 308 may be an integral component of the example processor 310 or one or more separate timing devices . if movement is not detected ( block 604 ), control advances to block 608 . if movement is detected ( block 604 ), then an indication of that movement is saved to the memory 306 ( block 606 ). as described above , any number of motion sensors may be employed to detect potential game play of the audience member . these sensor ( s ) may provide any desired combination of motion data including , but not limited to , an indication of movement ( e . g ., a true bit ), an indication of no - movement ( e . g ., a false bit ), an indication of tilt ( e . g ., a bit set by a mercury switch ( and / or alternative liquid metal switch ), an accelerometer , etc . ), an indication of orientation change ( e . g ., a bit set by an electronic compass ), and / or magnitude ( s ) of the movement ( s ) ( e . g ., acceleration force ( s ) measured by a multi - axis accelerometer , etc .). the processor 310 determines whether timer t 1 has elapsed ( block 608 ) and , if so , determines if any indication of movement has occurred within the last time period ( i . e ., within time period t 1 ) ( block 610 ). if not , then the tag circuit 212 does not need to transmit any payload information and control advances to block 618 . if movement has occurred in the last time period of t 1 ( block 610 ), then the processor 310 encodes the game tag identification number , the indication ( s ) of movement and associated time ( s ) that movement was detected , and an indication of the power supply battery capacity ( block 612 ). the encoded payload information is provided to the transceiver 316 and transmitted to the tag meter 120 via a signal ( e . g ., an rf signal , an acoustic signal , an optical signal ) ( block 614 ). timer t 1 is reset ( block 616 ) and control returns to block 604 to monitor for additional instances of game tag movement . if the timer t 1 has not elapsed ( block 608 ), control advances to block 618 where the example processor 310 determines whether timer t 2 has elapsed ( block 618 ). as described above , timer t 2 counts to a value relatively greater than timer t 1 . for example , timer t 2 may be set to expire at one - day intervals , multiple - day intervals , week intervals , multi - week intervals , etc . if the timer t 2 has not expired , control returns to block 604 . at the expiration of the t 2 interval , the processor measures a battery capacity of the power supply 312 ( block 620 ), encodes the battery capacity information with the example encoder 314 , and transmits the payload information to the tag meter 120 via a signal ( e . g ., an rf signal , an acoustic signal , an optical signal ) ( block 622 ). timer t 2 is reset ( block 624 ) and control returns to block 604 to monitor for instances of game tag movement . application of t 1 and t 2 in the manner described in fig6 allows the example tag circuit 212 to be constructed without a need for the receiver 320 . similarly , the application of t 1 and t 2 in the manner described in fig6 allows the example tag meter 120 to be constructed without any need for the example rf modulator 416 , shown in fig4 . fig7 is a flow diagram representative of example machine readable instructions that may be executed to implement the example tag meter 120 of fig4 . the example program of fig7 begins at block 702 where the tag meter 120 detects presence information ( e . g ., determining whether users or audience members are in the vicinity of the game console 104 via the proximity sensors 412 ) and / or audio signals ( e . g ., information associated with one or more types of media , such as movies , television programs , commercials , video games , etc .) via the audio sensor 410 for use in identifying the media presented by the monitored device , whether a presentation device ( e . g ., a television ) is on , or whether one or more audience member ( s ) are registered in , for example , a metering system implementing a personal meter ( e . g ., a people meter ). the presence information and / or any detected audio signals may be stored and included in the payload that is transmitted to the metering entity or , in other examples , may be independently sent to the metering entity . as described above , the tag meter 120 may be set to initiate an exchange of information ( e . g ., battery health , video game controller movement data , etc .) with the tag circuit 212 and / or may be set to receive a transmission from the tag circuit 212 ( e . g ., where the tag circuit 212 initiates transmission of a payload when movement is detected by the motion sensor 302 ) ( block 704 ). as described above , in other examples , the metering entity may initiate a request via the communication interface 414 . where the tag meter 120 is to initiate exchanges , requests or prompts may be sent ( e . g ., on a scheduled basis , on a periodic basis , upon receipt of a manual request from the central office , etc .) to the tag circuit 212 for a payload transmission ( block 706 ). a lack of response from the tag circuit 212 ( block 708 ) may indicate , for example , a low battery health or inoperative status associated with the game tag 118 , causing the tag meter 120 to transmit replacement request information ( e . g ., a tag identification number , an address , an account number , etc .) to the metering entity ( e . g ., central office ), as described above . where a response is received from the tag circuit 212 ( block 708 ), the tag meter proceeds to receive the payload , which may include battery status , movement data ( e . g ., one or more bits indicating an acceleration , orientation , motion , tilt , magnitude , force , etc . ), time information ( e . g ., time stamps associated with motion events ), and / or tag identification numbers . as shown in the example program of fig7 , the tag meter 120 may store the payload ( e . g ., in memory of the processor 408 ) ( block 714 ) and then transmit the payload to the metering entity ( block 716 ). for instance , the payload may be stored for a period of time before being transmitted to the metering entity or may be stored until the metering entity requests the payload . additionally or alternatively , the tag meter 120 may analyze the payload ( e . g ., compare the contents of the payload to a previous payload ) to determine a status of the information ( e . g ., whether the payload includes new information ) and , in some examples , may transmit the payload depending on the status . returning to block 704 , where the tag meter 120 is not set to initiate exchanges , the example program of fig7 may determine if a payload is being transmitted ( block 718 ). for example , the game tag circuit 212 may be configured to transmit a payload to the tag meter 120 every 12 or 24 hours , at which time the tag meter 120 may receive the payload ( as described above in connection with block 712 ). further , where a payload is not being transmitted ( block 718 ), the tag meter 120 may determine whether a predetermined period of time has elapsed since the transmission of the last payload ( block 720 ). for example , the tag meter 120 may be configured ( e . g ., by a default or customizable setting ) to set a flag indicating an unexpected period of inactivity if the tag circuit 212 has not transmitted a payload ( or an indication that no new information is available ) during the last 48 or 72 hours . such a situation may indicate the need for a replacement game tag 118 and / or component thereof , causing the program of fig7 to transmit replacement information to the metering entity ( block 710 ). although the above examples describe the tag 118 as being coupled to the wire of a wired controller , the tag could be coupled to the body of the controller in a manner similar to or identical to the manner in which the tag is coupled to a wireless controller . although certain methods , apparatus , and articles of manufacture have been described herein , the scope of coverage of this patent is not limited thereto . to the contrary , this patent covers all methods , apparatus , and articles of manufacture fairly falling within the scope of the appended claims either literally or under the doctrine of equivalents .	0
further description of this invention is made now through the embodiments of the invention and the accompanying drawings . as shown in fig1 to 7 , a magnetic pulling type free hanging frame 1 comprises at least a plastic ring 11 and the lens 12 contained in the plastic ring 11 , the lens 12 is contained in the plastic ring 11 , and then is connected to the main eyeglass frame 2 by fitting the plastic ring 11 with the main eyeglass frame 2 , so that the functions of the main eyeglass frame work coordinating with the functions of the pulling type free hanging frame , then the environment light enters into the eyes after double filtering of the lenses of the pulling type free hanging frame and the main eyeglass frame , which satisfies the needs of light processing for the customers ; this hanging frame uses plastic rings not only because plastic materials are light in weight , but also because the molding technique of plastic materials is simple and only one molding process is needed to get the desired structure so that the production cost of the hanging frame is low . the pulling type free hanging frame 1 also comprises at least a magnet 14 , said magnet 14 is inlayed in said plastic ring 11 , the plastic ring 11 has reserved containing chambers , and the magnet 14 can be pressed into the containing chamber directly , so installing the magnet 14 is easy and the installing depth is easy to control , then we can press the magnet into the plastic ring to the depth so that the surfaces of the magnet is below the surfaces of the plastic ring , which can protect the surfaces of the main eyeglass frame and ensure the appearance is not destroyed . a positioning mechanism ( the positioning mechanism includes the positioning blocks 131 and the positioning ring 132 ) is used to coordinate with the main eyeglass frame 2 is set on the plastic ring 11 , the positioning mechanism confines the main eyeglass frame in certain region , so the front lens and the back lens are placed closely , and the positioning mechanism coordinates with the magnetic force to firmly connect the pulling type free hanging frame and the main eyeglass frame . to enhance the magnetic force , multiple magnets 14 are separately set in plastic ring 11 ; the multiple magnets are cylinder - shaped type , bar - shaped type , or other else familiar shape type . preferably , at least three magnets 14 are evenly set on the top of the plastic ring 11 , similarly , multiple magnets 14 are evenly set at the bottom of the plastic ring 11 . the amount of the magnet 14 is decided by the weight of the pulling type free hanging frame and the required magnitude of the magnetic attraction force , if the weight of the pulling type free hanging frame is relatively large and the required magnetic attraction force is relatively large , relatively more magnets are set in the plastic ring , if the weight of the pulling type free hanging frame is relatively small and the required magnetic attraction force is normal , a small amount of magnets are set in the plastic ring , the positioning mechanism of this invention includes multiple positioning blocks 131 or a positioning ring 132 . the positioning blocks 131 are bumps separately distributed along the perimeter of the plastic ring 11 , these positioning blocks 131 are surrounded to form a place area to contain the main eyeglass frame 2 , and these positioning blocks and the magnetic force cooperate to firmly connect the pulling type free hanging frame 1 to the main eyeglass frame 2 . similarly , the positioning ring 132 is a bump continuously distributed along the perimeter of the plastic ring 11 , the surrounded area of the positioning ring 132 is used to contain the main eyeglass frame 2 , and the positioning ring and the magnetic force cooperate to firmly connect the pulling type free hanging frame 1 to the main eyeglass frame 2 . in this invention , preferably , there are anti - split slices 133 set above the positioning blocks or the positioning ring , when the main eyeglass frame 2 is placed in the place area , these anti - split slices 133 are set outside the main eyeglass frame 2 to ensure the pulling type free hanging frame 1 would not separate from the main eyeglass frame 2 . if there is a single plastic ring in this invention , that is , the pulling type free hanging frame 1 has only one eye ring , as shown in fig1 and 2 , connecting the pulling type free hanging frame 1 with only one eye ring to the main eyeglass frame 2 can satisfies the needs of the customers . if there are two plastic rings 11 in this invention , that is , the pulling type free hanging frame 1 has a left plastic ring and a right plastic ring , the bridge 15 is set between the left and the right plastic ring , and connects the left and the right plastic ring , so that the left and the right plastic ring are connected together ; the bridge 15 of the pulling type free hanging frame is coordinated with the bridge of the main eyeglass frame , and the bridge 15 of the pulling type free hanging frame is set above the bridge of the main eyeglass frame . the structure of the bridge 15 can be made in various forms including “-” type form and u type form ; if the structure of the bridge is u type , the u type bridge is set above the bridge of the main eyeglass frame , and beside the connection effect , the bridge also has the protection effect from splitting apart . there are two connection types between the plastic rings and the bride : ( 1 ) elastic connection , in which direct plastic molding forms the one - body plastic rings and bridge ( because of the elasticity of the plastic products , the pulling type free hanging frame and the main eyeglass frame have high matching degree , and the weight of the pulling type free hanging frame is reduced ), as shown in fig3 ; ( 2 ) hinge connection , in which the bridge made by a metal bar , and the two ends of the metal bars connect with the left and the right plastic ring separately , as shown in fig6 . elastic connection : ( 1 ) said bridge 15 includes two spring posts 151 which are set separately on the two ends of the bridge 15 and a link bar 152 between the two spring posts 151 ; one end of the spring post 151 connects to the plastic ring 11 and the other end connects to the link bar 152 ; because of the spring posts 151 , the left and the right plastic ring can move in a certain extent , which is convenient for installing the pulling type free hanging frame , so even there is some distortion in the main eyeglass frame 2 , the pulling type free hanging frame 1 can have an appropriate corresponding distortion along with the shape of the bridge , as shown in fig5 . ( 2 ) said bridge 15 includes two connection posts 153 which are set separately on the two ends of the bridge 15 and a connection spring 154 between the two connection posts 153 ; one end of the connection post 153 connects to the plastic ring 11 and the other end connects to the link bar 154 ; because of the connection spring 154 , the left and the right plastic ring can move in a certain extent , which is convenient for installing the pulling type free hanging frame , so even there is some distortion in the main eyeglass frame 2 , the pulling type free hanging frame 1 can have an appropriate corresponding distortion along with the shape of the bridge , as shown in fig4 . the pulling type free hanging frame with the elastic structure can fit with the main eyeglass frame according to different angles and arcs , so is very easy to use for the customers . so elastic connection totally solves the present easy split problem caused the mismatching between the arcs of the hanging frame and the arcs of the main eyeglass frame . hinge connection : said bridge 15 includes two fixed blocks 155 which are set separately on the two ends of the bridge 15 and a connection block 156 between the two fixed blocks 155 , and the two ends of said connection block 156 hinge separately to the free ends of the two fixed blocks 155 . the left and the right plastic ring can move relative to the connection block 156 , that is , the left and the right plastic ring can symmetrically fold back together , which is convenient for storage and transportation , as shown in fig7 and fig8 . this invention has a simple processing technique ; making use of plastic ring helps reduce the weight of the hanging frame , that is , the overall weight of the glasses , and then reduce the pressure on the nose caused by the glasses ; inlaying magnets in the ring easily provides enough magnetic force ; the bridge has an elastic mechanism which provides a higher matching degree when the hanging frame is fixed to the main eyeglass frame , and the bridge has an articulated mechanism enable the plastic ring to symmetrically fold back together , so that the hanging frame takes less volume space for storage ; and this pulling type free hanging frame can directly fits with the original eyeglass frames without installing any magnet in the eyeglass frames , so using this hanging frame to fit with the original eyeglass frames would not destroy the overall appearance . as shown in fig1 to 10 , a pair of glasses comprises a main eyeglass frame with metal rim line and a magnetic pulling type free hanging frame ; the magnetic pulling type free hanging frame fits with the main eyeglass frame . the magnetic pulling type free hanging frame 1 comprises at least a plastic ring 11 and the lens 12 contained in the plastic ring 11 , the lens 12 is contained in the plastic ring 11 , and then is connected to the main eyeglass frame 2 by fitting the plastic ring 11 with the main eyeglass frame 2 , so that the functions of the main eyeglass frame work coordinating with the functions of the pulling type free hanging frame , then the environment light enters into the eyes after double filtering of the lenses of the pulling type free hanging frame and the main eyeglass frame , which satisfies the needs of light processing for the customers ; this hanging frame uses plastic rings not only because plastic materials are light in weight , but also because the molding technique of plastic materials is simple and only one molding process is needed to get the desired structure so that the production cost of the hanging frame is low . the pulling type free hanging frame 1 also comprises at least a magnet 14 , said magnet 14 is inlayed in said plastic ring 11 , the plastic ring 11 has reserved containing chambers , and the magnet 14 can be pressed into the containing chamber directly , so installing the magnet 14 is easy and the installing depth is easy to control , then we can press the magnet into the plastic ring to the depth so that the surfaces of the magnet is below the surfaces of the plastic ring , which can protect the surfaces of the main eyeglass frame and ensure the appearance is not destroyed . a positioning mechanism ( the positioning mechanism includes the positioning blocks 131 and the positioning ring 132 ) is used to coordinate with the main eyeglass frame 2 is set on the plastic ring 11 , the positioning mechanism confines the main eyeglass frame in certain region , so the front lens and the back lens are placed closely , and the positioning mechanism coordinates with the magnetic force to firmly connect the pulling type free hanging frame and the main eyeglass frame . to enhance the magnetic force , multiple magnets 14 are separately set in plastic ring 11 ; the multiple magnets are cylinder - shaped type , bar - shaped type , or other else familiar shape type . preferably , at least three magnets 14 are evenly set on the top of the plastic ring 11 , similarly , multiple magnets 14 are evenly set at the bottom of the plastic ring 11 . the amount of the magnet 14 is decided by the weight of the pulling type free hanging frame and the required magnitude of the magnetic attraction force , if the weight of the pulling type free hanging frame is relatively large and the required magnetic attraction force is relatively large , relatively more magnets are set in the plastic ring , if the weight of the pulling type free hanging frame is relatively small and the required magnetic attraction force is normal , a small amount of magnets are set in the plastic ring , the positioning mechanism of this invention includes multiple positioning blocks 131 or a positioning ring 132 . the positioning blocks 131 are bumps separately distributed along the perimeter of the plastic ring 11 , these positioning blocks 131 are surrounded to form a place area to contain the main eyeglass frame 2 , and these positioning blocks and the magnetic force cooperate to firmly connect the pulling type free hanging frame 1 to the main eyeglass frame 2 . similarly , the positioning ring 132 is a bump continuously distributed along the perimeter of the plastic ring 11 , the surrounded area of the positioning ring 132 is used to contain the main eyeglass frame 2 , and the positioning ring and the magnetic force cooperate to firmly connect the pulling type free hanging frame 1 to the main eyeglass frame 2 . in this invention , preferably , there are anti - split slices 133 set above the positioning blocks or the positioning ring , when the main eyeglass frame 2 is placed in the place area , these anti - split slices 133 are set outside the main eyeglass frame 2 to ensure the pulling type free hanging frame 1 would not separate from the main eyeglass frame 2 . if there is a single plastic ring in this invention , that is , the pulling type free hanging frame 1 has only one eye ring , as shown in fig1 and 2 , connecting the pulling type free hanging frame 1 with only one eye ring to the main eyeglass frame 2 can satisfies the needs of the customers . if there are two plastic rings 11 in this invention , that is , the pulling type free hanging frame 1 has a left plastic ring and a right plastic ring , the bridge 15 is set between the left and the right plastic ring , and connects the left and the right plastic ring , so that the left and the right plastic ring are connected together ; the bridge 15 of the pulling type free hanging frame is coordinated with the bridge of the main eyeglass frame , and the bridge 15 of the pulling type free hanging frame is set above the bridge of the main eyeglass frame . the structure of the bridge 15 can be made in various forms including “-” type form and u type form ; if the structure of the bridge is u type , the u type bridge is set above the bridge of the main eyeglass frame , and beside the connection effect , the bridge also has the protection effect from splitting apart . there are two connection types between the plastic rings and the bride : ( 1 ) elastic connection , in which direct plastic molding forms the one - body plastic rings and bridge ( because of the elasticity of the plastic products , the pulling type free hanging frame and the main eyeglass frame have high matching degree , and the weight of the pulling type free hanging frame is reduced ), as shown in fig3 ; ( 2 ) hinge connection , in which the bridge made by a metal bar , and the two ends of the metal bars connect with the left and the right plastic ring separately , as shown in fig6 . elastic connection : ( 1 ) said bridge 15 includes two spring posts 151 which are set separately on the two ends of the bridge 15 and a link bar 152 between the two spring posts 151 ; one end of the spring post 151 connects to the plastic ring 11 and the other end connects to the link bar 152 ; because of the spring posts 151 , the left and the right plastic ring can move in a certain extent , which is convenient for installing the pulling type free hanging frame , so even there is some distortion in the main eyeglass frame 2 , the pulling type free hanging frame 1 can have an appropriate corresponding distortion along with the shape of the bridge , as shown in fig5 . ( 2 ) said bridge 15 includes two connection posts 153 which are set separately on the two ends of the bridge 15 and a connection spring 154 between the two connection posts 153 ; one end of the connection post 153 connects to the plastic ring 11 and the other end connects to the link bar 154 ; because of the connection spring 154 , the left and the right plastic ring can move in a certain extent , which is convenient for installing the pulling type free hanging frame , so even there is some distortion in the main eyeglass frame 2 , the pulling type free hanging frame 1 can have an appropriate corresponding distortion along with the shape of the bridge , as shown in fig4 . the pulling type free hanging frame with the elastic structure can fit with the main eyeglass frame according to different angles and arcs , so is very easy to use for the customers . so elastic connection totally solves the present easy split problem caused the mismatching between the arcs of the hanging frame and the arcs of the main eyeglass frame . hinge connection : said bridge 15 includes two fixed blocks 155 which are set separately on the two ends of the bridge 15 and a connection block 156 between the two fixed blocks 155 , and the two ends of said connection block 156 hinge separately to the free ends of the two fixed blocks 155 . the left and the right plastic ring can move relative to the connection block 156 , that is , the left and the right plastic ring can symmetrically fold back together , which is convenient for storage and transportation , as shown in fig7 and fig8 . this invention has a simple processing technique ; making use of plastic ring helps reduce the weight of the hanging frame , that is , the overall weight of the glasses , and then reduce the pressure on the nose caused by the glasses ; inlaying magnets in the ring easily provides enough magnetic force ; the bridge has an elastic mechanism which provides a higher matching degree when the hanging frame is fixed to the main eyeglass frame , and the bridge has an articulated mechanism enable the plastic ring to symmetrically fold back together , so that the hanging frame takes less volume space for storage ; and this pulling type free hanging frame can directly fits with the original eyeglass frames without installing any magnet in the eyeglass frames , so using this hanging frame to fit with the original eyeglass frames would not destroy the overall appearance .	6
fig1 represents a cylindrical can 1 according to a preferred sample embodiment of the invention . the body of the can 1 consists entirely of aluminum , wherein the can 1 may have a printed decorative film on the surface area 13 thereof . on the end wall 14 of the can 1 , a closing region 2 is provided which is delimited by a break - off edge 3 . furthermore , the can 1 has an opening element 4 connected to the end wall 14 of the can 1 via a rivet 6 passing through a recess 16 ( fig3 ) of the opening element 4 . in the present sample embodiment , the body of the can 1 completely consists of aluminum . in principle , however , it is sufficient for the wall region and surface region 5 of the can , to which the opening element 4 is adjacent , to cause an adequate reaction on an electromagnetic field applied from outside , in the area of the opening element 4 , so that with the opening element 4 adjacent to the wall region and surface region 5 , no wireless electromagnetic data transmission is possible between an antenna 8 arranged in or on the opening element 4 and an external data communication device ( fig3 ). the opening element 4 has a connecting element 12 with recess 16 , pivoting with respect to the body thereof , which is connected by means of the rivet 6 to the end wall 14 of the can 1 and which is lying flat against the end wall 14 of the can 1 . usually , the opening element 4 may rotate about the rivet axis of the rivet 6 , in the present sample embodiment , there is no motion - rigid connection of the opening element 4 to the can . in the present sample embodiment , the opening element is lying flat against the end wall 14 of the can 1 . fig2 represents the embodiment of the can 1 represented in fig1 in the opening position . in the opening operation , an actuating region 11 of the opening element 4 facing away from the closing region 2 is raised , and the whole opening element 4 is pivoted with respect to the hinge edge 15 between the connecting element 12 and the body of the opening element 4 . thereby , the pressure region 10 of the opening element 4 adjacent to the closing region 2 is pushed towards the closing region 2 towards the inside of the can 1 , whereby the closing region 2 will tear off along the break - off edge 3 from the wall end 14 of the can 1 , and enter the can 1 . thereby , an opening 7 is created from which the contents of the can 1 can be poured out . in fig3 , the opening element 4 is represented in detail . the opening element 4 has a carrier body made of electrically and magnetically insulating material , wherein on the side of the opening element 4 oriented toward the cover wall 14 a notch is provided extending in a closed ring shape inside the opening element 4 . inside said notch , the wire coils of the antenna 8 which is connected to a transponder chip 9 located in the pressure region 10 of the opening element 4 are extending . antenna 8 extends along the edge of the lower end wall of the opening element 4 which is oriented towards the cover wall 14 of the can 1 . as apparent from fig4 , the connecting element 12 of the opening element 4 has a center recess 16 through which the rivet 6 is passed . in an alternative embodiment , it could also be sufficient for the transponder chip 9 as well as the antenna 8 to be glued onto an adequately shaped sticker on top of the opening element 4 . fig5 shows a cross - section of the can 1 and the opening element 4 as well as the electromagnetic response of the can 1 and the opening element 4 in the initial position . as already mentioned , the antenna 8 is located in a notch inside the body of the opening element 4 on the side oriented towards the end wall 14 of the can 1 . in this sample embodiment , the antenna 8 is lying all - over against the end wall 14 of the can . however , this is not mandatory . for the desired effect of a sufficient reaction on the electromagnetic fields directed from an external data communication device to the antenna 8 , so that communication is impossible between the external data communication device and the transponder chip 9 via the antenna 8 , it is sufficient for the antenna 8 to have a maximum spacing of less than 2 to 3 mm in the initial position . then , in the initial position , magnetic fields directed to the antenna 8 are sufficiently displaced from the wall region and surface region 5 on the end wall 14 of the can 1 , or the electrical properties of the antenna 8 are altered so that communication is impossible between an external data communication device and the transponder chip 9 via the antenna 8 . the electrical connection between the transponder chip 9 and the antenna 8 is not represented in fig5 and 6 . fig6 shows a cross - section of the can 1 and the opening element 4 as well as the electromagnetic response of the can 1 and the opening element 4 in the opening position . in contrast to the initial position , in the opening position , due to pivoting of the opening element 4 with respect to the end wall 14 of the can 1 , in the actuating region 11 of the opening element 4 , the antenna 8 is raised from the end wall 14 of the can 1 . in this state , the opening element 4 is clearly electromagnetically uncoupled from the wall region and surface region 5 . i . e ., the reaction caused by the wall region and surface region 5 on the electromagnetic field applied by an external data communication only has a largely attenuated effect on the antenna 8 . thus , electromagnetic energy as well as information can be transmitted by means of electromagnetic fields from an external data communication device to the transponder chip 9 via the antenna 8 . typically , cans are produced completely made of aluminum or some other metal . however , in the present sample embodiment , this is not a requirement . for the adequate effect of field displacement to be ensured , all that is required is that the wall region and surface region 5 of the can 1 to which the opening element 4 is adjacent is electrically and / or magnetically conductive . in the present sample embodiment , the wall region or surface region 5 of the can 1 to which the opening element 4 is adjacent has an electrical conductivity of at least 10 6 s / m , in particular at least 10 s / m . in addition , in the wall region and surface region 5 to which the opening element 4 is adjacent , the can 1 has a magnetic permeability of at least 4 * π * 10 − 7 vs / am , in particular at least 0 . 99 * 4 * π * 10 − 7 vs / am . aluminum , which is typically employed as a material for the wall region and / or surface region of the can 1 , in particular for the whole can 1 , has an electrical conductivity of 37 * 10 6 s / m and a magnetic permeability of ( 1 + 2 . 2 * 10 − 5 )* 4 * π * 10 − 7 vs / am . moreover , in fig5 and 6 , magnetic field lines b are plotted in order to illustrate the specific case of the magnetic coupling between a magnetic field generated by an external data communication device and the antenna 8 . in the case represented in fig5 with the opening element 4 in the initial position , i . e . the opening element 4 being adjacent to the wall region and surface region 5 , in the electrically and / or magnetically conductive wall region and surface region 5 , the magnetic field of the external data communication device will generate eddy currents j , which will cause field displacement near the opening element 4 so that the resulting magnetic field passing through the antenna 8 is too small to enable wireless electromagnetic communication between the external data communication device and the transponder chip 9 via the antenna 8 . in the case represented in fig6 , with the opening element 4 raised with respect to the wall region and surface region 5 , there is sufficient spacing between the antenna 8 and the wall region and surface region 5 so that the field displacement caused by the eddy currents in the wall region and surface region 5 near the wall region and surface region 5 will act upon the antenna 8 only in a very attenuated manner and the antenna 8 is sufficiently penetrated by the magnetic field so that wireless electromagnetic communication is enabled between the external data communication device and the transponder chip 9 via the antenna 8 . in the present sample embodiment , the opening element 4 is made to be electrically and magnetically non - conductive and to have an electrical permeability as well as a magnetic permeability approximately matching the permittivity and permeability of the air . in the present sample embodiment , the specific electrical conductivity of the carrier material of the opening element 4 is very low and is approximately 10 − 2 s / m at a transmission frequency of 13 . 56 mhz typically to be used . it is particularly advantageous if the specific electrical conductivity of the carrier material of the opening element 4 is less than 10 s / m . the magnetic permeability of the carrier material of the opening element 4 is preferably less than 1 . 001 * 4 * π * 10 − 7 vs / am , in particular less than 4 * π * 10 − 7 vs / am . in the present sample embodiment , polypropylene or polyethylene is used as the carrier material of the body of the opening element 4 . at a typical transmission frequency of 13 . 56 mhz , the carrier material has a specific electrical conductivity of about 10 − 3 s / m to 10 − 1 s / m , an electrical permittivity from about 10 − 3 s / m to 10 − 1 s / m , an electrical permittivity from about 2 * 8 . 854 * 10 − 12 as / vm to 3 * 7 . 854 * 10 − 12 as / vm , as well as a magnetic permeability of about 4 * π * 10 − 7 vs / am . of course , alternatively , a different transmission frequency , such as from 120 to 135 khz , or a transmission frequency from 860 to 910 mhz can also be used . in fig7 to 12 , an alternative sample embodiment of the invention is represented . this sample embodiment of the invention represented in fig7 to 12 substantially corresponds to the sample embodiment represented in fig1 to 6 , the differences between the individual sample embodiments being discussed below . in the present sample embodiment , the opening element 4 , as represented in fig8 , is made of two parts and comprises a first antenna part 20 consisting of a non - conductive material , as well as a second base part 40 consisting of a conductive material . the antenna part 20 , which in the present special sample embodiment is made of polyethylene , comprises a first casing part 21 into which the transponder chip 9 is embedded or cast . also , the antenna part 20 comprises an annular projection part 22 starting from the casing part 21 and forming a ring body together with the casing part 2 . inside the ring body , the antenna 8 is arranged , which in the present sample embodiment has three windings . both ends of the antenna 8 are connected to the transponder chip 9 . in this special embodiment of the invention , the base part 40 ( fig1 ) corresponds to the opening element 4 represented in fig3 and 4 , with the difference that instead of the closed course two snap - in projections 41 , 42 are protruding towards the antenna part . as represented in fig9 and 10 , said two snap - in projections 41 , 42 are adjacent to the ring projection 22 of the antenna part 20 . the two front end regions of the snap - in projections 41 , 42 engage with openings provided in the casing part 21 of the antenna part 20 thereby establishing a connection between the antenna part 20 and the base part 40 which cannot be detached in a non - destructive manner . the special constructional configuration of the opening element 4 ensures that the opening element 4 as such will neither shield nor displace electromagnetic waves so that in the closed state , displacement occurs through the metallic end wall 14 , but in the open state , a radio link can be established between the transponder 9 and an external data communication device via the antenna 8 . in fig1 , another alternative embodiment of the invention is represented , substantially corresponding to one of the two first embodiments of the invention . in addition to the features already represented in the two preceding embodiments , the embodiment represented in fig1 additionally has two conductive and metallic plate elements 43 , 44 which are connected to the antenna 8 in the present sample embodiment . the metallic plate elements 43 , 44 are arranged in the antenna part 20 respectively next to the transponder chip 9 . however , in principle , an alternative arrangement is also possible , wherein the plate elements 43 , 44 are to be arranged in a position which in the open state is spaced apart as much as possible from the end wall 14 of the can 1 , and in the closed state as close as possible to the end wall 14 of the can 1 . in fig1 , an equivalent circuit diagram of the electronic components located within the opening element 4 is represented . in principle , adequate power supply of the transponder chip 9 is possible only if the antenna 8 together with all of the components connected thereto is operated in resonance . assuming a given input capacitance c t of the transponder chip 9 , then the resonant frequency of the arrangement is determined by inductance l a of antenna 8 , capacitance c a of antenna 8 , as well as a possibly existing tuning capacitance c tune . said tuning capacitance c tune is in principle determined so that the oscillation circuit fixed by the previously described inductances l a and capacitances c a , c t can be operated in resonance at a previously specified frequency . in principle , any further occurring capacitance c x will lead to a shift of the resonant frequency of the oscillation circuit thus created , whereby power transmission to the transponder chip 9 is prevented . in order to achieve additional suppression of the response of the transponder chip 9 when the opening element 4 is closed , in addition to the attenuation of the magnetic coupling described in the preceding sample embodiments , it is thus possible to modify the resonant frequency by introducing an additional capacitance c x into the oscillation circuit so that the transponder 9 can no longer respond . in fig1 , the oscillation circuit has applied thereto a parallel capacitance c x which is large at a short distance of the plate width 43 , 44 from the end wall 14 of the can 1 and shifts the resonant frequency so that no communication is possible with the transponder 9 . by opening the opening element 4 , the plate elements 43 , 44 are spaced apart from the end wall 14 whereby the capacitance c x is largely reduced . thereby , the resonant frequency is shifted back to the original range thereof and communication with the transponder chip is enabled .	1
as used herein , the term “ wireless signal transfer means ” refers to any known method and / or apparatus for transmitting and receiving analog or digital signals from one point to another point . the medium for transmitting the signals may be light waves , including infrared light , radio waves , ultrasonic waves , or any other waves along the electromagnetic spectrum . for purposes of the illustrative and exemplary embodiments , infrared leds to transmit a signal and phototransistors that are sensitive to infrared light to receive the signal are shown as an example of a wireless signal transfer means . this form of wireless signal transfer means is shown by way of example and not by limitation and those skilled in the art will undoubtedly understand and appreciate various different ways of transmitting a signal without the use of wires or other physical implements between two points . as used herein , the term “ selectively removable module ” refers to a component that is optional to the normal functioning of a host computer system . such a module will receive power from the host system to power its internal circuitry and may optionally communicate with the host through an electromechanical interface to transmit and receive data and control information . shown by way of example and not by limitation throughout this application is a selectively removable module in the form of a pcmcia component card that communicates through the pcmcia interface . other examples of selectively removable modules include but are not limited to standard computer add - in cards such as sound cards , data acquisition cards , modems , video cards , etc . but would also include chips and other modules that connect directly to a computer mother board , other add - in components such as simms used for memory , etc . fig1 shows a notebook computer 20 having a pcmcia card 22 inserted therein , the pcmcia card 22 and notebook computer 20 cooperating to form a speakerphone . the notebook computer 20 has a microphone 24 and a speaker 25 that will be used in implementing the speakerphone according to the present invention . notebook 20 also has an external housing 26 that encompasses and encloses all the internal computer circuitry . the pcmcia card 22 acts as a selectively removable module that can be inserted and electronically coupled with the internal computer circuitry of the notebook computer 20 . the pcmcia card 22 has an external jacket that encompasses and encloses its internal circuitry with at least a portion thereof contained within the external housing 26 of the notebook computer 20 . the pcmcia card 22 also has a rj11 jack 30 extending therefrom that has a phone cord 32 connected thereto by rj11 plug 31 that will electrically connect the pcmcia card internal circuitry to a phone line . also , the pcmcia card 22 connects to a special io connector 34 that is connected to a telephone by phone line 40 . an off - hook detect mechanism is found within the io connector 34 and comprises internal circuitry to determine when a telephone is in the off - hook state so that this status can be communicated to the pcmcia card in order to disable the speakerphone . these components are necessary for interfacing the pcmcia card 22 controlling the speakerphone with the phone network through phone line 32 and with a standard telephone through phone line 40 . the internal circuitry of the pcmcia card 22 in conjunction with the circuitry of the notebook computer 20 will provide a speakerphone application utilizing the available microphone 24 and speaker 25 incorporated into the notebook computer 20 . it may be noted that microphone 24 may be replaced by a sound card and externally connected microphone and be functionally equivalent for purposes of this speakerphone application . in like manner , the speaker 25 may be replaced by external speakers connected to a standard sound card . furthermore , signals are transferred between the pcmcia card 22 and the notebook computer 20 internal circuitry by way of a wireless signal transfer means thereby implementing the present invention as shown hereafter . fig2 is an exploded perspective drawing of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention as used in the notebook computer 20 of fig1 incorporating the unique communication apparatus of the present invention and for implementing a speakerphone . the pcmcia modem card comprises an upper jacket piece 41 , a lower jacket piece 43 , and an internal circuit assembly 45 . the upper and lower jacket pieces , 41 and 43 , respectively , encompass the internal circuit assembly to form the exterior confines of the card . the internal circuitry assembly 45 is composed of a circuit board 47 populated with various components interconnected so as to provide modem functionality ( or alternatively other functionality ). encircling the circuit board 47 , is a supporting frame 51 and a host computer interface 49 . the host computer interface 49 is electrically coupled to the circuitry on the circuit board 47 so as to provide an electrical connection to the host computer system , typically a notebook computer . in this example , the host computer interface 49 is configured according to the pcmcia standard . furthermore , an io receptacle 53 and an rj11 jack assembly 55 are electronically coupled to the circuit board 47 . the rj11 jack assembly 55 is composed an rj11 jack 57 fit within a rj11 jack base 59 that is selectively extensible with respect to the supporting frame 51 by way of a spring mechanism assembly 61 . this allows the rj11 jack to be either extended away from the main body of the pcmcia card or stored internal to the card . this is useful for allowing the jack to be internally stored when not in use so as to keep all aspects of the pcmcia card within the external housing of the host computer environment . important to the present invention is a phototransistor 63 that is sensitive to infrared light and an infrared led 65 that emits infrared light . a complementary infrared led is found on the host computer system in line with the phototransistor 63 and a complementary phototransistor is found on the host system in line with infrared led 65 . furthermore , the upper jacket piece 41 has orifice 73 and orifice 75 that allow infrared light signals to pass uninhibited . alternatively , orifices may be contained in the lower jacket piece 43 and the infrared led 65 and the phototransistor 63 properly placed on the bottom side of the circuit board 47 . the upper jacket piece 41 and the lower jacket piece 42 are typically constructed of steel about 0 . 008 inch in thickness and the orifices are bored into the respective pieces according to embodiment and configuration . in this manner , signals can be transferred in a wireless manner between the circuitry found on circuit board 47 and the host computer system circuitry without passing through the host computer interface 49 . this bi - directional wireless data communication channel overcomes the problems found in the art and provides an advantageous implementation of high band width information communication . this is necessary in a number of applications , and exemplary application being the speakerphone capability implementation into a standard pcmcia modem as shown hereafter in more detail . exemplary phototransistors used in this and other embodiments would be model lpt - 80a or model sfh307 phototransistors available from siemens . equivalent to phototransistors as used throughout this application would be a photodiode accompanied by a gain circuit as would be known by those skilled in the art . exemplary infrared emitter or led would be model irl 81a or model ira 81a , again from siemens . one of the important characteristics of the above - mentioned models for the phototransistor and the infrared led is the availability in miniaturized packaging . this allows such components to be used on the relatively small pcmcia form factor , that is a common standard for use with notebook computers . fig3 is a cutaway view of the pcmcia card inserted in a notebook computer with the infrared led and infrared sensitive phototransistor being completely within the confines of the external host computer housing for the embodiment shown in fig2 . a pcmcia modem card 67 is inserted into a pcmcia receptacle 69 that is electrically coupled to the host computer mother board 71 . the pcmcia modem card 67 also has a rj11 jack assembly 55 shown in the extended position for interfacing with a phone network . once in the inserted position , the infrared sensitive phototransistor 75 and the infrared led 77 ( not shown in fig2 ) are at a position completely within the external housing 67 of the host computer system . it may be noted that while a notebook computer is shown in this example , that any computer system may be used as the host computer system such as a desk top computer systems , palm top computer systems , video game systems , and a variety of consumer electronics , etc . furthermore , an infrared led 79 and infrared sensitive phototransistor 81 are connected to a base 83 and electronically connected to the host computer system circuit board 71 through connection means 85 . again , the infrared led 79 and the infrared sensitive transistor 81 that are electrically connected to the host computer system circuit board 71 are again completely enclosed within the host computer system housing 87 . furthermore , when the pcmcia modem card 67 is in the inserted position , the infrared led 79 is linearly aligned with the infrared sensitive phototransistor 63 and the infrared sensitive phototransistor 81 is linearly aligned with the infrared led 65 so as to allow signals to pass between the respective led - photo - transistor pairs found on the pcmcia modem card 67 and base 83 to allow bi - directional wireless signal transfer between the pcmcia modem card 67 and the host computer circuit board 71 through orifices 73 and 75 , respectively . those skilled in the art will appreciate that there are other ways of allowing the infrared signals between the infrared sensitive photo - transistor 64 and infrared led 66 on the pcmcia modem card 68 with the infrared led 80 and the infrared sensitive photo - transistor 82 located on the base mounting 84 than simply passing through holes drilled therein to allow the infrared signals to pass . for example , infrared transparent materials may be used in pcmcia card construction as will be shown hereafter in connection with another embodiment . additionally , those skilled in the art will note that the transmission componentry may be placed anywhere within the pcmcia modem card 67 so long as they are linearly aligned with corresponding ir componentry electrically connected to the host computer system circuit board 71 . it may be noted that the infrared led 79 and the infrared sensitive phototransistor 81 may be mounted on the host computer system circuit board 71 with the corresponding infrared sensitive phototransistor 63 and infrared led 65 mounted on the back side of the pcmcia modem card 67 circuit board 47 to avoid having a separate base 83 and electrical connection means 85 . naturally , in such a configuration the lower jacket piece 43 of the pcmcia modem card 67 would have to let infrared light pass uninhibited through holes , transparent material , or in some other manner . fig4 is an exploded perspective drawing of another embodiment of the present invention as used in the notebook computer 20 of fig1 incorporating the unique communication apparatus of the present invention and for implementing a speakerphone . the pcmcia modem card comprises an upper jacket piece 42 , a lower jacket piece 44 , and an internal circuit assembly 46 . the upper and lower jacket pieces , 42 and 44 , respectively , encompass the internal circuit assembly to form the exterior confines of the card . the internal circuitry assembly 46 is composed of a circuit board 48 populated with various components interconnected so as to provide modem functionality ( or alternatively other functionality ). encircling the circuit board 48 , is a supporting frame 52 and a host computer interface 50 . the host computer interface 50 is electrically coupled to the circuitry on the circuit board 48 so as to provide an electrical connection to the host computer system , typically a notebook computer . in this example , the host computer interface 50 is configured according to the pcmcia standard . furthermore , an io receptacle 54 and an rj11 jack assembly 56 are electronically coupled to the circuit board 48 . the rj11 jack assembly 56 is composed an rj11 jack 58 fit within a rj11 jack base 60 that is selectively extensible with respect to the supporting frame 52 by way of a spring mechanism assembly 62 . this allows the rj11 jack to be either extended away from the main body of the pcmcia card or stored internal to the card . this is useful for allowing the jack to be internally stored when not in use so as to keep all aspects of the pcmcia card within the external housing of the host computer environment . important to the present invention is a phototransistor 64 that is sensitive to infrared light and an infrared led 66 that emits infrared light . a complementary infrared led is found on the host computer system in line with the phototransistor 64 and a complementary phototransistor is found on the host system in line with infrared led 66 . furthermore , the upper jacket piece 42 is made of a material that will allow infrared light signals to pass uninhibited . in this manner , signals can be transferred in a wireless manner between the circuitry found on circuit board 48 and the host computer system circuitry without passing through the host computer interface 50 to form a bi - directional wireless data communication channel . one material used in this exemplary embodiment that allows infrared light to pass through the upper jacket piece 42 uninhibited , is lexan ® resin available from the general electric plastics division of the general electric company located at one plastics avenue , pittsfield , mass . 01201 . as used in this embodiment , visible light transmission is inhibited , infrared light transmission is permitted , and the material has a physical “ look ” of being black . fig5 is a cutaway view of the pcmcia card inserted in a notebook computer with the infrared led and infrared sensitive phototransistor being completely within the confines of the external host computer housing for the embodiment shown in fig4 . a pcmcia modem card 68 is inserted into a pcmcia receptacle 70 that is electrically coupled to the host computer mother board 72 . the pcmcia modem card 68 also has a rj11 jack assembly 56 shown in the extended position for interfacing with a phone network . once in the inserted position , the infrared sensitive phototransistor 76 and the infrared led 78 are at a position completely within the external housing 68 of the host computer system . furthermore , an infrared led 80 and infrared sensitive phototransistor 82 are connected to a base 84 and electronically connected to the host computer system circuit board 72 through connection means 86 . again , the infrared led 80 and the infrared sensitive transistor 82 that are electrically connected to the host computer system circuit board 72 are again completely enclosed within the host computer system housing 88 . furthermore , when the pcmcia modem card 68 is in the inserted position , the infrared led 80 is linearly aligned with the infrared sensitive phototransistor 64 and the infrared sensitive phototransistor 82 is linearly aligned with the infrared led 66 so as to allow signals to pass between the respective led - photo - transistor pairs found on the pcmcia modem card 68 and base 84 to allow bi - directional wireless signal transfer between the pcmcia modem card 68 and the host computer circuit board 72 . fig6 shows another embodiment of a pcmcia modem card with the infrared transmitting and receiving circuitry located along the pcmcia card edge or side and the transmission occurs through holes bored in the side frame . fig6 is an exploded perspective view of a pcmcia modem card according to this alternative embodiment . an upper jack piece 92 and a lower jacket piece 94 encompass an internal circuitry assembly 96 in order to form the pcmcia modem card . in this embodiment , the upper jacket piece 92 and the lower jacket piece are constructed of standard materials , typically metal . the internal circuit assembly 96 has a circuit board 98 having componentry for a standard telecommunication modem . the circuit board 98 is electrically connected to a host computer interface 100 that will be used to connect the circuit board 98 with the host computer circuit board . further , a supporting frame 102 holds the circuit board 98 , as well as the host computer interface 100 , a io receptacle 104 , and an rj11 jack assembly 106 . the rj11 jack assembly 106 has a rj11 jack 108 formed within a rj11 jack base 110 that is capable of being in a position inside of the assembled pcmcia modem or in a position extending out from the pcmcia modem to allow a mating rj11 plug to be inserted into the rj11 jack 108 . the spring mechanism assembly 112 allows rj11 jack base 110 to easily and selectively extend and retract between a storage position with rj11 jack 108 located within the pcmcia modem card and an extended operational position . mounted on the circuit board 98 is an infrared sensitive phototransistor 114 and an infrared led 116 the infrared sensitive phototransistor 114 and ir emitter 116 are oriented in a sideways position so that they may emit and receive infrared signals through orifices 118 and 120 , respectively , located within the supporting frame 102 . this will allow infrared signal transmission through the supporting frame and the corresponding card guide to mating infrared sensitive phototransistor and ir emitter electrically connected to the host computer system mother board . fig7 is a cutaway perspective view of the pcmcia modem card 122 of fig6 as it appears when inserted into a pcmcia receptacle of a host computer system such as a notebook system as shown in fig1 . the pcmcia receptacle 124 is electrically connected to a host computer circuit board 126 that is populated with the host computer circuitry . furthermore , it can be noted that the infrared sensitive phototransistor 114 and the infrared led 116 located on the pcmcia modem card 122 circuit board 98 are completely within the host housing 128 . also , on the host computer circuit board 126 is an infrared led 130 and infrared sensitive phototransistor 132 . these components allow the receipt and transmission of ir signals from the host computer circuit board 126 in another location . specifically , infrared led 130 on host computer circuit board 126 is positioned so as to be linearly aligned with the infrared sensitive phototransistor 114 located on the modem circuit board 98 so that signals may be transmitted from the infrared led 130 and received by the infrared sensitive phototransistor 114 thereby providing a communication path from the host computer circuit board 126 to the modem circuit board 98 . to facilitate the transmission , orifice 118 allows the infrared signal to pass directly between the infrared led 130 and the infrared sensitive phototransistor 114 . in like manner , the infrared sensitive phototransistor 132 located on the host computer circuit board 128 may receive infrared signals through orifice 120 from the infrared led 116 located on the modem circuit board 98 . in this manner , signals may travel from the modem circuit board 98 to the host computer circuit board 126 . together , the infrared led 130 infrared sensitive phototransistor 114 pair and infrared led 116 infrared sensitive 132 pair , respectively , form a bi - directional wireless data channel that wirelessly transferred signals between the host computer circuit board 126 and the modem circuit board 98 . fig8 shows another embodiment of a pcmcia modem card with the infrared transmitting and receiving circuitry located along the side of the supporting frame with the signal transmitted through the supporting frame constructed infrared transparent material . fig8 is an exploded perspective view of a pcmcia modem card according to this alternative embodiment . an upper jack piece 91 and a lower jacket piece 93 encompass an internal circuitry assembly 95 in order to form the pcmcia modem card . in this embodiment , the upper jacket piece 91 and the lower jacket piece 93 are constructed of standard materials , typically metal . the internal circuit assembly 95 has a circuit board 97 having componentry for a standard telecommunication modem . the circuit board 97 is electrically connected to a host computer interface 99 that will be used to connect the circuit board 97 with the host computer circuit board . further , a supporting frame 101 holds the circuit board 97 , as well as the host computer interface 99 , a io receptacle 103 , and an rj11 jack assembly 105 . the rj11 jack assembly 105 has a rj11 jack 107 formed within a rj11 jack base 109 that is capable of being in a position inside of the assembled pcmcia modem or in a position extending out from the pcmcia modem to allow a mating rj11 plug to be inserted into the rj11 jack 107 . the spring mechanism assembly 111 allows rj11 jack base 109 to easily and selectively extend and retract between a storage position with rj11 jack 107 located within the pcmcia modem card and an extended operational position . mounted on the circuit board 97 is an infrared sensitive phototransistor 113 and an infrared led 115 . the infrared sensitive phototransistor 113 and ir emitter 115 are oriented in a sideways position so that they may emit and receive infrared signals through the supporting frame 101 that is constructed of an infrared transparent material such as lexan ®. this will allow infrared signal transmission through the supporting frame 101 and the corresponding card guide to mating infrared sensitive phototransistor and ir emitter electrically connected to the host computer system mother board . fig9 is a cutaway perspective view of the pcmcia modem card 121 of fig8 as it appears when inserted into a pcmcia receptacle of a host computer system such as a notebook system as shown in fig1 . the pcmcia receptacle 123 is electrically connected to a host computer circuit board 125 that is populated with the host computer circuitry . furthermore , it can be noted that the infrared sensitive phototransistor 113 and the infrared led 115 located on the pcmcia modem card 121 circuit board 97 are completely within the host housing 127 . also , on the host computer circuit board 125 is an infrared led 129 and infrared sensitive phototransistor 131 . these components allow the receipt and transmission of ir signals from the host computer circuit board 125 in another location . specifically , infrared led 129 on host computer circuit board 125 is positioned so as to be linearly aligned with the infrared sensitive phototransistor 113 located on the modem circuit board 97 so that signals may be transmitted from the infrared led 129 and received by the infrared sensitive phototransistor 113 thereby providing a communication path from the host computer circuit board 125 to the modem circuit board 97 . to facilitate the transmission , the supporting frame is constructed of a material that allows infrared signals to pass uninhibited . in like manner , the infrared sensitive phototransistor 131 located on the host computer circuit board 127 may receive infrared signals through the transparent supporting frame 101 from the infrared led 115 located on the modem circuit board 97 . in this manner , signals may travel from the modem circuit board 97 to the host computer circuit board 125 . together , the infrared led 129 infrared sensitive phototransistor 113 pair and infrared led 115 infrared sensitive 131 pair , respectively , form a bi - directional wireless data channel that wirelessly transferred signals between the host computer circuit board 125 and the modem circuit board 97 . fig1 is a schematic block diagram showing the componentry that can be added to a standard pcmcia modem card and host computer system in order to implement a speakerphone . besides modem componentry , the pcmcia card will include the functional componentry included within the box 134 . likewise , the host computer will incorporate functionality enclosed within the box 136 . a telephone 138 is hooked by a phone cable 140 to an off - hook detect circuit 142 . the off - hook detect circuit 142 is part of a physical io connector and cable represented by box 144 that will hook into a pcmcia card through a pin io receptacle 146 ( shown in fig1 as part of the io connection 34 ). the off - hook detect hook circuit 142 will determine whether or not the telephone 138 is in use so that the speakerphone may be disabled when a user picks up the handset of telephone 138 . furthermore , a phone cable 148 connects the pcmcia card as represented by box 134 through rj11 connection 150 to the phone network 152 . both the pins from the io receptacle 146 and the rj11 connection 150 are fed into a data access arrangement 154 for digital processing . this is accomplished through passing the signals from the data access arrangement 154 to a line codec 156 and onto a data signal processing echo canceler 158 . the data access arrangement ( daa ) 154 is the circuitry necessary for accessing or transmitting an analog signal according to the requirements of communications network to which the pcmcia card 134 is attached . this includes opto - isolators , transformers , and other mechanisms standard in the art allowing connection between systems having different electrical characteristics and requirements . the line codec 156 digitizes the signal taken off of the phone line as received from the data access arrangement 154 by way of an analog - to - digital converter . this allows the signal data to be manipulated by echo cancellation circuit 158 or any other digital signal processing that may be required . after digital signal processing , the digital signal will be converted to an analog signal by the audio codec 194 before being transmitted through a wireless communications channel to the host computer 136 as will be explained in more detail hereafter . it may be noted that the logical block diagram shows two separate codecs , line codec 156 and audio codec 194 , residing on the pcmcia card 134 . this is only illustrative of function and those skilled in the art will see that the same codec may perform the same function depending on physical implementation . a microcontroller 160 controls the digital signal processing echo cancellation circuit 158 as well as provides an interface with the rest of the modem circuitry not shown in fig1 . furthermore , to provide such interfacing behavior , the microcontroller 160 accesses ram 162 and rom 164 for programming and calculations as well as a custom asic 166 for interfacing through the pcmcia interface 168 to electrically communicate with the host computer system . within the host computer 136 is a microphone 170 and a speaker 172 that are used as part of the speakerphone implementation . signals from the speaker 170 will eventually reach the digital processing echo canceler 158 as controlled by microcontroller 160 and signals broadcast through the speaker 172 will be signals originating from the digital signaling processing echo canceler 158 as controlled by the microcontroller 160 . for voice signals received from microphone 170 , an analog signal is received from a microphone biasing circuit 174 representing the voice signal that is amplified in amplifier 176 before running through stereo codec 178 . the stereo codec 178 may be used to digitize the analog voice signal received from the microphone in order to store the information on the disk drive of the host computer system . this would be useful for an answering machine implemented as part of the system and other applications requiring the storage of voice data . furthermore , the stereo codec 178 can be controlled by host computer system software in order implement a gain control function for adjusting the volume of the signal as perceived through the speaker 172 . in this manner , the stereo codec 178 could be making an analog - to - analog conversion of the signal implementing the desired signal gain affects . additionally , the stereo codec 178 allows signals from different sources to be mixed . for example , an answering machine implementation could allow the incoming analog signal transmitted from the pcmcia card and the stored digital signal being heard by the caller to be mixed and simultaneously monitored through the speaker 172 on the host computer 136 . after processing in the stereo codec 178 , the analog signal will be run through a transmission amplifier 180 and pass through a temperature compensated current source 182 before being transmitted from an infrared led 184 . the temperature compensated current source 182 is for assuring that proper signal levels are transmitted at the infrared led 184 over temperature . the infrared led 184 sends an infrared signal ( analog ) across to an infrared sensitive transistor 186 as represented by transmit arrows 188 and receive arrows 190 . in this way , microphone speech data is transmitted to the pcmcia modem card for processing through a wireless data channel without burdening the pcmcia interface . this is necessary in order to have enough information band width preserve high speech quality by sending an adequate amount of information for processing . the signal received by the infrared sensitive phototransistor 186 is amplified through a receiver amp 192 before being passed onto audio codec 194 for conversion from analog to digital format and processed through the digital system processing echo cancellation circuitry 158 . signals to be transmitted on speaker 172 will originate from the phone or phone line , pass through line codec 156 for conversion to digital format , pass through the digital signal processing echo cancellation circuitry 158 , pass through audio codec 194 for conversion back to analog format , and arrive at transmission amplifier 196 that prepares the signal for transmission from the pcmcia modem card to the host computer . again , the signal passes through a temperature compensated current source 198 in order to assure that a consistent transmit level will be found at the infrared led 200 over temperature . transmission occurs between the infrared led 200 found on the pcmcia modem card and the infrared sensitive phototransistor 202 found on the host computer as shown by transmit arrows 204 and receive arrows 206 . again , this will occur in a linear orientation and will be facilitated by orifices in the pcmcia modem card or some form of covering that will allow the infrared signal to transfer uninhibited . while transmission is shown for an analog signal , some applications may transmit digital signals . analog signal transmission has the advantage of typically being less costly to implement since the signal may be transmitted over a single infrared led / phototransistor pair ( or two pairs for full - duplex operation as shown ). digital transmission may require more infrared led / phototransistor pairs due to the timing signals , bus widths , etc . associated with digital signals . the added hardware increases cost and may be prohibitive depending on the specific application . the present invention contemplates wireless transfer of signals as explained regardless of signal format . once the signal is received on the host computer , it passes through a receiver amplifier 208 to strengthen the signal before passing through the stereo codec 178 and on to the actual speaker amplifier 210 before being heard through speaker 172 . alternatively , the stereo codec 178 may digitize the analog signal received for storage at the host computer 136 . it is important to note that the transmission and reception of the infrared signal occurs without any mechanical connection . the respective infrared transmitter ( led ) and infrared receiver ( infrared sensitive photo transistor ) are simply placed in a physical orientation so that the transmission may occur uninhibited . furthermore , any form of wireless transmission means may be used to accomplish the same data transmission channel . for example , a low strength radio signal could be transmitted and received between pcmcia card and host computer to effectuate the same data transmission capabilities and again without burdening the electromechanical connection through the pcmcia interface . fig1 shows a typical ir transmitter and a typical ir receiver that can be implemented as part of the infrared transmission wireless signal transfer link as explained previously . those skilled in the art will recognize how to use such a circuit and may incorporate other circuits of equivalent purpose but achieving the same transmission and reception and capabilities . the present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from its spirit or essential characteristics . the described embodiments are to be considered in all respects only as illustrated and not restrictive . the scope of the invention is , therefore , indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description . all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are to be embraced within their scope .	7
as shown in fig1 a , the digital identity server 100 communicates over a global computer network 114 ( such as would include the internet as part of the overall global network ) with a plurality of user devices . examples of user devices include a catv settop 102 , a satellite receiver 104 , a cellular phone 106 , a personal digital assistant ( pda ) 108 , personal computer 110 , video game console 112 or other client device 113 . each user device connects to the internet though another communication network . for example , a catv settop box 102 is coupled through a catv system , while a personal computer 110 is typically coupled through the public switched telephone network . the digital identity server 100 also communicates via the internet 114 with a digital identity database 118 , an external database 116 as well as a command server 120 . in operation , a user identifies himself to a user device 102 , 104 , 106 , 108 , 110 , 112 . the user device 102 , 104 , 106 , 108 , 110 , 112 requests a digital identity from the digital identity server 100 . in response , the digital identity server 100 communicates with the command server 120 to determine the nature and characteristics of the requesting user device 102 , 104 , 106 , 108 , 110 , 112 . the digital identity server 100 then retrieves the digital identity information from either the system database 118 or an external database 116 and downloads it to the requesting user device 102 , 104 , 106 , 108 , 110 , 112 . after the initial download of a digital identity to user device , the digital identity server 100 need not be involved except to download changes to update a user &# 39 ; s digital identity . in such manner , the digital identity server 100 mediates the user &# 39 ; s access to applications / services and data from a variety of user devices ranging from a digital set - top box 102 to a portable personal digital assistant 108 to a mobile / cellular phone 106 to a game console 112 to a personal computer 110 . applications include video - on - demand ( vod ), gaming applications such as multi - player games , email , instant messaging , chat and broadcast based enhanced tv applications . in video - on demand for example , a viewer may pause a movie at a given point . the pause point of the movie becomes part of the viewer &# 39 ; s digital identity . when the viewer returns to watch the rest of the movie , the viewer &# 39 ; s downloaded digital identity contains the pause point . as a result , the viewer is able to continue watch the remainder of the movie at a later time from any catv settop 102 communicating with the digital identity server 100 . additional applications include using an e - wallet ( where the e - wallet for a user is tied to his digital identity and stored in the system ) and delivering targeted advertising applications ( where the profile of the user describing his interests and past behavior is tied to his digital identity and stored in the system ). the range of data contained in the portable digital identity includes the user &# 39 ; s properties such as his preferences regarding the use of the device in question , his favorites data including the list of favorite applications and favorite internet sites . the data includes the user &# 39 ; s cookies which facilitate access to internet sites , and the set of applications / services that the user may access including the properties of the user for a specific application / service . the digital identity server 100 retrieves configuration information from the command server 120 about various types or classes of devices within the system , and applies the configuration information as a filter when returning the digital identity data back to the user device . the set of applications and the generic user properties as well as application specific user properties are tailored to take into account the processing power , network bandwidth and memory footprint capabilities of the communications device currently in use by the user . thus , when the user is on a powerful communications device , such as a personal computer 110 , the list of applications available to such user includes the full set of allowed or subscribed applications . when the user is on a less powerful device such as a set - top box 102 or a personal digital assistant 108 , the list of applications available to a user will typically include only a lesser permissible subset of applications . the digital identity of the user remains the same regardless of the device that the user is using at any point in time . having a consistent digital identity retrievable at any point by internet access , allows the user to access his applications / services and data in a seamless and transparent fashion . thus , even while “ roaming ” i . e . moving between multiple devices in his home , or to a device at a remote location such as a digital set - top box or game console at a friend &# 39 ; s home , or using a cellular phone / pager in his car , the user experiences a consistent electronic environment . associated with the notion of a portable digital identity is the notion of a general services architecture . the general services architecture defines and describes the model that allows the use of applications / services and associated data by the user from their various devices . in particular , the general services architecture includes a user account that defines the applications and services to which the user subscribes . the digital identity server 100 and a general services architecture allows the service provider / operator to dynamically define and add new services / applications into their server - side infrastructure . services are available dynamically to users based on a configurable policy that can be customized to suit the business needs of the specific network operator or service provider . furthermore , access to the service can be controlled at a very granular level all the way down to a specific device and a specific user . user a may subscribe to the video on demand ( vod ) service , but user b may not be allowed access to the service or even be allowed to subscribe to the service at all . if the user is a subscriber to a specific service he may not be able to access the vod service unless he is on a device that is actually capable of running that service as is determined by the digital identity server dynamically . the digital identity of the user as implemented by the digital identity server 100 includes a rich object oriented programming model that provides high reliability and high availability and scales to millions of users . the digital identity server 100 has easy extensibility to new client devices 113 and new server platforms and also provides for easy integration with existing stores 116 of user information being maintained by service providers and operators elsewhere on the internet . the overall digital identity system design is a four - tier architecture of clients 10 , 10 a , 12 , 12 a , adapters 18 , 14 , engine 22 with application programming interfaces 20 ( apis ) and database 24 shown in fig1 b . the digital identity server 100 provides a mechanism to provide connectors to different devices 10 , 12 ( where client software resides ) that can be hooked into the internal core digital identity engine 22 . such connectors are referred to herein as adapters 18 , 14 . a digital identity software development kit ( sdk ) 16 permits other clients 12 to write specialized adapters 14 . the specialized adapter 14 is a protocol translator written by an other client 12 using the digital identity sdk 16 that uses standardized xml protocol to communicate with a standard digital identity adapter to the digital identity engine 22 . client software may reside in devices other than user devices 10 , 12 . in particular , a catv system 11 b can be a catv client . in such case , digital identity software development kit ( sdk ) 16 a permits a specialized adapter 14 a to be written that uses standardized xml protocol to communicate with a standard digital identity adapter to the digital identity engine 22 . as another example , a web site can be a web site client 11 a communicating with the digital identity engine 22 via a standard adapters 18 . the digital identity engine 22 is the component that handles access to all of the data that adapters 10 , 10 a , 12 , 12 a ( and thus clients ) stored on the server side . the core engine 22 and its digital identity apis 20 are written in java to take advantage of java database connectivity ( jdbc ) as the primary mechanism for accessing the digital identity data . application programming interfaces ( apis ) are available as part of the tv navigator platform ( including client - side javascript and java apis ) and as part of the connect suite platform ( the server - side java based , xml based and corba based apis ) that allow applications to be authored on top of the digital identity platform . corba , an acronym for common object request broker architecture , is a type of object - oriented programming language system . the digital identity server ( 100 in fig1 ) further provides yet another interface that can be implemented by third parties in order to write specialized plug - ins ( 223 in fig2 a ) to the digital identity server 100 . specialized plug - ins are used to access ( in a transparent manner ) information residing in external systems ( 234 in fig2 a ) and including the legacy billing and sms systems of the catv operator ( or other service provider ). the portable digital identity server 18 , 20 , 22 of fig1 b is shown in further detail in fig2 a ( 210 ). the digital identity engine 230 provides an application programming interface ( api ) 228 to client adapter writers . the digital identity api is implemented as an efficient means for adapters to name , store , and control access to user data . the design relies on a relational database to provide the storage and indexing of user data . the digital identity engine 230 is what implements the api that adapters 222 , 224 , 226 use to perform operations on data . adapters are software components that communicate with clients . various adapters are developed for the various clients that digital identity server 210 supports . for example , standard adapters include a corba adapter , a digital television and cookie adapter 224 and an xml adapter 226 . additional adapters 212 may be created using the software development kit 214 . various client software 202 , 203 , 204 , 206 and 208 communicates with the digital identity server 210 via a corresponding adapter . for example , a provisioning application 202 and a digital identity control console 203 interface through a corba adapter 222 . a first generation digital television client 204 ( using a proprietary protocol ) interfaces through a digital television and cookie adapter 224 . a next generation digital television client communicates with the digital identity server 210 through an xml adapter 226 ( using a standard version of extensible markup language or xml ) as would the additional adapter 212 . corba clients use their own protocol , notably corba iiop in cobra adapter 222 , rather than xml / http in adapter 226 . similar to the operation of fig1 a , the command server 238 in fig2 a provides data on the nature and characteristics of the requesting user device . the digital identity server 210 then retrieves the digital identity information from either the system database 236 or an external database 234 and downloads it to the requesting user device . as shown in fig2 b , the digital identity engine 250 includes api implementation functions 252 responsive to the application programming interface 251 . the digital identity engine 250 further comprises a data access layer 254 responsive to the api functions 252 to perform all of the mechanisms for abstracting or accessing data out of the backend ( data storage ). the api implementation 252 communicates only with the data access layer 254 and not directly with the various back - end data access functions such as lightweight directory access protocol ( ldap ) 258 , 268 , java database connectivity ( jdbc ) 264 , schema mapper 266 , callout mechanism 260 and system data cache 262 . ( liberate technologies , 2 circle star way , san carlos , calif . 94070 ). the design is quite general , in the sense that adding a new mechanism for accessing data would require no changes to the api implementation functions 252 or the adapters ( 18 in fig1 b ). a data access layer 254 in the digital identity engine 230 provides the following functionality : pools connections 253 to all data sources , including group databases 272 b , system database 272 a , and lightweight directory access protocol ( ldap ) server ( s ) 268 ; dynamically updates and manage the relational database schema ; use of the schema mapper 256 and system data cache 262 to implement its operations and abstract from the api implementation 252 how data is accessed and where it is stored , hiding the fact that the data is distributed ; and provide the implicit mapping from the schema of the objects defined in xml to the database schema . the supported objects are given in the table below . these objects are the same as the objects defined in the xml protocol and used in the digital identity server . when a new type of collection object is introduced ( such as address book ), no new api functions are needed . only a new object , and its associated xml schema are needed . the data access layer 254 maintains objects and their mappings to physical tables automatically , so that no code has to change at the data access layer 254 when a new object is created . the same is true for new attributes of existing objects . the api implementation 252 calls only the various parts of the data access layer 254 to perform the functions it needs ; it does not call any other pieces , nor does it access any database ( 268 , 270 , 272 a , 272 b ) directly . the data access 254 layer maps each specific digital identity api 251 call into the ( more general ) data access call . for example , a createentity api function calls the generic “ create ” or “ set ” method in the data access layer 254 , after setting up all the right parameters , and the connection . similarly , a getcookies or getproperties api function , calls a generic “ get ” method , after setting up all the parameters for each type of object ( see object list above ) to get the data from the database . the schema mapper component 256 maintains the configuration of the xml schema objects , and their underlying physical tables . it also provides the data access layer 254 with a way to easily determine how to access a given piece of data . furthermore , the schema mapper 256 stores xml schema blobs in the command server 266 , allowing the customer to extend and control the schema dynamically ( through gui tools ). finally , the schema mapper 256 stores information about where attributes reside ( database , external lightweight directory access protocol ( ldap ), etc ). the system data cache 262 minimizes the need to access the system database 272 a , since it is a global bottleneck . it further stores servergroup information for users / machines / accounts in a data cache 262 so that trips to the system database 272 a are eliminated whenever possible . the system data cache 262 further provides a way for the api implementation functions 252 to efficiently discover the user / machine / account relationships . finally , the system data cache 262 ensures that the in - memory cache is kept consistent with the database , given that there may be multiple digital identity servers 250 behind a load balancer , and the servers need to appear stateless . the function of providing consistent state conditions across multiple digital identity servers is accomplished by allowing communication between multiple digital identity servers for notification purposes when an entity is deleted or moved . each digital identity server 250 has the ability to connect to any datasource in the site , including all group databases 272 b , the system database 272 a , and all external customer data ( lightweight directory access protocol ( ldap ) 268 , sms 270 , etc ). however , each digital identity server 250 has the notion of a home server group , namely a group database 272 b to which it is “ tightly ” bound , either through physical locality , or through logical locality ( i . e . it expects to service a certain subset of users / machines / accounts in the normal case ). the digital identity server 250 optimizes its access to its own home server group 272 b as much as possible . the digital identity server 250 provides less optimized access to other server groups &# 39 ; data for administration functions ( such as moveentity ) and to external customer data . the digital identity server 250 has the option to provide access to all functions on other server groups , if the adapters / clients do not wish to connect to another digital identity server which is non - optimized . one digital identity server is able to service several adapters simultaneously . load balancing ( when possible ) is done between the clients and the adapters . in the alternative , load balancing may be done between the adapters and the digital identity engine through the network adapter the call - out component 260 retrieves data on a read - only basis from external ( operator - managed ) datastores 270 . the customer data retrieval typically occurs as part of an operation like getproperties in the api . use of the call - out 260 is dictated by the schema mapper 256 , which notes where and how individual properties can be retrieved . the call - outs are used only for primitive properties of entities , but may be generalized to apply to other data ( like services or collections ) as well . data structures are discussed in conjunction with fig3 through fig7 . as a part of any call - out , the entityid must be converted into an id that is meaningful for the external datastore . the conversion may involve a call into the system database 272 a or user database , to retrieve other properties . the conversion activity is performed either in the data access layer , or within the specific modules that perform the call - out . similarly , propertynames needs to be converted into external attribute names ; this information is generally available through the command server 266 . when the call - out returns , the returned data is merged into the result set that is returned from digital identity ( typically a sequence of propertynamevalues ), and is indistinguishable from other data . there are two call - outs shown in fig2 b : sms ( subscriber management system ) 260 uses a general function call ; lightweight directory access protocol ( ldap ) 258 is a special case for which higher - level support is provided . both of these call outs are examples of the external data i . e . legacy datstores ( 234 in fig2 a ). the sms callout mechanism 260 uses a function call to a customer - provided routine . typically , the sms module is called with an entityid and one or more propertynames . the sms callout resolves the id ( convert to an external id ), and then makes a function call to the external routine . in a java implementation , this routine is typically provided as a . jar file , loaded as a plugin . the argument list for external function includes at least external entity id and propertyname ( s ). the lightweight directory access protocol ( ldap ) call - out provides high - level support for retrieving data from a lightweight directory access protocol ( ldap ) repository . the data access layer calls the lightweight directory access protocol ( ldap ) module , supplying information such as the entityid and propertyname ( s ). the lightweight directory access protocol ( ldap ) call - out converts the entityid into an lightweight directory access protocol ( ldap ) distinguished name ( possibly using information from the system db or user db ), and converts the propertynames into lightweight directory access protocol ( ldap ) attribute names ( possibly using configuration parameters ). using configuration parameters , it then forms and executes a complete lightweight directory access protocol ( ldap ) call to retrieve the data , such as an lightweight directory access protocol ( ldap ) url , and processes the result set . in a java implementation , this lightweight directory access protocol ( ldap ) client can be implemented on java naming directory interface ( jndi ). most call - outs use the dircontext . getattributes ( ) method , to retrieve a set of lightweight directory access protocol ( ldap ) attribute values , which are merged into the digital identity result set . besides being easier to use than the more general call - out mechanism , the lightweight directory access protocol ( ldap ) module enables the data access layer 254 to pool 253 lightweight directory access protocol ( ldap ) connections , as it also does for java database connectivity ( jdbc ) connections . the diagram in fig2 c shows the sub - components of the software development kit ( sdk ) and network adapter 288 . the software development kit ( sdk ) 276 and network adapters 288 both convert between the digital identity api and the network protocol ( xml / http ). the sdks implement the digital identity api , hiding implementation details behind a standard interface . sdks are delivered as libraries , which are used by customers who build out - of - process ( external ) adapters . sdks must be written in the same language as the corresponding adapters , so separate sdks are required for each language in which adapters are written . sdks are required for both java and c / c ++. java adapters may be able to run natively ( in - process ), if their client - server protocol allows it . in - process adapters do not require sdks . the primary function of the sdk is to convert digital identity api calls into network - based communication with the digital identity server . a simplified process description is : 1 . call xml publisher 284 to convert api command and data into xml . 2 . call http module 280 to establish communication with server through connection pool 282 ; send xml request ; receive response . 3 . call xml parser 286 to parse response ; convert to api data structures ; return to caller . the network adapter 288 runs in the same process as the digital identity server , and services out - of - process adapters . the job of the network adapter 288 is the complement of the sdk 276 ; it converts xml / http requests back into digital identity to api function calls . in this sense , the digital identity server is using its native network protocol as a sort of rpc mechanism for the external adapters to make calls to the digital identity engine . the extensible markup language ( xml ) is actually very well suited for this purpose . similar conversions to / from xml ( shown as xml publisher 284 and xml parser 286 ) are performed in both the sdk and network adapter . these conversions share the same technology base , especially for xml parsing 286 . each adapter &# 39 ; s 274 primary function is to translate the communication that it receives from its client in its native protocol to the liberate digital identity api . clients make requests to adapters to perform certain operations such as getting and setting of data . these requests are decoded and handled by the adapter , and translated into digital identity api calls ; data returned from the api calls is encoded and sent to the client . as mentioned , adapters may run in - process or out - of - process ; the api is identical in either case . compared to in - process adapters , external ones offer advantages ( independence of programming language ; stability of external process ) and disadvantages ( potential performance penalty of extra network hop ). in general , in - process adapters should be used where possible , for performance reasons . adapters that rely on http use the same mechanism for decoding and handling the network traffic as the digital identity network adapter ( namely an http server such as apache ) 298 . a goal of the digital identity server is to use a single adapter to service all xml requests , be they from in - process or out - of - process adapters . to facilitate unification , a compatible xml format is adopted . the digital identity server does not provide native interfaces for corba or lightweight directory access protocol ( ldap ). clients that use these protocols require special - purpose adapters . the adapters implement the appropriate server type ( corba or ldap ), but use digital identity protocols on the back end . the corba adapter is needed to support the user data manager , which is a corba client ( which may be implemented as a java applet ). like all corba servers , it supports an interface defined in an idl . idl has currently been defined for the digital identity engine consisting of about 40 operations , defined on 7 interfaces ( object classes ). this supports a particular object model , which may be been extended for digital identity . in order to make the new digital identity features accessible through corba , the idl is extended . the adapter translates idl calls into digital identity api calls . the corba adapter may run either in - process or out - of - process with respect to the digital identity engine . an in - process implementation links the digital identity engine into the corba server as a library , which is different from the method of running other in - process adapters , which are accessed through a web server interface . the out - of - process implementation uses the sdk and network adapter . as shown in fig3 , there are three top - level object classes : accounts 302 , users 306 and machines 304 . these three top - level object classes are collectively referred to as entities . individual entities have a unique entityid , specified when the entity is created . each user 306 is associated with exactly one account . each machine 304 is associated with exactly one account . as illustrated by the 1 to n relationship an account 302 may have a plurality of users 306 . as illustrated by the 1 to m relationship , an account 302 may have a plurality of machines 304 . for example , a household catv account 302 may include several family members as users 306 , and have more than one catv converter 304 . all entities may have primitive properties . properties are typed ; the current set of types is { string ; integer ; boolean ; binary }. besides the primitive properties , entities may have collection properties associated with them . collections are structured objects — i . e ., they have primitive properties of their own . collections may have many instances for a given entity ; each instance has a unique instanceid , which can be used to access that instance . as shown in fig5 , the account entity is associated with one or more attributes 510 , services 516 and collections 508 . an account entity 502 stores the properties of the account and billing information . similarly , fig6 illustrates the machine entity 604 being associated with one or more attributes 610 , services 616 and collections 608 . the machine entity 604 represents an interactive device . similarly , the user entity 706 is associated with one or more attributes 710 , services 716 and collections 708 . a user entity 706 represents the user of an interactive device or application . in addition , the user entity 706 is associative with one or more cookies 718 . as shown in fig4 , cookies have special collection properties , with particular semantics , such as name 406 , path 404 , domain 402 , value 410 , expiration 412 and security level 414 . besides being associated with particular entities , collection properties may have values at the global ( system ) level . customers may define additional properties for accounts , users , machines , or collection properties , and may define additional collection properties . entities have server groups , which specify where their data is located . users and machines associated with an account have the same server group as the account . fig8 is a hierarchical representation of the digital identity object model . various types of information are represented in the digital identity server to support the needs of administrators , applications , set - top boxes , and other users . the information is structured according to a particular model ( schema ), which reflects the world of accounts , machines , and users . information that is handled by the digital identity server can be accessed and manipulated in a variety of ways , including through corba , and from the settop box . the primary objects in the system are entities 802 , which correspond to accounts 806 , machines 808 , and users 810 . there are three subclasses of entities to represent the three cases listed above : accounts entities represents a billing account . an account may have multiple machine and multiple user entities associated with it . machine entities represents a single set - top box . each machine object must always have an associated account . user entities represents a user on a set - top box . each user object must always have an associated account . standard uml notation is used to represent both the digital identity object model and the associated corba idl . the boxes in fig8 represent classes ( corba interfaces ) of which there are 7 in the system . each box in fig8 is divided into three regions ; the top region shows the class name ; the middle region shows the attributes that are defined in the base schema ; the bottom region shows the operations ( methods ) that are defined in the corba idl . the lines among the boxes indicate relationships . the ones with arrowheads are generalizations ; the others are associations , with the multiplicity indicated by the numbers at either end . to improve scalability , network operators can create digital identity server groups . a deployment can have one or more digital identity server groups 902 , 904 , depending on how the network operator configures the system . each server group 902 , 904 has its own configuration settings and its own database . the use of server groups is convenient when managing a large number of subscribers . besides a database for each server group , there is a single , shared digital identity system database 906 that can be accessed by every digital identity server . the system database 906 contains basic information for all subscribers , while each server group database 902 , 904 only contains information about the subscribers in that particular group . digital identity adapters 908 , 910 communicate with the digital identity servers 902 , 904 across an api 912 that provides a single point of access to all data in all digital identity servers . this provides the following benefits : different tv navigator clients ( such as tv navigator standard and compact clients ) can all access the same digital identity server or server groups . developers can create custom provisioning applications that use the services of the digital identity corba adapter . these applications can also interface to external billing , customer service , and subscriber management systems , to interoperate with legacy systems . a simple graphical user interface is provided at the digital identity console 914 , which can access and modify persistent data stored in the digital identity servers . the digital identity console 914 is implemented as a corba client . through the provisioning plugin architecture , digital identity provides access to external back - end data stores , such as ldap servers enabling system operators to access legacy data . the digital identity architecture supports the development of new client adapters , as needed for emerging protocols . below are several examples of sample code for provisioning an account making requests and providing responses .	7
there is seen in fig1 a a first use case representing a hot spot area 2 within a larger surrounding cell 1 ( or a ). the hot spot area 2 is caused by the radio signal of another cell b overshooting within the radio coverage of cell a . a mobile terminal uex goes through the hot spot area 2 , and moves from position a to position a ′ through position b . at positions a and a ′, the radio signal from cell a incurs a lower path loss than the radio signal from cell b . at position b , the radio signal from cell b incurs a lower path loss than the radio signal from cell a . provided the difference between the respective path losses is beyond some configured handover margin , the mobile terminal uex is likely to hand over from cell a to cell b , and very soon after from cell b back to cell a . it is an object of the invention to prevent the mobile terminal uex from switching to cell b while the coverage within the initial serving cell a is still good enough to achieve the required throughput and quality of service ( qos ) for the current traffic session . there is seen in fig1 b a second use case representing a hot spot area 2 caused by the radio signal of a cell b overshooting at the border of a first cell a and a second cell c . a mobile terminal uex goes through the hot spot area 2 , and moves from position a to position c through position b . at positions a , the radio signal from cell a incurs a lower path loss than the radio signals from cells b and c . at position b , the radio signal from cell b incurs a lower path loss than the radio signals from cells a and c . at position c , the radio signal from cell c incurs a lower path loss than the radio signals from cells a and b . provided the difference between the respective path losses is beyond some configured handover margin , the mobile terminal uex is likely to be handed over from cell a to cell b , and very soon after from cell b to cell c . it is a further object of the invention to redirect the mobile terminal uex directly to cell c without going through the intermediary cell b . this is possible if the signal path loss from either cell a or b is low enough within the hot spot area 2 to achieve the required throughput and qos for the current traffic session . both objectives are achieved by triggering cell - persistent radio measurements while the mobile terminal uex is traversing a hot spot area , and by using those measurement data for refining further handover decisions towards hot spot cells . there is seen in fig2 a message flow chart between the mobile terminal uex and enbs enba , enbb and enbc operating cells a , b and c respectively . although cells are shown as being operated by distinct enbs , it is to be noticed that two or more cells , such as cells a and c , can be operated by the same enb . at some point in time , the mobile terminal uex , which is being served by cell a , and which is moving from position a to position b , reports an handover event ho_event to the serving cell a indicating a stronger signal from cell b ( above some margin ). thereupon , the source enb enba makes a decision to hand off the mobile terminal uex towards cell b . the source enb enba issues a message ho_request to the target enb enbb passing necessary information to prepare the handover at the target side . after admission control , the target enb enbb answers with an acknowledgement ho_request_ack comprising ue data for performing an handover towards the target cell b . the source enb enba commands the mobile terminal uex to perform an handover towards the target cell b by generating a message rrc_conn_reconf . after receiving the message rrc_conn_reconf , the mobile terminal uex performs synchronization to the target enb enbb , and accesses the target cell b via random access channel ( rach ), following a contention - free procedure or contention - based procedure . the target enb enbb responds with uplink channel allocation and timing advance value . the mobile terminal uex sends a message rrc_conn_reconf complete to the target enb enbb to confirm the handover . the handover procedure keeps on with the serving gateway switching the user traffic plane from the source enb enba towards the target enb enbb . the message rrc_conn_reconf further includes measurement control information meas_ctrl_info , whereby the mobile terminal uex is configured to perform cell - persistent radio measurements . the measurement control information comprises a measurement identifier meas_id , and two time periods t1 and t2 . the measurement identifier allows the association between measurement data and a particular ue that was configured to perform those measurements . the time period t1 denotes the periodicity at which radio measurements shall be performed , and the time period t2 denotes the reporting period upon which the ue shall report the acquired measurement data to the current serving cell . alternatively , the measurement control information meas_ctrl_info can be sent apart via a dedicated message . the mobile terminal uex starts the measurement period t2 upon receipt of the measurement control information meas_ctrl_info from the enb enba . the mobile terminal uex first stores the pci of the measurement - triggering cell , presently pcia . the mobile terminal uex measures the signal strength of inter alia cells a , b and c while being served by cell a and next cell b , stores the radio measurements performed during the last t1 period in a measurement history ( possibly after averaging and / or further data processing ), and reiterates until the period t2 expires , thereby yielding measurement data meas_data . an exemplary value for t1 is 200 ms , and an exemplary value for t2 is 2 seconds , that is to say the measurement data meas_data comprises 10 measurements records , one for each 200 ms period . upon expiry of the timer t2 , the uex builds up a measurement report meas_report comprising the compiled measurement data meas_data , the measurement identifier meas_id and the cell identifier pcia of the measurement - triggering cell . the measurement report meas_report is then sent to the enb operating the current serving cell , presently enbb . the enb enbb identifies the enb enba as operating the cell identified by the cell identifier pcia . more specifically , the enb enbb derives a tunnel end - point identifier connecting to the enb enba through the x2 interface from the cell identifier pcia ( the association between a particular pci and a particular tunnel end - point identifier are acquired during the enb discovery phase ), and transfers the measurement data meas_data and the measurement identifier meas_id through the so - identified tunnel towards the enb enba ( see message meas_transfer in fig2 ). the enb enba is thus aware about the outcome of the handover decision that was made for the mobile terminal uex . for instance , the enb enba notices that the signal strength from cell a is still good enough after the handover was made , and therefore may decide to keep further mobile terminals within the coverage of cell a when similar handover criteria are met . an indication may be sent to the target cell for informing the target cell that cell - persistent radio measurements are on - going . this indication can be sent as part of the message ho_request , or the target cell can be informed by the ue itself during connection establishment with the target cell . the ue shall accept new measurement control information as configured by the target cell ( e . g ., for the different handover events ) in addition to the on - going cell - persistent radio measurements as configured by the measurement - triggering cell . there is seen in fig3 an alternative scenario wherein the mobile terminal uex detects a radio link failure , and thus is unable to connect to the target cell b . this scenario is rather plausible since there may be a very - confined hot spot within cell a , and the signal strength from cell b may drop suddenly if the mobile terminal uex is moving fast . in this scenario , an additional target cell , presently cell c operated by enb enbc , has been prepared for service resumption , if any ( see additional ho_request and ho_request_ack messages between enba and enbc in fig3 ). the mobile terminal uex tries to resume the communication session with cell c , and sends the message rrc_conn_reconf complete to the enb enbc . again , upon expiry of the reporting period t2 , the mobile terminal uex reports the measurement data meas_data , the measurement identifier meas_id and the cell identifier pcia of the measurement - triggering cell to the enb operating the current serving cell , presently enbc . the enb enbc identifies the enb enba as operating the cell identified by the cell identifier pcia , and transfers the measurement data meas_data and the measurement identifier meas_id to the enb enba ( see message meas transfer between enbc and enba in fig3 ). there is seen in fig4 still an alternative scenario , wherein the serving cell , presently cell a , passes measurement control information meas_ctrl_info to the hot spot cell , presently cell b , for it to trigger radio measurements when the mobile terminal uex connects to cell b . the measurement control information meas_ctrl_info are sent as part of the message ho_request , yet they can be sent apart as a dedicated message . the measurement control information meas_ctrl_info comprises the time periods t1 and t2 , as well as a measurement identifier meas_id1 . the enb enbb stores the association between the enb enba , the measurement identifier meas_id1 , and a further measurement identifier meas_id 2 to be used for triggering the radio measurements . upon receipt of the message rrc_conn_reconf_complete from the mobile terminal uex , the enb enbb sends a message meas_request comprising the time periods t1 and t2 , and the further message identifier meas_id 2 . the mobile terminal uex stores the pci of the measurement - triggering cell , presently pcib . after some while , the mobile terminal uex hands over towards cell c . the mobile terminal uex measures the signal strength of inter alia cells a , b and c while being served by cell b and next cell c . upon expiry of the reporting period t2 , the mobile terminal uex reports the measurement data meas_data , the measurement identifier meas_id 2 , and the cell identifier pcib of the measurement - triggering cell to the enb operating the current serving cell , presently enbc . the enb enbc identifies the enb enbb as operating the cell identified by the cell identifier pcib , and transfers the measurement data meas_data and the measurement identifier meas_id 2 to the enb enbb ( see message meas_transfer between enbc and enbb in fig4 ). the enb enbb identifies the enb enba from the measurement identifier meas_id 2 and the stored association , retrieves the initial measurement identifier meas_id 1 , and transfers the measurement data meas_data and the measurement identifier meas_id 1 to the enb enba ( see message meas_transfer between enbb and enba in fig4 ), thereby allowing the enb enba to link those measurement data with a particular handover decision . the measurement - triggering cell may include its gci and tai in the measurement control information meas_ctrl_info . the ue may supply to the measurement - reporting cell the gci and tai of the measurement - triggering cell in lieu of , or in addition to , the pci of the measurement - triggering cell , thereby allowing the measurement - reporting cell to transfer the measurement data meas_data through the s 1 interface to the measurement - triggering cell . although the embodiments have been described with exhaustive references to lte technology and wording , it should be clear that the present invention applies similarly to further mobile technologies such as 3gpp umts , 3gpp2 cdma2000 , or ieee 802 . 16 ( wimax ) technologies . it is to be noticed that the term ‘ comprising ’, also used in the claims , should not be interpreted as being restricted to the means listed thereafter . thus , the scope of the expression ‘ a device comprising means a and b ’ should not be limited to devices consisting only of components a and b . it means that with respect to the present invention , the relevant components of the device are a and b . it is to be further noticed that the term ‘ coupled ’, also used in the claims , should not be interpreted as being restricted to direct connections only . thus , the scope of the expression ‘ a device a coupled to a device b ’ should not be limited to devices or systems wherein an output of device a is directly connected to an input of device b , and / or vice - versa . it means that there exists a path between an output of a and an input of b , and / or vice - versa , which may be a path including other devices or means . the description and drawings merely illustrate the principles of the invention . it will thus be appreciated that those skilled in the art will be able to devise various arrangements that , although not explicitly described or shown herein , embody the principles of the invention and are included within its spirit and scope . furthermore , all examples recited herein are principally intended expressly to be only for pedagogical purposes to aid the reader in understanding the principles of the invention and the concepts contributed by the inventor ( s ) to furthering the art , and are to be construed as being without limitation to such specifically recited examples and conditions . moreover , all statements herein reciting principles , aspects , and embodiments of the invention , as well as specific examples thereof , are intended to encompass equivalents thereof . the functions of the various elements shown in the figures may be provided through the use of dedicated hardware as well as hardware capable of executing software in association with appropriate software . when provided by a processor , the functions may be provided by a single dedicated processor , by a single shared processor , or by a plurality of individual processors , some of which may be shared . moreover , a processor should not be construed to refer exclusively to hardware capable of executing software , and may implicitly include , without limitation , digital signal processor ( dsp ) hardware , network processor , application specific integrated circuit ( asic ), field programmable gate array ( fpga ), etc . other hardware , conventional and / or custom , such as read only memory ( rom ), random access memory ( ram ), and non - volatile storage , may also be included .	7
reference will now be made in detail to present embodiments of the invention , one or more examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings . the detailed description uses numerical and letter designations to refer to features in the drawings . like or similar designations in the drawings and description have been used to refer to like or similar parts of the invention . each example is provided by way of explanation of the invention , not limitation of the invention . in fact , it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the scope or spirit thereof . for instance , features illustrated or described as part of one embodiment may be used on another embodiment to yield a still further embodiment . thus , it is intended that the present invention covers such modifications and variations as come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents . fig1 shows a simplified cross - section of a cooling system 10 according to one embodiment of the present invention . in this particular embodiment , the cooling system 10 is being used to remove heat from stators in a turbine 12 . although the cooling system 10 is described and illustrated in the context of turbine stators , the scope of the present invention is not limited to cooling turbine stators , and one of ordinary skill in the art would understand that the cooling system 10 may be adapted to remove heat from virtually any gas turbine component . referring to fig1 , combustion gases flow from left to right , from the combustors ( not shown ), through a transition piece 14 , to the turbine 12 . a casing 16 contains the combustion gases within the turbine 12 and directs the combustion gases to a first stage stator 18 . the first stage stator 18 channels the combustion gases onto a first stage bucket 20 where expansion of the combustion gases causes the bucket 20 to rotate to produce work . the combustion gases then flow to a second stage stator 22 , where the process repeats until the combustion gases have passed through each stage of the turbine 12 . as the combustion gases pass through the turbine stages , heat from the combustion gases increases the temperature of the various turbine components along the hot gas path . for example , the combustion gases heat up the casing 16 and the stators 18 , 22 , 24 in the turbine 12 . in the embodiment shown in fig1 , each stator 18 , 22 , 24 defines a cavity ( represented by dashed boxes 26 ) on the inside of the stator . a supply plenum 28 containing a refrigerant passes through the casing 16 to provide a fluid communication for the refrigerant to flow or reach into each cavity 26 . an exhaust plenum 30 connects to the supply plenum 28 inside each cavity 26 and exits the casing 16 to provide a fluid communication for the refrigerant to flow or reach out of each cavity 26 . in this manner , the refrigerant flows into each stator 18 , 22 , 24 through the supply plenum 28 and exits each cavity 26 through the exhaust plenum 30 . the refrigerant will maintain the surface temperature of the supply plenum 28 colder than the surface temperature of each cavity 26 at all times , allowing for radiation and convection exchange between the hotter cavity 26 to the colder plenum 28 . as shown in fig1 , the supply 28 and exhaust 30 plenums may be substantially concentric tubes , with either inside the other . for example , as shown in fig1 , the supply plenum 28 may surround the exhaust plenum 30 . in alternate embodiments , however , the exhaust plenum 30 may surround the supply plenum 28 . to ensure breadth of coverage of the claimed invention , the supply 28 and exhaust 30 plenums may be more generically referred to as first and second plenums , with the first plenum referring to either the supply 28 or the exhaust 30 plenum depending on the particular embodiment being defined in the claims , and the second plenum referring to the other plenum . the tube - within - a - tube design provides many possible advantages over existing systems . for example , the supply 28 and exhaust 30 plenums provide an inexpensive structure for supplying refrigerant to and removing refrigerant from the stators 18 , 22 , 24 , especially compared to intricate internal flow channels found in some stators in prior art systems . the supply 28 and exhaust 30 plenums may be manufactured and assembled independently from the stator manufacturing and assembly , providing additional flexibility and reduction in manufacturing costs . in addition , the supply 28 and exhaust 30 plenums provide a reliable boundary to separate the refrigerant from the hot gas path . as a result , the pressure of the refrigerant may be substantially less than the combustion gas pressure without increasing the risk of combustion gases breaching through the stator wall . in addition , the refrigerant is not limited to air , which has a specific heat capacity of approximately 1 , 000 j / kgc . instead , many other readily available fluids having superior specific heat capacity characteristics , such as specific heat capacities greater than 1500 j / kgc , may be used as refrigerant . for example , fuel ( 1670 j / kgc ), water vapor ( 2 , 014 j / kgc ), and water ( 4 , 186 j / kgc ) are readily available fluids in a gas turbine combined cycle ( gtcc ) system that have superior specific heat capacities compared to air . similarly , the refrigerant is not limited to air extracted from the compressor , which reaches temperatures in excess of 200 degrees celsius . instead , the many other readily available fluids at room temperatures ( 20 degrees celsius ) may be used as refrigerant . inasmuch as the magnitude of heat transfer is directly proportional to the specific heat capacity of the refrigerant and the temperature difference , the tube - within - a - tube design provides the potential for greater heat transfer capability , given the same flow rate , than a system that relies exclusively on air as the refrigerant . although the cooling system shown in fig1 is described and illustrated in the context of removing heat from a turbine stator , one of ordinary skill in the art would understand that the cooling system may be adapted to remove heat from virtually any gas turbine component . for example , the casing 16 may define a cavity , and the supply 28 and exhaust 30 plenums may be located in the cavity to provide cooling to the casing 16 surrounding the hot gas path . similarly , each combustor may include a liner surrounding the combustion chamber . the supply 28 and exhaust 30 plenums may be located adjacent to the combustor liner to cool the combustion chamber . fig2 provides a top plan view of a stator 18 , 22 , 24 shown in fig1 according to one embodiment of the present invention . as shown , the stator 22 includes a pressure side 34 and a vacuum side 32 that combine to define the cavity 26 on the interior of the stator 22 . the supply plenum 28 appears in fig2 as a generally oval tube surrounding the exhaust plenum 30 , which appears as a circular tube . however , as previously stated , in alternate embodiments the exhaust plenum 30 may surround the supply plenum 28 . in addition , the supply 28 and exhaust 30 plenums may take any shape to facilitate fabrication and manufacturing or increase heat transfer . particular embodiments within the scope of the present invention may include additional features to facilitate or improve the heat transfer from the hot gas path to the refrigerant . for example , the surface area of the exterior of the supply plenum 28 shown in fig2 may be enlarged to increase the surface area through which heat transfer may occur . in addition , the exterior surface of the supply plenum 28 may be as close as reasonably possible to the inside walls of the stator 22 to further facilitate the heat transfer to the refrigerant . lastly , emissivity coatings may be applied to each surface of the stator 22 , the supply plenum 28 , and the exhaust plenum 30 to facilitate the passage of heat through the various surfaces to the refrigerant . fig3 shows a cross - section of an alternate embodiment of a cooling system 36 within the scope of the present invention . the component to be cooled again includes a surface 38 that defines a cavity 40 inside the component . the cooling system 36 again includes a supply plenum 42 that provides fluid communication for a refrigerant to flow or reach into the cavity 40 . an exhaust plenum 44 that exits in the cavity 40 on either side of the supply plenum 42 may be a cylindrical shape surrounding the supply plenum 42 , or it may be multiple tubes surrounding the supply plenum 42 . the exhaust plenum 44 shown in fig3 includes a plurality of apertures 46 that allow cooling air supplied to the cavity 40 to circulate through the exhaust plenum 44 to further improve the heat transfer to the component . by virtue of the fact that the cooling system of the present invention contains the refrigerant in a closed loop separate from the cavity , combustion gases , or surrounding air , the cooling system of the present invention allows for many fluids , such as fuel , steam , air , and water , to be used as refrigerant that were not previously practical or possible . for example , a gas turbine combine cycle ( gtcc ) includes many fluid systems that are repeatedly heated and cooled or require preheating prior to use in the gtcc . the coolant system of the present invention may use any of these fluids as the refrigerant . as a result , the heat removal capability provided by the cooling system not only does not detract from the gas turbine thermodynamic efficiency , but it also may improve the thermodynamic efficiency of the gtcc by preheating various fluids used in the gtcc . fig4 shows an embodiment of the present invention in the context of a schematic representation of a gtcc 48 . the gtcc 48 typically includes a gas turbine 50 combined with a heat recovery system 52 . the gas turbine 50 includes a compressor 54 at one end , one or more combustors 56 around the middle , and a turbine 58 at the other end . the compressor 54 and turbine 58 connect to a common rotor 60 , which drives a generator 62 to produce electricity . the heat recovery system 52 includes a closed loop system to recover heat from the gas turbine 50 to improve the overall thermodynamic efficiency of the gas turbine 50 . the heat recovery system includes a heat exchanger 64 , a steam turbine 66 , a condenser 68 , and an auxiliary generator 70 . the heat exchanger 64 recovers heat from the combustion gases exiting the turbine 58 and generates steam from this recovered heat . the steam flows through the steam turbine 66 to turn a shaft 72 connected to the auxiliary generator 70 to produce power . the steam then flows to the condenser 68 , and a pump 74 circulates the condensate back to the heat exchanger 64 where the cycle repeats . as shown in fig4 , the present invention may utilize fluids from several points in the gtcc . for example , condensate between the condenser 68 and the heat exchanger 64 may be diverted from the heat recovery system 52 to the turbine 58 to cool the stators or casing , as previously described . in this manner , the condensate serves as a refrigerant to the turbine 58 to remove heat from the turbine 58 , and the turbine 58 in turn serves as a preheater for the condensate before the condensate passes through the heat exchanger 64 to be converted into steam . this exchange of heat from the turbine 58 to the condensate reduces the temperature of the turbine components to allow higher combustion temperatures without sacrificing any thermodynamic efficiency in the gas turbine 50 as a whole . the fuel consumed in the combustors 56 may also be used as a refrigerant to remove heat from the turbine components prior to combustion . for example , as shown in fig4 , a fuel line that provides fuel to the combustors 56 may first circulate a portion of that fuel to the turbine 58 prior to combustion to remove heat from the turbine components . similarly , a portion of the air that goes through the compressor 54 of the gas turbine 50 can be redirected to turbine 58 , used as a refrigerant to remove heat from the turbine components , and then later reintroduced back to the compressor 54 . as with the condensate previously discussed , the exchange of heat from the turbine 58 to the fuel or to the air reduces the temperature of the turbine components and preheats the fuel or air to allow higher combustion temperatures without sacrificing any thermodynamic efficiency in the gas turbine 50 as a whole . preliminary calculations and estimates of embodiments of the present invention indicate a substantial increase in the radiation cooling provided to the gas turbine components . the improved radiation cooling may be used to supplement existing cooling systems to further reduce the temperature of gas turbine components or extend the time between maintenance cycles . alternatively , the improved radiation cooling may be used to replace existing cooling systems entirely , depending on the operational considerations unique to each application . it should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that modifications and variations can be made to the embodiments of the invention set forth herein without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as set forth in the appended claims and their equivalents .	5
preferred forms of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which : [ 0040 ] fig1 is a plasma oestradiol concentrations following intramuscular injection of 0 . 72 mg ( closed square ) or vaginal administration of 7 . 2 mg ( open square ) of oestradiol 17β . error bars are standard error means ( n = 3 ). [ 0041 ] fig2 is a plasma oestradiol concentrations following vaginal administration of 10 mg oestradiol benzoate ( open square ), 10 mg oestradiol benzoate with 1 : 1 molar ratio β - cyclodextrin ( open diamond ), 10 mg oestradiol benzoate with 1 : 1 molar ratio hydroxypropyl β - cyclodextrin ( open circle ) or 10 mg oestradiol benzoate with 1 : 1 molar ratio γ - cyclodextrin ( open triangle ). error bars are standard error means ( n = 4 ). [ 0042 ] fig3 is a plasma oestradiol concentrations following vaginal administration of oestradiol 17β 7 . 2 mg ( open square ), 7 . 2 mg with 1 : 1 molar ratio β - cyclodextrin ( open diamond ), 7 . 2 mg with 1 : 1 molar ratio hydroxypropyl β - cyclodextrin ( open circle ) or 7 . 2 mg with 1 : 1 molar ratio γ - cyclodextrin ( open triangle ). error bars are standard error means ( n = 4 ). [ 0043 ] fig4 is a plasma oestradiol concentration following vaginal administration of 1 . 2 mg ( closed diamond ), 2 . 5 mg ( closed square ) or 7 . 2 mg ( closed triangle ) oestradiol 17β with 0 . 5 : 1 molar ratio of γ - cyclodextrin to oestradiol 17β . error bars are standard error means ( n = 4 ). [ 0044 ] fig5 is a plasma oestradiol concentration following vaginal administration of 1 . 2 mg ( closed diamond ), 2 . 5 mg ( closed square ) or 7 . 2 mg ( closed triangle ) oestradiol 17β with 1 : 1 molar ratio of γ - cyclodextrin to oestradiol 17β . error bars are standard error means ( n = 4 ). [ 0045 ] fig6 is a plasma oestradiol concentration following vaginal administration of 1 . 2 mg ( closed diamond ), 2 . 5 mg ( closed square ) or 7 . 2 mg ( closed triangle ) oestradiol 17β with 3 : 2 molar ratio of γ - cyclodextrin to oestradiol 17β . error bars are standard error means ( n = 4 ). [ 0046 ] fig7 is a area under the plasma oestradiol concentration against time curve ( auc ) following vaginal administration of 1 . 2 mg , 2 . 5 mg or 7 . 2 mg oestradiol 17β with γ - cyclodextrin to oestradiol 17β molar ratio of 0 . 5 ( closed diamond ), 1 ( closed square ) or 1 . 5 ( closed triangle ). error bars are standard error means ( n = 4 ). [ 0047 ] fig8 is a time to maximum plasma concentration ( tmax ) following vaginal administration of 1 . 2 mg , 2 . 5 mg or 7 . 2 mg oestradiol 17β with γ - cyclodextrin to oestradiol 17β molar ratio of 0 . 5 ( closed diamond ), 1 ( closed square ) or 1 . 5 ( closed triangle ). error bars are standard error means ( n = 4 ). [ 0048 ] fig9 is a maximum plasma oestradiol concentration ( cmax ) following vaginal administration of 1 . 2 mg , 2 . 5 mg or 7 . 2 mg oestradiol 17β with γ - cyclodextrin to oestradiol 17β , molar ratio of 0 . 5 ( closed diamond ), 1 ( closed square ) or 1 . 5 ( closed triangle ). error bars are standard error means ( n = 4 ). [ 0049 ] fig1 is a plasma oestradiol concentration at time = 0 and time = 24 hours post vaginal administration of various doses of oestradiol 17β ( 1 . 2 , 2 . 5 or 7 . 2 mg ) with various rations of γ - cyclodextrin ( 0 . 5 , 1 , 1 . 5 molar ration of γ - cyclodextrin to oestradiol 17β ). error bars are standard error means ( n = 4 ). * denotes a significant difference between the plasma oestradiol concentration at time = 0 and time = 24 hours ( p & lt ; 0 . 050 ). the use of oestradiol 17β and not the synthetic analogue oestradiol benzoate has not been firmly established due to the poor results with vaginally administered oestradiol benzoate and a perception that the shorter acting oestradiol 17β would not be as effications as the longer acting oestradiol benzoate . when oestradiol 17β in a dose equivalent to 1 mg oestradiol benzoate , i . e . 0 . 72 mg , is administered by i . m . injection in cattle the plasma oestradiol concentration rapidly rises to a maximum of approximately 100 pg / ml , followed by a rapid decline to pre injection levels by 24 hours following injection . see fig1 . because of this rapid decline in plasma oestradiol levels an oestradiol 17β dose of 5 mg is commonly used to ensure adequate plasma oestradiol concentrations to achieve the same effect as 1 mg of oestradiol benzoate . we have found that unlike oestradiol benzoate vaginally administration oestradiol 17β is well absorbed , with a dose of 7 . 2 mg achieving a peak plasma concentration of between 10 and 20 pg / ml within four hours following administration , and the plasma oestradiol levels are elevated for at least 24 hours when oestradiol 17β is vaginally administered compared to the more rapidly cleared i . m . injection of oestradiol 17 . we have found that the cyclodextrins improve the vaginal absorption of oestradiol benzoate . we have found that β or γ - cyclodextrin approximately double the plasma oestradiol concentration when vaginally administered with oestradiol benzoate ( 10 mg ) compared with oestradiol benzoate administered without cyclodextrin . see fig2 . furthermore we have found that the cyclodextrin hydroxypropyl β - cyclodextrin elevates plasma oestradiol concentrations approximately 6 fold following vaginal administration with oestradiol benzoate ( 10 mg ) compared with oestradiol benzoate administered without cyclodextrin . we have also found that the cyclodextrins have indeed improved the vaginal absorption of oestradiol 17β . we have found that - cyclodextrin will approximately double the plasma oestradiol concentration when vaginally administered with oestradiol 17β ( 7 . 2 mg ) compared with oestradiol 17β administered without cyclodextrin . see fig3 . furthermore , we have found that the cyclodextrin hydroxypropyl β - cyclodextrin or γ - cyclodextrin elevates plasma oestradiol concentrations approximately 7 to 8 fold following vaginal administration with oestradiol ( 7 . 2 mg ) compared with oestradiol 17β administered without cyclodextrin . we have found that the molar ratio of γ - cyclodextrin to oestradiol 17β influences the vaginal absorption of oestradiol 17β . increasing the ratio of γ - cyclodextrin to oestradiol 17β from 0 . 5 : 1 to 1 : 1 has been found to increase the plasma oestradiol concentration . see fig4 and 6 . further more the effect of the ratio of γ - cyclodextrin to oestradiol 17β upon the vaginal absorption of oestradiol 17β is more pronounced at higher doses (& gt ; 2 . 5 mg ). see fig7 . we have found that vaginal administration of various amounts of oestradiol 17β ( 1 . 2 , 2 . 5 and 7 . 2 mg ) with various molar ratios of γ - cyclodextrin ( 0 . 5 : 1 , 1 : 1 and 3 : 2 ) to oestradiol 17β has no significant effect upon the time to maximum plasma concentration ( tmax ) or the maximum plasma concentration ( cmax ) of oestradiol . see fig8 and 9 . we have found that the vaginal administration of a dose of oestradiol 17β greater than 2 . 5 mg with an amount of γ - cyclodextrin less than or equal to a molar ratio of 1 : 1 ( γ - cyclodextrin to oestradiol 17β ) results in plasma oestradiol concentrations 24 hours post administration significantly greater than those observed prior to administration . see fig1 . we have found vaginal administration of an oestradiol 17β dose of 5 mg and γ - cyclodextrin in a molar ratio of 0 . 5 : 1 ( γ - cyclodextrin to oestradiol 17β ) influences follicular dynamics in a similar manner to those observed following i . m . injection of 2 mg of oestradiol benzoate . see table 1 table 1 tabulates a follicular dynamics and plasma oestradiol pharmacokinetics following vaginal administration of oestradiol 17β 2 . 5 mg or 5 . 0 mg and intramuscular administration of oestradiol benzoate 2 mg .	0
fig1 shows in a highly schematic view , cross - sectioned , an exemplary embodiment of a sensor according to the invention , in which it here may represent an inductive or a capacitive sensor . the sensor element 1 is discernibly a part of the housing 2 and seals the housing 2 towards the measuring side 3 in a hermetic fashion . in fact , the sensor element 1 represents a multi - layer ceramic 9 , which has been produced in ltcc technology ( low - temperature cofired ceramics ). the actual sensor element 1 is here coil 4 integrated in the multi - layered ceramic 9 , embedded in several layers of the ceramic substrate 9 . in a capacitive sensor this would represent a conductive planar electrode , which is a part of the condenser developing between the electrode and the measuring object . the sensor element is here also a ceramic substrate , which comprises several layers , with the layers being connected to each other in a sintering process , namely by way of diffusion . during sintering a compact , stable , and easily handled unit develops . the sensor element 1 shown in fig1 is soldered to the housing 2 , comprising metal , thus forming a compact , fixed connected unit . the housing 2 is hermetically sealed by the sensor element 1 . the soldering connection 8 is indicated . here it shall be mentioned that in the illustration of fig1 the electric connections have been waived , since fig1 only shows the principal design in reference to the housing 2 and the covering sensor element 1 . fig2 shows a further development of the sensor according to the invention , with here the sensor element 1 being equipped with the electronic components 5 at the rear , i . e . at the interior side in the housing 2 . the sensor element 1 shown in fig2 also represents a sensor element 1 operating according to the eddy current principle . the provision with electronic components 5 can occur according to the hybrid technology known per se . fig2 further shows the provision of a sealing cable conduit 6 with the connection cable 7 extending through it to the sensor element 1 to which the wires of the connection cable 7 are coupled and / or electrically connected . furthermore , the sealing soldering connection 8 between the housing 2 and the sensor element is indicated in fig2 . a secure sealing is created by said soldering connection . additionally the sensor element 1 , which is made from a ceramic substrate , is sufficiently resistant . fig3 shows an exemplary embodiment of a sensor according to the invention with here two differently operating sensor elements 1 being arranged and / or integrated on the ceramic substrate 9 . in addition to the coil 4 for the eddy current sensor simultaneously an electrode 10 is integrated for the capacitive sensor . this way a combination sensor is formed which may be additionally provided with another temperature sensor . for example , the ohm - resistance of the coil wire could be used in a manner known per se for temperature measurement and thus for temperature compensation of an inductively operating sensor element . it is particularly advantageous for the measuring coil and the compensation coil to be inserted into the ceramic substrate 9 separated from each other . here , the respective features of the coil can be optimally adjusted to the purpose ( distance measurement and temperature compensation ). fig4 shows a sensor in which the sensor element 1 is embodied as a pressure sensor , namely also according to the ltcc technology . here , too , the ceramic substrate 9 comprises several layers , which jointly cover and seal the housing 2 , embodied as a metal housing , via a soldering connection 8 . here , too , electronic components 5 are provided at the rear of the element 1 and / or the ceramic substrate 9 . in the illustration according to fig4 , a connection cable 7 also extends through a cable conduit 6 into the interior of the housing 2 and is here coupled and / or electrically connected to the rear of the sensor element 1 . in fig4 it is also discernible that a pressure sensitive element 11 is directly encased as a hollow space 12 in the ceramic substrate 9 . the front of the ceramic substrate 9 forms the pressure sensitive membrane 13 , which is deflected when impinged with pressure . in order to measure the distance change of the pressure sensitive membrane 13 once more capacitive electrodes of eddy current coils may be used inside the ceramic substrate 9 . the combination of the above - discussed sensor element 1 made from ltcc - ceramic with a housing 2 made from titanium , zirconium , or an alloy therefrom is particularly advantageous . titanium or zirconium and ceramic show almost identical thermal expansion coefficients so that in a connection between the materials no disturbing tensions develop at the connection site during temperature changes . for soft soldering a pretreatment of the ceramic substrate is required , for example by metalizing and perhaps gilding , the metal housing at the soldering site . titanium can be soldered to ceramics particularly well due to its material characteristics , in particular due to the specific surface energy / surface tension . during the so - called active brazing , titanium and ceramic can be connected to each other directly without here prior to the soldering connection the need for any intermediate layers to be applied as adhesive additives . it is also possible to embody the metal housing in several parts , for example comprising a metal frame and a housing lid . in the multi - stage process the metal frame for example comprising titanium or zirconium may be soldered onto the sensor element via hard soldering . due to the fact that hard soldering occurs at relatively high temperatures of approx . 850 ° c . the following soldering processes can be performed via soft soldering , without the hard soldering connection being released . this way , electronic components can be soldered onto the sensor element after the soldering of the metal frame onto the sensor element . the housing lid is connected to the metal frame after the electronic elements have been applied . this may for example also occur by way of soldering , welding , or adhesion . the use of multi - layered ltcc technology is particularly advantageous , because here circuit board tracks and thus through connections can be produced . the contacting of electronic components in the pressure chamber of the vacuum area is frequently a problem when cables , wires , or lines must be used . guiding wires out of these areas is problematic , because expensive and complicated vacuum conduits are required . they are frequently insulated with glass and therefore complicated and expensive in their production as well as application . according to the illustration in fig5 the circuit board tracks 4 , 14 inside the ceramic 9 under the metal housing 2 can be guided out of the pressure chamber or the vacuum area 15 in the sensor elements 1 according to the invention . by the sintered connection inside the ceramic 9 the circuit board tracks 4 , 14 are hermetically sealed so that the sealing of the housing 2 is not compromised . no additional vacuum or pressure conduits are required for the connection lines so that a simple , cost - effective , and additionally very compact passage can also be realized . this way , hermetically sealed and mechanically stable connections can be produced for the electronic in a simple fashion . at the side 17 facing away from the pressure and / or vacuum the circuit board tracks 14 are guided out of the ceramic substrate 9 via a through connection 18 . at the point of the through connection 18 a soldering pad may be applied , onto which then a plug 19 or a connection cable 20 is soldered by a conventional soldering technique . due to the fact that this side of the ceramic 9 is located outside the pressure chamber 15 and / or the vacuum here a beneficial , simple plug 19 can be used , not required to withstand high pressures or a vacuum . with regards to additional advantageous embodiments of the sensor according to the invention and in order to avoid repetitions reference is made to the general part of the description as well as the attached claims . finally , it shall explicitly be pointed out that the above - described exemplary embodiments of the sensor according to the invention serve only to explain the claimed teaching , however they are not limited to the exemplary embodiments . 20 connection cable ( in the plug or instead of the plug )	6
the examples below were designed to examine whether the phytocannabinoids tetrahydrocannabivarin ( thcv ), cannabigerol ( cbg ), cannabichromene ( cbc ) and / or cannabidivarin ( cbdv ) were able to reduce inflammation in in vitro and in vivo models of intestinal inflammatory disease . it is well established that macrophages are deeply involved in maintaining intestinal homeostasis and negatively regulate excess immune responses evoked by external insults ( schenk and mueller , 2007 ). studies have suggested that macrophage - targeting treatment ameliorates colonic inflammation in experimental colitis models ( nakase et al . 2000 ; kanai et al . 2006 ). thus , the regulation of abnormal responses of macrophages appears to be a promising therapeutic approach for the treatment of intestinal inflammatory disease . example 1 evaluates the potential of the phytocannabinoids thcv , cbg , cbc and cbdv in intestinal inflammatory disease by their effect on mouse peritoneal macrophages . example 2 investigates the effect of cbg , cbc and thcv in an in vivo model of colitis . effect of tetrahydrocannabivarin ( thcv ), cannabigerol ( cbg ), cannabichromene ( cbc ) and cannabidivarin ( cbdv ) on mouse peritoneal macrophages the following isolated phytocannabinoids and their corresponding botanical drug substances ( bds ) were evaluated : thcv , cbg , cbc and cbdv . these compounds were dissolved in dmso or ethanol , which , at the concentration used ( 0 . 01 %), had no effect on the responses under study . peritoneal macrophages were obtained from mice as previously described by rossi et al . ( rossi et al . 2010 ). briefly , to evoke the production of peritoneal exudates rich in macrophages , mice were injected intraperitoneally ( i . p .) with 1 ml of 10 % sterile thioglycollate ( sigma , milan , italy ). after 4 days , mice were euthanized and peritoneal macrophages were collected and seeded in appropriate plates for performing in vitro experiments . peritoneal macrophages were cultured in dulbecco &# 39 ; s modified eagle &# 39 ; s medium ( dmem ) supplemented with 10 % fetal bovine serum . the inflammatory response in peritoneal macrophages was induced by lipopolysaccharide ( lps ) from escherichia coli serotype 0111 : b4 ( 1 μg / ml ). the response in macrophages was measured after 18 h lps incubation . cell viability was assessed by evaluating cell respiration as well as neutral red ( nr ) uptake . cell respiration was assessed by the mitochondrial - dependent reduction of 3 -( 4 , 5 - dimethylthiazol - 2 - yl )- 2 , 5 - diphenyltetrazolium bromide ( mtt ) to formazan . after incubation with one of the phytocannabinoids for 24 hours , macrophages ( 1 × 10 5 cells per well seeded in a 96 - well plate ) were incubated with mtt ( 250 μg / ml ) for 1 h . the extent of reduction of mtt to formazan was quantitated by measuring the optical density at 490 nm ( imark ™ microplate assorbance reader , biorad ). for the neutral red ( nr ) uptake assay , after incubation with test article for 24 hours , macrophages ( 1 × 10 5 cells perwell seeded in a 96 - well plate ) were incubated with neutral red ( nr ) dye solution ( 50 μg / ml ) for 3 hours , and then lysed by adding 1 % acetic acid . the absorbance was read at 532 nm ( imark ™ microplate assorbance reader , biorad ). nitrites , stable metabolites of no , were measured in macrophages medium as previously described [ 19 ]. macrophages ( 5 × 10 5 cells per well seeded in a 24 - well plate ) were incubated with test article ( 0 . 1 - 10 pm ) for 30 min , and subsequently with lps ( 1 μg / ml ) for 18 hours . after reduction of nitrates to nitrites by cadmium , cell supernatants were incubated with dan ( 50 μg / ml ) for 7 min and the reaction stopped with 2 . 8 n naoh , nitrites levels were measured using a fluorescent microplate reader ( ls55 luminescence spectrometer , perkin - elmer instruments , excitation - emission wavelengths of 365 - 450 nm ). results are expressed as mean ± sem and analysed with the student &# 39 ; s t - test or one - way anova followed by a turkey - kramer multiple comparisons test . a p value less than 0 . 05 was regarded as significant . results on cytotoxicity of the isolated phytocannabinoids are shown in fig1 . it can be observed that isolated cbdv was not cytotoxic up to 10 μm . in contrast isolated thcv , cbg , and cbc significantly reduced cell viability at the highest 10 μm concentration . fig2 describes the cytotoxicity of the phytocannabinoid bds examined . it can be seen that all of the phytocannabinoid bds reduced macrophage viability in the 0 . 1 - 10 μm range . specifically , cbdv bds was cytotoxic at the concentrations of 1 and 10 μm , cbc - bds and thcv - bds at the higher concentration tested ( 10 μm ), while cbg - bds significantly reduced macrophage viability starting from the 0 . 1 μm concentration . the levels of nitrites , the stable metabolites of no , were significantly increased ( compared to control ) in the medium of macrophages stimulated with lps ( 1 μg / ml ) for 18 hours with both the isolated phytocannabinoids , as shown in fig3 , or the phytocannabinoid bds , as is shown in fig4 . the test articles were used at non - cytotoxic concentrations as a pre - treatment for 30 min before lps - stimulation . all of the test articles resulted in a significant reduction of lps - stimulated nitrite levels ; however thcv and cbg significantly reduced lps - stimulated nitrite levels . dexamethasone ( 1 μm ), which is a potent glucocorticoid was used as a positive control . these data show that isolated thcv , cbg , cbc and cbdv as well as their corresponding bds , at concentrations which were shown to be not cytotoxic , reduce lps - stimulated nitrite production in macrophages . effect of cannabigerol ( cbg ), cannabichromene ( cbc ) and tetrahydrocannabivarin ( thcv ) in an murine experimental model of ulcerative colitis cannabigerol ( cbg ), cannabichromene ( cbc ) and tetrahydrocannabivarin ( thcv ) were dissolved in ethanol / tween20 / saline . animals were placed in groups and administered with test article ( 60 μl per mouse ) via ip once daily . treatment started 3 days before dnbs administration for the preventative treatment experiments or 1 day after dnbs administration for the curative treatments . test article was administered daily until the sacrifice of the animals , 3 days after dnbs treatment . thcv was only tested for a curative effect . colitis was induced in mice by the intra - colonic administration of dnbs . briefly , mice were anesthetized and dnbs ( 8 mg / mouse ) was inserted into the colon using a polyethylene catheter ( 1 mm in diameter ) via the rectum ( 4 . 5 cm from the anus ). three days after dnbs administration , all animals were euthanized by asphyxiation with co 2 . the abdomen was opened by a midline incision and the colon removed , isolated from surrounding tissues , opened along the anti - mesenteric border , rinsed , weighed , length measured , and processed for evaluations . the colon weight / colon length ratio activity were determined as index of inflammation . body weight was also evaluated . inos expression was measured in full - thickness colons from control and dnbs - treated mice by western blot analysis . results are expressed as mean ± sem and analysed with the student &# 39 ; s t - test or one - way anova followed by a turkey - kramer multiple comparisons test . a p value less than 0 . 05 was regarded as significant . fig5 demonstrates that pre - treatment with cbg resulted in a highly statistically significant ( p & lt ; 0 . 001 ) prevention of the decrease in bodyweight that is associated with the inflammatory response . treatment after induction of colitis did however not result in a decrease in body weight . fig6 illustrates that both pre - treatment with cbg and post - treatment with cbg resulted in a significant ( p & lt ; 0 . 05 ) reduction of the colon weight : colon length ratio , which is an index of intestinal inflammation , thereby suggesting both a preventative and a curative intestinal anti - inflammatory effect . fig7 demonstrates that pre - treatment with cbc resulted in significant ( p & lt ; 0 . 05 ) prevention of the decrease in bodyweight that is associated with the inflammatory response . treatment with cbc after induction of colitis did not however result in a decrease in body weight . fig8 illustrates that pre - treatment with cbc resulted in a significant ( p & lt ; 0 . 05 ) reduction of the colon weight : colon length ratio , which is an index of intestinal inflammation , thereby suggesting a preventative intestinal anti - inflammatory effect . the post - treatment with cbc still resulted in a decrease in the colon weight : length ration however this was not as statistically significant . fig9 demonstrates that treatment with thcv resulted in a prevention of the decrease in bodyweight that is associated with the inflammatory response , however this decrease was not statistically significant . fig1 illustrates that post - treatment with thcv in a significant ( p & lt ; 0 . 05 ) reduction of the colon weight : colon length ratio , which is an index of intestinal inflammation , thereby suggesting a curative intestinal anti - inflammatory effect . fig1 demonstrates that the level of expression of the enzyme inducible nitric oxide synthase ( inos ) in colonic tissues was statistically significantly ( p & lt ; 0 . 001 ) lower in the thcv treated animals . this infers that the thcv was able to down regulate the expression of this inflammatory response enzyme . the level of expression of inos in colonic tissues was also statistically significantly ( p & lt ; 0 . 05 ) lower in the cbg treated animals . this infers that the cbg was also able to down regulate the expression of this inflammatory response enzyme . the cbc treated animals did not show a reduction of the expression of inos . cannabigerol ( cbg ) has been shown to exert both preventive and curative effects in a murine experimental model of ulcerative colitis and tetrahydrocannabivarin ( thcv ) has been shown to exert a curative effect in a murine experimental model of ulcerative colitis . these effects of cbg and thcv are likely to be associated with a down - regulation of the expression of the inflammatory enzyme inos which both display . the phytocannabinoid cannabichromene ( cbc ) has been shown to exert preventative effect on inflammation . as such these phytocannabinoids are relevant clinical targets for the treatment of intestinal inflammatory disease .	0
a first embodiment according to this invention will be described with reference to fig1 . this embodiment realizes a single color printing at an obverse side and a single color printing at a reverse side of a printing sheet . a printing machine as shown includes a paper supply section 1 , a paper insertion section 2 having a known feeder board ( not shown ), where a front positional alignment is effected by a front guide ( not shown ). a paper feed cylinder 3 is connected to the paper insertion section 2 by way of a known kick - in roller or a swinging mechanism ( not shown ). further , a obverse side printing unit 4 and a reverse side printing unit 21 are provided at positions adjacent an impression cylinder 5 . at position downstream of these units , paper discharge section 11 is provided , and a paper discharge table 16 is disposed below the discharge section 11 . in the obverse side printing section 4 , there are provided a plate cylinder 7 , an inking unit 9 , a dampening unit 8 , a blanket cylinder 6 , the impression cylinder 5 and a discharge cylinder 10 . in modification , instead of the single impression cylinder 5 , a satellite type multi - color printing machine can be provided by employing a plurality of blanket cylinders , plate cylinders , dampening units and inking units . in another modification , the paper feed cylinder 3 can be dispensed with by transferring a paper p from the guide portion directly to the impression cylinder 5 by using an upper swinging mechanism ( not shown ). in the illustrated embodiment , a diameter of the impression cylinder 5 doubles that of the paper feed cylinder 3 , the blanket cylinder 6 , the plate cylinder 7 and the discharge cylinder 10 . however , the diameter of the impression cylinder 5 can be equal to those of the rollers or triple or four times as large as that of the rollers . in the discharge section 10 , an endless chain 13 is mounted over a sprocket 12 and another sprocket ( not shown ) rotatably provided coaxial with the discharge cylinder 10 . further , a predetermined numbers of paper grippers 14 are provided on the endless chain 13 . the impression cylinder 5 is provided with sheet gripping units 15 for gripping end portion of the paper p . the gripping units 15 provide open and close state for releasing and gripping the paper . further , the discharge cylinder 10 is formed with a recess 10a into which the gripper 14 can be inserted in synchronism with the rotation of the discharge cylinder 10 . upon opening of the gripping unit 15 , the gripper 14 gripps the printed paper p at the discharge cylinder 10 for transferring the printed paper p onto the discharge table 16 . in this connection , the discharge cylinder 10 also functions as a guide member for guiding travel of the printed paper along to the discharge section 11 . in the present invention , attention is drawn to the utility of the discharge cylinder 10 for imparting the printing machine with multi - functions . more specifically , in the present invention , the discharge cylinder 10 also serves as an impression cylinder in the reverse side printing unit 21 . the reverse side printing unit 21 includes the discharge / impression cylinder 10 , a second blanket cylinder 17 in rolling contact with the cylinder 10 , a second plate cylinder 18 in contact with the cylinder 17 , a second inking section 20 and a second dampening section 19 . when the paper p is transferred from the impression cylinder 5 to the gripper 14 , a reverse side of the paper p is brought into contact with the blanket cylinder 17 , so that the reverse side printing is effected . in this case , the obverse side of the paper p is in contact with the discharge cylinder 10 , i . e ., the impression cylinder 10 in the reverse side printing unit 21 . in operation , the paper p from the paper supply section 1 is delivered onto the feeder board of the paper insertion section 2 , so that front positional alignment is made . the paper p is then delivered , by the kick - in roller or the swinging mechanism into the gripping unit 15 of the impression cylinder 5 by way of the paper feed cylinder 3 . the thus gripped paper is travelled between the impression cylinder 5 and the blanket cylinder 6 , so that a obverse side printing is carried out . the paper p is then released from the impression cylinder 5 when the gripping unit 15 is opened . in this case , the gripper 14 mounted on the endless chain 13 is moved into the recessed portion 10a of the discharge cylinder 10 in synchronism with the rotation thereof for again gripping the paper p by the gripper 14 . the thus gripped paper p is travelled toward the paper discharge section 16 . however , on its way to the discharge section 16 , the paper p is travelled between the discharge cylinder 10 now also functioning as the impression cylinder and the second blanket cylinder 17 of the reverse side printing unit 21 . as a result , reverse side printing is conducted . the paper p subjected to dual sides printing reaches the discharge section 16 and the gripper releases the paper p at a position above the table 16 . a second embodiment according to this invention will be described with reference to fig2 wherein like parts and components are designated by the same reference numerals and characters as those shown in fig1 . the embodiment shown in fig2 delineates an overall printing apparatus showing an external frame f . this embodiment pertains to double color printing at an obverse side and a single color printing at a reverse side of a paper p . as shown , large space can be provided around the paper feed cylinder 3 . therefore , a lower swinging mechanism 22 can be installed within the frame f . further , a second obverse side printing unit 23 is provided which includes a blanket cylinder 24 , plate cylinder 25 , a dampening unit 26 and an inking unit 27 , those being similar to the first obverse side printing unit 4 . therefore , two colors can be applied to the obverse side of the paper p . furthermore , in the second embodiment , the discharge roller 10 serves as an imprssion cylinder for the reverse side printing in a manner similar to that of the first embodiment . in the above described embodiments , various printing modes are attainable , such as a single color printing at the obverse side , two color printing at the obverse side , single color printing at both obverse and reverse sides , and two color printing at the obverse side and a single color printing at the reverse side . such printing mode can be easily modified by moving one of the cylinders toward and away from the opponent cylinder with mere manipulation of a known lever or push button without employment of a known turnover mechanism . such printing is carried out in travelling the paper p by normally gripping paper edge portion ( leading edge portion ) of the paper p . therefore , sufficient sheet positional alignment is maintainable . as described above , according to the present invention , blanket cylinder in the opponent group is not used as an impression cylinder , but the cylinder 5 and a rigid discharge cylinder 10 are utilized as inherent impression cylinders . therefore , dual sheet feeding can be eliminated and high quality output images are provided at both obverse and reverse sides of the printing paper . further , in the present invention , since the discharge cylinder 10 is compatible with the impression cylinder for the reverse side printing , simplified printing machine results . this is in high contrast to the conventional machine using an intricate sheet turnover mechanism where the complicated turnover operation has been required , and high mechanical dimension accuracy has been required due to complex structure , to thereby lower and degrade the stability in paper positional alignment . on the other hand , in the present invention , high quality output images are obtainable even at reverse side of the printing paper without any turnover operation and without degradation of the printing quality and accuracy with respect to the obverse side . while the invention has been described and with reference to the specific embodiments , it would be apparent for those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention .	1
the present invention will be further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments . the same or similar reference signs in the description indicate the same or similar parts . the following description of the embodiments of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings is intended to explain the general inventive concept of the present invention , but should not be construed as a limitation of the present invention . in addition , specific details are described in the following detailed description in order to enable a comprehensive understanding of the embodiments . it is obvious , however , that one or more embodiments may be implemented without these specific details . in other instances , some conventional structures and devices are shown in the schematic diagrams to simplify the drawings . fig3 shows a schematic diagram of a rotor 120 of a reluctance motor according to a first embodiment of the present invention , where no magnetic filler 122 is filled in air - gap slots 121 of the rotor 120 ; fig4 shows a schematic diagram of the rotor 120 of the reluctance motor according to the first embodiment of the present invention , where the magnetic filler 122 is filled in the air - gap slots 121 of the rotor 120 ; fig5 shows a schematic diagram of the reluctance motor according to the first embodiment of the present invention . in an exemplary embodiment of the present invention , the reluctance motor is provided . as shown in fig5 , the reluctance motor mainly includes a stator 110 , a rotor 120 and a coil 130 . the rotor 120 is configured within a containing chamber of the stator 110 , and the coil 130 is configured within a coil slot in a side wall of the containing chamber of the stator 110 . as shown in fig3 , in the illustrated embodiment , end parts at least one air - gap slot 121 of the rotor 120 has end parts 121 a which have an offset of a predetermined distanced from a main body part 121 b adjacent immediately to the end parts 121 a . in the embodiment shown in fig3 and 4 , the rotor 120 includes four groups of air - gap slots which are distributed separately around the center of the rotor 120 , and each group of air - gap slots includes three air - gap slots which are separately arranged along a radial direction of the rotor . it should be noted , however , that the present invention should not be limited to the illustrated embodiment , the rotor may include four , six , eight or more groups of air - gap slots , and each group of air - gap slots may include two , four or more air - gap slots . in the embodiment shown in fig3 and 4 , end parts except for the outmost air - gap slot in each group of air - gap slots , end parts 121 a of any of the other air - gap slots 121 in each group of air - gap slots have an offset of predetermined distanced from a main body part 121 b adjacent immediately to the end parts 21 a . as shown in fig3 and 4 , in the embodiment , the outmost air - gap slot in each group of air - gap slots is v - shaped as a whole , and the other air - gap slots 121 in each group of air - gap slots , except for the outmost air - gap slot , are u - shaped as a whole . in the embodiment , the outmost air - gap slot in each group of air - gap slots are disconnected in the middle and spaced apart by materials of the rotor . thus , it can ensure sufficient mechanical strength for the rotor . as shown in fig3 and 4 , in the embodiment , the respective offset distances d at the respective end parts 121 a of different air - gap slots 121 in each group of the air - gap slots are the same ; the respective offset directions at the respective end parts of different air - gap slots in each group of the air - gap slots are the same , for example , a direction towards an adjacent group of air - gap slots . as shown in fig3 and 4 , in the embodiment , two adjacent groups of air - gap slots are symmetrical to each other . as shown in fig3 and 4 , in the embodiment , an end part of an air - gap slot 121 in a group of air - gap slots has the same offset distance as an offset distance that an end part of a corresponding air - gap 121 in an adjacent group of air - gap slots has . as shown in fig3 and 4 , in the embodiment , the end part of the air - gap slot 121 in a group of air - gap slots has the same offset direction as an offset direction that the end part of the corresponding air - gap 121 in the adjacent group of air - gap slots has . as shown in fig3 and 4 , in the embodiment , the end parts 121 a of an air - gap slot 121 are connected with a main body part 121 b adjacent immediately to the end parts 121 a . as shown in fig3 and 4 , in the embodiment , the main body part 121 b adjacent immediately to the end parts 121 a of an air - gap slot 121 extends along a straight line . as shown in fig3 and 5 , magnetic filler 122 is filled in at least one air - gap slot 121 of the rotor 120 . in the embodiment , magnetic filler 122 is filled only in two inner air - gap slots 121 in each group of air - gap slots of the rotor 120 . as shown in fig3 and 5 , one or more magnetic filler 122 is filled in one air - gap slot 121 . in an embodiment of the present invention , the magnetic filler may be a ferrite magnet containing a rare earth element and / or a sintered neodymium - iron - boron permanent magnet . the sintered neodymium - iron - boron permanent magnet with little or no dy could be used , for example , a dy content may be 3 % or less . in an embodiment of the present invention , the motor shown in fig3 - 5 could be a motor applicable to a variable - speed compressor . fig6 shows a schematic diagram of a rotor 220 of a reluctance motor according to a second embodiment of the present invention , where magnetic filler 222 is filled in air - gap slots 221 of the rotor 220 ; fig7 shows the rotor of fig6 , indicating the maximum width of the middle portion of the air - gap slots 221 in the rotor 220 and the maximum width of side portions of the air - gap slots 221 in the rotor 220 . as shown in fig6 , in the embodiment , end parts 221 a of at least one air - gap slot 221 of the rotor 220 have an offset with a predetermined distance d and a predetermined angle α relative to a main body part 221 b adjacent immediately to the end parts 221 a . in the embodiment shown in fig6 and 7 , the rotor 220 includes four groups of air - gap slots which are separately distributed around the center of the rotor 220 , and each group of air - gap slots includes three air - gap slots which are separately arranged along a radial direction of the rotor . in the embodiment shown in fig6 and 7 , end parts 221 a of a middle air - gap slot 221 in each group of air - gap slots have an offset with a predetermined distance d and a predetermined angle α relative to a main body part 221 b adjacent immediately to the end parts 221 a . in the embodiment shown in fig6 and 7 , the end parts of an innermost air - gap slot in each group of air - gap slots have an offset only with a predetermined angle α , without a predetermined distance d , relative to a main body part adjacent immediately to the end parts . end parts of an outmost air - gap slot in each group of air - gap slots have no offset . as shown in fig6 and 7 , in the embodiment , the outmost air - gap slot in each group of air - gap slots is in a circular arc shape as a whole , and the other air - gap slots 221 , except for the outmost air - gap slot , in each group of air - gap slots are u - shaped as a whole . in the embodiment , as shown in fig6 and 7 , the outmost air - gap slot is disconnected in its middle and the innermost air - gap slot is also disconnected in its middle , either is spaced apart by materials of the rotor . thus , it can ensure sufficient mechanical strength for the rotor . as shown in fig6 and 7 , in the embodiment , respective end parts 221 a of different air - gap slots 221 in each group of the air - gap slots have the same offset distance d and the offset angle α ; the respective end parts of different air - gap slots in each group of the air - gap slots have the same offset directions , for example , towards an adjacent group of air - gap slots . after the offset , the ratio between q1 , the minimum distance between the end parts of different air - gap slots , and q2 , the distance between main body parts of different air - gap slots , should be larger than or equal to 0 . 95 , i . e ., q1 / q2 ≧ 0 . 95 , in order to ensure the saturation of a magnetic path at q axis as an offset . as shown in fig6 and 7 , in the embodiment , the two adjacent groups of air - gap slots could be symmetrical to each other . as shown in fig6 and 7 , in the embodiment , corresponding end parts of two corresponding air - gap slots 221 from two adjacent groups of air - gap slots may have the same offset distance d and the same offset angles α . as shown in fig6 and 7 , in an embodiment , the corresponding end parts 221 a of the two corresponding air - gap slots 221 from the two adjacent groups of air - gap slots have the same offset direction . as shown in fig6 and 7 , in an embodiment , end parts 221 a of an air - gap slot 221 are connected with a main body part 221 b which is adjacent immediately to the end parts 221 a . as shown in fig6 and 7 , in an embodiment , a main body part 221 b which is adjacent immediately to end parts 221 a of an air - gap slot extend along a straight line . as shown in fig6 and 7 , magnetic filler 222 is filled in at least one air - gap slots 221 of the rotor 220 . in an embodiment , magnetic filler 222 are filled only in a middle air - gap slot 221 in each group of air - gap slots of the rotor 220 . as shown in fig6 and 7 , one or more pieces of magnetic fillers 222 may be filled in one air - gap slots 221 , for example , two pieces of magnetic filler 222 are respectively filled in two sides of a u - shaped air - gap slot . in an embodiment of the present invention , the magnetic filler may be a ferrite magnet containing a rare earth element and / or sintered neodymium - iron - boron permanent magnet . the motor shown in fig6 and 7 may be a motor applicable to a variable - speed compressor . as shown in fig7 , in an embodiment , the maximum width of the middle portion of a middle air - gap slot 221 in each group of air - gap slots of the rotor 220 is h1 , and the maximum width of side portions is h2 . in an embodiment of the present invention , the middle air - gap slot 221 should meet the following relation : 1 . 5 ≦ h1 / h2 ≦ 2 . 5 . in the embodiment , magnetic filler 222 is filled only in two side portions of a middle air - gap slot 221 in each group of air - gap slots . fig8 shows a schematic diagram of a rotor 320 of a reluctance motor according to a third embodiment of the present invention , where magnetic filler is filled in air - gap slots 321 of the rotor 320 . the third embodiment shown in fig8 differs from the second embodiment shown in fig6 and 7 is the structure of an air - gap slot . in the third embodiment shown in fig8 , in an innermost air - gap slot 321 in each group of air - gap slots , a main body part 321 b which is immediately adjacent to end parts 321 a of the innermost air - gap slot 321 extends along an arc - shaped line , and the end parts 321 a have an offset with a predetermined angle α relative to a tangent line of an edge part of the arc - shaped line of the main body part 321 b corresponding to the end parts 321 a . except for the above , the third embodiment shown in fig8 is basically the same as the second embodiment shown in fig6 and 7 . fig9 shows a schematic diagram of a rotor 420 of a reluctance motor according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention , where magnetic filler 422 is filled in air - gap slots 421 of the rotor 420 . the fourth embodiment shown in fig9 differs from the first embodiment shown in fig3 and 4 in the number of air - gap slots in each group . in the fourth embodiment shown in fig9 , each group of air - gap slots includes two air - gap slots 421 , and magnetic fillers 422 is filled in every air - gap slot 421 . fig1 shows a schematic diagram of a rotor 520 of a reluctance motor according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention , where magnetic filler is filled in air - gap slots 521 of the rotor 520 . the fifth embodiment shown in fig1 differs from the first embodiment shown in fig3 and 4 in the structure of an air - gap slot . in the fifth embodiment shown in fig1 , an outmost air - gap slot and a middle air - gap slot in each group of air - gap slots are v - shaped as a whole , and an innermost air - gap slot in each group of air - gap slots are u - shaped as a whole . in the embodiment , as shown in fig1 , an air - gap slot may be disconnected in the middle , and spaced apart by the materials of the rotor . thus , it can ensure sufficient mechanical strength for the rotor . fig1 shows a schematic diagram of a rotor 620 of a reluctance motor according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention , where magnetic filler is filled in air - gap slots 621 of the rotor 620 ; fig1 shows the rotor 620 of fig1 , indicating the distance w between end vertexes of two closest air - gap slots , where the two closest air - gap slots respectively belong to two adjacent groups of air - gap slots , and indicating the radius r of the rotor 620 ; fig1 shows the rotor of fig1 , indicating the maximum electrical degree θ of an included angle between a first line and a second line , where the first line is between a middle point of an end part of a magnetic flux path in the rotor and an axial point of the rotor and the second line is between a middle point of the other end part of the magnetic flux path in the rotor and the axial point of the rotor , and also indicating respective center points a of the two end parts of the magnetic flux path . the sixth embodiment shown in fig1 - 13 differs from the first embodiment shown in fig3 and 4 in the structure of an air - gap slot . in the sixth embodiment shown in fig1 - 13 , an external edge of an end part 621 a of an middle air - gap slot 621 in each group of air - gap slots has an offset with a first offset distance d1 and a first offset angle α1 relative to an external edge of a main body part 621 b adjacent immediately to the end part 621 a , and an inner edge of the end part 621 a of the middle air - gap slot 621 in each group of air - gap slots has an offset with a second offset distance d2 and a second offset angle α2 relative to an inner edge of the main body part 621 b adjacent immediately to the end part 621 a . an external edge of an end part 621 a of an innermost air - gap slot 621 in each group of air - gap slots has an offset with a third offset distance d3 and a third offset angle α3 relative to an external edge of a main body part 621 b adjacent immediately to the end part 621 a of the innermost air - gap slot 621 , and an inner edge of the end part 621 a of the innermost air - gap slot 621 in each group of air - gap slots has an offset with a fourth offset distance d4 and a fourth offset angle α4 relative to an inner edge of the main body part 621 b adjacent immediately to the end part 621 a of the innermost air - gap slot 621 . in an embodiment of the present invention , the first offset distance d1 may be equal or unequal to the third offset distance d3 , and the second offset distance d2 may be equal or unequal to the fourth offset distance d4 . the first offset angle α1 may be equal or unequal to the third offset angle α3 , and the second offset angle α2 may be equal or unequal to the fourth offset angle α4 . in an embodiment of the present invention , the first offset distance d1 , the second offset distance d2 , the third offset distance d3 and the fourth offset distance d4 may be equal or unequal to each other . the first offset angle α1 , the second offset angle α2 , the third offset angle α3 and the fourth offset angle α4 may also be equal or unequal to each other . in an embodiment of the present invention , the above offset distances d1 , d2 , d3 and d4 should respectively meet the following relations : 0 & lt ; d1 ≦ 0 . 5 mm , 0 & lt ; d2 ≦ 1 . 5 mm , 0 & lt ; d3 ≦ 1 . 5 mm , and 0 & lt ; d4 ≦ 1 . 5 mm . the above offset angles α1 , α2 , α3 and α4 should respectively meet the following relations : 0 & lt ; α1 ≦ 30 °, 0 & lt ; α2 ≦ 30 °, 0 & lt ; α3 ≦ 30 °, 0 & lt ; α4 ≦ 30 °. in an embodiment of the present invention , as shown in fig1 and 13 , by properly designing the above offset distances d1 , d2 , d3 , d4 and the above offset angles α1 , α2 , α3 , α4 , the distance w , the radius r and the number of air - gap slot groups 2p can meet the following relation : 0 . 065 ≦ w /( 2πr / 2p )≦ 0 . 09 ; and / or the maximum electrical degree θ of the included angle can meet the following relation : 124 °≦ θ ≦ 140 °. in the embodiment , respective offset directions of the above offset distances d1 , d2 , d3 , d4 are the same , and respective offset directions of the above offset angles α1 , α2 , α3 , α4 are the same . fig1 shows a schematic diagram of a rotor 720 of a reluctance motor according to a seventh embodiment of the present invention , where magnetic filler is filled in air - gap slots 721 of the rotor 720 . the seventh embodiment shown in fig1 differs from the first embodiment shown in fig3 and 4 in the structure of an air - gap slot . in the seventh embodiment shown in fig1 , one of two end parts 721 a of the innermost air - gap slots 721 has an offset with a predetermined distance and / or a predetermined angle relative to the main body part 721 b adjacent immediately to the end part , and the other end part of the two end parts 721 a has no offset ; none of end parts of the other air - gap slots , except for the innermost air - gap slots 721 , has an offset . fig1 shows a schematic diagram of a rotor 820 of a reluctance motor according to an eighth embodiment of the present invention , where magnetic filler is filled in air - gap slots 821 of the rotor 820 . the eighth embodiment shown in fig1 differs from the first embodiment shown in fig3 and 4 in the structure of an air - gap slot . in the eighth embodiment shown in fig1 , one of two end parts 821 a of a middle air - gap slot 821 has an offset distance and / or offset angle relative to a main body part 821 b adjacent immediately to the end part 821 a , and the other of the two end parts 821 a has a different offset distance and / or offset angle . that is , the two end parts 821 a of the middle air - gap slot 821 have different offset distances or offset angles . fig1 shows a schematic diagram of a rotor 920 of a reluctance motor according to a ninth embodiment of the present invention , where magnetic filler is filled in air - gap slots 921 of the rotor 920 . the ninth embodiment shown in fig1 differs from the first embodiment shown in fig3 and 4 in the structure of an air - gap slot . in the ninth embodiment shown in fig1 , one of two end parts 921 a of a middle air - gap slot 921 has an offset towards the external of the rotor 920 , and the other has an offset towards the internal of the rotor 920 ; that is , respective offset directions of the two end parts 921 a of the middle air - gap slot 921 are different . fig1 shows a schematic diagram of a rotor 1020 of a reluctance motor according to a tenth embodiment of the present invention , where magnetic filler is filled in air - gap slots 1021 of the rotor 1020 . the tenth embodiment shown in fig1 differs from the first embodiment shown in fig3 and 4 in the structure of an air - gap slot . in the tenth embodiment shown in fig1 , two adjacent groups of air - gap slots are asymmetrical to each other . as shown in fig1 , respective end parts 1021 a of two corresponding middle air - gap slots 1021 respectively from two adjacent groups of air - gap slots have different offset distances , different offset angles and different offset directions . fig1 shows a schematic diagram of a rotor 1120 of a reluctance motor according to an eleventh embodiment of the present invention , where magnetic filler is filled in air - gap slots 1121 of the rotor 1120 . the eleventh embodiment shown in fig1 differs from the first embodiment shown in fig3 and 4 in the structure of an air - gap slot . in the eleventh embodiment shown in fig1 , both end parts 1121 a of a middle air - gap slot 1121 have an offset with a first offset distance d1 and a first offset angle α1 . both end parts 1121 a of an innermost air - gap slot 1121 have an offset only with a second offset angle α2 . in the embodiment , the first offset angle α1 may be equal or unequal to the second offset angle α2 . fig2 shows a schematic diagram of a rotor 1220 of a reluctance motor according to a twelfth embodiment of the present invention , where magnetic filler is filled in air - gap slots 1221 of the rotor 1220 . the twelfth embodiment shown in fig2 differs from the first embodiment shown in fig3 and 4 in the structure of an air - gap slot . in the twelfth embodiment shown in fig2 , end parts 1221 a of a middle air - gap slot 1221 are disconnected from their corresponding main body part 1221 b , and are spaced apart by a predetermined distance ; similarly , end parts 1221 a of an innermost air - gap slot 1221 are disconnected from their corresponding main body part 1221 b , and are spaced apart by a predetermined distance . the predetermined distance is more than or equal to 0 . 5 mm and less than or equal to 0 . 8 mm . thus , it can ensure sufficient mechanical strength for the rotor . in addition , magnetic leakage can also be avoided . the foregoing only provides some embodiments of the present invention , and persons of ordinary skill in the art shall understand that changes may be made to these embodiments without departing from the principle of the general inventive concept ; the scope of the present invention is defined by the claims and their equivalents . it should also to be noted that the word “ comprising / comprise ” does not exclude other elements or steps , and the word “ a ” or “ an ” does not exclude a plurality . in addition , any reference signs to the elements of the claims should not be construed as a limitation to the scope of the invention .	7
a cotton flower is depicted in fig1 . a collection of petals 10 is surrounded by a trio of bracts 12 having a plurality of fingers 14 thereupon . the petals serve to contain and protect the male and female sexual organs of the cotton flower and to attract insect pollination media thereto . thus , the male sexual organs are represented by pollen - producing stamens 16 each comprising an anther 18 located on a filament 20 . each of the 90 to 100 stamens of the cotton flower is attached to a staminal column 22 . the female portion of a cotton flower comprises the pistil composed of the stigma 24 , style 26 , and ovary 28 . the ovary contains a plurality of ovules 30 . the cotton flower also comprises a calyx 32 located between the bracts and the petals . the foregoing description has been adapted from &# 34 ; growth and development of the cotton plant in arizona ,&# 34 ; dennis et . al ., u . of ariz . pamphlet 8168 , which is incorporated by reference herein . cotton plants may be rendered male sterile while retaining substantial female fertility in accordance with the present invention by contacting the plants with an effective amount of the gametocidal compound , followed by monitoring the degree of burning of the developing bracts of the plant and by adjusting the amount of compound applied to the plants in response to the degree of burning to maintain an effective amount of compound for the appropriate time duration . fig2 a shows a bract in greater detail . thus , the bract 12 and its fingers 14 are more clearly presented . the inter - finger gaps , 38 are shown . the bract has been removed from the base of the cotton flower at the position indicated by reference number 34 . no burning is evidenced in this figure . fig2 b portrays a bract exhibiting some finger burning . thus , crosshatching , 36 indicates areas of browning , wilting or other evidence of phytotoxicity localized on the fingers . fig2 c discloses a bract which has undergone extensive finger burning in accordance with the practice of the processes of this invention . thus , the fingers 14 have been somewhat eroded in size . an area of browning , wrinkling , or other evidence of local phytotoxicity is indicated by crosshatching 36 . in this figure , the burning involves most or all of the fingers 14 of the bract and has extended somewhat into the main body portion of the bract beyond the inter - finger gaps , 38 of the bract . fig2 d shows an extensively burned bract such as would be the result of an application of an excessive amount of gametocide to a cotton plant . thus , the fingers have been largely eroded or burned away and an extensive portion of the main bract body beyond the inter - finger gap region has been involved with browning or other evidence of local phytotoxicity , 36 . excessive burning such as depicted in fig2 d would be evidence of the application of an excessive amount of gametocide and would imply either loss of reproductive vigor , excessive decline in female fertility , or excessive phytotoxicity generally to the plant . when sufficient gametocide is applied to cotton plants such that the bracts which subsequently develop on the plant exhibit a sensible degree of &# 34 ; burning &# 34 ; of the finger region -- finger burning -- then that amount of regulator is sufficient to render the plant male sterile for a period of time . when , however , an amount of gametocide is administered to a cotton plant such the bracts are burned extensively in areas beyond the inter - finger gaps -- denominated excessive burning -- then such an amount will result in objectionable degrees of female infertility , loss of reproductive vigor , or overall plant phytotoxicity , in addition to rendering the plant male sterile . when an amount of gametocide is administered to cotton plants which is insufficient to result in effective male sterility of the plants , then the bracts will exhibit substantially no burning . it will be appreciated that a continuum exists between states of relative non - burning , states of finger burning according to this invention , and states of excessive burning of the bracts of cotton plants treated with gametocide . it is believed that those skilled in the art will have no difficulty , after routine experimentation , in acquainting themselves with that degree of burning which is optimum to provide male sterility without incurring female sterility or other detrimental effects . it will similarly to appreciated that as increasing amount of burning is evidenced on the bracts of cotton plants , that increasing tendencies towards female sterility , loss of reproductive vigor and general phytotoxicity will occur . in general , therefore , finger burning as used in this specification will mean any sensible degree of burning of the fingers of the bracts of a cotton flower which is less than that degree of burning which progresses substantially inwardly of the inter - finger gaps of the bract . that degree of burning depicted in fig2 c is intended to represent an approximation of the maximum amount of burning inwardly of the inter - finger gaps , which burning falls within the definition of &# 34 ; finger burning &# 34 ; for most cotton varieties in accordance with this invention . in this regard , however , it will be noted that some burning inwardly of the inter - finger gaps may be exhibited . this burning is far less than the burning exhibited by fig2 d wherein substantial involvement inwardly of the inter - finger gaps occurs . it must further be emphasized that finger burning is intended as a qualitative rather than a quantitative term . it is believed that those skilled in the art will have no difficulty in rendering the requirements of finger burning into ordinary practice . it should also be noted that the burning of the bracts need not be symmetric and that an average degree of burning may be employed to determine compliance with the spirit of this invention as described herein . the active compounds for practicing the invention are as defined in the summary of the invention . as these compounds are also novel , the methods of preparation are described in examples 1 through 23 . the most preferred compounds , because of the ability to provide longer periods of male sterility prior to subsequent application , are cyclohexyl 3 , 4 - dichloro - 5 - isothiazolecarboxylate ; phenyl 3 , 4 - dichloro - 5 - isothiazolecarboxylate ; p - chlorophenyl 3 , 4 - dichloro - 5 - isothiazolecarboxylate ; p - tolyl 3 , 4 - dichloro - 5 - isothiazolecarboxylate ; p - anisyl 3 , 4 - dichloro - 5 - isothiazolecarboxylate ; p - bromphenyl 3 , 4 - dichloro - 5 - isothiazolecarboxylate ; 3 - trifluoromethylphenyl 3 , 4 - dichloro - 5 - isothiazolecarboxylate ; 2 - naphthyl 3 , 4 - dichloro - 5 - isothiazolecarboxylate ; 4 - methylcyclohexyl 3 , 4 - dichloro - 5 - isothiazolecarboxylate ; s -( 3 - propylthio ) propyl 3 , 4 - dichloro - 5 - isothiazolecarboxylate ; 2 -( p - methoxyphenoxy ) ethyl 3 , 4 - dichloro - 5 - isothiazolecarboxylate ; 2 -( p - chlorophenylthio ) ethyl 3 , 4 - dichloro - 5 - isothiazolecarboxylate ; 3 , 4 - dichloro - 5 - isothiazolecarboxylate ; and n -( 2 - pyridyl )- 3 , 4 - dichloro - 5 - isothiazolecarboxylate . these 3 , 4 - dichloro - 5 isothiazole carboxylic esters , amides and thioesters are normally either solid or water insoluble liquids which must be formulated into a gametocidal composition for use in the process of this invention . to accomplish this , the gametocidally active ingredient described above is combined with an agriculturally acceptable carrier as exemplified hereinafter . the amount of gametocidally active compound in the composition will range from as little as 1 % to as high as 90 % active material , prior to any dilution which may be necessary for application to the plants . preferably , the composition will contain from about 5 % to about 20 % active ingredient , and most preferably about 10 %, although these concentrations are merely for the sake of convenience in applying the gametocidally active constituent in the most efficient and economical manner . the carrier , which is preferably an aqueous system , will normally include a solvent for the active ingredient and an emulsifier suitable for forming an emulsion of said compound in water . although the active ingredient may be either solid or liquid , solvents are employed to facilitate dilution of the active ingredient in water for spray application to large areas of land in the aforementioned dosage of about 0 . 1 to about 2 . 0 pounds of active ingredient per acre of cotton plants . in a preferred embodiment , the solvent comprises a mixture of a polar solvent and an aromatic solvent . in the experiments described hereinafter , a mixture of equal parts diacetone alcohol and xylene was used as the solvent . to properly accomplish the formation of an aqueous emulsion of the composition , various emulsifiers are employed which may be used in agricultural applications without adverse effect . emulsifiers used in the examples described hereinafter are tween ® 20 and tween ® 80 , which are well - known commercially available emulsifiers . as stated above , the amount of active ingredient which is applied to the cotton plants is sufficient such that the bracts which subsequently develop on the plant exhibit a degree of &# 34 ; burning &# 34 ; of the finger region , and at that point , the amount of gametocide is sufficient to render the plant male sterile for a period of time . it should also be noted that the burning of the bracts need not be symmetric and that an average degree of burning may be employed to comply with the spirit of this invention . when , however , an amount of gametocide is administered to a cotton plant such that the bracts are burned extensively in areas beyond the interfinger gaps , then such an amount will result in objectionable degrees of female infertility , loss of reproduction vigor , or overall plant phytotoxicity . in general , therefore , finger burning as used in this specification will mean any sensible degree of burning of the fingers of the bracts of a cotton flower which is less than that degree of burning which progresses substantially inward of the interfinger gaps of the bract . it must further be emphasized that finger burning is intended as a qualitative rather than a quantitative term in the alternativbe , when the amount of gametocide which is administered to the cotton plants is insufficient to result in effective male sterility in the plants , then the bracts will exhibit substantially no burning . according to the practice of this invention , the amount of gametocidally active material applied to the cotton plants will be monitored in terms of subsequent bract burning and the amount will be altered if necessary , in response to the degree of burning . preferably , the gametocidally active material may be topically applied such as by a ground level foliar spray or , alternatively it may be applied through irrigation water . obviously , substantially more material will be required when the compounds are applied through irrigation as opposed to topical sprays . also , the amount of active material to be applied will vary depending upon the mass of the plants to be treated and , accordingly , with the particular time in the growing season at the time of treatment . the bracts of the cotton plants should be monitored from three to five days after application of the treatement . in three days , indication of the degree of developing burning of the bracts will be exhibited . in five days , the extent of burning will have been indicated clearly . this process of application followed by monitoring and modification of the amount of application can be practiced throughout the period of time that it is desired that the cotton plants remain male sterile . it has been found that if monitoring of the bracts subsequent to application indicates that an excessive amount has been applied , as evidenced by excessive bract burning , then moderation of the effects of the successive applications may be had such as by application of irrigation water to the plants . it is believed that the usual growth spurt found in cotton which has been irrigated will effectively dilute the concentration of the additive in the plant and cause ti to return to more desirable level as reflected by bract burning monitoring . in general , it will be appreciated , that through a monitoring of a degree of burning of the bracts of cotton flowers , a feedback loop may be obtained whereby the proper amount of gametocidally active material may be established and maintained . table i illustrates the effect of application of various compounds of the present invention which were found to provide complete male sterility in cotton plants while producing moderate to slight plant injury and inducing little if any female plant sterility . the various compounds , in an amount ranging from about 5 % to about 20 %, based on the weight of the solution , were first dissolved in a solvent containing a suitable emulsifier as previously described . the solubilized composition was then formed into an aqueous emulsion and applied to cotton plants in the southwestern united states on jul . 1 of the test year by topical spray . one hundred square foot areas of the cotton plants were sprayed in each of the tests listed in table i . the condition of the plants after spraying was then monitored to determine the number of days after application that bract burning was present in the plants . to effectively maintain male sterility of the plants while retaining the substantial female fertility , additional applications were necessary at the end of the number of days noted for each compound . for example , if plants treated with a given gametocide compound exhibited only thirteen days of 100 % male sterility , as evidenced by monitoring the degree of burning of the bracts of the plants , an additional quantity of compound will be required to maintain the male sterility after that thirteen day period of time . conversely , if the observed sterility was shorter or longer , reapplication of the compound would be necessarily adjusted to comply with the amount of burning of the bracts . table i__________________________________________________________________________compounds active gametocide pounds active duration of maleof examples comound per acre sterility , days__________________________________________________________________________ control 0 . 0 0 2 phenyl 3 , 4 - dichloro - 5 - 0 . 72 11 isothiazolecarboxylate ; 3 p - chlorophenyl 3 , 4 - dichloro - 0 . 64 11 5 - isothiazolecarboxylate ; 23 p - bromophenyl 3 , 4 - dichloro - 5 - 0 . 56 14 isothiazolecarboxylate 4 p - tolyl 3 , 4 - dichloro - 5 - 0 . 68 16 isothiazolecarboxylate ; 5 p - anisyl 3 , 4 - dichloro - 5 - 0 . 65 17 isothiazolecarboxylate ; 9 2 , 4 - dintrophenyl 3 , 4 - dichloro - 0 . 65 4 5 - isothiazolecarboxylate13 2 - sec - butyl - 4 , 6 - dinitrophenyl 0 . 65 8 3 , 4 - dichloro - 5 - isothiazolecarboxylate14 3 ,- trifluoromethylphenyl 0 . 58 11 3 , 4 - dichloro - 5 - isothiazolecarboxylate15 2 , 6 - dichloro - 4 -( fluorosulfonyl ) 0 . 65 3 phenyl 3 , 4 - dichloro - 5 - isothiazolecarboxylate19 4 - chloro - 2 - fluorosulfonylphenyl 0 . 65 8 3 , 4 - dichloro - 5 - isothiazolecarboxylate20 allyl 3 , 4 - dichloro - 5 - 0 . 65 3 isothiazolecarboxylate21 2 -( p - methoxyphenoxy ) ethyl 3 , 4 - 0 . 57 14 dichloro - 5 - isothiazolecarboxylate22 2 -( p - chlorophenylthio ) ethyl 0 . 54 13 3 , 4 - dichloro - 5 - isothiazolecarboxylate10 3 , 4 - dichloro - 5 - 0 . 72 14 isothiazolecarboxanilide17 3 , 4 - dichloro - 2 &# 39 ;, 4 &# 39 ;- dinitro - 5 - 0 . 65 7 isothiazolecarboxanilide18 n -( 2 - pyridyl )- 3 , 4 - dichloro - 5 - 0 . 72 15 isothiazolecarboxamide 1 cyclohexyl 3 , 4 - dichloro - 5 - 0 . 73 13 isothiazolecarboxylate11 4 - methylcyclohexyl 3 , 4 - dichloro - 0 . 67 11 5 - isothiazolecarboxylate12 3 , 3 , 5 - trimethylcyclohexyl 3 , 4 - 0 . 65 4 dichloro - 5 - isothiazolecarboxylate 6 2 - napthyl 3 , 4 - dichloro - 5 - 0 . 70 17 isothiazolecarboxylate 7 poly ( ethylene glycol ) 200 bis - 0 . 72 17 ( 3 , 4 - dichloro - 5 - isothiazolecarboxylate ) 16 s -( 3 - propylthio ) propyl 3 , 4 - 0 . 60 11 dichloro - 5 - isothiazolecarbothioate__________________________________________________________________________ the following examples describe the preparation of the novel isothiazole compounds useful in the practice of this invention . empirical formula : c 10 h 11 cl 2 no 2 s ; equation for preparation : ## str6 ## color and phys . state : yellow oil odor : indistinct miscellaneous analyses : calcd . : c , 43 . 0 %: h , 3 . 93 %; cl , 25 . 40 %; n , 5 . 00 %. found : c , 41 . 83 %; h , 3 . 75 %; cl , 25 . 50 %; n , 5 . 89 %. solubility : water &# 34 ; i &# 34 ; ( insoluble ); diacetone alcohol : s ; acetone : &# 34 ; s &# 34 ; ( soluble ); xylene : s . procedure : to a solution of 21 . 6 g . ( 0 . 1 m ) of 3 , 4 - dichloro - 5 - isothiazolecarboxylate acid chloride in 200 ml . of benzene was added 10 . 0 g . ( 0 . 1 m ) of cyclhexanol and the solution was stirred at room temperature for 30 minutes , followed by heating at 50 ° 0 c . for 1 hour . the solution was allowed to stand at room temperature overnight and then concentrated in vacuum . the oil obtained was vacuum distilled to give 8 . 2 g . ( 28 . 5 %) of yellow oil , b . p . 80 ° c . ( 0 . 3 mm . ), n d 25 1 . 5443 . alternate procedure : to 43 . 3 g . ( 0 . 2 m .) of 3 , 4 - dichloro - 5 - isothiazolecarboxylate acid chloride and 22 . 2 g . ( 0 . 22 m .) of triethylamine in 250 ml . of toluene was added 20 g . ( 0 . 2 m .) of cyclohexanol in 25 ml . of toluene . the resulting slurry was heated to 80 ° c . for 3 hours , cooled and filtered to remove 28 g . of triethylamine hydrochloride . the filtrate was contrated at 40 ° c . under reduced pressure and the residue distilled to give 41 . 7 g . ( 74 . 3 % conversion ) of product , b . p . 139 °- 140 ° c . ( 0 . 7 mm . ); n d 25 1 . 5444 . empirical formula : c 10 h 5 cl 2 no 2 s ; equation for preparation : ## str7 ## color and phys . state : white solid odor : none miscellaneous analyses : calcd . c , 44 . 0 %; h , 2 . 01 %; cl , 25 . 80 %; n , 5 . 12 %. found : c , 43 . 81 %; h , 1 . 92 %; cl , 26 . 11 %; n , 5 . 05 %. procedure : to a solution of 21 . 6 g . ( 0 . 1 m ) of 3 , 4 - dichloro - 5 - isothiazolecarboxylate acid chloride and 10 . 0 g . ( 0 . 1 m ) of triethylamine in 200 ml . of benzene was added 9 . 4 g . ( 0 . 1 m ) of warm phenol drops with stirring at room temperature . the mixture was filtered and the filtrate was concentrated in vacuum and refrigerated 65 hours . the dark solid obtained was recrystallized from ethanol to give 7 . 1 g . ( 38 . 5 % conversion ) of product , m . p . 61 °- 63 ° c . empirical formula : c 10 h 4 cl 3 no 2 s ; equation for preparation : ## str8 ## color and phys . state : off - white solid m . p . 79 °- 81 ° c . miscellaneous analyses : calcd : c , 38 . 9 %; h , 1 . 30 %; cl , 34 . 5 %; s , 10 . 37 %. found : c , 38 , 99 %; h , 1 . 23 %; cl , 34 . 19 %; s , 10 . 32 %. procedure : to a solution of 11 g . ( 0 . 05 m .) of 3 , 4 - dichloro - 5 - isothiazolecarboxylate acid chloride in 200 ml . of benzene and 5 . 6 g . ( 0 . 055 m .) of triethylamine was added 6 . 5 g . ( 0 . 05 m .) of p - chlorophenol at room temperature . the resulting mixture as stirred at room temperature for 2 hours , and filtered to remove the triethylamine hydrochloride . the solvent was removed from the filtrate in vacuum leaving a tan solid ; recrystallization from ethanol ( 90 ml .) gave 11 . 8 g . ( 76 % conversion ) of product , m . p . 79 °- 81 ° c . empirical formula : c 11 h 7 cl 2 no 2 s ; equation for preparation : ## str9 ## color and phys . state : white crystalline solid m . p . 73 °- 75 ° c . miscellaneous analyses : calcd : c , 45 . 80 %; h , 2 . 43 %; cl , 24 . 38 %; s , 11 . 11 %. found : c , 45 . 80 %; h , 2 . 61 %; cl , 24 . 79 %; s , 11 . 24 %. procedure : to a solution of 11 g . ( 0 . 05 m .) of 3 , 4 - dichloro - 5 - isothiazolecarboxylate acid chloride in 200 ml . of benzene and 5 . 6 g . ( 0 . 055 m .) of triethylamine was added 5 . 4 g . ( 0 . 05 m .) of p - cresol . the resulting slurry was stirred at ambient temperature for 2 hours , filtered to remove triethylamine hydrochloride and the filtrate evaporated in vacuum to leave a tan solid . recrystallization from ethanol gave 11 . 9 g . ( 82 . 2 %) conversion of white solid product , m . p . 73 °- 75 ° c . empirical formula : c 11 h 7 cl 2 no 3 s ; equation for preparation : ## str10 ## color and phys . state : yellow needles m . p . 104 °- 106 ° c . miscellaneous analyses : calcd : c , 43 . 40 %; h , 2 . 30 %; cl , 23 . 39 ; s , 10 . 53 %: found : c , 43 . 86 %; h , 2 . 77 %; cl , 22 . 52 %; s , 11 . 01 %. procedure : to a solution of 11 . 0 g . ( 0 . 05 m .) of 3 , 4 - dichloro - 5 - isothiazolecarboxylate acid chloride in 200 ml . of benzene and 5 . 6 g . ( 0 . 055 m .) of triethylamine was added 6 . 2 g . of p - methoxyphenol . the resulting slurry was stirred for 2 hours at ambient temperature , filtered to remove triethylamine hydrochloride and the filtrate evaporated in vacuum to leave a brown solid . recrystallization from ethanol gave 13 . 7 g . ( 90 . 0 % conversion ) of yellow product , m . p . 104 °- 106 ° c . empirical formula : c 14 h 7 cl 2 no 2 s ; equation for preparation : ## str11 ## color and phys . state : white solid m . p . 127 °- 128 ° c . miscellaneous analyses : calcd : c , 51 . 80 %; h , 2 . 16 %; cl , 21 . 82 %; s 9 . 88 %. found : c , 52 . 08 %; h , 2 . 57 %; cl , 22 . 13 %; s , 9 . 71 %. procedure : to a solution of 11 g . ( 0 . 05 m .) of 3 , 4 - dichloro - 5 - isothiazolecarboxylate acid chloride in 200 ml . of benzene and 5 . 6 g . ( 0 . 055 m .) of triethylamine was added 7 . 2 g . ( 0 . 05 m .) of β - naphthol . the resulting slurry was stirred for 2 hours , filtered to remove the amine hydrochloride and the filtrate evaporated in vacuum to leave a brown solid . recrystallization from ethanol gave 13 . 7 g . ( 84 . 5 % conversion ) of product , m . p . 127 °- 128 ° c . empirical formula : c 16 . 2 h 16 . 5 cl 4 n 2 o 7 . 1 s 2 ; equation for preparation : ## str12 ## color and phys . state : brown oil ref . ind . : 1 . 552 2 d 5 miscellaneous analyses : calcd : c , 34 . 9 %; h , 2 . 94 %; cl , 25 . 38 %; s , 11 . 42 %. found : c , 35 . 03 %; h , 2 . 99 %; cl , 24 . 99 %; s , 11 . 52 %. procedure : to a solution of 11 g . ( 0 . 05 m .) of 3 , 4 - dichloro - 5 - isothiazolecarboxylate acid chloride and 5 . 6 g . ( 0 . 55 m .) of triethylamine in 200 ml . of benzene was added a solution of 5 g . ( 0 . 025 m .) of poly ( ethylene glycol ) m . w . 200 . the resulting mixture was stirred for 2 hours at ambient temperature and the amine hydrochloride filtered off . the filtrate was washed four times with 25 ml . portions of 10 % na 2 co 3 and four times with 50 ml . portions of water , dried over anhyd . mgso 4 and filtered . the filtrate was evaporated in vacuum at 50 ° c . to give 11 . 6 g . ( 82 . 7 % conversion ) of a dark brown oil , n d 25 1 . 5520 . empirical formula : c 52 . 6 h 89 . 2 cl 4 n 2 o 25 . 3 s 2 ; equation for preparation : ## str13 ## color and phys . state : brown oil ref . ind . : 1 . 5004 d 25 miscellaneous analyses : calcd : c , 46 . 4 %; h , 6 . 57 %; cl , 10 . 43 %; s , 4 . 71 %. found : c , 45 . 59 %, h , 6 . 47 %; cl , 11 . 18 %; s , 6 . 00 %. procedure : to a solution of 11 g . ( 0 . 05 m .) of 3 , 4 - dichloro - 5 - isothiazolecarboxylate acid chloride and 5 . 6 g . ( 0 . 055 m .) of triethylamine in 200 ml . of benzene was added a solution of 25 g . ( 0 . 025 m .) of poly ( ethylene glycol ) m . w . 1000 in 25 ml . of benzene . the resulting slurry was stirred at ambient temperature for 2 hours and the amine hydrochloride filtered off . the filtrate was washed three times with 25 ml . portions of 10 % hcl , three times with 25 ml . portions of 10 % na 2 co 3 , and three times with 50 ml . portions of h 2 o , dried over anhyd . mgso 4 and filtered . the filtrate was evaporated in vacuum at 50 ° c . to give 23 . 7 g . ( 69 . 7 % conversion ) of a brown oil , n d 25 1 . 5004 . empirical formula : c 10 h 3 cl 2 n 3 o 6 s ; equation for preparation : ## str14 ## color and phys . state : off - white solid m . p . 109 °- 110 ° c . miscellaneous analyses : calcd : c , 33 . 00 %; h , 0 . 83 %; s , 8 . 80 %. found : c , 33 . 52 %; h , 1 . 39 %; s , 8 . 83 %. procedure : to 10 g . ( 0 . 05 m .) of the sodium salt of 2 , 4 - dinitrophenol in 125 ml . of toluene was added 11 g . ( 0 . 05 m ) of 3 , 4 - dichloro - 5 - isothiazolecarboxylate acid chloride . the resulting slurry was heated at 80 ° c . for 24 hours , cooled and filtered . the filtrate was concentrated in vacuum and the brown oil treated with ether to give 6 . 6 g . of product , m . p . 104 °- 107 ° c . recrystallization from acetone - petroleum ether gave 6 . 2 g . ( 34 . 1 % conversion ), m . p . 109 °- 110 ° c . empirical formula : c 10 h 6 cl 2 n 2 os ; equation for preparation : ## str15 ## color and phys . state : white solid odor : none miscellaneous analyses : calcd : c , 44 . 0 %; h , 2 . 2 %; cl , 26 . 04 %. found : c , 43 . 96 %; h , 2 . 33 %; cl , 25 . 85 %. procedure : to a solution of 6 . 5 g . ( 0 . 03 m ) of 3 , 4 - dichloro - 5 - isothiazolecarboxylate acid chloride in 150 ml . of benzene was added 5 . 6 g . ( 0 . 06 m ) of aniline in 30 ml . of benzene in 5 min . the reaction mixture was stirred for 7 hours and left standing overnight . the solvent was evaporated under reduced pressure and 50 ml . of water was added to residue . the reaction mixture was extracted with 250 ml . of chloroform an the chloroform extract was washed ( h 2 o ) and dried ( mgso 4 ). evaporation of the solvent gave 7 . 5 g . ( 91 %) of white solid , m . p . 122 °- 124 ° c . a 0 . 6 g . portion was recrystallized from 30 ml . of chloroform and 10 ml . of hexane to give product of m . p . 123 °- 124 ° c . empirical formula : c 11 h 13 cl 2 no 2 s ; equation for preparation : ## str16 ## color and phys . state : yellow oil odor : none miscellaneous analyses : calcd : c , 45 . 0 %; h , 4 . 45 %; s , 10 . 90 %. found : c , 44 . 89 %; h , 4 . 63 %; s , 10 . 63 %. procedure : a mixture of 5 . 5 g . ( 0 . 02 m .) of 3 , 4 - dichloro - 5 - isothiazolecarboxylate acid chloride , 2 . 8 g . ( 0 . 025 m .) of 4 - methylcyclohexanol and 2 . 5 g . of triethylamine in 100 ml . of benzene was stirred at room temperature for 2 hours and then heated on the steam bath for 2 hours . the mixture was allowed to remain at room temperature overnight , filtered and the filtrate concentrated in vacuum to obtain 6 . 6 g . ( 89 . 0 % conversion ) of yellow oil , n d 25 1 . 5330 . the product could not be distilled at 180 ° ( 1 . 0 m . m ) head temperature . empirical formula : c 13 h 17 cl 2 no 2 s ; equation for preparation : ## str17 ## color and phys . state : brown oil ref . ind . : 1 . 5255 d 25 miscellaneous analyses : calcd : c , 48 . 5 %; h , 5 . 3 %; cl , 22 . 1 %. found : c , 48 . 88 %; h , 5 . 58 %; cl , 22 . 19 %. procedure : to 11 . 0 g . ( 0 . 05 m ) of 3 , 4 - dichloro - 5 - isothiazolecarboxylate acid chloride , 5 . 0 g . ( 0 . 05 m .) of triethylamine in 100 ml . of benzene was added 7 . 1 g . ( 0 . 05 m .) of 3 , 3 , 5 - trimethyl - cyclohexanol . the mixture was stirred at room temperature for 2 and on a steam bath for 2 hours , then filtered . the filtrate was concentrated in vacuum to obtain 11 . 2 g . ( 70 % conversion ) brown oil which could not be distilled , at head temperature of 172 ° c . ( 0 . 8 mm . ); n d 25 1 . 5255 . empirical formula : c 14 h 11 cl 2 n 3 o 6 s ; equation for preparation : ## str18 ## color and phys . state : white solid odor : none miscellaneous analyses : calcd : c , 40 . 0 %; h , 2 . 62 %; s , 7 . 60 %. found : c , 39 . 81 %; h , 3 . 02 %; s , 7 . 74 %. procedure : to 11 . 0 g . ( 0 . 05 m .) of 3 , 4 - dichloro - 5 - isothiazolecarboxylate acid chloride , and 5 . 0 g . ( 0 . 05 m .) of triethylamine in 100 ml . of toluene was added 12 . 0 g . ( 0 . 05 m .) of 2 - sec - butyl - 4 , 6 - dinitrophenol ( distilled ). the reaction mixture was heated on a steam bath for 4 hours and filtered . the filtrate was concentrated in vacuum to obtain a brown oil which , on standing overnight , showed the presence of solid . the reaction product was then treated with 95 % ethanol and filtered to give 17 . 4 g . ( 83 % conversion ) of solid which was recrystallized from hexane to give product , m . p . 85 °- 86 ° c . empirical formula : c 11 h 4 cl 2 f 3 no 2 s ; equation for preparation : ## str19 ## color and phys . state : yellow solid distn . range : 180 ° ( 1 . 5 mm .) miscellaneous analyses : calcd : c , 38 . 7 %; h , 1 . 17 %; s , 9 . 35 %. found : c , 39 . 21 %; h , 1 . 46 %; s , 9 . 51 %. procedure : a mixture of 11 . 0 g . ( 0 . 05 m .) of 3 , 4 - dichloro - 5 - isothiazolecarboxylate acid chloride , 5 . 0 g . of triethylamine , and 8 . 1 g . ( 0 . 05 m .) of m - trifluoromethylphenol in 100 ml . of benzene was stirred at room temperature for 2 hours , and then heated on a steam bath for 2 hours . the mixture was filtered and the filtrate concentrated in vacuum to obtain a dark brown oil which was vacuum distilled to give 9 . 8 g . ( 57 % conversion ) of product , b . p . 180 ° c . ( 1 . 5 mm .) the product solidified on cooling , m . p . 53 °- 56 ° c . empirical formula : c 10 h 2 cl 4 fno 4 s 2 ; mol . wt . : 425 equation for preparation : ## str20 ## color and phys . state : pale yellow solid odor : none miscellaneous analyses : calcd : c , 28 . 3 %; h , 0 . 47 %; cl , 33 . 5 %. found : c , 28 . 66 %; h , 0 . 87 %; cl , 33 . 85 %. procedure : to a mixture of 8 . 7 g . ( 0 . 05 m .) of 3 , 4 - dichloro - 5 - isothiazolecarboxylate acid chloride and 4 . 0 g . of triethylamine in 100 ml . of benzene was added 9 . 8 g . ( 0 . 04 m .) of 2 , 6 - dichloro - 4 -( fluorosulfonyl ) phenol and the mixture stirred at room temperature for 2 hours and on the steam bath for 2 hours . the mixture was filtered and the filtrate concentrated in vacuum to obtain a solid which was recrystallized from ether - petroleum ether to give 11 . 9 g . ( 70 % conversion ) of product , m . p . 130 °- 131 ° c . empirical formula : c 10 h 13 cl 2 nos 3 ; equation for preparation : ## str21 ## color and phys . state : dark brown oil odor : stench miscellaneous analyses : calcd : c , 36 . 50 %; h , 3 . 95 %; cl , 21 . 5 %; s , 29 . 0 %. found : c , 37 . 67 %; h , 4 . 53 %; cl , 19 . 86 %; s , 28 . 52 %. procedure : to 11 . 0 g . ( 0 . 05 mole ) of 3 , 4 - dichloro - 5 - isothiazolecarboxylate acid chloride and 5 . 0 g . ( 0 . 05 m ) of triethylamine in 150 ml . of benzene was added 7 . 5 g . ( 0 . 05 m ) of ( 3 - propylthio ) propanethiol . the mixture was refluxed for 6 hours , and allowed to stand at room temperature over the weekend . the mixture was filterd and the filtrate concentrated in vacuum to obtain 16 . 0 g . ( 97 % conversion ) of dark brown oil , n d 25 1 . 5805 . the product decomposed on attempted distillation and analysis was obtained on the undistilled material . empirical formula : c 10 h 4 cl 2 n 4 o 5 s ; equation for preparation : ## str22 ## color and phys . state : tan solid odor : none miscellaneous analyses : calcd : c , 33 . 05 % h , 1 . 18 %; cl , 19 . 58 %. found : c , 32 . 68 %; h , 1 . 27 %; cl , 19 . 62 %. procedure : a solution of 3 . 9 g . ( 10 m mole ) of 3 , 4 - dichloro - 5 - isothiazolecarboxylate acid chloride and 2 . 75 g . ( 15 m mole ) of 2 , 4 - dinitroaniline in 50 ml . of dmf was stirred at room temperature overnight . a solid appeared which was collected and air - dried to give 0 . 55 g . of a yellow powder , m . p . 231 °- 233 ° c . which was not characterized . the filtrate was returned to the reaction pot and stirred for several days with no visible change occurring ; 1 . 8 g . of triethylamine was then added and a solid immediately formed . after stirring at room temperature for 6 hours , the triethylamine hydrochloride was filtered off and the filtrate was poured into 400 ml . of water . the resulting solid was collected ; washed with water and air - dried to give 3 . 8 g . of pale yellow solid , m . p . 122 °- 132 ° c . the solid was immediately dissolved in ca 75 ml of acetone and precipitated with water . there resulted 3 . 0 g . ( 50 % conversion ) of tan solid , m . p . 154 °- 155 ° c . an analytical sample was prepared by recrystallization from acetone , m . p . 154 °- 155 ° c . empirical formula : c 9 h 5 cl 2 n 3 os ; mol . wt . : 274 equation for preparation : ## str23 ## color and phys . state : light violet solid odor : none m . p . 109 °- 111 ° c . miscellaneous analyses : calcd : c , 39 . 43 %; h , 1 . 84 %; s , 11 . 69 %. found : c , 38 . 64 %; h , 2 . 06 %; s , 12 . 10 %. procedure : to a solution of 64 . 8 g . ( 0 . 3 m ) of 3 , 4 - dichloro - 5 - isothiazolecarboxylate acid chloride in 250 ml . of benzene was added simultaneously ( using two additional funnels ) 30 grams ( 0 . 3 m ) of triethylamine and a solution of 28 g . ( 0 . 3 m ) of 2 - aminopyridine in 100 ml . of benzene . the solution was stirred vigorously during the addition and the temperature was maintained between 25 °- 30 ° c . after the addition , the mixture was set aside at room temperature for 6 hours . the amine hydrochloride was filtered off and the residue washed with 100 ml . of hot benzene . the filtrate was then washed thoroughly with water , dried over mg 2 so 4 , and concentrated in vacuo to give the solid which was recrystallized from benzene to get 70 g . ( 87 % conversion ) of product , m . p . 109 °- 111 ° c . empirical formula : c 10 h 3 cl 3 fno 4 s 2 ; equation for preparation : ## str24 ## color and phys . state : off - white solid odor : none miscellaneous analyses : found : c , 31 . 23 %; h , 1 . 07 %; n , 4 . 58 %. calcd : c , 30 . 74 %; h , 0 . 76 %; n , 4 . 85 %. procedure : to a stirring solution of 8 . 4 g . ( 0 . 04 m ) of 3 - chloro - 5 - hydroxybenzene sulfonyl fluoride , 4 . 2 g . ( 0 . 04 m ) of triethylamine , and 100 ml . of toluene , was added 8 . 7 g . ( 0 . 04 mole ) of 3 , 4 - dichloro - 5 - isothiazolecarboxylate acid chloride in 10 ml . of toluene . after the slight exotherm had abated , the reaction was stirred 11 / 2 hours , at reflux , cooled and filtered . the triethylamine hydrochloride cake was washed with a little toluene , and the filtrate was evaporated in vacuum to give a residue of 16 g . of light tan solid , m . p . 106 °- 109 ° c . this residue was treated with a boiling mixture of petroleum ether and toluene , filtered hot to remove a small amount of insoluble material , and the filtrate chilled to obtain 10 . 5 g . ( 67 . 5 % conversion ) of off - white solid , m . p . 109 °- 111 ° c . an analytical sample was recrystallized twice more , m . p . 110 °- 111 ° c . empirical formula : c 7 h 5 cl 2 no 2 s ; equation for preparation : ## str25 ## color and phys . state : brown liquid and solid ref . ind . : 1 . 5510 d 25 miscellaneous analyses : calcd : c , 35 . 4 %; h , 2 . 1 %; s , 13 . 4 %. found : c , 35 . 93 %; h , 2 . 58 %; s , procedure : to a mixture of 10 . 8 g . ( 0 . 05 m ) of 3 , 4 - dichloro - 5 - isothiazolecarboxylic acid chloride and 5 . 0 g ( 0 . 05 m ) of triethylamine in 150 ml of benzene at room temperature was added 3 . 0 g . ( 0 . 5 m ) of allyl alcohol . the mixture was stirred at room temperature for 3 hours , on a steam bath for 1 hour , cooled and filtered . the filtrate was concentrated in vacuum to give 9 . 6 g ( 81 % conversion ) of brown oil . empirical formula : c 13 h 11 cl 2 no 4 s ; equation for preparation : ## str26 ## color and phys . state : yellow solid m . p . 62 °- 64 ° c . miscellaneous analyses : calcd : c , 44 . 8 %; h , 3 . 16 %; s , 9 . 2 %. found : c , 44 . 95 %; h , 3 . 28 %; s , 9 . 36 %. procedure : a mixture of 5 . 5 g . ( 0 . 025 m ) of 3 , 4 - dichloro - 5 - isothiazolecarboxylic acid chloride , 4 . 2 g . ( 0 . 025 m ) of 2 -( 4 - methoxyphenoxy ) ethanol and 2 . 5 g . ( 0 . 025 m ) of triethylamine in 150 ml . of benzene was heated on a steam bath for 6 hours , and filtered hot . the filtrate was concentrated in vacuum to give an oil which crystallized within 24 hours at room temperature . the solid was recrystallized from ethanol to give 5 . 8 g . ( 67 % conversion ) of product , m . p . 62 °- 64 ° c . empirical formula : c 12 h 8 cl 3 no 2 s 2 ; equation for preparation : ## str27 ## color and phys . state : white solid odor : none miscellaneous analyses : calcd : c , 39 . 0 %; h , 2 . 17 %; s , 17 . 4 %. found : c , 39 . 15 %; h , 2 . 45 %; s , 17 . 21 %. procedure : a mixture of 11 . 0 g . ( 0 . 05 m ) of 3 , 4 - dichloro - 5 - isothiazolecarboxylic acid chloride , 9 . 5 g . ( 0 . 05 m ) of 2 -( 4 - chlorophenyl ) thioethanol and 5 . 0 g ( 0 . 05 m ) of triethylamine in 150 ml . of benzene was heated on a steam bath for 4 hours and filtered hot . the filtrate was concentrated in vacuum to give an oil which solidified on standing at room temperature for 24 hours . the solid was recrystallized from ethanol to give 8 . 9 g . ( 47 . 5 % conversion ) of product , m . p . 58 °- 60 ° c . empirical formula : c 10 h 4 brcl 2 no 2 s ; equation for preparation : ## str28 ## color and phys . state : white solid m . p . 94 °- 96 ° c . miscellaneous analyses : calcd : c , 34 . 05 % h , 1 . 13 %; br , 22 . 68 %; s , 9 . 06 % found : c , 34 . 09 %; h , 1 . 40 %; br , 23 . 06 %; s , 9 . 00 %. procedure : to a solution of 11 g . ( 0 . 05 m .) of 3 , 4 - dichloro - 5 - isothiazolecarboxylic acid chloride in 200 ml . of benzene and 5 . 6 g . ( 0 . 055 m .) of triethylamine was added 8 . 7 g . ( 0 . 05 m .) of p - bromophenol in 25 ml . of benzene . the resulting slurry was stirred at ambient temperature for 2 hours , filtered to remove amine hydrochloride ; and the filtrate evaporated in vacuum . the solid residue was recrystallized from ethanol to give 16 . 1 g . ( 91 % conversion ) of a white product , m . p . 94 °- 96 ° c .	0
fig1 shows the configuration of an embodiment of a control apparatus 10 according to the invention , which can be applied to , for example , the control of a carriage motor of a serial printer . the control apparatus 10 of fig1 has a rotary encoder 3 coupled to the rotor of a pulse motor 1 , which is used as the carriage motor . the apparatus 10 further includes a speed detector 5 which receives an output pulse of the rotary encoder 3 , to detect the rotational speed of the rotor . a driver 7 in the apparatus 10 drives the pulse motor 1 while a microcomputer 9 receives outputs of the rotary encoder 3 and the speed detector 5 , for controlling the phase switching operation of the driver 7 . the microcomputer 9 is supported by a rom region 11 , in which a target speed table , to be described later , is programmed and by a ram region 13 , which stores a target phase switching phase table , also described later . preferably , the pulse motor 1 is driven by the 2 - 2 - phase magnetization method while being supplied with a constant excitation current . under this driving method , the relationship between the rotor phase θ ( electrical angle ) with respect to the magnetic field and the output torque is as shown in fig2 . in the phase - torque characteristics shown , the highest efficiency is attained when the motor is operated such that the phase θ is set in the range of - 45 deg . to - 135 deg . according to the embodiment , however , the motor may be used in a range deviating from the above - mentioned range in consideration of load fluctuation , etc . the target speed table programmed in the rom region 11 is set so that , with respect to n phase switching pulses to be output during the acceleration period , the target speed v of the motor at the time of outputting each pulse ( phase switching time ) is uniquely defined . an illustration of the relationship between these two parameters is shown in fig3 . the target speed v at each phase switching time is determined so that , as seen from fig3 the speed smoothly increases either in a linear manner or along a continuous curve ( for example , an exponential curve ) from the speed v = 0 at the start of operation until reaching the target speed v = v n . at the time when the motor enters the constant speed operational state ( i . e ., when the pulse number n = n ). as illustrated by way of example in fig4 the target phase switching phase table stored in the ram region 13 is set so that , for n phase switching pulses during the acceleration period , the target phase switching phase θ ( electrical angle ) is defined with respect to the magnetic field of the rotor at each output time . the target phase switching phase θ at each phase switching time is determined so that , as seen from fig4 the phase smoothly changes either in a linear manner or along a continuous curve ( for example , an exponential curve ) from the target phase switching phase of θ = 0 deg . at the start of operation until reaching the target phase switching phase θ = θ n when the motor enters the constant speed operation state ( n = n ). the target phase switching phase θ is changed smoothly because the speed must increase smoothly . the target phase switching phase table ( fig4 ) in the ram region 13 is prepared when the printer is powered on , in the following manner . a preoperation is first performed before the printer enters the real operation state , as described later . the phase switching phase at constant speed operation is measured , and the measured value is set as the target phase switching phase θ n at constant speed operation . then , the target phase switching phase table is calculated so as to interpolate between the target phase switching phase θ n and the switching phase of 0 deg . at the start of operation . the calculated target phase switching phase table is then stored in the ram region 13 . the target phase switching phase at the start of operation is set to be 0 deg . for the following reason . as shown in the phase - torque characteristic diagram of fig2 the phase θ has an ideal range of - 45 deg . to - 135 deg . when each phase switching is conducted at θ =- 45 deg ., therefore , the motor can theoretically be operated at the highest efficiency . however , the phase switching at θ =- 45 deg . causes the phase θ to be - 135 deg . immediately after the switching operation . in the case where the load increases for any reason , therefore , the phase may further lag so that the torque is reduced . this can , in the worst case , result in loss of synchronization . to avoid this , for cases where a system having a large load is to be started , a countermeasure can be taken in which the phase 8 immediately after the phase switching operation is in the vicinity of - 90 deg . at - 90 deg . the maximum torque is obtained , thereby preventing synchronization from being lost , even when the load fluctuates somewhat . in order to make use of this countermeasure , the initial target phase switching phase θ is set to be 0 deg . as apparent from the above discussion , however , it is not always necessary to set the initial target phase switching phase θ to be 0 deg . ; alternatively the phase may be set to some other appropriate angle , for example , an angle that leads - 45 deg . fig5 is a flowchart of the motor control processing which is conducted by the microcomputer 9 in such a configuration . the control has a feature that the phase control for making the phase θ at a phase switching time coincident with the target phase switching phase θ is harmonically combined with the speed control for making the speed v coincident with the target speed v . specifically , the controls are weighted in the following manner : a larger weight is applied to the phase control in the early stages of the starting operation . gradually , the weight of the speed control is increased as the speed increases , such that the effect of the phase control diminishes . when the speed reaches the target speed for constant speed operation , the contribution of phase control is nearly or completely absent . finally , at this point , phase control is conducted one more time so that the phase θ at a phase switching time is merged into the target phase switching phase θ n at constant speed running . this can produce smooth acceleration and stable constant speed running properties as described below in greater detail , with reference to fig5 . when the printer is powered on , a preoperation is first performed in order to prepare the target phase switching phase table . in accordance with the target speed table in the rom region 11 , the motor 1 is accelerated to reach the target speed v n of constant speed operation ( step s1 ). when the motor speed v is stabilized in the constant speed running state , the phase at a phase switching time in this condition is measured . the measured phase is set as the target phase switching phase θ n at constant speed operation . then , interpolation is performed so that the phase will change smoothly from the switching phase of 0 deg . at the start to the target phase switching phase θ n at constant speed operation , and a target phase switching phase table such as that shown by one of the curves in fig4 is constructed ( step s2 ). the preoperation is then terminated . next , the real operation is started . the phase switching pulse number n and the current phase switching phase θ 0 are initialized to be 1 and 0 deg ., respectively , and the first phase switching pulse is output ( step s3 ). the process continues such that an nth target phase switching phase θ is then obtained from the target phase switching phase table in ram region 13 ( step s4 ). next , an nth target speed v is obtained from the target speed table in rom region 11 ( step s6 ), and the current real speed v is obtained from the output of the rotary encoder 3 ( step s7 ). the target phase switching phase θ which is obtained in step s4 from the target phase switching phase table is the original control target with respect to the rotor phase θ at a phase switching . hereinafter , the phase is called &# 34 ; target phase switching phase for phase control .&# 34 ; in the following description , in addition to the target phase switching phase θ for phase control , a target phase switching phase θ \| for speed control which is used for making the actual speed v of the motor coincident with the target speed v , and a final target phase switching phase θ $ in which the two target phase switching phases θ and θ \| are integrated with each other in accordance with the above - mentioned weighting will be discussed . hereinafter , the former target phase switching phase θ \| is called &# 34 ; target phase switching phase for speed control ,&# 34 ; and the latter target phase switching phase θ $ &# 34 ; integrated target phase switching phase .&# 34 ; on the basis of the current actual speed v , the current phase switching phase θ 0 , and the target speed v , the target phase switching phase for speed control θ \| is calculated by expression ( 1 ) below ( step s8 ) in this equation , the units of the phase switching phases θ \| and θ 0 are degrees ( electrical angle ), the units of the actual speed v are degrees ( electrical angle )/ second , and the unit of the target speed v are pulses / second . hereinafter , the meaning of the right side of expression ( 1 ) will be described . in the expression , &# 34 ; 1 / v &# 34 ; means the period of the phase switching obtained when the motor is rotated at the target speed v , and &# 34 ; v / v &# 34 ; means an amount by which the phase θ is actually advanced at the current actual speed v during the phase switching period &# 34 ; 1 / v .&# 34 ; the expression &# 34 ;- 90 + θ 0 &# 34 ; means the phase θ immediately after the previous phase switching operation ( e . g ., conducted at the time of θ = θ 0 ) ( in the 2 - 2 - phase magnetization method , the phase 74 is shifted by - 90 deg .). consequently , the right side of expression ( 1 ) signifies the phase θ obtained when a time corresponding to the period &# 34 ; 1 / v &# 34 ; has elapsed after the previous phase switching operation . when the next phase switching operation is conducted at the time when the phase θ reaches the value of the right side , therefore , it means that the motor is disposed to be rotated at the next speed increment , eventually culminating at target speed v ( see fig3 ). accordingly , the value of the right side indicates the target phase switching phase for speed control θ \|. next , the target phase switching phase for phase control θ and target phase switching phase for speed control θ \| which are obtained as described above are integrated in accordance with expression ( 2 ) to obtain the integrated target phase switching phase θs for the nth phase switching ( step s9 ). where &# 34 ;( n - n )/ n &# 34 ; and &# 34 ; n / n &# 34 ; are weighting factors for the target phase switching phase for phase control θ and target phase switching phase for speed control θ \|, respectively . these weighting factors have the effect that , as shown in fig6 the smaller n is ( i . e ., the earlier in the acceleration period ), the larger is the weight of the phase control and the smaller that of the speed control . as n is increased ( i . e ., as the speed increases , the weight of the phase control is reduced while that of the speed control grows . after the integrated target phase switching phase 85 for the nth phase switching is obtained as described above , when the actual phase θ coincides with the integrated target phase switching phase θ $ ( step s10 ), the nth phase switching pulse is output and the phase switching is then conducted ( step s11 ). thereafter , the phase switching pulse number n is incremented by one , and the nth integrated target phase switching phase θ $ is set as the current phase switching phase θ 0 ( step s13 ). the steps s4 to s13 are repeated until n = n is attained . repetition of steps s4 - s13 causes the motor to be accelerated . as described above , in the early stage of acceleration , the weight of the phase control is relatively large . consequently , a sufficiently large torque required for acceleration is generated and the phase at which the phase switching is conducted changes smoothly , with the result that the motor is accelerated smoothly and rapidly . as the acceleration increases , however , the speed control becomes larger and larger . at the final stage ( n = n ), therefore , it is possible to accurately fix the actual speed of the motor at the target speed v . for constant speed operation . when the acceleration control reaches the final stage ( n = n ) ( step s5 ), phase switching is conducted once more , in the following manner . at the time when the phase θ coincides with the target phase switching phase θ n for phase control ( step s14 ), the nth phase switching is performed on the basis of only the phase θ n ( step s11 ). as a result , the phase of the phase switching in succeeding constant speed operation coincides with the target phase switching phase θ n for constant speed operation . the coincidence cooperates with the above - described coincidence of the motor speed and the target speed v n for constant speed operation , to ensure the stability of the speed in succeeding constant speed operation ( step s15 ). the result is that , unlike the prior art , dumping can be prevented from occurring . fig7 shows the configuration of another embodiment of the invention . in the embodiment , when a printer is to be shipped from the factory , a rotary encoder 3 and a speed detector 5 , forming part of a programming apparatus 30 that is a tool in the factory , are connected to the control apparatus 20 of the printer . then a preoperation is performed to prepare a target phase switching phase table , much like the one described in the first embodiment . the target phase switching phase table is stored in an eeprom 15 of the printer . the tools in the factory are then disconnected from the printer , and the printer is shipped from the factory . in the printer , acceleration of a motor is conducted by open - loop control . despite the above - described differences , this embodiment shares features with the first embodiment , described above , in that acceleration is controlled while integrating speed control with phase control and using a target speed table stored in the rom region 11 and a target phase switching phase table . fig8 shows the configuration of a further embodiment of the invention . in the embodiment , a target phase switching phase table , which is previously constructed in the design process , is stored in a rom region 11 ( along with a target speed table such as those described in the previous embodiments ) of the control apparatus 40 of a printer . the target phase switching phase table is used for registering the integrated target phase switching phase described above . in the printer , acceleration of a motor is conducted by the open - loop control in accordance with the table . a target speed table is used in addition to a target phase switching phase table . as seen from the above description , according to the first aspect of the invention , in a process wherein a pulse motor starts to run and then is accelerated to enter a constant speed operational state , dumping during constant speed operation can be reduced , so that a stable constant speed operating characteristic is realized . according to the second aspect of the invention , in a process wherein a pulse motor starts to run and then is accelerated to enter a constant speed operational state , both a smooth acceleration characteristic and a stable constant speed operating characteristic can be achieved . in the above description , several embodiments of the invention have been described as examples of the invention . from the disclosure provided , those skilled in the art will not only understand the present invention and its advantages , but will also find apparent various changes and modifications to the apparatus and methods disclosed as preferred embodiments . the applicant , therefore , seeks to cover all such changes and modifications falling within the spirit and scope of the invention , as defined by the appended claims , as well as equivalents thereof .	7
many aspects of the present invention are contained in or useable in a preferred embodiment of the present invention whose external construction and appearance are depicted in fig1 - 3 . this portable handheld optical code reader 30 is of a generally elongate bar shape equal to or less than four and three quarters inches in length having generally opposing upper and lower broad faces 31 and shallow side faces 33 . the circumference of the code reader at its thickest portion 29 is about five inches , such that it fits comfortably in the average human hand as shown in fig3 . the front end is truncated to form a face to accommodate a scanner exit window 34 . the rear end 35 is generally tapered and is adapted to nest in a cradle 32 . overall the reader is shaped generally elliptically when viewed from the angles shown in fig1 and 3 . it will be understood that many aspects of the present invention described below may be adapted for use in this as well as other hand - held or stationary optical code readers . [ 0040 ] fig1 and 2 are , respectively , pictorial and side views of the optical code reader 30 and cradle 32 configured in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention . the code reader 30 is generally elliptical in shape with slightly rounded upper and lower ends as viewed in fig1 and 3 . fig2 is a right side view of the code reader . the left side view is a mirror image of fig2 . a scanner exit window 34 is located at one end of the reader ( the top end in fig1 and 3 ). the actuators comprise a scan button 36 and a delete button 38 . feedback to the user is provided by a three - color led display visible through led window 40 . a removable battery cover 42 is located on the opposite side of the reader from the buttons and led window . [ 0042 ] fig3 is a pictorial view of the optical code reader 30 of fig1 and 2 , shown removed from the cradle 32 and held in the hand of the user . the fig . illustrates , among other things , the approximate size of the code reader . the fig . also shows how the code reader fits in one hand , where it can be easily and accurately aimed . the scan button 36 may be pressed with the thumb to initiate scanning . access to the delete button 38 is partially obstructed by a raised casing area 44 , which reduces the possibility of inadvertent actuation of the delete button 38 . with continued reference to fig3 the code reader 30 also may include a communication connector socket 46 at the rear end of the device into which a plug 48 may be inserted . the plug and socket may be used to electronically transfer collected optical code data to a personal computer or other suitable data handling terminal . in a more preferred embodiment the plug 48 is a miniature stereo phone plug located in the cradle 32 . the structure of such a cradle and plug is shown in greater detail in the cross - sectional view of fig4 ( a ). the structure may be easily fabricated from a pre - made miniature phone plug and cable assembly 50 . the plug portion 52 may have a molded casing 54 which snaps into and out of corresponding walls 56 of the cradle 32 . this construction has the advantage that a stock cable can be used for communication either by itself or in conjunction with the cradle 32 . a switch in the socket 46 may be used to detect insertion of the plug and to disable the laser scanner when the plug is inserted in the code reader . an optional optical interface may also be conveniently provided using a suitable cradle or docking station . the structure of such a cradle 60 is shown in fig4 ( b ) in cross - section . a code reader 30 of a preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown inserted in the cradle 60 . when so inserted the led display window 40 of the reader is located adjacent to a photo detector 62 . a light emitting element or led 64 is located on a optical path of the code reader 30 , to project an optical signal to the code reader 30 through the scanner exit window 34 . in operation an rs 232 output port of the reader 30 may be electrically connected to the led display and to a photo detector employed in the scanning module of the reader . data may be input into the reader 30 by means of the led 64 as indicated by signal line 66 . light produced by the led 64 is projected along an optical input path which may be collinear with an optical input path of the scanner during normal scanning operations . detection input data may be digitized and applied to a data receptor line of a microcontroller of the reader . advantageously , the input data may be transmitted at about a 9600 baud rate , which approximates the frequency band associated with light signals produced when a bar code is scanned . thus , the input electronics of the reader may be optimized to one frequency band common to both bar code scanning and optical interface signal input . data may be optically outputted from the code reader 30 by employing the display led . light produced by a display led for example a red display led may pass through led display window 40 and be detected by the photo detector 62 , where it is converted to a electrical signal and passed to a host or terminal as indicated by signal line 68 . it will be understood from the foregoing that the reader 30 may be provided with two modes of connectivity : electrical and optical . the electrical communication mode may be implemented at lower cost and may be more appropriate for home use , especially where the reader host is a home personal computer . the optical cradle requires electrical power for the led 64 . it may be more appropriate in heavy use environments such as a centralized host kiosk in a store which exchanges data with many code readers and which is always ready to accept data from the code readers it services . it will be understood that while the optical interface cradle or dock may be more expensive to fabricate , it is less susceptible to wear and tear caused by , for example , electrical contact degradation . further alternative types of cradles or docks may employ either of the above described electrical or optical interfaces , but contain further circuitry permitting direct access to and communication with telephone , cable or internet lines . the internal construction of the optical code reader 30 of fig1 through 3 will now be described . the top housing half 100 of the optical code reader is shown in plan view in fig5 wherein like features of the embodiment of the preceding figures are identified by the same numerals . the underside of the top housing half 100 is shown in plan view in fig6 . a flexible button pad member 102 is attached to the housing half 100 at 104 . the pad assembly 102 includes a scan button portion 106 and a delete button portion 108 integrally connected to each other by the elongated , flexible , serpentine portion 110 . flange portion 112 and 114 of the button portions are normally held against the housing half 100 by internal protruding posts 116 which rest on an underlying circuit board assembly 152 depicted in fig7 and 8 . activation pillars 118 and 120 are integrally formed in their respective button portions 106 and 108 respectively . in operation , when the scan button 106 is depressed , it triggers an electrical switch 150 located on an underlying circuit board assembly 152 shown in fig7 . likewise , when the delete button 108 is depressed , it triggers an electrical switch 154 , also located on the circuit board assembly 152 . the circuit board assembly 152 will now be described in greater detail in connection with fig7 and 8 . the circuit board assembly is shown in fig7 positioned in a lower housing half 156 and held in position by post 157 and pressure tabs 159 , both carried by the lower housing half 156 . the scanner exit window is located at 158 . a scanner module or engine 160 is located on the underside of the circuit board assembly 152 and directs a laser scanning beam outward through the exit window at 158 . a scanner module useful in the code reader of the present invention is constructed in the shape of a rectangular solid and known as an se 900 scanner module . such a scanner module is disclosed in u . s . patent application ser . no . 09 / 275 , 858 , filed mar . 24 , 1999 , which is hereby incorporated by reference . alternatively , the scanner module may be a “ scanner on a chip ” such as disclosed in u . s . patent application ser . no . 09 / 209 , 243 filed dec . 10 , 1998 , now u . s . pat . no . 6 , 021 , 947 , which is hereby incorporated by reference . as a further alternate the scanner module may be of a cylindrical type as discussed below in connection with fig1 . finally , the optical detection may be performed by a code reading engine employing imager technology such as disclosed in u . s . patent application ser . no . 09 / 096 , 578 , filed sep . 1 , 1998 , and hereby incorporated by reference . the circuit board assembly 152 includes a single main circuit board 161 on which electrical components are mounted , including switches 150 and 154 , display led 162 , micro processor chip 164 , memory chip 166 and i / o communications chip 168 . advantageously , the display led is a conventional bi - color led ( red and green ) capable of producing red , green and yellow light ( yellow light being produced by combining red and green light ). a communication connector socket 170 and the scanner module may be mounted on the underside of the circuit board 161 as shown in fig8 . [ 0057 ] fig9 illustrates the lower housing half of the optical code reader , with an upper wall of a battery compartment 180 cut away to reveal the location of the batteries 182 and 184 , battery compartment side walls and spring contacts . in a preferred embodiment the batteries are aaa type batteries . an outer side wall 186 of the battery compartment forms a side wall which encircles the batteries . inner end walls 188 and 190 are configured with small apertures 192 slightly larger than the protruding contacts 194 ( positive terminals ) employed on standard 1 . 5 volt batteries . in operation the contacts 194 penetrate in the apertures 192 and make electrical contact with conductive spiral helical springs 196 and 198 . the opposite ends ( negative terminals ) 199 of the batteries are formed substantially flat and rest against helical springs 200 and 202 which protrude through larger apertures 204 in the inner side walls 188 and 190 . spiral helical springs 196 and 200 are electrically connected together . spiral helical springs 198 and 202 end in spring loaded arms 206 and 207 , respectively . when the circuit board assembly 152 is positioned in the lower housing half 156 , the spring arms maintain themselves in pressure contact with conductive lands 208 on the underside of the cicuit board 161 shown in fig8 . thereby , the batteries are connected in series to provide an appropriate voltage ( typically 3v dc ) to the circuit elements of the optical code reader . it is conventional to include at least one diode in the power supply circuit of hand held battery powered scanners and other battery powered devices to prevent damage to the circuitry if a battery is inadvertently installed backwards ( i . e ., with its positive and negative terminals reversed ). the need for such measures is obviated by the structures of fig9 . it will be readily understood that the contact spring for the positive battery terminal is accessible only if the protruding terminal 194 of the battery is inserted into the small aperture 192 . these same contact springs are inaccessible to the wide , flat negative terminal of the battery . accordingly , if a battery is inserted backwards , the circuit is not completed . [ 0063 ] fig1 is a schematic block diagram of a preferred embodiment of an optical code reading system of the present invention . portions of the systems of fig1 are described in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 801 , 371 , the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein . generally speaking , the system elements enclosed by the dotted line 209 may be housed in a hand - held optical code reader 210 , while the systems outside line 209 may be resident in an external computer or terminal which communicates with the reader through a communications link such as described above . the hand - held code reader 210 includes an optical code reading module 211 which may be an imager or a laser scan module of conventional construction or of the type described in detail below . the bar code being read is indicated at 212 . the module is controlled by a controller 214 , which may be implemented in a microprocessor . the controller receives at least three user signals : from the scan key switch 216 ; from the delete key switch 218 and from the docking switch 220 . the keys may be actuated by the fingers of the user . the docking switch may be actuated by insertion of a communication plug 222 into the docking switch . the optical code reader 210 provides feedback directly to the user in at least two ways : through audible signals produced by one or more audio enunciators 224 and through visual signals produced by one or more light emitting diodes 226 . in a preferred embodiment , the code reader provides audio feedback in the form of short or long beeps of two different frequency and warble beeps . visual feedback may include continuous ( solid ) or flashing red , amber and / or green light signals from the led . the audio enunciator ( s ) and led ( s ) are operated in response to the controller 214 . preferred techniques for providing the user feedback are described below . signals from the module 211 may be processed in signal processor 228 and decoded by decoder 230 . decoded signals may be provided for storage in the memory 232 which may have , for example , a capacity to store information of up to 500 scanned items ( upc codes ). information concerning coupons ( discussed below ) may preferably be stored in a separate memory or a distinct section of an existing memory . this segregation reflects the fact that coupon data may be stored for the duration of multiple scanning or shopping sessions until used . information in the memory or memories may be communicated to an external terminal 234 through communications unit 236 , the plug 222 , and cable 238 . a clock 240 may be included in the circuitry of the code reader . the clock may be employed , for example , to periodically awaken the code reader at scheduled times or intervals for data downloading . the clock may also be connected to a display ( not shown ) so that the code reader can be used as a timepiece . with continuing reference to fig1 , the optical code reader 210 may communicate with the terminal 234 in the manner described above . the type of terminal and communication used with the code reader will depend on the use environment for the code reader . several examples will now be provided . it will be understood that versions of the optical code readers described may be very inexpensively fabricated . so much so that it becomes feasible to sell the unit to store customers for use in tallying their purchases in store and / or for use at home in preparing shopping lists . as an alternate the code reader could be leased to the customer . the rental can be based on time ( for example a monthly rental fee ). more preferably , the rental may be based on the number of decodes performed by the customer with the unit . the numbers of decodes or accumulated rental charges can be counted by software and hardware in the code reader or in a store terminal with which the code reader periodically communicates . in this system , the rental is based on use and can be conveniently tallied and automatically collected when the code reader communicates with a system terminal . in one preferred embodiment , the system terminal may be a personal computer . through the appropriate selection of the communication unit 236 and the cabling , the reader may communicate directly with a serial port of the personal computer . the code reader and cradle may be provided as an inexpensive preferred component . applications software installed on the computer enables the upload of a data from the code reader to the computer . such software may be provided to the computer , for example , on magnetic media , cds or over the internet . with appropriate applications software the pc can recognize when the code reader is docked in the cradle . the pc can , for example , download information from the docked reader at a predetermined time . docking may automatically disable the scanning mode of the code reader . in other preferred embodiments , the system terminal may be a highly capable point of sale terminal . the point of sale terminal may bring together inputs and data from a variety of sources other than the hand held optical code readers of customers and employees . such sources include a pen tablet , a fingerprint recognition pad , a magnetic strip reader ( e . g ., for credit card verification ), a smart card reader ( with or without contacts ), a speech recognition system , a global positioning system ( gps ), an rf transceiver , removable memory cards or discs , analog i / o , irda data or an encryption / decryption system . outputs of the terminal may include a display , a speaker system and a printer . in a shopping environment , the system may provide additional functions such as aisle sorting the customer &# 39 ; s shopping list or providing price ranges for items on the list . such information can be obtained by connecting the code reader to the merchants &# 39 ; data server to obtain product , price and / or location data on the items which the merchant has for sale . advantageously , a portion of the internal memory of the code reader can be allocated to a variety of applications other than storing information on scanned items . for example , 128 bytes of memory could be allocated to applications memory . among the data which could be stored in the applications memory are the customer &# 39 ; s name , the customer &# 39 ; s telephone number , the identity of the issuing store or owner of the scanner and the telephone number of the store . the customer and the store identity and telephone numbers provide convenient means by which a host terminal can greet and identify the user of the code reader and indicate and access the associated issuer or store . alternatively or in addition , each code reader may be provided with a memory of its unique serial number , which a host terminal may use to look up , for example , the identity of the customer or the issuing store . such identification information may be used in a key and lock system which enables only authorized customers to use the scanner at authorized stores or for authorized purchases . the allocated applications memory may also be employed to store transaction related data . for example , the memory may store the number of decodes for billing as described above , or keep a store - by - store log of the total dollar purchases ( for example for tallying up volume or patronage discounts ). other memory internal to the code reader may be used for storing coupon data . for example , an electronic coupon can be uploaded by scanning the bar code of a printed coupon or by electronically downloading the coupon from a web site or by simply inputting the coupon into the code reader when the code reader is connected to a merchant host terminal . for example , memory for 200 or 300 coupons might be provided including coupon values , expiration dates and validity data . an example of the operation of a coupon redemption process is as follows . a customer could load electronic coupons into the reader in one or more of the ways described above . the customer could scan purchased items with the code reader . data concerning both the purchased item and the electronic coupon could be downloaded by a merchant host terminal , which would pair valid coupons with corresponding purchases . the host terminal would discard expired coupons , delete used coupons , and return unexpired , unused coupons to the memory of the code reader . in other preferred embodiments , a method is provided for using the bar code reader to facilitate a transaction between a buyer and at least one of a plurality of merchants or sellers of a product or service utilizing a computer network . in accordance with that method , a product or service identification derived from scanning a bar code symbol is in put into the bar code reader . a customer identifier is provided in the bar code reader ( for example , a unique serial number permanently stored in the bar code reader ). the bar code reader is manually associated with a transaction terminal linked to a computer network by , for example , docking the code reader in a host terminal . the potential suppliers on the network capable of providing the product or service are determined . an inquiry is transmitted over the network to the plurality of sellers to determine the price and availability of the product or service . in some environments such as stock transactions , price and availability change rapidly and , it will be understood that , sales transactions can be performed in a timely way with the present method . also , the sellers can use the customer identity to determine whether and under what terms to complete the sale . responses are received in the host terminal from one or more sellers including a sales offer ; an acceptance is transmitted responsive to one of said sale offers ; and a payment is provided to the seller by using a payment identifier transmitted by the transaction terminal . in this way the network is accessed by the bar code reader to facilitate sales transactions . in other preferred embodiments , a customized scanner is employed which carries an identifier of a particular supplier or distributor of a product or service , e . g ., a sponsoring merchant . the sponsoring merchant may itself distribute its bar code readers to customers or potential customers . in this case the bar code reader may be used to facilitate transactions between a customer and the particular supplier to whom an inquiry is transmitted over a computer network to determine the current price and availability of a product or service from the supplier . the customer may receive a response from the supplier over the computer network including a current price . the customer may then transmit an acceptance identifier to the supplier over the computer network . in further , preferred embodiments , the code reader is integrated with a wireless transceiver unit to facilitate a transaction between a buyer and a seller . for example bar code scanners of the present invention may be integrated into a cellular telephone . in such a case , the need to dock the scanner with a host terminal or home personal computer to upload or download data may be obviated . the user of such a system may input an order or bid request and directly transmit the order or bid request to a supplier . it will be understood that a customer or supplier identifier in the unit may be used for the purposes described above , in order , for example to direct customers to a sponsoring merchant , or to identify the customer to validate use , payment or acceptance . [ 0084 ] fig1 is a state transition diagram , illustrating the coordination of various functions of the optical codes reader / pc system of a preferred embodiment of the present invention . in the diagram various code reader operation such as scan , dock and delete are represented as circles . system states are represented as squares . the pc operation of viewing a list of stored items is shown in a rounded square accessible from the “ dock ” operation . the diagram , indicates , among other things , the various options or responses to the condition of full memory or low battery . as noted above , the code reader of a preferred embodiment has two user actuated keys and a number of audio and visual feedback capabilities . these inputs and outputs are coordinated with at least five basic functions : scan ( e . g ., item input ), deletion of item , clearing memory , communicating with a host terminal and actuating a lock out . the relationship of the user action to function performed and audible / visual feedback are given in the following table i . table i code reader functions - user action / feedback function led feedback beeper performed user action ( green , red , amber ) feedback other scan item bar code press & amp ; hold flashing green -& gt ; solid green short beep , freq1 laser valid param bar code scan key flashing green -& gt ; solid green 2 short beeps , freq1 laser invalid param bar code flashing green -& gt ; solid red 3 short beeps , freq1 laser delete ( when enabled ) press & amp ; hold flashing amber -& gt ; solid amber short beep , freq2 laser item barcode delete key item doesn &# 39 ; t exist flashing amber -& gt ; solid red warble beep . laser param bar code flashing amber -& gt ; solid red 3 short beeps laser ( delete disabled - press & amp ; hold flashing amber none laser clear all enabled ) delete key fall through to clear all ( delete & amp ; clear all press & amp ; hold none none none disabled ) delete key clear all ( when enabled ) press & amp ; hold flashing amber -& gt ; solid amber long beep , freq2 laser on delete key for scan 3 sec past time , then scan time off ( when disabled ) hold delete key none none none host communication past scan time successful unit docked and flashing green -& gt ; solid green short beep on host none ( powerdown recv &# 39 ; d ) awakened by connect , then long host or push of beep on power down scan or delete key unsuccessful flashing green -& gt ; solid red none child lock toggle ( when enabled ) press & amp ; hold both none hi low , hi low none scan and delete keys for 1 sec under the “ scan ” function , three possibilities and their user feedbacks are noted in table i : scan of an item bar code , scan of a valid param bar code and scan of an invalid param bar code . param bar codes are bar codes which change the behavior or basic functionality of the code reader , rather than indicating the identity of a particular item in the manner of a upc code . as such the param bar code may be used to effect or toggle higher level operations such as for example converting the code reader to a laser pointer . under the “ delete ” function , three possibilities are noted in table i : scan of an item bar code previously entered in memory , scan of a bar code not in memory , and scan of a param bar code . when the delete function is enabled , the scanning of an item bar code previously entered in memory , deletes one of the item from memory . repeated use of this delete function may be used to decrement the quantity field in memory for the item , one unit at a time . scanning of the bar code of an item whose current count in memory is zero while pressing and holding the delete key , provides the user a feedback signal of the inability to delete . param bar codes may be scanned to enable or disable the delete function and clear all function ( described below ). under the clear all function , two possibilities are noted in table i : when clear all function is enabled or when clear all function is disabled . when the clear all function is enabled , pressing and holding the delete key while scanning an item bar code and holding the delete key 3 seconds past the scan time , deletes all of the items memory ( reduces the item count to zero ) and provides the indicated user feedbacks . in this way the memory can be cleared of all of an item , and , if desired , one or more of the item may then be reentered by using the scan function for the item bar code . advantageously , the default setting of the code reader is one in which both the clear all and delete functions are enabled . as shown in table i a lock toggle is provided in the code reader . the system may be employed to shut out unauthorized use to protect data and to prevent inadvertent eye exposure to laser light . as indicated in table i the function is performed by pressing and holding both the scan and delete keys for one second . because of the location of the two keys and the location of the blocking ridge 44 around the delete key , accidental toggling of the lock is minimized . [ 0090 ] fig1 is a switch timing diagram for the lock toggle function . in the example , the state of a first key pressed ( the scan or delete key ) is indicated by line 250 . the state of the other key is indicated by line 252 . a delay of t occurs during which the unit powers up and recognized the first key press at 254 . an additional interval of up to 200 milliseconds is provided for pressing of the other key to toggle the lock out function . if the second key is pressed within that interval ( as it is at 256 ) and if both keys remain depressed fro the remainder of the 1 second interval , the lock is toggled . the requirement that actuation of both keys be detected within the 200 millisecond period tends to prevent lock out toggling except in situations where the user intended to simultaneously press both buttons . the code reader is also capable of communicating certain special conditions such as memory low ( reader memory nearly filled to capacity ), memory full , battery low , lock enabled and on , and unexpected failure . ( the battery dead condition is implicitly communicated because the system ceases to respond altogether when the battery is dead ). the relationship of user actions , the special conditions , and the audible / visible feedback are given in the following table ii . table ii code reader functions - user action / feedback special cases led feedback beeper special condition user action ( green , red , amber ) feedback other memory low scan item press & amp ; hold flashing red -& gt ; normal operation laser or param bar codes scan key normal operation delete / clear all press & amp ; hold normal operation normal operation laser memory full delete key scan press & amp ; hold solid red long beeps for 5 sec none any bar code scan key or until scan released delete / clear all press & amp ; hold normal operation normal operation laser delete key battery low indication ( when enabled ) press & amp ; hold solid red -& gt ; normal operation laser scan scan key normal operation item & amp ; param bar codes delete press & amp ; hold solid red -& gt ; normal operation laser item & amp ; param bar codes delete key normal operation clear all press & amp ; hold solid red -& gt ; long beep , freq2 laser on for delete key solid amber scan time then 3 sec past off scan time off lock ( enabled & amp ; on ) scan / delete / dock rapidly flashing red none none unexpected failure scan / delete / dock flash red , green and none none amber for 5 sec ( service call ) battery dead scan / delete / dock none none none it will understood that the code reader of the above - described embodiments in capable of performing its many functions and provide user feedback without the need of an on board display screen , thus reducing the cost and complexity of the code reader . [ 0094 ] fig1 illustrates an embodiment of a laser scan module for use in generally cylindrical housings . the module of fig1 employs a mirror mounted on a leaf spring . alternative embodiments may use spiral tape springs which permit the mirror to pivot about a shaft about which the spiral tape spring is wrapped . in fig1 , the laser scan module 500 , includes a generally circular planar base 502 . it is adapted to be housed in a generally cylindrical housing such as that indicated at 501 . alternatively the module may be positioned on a code reader main circuit board such as shown in fig8 . a semiconductor light source 504 , such as a laser diode 506 and lens 508 may be located on the base 502 . the light source 504 generates a light beam projected along a first optical path indicated by arrows 510 . a generally planar , reciprocally oscillated reflector or mirror 512 is positioned above the base and located in the first optical path 510 . the reflector directs the laser beam impinging on it toward a code symbol located in the field indicated by arrow 514 . a spring coupled to the reflector 512 , pivotably supports the reflector for oscillating movement . in the embodiment of fig1 , the spring is a leaf spring 516 , fixed to the module at 518 . a drive mechanism is also supported on the base 502 for reciprocally oscillating the reflector 512 . the drive may include a permanent magnet 520 connected to the reflector and coupled to an electromagnetic coil 522 . when an alternating drive signal is applied to the coil 522 , an alternating magnetic field is produced which acts to oscillate the permanent magnet and , in turn , to flex the spring and reciprocally oscillate the reflector about an axis generally perpendicular to the plane of the figure . a photodetector 524 , such as a semiconductor photodiode is also mounted on the circular base under the reflector . the photodetector generates an electrical signal indicative of light reflected from a target code symbol . a one - piece optical element 526 , includes a beam folding section ( such as generally planar section 528 ), and a collection mirror portion ( such as curved portion 530 ). the optical element 526 is designed to receive retro - reflected light from the reflector and direct it to the photodetector 524 . the electronic coupon redemption process discussed above is enhanced by using additional information encoded as a second bar code symbol in addition to the first bar code symbol 212 . as shown for a sample coupon 600 in fig1 , the first bar code symbol 212 contains the manufacturer &# 39 ; s identity and the product identifying information , as is standard . the second bar code symbol 610 contains the additional information arranged in a template or format in which a four digit application identifier 612 gives the format of the data to follow , a single digit number system character code 614 gives a manufacturer &# 39 ; s number for products of the same manufacturer , a four digit offer code 616 gives a number assigned by manufacturers to code coupon offers , and a four digit expiration date 618 , where the first two digits represents the month , and the last two digits represents the year , gives the date that the product expires . the extended symbol 610 can also include a second two digit application identifier 620 followed by an eight digit household identifier 622 . the portable user apparatus or optical code reader 30 , 210 is capable of reading both symbols 212 , 610 on the extended code coupon 600 . the coupon 600 was downloaded from a server on the internet , or from a host terminal at the transaction site , and was printed on paper . as previously described , an electronic coupon may be read into the memory 232 of the portable reader by scanning a printed symbol 610 , by downloading data from an internet server or from a host computer , or by manual keyboard entry , to store coupon data . the reader can also scan a product identifying code or symbol 212 associated with the product being purchased , preferably being affixed directly on the product , to store product data . the coupon data and the product data are transmitted , preferably by wireless transmission at a radio frequency , to a transaction system or host computer 234 remote from the portable reader . the coupon data and the product data are electronically matched in a memory of the host computer , which thereupon transmits an acknowledgment signal to the portable reader , or to a check - out terminal at the site of the sales transaction , again by wireless transmission . the acknowledgment signal confirms that a match has been made and that the coupon is valid and has been redeemed . it is advantageous if the controller 214 includes circuitry for limiting the number of coupons that are stored in the memory 232 . the limiting circuitry could also be located in the host computer 234 . the limiting circuitry serves to insure that the number of coupons that are redeemed does not exceed a maximum approved by the manufacturer . it is further advantageous if the wireless transmission is initiated when the portable reader 30 is placed on the cradle 32 , or when an actuator on the reader is manually actuated , or automatically after each reading of a product identifying code and coupon . the customer identifier stored in the memory 232 is useful in determining the origin and destination of each transmission . advantageously , the customer identifier is provided in the household id field 622 of the symbol 610 . another feature of the product invention is an in - store advertising system 700 illustrated in fig1 which includes a display 701 and / or printed sign mounted on a stand , column , or the edge of a shelf in a supermarket ( or other kind of store ) along with some other features . many of the points outlined below pertain to ways to decrease power consumption . this is a critical aspect of the invention , and one that differentiates it from varius kiosk marketing systems that have preceded it . it is important to position the display near products being advertised , where there will usually be no source of power available , so batteries will be the only practical means of powering these displays . it would , of course , be impractical to run wiring to a new location every time the display is moved to be near a new product for a new promotion . it will therefore be important to minimize power consumption by powering down any part of the system whenever possible . the power supply rail system can be used to eliminate batteries , but it will be impractical to install it for initial roll - outs , pilot tests etc ., so initial acceptance of this kind of product will be dependant upon its ability to operate for a long time on a set of batteries . later , when the product becomes well established , and when it is known there will be a large enough continuing revenue stream generated by this system it may become economically justified to install the power supply rails . 1 . a shelf mounted advertising display system 700 that includes an object sensor to initiate actions that will draw the shoppers attention to the display . the initiated actions can include blinking leds 702 , animating displays on an lcd display screen 701 , energizing motors to cause physical motion etc . 2 . the display described above may also including a bar code , r . f . tag , mag stripe or smart card reader 703 . 3 . the device of 1 and 2 above but also including a radio for one or two way communication with a computer system . 4 . the device of 1 , 2 , 3 above in which the bar code scanner , r . f . tag reader , smart card reader or mag stripe reader are de - energized until the presence of an object bearing the media that is to be read is detected by a sensor . 5 . all of the above with the radio only being energized when a bar code ( assume from here on that when i say bar code i also mean r . f . tag , mag stripe or smart card ) has been decoded . 6 . no . 5 in which the radio is automatically powered down after the bar code data has been transmitted to the remote computing device , and in which the bar code scanner is automatically de - energized when the bar code has been decoded . 7 . the shelf mounted advertising display described above which also includes a printer for printing coupons or a dispenser for dispensing pre - printed coupons . the printer and its associated electronics only being energized during the printing process . 8 . all of the above in which the advertising system is powered by rechargeable batteries or by disposable single use batteries . 9 . feature 1 through 7 in which the system is powered by power supplied to it by a rail system mounted to the store shelf , allowing the system to be positioned anywhere along the shelf . 10 . feature no . 8 in which the batteries are recharged , or in which battery life is extended by solar cells mounted on the housing of the advertising system . 11 . all of the above features in which the advertising system is part of a larger system that enables shoppers to receive discounts or other offers on the advertised products . 12 . feature no . 11 in which the discounts are delivered electronically , without the use of paper coupons . 13 . features no . 11 and 12 in which the shopper receives a discount or other offer after scanning an identification card with the bar code scanner in the advertising display unit . 14 . all of the above features in which the offered discount or offer is dependant on the identity of the shopper . 15 . the above features in which the system keeps records about the number of user identity cards scanned , the number of offers accepted by shoppers and / or the number of activations of the attention drawing features . 16 . all of the above features in which the display can also be used as a price checker , or to perform other kiosk functions . 17 . the advertising display above which includes two sensors . one sensor has extended range sufficient to activate attention attracting features when a person or shopping cart moves within several feet of the display . a second sensor turns on the bar code scanner when an object carrying the bar code is placed within the reading field of the scanner . 18 . the advertising systems above including a bar code printed on the advertising display , or on the display housing , or displayed on an electronic display , in which the bar code can be scanned by a portable scanner carried by a shopper to facilitate delivering offers or coupons to the shopper . 19 . the system of 18 in which the offers or discounts are varied depending upon who the shopper is . 20 . the advertising system above in which the attention attracting actions are canceled when an object comes within range of the short range sensor that triggers the bar code scanner , or when a bar code is decoded by the scanner . the actions are re - initiated when another shopper comes within range of the extended range sensor . 21 . the systems described above in which the object sensors use optical or r . f . energy to sense objects . while aspects of the present invention have been described with reference to preferred embodiments and examples , the invention to be protected is defined by the literal language of the following claims and equivalents thereof .	6
in the development of the present invention , it has been found that even though a piezoelectric material has large transverse piezoelectric properties , said piezoelectric material does not always have large thickness piezoelectric properties at the same time . with reference to p ( vdf - trfe ), it has been found that the relation between the transverse piezoelectric properties and the thickness piezoelectric properties has roughly an inclination shown in fig1 with respect to the composition ratio of vdf to trfe . the hump in the graph of the thickness extensional electromechanical coupling factor , k t , shown in fig1 was surprising and unexpected . in particular , it was found that for a piezoelectric body consisting of a shaped article of p ( vdf - trfe ) of the composition ratio of vdf / trfe which is within the range of 55 / 45 mol % the value of the constant d 31 showing the transverse piezoelectric properties assumes a maximum . as the ratio of vdf increases , the value of the d 31 appreciably suddenly decreases , but when the composition ratio exceeds about 75 / 25 mol %, the value of the d 31 increases again . on the other hand , when the character of the thickness piezoelectric properties are observed with respect to the composition ratio of vdf - trfe from the value of the electromechanical coupling factor k t ( which is roughly in proportion to the thickness piezoelectric properties considered most proper to indicate the quality of the performance as an electromechanical transducer element utilizing the thickness piezoelectric properties which is one of the objects of the present invention than the piezoelectric constant d 33 showing the thickness piezoelectric properties ), it is found that at the composition ratio of vdf / trfe of 55 / 45 mol %, namely , the composition ratio at which the aforesaid transverse piezoelectric constant d 31 shows the maximum value , the value of the k t is so small as hardly to be able to be utilized as an ultrasonic transducer . from a point where the ratio of vdf exceeds 65 mol %, the value of the d 31 shows an inclination of sudden decrease , whereas the k t shows a large value to an extent of being able to be offered for practical use . the k t value further increases and at a point where the composition ratio of vdf / trfe is in the vicinity of 75 / 25 mol %, the k t shows the maximum value . thereafter , as the ratio of vdf increases , the value of the k t decreases . thereafter , when the ratio of vdf passes a point in the vicinity of 95 mol %, the value of the k t again shows an inclination of increasing . from fig1 it can be seen that in order to obtain a piezoelectric material good in thickness piezoelectric properties , selection of the composition ratio of vdf / trfe different from that of a piezoelectric material good in transverse piezoelectric properties is at least necessary . the reason it is stated herein as &# 34 ; at least necessary &# 34 ; is , when the composition ratio of vdf - trfe is merely selected in accordance with an inclination shown in fig1 and when that shaped article is merely subjected to a poling treatment , said shaped article may not become a piezoelectric material having a sufficient value of the electromechanical coupling factor k t capable of being immediately offered for practical use . in order to produce a piezoelectric body having a sufficient value of k t capable of being offered for practical use , it should be poled after being imparted with a heat - treatment effect under specified conditions or should be poled while a heat - treatment effect is being imparted thereto . hereinbelow , the present invention will be further explained using examples and comparative examples . p ( vdf - trfe ) having the composition ratio of vdf / trfe of 37 / 63 mol % was hot pressed at 250 ° c . the obtained film was rolled at 70 ° c . to be drawn to about 4 times to obtain a drawn film having a thickness of about 40 μm . on the two surfaces of this drawn film was vacuum evaporated al to form electrodes and the film was subjected to a poling treatment under conditions shown in table 1 . alternatively , the film was heat - treated in advance and then subjected to the poling treatment . the values of the piezoelectric constant d 31 showing the transverse piezoelectric properties and the values of the electromemechanical coupling factor k t showing the thickness piezoelectric properties of the obtained piezoelectric bodies are shown in table 1 . the preheat - treatment was carried out in air atmosphere for 1 hour . the melting point temperature tm of the drawn film used in these comparative examples was about 167 ° c . and the crystal phase transition temperature t &# 39 ; m of said film was about 50 ° c . because these comparative examples used the shaped article of p ( vdf - trfe ) having the composition ratio of vdf / trfe outside the range defined by the present invention , it is shown that even though the preheat - treating temperature or the poling temperature was in excess of ( t &# 39 ; m - 5 )° c ., piezoelectric bodies each having a large electromechanical coupling factor k t could not be produced . table 1__________________________________________________________________________ preheat - treatment poling conditions piezoelectric characteristics temp (° c .) temp (° c .) voltage ( kv / cm ) time ( hr ) d . sub . 31 ( 10 . sup .- 12 c / n ) k . sub . t__________________________________________________________________________comp example c1 none 50 300 1 13 . 4 below 0 . 01comp example c2 none 80 300 1 24 . 2 below 0 . 01comp example c3 none 100 300 1 21 . 9 below 0 . 01comp example c4 140 100 300 1 22 . 3 below 0 . 01__________________________________________________________________________ p ( vdf - trfe ) having the composition ratio of vdf / trfe of 49 / 51 mol % was hot pressed at 250 ° c . and the obtained film was rolled at 80 ° c . to be drawn to about 2 times to obtain a drawn film having a thickness of about 50 μm . on the two surfaces of this drawn film was vacuum evaporated al to form electrodes and the film was subjected to poling treatments . the values of the piezoelectric constant d 31 and the values of the electromechanical coupling factor k t of the obtained piezoelectric bodies are shown in table 2 . the melting point temperature tm of the drawn film used in these comparative examples was about 160 ° c . and the crystal phase transition temperature t &# 39 ; m of said film was about 60 ° c . because these comparative examples used the shaped article of p ( vdf - trfe ) whose composition ratio of vdf / trfe was outside the range defined by the present invention , even though the poling temperatures were more than ( t &# 39 ; m - 5 )° c ., the increase of that electromechanical coupling factor k t was not seen . said k t was 0 . 01 or less and did not exceed 0 . 05 . table 2__________________________________________________________________________ preheat - treatment poling conditions piezoelectric characteristics temp (° c .) temp (° c .) voltage ( kv / cm ) time ( hr ) d . sub . 31 ( 10 . sup .- 12 c / n ) k . sub . t__________________________________________________________________________comp example c5 none 50 300 1 8 . 85 below 0 . 01comp example c6 none 80 300 1 17 . 0 below 0 . 01comp example c7 none 100 300 1 10 . 9 below 0 . 01__________________________________________________________________________ a film obtained by hot pressing p ( vdf - trfe ) having the composition ratio of vdf / trfe of 55 / 45 mol % at 250 ° c . was uniaxially drawn to about 3 . 4 times at 40 ° c . to obtain a drawn film having a thickness of about 50 μm in comparative examples c8 - c10 and rolled at 40 ° c . to obtain a drawn film having at thickness of about 50 μm in comparative example c11 . on the two surfaces of each of these drawn films was vacuum evaporated al to form electrodes and the respective films were subjected to poling treatments or subjected to a heat - treatment in advance and thereafter subjected to a poling treatment under conditions shown in table 3 . the values of the piezoelectric constant d 31 and the values of the electromechanical coupling factor k t of the obtained piezoelectric bodies are shown in table 3 . the preheat - treatment was carried out in air atmosphere for 1 hour . the melting point temperature tm of the drawn film used in comparative examples c8 - c10 was about 156 ° c . and the crystal phase transition temperature t &# 39 ; m of said drawn film was 81 ° c . the melting point temperature tm of the drawn film used in comparative example 11 was about 155 ° c . and the crystal phase transition temperature t &# 39 ; m of said film was about 82 ° c . because these comparative examples used the shaped article of p ( vdf - trfe ) having the composition ratio of vdf / trfe which was outside the range defined by the present invention , even though the poling temperatures or preheat - treating temperature was more than ( t &# 39 ; m - 5 )° c ., the increase of the electromechanical coupling factor k t was not seen . said k t was 0 . 02 or 0 . 03 , or still small and insufficient for being offered for practical use . table 3__________________________________________________________________________ preheat - treatment poling conditions piezoelectric characteristics temp (° c .) temp (° c .) voltage ( kv / cm ) time ( hr ) d . sub . 31 ( 10 . sup .- 12 c / n ) k . sub . t__________________________________________________________________________comp example c8 none 50 300 1 14 . 5 below 0 . 01comp example c9 none 80 300 1 17 . 6 below 0 . 01comp example c10 none 100 300 1 28 . 4 0 . 02comp example c11 140 80 200 1 25 . 5 0 . 03__________________________________________________________________________ p ( vdf - trfe ) having the composition ratio of vdf / trfe of 75 / 25 mol % was extruded at 210 ° c ., the obtained film was rolled at room temperature and drawn to about 3 times to obtain a drawn film having a thickness of about 35 μm . on the two surfaces of this drawn film was vacuum evaporated al to form electrodes and said film was subjected to a poling treatment by the direct poling method at a poling temperature of 80 °- 140 ° c . and a poling voltage of 200 - 300 kv / cm for 1 hour to produce piezoelectric bodies . the values of the electromechanical coupling factor k t of the piezoelectric bodies obtained as a result are shown in fig2 and the values of the piezoelectric constant d 31 of said bodies are shown in fig3 . the melting point temperature tm of the drawn film used in this example was about 148 ° c . and the crystal phase transition temperature t &# 39 ; m of said film was about 130 ° c . the dsc ( differential scanning calorimetry ) curve of this film is shown in fig4 . fig2 shows that by the use of the shaped article of p ( vdf - trfe ) having the composition ratio of vdf / trfe within the range defined by the present invention and by carrying out the poling treatment at a poling temperature selected from the range of the poling temperature defined by the present invention , it is possible to produce a piezoelectric body having a good value of the electromechanical coupling factor k t . moreover , fig2 shows that when the poling temperature is less than ( t &# 39 ; m - 5 )° c ., the electromechanical coupling factor k t is too small to be detected ; however , when the poling temperature becomes at least ( t &# 39 ; m - 5 )° c ., the electromechanical coupling factor k t suddently increases and when said temperature becomes at least t &# 39 ; m , said factor becomes at least 0 . 1 and when the poling temperature becomes about 140 ° c ., a piezoelectric body , the value of whose electromechanical coupling factor k t reaches about 0 . 3 is obtained . the elastic constant e &# 39 ; 11 ( young &# 39 ; s modulus measured at 110 hz ) along the x direction of a piezoelectric body obtained by subjecting said drawn film to a poling treatment at a poling temperature of 80 °- 140 ° c . and a poling voltage of about 210 kv / cm for 1 hour by the direct poling method , is shown as a function of poling temperature by a solid line in fig5 . this fig5 shows that when the poling temperature becomes at least ( t &# 39 ; m - 5 )° c ., the value of the elastic constant e &# 39 ; 11 suddenly increases . it has also been found that the sound velocity and elastic constant c 33 d increases when the poling temperature becomes at least ( t &# 39 ; m - 5 )° c . on the two surfaces of the same drawn film as used in example 1 was vacuum evaporated al , said film was heat - treated by the preheat - treating method and thereafter poled to produce a piezoelectric body . the heat - treating was performed at 140 ° c . in air atmosphere for 1 hour and after the treatment , the film was taken out to an atmosphere at room temperature and allowed to stand therein . the so obtained heat - treated film was then subjected to a poling treatment at a temperature of 80 °- 140 ° c . and at a poling voltage of 210 kv / cm for 1 hour . the values of the electromechanical coupling factor k t are shown in fig6 and the values of the piezoelectric constant d 31 of said piezoelectric bodies are shown in fig7 . fig6 shows that when the piezoelectric bodies are heat - treated in advance at a temperature of at least ( t &# 39 ; m - 5 )° c ., even though low temperatures are selected in the poling treatment , it is possible to produce piezoelectric bodies having the desired values of the electromechanical coupling factor k t . this point is more clearly understood by comparing fig6 with fig2 which evidences the advantage of the aforesaid preheat - treating method . on the other hand , the values of the elastic constant e &# 39 ; 11 of the so obtained piezoelectric bodies are shown in dotted lines in said fig5 . this fig5 shows that according to the preheat - treating method , even though the poling treatment is carried out at low poling temperatures , it is possible to produce piezoelectric bodies having large values of the elastic constant e &# 39 ; 11 . the piezoelectric bodies having large values of this elastic constant e &# 39 ; 11 mean that when they are used as ultrasonic transducers utilizing the thickness piezoelectric properties of the piezoelectric bodies , they are advantageously used as good vibrators because their mechanical losses are small . the values of the electromechanical coupling factor k t shown in table 4 for the piezoelectric bodies were obtained by subjecting the heat - treated film obtained in example 2 to poling treatments at the poling temperatures and poling voltages shown in table 4 . this table 4 shows that according to the preheat - treating method , even when the poling temperature is 60 ° c . or even room temperature , it is possible to produce piezoelectric bodies having practically usable values of the electromechanical coupling factor k t . table 4______________________________________ poling conditions piezoelectric voltage characteristics temp (° c .) ( kv / cm ) k . sub . t______________________________________example 3 60 171 0 . 126example 4 60 333 0 . 193example 5 60 364 0 . 258example 6 60 474 0 . 301example 7 room temp . ( 25 ) 528 0 . 281______________________________________ a film obtained by heat pressing at 250 ° c . p ( vdf - trfe ) having the composition ratio of vdf / trfe of 75 / 25 mol % was rolled and drawn to about 2 . 5 times to obtain a drawn film having a thickness of about 50 μm . on the two surfaces of this drawn film was vacuum evaporated al to form electrodes and the film was subjected to a poling treatment under conditions shown in table 5 . the value of the piezoelectric constant d 31 and the value of the electromechanical coupling factor k t of the obtained piezoelectric body are shown in table 5 . for information , the melting point temperature tm of the drawn film used in this example was about 148 ° c . and the crystal phase transition temperature t &# 39 ; m of said film was about 130 ° c . the dsc curve of this film is shown in fig8 . table 5______________________________________preheat - treatment poling conditions piezoelectrictemp temp voltage time characteristics (° c .) (° c .) ( kv / cm ) ( hr ) d . sub . 31 ( 10 . sup .- 12 c / n ) k . sub . t______________________________________ex . 8none 130 200 1 9 . 2 0 . 104______________________________________ a film obtained by hot pressing at 250 ° c . p ( vdf - trfe ) having the composition ratio of vdf / trfe of 82 / 18 mol % was not drawn , but on the two surfaces of said film was vacuum evaporated al to form electrodes and the film was subjected to poling treatments under conditions shown in table 6 . the values of the piezoelectric constant d 31 and the values of the electromechanical coupling factor k t of the obtained piezoelectric bodies are shown in table 6 . for information , the melting point temperature tm of the non - drawn film used in this comparative example and example was about 151 ° c . and the crystal phase transition temperature t &# 39 ; m of said non - drawn film was about 123 ° c . the dsc curve of these temperatures is shown in fig9 . this comparative example and example show that in the case of p ( vdf - trfe ) having the composition ratio of vdf / trfe of 82 / 18 mol %, namely , within the range defined by the present invention , when the poling temperature imparting the heat - treatment effect is less than ( t &# 39 ; m - 5 )° c ., namely , outside the range defined by the present invention , the value of the electromechanical coupling factor k t is 0 . 01 , which is small ; however , by selecting the poling temperature of at least ( t &# 39 ; m - 5 )° c ., further , t &# 39 ; m per se ( in this case , it is about 123 ° c . as mentioned above ), it is possible to produce a piezoelectric body having the value of the electromechanical coupling factor k t of 0 . 09 or a significantly increased value . table 6______________________________________preheat - piezoelectrictreatment poling conditions characteristicstemp temp voltage time d . sub . 31 (° c .) (° c .) ( kv / cm ) ( hr ) ( 10 . sup .- 12 c / n ) k . sub . t______________________________________comp none 80 300 1 0 . 61 0 . 010examplec12example none 140 313 1 6 . 0 0 . 090______________________________________ on the two surfaces of a 34 μm thick p ( vdf - trfe ) film having a vdf / trfe composition ratio of 75 / 25 mol % drawn by rolls at 70 ° c . was vacuum evaporated al to form electrodes and said film was heat - treated at 140 ° c . for 1 hour . subsequently , 1300 kv voltage was applied to a space between said electrodes at 130 ° c ., said film was held for 1 hour and thereafter cooled per se to room temperature to effect a poling treatment . from this film , a 1 cm 2 disk was cut out and based on the method described in h . ohigashi , j . appl . phys ., 47 949 ( 1976 ), from the electric behavior in the vinicity of a resonance point of a piezoelectric thickness free vibrator , the electric acoustic properties of this p ( vdf - trfe ) piezoelectric body were measured . fig1 is a graph showing a result obtained by measuring at room temperature the relation of the absolute value of the electric admittance in an acoustically non - load state of said thickness piezoelectric vibrator element and its phase angle , respectively with respect to the frequency . the resonance peak of the \| y \| v . f curve ( curve a ) in fig1 , the difference from a valley in the vicinity of an anti - resonance point , and the varied amount of the phase angle are larger than those of any hitherto known high polymer piezoelectric vibrator . table 7 shows various constants obtained by comparing the admittance expected from the admittance of the vibrator . table 7______________________________________ p ( vdf - trfe ) pvdf______________________________________electromechanical coupling factor k . sub . t 0 . 285 0 . 20piezoelectric constant e . sub . 33 ( c / m . sup . 2 ) - 0 . 23 - 0 . 165sonic speed v . sub . 3 . sup . d ( m / s ) 2460 2260density ( 10 . sup . 3 kg / m . sup . 3 ) 1 . 85 1 . 78elastic constant c . sub . 33 . sup . d ( 10 . sup . 9 n / m . sup . 2 ) 11 . 2 9 . 47dynamic loss ψ 0 . 05 0 . 1dielectric constant ε . sub . 3 . sup . s / ε . sub . 0 6 . 5 6 . 2 ( 5 . 6 ) dielectric loss φ 0 . 20 0 . 25 * piezoelectric constant d . sub . 31 14 27 . 0 ( 10 . sup .- 12 c / n ) ______________________________________ * value at 110 hz ( nonresonance )- pvdf was what was obtained by subjecting a 4time drawn film to a poling treatment at a poling temperature of 120 ° c . for a poling time of hour at a poling voltage of 800 kv / cm . the constants with reference to pvdf similarly sought are also tabulated in table 7 . again , comparison of piezoelectric constant d 31 concerning expansion and contraction in the drawing direction is shown also . as is shown in table 7 , p ( vdf - trfe ) has a k t value larger than that of pvdf , having dielectric loss and mechanical loss smaller than those of pvdf . this fact means that the efficiency at which electric energy ( mechanical energy ) put into the vibrator is converted to mechanical energy ( electric energy ) is good and the possibility that electric energy ( mechanical energy ) is converted to heat energy is small , showing that the vibrator is good . the element obtained in this example was adhered to one surface of a pmma ( polymethyl methacrylate ) block ( a ) and a 6 mm pmma plate ( b ) was adhered to the other surface to prepare a waterproof ultrasonic transducer . this transducer was immersed in water and at a position 3 mm forward from the transducer , a 1 mm thick brass plate was placed in parallel to the pmma plate ( b ). this transducer was excited with a short pulse to generate an ultrasonic pulse , the reflective signal of which was received by the same transducer . of this reflective signal , from signals from multi - reflection by the front surface and rear surface of brass , the thickness of the brass plate could be measured . by this example , it was confirmed that this transducer generated ultrasonic waves having a practically sufficient intensity . a shown in fig1 , the frequency characteristics of two kinds of conversion losses cl f and tl f by underwater driving of an ultrasonic transducer obtained by successively laminating a pmma base plate , a copper plate ( 200 μm ), p ( vdf - trfe ) ( area 1 . 32 cm 2 , thickness 80 μm ) and a high polymer additional film ( aromatic polyamide , 15 μm ) were sought using a mason &# 39 ; s circuit . said cl f was defined by cl f =- 10 log ( p af / p o ) wherein p o was the maximum electric power utilizable from a 50 ohm power source and p af was an acoustic power output into water of the transducer . said tl f was defined by tl f =- 10 log ( p af / p t ) wherein p t was an effective electric power put into the transducer from the power source . the effective area of the aforesaid transducer was 1 cm 2 and the copper plate concurrently acted as a back surface electrode and an acoustic reflective plate . on the surfaces of the p ( vdf - trfe ) film , confronting electrodes were provided . as the physical property constants of p ( vdf - trfe ), the values in table 7 were used . the results are shown in fig1 . at the most efficiently operating resonance frequency ( 65 mhz ), cl f and tl f were about 12 db and 5 db , respectively and improvements by 3 - 4 db were seen from a transducer using the same constitution of pvdf ( k t = 0 . 2 ). this makes increase of the sensitivity on two pathways by 6 db in ultrasonic diagnosis used by a pulse reflection method , meaning that this transducer has a very good s / n ( signal to noise ratio ). from a laminated film ( thickness about 80 μm ) obtained by overlapping 2 films ( each having a thickness of about 40 μm ) obtained in the same manner as in example 10 with their polarization directions being made in parallel to each other , a transducer having a structure shown in fig1 was produced and the frequency characteristics of its losses were measured by operation in water . the results were a central frequency of within 0 . 5 mhz and a tl f of within 3 db , both being well in accordance with the results shown in fig1 . as shown in fig1 , a 100 μm thick copper plate 2 ( radius 13 mm ) shaped into a concave state by a mold having a radius of curvature of 70 mm was adhered onto a pmma base plate 1 . to this was adhered a 43 μm thick p ( vdf - trfe ) piezoelectric film 4 ( diameter 19 mm ) having an al vacuum evaporated electrode 3 on one surface , to the electrode 3 on the piezoelectric film was electrically connected a metal case for grounding 6 , thereafter , onto the piezoelectric film was adhered a polyester film 5 ( thickness 15 μm ) for the purpose of protecting the surface and reducing the operating frequency . the entire structure was accommodated inside a plastic case 7 . by applying a burst - like high frequency electric power to a space between a leading wire 8 connected to the copper plate electrode 2 and the grounded case 6 , the frequency characteristics of the conversion loss tl f of this transducer in the case of the underwater operation were measured by a pulse reflection method . the results are shown in fig1 . the piezoelectric body made of p ( vdf - trfe ) used in this example had a molar ratio of its components of 75 / 25 , being obtained by vacuum evaporating al on the two surfaces of a film drawn by rolls at 70 ° c . and thereafter subjecting the film to a poling treatment at a poling temperature of 133 ° c ., a poling voltage of 250 kv / cm for a poling time of 1 hour . as a result of analyzing the frequency characteristics of the impedance of the free vibrator , the value of k t was found to be 0 . 24 . as shown in fig1 , the tl f of this transducer at the center frequency of 10 mhz was 8 . 5 db . because the minimum tl f experimentally obtained by a transducer similarly constituted using a pvdf piezo - electric film ( k t = 0 . 2 ) and poled under good conditions was 11 db , it is seen that by the use of p ( vdf - trfe ) ( k t = 0 . 24 ), an improvement by about 2 . 5 db was made . for efficiently driving this transducer by a 50 ohm power source , a matching circuit consisting of a matching coil and an impedance conversion transformer was inserted between the power source and a piezoelectric element . as a result , it was possible to almost remove the reflection between the transducer and the power source . the loss (- 10 log p af / p o ) of the so matched transducer was 8 . 5 db at 10 mhz . typical experimental data is shown in tables 8 - 12 . some experiments shown in tables 8 - 12 have been described more precisely in the above examples and comparative examples . columns i - xii in tables 8 - 12 mean as follows : column ii : content of vdf ( mol %) in copolymer of p ( vdf - trfe ). 72 / 79 means that two kinds of the copolymers are blended with same volume . ( 1 ) hp ( 250 ) means that the shaped article is [ are ] formed by a hot pressing at a temperature of 250 ° c . ( 2 ) rd ( 50 ) means that the shaped article formed by hot pressing is drawn by between a pair of nip rolls at a temperature of 50 ° c . ( 3 ) me means that the shaped article is formed by melt extruding . ( 4 ) sc means that the shaped article is formed by solvent casting . ( 5 ) vd means that the shaped article formed by the solvent casting is dryed in vacuum atmosphere . ( 6 ) iwc means that the freshly shaped article formed by the hot pressing is cooled with ice and water . ( 7 ) ac means that the freshly shaped article formed by the hot pressing is cooled in room air atmosphere . ( 8 ) wc ( 40 ) means that the freshly shaped article formed by the hot pressing is cooled with water having a temperature of 40 ° c . ( 9 ) dwc ( 20 ) means that the freshly shaped article formed by the melt extruding is cooled with shower of water have a temperature of 20 ° c . on a drafting drum of the shaped article . ( 10 ) dac means that the freshly shaped article formed by the melt extruding is cooled in room air on a drafting drum of the shaped article . ( 11 ) ac ( 140 ) means that the freshly shaped article formed by the hot pressing is heat - treated to 140 ° c . for 1 hour by maintaining the shaped article in hot air atmosphere in the course of cooling down the article to room temperature . column iv : conditions of drawing the shaped article . semi - column a shows drawing temperature (° c .) and b shows drawing ratio . column v : thickness ( μm ) of the shaped article being subjected to preheat - treating or direct poling . column vi : semi - column a shows a temperature (° c .) of melting point ( tm ) and b shows crystal phase transition temperature (° c .) ( t &# 39 ; m ) of the shaped article being subjected to preheat - treating or direct poling . the numeral enclosed with parentheses means the shoulder showing t &# 39 ; m is not so clear . column vii : preheating conditions . semi - column a shows a temperature (° c .) of preheating and b shows a time ( hr ) for preheating . column viii : poling conditions . semi - column a shows a temperature (° c .) of poling and b shows a time ( hr ) for poling . column ix : semi - column a shows a temperature (° c .) of melting point ( tm ) and b shows crystal phase transition temperature (° c .) ( t &# 39 ; m ) of the shaped article after preheat - treating or poling . column x : semi - column a shows poling voltage ( kv / cm ) and b shows thickness extensional electromechanical coupling factor ( k t ). column xi : semi - column a shows poling voltage ( kv / cm ) and b shows transverse piezoelectric property ( d 31 ) ( 10 - 12 c / n ). column xii : &# 34 ; no &# 34 ; means that the experimental sample is out of the scope of the present invention and &# 34 ; yes &# 34 ; means that the experiment sample is in the scope of the present invention . table 8__________________________________________________________________________ iv vi vii viii ix x xii ii iii a b v a b a b a b a b a b a b xii__________________________________________________________________________pd 9037 hp ( 250 ) · rd ( 70 ) 70 4 40 167 50 none -- 50 1 -- -- 300 & lt ; 0 . 01 300 13 . 4 nopd 6737 &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; 80 &# 34 ; -- -- &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; 24 . 2 &# 34 ; pd 69 &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; 100 &# 34 ; -- -- &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; 21 . 9 &# 34 ; pd 70 &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; 140 1 &# 34 ; &# 34 ; -- -- &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; 22 . 3 &# 34 ; pd 9149 hp ( 250 ) · rd ( 80 ) 80 2 50 160 60 none -- 50 1 -- -- 300 & lt ; 0 . 01 300 8 . 8 nopd 72 &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; 80 &# 34 ; -- -- &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; 17 . 0 &# 34 ; pd 73 &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; 100 &# 34 ; -- -- &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; 10 . 9 &# 34 ; pd 4255 hp ( 250 ) · d ( 40 ) 40 3 . 4 50 156 81 none -- 50 1 -- -- 300 & lt ; 0 . 01 300 14 . 5 nopd 39 &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; 80 &# 34 ; -- -- &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; 17 . 6 nopd 40 &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; 100 &# 34 ; -- -- &# 34 ; 0 . 02 &# 34 ; 28 . 4 &# 34 ; pd 57 &# 34 ; me · rd ( 85 ) 85 2 &# 34 ; 155 82 140 1 80 &# 34 ; -- -- 200 0 . 03 200 25 . 5 &# 34 ; cd 14266 sc · vd 80 6 . 3 25 -- -- 140 1 80 1 -- -- 400 0 . 188 370 9 . 6 yespud 283 &# 34 ; hp ( 270 ) · iwc none -- 100 150 95 141 &# 34 ; 100 &# 34 ; -- -- 329 0 . 181 -- -- &# 34 ; pud 281 &# 34 ; hp ( 280 ) · ac &# 34 ; &# 34 ; 103 &# 34 ; &# 34 ; 140 &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; -- -- 340 -. 174 -- -- &# 34 ; cud 153 &# 34 ; sc · vd &# 34 ; &# 34 ; 46 -- -- 140 &# 34 ; 80 &# 34 ; -- -- 362 0 . 06 -- -- &# 34 ; __________________________________________________________________________ note : & lt ; 0 . 01 means less than 0 . 01 . table 9__________________________________________________________________________ iv vi vii viii ix x xii ii iii a b v a b a b a b a b a b a b xii__________________________________________________________________________pd 19172 hp ( 290 ) · iwc 80 7 35 148 ( 123 ) 140 1 100 1 149 117 314 0 . 201 314 12 . 6 yespd 192 &# 34 ; hp ( 240 ) · iwc &# 34 ; 5 . 8 53 &# 34 ; &# 34 ; -- -- 140 &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; 255 0 . 204 228 14 . 1 yescud 197 &# 34 ; sc · vd none -- 69 147 ( 105 ) 140 1 100 &# 34 ; 147 &# 34 ; 348 0 . 170 234 5 . 7 yescd 199 &# 34 ; &# 34 ; 70 5 . 7 43 148 ( 109 ) &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; 149 118 349 0 . 184 300 11 . 7 yescd 203 &# 34 ; &# 34 ; 83 5 . 6 47 &# 34 ; 109 &# 34 ; &# 34 ; 80 &# 34 ; -- -- 426 0 . 289 426 &# 34 ; yespud 233 &# 34 ; hp ( 290 ) · iwc none -- 80 &# 34 ; 122 &# 34 ; &# 34 ; 100 &# 34 ; -- -- 423 0 . 259 -- -- yespud 278 &# 34 ; hp ( 270 ) · ac &# 34 ; &# 34 ; 87 151 115 &# 34 ; &# 34 ; 130 &# 34 ; -- -- 230 0 . 184 -- -- yespud 280 &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; 84 &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; 100 &# 34 ; -- -- 536 0 . 204 -- -- yespd 22174 hp ( 270 ) · iwc 80 5 . 6 45 148 128 140 &# 34 ; 100 0 . 5 -- -- 333 0 . 258 -- -- yespd 236 &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; -- -- &# 34 ; &# 34 ; 60 1 -- -- 462 0 . 290 474 7 . 3 yespd 222 &# 34 ; hp ( 270 ) · wc ( 40 ) &# 34 ; 5 . 0 &# 34 ; -- -- &# 34 ; &# 34 ; 100 &# 34 ; -- -- 321 0 . 238 -- -- yespd 237 &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; -- -- &# 34 ; &# 34 ; 60 &# 34 ; -- -- 432 0 . 269 373 9 . 5 yespd 226 &# 34 ; hp ( 270 ) · wc ( 60 ) &# 34 ; 4 . 8 51 -- -- &# 34 ; 2 100 &# 34 ; -- -- 333 0 . 224 -- -- yespd 227 &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; 58 -- -- &# 34 ; &# 34 ; 60 &# 34 ; -- -- 414 0 . 240 436 10 . 5 yespd 230 &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; 4 . 6 60 -- -- &# 34 ; 1 100 &# 34 ; -- -- 310 0 . 266 295 13 . 9 yespd 245 &# 34 ; hp ( 270 ) · wc ( 78 ) &# 34 ; 5 . 0 65 -- -- &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; -- -- 369 0 . 245 -- -- yespud 292 &# 34 ; hp ( 270 ) · ac none -- 80 150 122 141 &# 34 ; &# 34 ; 0 . 5 -- -- 563 0 . 219 -- -- yespud 229 &# 34 ; hp ( 270 ) · iwc none &# 34 ; 79 -- -- 140 &# 34 ; &# 34 ; 1 -- -- 380 0 . 234 306 8 . 3 yespud 250 &# 34 ; hp ( 270 ) · wc ( 40 ) &# 34 ; &# 34 ; 83 -- -- &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; -- -- 422 0 . 291 -- -- yes__________________________________________________________________________ table 10__________________________________________________________________________ iv vi vii viii ix x xii ii iii a b v a b a b a b a b a b a b xii__________________________________________________________________________pud 25174 hp ( 270 ) · wc ( 60 ) none -- 78 -- -- 140 1 100 1 -- -- 437 0 . 276 -- -- yescd 238 &# 34 ; sc · vd 83 4 . 9 82 -- -- &# 34 ; &# 34 ; 60 &# 34 ; -- -- 427 0 . 278 -- -- yescd 244 &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; 100 -- -- &# 34 ; &# 34 ; 100 &# 34 ; -- -- 350 0 . 255 -- -- yescud 240 &# 34 ; &# 34 ; none -- 80 -- -- &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; -- -- 375 0 . 144 -- -- yesfud 255 &# 34 ; me ( 260 ) · dwc ( 20 ) 20 d 44 -- -- &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; -- -- 500 0 . 291 489 11 . 0 yesfud 268 &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; 30 -- -- &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; -- -- &# 34 ; 0 . 311 441 11 . 4 yesfud 266 &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; 58 -- -- &# 34 ; &# 34 ; 20 0 . 5 -- -- 621 0 . 212 -- -- yesfd 263 &# 34 ; &# 34 ; 80 4 . 4 40 -- -- &# 34 ; &# 34 ; 100 1 -- -- 300 0 . 171 -- -- yesdud 9775 me ( 210 ) · dac -- d 35 148 130 140 1 60 1 -- -- 171 0 . 126 177 5 . 5 yesdud 94 &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; 43 &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; -- -- 333 0 . 193 222 8 . 4 yesdud 93 &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; 44 &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; -- -- 364 0 . 258 533 7 . 1 yesdud 95 &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; 38 &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; -- -- 474 0 . 301 514 9 . 8 yesdud 99 &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; 36 &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; 20 &# 34 ; -- -- 528 0 . 281 543 9 . 3 yesdud 48 &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; 34 &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; 130 &# 34 ; -- -- 382 0 . 285 394 12 . 5 yespd 47 &# 34 ; hp ( 250 ) · ac 70 2 . 5 50 &# 34 ; &# 34 ; none -- &# 34 ; &# 34 ; -- -- 200 0 . 104 200 9 . 2 yescud 109 &# 34 ; sc · vd none -- 51 -- -- 140 1 120 &# 34 ; -- -- 275 0 . 196 275 7 . 5 yes__________________________________________________________________________ table 11__________________________________________________________________________ iv vi vii viii ix x xii ii iii a b v a b a b a b a b a b a b xii__________________________________________________________________________fd 12479 me ( 290 ) · dc ( 65 ) 125 2 . 5 72 145 none 143 1 140 1 148 134 417 0 . 151 429 12 . 8 yespd 127 &# 34 ; hp ( 240 ) · iwc 80 3 . 9 47 147 129 140 &# 34 ; 120 &# 34 ; -- -- 319 0 . 196 208 8 . 4 yespd 135 &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; 50 &# 34 ; &# 34 ; 142 &# 34 ; 100 &# 34 ; -- -- 360 0 . 230 333 12 . 5 yespud 282 &# 34 ; hp ( 260 ) · wc ( 40 ) none -- 75 143 none 143 &# 34 ; 100 0 . 5 147 139 467 0 . 159 -- -- yespud 287 &# 34 ; hp ( 270 ) · ac none &# 34 ; 61 149 135 141 &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; -- -- 748 0 . 241 -- -- yescd 131 &# 34 ; sc · vd 80 4 . 5 28 148 ( 128 ) 143 &# 34 ; 80 1 149 139 393 0 . 278 367 7 . 2 yescd 132 &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; 29 &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; 65 &# 34 ; 483 0 . 271 -- -- yescd 149 &# 34 ; &# 34 ; 100 5 . 9 30 -- -- 140 &# 34 ; 100 &# 34 ; -- -- 333 0 . 241 333 9 . 6 yescud 128 &# 34 ; &# 34 ; none -- 81 144 122 &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; -- -- 284 0 . 193 250 7 . 2 yescud 177 &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; 95 &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; -- -- 326 0 . 254 337 8 . 2 yescud 216 &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; 66 &# 34 ; &# 34 ; 130 &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; -- -- 348 0 . 182 338 7 . 3 yesud 218 &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; 110 &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; -- -- 343 & lt ; 0 . 01 348 6 . 2 nocud 215 &# 34 ; &# 34 ; 80 5 36 148 128 140 &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; -- -- 351 0 . 310 361 9 . 7 yespud 290 &# 34 ; hp ( 250 ) · ac ( 140 ) none -- 70 -- -- 140 -- 100 0 . 5 -- -- 643 0 . 248 -- -- yes__________________________________________________________________________ note : & lt ; 0 . 01 means less than 0 . 01 . table 12__________________________________________________________________________ iv vi vii viii ix x xii ii iii a b v a b a b a b a b a b a b xii__________________________________________________________________________cd 14480 sc · vd 80 5 . 1 31 -- -- 144 1 100 1 -- -- 387 0 . 060 387 12 . 5 yescud 146 &# 34 ; &# 34 ; none -- 151 -- -- 140 &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; -- -- 185 0 . 092 167 5 . 2 yescud 294 &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; 60 -- -- 142 &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; -- -- 495 0 . 151 -- -- yescud 14782 sc · vd none -- 67 -- -- 140 1 100 1 -- -- 441 0 . 060 385 3 . 5 yespud 288 &# 34 ; hp ( 288 ) · ac none &# 34 ; 66 151 123 150 &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; -- -- 530 0 . 05 -- -- yespd 62 &# 34 ; hp ( 250 ) · 120 3 91 166 none 140 &# 34 ; 115 1 162 149 440 0 . 161 400 6 . 7 yes rd ( 120 ) cp 27772 / 79 sc · vd 83 5 . 8 44 148 ( 117 ) 140 1 100 0 . 5 149 128 500 0 . 285 -- -- yescud 276 &# 34 ; &# 34 ; none -- 113 145 ( 113 ) &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; &# 34 ; 126 354 0 . 189 -- -- yes__________________________________________________________________________	7
fig1 illustrates a victim who has signs of cardiac arrest and who is being treated by a rescuer c . the rescuer may be a person who is a bystander and who has taken a cpr course . the rescuer has applied the electrodes of an aed ( automatic external defibrillator ) 14 that was available at the site of possible cardiac arrest , and is performing chest compressions at the lower chest area 12 . the automatic defibrillator 14 can apply high - voltage ( e . g . 2 , 800 volts ) shocks when the intelligence built into the defibrillator confirms the presence of a rhythm that prompts delivery of an electrical shock . the defibrillator has a cable 16 with wires 20 , 22 having conductors that are connected to first and second electrodes 24 , 26 . the electrodes are attached to the skin of the victim at conventional locations under the right collar bone and left lower chest . the rescuer applies downward forces or compressions to the sternum . it is noted that in some cases a rescuer also may blow air into the mouth or nose of the patient by mouth - to - mouth or mouth - to - nose breathing , sometimes using a mask or barrier device . an electrically insulating sheet 32 has been placed between the rescuer and the patient , so the rescuer can continue to apply chest compressions when the defibrillator delivers an electrical shock . as an option , the rescuer may be prompted prior to the delivery of a shock by the aed , and the rescuer may choose to stop chest compressions for a few seconds ( generally less than 5 seconds ) to allow for the shock to be applied . current versions of aed &# 39 ; s require a “ quiet ” period of perhaps 12 to 25 seconds , when chest compressions are suspended and during which the intelligence of the defibrillator determines whether or not a shock is required . during this “ quiet ” period the computer intelligence applies algorithms to analyze the rhythm in the ecg signal to determine whether the patient has vf , in which case delivery of a shock is triggered . if the victim is producing a rhythm which would be indicative of a potentially beating heart ( perfusing rhythm ), no shock is delivered and continued cpr is advised . though current defibrillators may actually require only as little as 7 seconds to identify the presence of a non - shockable rhythm , chest compressions are stopped for a longer period . as mentioned above , such “ quiet ” periods substantially reduce the success of defibrillation and survival from cardiac arrest . multiple shocks may be required and therefore several “ quiet ” periods may occur during which cpr is suspended for periods of time that prejudice restoration of circulation . in accordance with the present invention , the application of chest compressions by the rescuer is not interrupted while the intelligence of the automated defibrillator determines whether a defibrillation shock is indicated . fig2 is a graph 40 showing one cycle of an ecg signal obtained from a patient with a healthy heart in perfusing rhythm . the electrical cycle is conventionally identified by the letters characteristic of the beating heart , which are a pqrst complex . the five letters indicate five points along the electrical cycle . the main area of interest is the area qrs , in which there is an electrical “ spike ”. this spike is the part of the ecg cycle which corresponds to the electrical event which triggers the mechanical pumping of the ventricles and which creates the heartbeat and blood flow to the body . fig3 is a graph showing a typical ecg of a heart in vf . the qrs complex is not present , which indicates a quivering heart , which is a heart with vf and which does not produce blood flow and perfusion of the vital organs . the p - q and s - t parts of the electrical cycle are also absent . fig4 illustrates an ecg from a patient with a healthy heart generating perfusing rhythms , but in the presence of artifacts due to chest compressions . the graph 60 includes compression artifacts 62 resulting from chest compressions , together with qrs complexes 64 , labeled 64 a - 64 d and resulting from the electrical signals of the beating heart . the electrical signal of a healthy heart is typically more regular in the shape of the signal in each cycle and in the time periods of the cycles . in fig4 , the chest compression artifacts 62 are also applied regularly although their amplitude varies somewhat . the frequency of the - beating heart qrs complexes 64 and the frequency of the chest compressions and corresponding compression artifacts 62 are close , but are never exactly the same . as a result , there is a constant phase shift between the qrs complexes 64 and the compression artifacts 62 . the fact that there is a constant change in phase between the compression artifacts 62 in fig4 and the qrs complexes 64 , and the fact that the compression artifacts 62 are of brief duration and high amplitude , allows some of the qrs complexes to be separated out for analysis . in one approach , the ecg signal is modified by deleting all pulses of high amplitude , including the peaks of the large amplitude pulses and perhaps 12 . 5 % of the period on either side of each large pulse peak . large amplitude peaks may be defined as those of an amplitude exceeding a certain multiple of the average amplitude and having a large derivative ( slope ), but other criteria can be used . the resulting graph then can be analyzed in a manner similar to analysis of ecg signals which are not corrupted by chest compression artifacts . in another approach , qrs complexes 64 of fig4 lying about halfway between adjacent compression artifacts , such as 64 a , 64 b , 64 c , and 64 d , are taken and analyzed . perhaps four or five of the qrs complexes that lie about halfway between compression complexes ( e . g . between 25 % and 75 % of the time distance between compression artifacts 62 ) can be added together where points such as the q &# 39 ; s ( point of high slope and high slope change , lying in between the artifacts 62 ) overlap . a single qrs complex such as 64 b is cross - correlated with the average of the four or five qrs complexes . in fig4 , the time c between the peak signals 66 of the chest compression artifacts are regular , and the periods a 1 extending 12 . 5 % before and after each compression artifact peak 66 are excluded from analysis . only the periods b 1 extending from 25 % to 75 % of the peak compression artifacts are analyzed for the presence of qrs complexes . in fig4 , three qrs complexes 64 a , 64 b , 64 c lie completely within the periods b 1 , fig5 shows an ecg signal 70 from a patient whose heart is undergoing vf while chest compressions are being applied . the chest compression artifacts 82 can be removed by one of the processes described above . that is , the only periods analyzed are the periods b 2 that extends 12 . 5 % before and after each artifact 82 . the ecg signal in periods b 2 do not display any qrs complexes . that is , in the graph there are no sharp spikes between the compression artifacts , which indicates the presence of the bizarre vf condition characterized by the absence of qrs . this triggers delivery of a defibrillating shock . a large number ( e . g . 60 consecutive b 2 periods ) of signals in periods b 2 are analyzed to try to detect qrs complexes , to be sure that all qrs complexes do not happen to lie in the periods a 2 of chest compressions . the periods b 1 and b 2 in fig4 and 5 are analyzed to determine whether or not a group of ecg signals of periods b 1 or b 2 are of the same shape and / or have the shape of a qrs complex . one way is take the signals portions of durations b 1 at 64 a , 64 b , 64 c in fig4 and compare them . when comparing signals of duration b 1 at 64 a - 64 c , the absolute value of each signal is taken . the absolute value is autocorrelated to emphasize large amplitude change such as near the points q . then , pairs of signal portions of durations b 1 at 64 a - 64 c are cross - correlated . this involves multiplying corresponding points along the two signals to obtain a cross - correlation signal followed by determining the area under the cross - correlation signal . after the area is obtained , only one signal is shifted slightly and a new cross - correlation signal is obtained . this is repeated until the cross - correlation signal whose area is greatest is obtained . such cross - correlation numbers are obtained for a plurality of pairs of signals . in fig4 , pairs of signals 64 a , 64 b , or 64 c , 64 d are similar , so the sum of the cross - correlation numbers ( areas under the best cross - correlation graphs ) is high , indicating that all signals ( of periods b 1 ) are similar . in fig5 , the cross - correlation numbers are low , indicating that all signals ( of periods b 2 ) are not similar . fig7 - 14 contain graphs indicating how signals representing vf and qrs in the presence of chest compression artifacts are analyzed by an algorithm that uses crosscorrelation and autocorrelation . fig7 - 10 are all for a ecg signal for a case of vf , while fig1 - 14 are all for an ecg signal for a case of qrs complexes . fig7 contains a graph 100 that is a raw ecg signal for a patient with vf , in the presence of chest compression of about the same amplitude as peaks of the vf alone . fig8 is a graph 102 that represents the wavelet transform of fig7 . the wavelet transform is largely similar to the derivative , in that the slopes , but not absolute values , of the signals of fig7 are present in fig8 . the wavelet transform is also similar to taking the dc ( direct current ) component out of the ac ( alternating current ) signal of fig7 . fig9 is a set 104 of graphs obtained by first taking spike regions for the seven largest peaks ( e . g . s 1 through s 7 ) in fig8 . each spike region includes a peak and the signal extending 0 . 2 second prior to and 0 . 2 second after the peak . the peaks of the spike regions are aligned along the horizontal axis so they all lie on a vertical line 110 of fig9 . fig1 is a set 112 of graphs obtained by computing the autocorrelation of the seven spike regions of fig9 to obtain dark and thick line 114 , and by computing the crosscorrelations of the seven spike areas to obtain the thin lines 121 - 127 . the empty “ white ” space between the thick line 114 and each of the thin lines 121 - 127 is calculated . if there is a large white area , this indicates vf for that thin line . if there is a small white area , this indicates a qrs complex for that thin line . the “ white ” space for a thin line is the integral of the magnitude ( absolute value ) of the difference between line 114 and one of the thin lines 121 - 127 . fig1 contains a graph 130 that is a raw ecg signal containing qrs complexes . fig1 is a graph 132 that is a wavelet transform of fig1 . fig1 includes a set 134 of graphs obtained by following the same process described for fig9 . that is , applicant first takes spike regions for the seven largest peaks s 11 - s 17 in fig1 . each spike region includes a peak and the signal portion 0 . 2 second prior to and following the peak . fig1 is a set 142 of graphs obtained by computing the autocorrelation of the seven spike regions of fig1 to obtain dark and thick line 144 , and by computing the crosscorrelations of the seven spike areas to obtain the thin lines 151 - 157 . the empty “ white ” space between the thick line 144 and each of the thin lines 151 - 157 is calculated , as the integral of the magnitude of the difference between the thick line and each thin line . if a small white area ( an integral smaller than a preset amount ) has been calculated for a thin line , this indicates a qrs complex , while a large white area ( an integral larger than the preset amount ) indicates vf for that thin line . a visual comparison of the crosscorrelations of fig1 and 14 shows that for the vf set 112 of fig1 the thin lines 121 - 127 are largely out of phase with the thick line , which results in a large “ white ” area indicating vf . for the qrs complexes of fig1 , the thin lines 151 - 157 are largely in phase with the thick line , especially near the center 110 of the thick line ; this indicates a qrs complex . actual computing of the “ white ” area between a thick and thin line in fig1 and 14 will show this difference . in applicant &# 39 ; s algorithm , if a majority ( four of the seven ) spike regions have less than the predetermined white area ( between themselves and the thick line ), then the ecg is deemed to be a genuine qrs rhythm ( corrupted by compression artifacts ). if a majority ( four of seven ) spike regions have more than the predetermined white area then the ecg is deemed to represent vf . the white area which is the dividing line can be determined by tests on patients in emergency facilities . another approach is to look for large changes in signal amplitude over short periods of time . in fig4 , the average of maximum changes in each cycle is a change f of about 10 mv during a compression artifact . in fig6 , which represents ecg signal portion b 1 at 64 a of fig4 , the signal between points q and r has a voltage that rapidly increases . the increase is from − 3 . 2 mv to + 1 . 8 mv during a period e of about 0 . 05 second for a slope ( derivative ) of + 100 mv / sec . this is followed by a voltage decrease from r to s of 1 . 8 mv during a period of about 0 . 03 second for a slope of − 60 mv / sec . a slope of at least on the order of magnitude of 30 mv / sec ( absolute value ) between points differing in amplitude by at least about 10 % of the changes in amplitude at the compression artifacts , indicates a portion of a qrs complex . the presence of two successive opposite slopes of the above magnitude is a much stronger indication of a qrs complex . in fig6 , each change from q to r and from r to s is more than 10 % of the change f ( fig4 ) in the compression artifact . this indicates a qrs complex . in the periods b 2 of fig5 there are no changes of more than 10 % of the change g produced by the compression artifact . the detection of qrs complexes can be confirmed by the fact that a detection of a signal portion that is part of a qrs complex , should constantly change phase with respect to the chest compression artifact in each cycle ( which is the period between the middles , or peaks of two successive chest compression artifacts ). thus , the qrs complex will regularly occur almost simultaneously with the chest compression artifacts when the qrs complex cannot be detected , then qrs complexes will occur between artifacts and can be detected , and so forth . it is possible to set the frequency of chest compressions so they are close to expected heart beat cycles so a series of successive qrs complexes can be detected between chest compression . it is possible to analyze the ecg signals 60 , 70 ( fig4 and 5 ) in regions that include periods a 1 , b 1 that contain the chest compression artifacts 62 , 82 . however , it can be difficult to make such an analysis due to the high amplitude of the artifacts . one way is to obtain the profile of very regular chest compression artifacts ( especially when a chest compressing machine is used ) and cancel them in the ecg signal with signals that are 180 ° out of phase . thus , the invention provides a method for operating an aed ( automatic external defibrillator ) by a rescuer who can provide chest compressions , without the need for a extended interruption to provide “ clean ” ecg signals for detecting the heart rhythm and determining the need for an electrical shock . a possible exception is a hiatus that is a short period of time of a few seconds ( perhaps 3 seconds but no more than 5 seconds ) if the rescuer is not isolated from the patient &# 39 ; s chest by an insulating sheet or is applying mouth - to - mouth resuscitation . the ecg signal which includes chest compression artifacts , is analyzed to determine the presence of a perfusing rhythm or of vf , in the presence of the compression artifacts . the analysis can continue without interruption ( except possibly when a defibrillation pulse is applied ). compression artifacts are not removed but rather the qrs presence is identified in spite of the contamination of the signal by artifacts caused by chest compression . the method can include analyzing ecg signal portions lying between successive compression artifacts . in that method , applicant relies upon the constant phase shift between chest compressions and any heart beats , to provide qrs complexes that lie about halfway ( e . g . between 25 % and 75 % of the time period between successive artifacts ) between successive compression artifacts in about half of the cycles . these halfway signal portions can be isolated and analyzed apart from the rest of the ecg signal . the method can include analyzing the corrupted ecg signal by producing a transform such as a wavelet transform . then a group of spike regions thereof are selected that include high amplitude peaks and signals immediately adjacent to each peak . the autocorrelation of the group of spike regions is compared to crosscorrelations of the group of spike regions . signals representing “ white ” areas between the autocorrelation and each crosscorrelation are produced to determine whether the ecg signal represents qrs complexes or a vf condition . in practice , two or more methods can be applied to analyze the ecg signal and they can all be used to judge whether or not a defibrillating shock should be applied . the novel features of the invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims . the invention will be best understood from the following description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings .	0
referring to fig1 a , there is illustrated in a side view , a portion of a stack injection molding apparatus 10 in accordance with the prior art . the stack injection molding apparatus 10 includes a runner system 12 including a manifold 14 . the runner system 12 includes a primary runner 16 for receiving melt from a melt source ( not shown ). at a first branch 18 , the primary runner 16 branches into two secondary runners 20 . the secondary runners 20 , at respective second branches 22 , then branch into tertiary runners 24 . the tertiary runners 24 supply melt to associated nozzles 26 , which inject the melt into associated mold cavities ( not shown ). referring to fig1 b , there is illustrated in a side view , a manifold 14 b of an injection molding apparatus 10 b in accordance with the prior art . the manifold 14 b includes a runner system 12 b . the runner system 12 b includes a primary runner 16 b for receiving melt from a melt source ( not shown ). at a first branch 18 b , the primary runner 16 b branches into two secondary runners 20 b . the secondary runners 20 b , at respective second branches 22 b , then branch into tertiary runners 24 b . the tertiary runners 24 b supply melt to associated nozzles ( not shown ), which inject the melt into associated mold cavities ( not shown ). in the description that follows , like reference numerals are used to refer to analogous elements of the runner systems 12 a and 12 b of the injection molding apparatus 10 and the manifold 14 b , respectively . the runner systems 12 , 12 b differ , however , both include primary 16 , 16 b , secondary 20 , 20 b , and tertiary 24 , 24 b runners , through which the melt flow characteristics are similar . fig2 - 8 are described with respect to the manifold 14 b only for simplicity . referring to fig2 there is illustrated a sectional view of primary runner 16 b at a - a of fig1 b . a heated peripheral portion 28 of the melt around the runner wall of the primary runner 16 b is shown by shading . as can be seen from fig2 the hotter melt adjoining the runner wall is substantially uniformly distributed about the runner wall . at the first branch 18 b , the heated peripheral portion 28 of the flow is divided into two , as shown in fig3 . each of these halves of the heated periphery then flows into the secondary runners 20 b of the manifold 14 b . referring to fig4 and 5 , there is illustrated in sectional views , the melt flow at sections b - b and c - c in the secondary runners 20 b of fig1 b . as shown in fig4 and 5 , in the secondary runners 20 b , the heated periphery 28 is no longer substantially uniformly distributed about the runner wall . instead , the portion of the runner wall that is closer to the side at which the primary runner 16 b connects to the secondary runner 20 b receives most of the heated periphery 28 from the primary runner 16 b . consequently , this side of the secondary runner 20 b will have more heated melt than the opposite side of the secondary there of . however , as both secondary runners 20 b receive substantially the same proportions of heated and relatively unheated melt , there will be substantially equal mass flow through the two secondary runners 20 b . this will not , necessarily , be the case where the secondary runners 20 b branch at the second branch 22 b into the tertiary runners 24 b . referring to fig6 melt flow downstream from section b - b , at the second branch 22 b where the secondary runner 20 b branches into two tertiary runners 24 b , is illustrated . as can be seen from the sectional view , the heated peripheral portion 28 is more symmetrical than it was at the section b - b , due to heating of the relatively unheated side ; however , there remains a substantial asymmetry in terms of the degree of heating on either side of the secondary runner 20 b . this substantial asymmetry is , at the second branch 22 b , unequally divided as shown in fig6 . referring to fig7 and to fig8 the downstream consequences of this asymmetric division are illustrated in the sectional views d - d and e - e . referring to fig7 the sectional view d - d illustrates that this tertiary runner 24 b receives a disproportionate share of the heated peripheral melt 28 , while the sectional view e - e shown in fig8 indicates that the opposite tertiary runner 24 b receives substantially less of the heated peripheral melt 28 . the heated melt moves faster as it is less viscous . as a result , the tertiary runner 24 b including section d - d will receive more melt than the tertiary runner 24 b including section e - e , resulting in a flow imbalance between the nozzles and cavities supplied by these respective tertiary runners 24 b . a similar situation arises with respect to the tertiary runners 24 b fed by the opposite secondary runner 20 b . referring to fig9 there is illustrated in a sectional view , a flow - rotating plug 30 in accordance with an embodiment of the invention . the flow rotating plug 30 is installed at the juncture of the primary runner 16 b and the pair of secondary runners 20 b in the manifold 14 b . the flow - rotating plug 30 includes an inlet 32 and an inlet conduit 34 that branches into two outlet conduits 36 . each of the outlet conduits 36 leads to a separate outlet 38 . the inlet conduit 34 follows an arcuate path . as a result , the intersection of the axis of the inlet conduit 34 with the axes of the two outlet conduits 36 is in a plane substantially perpendicular to the plane in which the primary runner 16 b intersects the two secondary runners 20 b . the outlet conduits 36 then curve back toward the secondary runners 20 b , such that the outlets 38 release the melt into the secondary runners 20 b . however , due to the plane of the branch within the plug 30 being perpendicular to the plane of the first branch 18 b , the heated peripheral melt 28 will be rotated 90 degrees . referring to fig1 , the plug 30 of fig9 is shown in a perspective view with hidden details shown using dashed lines . referring to fig1 a , another embodiment of a stack injection molding apparatus 100 is generally shown . the stack injection molding apparatus 100 is similar to the stack injection molding apparatus 10 of fig1 a , however , further includes the flow rotating plug 30 of fig9 . the plug 30 is installed at first branch 118 between primary runner 116 and secondary runners 120 . referring to fig1 b , a manifold 114 b incorporating the flow - rotating plug 30 of fig9 is shown at a first branch 118 b between a primary runner 116 b and a pair of secondary runners 120 b in the runner system 112 b . the melt flow through the primary 116 b , secondary 120 b and tertiary 124 b runners will now be described with respect to fig1 - 18 it will be appreciated that the melt flow through the primary 11 b , secondary 120 and tertiary 124 runners of fig1 a is similar and therefore will not be described separately . the section of the melt taken at a ′- a ′ in fig1 b showing the melt in the primary runner 116 b upstream from the first branch 118 b and the plug 30 will be the same as the section a - a shown in fig2 . however , downstream from the first branch 118 b and plug 30 , the sectional views differ . referring to fig1 , there is illustrated in a sectional view , the melt in the secondary runner 120 b at section b ′- b ′. the heated peripheral portion 28 of the secondary runner 120 b is shown as shaded in . comparing fig1 to fig3 it is apparent that the shaded portion has been rotated 90 degrees . similarly , the sectional view at c ′- c ′ of fig1 b is shown in fig1 . compared to the analogous sectional view c - c shown in fig4 the sectional view c ′- c ′ shown in fig1 is rotated 90 degrees . in fig1 b , the shaded portions at sections b ′- b ′ and c ′- c ′ are both in the plane of the page , as opposed to being in a plane perpendicular to the page . consequently , they will both be evenly divided at a second branch 122 b where the secondary runners 120 b divide into respective pairs of tertiary runners 124 b . each of the tertiary runners 124 b in turn supplies melt to an associated nozzle ( not shown ). referring to fig1 , there is illustrated in a sectional view , melt downstream from the sectional view b ′- b ′ at the second branch 122 b where the secondary runner 120 b branches into two tertiary runners 124 b . as with the sectional view of fig6 the melt is asymmetrically distributed about the periphery of the secondary runner 120 b . however , in fig1 , this asymmetrical distribution is symmetrically divided such that each of the tertiary runners 124 b will receive substantially equal halves of the heated melt . referring to fig1 and 16 , there is illustrated in sections d ′- d ′ and e ′- e ′ respectively , the melt flow in the tertiary runners 124 b . as is apparent from fig1 and 16 , the heated melt is substantially equally divided between these two tertiary runners 124 b . accordingly , the amount of melt provided to the associated nozzles by these tertiary runners 124 b will be substantially equal , and of substantially the same temperature . according to other embodiments of the invention , the flow is not rotated between the primary runner 116 b and secondary runners 120 b , but is instead rotated between the secondary runners 120 b and tertiary runners 124 b . however , this requires a different configuration of flow - rotating plug 30 . referring to fig1 , there is illustrated in a sectional view a portion of a runner system 212 of a stack injection molding apparatus 200 . the stack injection molding apparatus 200 is similar to the stack injection molding apparatus 10 of fig1 a , however , it incorporates a second plug 230 in accordance with a further embodiment of the invention . the plug 230 could alternatively be installed in the manifold 14 b , 114 b of fig1 and 11 b , respectively . this second plug 230 is also illustrated in the sectional view of fig1 . the section of the melt taken in a primary runner 216 upstream from a first branch 218 between the primary runner 216 and the secondary runners 220 at section g - g is shown in fig1 . as shown , this section is the same as the section a - a as shown in fig2 . in the runner system 212 , there is no plug between the primary runner 216 and the secondary runners 220 . accordingly , the section h - h in the secondary runner 220 upstream from the second plug 230 as shown in fig2 is the same as the section b - b shown in fig4 . thus , as shown in fig7 and 8 , a heated peripheral portion 228 will be unequally divided between tertiary runners 224 ( shown in fig2 and 22 ) unless it is rotated . accordingly , in fig1 , the second plug 230 is installed at the juncture between the secondary runner 220 and tertiary runners 224 to rotate the heated peripheral portion 228 such that it is equally divided between the two downstream tertiary runners 224 . referring back to fig1 , the second plug 230 includes an inlet 232 , an inlet passage 234 , two outlet passages 236 in fluid communication with the inlet passage 234 , an internal branch 240 between the inlet passage 234 and the two outlet passages 236 , and two outlets 238 at the downstream ends of the two outlet passages 236 . the inlet passage 234 is curved , and the internal branch 240 is located , so as to substantially equally divide the peripheral heated portion 228 in the inlet passage 234 between the two outlet passages 236 . as a result , substantially equal amounts of flow are provided to the tertiary runners 224 via the outlet passages 236 and outlets 238 of the second plug 230 . sections of the melt downstream from the second plug 230 at sections i - i and j - j are shown in fig2 and 22 respectively . as can be seen from fig2 and 22 , the peripheral heated portion 228 of the melt is equally divided between the tertiary runners 224 . some stack molds and manifolds may comprise more than three levels of runners . that is , in addition to primary , secondary and tertiary runners , they may include quaternary runners . in such runner systems , each of the tertiary runners branches into a quaternary runner , which quaternary runner in turn supplies melt to an associated nozzle . in such hot runner systems , depending on the asymmetry existing in the tertiary runner , it may be necessary to include secondary plugs downstream from a primary plug , which primary plug may be the plug of fig9 or the plug of fig1 . that is , the primary plug rotates an initial asymmetry such that it is symmetrically divided between tertiary runners . however , the secondary plug must subsequently rotate that asymmetry in the tertiary runners to ensure that it is substantially equally divided between the quaternary runners . unlike the above - described primary plugs , this secondary plug does not rotate the flow by 90 degrees , as the asymmetry must only be rotated 45 degrees in one direction or 135 degrees in the other direction , to be symmetrically divided between the two quaternary runners . referring to fig2 , there is illustrated in a schematic view , a runner system 312 of a stack injection molding apparatus in accordance with an aspect of the present invention . melt within a secondary runner 320 of the runner system 312 of fig2 is illustrated in the sectional view of fig2 along the line l - l . as is apparent from fig2 , the melt within the secondary runner 320 has been rotated such that it is aligned for a substantially equal division between the tertiary runners 324 downstream from the secondary runner 320 . melt flow at a section m - m of a tertiary runner 324 downstream from the secondary runner 320 is shown in fig2 . from this drawing , it is apparent that the heated peripheral portion 328 at section m - m is not positioned for equal division between quaternary runners 325 downstream from this tertiary runner 324 . melt flow within one of these quaternary runners 325 at section n - n is illustrated in fig2 , and melt flow in the other of these quaternary runners 325 at section o - o is illustrated in fig2 . as can be seen from these figures , the peripheral heated portion 328 shown in fig2 is unequally divided between these quaternary runners 325 , as the melt shown in fig2 includes more of this heated peripheral portion 328 than the melt shown in fig2 . as a result , there may be preferential melt flow to the quaternary runner 325 of fig2 . referring to fig2 , there is illustrated in a schematic diagram a runner system 400 of a stack injection molding apparatus including an auxiliary plug 430 ( shown in fig2 ) in accordance with a further aspect of the present invention . referring to fig2 , this auxiliary plug 430 is illustrated in a sectional view . the auxiliary plug 430 includes an auxiliary plug inlet 432 , an auxiliary plug branch 440 , and two auxiliary plug outlets 438 . however , instead of including a 90 degree bend , the auxiliary plug 430 includes two 45 degree bends . in operation , the auxiliary plug 430 is installed at the juncture of secondary runner 420 and tertiary runners 424 . the auxiliary plug branch 440 , which divides the melt flow from the secondary runner 420 into two auxiliary plug passages 442 including 45 degree bends . as a result , the peripheral heated portion 428 in the tertiary runners 424 is rotated by 45 degrees to be aligned for substantially equal division between the downstream quaternary runners 425 . referring to fig3 , there is illustrated in a sectional view , the melt flow at section m ′- m ′ downstream from the auxiliary plug 430 ( the melt flow at section l ′- l ′ upstream from the auxiliary plug 430 is unchanged from that of fig2 ). as shown , the melt flow has been rotated by 45 degrees from the melt flow shown at the same location in fig2 . when this melt flow reaches the juncture of the tertiary runner 424 with the two quaternary runners 425 , it will be equally divided between the quaternary runners 425 due to its position . the melt flow in one of the quaternary runners 425 downstream from this tertiary runner 424 is shown at section n ′- n ′ in fig3 , and the melt flow in the other of the quaternary runners 425 downstream from this tertiary runner 424 at section o ′- o ′ is shown in fig3 . from a comparison of fig3 and 32 , it is apparent that the melt flow has been symmetrically divided between the two quaternary runners 425 . from fig3 and 32 , it is also apparent that the shear - heated peripheral portion 428 at both sections n ′- n ′ and o ′- o ′ are positioned to be symmetrically divided if the quaternary runners 425 subsequently branch into two downstream runners that run substantially parallel to the tertiary runner 424 . however , this is not required if the quaternary runners 425 supply melt directly to their associated nozzles , but this is only an incidental feature resulting from the way the shear - heated portion 428 of the melt in the tertiary runner 424 is divided between the two quaternary runners 425 . while the preferred embodiments are described above , it will be appreciated that the present invention is susceptible to modification and change without departing from the fair meeting of the accompanying claims . for example , instead of the auxiliary plug being positioned at the juncture of the secondary runner and tertiary runners , auxiliary plugs might be positioned at the juncture of the tertiary runners and the quaternary runners , or positioned solely within the tertiary runners . further , the invention may be implemented without using plugs . instead of plugs , the runners in the manifold of stack mold may be configured in the same way as the plugs to rotate the melt for equal division between downstream runners . the purpose , in every case , is simply to rotate the melt within the relevant runner such that it is symmetrically divided in the next runner , or , such that it is aligned in the next runner for subsequent symmetric division in the runners immediately downstream from the next runner . all such modifications or variations are believed to be within the sphere and scope of the invention as defined by the claims appended hereto .	1
the present invention can be better understood with reference to fig1 through 7 . fig1 depicts a platform - based network 200 in accordance with the present invention . platform - based network 200 comprises access box 210 , switching box 220 , transport box 230 , computation box 240 , and large scale access box 250 all linked together with links 125 , 135 , 145 , and 155 . however , in the hierarchical approach embodied in network 200 , all of the network elements 210 , 220 , 230 , 240 , 250 are implemented using the same platform - based hierarchical system packaging . access box 210 comprises mechanical elements 211 , cooling elements 212 , power elements 213 , common electronic and management functions 214 , and a plurality of linecards 215 a , 215 b , and 215 c . an exemplary linecard 215 c further includes mezzanine cards 216 a , and 216 b . advantageously , platform - based network 200 utilizes hierarchical packaging by using the same building blocks , 211 , 212 , 213 , and 214 that were used in element 210 , and only the linecards are specific to the functions of a particular box . this greatly reduces the cost of implementing hierarchical platform - based network 200 . further , platform - based network 200 includes elements of different scales . for example , transport box 240 may require comparatively few modules , while large scale access box 250 may require many more modules . larger scale elements like 250 are implemented with a plurality of identical central resources , all interconnected using a superfabric . the central resources needed to implement access box 250 are multiple identical copies of the same elements used to implement computation box 240 , and the other elements in platform - based network 200 . this reuse saves substantial development and deployment expense . fig2 shows a block diagram of a cube 300 in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention . cube 300 is a self - contained electronic assembly that is capable of stand - alone operation or can be integrated along with other cubes and higher order fabrics into a complex system . cube 300 comprises at least one set of central resources 310 . central resources 310 comprises an interconnect fabric switch 312 , power conditioning circuit 314 , power distribution circuit 316 , synchronization circuit 318 , test circuit 320 , management circuit 322 , and cube control processor 324 . in an exemplary embodiment , a cube includes a single central resource . in a further exemplary embodiment , a cube includes a plurality of central resources , the number depending upon the level of fault tolerance required by a particular application . central resources 310 preferably includes a plurality of modules 350 a - 350 d . modules 350 a - 350 d preferably include processing functions , packet interfaces , signal processors , storage , or various types of i / o interfaces . in the preferred embodiment , modules 350 a - 350 d are amc modules conforming to the picmg standard . central resources 310 are preferably interconnected with modules 350 a - 350 d over a variety of links , including main fabric interconnection links 332 a - 332 d , power distribution links 336 a - 336 d , synchronization links 338 a - 338 d , test links 340 a - 340 d , and management links 342 a - 342 d . uplinks 313 and power connections 315 interconnect the resources of cube 300 with higher order functions of the system . cube 300 can be used for small scale systems in a standalone mode , or can be interconnected with other cubes to create shelf level systems as shown in the block diagram of fig4 or the mechanical concept of fig5 . fig3 depicts a mechanical design 400 of a cube 300 . mechanical design 400 provides rigid support for all elements . backplane 430 interconnects the various elements , and includes conductors for links 332 , 336 , 338 , 340 , and 342 . cooling system 420 provides a means of cooling the electronics within mechanical enclosure 400 . circuit board 410 is the physical embodiment of central resources 310 and includes connectors 412 to accept interconnecting cables leading to higher order system functions . module circuit boards 450 a - 450 d are the physical implementations of the functions of modules 350 a - 350 d . fig4 depicts a shelf level system 500 comprising a plurality of cubes 500 a - 500 h and a central superfabric cube 510 to interconnect them together . superfabric cube 510 includes interconnect and control boards 520 and 521 and shelf level power distributions 530 and 531 . interconnect and control boards 520 and 521 comprise central switching fabric 532 , shelf level synchronization circuit 534 , shelf test circuit 536 , shelf management circuit 538 , and shelf control processor 539 . in an exemplary embodiment , at the shelf level , redundancy is often desired . in this exemplary embodiment , superfabric cube 510 comprises redundant interconnect and control boards 521 and redundant power distribution board 531 . interface panel 540 provides shelf level interfaces for alarms and craft control . cubes 550 a through 550 h are preferably interconnected with interconnect and control boards 520 , 521 and power distribution boards 530 and 531 via communications links 560 a , redundant communication links 560 b , power links 570 a , redundant power links 570 b , sync links 580 a and redundant sync links 580 b . in this manner , superfabric 510 can support , control , and manage a plurality of cubes in its domain . uplinks 533 and power connections 535 connect the shelf level system to higher level infrastructure . fig5 shows the mechanical design of shelf level system 600 , which is depicted in the block diagram shown in fig4 . shelf level system 600 comprises mechanical support elements 605 , shelf level cooling elements 607 , a superfabric cube 610 , and a plurality of cube packages 650 a - 650 h . superfabric cube 610 includes the elements shown in 510 in fig4 , namely a pair of interconnect and control boards 620 a and 620 b , a pair of shelf level power distribution boards 630 a and 630 b , and a craft and alarm interface panel 640 . advantageously , the superfabric mechanical packaging shown in superfabric cube 610 preferably has the same footprint and mechanical interfaces as cube mechanical enclosure 400 , so it is possible to configure different numbers of cubes and superfabrics in shelf 600 , depending upon the needs of the particular application . also shown are shelf level cable management devices 660 a - 660 c . interconnection among the elements depicted in fig5 are preferably via front panel cables . alternately , interconnection is accomplished via a second order backplane that is located behind the cubes . fig6 depicts a block diagram of a multi - shelf system 700 . multi - shelf system 700 includes a number of shelf level systems 750 a - 750 h , a super - superfabric 710 to interconnect shelf level systems 750 a - 750 h , and a frame level power infrastructure 740 . shelves are interconnected with the super - superfabric with inter - shelf interconnect facilities 715 a - h and frame level power wiring 745 a - h . in the preferred embodiment , up to eight shelves of cubes are interconnected with a single super - superfabric shelf . also in the preferred embodiment , the super - superfabric shelf is an advanced tca system . it should be understood that cubes need not comprise modules and fabrics , but may comprise larger scale package modules . as examples , these can include but are not limited to optical amplifiers , disk arrays , radio modules , or any other component not amenable to mezzanine module packaging . fig7 is a mechanical view 800 of the multi - shelf system 700 . super - superfabric shelf 810 is located in the center of the mechanical arrangement 800 . hierarchical shelves 850 a - 850 h surround the super - superfabric . in the embodiment depicted in fig7 , shelves 850 a - 850 h comprise a plurality of shelves , each of which comprises a plurality of eight cubes , as well as a superfabric cube each . frame level mechanical elements 820 support the shelves . 820 is depicted as three equipment frames , with three shelves per frame . system power elements 840 manage the power distribution across the shelves . the present invention thereby provides a hierarchical packaging system that permits the construction of a very regular arrangement of electronic components . systems of very small scale , such as a few modules , as well as very large scale , having thousands of modules , and spanning multiple cabinets , are all easily constructed out of a small number of electrical and mechanical building blocks . the systems of the present invention are efficient to construct and manage , because of the great commonality of elements at all levels , and the regular , hierarchical method of interconnecting , powering , testing and managing them . while this invention has been described in terms of certain examples thereof , it is not intended that it be limited to the above description , but rather only to the extent set forth in the claims that follow .	7
referring now to the drawings , and particularly to fig1 - 5 , a diathermy treatment apparatus or hand piece of the present invention is indicated in its entirety by reference character 1 . the hand piece includes a housing 3 which may be readily gripped by a surgeon and which may be readily maneuvered and operated in the operating field for carrying out a variety of diathermy treatments with all of the controls ( as will be hereinafter explained in detail ) carried directly on the hand piece so as to facilitate operation of the hand piece by the surgeon without unnecessary detractions , such as the requirement of a foot switch for actuation of the hand piece and the like . more specifically , housing 3 is provided with a removable panel 5 providing access to one or more batteries 7 located within the housing , the batteries constituting a direct current ( dc ) power source for a radio frequency ( rf ) generator located entirely within the housing ( as shown in fig6 ) for supplying a radio frequency oscillatory current to one or more output electrodes ( as will be hereinafter described in detail ) for diathermy treatment . while batteries 7 are herein disclosed to be located within the hand piece housing 3 , it will be understood that within the broader aspects of this invention , the direct current power supply ( e . g ., the batteries or an inverter ) may be located remotely from the hand piece and electrically connected thereto by suitable leads . it will further be appreciated that within the broader aspects of this invention , the radio frequency generator is desirably located within the hand piece so as to minimize capacitance changes , standing wave problems , rf energy interference , and the like between a remotely located radio frequency generator interconnected to the electrodes by long leads , as was heretofore conventional . in other words , it is an object of this invention to reduce , as much as possible , the distance between the radio frequency generator and the electrodes . further , in accordance with this invention , hand piece 1 includes a trigger operated switch 9 readily disposed for operation by the index finger of the surgeon for energization and de - energization of the diathermy apparatus 1 . a rotary switch or potentiometer 11 is provided on the hand piece which may be utilized by the surgeon for varying the power output of the radio frequency generator means in a manner as will be more particularly described in regard to the schematics shown in fig7 and 8 . also , a light indicating diode warning light , as indicated at 12 , is provided for indicating the status of batteries 7 . thus , all necessary controls for the diathermy hand piece of the present invention are carried by the hand piece , and the necessity of a foot actuated switch and long power leads and switch leads are eliminated . referring now to fig2 and 3 , a removable bi - polar electrode probe assembly , as indicated in its entirety at 13a , is provided for being plugged into the end of housing 3 for electrical connection with the radio frequency generator . more specifically , electrode probe 13a is a so - called coaxial electrode probe having a first or central coaxial electrode 15 and a second or outer electrode 17 surrounding the inner electrode 15 . intermediate electrical insulation 19 is provided between the electrodes 15 and 17 . an outer layer of insulation 20 surrounds the outer electrode , and the outer insulation 20 is covered by a stainless steel sheath 21 . the electrode probe assembly 13a has a body portion 23 . male electrode terminals 25a and 25b are , respectively , electrically connected to electrodes 15 and 17 . thus , the electrode assembly 13a may be readily plugged into a socket ( not shown ) in the left - hand end ( as viewed in fig1 ) of housing 3 so as to electrically connect the electrodes 15 and 17 to the radio frequency generator of the hand piece 1 of the present invention in a manner as will hereinafter appear . also , in this manner , electrode probes may be readily changed by the surgeon during surgery without the necessity of complicated disassembly of the apparatus . further , the electrode probes may be readily sterilized in any conventional manner and sealed in a sterile plastic bag or the like until ready for use . referring to fig4 and 5 , an alternative embodiment of the electrode assembly is indicated in its entirety by reference character 13b . more specifically , electrode assembly 13b has a pair of spaced bi - polar tweezer - type electrode forcep tips 27a , 27b extending outwardly and downwardly from the end of the insulative electrode body with a gap g between the electrode tips . this type of electrode assembly is particularly well suited for bi - polar coagulation techniques . while not shown , those skilled in the art will appreciate that a mono - polar electrode probe used in conjunction with a patient grounding mat may be used with the handpiece 1 of the present invention for mono - polar diathermy techniques , including mono - polar coagulation and surgical cutting . referring now to fig6 the basic components of the diathermy hand piece 1 of the present invention are shown in schematic or block diagram form . more particularly , it can be seen that batteries 7 are connected in series via the on / off switch 9 to a radio frequency generator , as indicated in its entirety by reference character 29 . the output ( i . e ., the power ) of radio frequency generator 29 is selectively controlled by means of a rotary potentiometer 11 . further , the output of radio frequency generator 29 is supplied to a pair of female electrical receptacles , as indicated at 31a , 31b , for receiving the electrical terminals 25a , 25b of either electrode assembly 13a or 13b such that the electrode probes may be readily plugged into or removed from receptacles 31a , 31b . referring now to fig7 a first detailed embodiment of the radio frequency generator 29 is illustrated in its entirety by reference character 29a . more particularly , radio frequency generator 29a is so - called self - oscillating flyback converter suitable for driving a higher voltage which utilizes the core characteristics of a transformer 30 to determine the frequency output of the generator . more specifically , a diode d1 , such as an in4148 diode , prevents negative spikes from occurring at the vmos gate of a power transistor q1 . resistor r1 may be , for example , a 100 ohm resistor and is used as a parisitic suppressor . capacitor c1 may , for example , have a capacitive value of about 0 . 1 microfarads . with the transformer shown , such as is commercially available from indiana general of valparaiso , indiana , under the trade designation f626 - 12 - qz , the operating frequency of the frequency generator 29a is about 250 kilohertz . as indicated , the voltage source supplied to one of the terminals may vary between about 3 and 15 volts . accordingly , batteries 7 of the present invention may range from a plurality of aa size conventional alkaline batteries to one or more conventional d size alkaline batteries , depending on the desired power output of the device and the number of repeated operations desired before it is necessary to change the batteries . in fig8 still another embodiment of another radio frequency generator is indicated in its entirety by reference character 29b . generally , batteries 7 are connected in series by means of the selectively operable , on / off switch 9 to an oscillator circuit , as generally indicated at 33 , which generates a square wave at , for example , a frequency of about 500 kilohertz . the outputs of oscillator 33 are driven in opposite polarities and are supplied to output transistors q2 , such as irf532 transistors , commercially available from international rectifiers , el segundo , california , via nand gates 35 and a mos driver 37 with a speed - up rc circuit 39 interposed between the nand gates 35 and the mos driver 37 . a toroid transformer 41 having a toroidal core 43 is driven in a push - pull manner by transistors q2 . more specifically , the toroid transformer 41 has a double primary 45 , with each primary 45 consisting of 7 windings , and a secondary winding 47 having 35 windings . the toriod may , for example , be a type 204t250 - 3c8 , commercially available from ferroxcube of saugerties , new york . the secondary winding 47 of transformer 41 is directly connected to the output terminals 31a and 31b of the hand piece . the power output is controlled by sequentially gating the two nand gates 35 &# 34 ; on &# 34 ; and &# 34 ; off &# 34 ; at a variable duty cycle by means of a variable duty cycle oscillator 49 at a frequency far below the frequency of oscillator 33 . variable duty cycle oscillator 49 comprises two nand gates 51 interconnected to the power output adjustment switch 11 . in actual operation , a hand - held diathermy apparatus 1 of the present invention utilizing the frequency generator power supply , as generally indicated at 8 , was successfully used in opthalmalic operations as a bi - polar coagulator for small blood vessels . this device produced up to 4 watts of power for several short periods up to about 10 seconds each from two standard &# 34 ; c &# 34 ; size alkaline batteries 7 . in other tests , the apparatus delivered about 4 watts of power into a 500 ohm load ( not shown ) which was found to be sufficient for coagulation of small blood vessels . batteries 7 with higher power densities and yet of reasonable physical size and weight are available . for example , two &# 34 ; c &# 34 ; size battery cells , such as model csc933b30 , commercially available from electrochem industries , inc ., of clarence , new york , deliver about 16 watts of power for several short periods of about 10 seconds each . it has been found that this power can fulfill several applications for surgical diathermy . it will be appreciated that if still higher power outputs are required for the radio frequency generator , the battery or dc power supply may be separated from the hand piece and connected to it by lead wires . since only dc current is flowing through the above - mentioned lead wires , the capacitive changes and standing wave phenomena , heretofore disclosed as a problem in regard to prior diathermy apparatus in which the radio frequency generator was located remotely from the hand piece , is eliminated . also , those skilled in the diathermy art will recognize that it will be possible to utilize the hand piece 1 of the present invention as a uni - polar coagulator in which case one of the two output terminals 31a , 31b is attached to a ground plate electrode ( not shown ) in electrical contact with the patient &# 39 ; s body , and the other electrode is connected to the coagulating hand piece . also , by utilizing higher radio frequency energy , for example , about 13 megahertz , a single electrode usable for cutting procedures is feasible . it will also be understood that electrodes 13a or 13b may be readily sterilized in any conventional manner and sealed in a plastic bag or the like ready for use . also , hand piece 1 is preferably made of sanitary construction such that after surgery it may be readily cleaned and sterilized , such as with suitable gas , and sealed in a bag for use . generally , the term &# 34 ; diathermy &# 34 ; is herein used in a broad and not in a limiting sense . for example , it will be appreciated that this apparatus and method may be utilized for conventional diathermy bi - polar and uni - polar coagulation procedures , and for other applications . in particular , the apparatus of this invention , having a radio frequency output ranging between about 1 kilohertz to microwave frequencies , may be utilized for the treatment of living tissues by integrating at least the output stage of the radio frequency generator 29 into the hand piece . it will be further appreciated that when such higher frequency radio frequency energy is utilized ( i . e ., radio frequencies having a wavelength shorter than about 1 meter or less ), many of the standing wave problems typically associated with prior art diathermy apparatus in which the radio frequency generator is located remote from the hand piece and connected thereto by elongate lead wires is eliminated because the distance from the radio frequency generator 29 of the present invention and the electrodes 15 and 17 is considerably less than the wavelength of the radio frequency energy . in view of the above , it will be seen that the other objects of this invention are achieved and other advantageous results obtained . as various changes could be made in the above constructions without departing from the scope of the invention , it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense .	0
the present invention provides a polyolefin resin composition having excellent plating properties which is produced by blending a compound containing a cyano group with a mixture consisting of polyolefin resin and inorganic filler . any polyolefin resin can be used in the method of the present invention . suitable examples are monoolefin polymers such as low density polyethylene , medium density polyethylene , high density polyethylene , polypropylene , polybutene - 1 , poly - 4 - methylpentene - 1 and the like ; copolymers such as ethylene - propylene copolymer , ethylene - butene copolymer and the like ; mixtures thereof and the like . the amount of said polyolefin resin added has no limitation , but as plating material , it should be controlled to occupy from 20 to 80 weight percent , preferably from 40 to 80 weight percent , of the mixture consisting of a polyolefin resin and inorganic filler . inorganic filler which can be used in the present invention is alumina , zinc white , magnesium oxide , calcium carbonate , talc , clay , silica , kieselguhr , mica , calcium sulfite , calcium sulfate , barium sulfate , titanium oxide , calcium silicate , glass powder , glass fiber , asbestos , gypsum fiber , mixture thereof , and the like . the said inorganic filler is not especially limited in its shape and size , but the average particle size is desired to be not more than 10 microns when it is in particle form . the inorganic filler is not particularly limited in the amount added , but as a plating material it is desired to be used in the ratio of from 80 to 20 weight percent , preferably from 60 to 20 weight percent , of the whole mixture consisting of polyolefin resin and inorganic filler . the above - described amount of the inorganic filler is by taking into account the balance of plating properties , mechanical properties and moldability . when the amount of the inorganic filler is less than 20 weight percent , the coarsening effect resulting from etching is insufficient , whereas above 80 weight percent , problems are caused in workability and moldability , and in addition , undesirable excessive surface coarsening results . the amount of a compound containing a cyano group added is not particularly limited , but as plating material it is from 3 to 60 parts by weight , preferably from 5 to 40 parts by weight , based on 100 parts by weight of the mixture consisting of polyolefin resin and inorganic filler . when the amount is below 3 parts by weight , the plating properties of the resulting composition are insufficient , whereas above 60 parts by weight , the proportion of the compound containing the cyano group is too large to be modifying the polyolefin resin which is the object of the present invention . the compounds containing a cyano group which can be used in the present invention are acrylonitrile resins such as acrylonitrile - styrene resin ( as resin ), acrylonitrile - butadiene - styrene resin ( abs resin ), acrylonitrile - methylacrylate resin ( a - ma resin ), acrylonitrile - indene resin ( a - in resin ), acrylonitrile - itaconic acid resin , acrylonitrile - methyl methacrylate - styrene resin , acrylonitrile - cyclopentadiene resin , etc ., and low molecular weight compounds such as terephthalodinitrile , β - naphthonitrile or the like which have a cyano group and are solid at ordinary temperature . the above - described acrylonitrile resins are applicable also in the form of a block copolymer or graft copolymer . in the composition of the present invention , it is essential to add an inorganic filler and a compound containing a cyano group to a polyolefin resin , and lack of any of said components causes lower plating properties , unplated parts , lowered adhesive properties or poor thermal properties . furthermore , rubber and unsaturated carboxylic acid added - polyolefin resins can be blended in , in order to improve the adhesive properties , if desired . as the rubber , either liquid rubber or solid rubber can be used . examples of solid rubbers are diene rubber such as isoprene rubber , butadiene rubber , styrene - butadiene rubber , acrylonitrile - butadiene rubber , etc . the liquid rubbers preferably used in the present invention are those polymers comprised mainly of diene monomer and having an average molecular weight of from 500 to 10 , 000 , and in addition , showing fluidity at room temperature . as examples of these liquid rubbers are compounds which are obtained by introducing functional groups such as a carboxyl group , hydroxy group , mercapto group , halogen atom , amino group , aziridino group , expoxy group , etc ., into the following compounds : 1 , 2 - polybutadiene , 1 , 4 - polybutadiene , polyisoprene , polychloroprene , 1 , 2 - polypentadiene , styrene - butadiene copolymer , acrylonitrile - butadiene copolymer , butadiene - isoprene copolymer , and butadiene - pentadiene copolymer ; unsaturated dicarboxylic acid half esters such as terminal hydroxylated 1 , 2 - polybutadiene , 1 , 4 - polybutadiene ; polymer , not containing any functional group and having an average molecular weight of from 500 to 10 , 000 such as 1 , 2 - polybutadiene , 1 , 4 - polybutadiene , styrene - butadiene copolymer , acrylonitrile - butadiene copolymer , etc . ; heat - decomposed rubber , ozone - decomposed rubber , etc . ; and mixtures thereof . the amount of the above - described rubber added is not limited particularly , but as plating material , it is desired to be from 0 to 20 parts by weight , usually from 1 to 20 parts by weight , preferably from 1 to 10 parts by weight , based on 100 parts by weight of the mixture consisting of polyolefin resin and inorganic filler . if rubber is added in the above range , the adhesion properties of the metal coating plated are improved . among the rubbers , the liquid rubber acts as a plasticizer for polyolefin resin , providing a good mold having less mold - deformation and suitable for plating . unsaturated carboxylic acid added - polyolefin resin means polyolefin resin which contains an unsaturated carboxylic acid such as maleic anhydride as a polar radical . a commercially available one may be employed , but those which are produced by the following process are preferred . while simultaneously adding an unsaturated carboxylic acid to polyolefin resin , a liquid rubber and a radical generator are added to react in a solvent and thus the product is obtained . by this process , the resulting unsaturated carboxylic acid added - polyolefin resin contains a large amount of unsaturated carboxylic acid , which is combined in an activated state so that it is excellent as the starting material for the composition of the present invention . in the above process , the blending ratios of each component can not be determined unequivocally as they differ under various conditions . an example is , from 5 to 50 parts by weight of an unsaturated carboxylic acid , from 1 . 0 to 20 parts by weight of a liquid rubber , and from 0 . 5 to 10 parts by weight of a radical generator are mixed to 100 parts by weight of polyolefin resin . at this time , a solid rubber can be used instead of a liquid rubber . furthermore , said desired unsaturated carboxylic acid added - polyolefin resin can be obtained by fusing and kneading the above components . in this fusion procedure , it is not necessary to react the components in the solvent . unsaturated carboxylic acid added - polyolefin resin used in the present invention are of various kinds . unsaturated carboxylic acids to be added are , for example , maleic acid , maleic anhydride , nudic anhydride , citraconic acid , crotonic acid , isocrotonic acid , mesaconic acid , itaconic acid , angelic acid , sorbic acid , methacrylic acid , itaconic anhydride , citraconic anhydride , acrylic acid , or derivatives thereof ( metallic salt , amide , imide , esters , etc . ), and among them maleic anhydride is the most suitable . examples of radical generators are benzoyl peroxide , lauryl peroxide , azobisisobutylonitrile , cumene peroxide , dicumyl peroxide , t - butylhydroperoxide , α , α &# 39 ;- bis ( t - butylperoxydiisopropyl ) benzene , di - t - butylperoxide , 2 , 5 - di ( t - butylperoxy ) hexane , etc . polyolefin resins used as the base are not limited particularly , but suitable examples are monoolefin polymers such as low density polyethylene , medium density polyethylene , high density polyethylene , polypropylene , polybutene - 1 , and poly - 4 - methylpentene - 1 ; copolymers such as ethylene - propylene copolymer and ethylene - butene copolymer ; mixtures thereof and the like . the amount of the above - described unsaturated carboxylic acid added - polyolefin resin , which is not limited particularly , is suggested to be from 0 to 50 parts by weight , usually from 0 . 5 to 50 parts by weight , preferably from 0 . 5 to 30 parts by weight , based on 100 parts by weight of a mixture consisting of polyolefin resin and inorganic filler . addition of unsaturated carboxylic acid added - polyolefin resin enables one to improve the adhesion properties without lowering mechanical strength and heat resistence . in general , since polyolefin resins have a hydrophobic surface which is disadvantageous in that ( i ) wetness at etching is poor , resulting in heterogeneous etching that causes adhesion of the plating film to be insufficient , and ( ii ) in some forms of moldings , non - wetted parts lower the plating adhesion . accordingly , in order to improve wetness during etching , nonionic surfactants and polyethyleneglycols can be added singly or in combination to provide the polyolefin resin with hydrophilic properties . as the nonionic surfactants , polyoxyethylene alkylether , polyoxyethylene alkylphenolether , polyoxyethylene alkylester , polyoxyethylene sorbitanalkylester , polyoxyethylene alkylamine , etc ., which are condensation products of ethyleneoxide and other compounds , may be employed . in addition to the above , sorbitanalkylester , fatty acid diethanolamide and the like can be employed . though it is not a nonionic surfactant , polyethyleneglycol , which is the condensation product of ethyleneoxide itself , is also applicable . the amount of nonionic surfactant and / or polyethyleneglycol is not particularly limited , but it is desired that it be in the range of from 0 to 20 parts by weight , usually from 0 . 3 to 20 parts by weight , preferably from 0 . 3 to 15 parts , based on 100 parts by weight of a mixture consisting of polyolefin resin and inorganic filler . in addition to the above - described ingredients , if necessary , a coloring agent , stabilizer , plasticizer , lubricant and the like can be added . the above ingredients are kneaded with a mixing roll , bumbury &# 39 ; s mixer , an extruder , a continuous kneader , etc ., while heating at a temperature of from 110 ° to 280 ° c . to obtain pellets of the polyolefin resin composition . when plating is carried out on the moldings obtained by fusion molding of the resin composition of the present invention after heating and kneading , for example , application of plating processing usually employed in the automatic process for plating abs resin , i . e ., degreasing , high chrome content chemical etching using a mixed solution of chromic acid and sulfuric acid , pickling with a dilute solution of hydrochloric acid , dipping in a mixed solution of stannous chloride and palladium chloride for providing sensitivity , activation using dilute solution of hydrochloric acid , chemical nickel plating and electroplating , provides a plated product having good adhesion properties of a metal coating and good appearance . thus the resin composition of the present invention is useful as a material for plating , able to be plated by high chrome etching - catalyst method which usually finds difficulties in plating plastics , having strong adherence between the resin and plate coating , which can sufficiently resist the thermal shock test ( 4 cycles or more , 1 cycle : + 80 ° c .˜- 30 ° c .). in addition , the products are excellent both in appearance and in mechanical strength . therefore , the resin composition of the present invention finds wide applications in automobile parts , parts for electric appliances , and other industrial parts . the following examples are given to illustrate the present invention in more detail . to 100 parts by weight of a mixture obtained by blending 65 weight % of polypropylene ( melt index : 8 grams / 10 minutes , density : 0 . 91 grams / cm 3 , homopolymer ) and 35 weight % of talc ( average particle size : 4 . 2 μ ) were added 10 parts by weight of abs resin ( 20 weight % of acrylonitrile , 50 weight % of butadiene , 30 weight % of styrene ) as the compound containing a cyano group . the resulting mixture was mixed and reacted by kneading in a bumbury &# 39 ; s mixer at a temperature of from 180 ° to 210 ° c . for 6 minutes . thereafter , the mixture was pelletized and injected from in - line screw type injection machine ( 5 oz , mold pressure 150 kg / cm 2 g ) to form a plate of a thickness of 3 millimeters , a length of 125 millimeters and a width of 63 millimeters . the plate was plated according to the plating processing usually employed for abs resin . that is , the plate was first degreased and dipped in a high chrome content chemical etching solution ( 65 °± 5 ° c .) for 10 minutes , the chemical etching solution being prepared by adding water to 250 milliliters of sulfuric acid ( density : 1 . 83 ) and 440 grams of chromic anhydride to make 1 liter . the plate was prickled ( hcl 35 %, 50 cc / l ) at 30 ° c . for one minute , then dipped in a catalyst solution ( mixture of stannous chloride solution and palladium chloride solution ) at 30 ° c . for 3 minutes to effect sensitivity - providing processing . the plate was then subjected to an accelerator at 30 ° c . for 2 . 5 minutes , and thereafter subjected to chemical nickel plating . as to electroplating , copper plating was applied to a thickness of about 50μ for the peeling test , and copper plating , nickel plating and chrome plating were applied to make a thickness of about 20μ for appearance evaluation of plated products and thermal repeated test . plating properties on molding were determined by visually evaluating the appearance of the plated product , peeling of the plate coating , and performing a thermal shock test ( one hour at + 80 ° c ., then one hour at - 30 ° c ., this cycle was repeated four times ) as thermal repeated test . the results obtained are shown in table 1 . the result on the mechanical strength and the thermal properties of the product are shown in table 3 . the same procedure as in example 1 was carried out except that 35 parts by weight of titanium dioxide ( average particle size 0 . 5μ ) was used in place of talc , and a plated product was obtained . the results of evaluation of the plating properties of the product are shown in table 1 , and the results of the mechanical strength and the thermal properties of the product are shown in table 3 . the same procedure as in example 1 was carried out , adding 3 . 5 parts by weight of isoprene rubber ( mooney viscosity : 55 at 100 ° c .) to the composition of example 1 , and a plated product was obtained . the results of evaluating the plating properties of the said product are shown in table 1 , and the results of the mechanical strength and the thermal properties of the product are shown in table 3 . the same procedure as in example 1 was carried out except that the amount of polypropylene was decreased to 55 weight % while the amount of talc was increased to 45 weight %. the results of the evaluation of plating properties of the said product are shown in table 1 . to 100 parts by weight of the mixture being prepared by blending 60 weight % of polypropylene and 40 weight % of talc ( average particle size : 4 . 2μ ), which were used in example 1 , were added and mixed 20 parts by weight of abs resin used in example 1 as the compound containing a cyano group and 5 parts by weight of polyoxyethylene nonylphenolether ( addition mole number of ethyleneoxide : 10 ) as a nonionic surfactant . the same procedure as in example 1 was carried out to obtain a plated product . the results of the evaluation of the plating properties are shown in table 1 , and the results of the mechanical strength and the thermal properties are shown in table 3 . to the composition of example 1 were added and mixed 5 parts by weight of polyethyleneglycol # 4000 and 5 parts by weight of maleic anhydride added - polypropylene ( maleic anhydride content : 5 weight percent ). on the resulting mixture the same procedure as in example 1 was carried out . the results of the evaluation of the plating properties are shown in table 1 , and the results of the mechanical strength and the thermal properties are shown in table 3 . to the composition of example 1 were added 5 parts by weight of sbr ( mooney viscosity : 50 ), 5 parts by weight of polyethyleneglycol # 6000 and 3 parts by weight of maleic anhydride added - polypropylene used in example 6 . on the resulting mixture , the same procedure as in example 1 was carried out . the results of the evaluation of the plating properties are shown in table 1 , and the results of the mechanical strength and the thermal properties are shown in table 3 . the same procedure as in example 1 was carried out except that 25 parts by weight of as resin ( acrylonitrile 34 mol %, styrene 66 mol %) was used in place of abs resin to obtain a plated product . the results of the evaluation of the plating properties are shown in table 1 , and the results of the mechanical strength and the thermal properties are shown in table 3 . to the composition of example 8 were added 3 . 5 parts by weight of terminal hydroxylated 1 , 4 - polybutadiene ( number average molecular weight : 3 , 000 , viscosity : 50 poise / 30 ° c ., oh group content : 0 . 83 milligrams equivalent / gram ) as rubber . on the resulting mixture , the same procedure as in example 1 was carried out to obtain a plated product . the results of evaluating the plating properties are shown in table 1 , and the results of the mechanical strength and the thermal properties are shown in table 3 . to 100 parts by weight of a mixture prepared by blending 65 weight % of polypropylene ( melt index : 9 grams / 10 minutes , density : 0 . 91 grams / cm 3 , block copolymer with ethylene ) and 35 weight parts of kieselguhr ( average particle size 7 . 5μ ) were added 10 parts by weight of as resin used in example 8 and 3 parts by weight of polyoxyethylene dodecylamine ( addition mole number of ethylene oxide : 4 ). to the resulting mixture , the same procedure as in example 1 was carried out to obtain a plated product . the results of evaluating the plating properties are shown in table 1 , and the results of the mechanical strength and the thermal properties are shown in table 3 . to 100 parts by weight of a mixture prepared by blending 70 weight % of polypropylene ( melt index : 8 grams / 10 minutes , density : 0 . 9 , random copolymer with ethylene ) and 30 weight parts of barium sulfate ( average particle size 0 . 8μ ) were added 10 parts by weight of as resin used in example 8 , 2 parts by weight of polyoxyethylenedecylamine , 2 parts by weight of polyethyleneglycol # 1000 , and 3 parts by weight of maleic anhydride added - polypropylene used in example 7 . to the resulting mixture , the same procedure as in example 1 was carried out to obtain a plated product . the results of the evaluation of the plating properties are shown in table 1 . the same procedure as in example 1 was carried out except that 10 parts by weight of as resin used in example 8 in place of abs resin , 5 parts by weight of sbr used in example 7 and 2 parts by weight of polyoxyethylenenonylphenolether were added and mixed . the results of evaluating the plating properties of the obtained product are shown in table 1 . to 100 parts by weight of a mixture prepared by blending 65 weight % of polypropylene used in example 11 and 35 weight % of talc , was added 10 parts by weight of a - ma resin ( copolymer of 43 mol % of acrylonitrile and 57 mol % of methyl acrylate ) as the compound containing a cyano group . to the resulting mixture , the same procedure as in example 1 was carried out to obtain a plated product . the results of the evaluation of the plating properties are shown in table 1 , and the results of the mechanical strength and the thermal properties are shown in table 3 . to 100 parts by weight of a mixture prepared by blending 50 weight % of polypropylene used in example 1 and 50 weight % of calcium carbonate ( average particle size : 1 . 5μ ), were added 25 parts by weight of a - ma resin used in example 13 and 35 parts by weight of sbr ( mooney viscosity : 50 ). to the resulting mixture , the same procedure as in example 1 was carried out to obtain a plated product . the results of the plating properties are shown in table 1 . to 100 parts by weight of a mixture prepared by blending 65 weight % of homopolymer of polypropylene used in example 1 and 35 weight % of talc , were added 20 parts by weight of a - ma resin used in example 13 , 5 parts by weight of fatty acid diethanolamide and 10 parts by weight of acrylic acid added - polypropylene ( acrylic acid content : 6 weight percent ). to the resulting mixture the same procedure as in example 1 was carried out to obtain a plated product . the results of evaluating the plating properties are shown in table 1 , and the results of the mechanical strength and the thermal properties are shown in table 3 . to 100 parts by weight of a mixture prepared by blending 65 weight % of polyethylene ( melt index : 6 . 0 grams / 10 minutes , density : 0 . 968 grams / cm 3 ) and 35 weight % of clay ( average particle size : 2 . 6μ ) was added 10 parts by weight of a - ma resin ( acrylonitrile 60 mol %, methyl acrylate 40 mol %). to the resulting mixture the same procedure as in example 1 was carried out to obtain a plated product . the results of evaluating the plating properties are shown in table 1 , and the results on the mechanical strength and the thermal properties are shown in table 3 . to 100 parts by weight of a mixture prepared by blending 65 weight % of polyethylene used in example 16 and 35 weight % of talc , were added 30 parts by weight of a - ma resin used in example 13 and 5 parts by weight of sorbitanmonolaurate . the resulting mixture was subjected to the same procedure as in example 1 to obtain a plated product . the results of evaluating the plating properties are shown in table 1 . to 100 parts by weight of a mixture prepared by blending 65 weight % of polyethylene used in example 16 and 35 weight % of talc , were added 30 parts by weight of a - ma resin used in example 13 , 10 parts by weight of sorbitanmonolaurate and 5 parts by weight of acrylic acid added - polyethylene ( acrylic acid content : 1 . 2 weight percent ). to the resulting mixture the same procedure as in example 1 was carried out to obtain a plated product . the results of evaluating the plating properties are shown in table 1 . to 100 parts by weight of a mixture prepared by blending 65 weight % of polypropylene used in example 10 and 35 weight % of talc , was added 10 parts by weight of acrylonitrile - indene resin ( acrylonitril 34 mol %, indene 66 mol %). to the resulting mixture the same procedure as in example 1 was carried out to obtain a plated product . the results of evaluating the plating properties are shown in table 1 , and the results of the mechanical strength and the thermal property are shown in table 3 . the same procedure as in example 1 was carried out except that 10 parts by weight of acrylonitrile - itaconic acid resin ( acrylonitrile 50 mol %, itaconic acid 50 mol %) was used in place of abs resin , to obtain a plated product . the results of evaluating the plating properties are shown in table 1 . the same procedures as in example 1 were carried out except that 10 parts by weight of acrylonitrile - methyl methacrylate - styrene resin ( acrylonitrile 33 mol %, methyl methacrylate 33 mol %, styrene 34 mol %) was used in place of abs resin , to obtain a plated product . the results of evaluating the plating properties are shown in table 1 . to 100 parts by weight of a mixture prepared by blending 65 weight % of polypropylene used in example 11 and 35 weight % of talc , was added 10 parts by weight of acrylonitrile - cyclopentadiene resin ( acrylonitrile 70 mol %, cyclopentadiene 30 mol %, cyanoethylation addition product ). to the resulting mixture the same procedure as in example 1 was carried out to obtain a plated product . the results of evaluating the plating properties are shown in table 1 . the same procedure as in example 22 was carried out except that 5 parts by weight of terephthalodinitrile was used in place of acrylonitrile - cyclopentadiene resin , to obtain a plated product . the results of evaluating the plating properties are shown in table 1 , and the results of the mechanical strength and the thermal properties are shown in table 3 . to 100 parts by weight of a mixture prepared by blending 60 weight % of polypropylene used in example 1 and 40 weight % of clay , was added 5 parts by weight of β - naphtonitril . to the resulting mixture the same procedure as in example 1 was carried out to obtain a plated product . the results of evaluating the plating properties are shown in table 1 . to 100 parts by weight of a mixture prepared by blending 65 weight % of polypropylene used in example 1 and 35 weight % of talc ( average particle size 4 . 2μ ), were added 10 parts by weight of as resin ( copolymer of 50 mole % of acrylonitril and 50 mole % of styrene ) as the compound containing a cyano group , 3 . 5 parts by weight of terminal hydroxylated 1 , 4 - polybutadiene ( number average molecular weight : 3 , 000 , viscosity : 50 poise / 30 ° c ., oh group content : 0 . 83 milligrams equivalent / gram ) as a rubber , 0 . 5 parts by weight of itaconic acid as the unsaturated carboxylic acid and 0 . 022 parts by weight of α , α &# 39 ;- bis ( t - butylperoxydiisopropyl ) benzene as radical initiator . to the resulting mixture , the same procedure as in example 1 was performed to obtain a plated product . the results of evaluation of the plating properties are shown in table 1 . the same procedure as in example 1 was employed using 65 weight % of the polypropylene used in example 1 and 35 weight % of talc , to obtain a plated product . the results of evaluating the plating properties are shown in table 2 , and the results of the mechanical strength and the thermal properties are shown in table 3 . to 100 parts by weight of the components of example 1 , was added 3 . 5 parts by weight of terminal hydroxylated 1 , 4 - polybutadiene in the form of liquid rubber . a plated product was obtained in the same manner as in example 1 . the results of evaluating the plating properties are shown in table 2 . to 100 parts by weight of a mixture prepared by blending 70 weight % of polypropylene used in example 1 and 40 weight % of talc , was added 5 parts by weight of polyoxyethylenenonylphenolether . to the resulting mixture the same procedure as in example 1 was carried out to obtain a plated product . the results of evaluating the plating properties are shown in table 2 , and the results of the mechanical strength and the thermal properties are shown in table 3 . to 100 parts by weight of the composition as in example 1 , was added 5 parts by weight of maleic anhydride added - polypropylene , and a plated product was obtained in the same manner as in example 1 . the results of evaluating the plating properties are shown in table 2 . to 100 parts by weight of polypropylene used in example 1 was added 25 parts by weight of abs resin used in example 1 , and a plated product was obtained in the same manner as in example 1 . the results of evaluating the plating properties are shown in table 2 . to 100 parts by weight of polypropylene used in example 11 was added 25 parts by weight of a - ma resin used in example 13 and a plated product was obtained in the same manner as in example 1 . the results of evaluating the plating properties are shown in table 2 , and the results of the mechanical strength and the thermal properties are shown in table 3 . table 1______________________________________ thermal shock test peeling test (+ 80 ° c . × 1 hour ˜ example appearance ( kg / cm ) - 30 ° c . × 1 hour ) ______________________________________1 good 1 . 7 4 cycle : unchanged2 &# 34 ; 1 . 6 4 cycle : unchanged3 &# 34 ; 1 . 8 4 cycle : unchanged4 &# 34 ; 1 . 4 4 cycle : unchanged5 &# 34 ; 1 . 7 4 cycle : unchanged6 &# 34 ; 2 . 3 4 cycle : unchanged7 &# 34 ; 2 . 3 4 cycle : unchanged8 &# 34 ; 1 . 2 4 cycle : unchanged9 &# 34 ; 1 . 4 4 cycle : unchanged10 &# 34 ; 1 . 5 4 cycle : unchanged11 &# 34 ; 1 . 7 4 cycle : unchanged12 &# 34 ; 1 . 8 4 cycle : unchanged13 &# 34 ; 1 . 7 4 cycle : unchanged14 &# 34 ; 1 . 8 4 cycle : unchanged15 &# 34 ; 2 . 2 4 cycle : unchanged16 &# 34 ; 1 . 6 4 cycle : unchanged17 &# 34 ; 1 . 6 4 cycle : unchanged18 &# 34 ; 1 . 9 4 cycle : unchanged19 &# 34 ; 1 . 1 4 cycle : unchanged20 &# 34 ; 1 . 2 4 cycle : unchanged21 &# 34 ; 1 . 5 4 cycle : unchanged22 &# 34 ; 1 . 0 4 cycle : unchanged23 &# 34 ; 0 . 9 4 cycle : unchanged24 &# 34 ; 1 . 0 4 cycle : unchanged25 &# 34 ; 1 . 2 4 cycle : unchanged______________________________________ table 2______________________________________ thermal shock testcomparative peeling test (+ 80 ° c . × 1 hour ˜ example appearance ( kg / cm ) - 30 ° c . × 1______________________________________ hour ) 1 abundant non - plated -- -- portions2 partially peel off with non - plated 0 . 2 2 cycles rash3 abundant non - plated -- -- portions4 abundant non - plated -- -- portions5 partially peel off with non - plated 0 . 3 2 cycles6 partially non - plated -- -- ______________________________________ table 3______________________________________ mechanical strength temperature of tensile tensile bending thermal strength elasticity strength deformationexample ( kg / cm . sup . 2 ) ( kg / cm . sup . 2 ) ( kg / cm . sup . 2 ) ( 6 . 4 kg / cm . sup . 2 ) ______________________________________1 292 3 . 46 × 10 . sup . 4 445 115 ° c . 2 250 2 . 52 × 10 . sup . 4 402 1053 264 2 . 46 × 10 . sup . 4 370 1025 253 2 . 95 × 10 . sup . 4 410 986 306 3 . 04 × 10 . sup . 4 482 1237 288 2 . 72 × 10 . sup . 4 394 1158 298 3 . 22 × 10 . sup . 4 435 1179 274 2 . 49 × 10 . sup . 4 388 10810 235 2 . 05 × 10 . sup . 4 345 9513 285 3 . 25 × 10 . sup . 4 430 11015 280 2 . 85 × 10 . sup . 4 436 10816 218 2 . 23 × 10 . sup . 4 312 9219 288 3 . 10 × 10 . sup . 4 425 11323 285 3 . 04 × 10 . sup . 4 430 115comparativeexample1 370 3 . 65 × 10 . sup . 4 543 1363 318 3 . 30 × 10 . sup . 4 486 1136 272 2 . 26 × 10 . sup . 4 420 106______________________________________	2
fig1 and 2 disclose a vegetation pruning device . in one embodiment , the vegetation pruning device is a chainsaw 20 comprises a working head 22 that includes a guide bar 24 and a cutting element installed on the guide bar 24 . in this embodiment , the cutting element is a flexible chain 26 that is installed on the periphery of the guide bar 24 and capable of rotating around the guide bar 24 . the plane on which the guide bar 24 exists is a guide bar plane . in other embodiments , the working head may be a circular blade or a saw blade of a reciprocating saw . if the working head is the circular blade , the cutting element may be regarded as the cutting part of the circular blade , and the guide bar may be regarded as the central supporting part of the circular blade . if the working head is the saw blade of the reciprocating saw , the cutting element may be regarded as the cutting blade part of the saw blade of the reciprocating saw , and the guide bar may be regarded as the supporting part of the cutting blade part of the saw blade of the reciprocating saw . the chainsaw 20 also comprises a motor 28 for driving the working head 22 so that the flexible chain 26 rotates around the guide bar 24 . the motor 28 has a motor output shaft 30 with an axis x 1 , and the motor output shaft 30 rotates around its axis x 1 to drive the flexible chain 26 to rotate around the guide bar 24 . the motor 28 is cased in a motor housing 32 . furthermore , as shown in fig3 , the chainsaw comprises a main body 34 . in one embodiment , the main body 34 consists of two semi - housings , namely a first semi - housing 34 a and a second semi - housing 34 b , which are detachably connected via screws . in other embodiments , the first semi - housing 34 a and the second semi - housing 34 b may be connected by other methods capable of being mastered by common skilled persons in this field , such as integral connection , wedge connection , etc . the motor housing 32 is detachably connected to the first semi - housing 34 a . in one embodiment , the motor housing 34 a is connected to the first semi - housing 34 a via screws . in other embodiments , the motor housing 34 a may also be fixedly connected with the first semi - housing 34 a , for example : the motor housing 32 and the first semi - housing 34 a are integrated . the saw chain 20 comprises a housing cover 35 , and the second semi - housing 34 b has an access hole 35 a so that a user is capable of replacing the flexible chain 26 conveniently . the housing cover 35 is detachably installed on the access hole 35 a . in this embodiment , the housing cover 35 is fixedly connected to the second semi - housing 34 b via a bolt . in other embodiments , the housing cover 35 may also be connected to the second semi - housing 34 b in other manners that are capable of being mastered by common skilled persons in this field . when the flexible chain 26 is not required to be replaced , the housing cover 35 covers the access hole 35 a . when the flexible chain 26 is required to be replaced , the user is capable of dismounting the housing cover 35 from the second semi - housing 34 b with tools , such as a wrench . the chainsaw 20 comprises a first handle assembly 36 ( as shown in fig1 ) for being held and operated by an operator while working . as shown in fig3 , the first semi - housing 34 a comprises a first working head receiving end 38 a , a first handle receiving end 40 a and a first connection portion 42 a for connecting the first working head receiving end 38 a and the first handle receiving end 40 a . the second semi - housing 34 b comprises a second working head receiving end 38 b , a second handle receiving end 40 b and a second connection portion 42 b for connecting the second working head receiving end 38 b and the second handle receiving end 40 b . as shown in fig4 and 5 , the first working head receiving end 38 a and the second working head receiving end 38 b are approximately u - shaped . the first working head receiving end 38 a has a first u - shaped opening 43 a . the second working head receiving end 38 b has a second u - shaped opening 43 b . the first working head receiving end 38 a and the second working head receiving end 38 b together form a u - shaped guard 38 ( as shown in fig1 ) of the chainsaw , and the u - shaped guard 38 is used for receiving the working head 22 . the first working head receiving head 38 a comprises a first upper side wall 44 a and a first lower side wall 46 a which defines the first u - shaped opening 43 a there - between . the second working head receiving end 38 b comprises a second upper side wall 44 b and a second lower side wall 46 b which defines the second u - shaped opening 43 b there - between . a first receiving chamber 48 ( as shown in fig1 ) is formed between the first upper side wall 44 a and the second upper side wall 44 b . a second receiving chamber 50 ( as shown in fig1 ) is formed between the first lower side wall 44 a and the second lower side wall 46 b . the first receiving chamber 48 and the second receiving chamber 50 are used for receiving the working head 22 . the first upper side wall 44 a and the second upper side wall 44 b respectively has a plurality of openings 52 through which the operator is capable of clearly observing the current position of the working head . the first working head receiving end 38 a has a first u - shaped inner edge 54 a that is circularly located on the inside of the first working head receiving end 38 a , specifically located on one side of the first working head receiving end 38 a close to the first u - shaped opening 43 a , and a first u - shaped jaw 56 a is detachably arranged on the first u - shaped inner edge 54 a . a ring of teeth 58 a are arranged on the inside of the first u - shaped jaw 56 a . the first u - shaped jaw 56 a is made of steel . the first u - shaped jaw 56 a is connected to the first u - shaped inner edge 54 a via rivets . the second working head receiving end 38 b has a second u - shaped inner edge 54 b that is circularly located on the inside of the second working head receiving end 38 b , specifically located on one side of the second working head receiving end 38 b close to the second u - shaped opening 43 b , and a second u - shaped jaw 56 b is detachably arranged on the second u - shaped inner edge 54 b . a ring of teeth 58 b are arranged on the inside of the second u - shaped jaw 56 b . the second u - shaped jaw 56 b is made of steel . the second u - shaped jaw 56 b is connected to the second u - shaped inner edge 54 b via the rivets . the first u - shaped inner edge 54 a and the second u - shaped inner edge 54 b together form the u - shaped inner edge 54 of the u - shaped guard 38 . the first u - shaped jaw 56 a and the second u - shaped jaw 56 b together form the u - shaped jaw 56 of the u - shaped guard 38 . the u - shaped jaw 56 of the u - shaped guard 38 is detachably connected to the u - shaped inner edge 54 of the u - shaped guard 38 . the mentioned u - shaped jaw 56 is capable of being used as a supporting wall for pressing against a work piece to be cut while working . teeth 58 a and teeth 58 b are circularly arranged on the inside of the u - shaped jaw 56 . the purpose of the arrangement of the teeth 58 a and theteeth 58 b is to ensure that the u - shaped jaw 56 with teeth are capable of reliably supporting slim twigs and preventing them from popping out in the process of cutting operation . as shown in fig1 and 3 , the motor housing 32 is connected to the first connection portion 42 a of the first semi - housing 34 a via screws . the first handle receiving end 40 a of the first semi - housing 34 a and the second handle receiving end 40 b of the second semi - housing 34 b both extend longitudinally and are connected via screws . the first handle receiving end 40 a of the first semi - housing 34 a and the second handle receiving end 40 b of the second semi - housing 34 b together form a handle receiving end 40 of the main body 34 . the handle receiving end 40 has a handle receiving chamber 59 . the handle receiving chamber 59 is formed between the first handle receiving end 40 a and the second handle receiving end 40 b . the handle receiving chamber 59 is used for receiving the first handle assembly 36 . the handle receiving chamber 59 has a longitudinal axis x 2 , and the first handle assembly 36 is contained in the handle receiving chamber 59 and is capable of moving linearly along the longitudinal axis x 2 . moreover , as shown in fig2 , the first handle assembly 36 comprises a guiding portion 60 and a gripping portion 62 , and the guiding portion 60 is a thin and long rod which is contained in the handle receiving chamber 59 . the gripping portion 62 is approximately d - shaped . one side of the d - shaped gripping portion 62 is a straight - lined gripping edge 64 . the other side of the d - shaped gripping portion is a curved connecting edge 66 . the gripping portion 62 is connected with the guiding portion 60 via the connecting edge 66 . a control switch 68 is arranged on the inside of the gripping edge 64 and electrically connected with the motor 28 for controlling the start - up and stop of the motor 28 . two ends of the gripping edge 64 are symmetrically provided with safety switches 70 , so that both left - handed operation and right - handed operation are convenient . the connecting edge 66 is connected with the guiding portion 60 . the guiding portion 60 is contained in the handle receiving chamber 59 and operationally and linearly moves along the longitudinal axis x 2 of the handle receiving chamber 59 . a connecting mechanism is arranged between the first handle assembly 36 and the working head 22 . in this embodiment , the connecting mechanism is directly connected with the first handle assembly 36 and the guide bar 24 and converts the linear motion of the first handle assembly 36 into the pivotal motion of the guide bar 24 . in this embodiment , the connecting mechanism is a planar multi - rod mechanism 72 . as shown in fig2 , the planar multi - rod mechanism 72 comprises a driving part , a connecting rod and a driven part 82 . the connecting rod is positioned between the driving part and the driven part 82 and respectively hinged to the driving part and the driven part 82 . the connecting rod comprises a first connecting rod 76 , a second connecting rod 78 and a third connecting rod 80 . the guiding portion 60 of the first handle assembly 36 is configured as the driving part of the planar multi - rod mechanism 72 , and when the operator pushes the gripping portion 62 towards the working end 22 , the guiding portion 60 is capable of moving linearly along the longitudinal axis x 2 of the handle receiving chamber 59 . the driven part 82 is fixedly connected with the guide bar 24 , and the first connecting rod 76 , the second connecting rod 78 and the third connecting rod 80 are positioned between the driving part and the driven part 82 , specifically positioned between the guiding portion 60 of the first handle assembly 36 and the driven part 82 . one end of the first connecting rod 76 and the guiding portion 60 of the first handle assembly 36 have a hinged connection . the other end of the first connecting rod 76 is hinged to one end of the second connecting rod 78 , and the other end of the second connecting rod 78 is capable of being pivotally connected to the connecting portion 42 a of the first semi - housing 34 a . one end of the third connecting rod 80 and the middle portion of the second connecting rod 78 have a hinged connection . the other end of the third connecting rod 80 and the driven part 82 has a hinged connection . as shown in fig6 , the driven part 82 is configured as v - shaped , and a first edge 84 of the v - shaped driven part 82 is hinged to the other end of the third connecting rod 80 . a second edge 86 of the v - shaped driven part 82 and the guide bar 24 are fixedly connected by the bolts . a v - shaped bottom 88 of the v - shaped driven part 82 is installed on the motor output shaft 30 . the driven part 82 is fixedly connected with the guide bar 24 , so when the driven part 82 rotates around the axis x 1 of the motor output shaft , the guide bar 24 also rotates in the plane of the guide bar around the axis x 1 of the motor output shaft . fig7 is a motion schematic diagram of the planar multi - rod mechanism . the driving part ( guiding portion 60 ) moves linearly ; when the driving part ( guiding portion 60 ) moves from a first position ( represented by the full line ) to a second position ( represented by the dotted line ), the driven part 82 pivots to the second position ( represented by the dotted line ) from the first position ( represented by the full line ); the arrow a 1 represents the motion direction of the driving part ( guiding portion 60 ), and the arrow a 2 represents the motion direction of the driven part 82 . the chainsaw 20 comprises a limiting mechanism for limiting the rotation of the guide bar so as to avoid damaging the u - shaped protecting hood because of excess rotation of the guide bar . as show in fig8 , a motor bracket ( not illustrated ) is installed on a end of the motor 28 and fixedly connected with the motor 28 , and three projected columns 90 extend from the motor bracket along the direction of the motor output shaft 30 and are arranged at an equal interval along the circumference . each projected column 90 has a first receiving hole 92 . the first connecting portion 42 a of the first semi - housing 34 a is provided with three waist - shaped grooves 94 at an equal interval along the circumference , and the three waist - shaped grooves 94 extend along the circumference . the projected columns 90 pass through the three waist - shaped grooves 94 and are capable of moving along the circumferential direction along the waist - shaped grooves 94 . as shown in fig6 , the v - shaped bottom 88 of the v - shaped driven part 82 is approximately round , and the middle portion of the v - shaped bottom 88 is provided with a mounting hole 96 through which the driven part 82 is sleeved on the motor output shaft 30 . the v - shaped bottom 88 is provided with three second receiving holes 98 at an equal interval along the circumference , and three second receiving holes 98 are respectively aligned with the first receiving holes 92 on the three projected columns 90 so that a bolt is capable of passing through the first receiving hole 92 and the second receiving hole 98 to fixedly connect the driven part 82 and the projected column 90 ; the v - shaped driven part 82 is fixedly connected with the guide bar 24 , so the guide bar 24 is fixedly connected with the projected columns 90 . besides , the v - shaped driven part 82 is fixedly connected to the motor bracket , so the pivotal motion of the driven part 82 drives the motor 28 to rotate . one end of each waist - shaped groove 94 is provided with a first block face 100 , the other end of each waist - shaped groove 94 is provided with a second block face 102 , and the projected columns 90 may move along the waist - shaped grooves 94 , respectively coupling with the first block faces 100 or the second block faces 102 . when the projected columns 90 are coupled with the first block faces 100 , the working head 22 is contained in the first receiving chamber 48 , the guide bar 24 rotates to the approximate top of the u - shaped guard 38 , and at this time the working head 22 keeps a certain distance from the top of the u - shaped guard 38 to avoid touching the top of the u - shaped guard 38 . when the projected columns 90 are coupled with the second block faces 102 , the working head 22 is contained in the second receiving chamber 50 , the guide bar 24 rotates to the approximate bottom of the u - shaped guard 38 , and at this time the working head 22 keeps a certain distance from the bottom of the u - shaped guard 38 to avoid touching the bottom of the u - shaped guard 38 . a torsion spring 106 ( as shown in fig8 ) is positioned between the first connecting portion 42 a of the first semi - housing 34 a and the driven part 82 , and one end of the torsion spring 106 is fixedly connected with the connecting portion 42 a of the first semi - housing 34 a . the driven part 82 is provided with a small hole 108 ( as shown in fig6 ), and the other end of the torsion spring 106 is contained in the small hole 108 , which makes the torsion spring 106 fixedly connected to the driven part 82 . the purpose of the arrangement of the torsion spring 106 is to ensure that no matter when the cutting ends , the working head 22 will automatically return to the original position , namely the first receiving chamber 48 . the working head is completely contained in the u - shaped guard 38 to ensure the safety of the operations . the chainsaw 20 comprises a transmission mechanism 110 ( as shown in fig2 ) positioned between the motor 28 and the working head 22 , and the transmission mechanism 110 comprises a chain wheel 112 that is arranged on the motor output shaft 30 and is capable of rotating around the axis x 1 along with the motor output shaft 30 . the chain wheel 112 is engaged with the flexible chain 26 to drive the flexible chain 26 to rotate around the guide bar 24 . during work , press the control switch 68 on the gripping portion 62 of the first handle assembly 36 with a hand , then the motor 28 will be started , the motor output shaft 30 will start to rotate , and the chain wheel 112 will rotate along with the motor output shaft 30 and drive the flexible chain 26 to rotate around the guide bar 24 . meanwhile , the operator grips the gripping portion 62 of the first handle assembly 36 and pushes the first handle assembly 36 towards the working head 22 and then the guiding portion 60 moves linearly along the longitudinal axis x 2 of the receiving chamber 59 and , under the action of the planar multi - rod mechanism 72 , the guide bar 24 pivots around the axis x 1 of the motor output shaft in the guide bar plane to perform the cutting operation . the guide bar 24 and the motor 28 are fixedly connected , so the pivoting of the guide bar 24 drives the motor 28 to rotate . in this embodiment , the first handle assembly 36 is pushed towards the working head , so the guide bar 24 pivots to realize cutting . it should be noted that common skilled persons in this field are capable of pulling the first handle assembly 36 away from the working head simply by changing the position of the planar multi - rod mechanism 72 , so the guide bar 24 pivots to realize cutting . fig9 , 10 and 11 are schematic views of the chainsaw 20 at the working process state . fig9 is the schematic view of the chainsaw at the off working state , wherein the working head 22 is completely contained in the first receiving chamber 48 of the u - shaped guard 38 . as shown in fig1 , if the first handle assembly 36 is pushed towards the d direction , the working head 22 will pivot along the e direction , start to cut the work pieces , and gradually expose from the first receiving chamber 48 . as shown in fig1 , if the first handle assembly 36 is continuously pushed towards the a direction , the working head 22 will pivot along the e direction to partly enter the first receiving chamber 50 and finish cutting the work pieces . as shown in fig1 , the chainsaw 20 also comprises an extending rod to facilitate cutting the work pieces at higher positions , and the extending rod is configured as a second handle assembly 116 . the second handle assembly 116 comprises a second gripping portion 118 and a second extending portion 120 . the second extending portion 120 comprises a first end 122 and a second end 124 , the first end 122 is connected with the second griping portion 118 , and the second end 124 is connected with the first handle assembly 36 . a locking mechanism 126 is arranged between the second end 124 of the second extending portion 120 and the first handle assembly 36 . the second gripping portion 118 of the second extending portion 120 is d - shaped . one side of the second gripping portion 118 is a gripping edge 128 , the other side is a connecting edge 130 , and a control switch 132 is arranged on the inside of the gripping edge 118 and electrically connected with the motor 28 for controlling the start - up and stop of the motor 28 . two ends of the holding edge 128 are symmetrically provided with safety switches 134 , so that both the left - handed operation and the right - handed operation are convenient . the connecting edge 130 is connected with the second extending portion 120 . the second extending portion 120 is a thin and long rod , capable of being manufactured into a telescopic rod . as shown in fig1 and fig1 , the second end 124 of the second extending portion 120 of the second handle assembly 116 is detachably and fixedly connected with the first handle assembly 36 via the locking mechanism 126 . the detachably fixed connection means that the second end 124 is detachably connected with the first handle assembly 36 , and once connected the two perform one relative motion . the locking mechanism 126 comprises a locking bracket 144 . two c - shaped clamping blocks 146 are arranged on one side of the locking bracket 144 at an interval , each c - shaped clamping block 146 is respectively provided with a c - shaped clamping piece 148 , and the c - shaped clamping block 146 and the c - shaped clamping piece 148 are connected by nuts and bolts . the c - shaped clamping piece 148 and the c - shaped clamping block 146 are arranged oppositely to form a clamping hole 150 there - between , and the second end 124 of the second extending portion 120 of the second handle assembly 116 is contained in the clamping hole 150 . the shape of the clamping hole 150 is matched with the cross section shape of the second end 124 of the second extending portion 120 of the second handle assembly 116 so the second end 124 of the second handle assembly 116 may be clamped therein . the gripping portion 62 of the first handle assembly 36 is provided with a handle receiving hole 152 . the handle receiving hole 152 is defined by the gripping edge 64 and the connecting edge 66 of the first handle assembly 36 . the handle receiving hole 152 is approximately d - shaped . the locking bracket 144 is detachably contained in the handle receiving hole 152 , and the shape of the locking bracket 144 is approximately the same as that of the handle receiving hole 152 . as shown in fig1 , the other side of the locking bracket 144 is provided with a first matched face 154 . one side of both the griping edge 64 and the connecting edge 66 of the gripping portion 62 of the first handle assembly 36 is provided with a second matched face 156 . the locking bracket 144 is contained in the handle receiving hole 152 . the second matched face 156 and the first matched face 154 are coupled and matched in shape . therefore , when contained in the handle receiving hole 152 , the locking bracket 144 performs no rotation in the handle receiving hole 152 . when the locking bracket 144 is contained in the handle receiving hole 152 , the control switch 68 on the first handle assembly 36 is pressed by the locking bracket 144 and is therefore in an electrically conducting state . as shown in fig1 , the locking mechanism 126 also comprises two locking knobs 158 , which may clamp the gripping portion 62 of the first handle assembly 36 between the locking bracket 144 and the locking knobs 158 . the other side of the connecting edge 66 of the gripping portion 62 of the first handle assembly 36 is provided with a third matched face 159 ( as shown in fig1 ). as shown in fig1 , the locking knob 158 comprises an operation portion 160 , a main body portion 162 and an adaptation portion 164 . the operation portion 160 is positioned on the top of the locking knob 158 to be operated by the operator manually . the main body portion 162 is provided with a fourth matched face 166 , and the adaptation portion 164 is a column body with screw threads . the locking bracket 144 is provided with two knob receiving portions 168 for partly receiving the locking knobs 158 . the knob receiving portion 168 comprises a receiving through - hole 170 with a smaller diameter and a receiving chamber 172 with a larger diameter , wherein the receiving through - hole 170 is used for receiving the column body with screw threads of the locking knob , while the receiving chamber 172 is used for receiving the main body part of the locking knob 158 . the column body with screw threads comprises a free end matched with a nut , so the locking knob 158 is capable of being reliably installed on the locking bracket 144 . the fourth matched face 166 is optionally matched with the third matched face 159 , and the two are matched in shape . the locking knob 158 is rotated to move between a first position and a second position . when the locking knob 158 is located at the first position as shown in fig1 , the first matched face 154 and the second matched face 156 are matched ; when the third matched face 159 and the fourth matched face 166 are matched , the gripping portion 62 of the first handle assembly 36 is tightly clamped between the locking knob 158 and the locking bracket 144 . as shown in fig1 , when rotated to 180 degrees , the locking knob 158 is located at the second position , and the fourth matched face 166 is rotationally moved away from the third matched face 159 , which means the fourth matched face 166 is not rotationally matched with the third matched face 159 . at this time , the locking bracket 144 is capable of being removed from the handle receiving hole 152 of the first handle assembly . as shown in fig1 , the first handle receiving end 40 a of the first semi - housing 34 a is provided with a longitudinal slot 174 . a c - shaped bracket 176 is installed on the guiding portion 60 of the first handle assembly 36 and fixed on the guiding portion 60 by nuts and bolts . the c - shaped bracket 176 extends out from the longitudinal slot 174 of the first handle receiving end 40 a . the second end 124 of the of the second extending portion 120 of the second handle assembly 116 is supported on the c - shaped bracket 176 . the c - shaped bracket 176 is made of aluminum . as shown in fig1 , the first handle assembly 36 and the second handle assembly 116 are electrically connected . the gripping portion 62 of the first handle assembly 36 is provided with a wire of which one end is connected with a plug 177 a and the other end is electrically connected with the control switch 68 , the motor 28 , etc . the second end 124 of the second extending portion 120 of the second handle assembly 116 is provided with a wire , of which one end is provided with a socket 177 b , and the socket 177 b is adaptive to the plug 177 a for electric connection . the second gripping portion 118 is provided with a plug 177 c for connecting with an external power supply . the other end of the wire is electrically connected with the control switch 132 on the second gripping portion 118 via a lead . when the second handle assembly 116 is required to be connected with the first handle assembly 36 , the c - shaped bracket 176 is installed on the first handle assembly 36 . once installed , the c - shaped bracket 176 is capable of being fixed thereon , even if only the first handle assembly 36 is used and the second handle assembly 116 is not used , and the c - shaped bracket 176 is capable of being fixed on the first handle assembly 36 for standby . the locking bracket 144 is connected with the first locking knob 158 , and the second handle assembly 116 is fixedly connected with the locking bracket 144 . the second end 124 of the second extending portion 120 of the second handle assembly 116 passes through the c - shaped bracket 176 , so the second end 124 of the second extending portion 120 of the second handle assembly 116 is capable of being supported on the c - shaped bracket 176 . press the safety switch 70 and the control switch 68 of the first handle assembly 36 by hand , penetrate the locking bracket 144 through the handle receiving hole 152 of the first handle assembly 36 , release the safety switch 70 and the control switch 68 when the locking bracket 144 slowly enters the handle receiving hole 152 , rotate the locking knob 158 to couple the third matched face 159 and the fourth matched face 166 , and the gripping portion 62 of the first handle assembly 36 will be clamped between the locking bracket 144 and the locking knob 158 . insert the plug 177 a on the first handle assembly 36 into the socket 177 b on the second handle assembly to electrically connect the first handle assembly 36 and the second handle assembly 116 . the second handle assembly 116 is thereby reliably installed on the chainsaw 20 . when cutting twigs at a higher position , install the second handle assembly 116 on the chainsaw 20 according to the mentioned method . during cutting , the plug 177 c on the gripping portion 118 of the second handle assembly is connected to the external power supply . place the u - shaped jaw 56 onto the twigs to be cut and press against the twigs ; at this time , the operator should grip the gripping portion 118 of the second handle assembly and control the safety switch 134 and the control switch 132 at the same time with one hand and grip the extending portion 120 of the second handle assembly with other hand to push the second handle assembly 116 towards the working head 22 or pull the second handle assembly 116 away from the working head 22 ; then , the guide bar 24 will rotate to cut the twigs . as shown in fig1 , the middle portion of the second handle assembly 116 of the chainsaw 20 is provided with a sleeve 178 that may move along the middle portion . the chainsaw further comprises a cord 180 , of which one end is connected with the main body 34 and the other end is connected to the sleeve 178 . the main body 34 is provided with a clip hook 182 , and one end of the cord 180 is hung on the clip hook 182 . the sleeve 178 is provided with two walls 184 extending radially , a guiding groove 186 is defined between the two walls extending radially , the other end of the cord 180 passes through the guiding groove , a pivotal elastic cam clip 188 is installed at the middle portion of each wall 184 , each elastic cam clip 188 has a cam face 190 extending into the guiding groove 186 , the cord 180 is clamped between the two cam faces 190 , and the cam clip 188 may clamp or release the cord 180 . when cutting thin twigs at higher positions , install the second handle assembly 116 on the chainsaw 20 according to the mentioned method and connect the plug 177 c on the gripping portion 118 of the second handle assembly to the external power supply . place the u - shaped jaw 56 onto the twigs to be cut ; at this time , the operator should grip the gripping portion 118 of the second handle assembly , control the safety switch 134 and the control switch 132 at the same time with one hand and grip the sleeve 178 with other hand to push the second handle assembly 116 towards the working head 22 or pull the second handle assembly 116 away from the working head 22 ; then , the guide bar 24 will rotate to cut the twigs . as shown in fig2 and fig2 , a second handle assembly 200 in another embodiment comprises a second gripping portion 210 and a second extending portion 220 , wherein the second extending portion 220 comprises an outer tube 201 , the second gripping portion 210 is connected with the first end 211 of the outer tube 201 , and the second end 212 of the outer tube 201 is connected with a locking mechanism 240 . a connecting element for connecting the second handle assembly 200 and the main body 34 comprises an inner tube 202 that is able to slide and be arranged with respect to the outer tube 201 . an operating element with respect to the inner tube 202 is fixedly arranged at the outer tube 201 . in this embodiment , the operating element is a sleeve 203 sleeved on the outer tube 201 , and the sleeve 203 on the outer tube 201 is about 0 . 5 m away from the second gripping portion 210 . of course , the sleeve in this embodiment is capable of being replaced by other operating elements , such as a control handle that is fixedly connected with the inner tube 202 and projected outside the outer tube 201 . the first end 221 of the inner tube 202 extends into the outer tube 201 , and the second end 222 extends out the outer tube 201 and is provided with a joint member 223 that is fixedly connected with the main body 34 of the chainsaw . the joint member 223 is made of steel , with one end thereof fixedly connected to the outer wall of the second end 222 of the inner tube 202 , and the other end is a free end which is bent to form a step - like cooperating portion 223 a . the outer wall of the inner tube 202 is provided with a groove 217 extending longitudinally , and the groove 217 functions as a guide when the inner tube 202 slides with respect to the outer tube 201 . the outer tube 201 and the inner tube 202 in this embodiment are made of light aluminum materials with weight and strength meeting requirements ; skilled persons in this field would be capable of using other materials as substitutes . the inner tube 202 , which is made from a rigid material , and the cord , which is made from a flexible material , have different structures . the second gripping portion 210 is d - shaped , one side thereof is a gripping edge 228 , the other side is a connecting edge 230 , a control switch 232 is arranged on the inside of the gripping edge 228 , both ends of the gripping edge 228 are provided with a safety switch 234 , and the outer side of the connecting edge 230 is provided with a lead , one end of the lead connected with a plug 233 . connecting lead 214 , which is electrically connected with the plugs 233 , is arranged in the cavities of the inner tube 202 and the outer tube 201 and pass through the cavity of the second end 222 of the inner tube 202 to connect with a socket 215 . the locking mechanism 240 comprises a base 241 and a cover body 242 , the base 241 is provided with a rotating shaft 245 , the cover body 242 pivots on the rotating shaft 245 with respect to the base 241 , the base 241 is provided with a first receiving chamber 243 for receiving the outer tube 201 and is fixedly connected with the outer tube 201 , the opposite inner sides of the base 241 and the cover body 242 are respectively provided with a semi - round concave chamber , and a locking member 246 is arranged between the base 241 and the cover body 242 . when the relative positions of the base 241 and the cover body 242 are locked by the locking member 246 , a second receiving chamber 244 is formed between the base 241 and the cover body 242 . furthermore , as shown in fig2 and fig2 , the second gripping portion 210 is connected to the first end 211 of the outer tube 201 via screws 216 or by other means . the part of the outer tube 201 corresponding to the sleeve 203 is provided with a longitudinal slot 205 , and the sleeve 203 is formed by connecting two semi - shells 203 a and 203 b by screws 216 or by other methods . the inner cavity of the outer tube 201 is provided with a pin 207 extending longitudinally , with one end of the pin 207 provided with a pin head 207 a with a diameter bigger than that of the pin 207 , and the pin head 207 is pressed against one end 211 of the outer tube 201 . the pin 207 is provided with a spring 208 ; the pin part 207 away from the pin head 207 a is contained in a sleeve tube 209 in such a way that one end of the spring 208 is pressed against and adapted to the pin head 207 a and the other end is pressed against and adapted to one end of the sleeve tube 209 ; the other end of the sleeve tube 209 corresponding to the spring 208 is provided with the joint member 213 . the joint member 213 is configured as a hollow cylinder . the outer diameter of the sleeve tube 209 is matched with the inner diameter of the joint member 213 , and they are therefore sleeved together . a through hole 213 a is formed in the middle part of the outer wall along the vertical direction of the joint member 213 , a round hole 221 a is correspondingly formed in the tube wall of the first end 221 of the inner tube 202 , a concave hole ( not shown in the figure ) is formed in the corresponding inside position of the semi - shell 203 a of the sleeve 203 . a cylinder pin 206 is penetrated through the through hole 213 a of the joint member 213 , with one end of the cylinder pin 206 projected from the through hole 213 a and passing through the round hole 221 a of the inner tube 202 to be fixed in the concave hole of the semi - shell 203 b of the sleeve 203 via the longitudinal slot 205 of the outer tube 201 . therefore , the sleeve 203 is fixedly connected with respect to the inner tube 202 , which means the sleeve 203 and the inner tube 202 are fixed at relative positions by the pin 207 and the joint member 213 . when the sleeve 203 slides with respect to the outer tube 201 , the longitudinal slot 205 on the outer tube 201 limits the sliding stroke of the sleeve 203 . furthermore , as shown in fig2 and fig2 , the base 241 of the locking mechanism 240 comprises a first base body 241 a and a second base body 241 b , the opposite inner sides of the first base body 241 a and the second base body 241 b are respectively provided with a semi - round concave chamber 243 a ( fig2 only shows one ), the first base body 241 a and the second base body 241 b are integrally connected together by screws or by other methods , the two semi - concave chambers 243 a are joined to form the receiving chamber 243 for receiving the outer tube 201 , and the outer tube 201 is fixedly connected with respect to the base 241 . the locking member 246 comprises an opening 251 on the base body 241 b , the opening 251 is a profile hole of which the inner wall extends downwards to form a slope face 251 a , a locking button 252 is capable of being rotationally arranged on the cover body 242 , and a lock cylinder 253 that is fixedly connected with the locking button 252 , wherein the tail end , away from the locking button 252 , of the locking cylinder 253 is fixedly connected with a round clamping member 255 with a flange 255 a and a spring 254 is arranged between the locking button 252 and the lock cylinder 253 . the spring 254 in this embodiment is a torsion spring with one end connected with the locking button 252 and the other end connected with the cover body 242 ; at the normal state , the locking button 252 and the lock cylinder 253 are located at a first position under the action of the spring 254 and the flange 255 a of the clamping member 255 directly faces the inner slope face 251 a of the profile hole 251 . once the operator applies a force to the cover body 242 towards the base 241 , the flange 255 a of the clamping member 255 contacts the inner slope face 251 a . during the operation of the operator , the flange 255 a of the clamping member 255 slides downwards along the slope face 251 a , while the lock cylinder 253 overcomes the spring force of the spring 254 and drives the locking button 252 to rotate ; when the flange 255 a of the clamping member 255 slides along the slope face 251 a to a second position , the clamping member 255 and the lock cylinder 253 together fall towards the bottom of the profile hole 251 and then pass through the profile hole 251 , the lock cylinder 253 reversely rotates to automatically return to the first position under the action of the spring 254 , and the clamping member 255 locks the cover body 242 on the base body 241 by clamping the flange 255 a and the slope face 251 a . when unlocking , reversely rotate the locking button 252 positioned above the cover body 242 to drive the clamping member 255 that is arranged at the lower end of the lock cylinder 253 to rotate it to a position staggered with the slope face 251 a , and then the lock cylinder 253 is capable of being released from the profile hole 251 and unlocked . the receiving chamber 244 formed between the base 241 and the cover body 242 optionally locks the first handle assembly of the chainsaw by the locking member 246 . as shown in fig2 and fig2 , the basic structure of the chainsaw 20 ′ in this embodiment is approximately the same with the chainsaw 20 , so no detailed description is provided . the main body 34 ′ positioned between the handle receiving end 40 ′ and the motor housing 32 ′ is provided with a slot 260 that is matched with the cooperating portion 223 a of the joint member 223 of the inner tube 202 in width . when the second handle assembly 200 is connected with the chainsaw 20 ′, the step - like cooperating portion 223 a is engaged with and adapted to the slot 260 . furthermore , as shown in fig2 and fig2 , the second handle assembly 200 is adapted to the chainsaw 20 ′ to cut the work pieces at higher positions . at this time , the joint member 223 positioned at the end of the inner tube 202 is fixedly adapted to the main body 34 ′, the gripping portion 62 ′ of the first handle assembly 36 ′ is locked in the receiving chamber 244 ( as shown in fig2 ) of the locking mechanism 240 , the control switch ( not shown in the figure ) on the inside of the gripping portion 62 ′ is limited by the receiving chamber 244 to be in the triggering state , and the plug 177 a ′ of the first handle assembly 36 ′ is thusly inserted into the socket 215 to make the first handle assembly 36 ′ and the second handle assembly 200 electrically conducting . the outer tube 201 and the first handle assembly 36 ′ are fixed in their relative positions by the locking mechanism 240 , while the inner tube 202 and the main body 34 ′ of the chainsaw are fixed in their relative positions by the joint member 223 . therefore , when the outer tube 201 slides with respect to the inner tube 202 , the linear motion of the gripping portion 62 ′ of the first handle assembly with respect to the main body 34 ′ is capable of being realized . the sleeve 203 is fixedly connected with respect to the inner tube 202 , so , during operation , connect the plug 233 to the external power supply first , then grip the sleeve 203 of the outer tube 201 with one hand , grip the gripping edge 228 of the second handle assembly 200 and control the safety switch and the control switch with the other hand to push or pull the gripping portion 62 ′ of the second handle assembly 200 towards or away from the working head , so as to make the gripping portion 62 ′ move with respect to the sleeve 203 ; then , the guide bar 24 ′ of the chainsaw is capable of being driven to rotate to perform cutting . in other embodiments , the connecting mechanism may be a rack and pinion gear ( not shown in the figure ). the rack and pinion gear usually comprise a rack fixedly connected with the first handle assembly 36 and a gear fixedly connected with the guide bar 24 . by pushing or pulling the first handle assembly 36 , the gear pivots to drive the guide bar 24 to rotate . in another embodiment , the connecting mechanism may be a pulley mechanism ( not shown in the figure ). the pulley mechanism usually comprises a pulley wheel and a cord , wherein the cord is sleeved on the pulley wheel , one end of the cord is fixedly connected with the first handle assembly 36 , the other end of the cord is fixedly connected to the main body 34 , and the pulley wheel is fixedly connected with the guide bar 24 via the driven part 82 ; during operation , the operator pulls or pushes the first handle assembly 36 , and the pulley wheel will drive the driven part 82 to pivot , thus enabling the driven part 82 to drive the guide bar 24 to rotate .	1
reference is now made in detail to embodiments of the present invention that illustrate the best mode presently contemplated by the inventor ( s ) for practicing the present invention . 80 g of zirconium dioxide was kneaded in a kneading machine . after addition of 50 ml of 85 % p - phosphoric acid , the kneading was continued for a further 30 minutes . thereafter , the catalyst was roasted at 300 ° c . for 6 hours to give the desired solid acidic catalyst . 200 ml of xylene was placed in a three - neck reactor , followed by addition of 10 g of maleic anhydride . the mixture was stirred to dissolve completely , and then 15 ml of cyclohexyl amine was slowly added into the mixture . after completion of the addition , the mixture was stirred for a further 30 minutes . then 20 g of the solid acidic catalyst was added and the reaction mixture was heated to 144 ° c . for 8 hours . the reaction solution was analyzed by liquid chromatography , and the yield of n - cyclohexyl maleimide was 93 . 67 mol % ( based on maleic anhydride ). the reaction solution and catalyst were separated by filtration directly at 144 ° c . the catalyst was set aside for the next experiment , and the reaction solution was cooled to room temperature . evaporation of the solvent furnished 16 . 5 g of n - cyclohexyl maleimide as light yellow solid . the purity was 98 . 70 %. 200 ml of xylene was placed in a 500 ml three - neck reactor , followed by addition of 10 g of maleic anhydride . the mixture was stirred to dissolve completely , and then 11 . 5 ml of cyclohexyl amine was slowly added into the mixture . after completion of the addition , the mixture was stirred for a further 30 minutes . then 20 g of the solid acidic catalyst recycled from example 1 was added and the reaction mixture was heated to 144 ° c . for 8 hours . the solution obtained was analyzed by liquid chromatography , and the yield of n - cyclohexyl maleimide was 95 . 85 mol % ( based on maleic anhydride ). the same procedure as described in example 2 was repeated ( using the recycled solid acidic catalyst repeatedly ), and yields of every product obtained are summarized in table 1 . as shown in table 1 , the solid acidic catalyst was used several times without deteriorating the product yield , which remained above 93 %. it is evident that the method for producing maleimide according to the present invention can maintain the activity of the solid acidic catalyst . the catalyst recycled in example 12 was used in this example . 200 ml of xylene was placed in a 500 ml three - neck reactor , followed by addition of 20 g of cyclohexyl maleamic acid . the mixture was heated and stirred to dissolve completely . the recycled catalyst was then added and the mixture was heated to 144 ° c . for 8 hours . the reaction solution was analyzed by liquid chromatography , and the yield of n - cyclohexyl maleimide was 96 . 89 mol % ( based on maleic anhydride ). in this example , even though using the maleamic acid intermediate as raw material , the production yield was as high as 96 . 89 mol % by the method of the present invention . 50 ml of 85 % p - phosphoric acid was added into 80 g of silicon dioxide to make a solid acid catalyst . 200 ml of xylene was placed in a 500 ml three - neck reactor , followed by addition of 10 g of maleic anhydride . the mixture was stirred to dissolve completely , and then 15 ml of cyclohexyl amine was slowly added into the mixture . after completion of the addition , the mixture was stirred for a further 30 minutes . then 20 g of the above solid acidic catalyst was added and the reaction mixture was heated to 144 ° c . for 8 hours . the reaction solution was analyzed by liquid chromatography , and the yield of n - cyclohexyl maleimide was 89 . 97 mol % ( based on maleic anhydride ). 200 ml of xylene was placed in a 500 ml three - neck reactor , followed by the addition of 10 g of maleic anhydride . the mixture was stirred to dissolve completely , and then 11 . 5 ml of cyclohexyl amine was slowly added into the mixture . after completion of the addition , the mixture was stirred for a further 30 minutes . then 20 g of the solid acidic catalyst recycled from comparative example 1 was added and the reaction mixture was heated to 144 ° c . for 8 hours . the reaction solution was analyzed by liquid chromatography , and the yield of n - cyclohexyl maleimide was 43 . 73 mol % ( based on maleic anhydride ). from the two comparative examples , it was observed that using non - roasted solid acidic catalyst for the second time reduced the production yield to 43 . 73 mol %. accordingly , roasting at high temperature is necessary to maintain the activity of solid acidic catalyst at a satisfactory level . 600 g of silicon dioxide was kneaded in a kneading machine . after addition of 375 ml of 85 % p - phosphoric acid , the kneading was continued for a further 30 minutes . thereafter , the catalyst was roasted at 300 ° c . for 4 hours to give the desired solid acidic catalyst . 6l of xylene was placed in a three - neck reactor , followed by addition of 300 g of maleic anhydride . the mixture was stirred to dissolve completely , and then 353 ml of cyclohexyl amine was slowly added into the mixture . after completion of the addition , the mixture was stirred for a further 30 minutes . then 600 g of the solid acidic catalyst was added and the reaction mixture was heated to 144 ° c . for 8 hours . the reaction solution was analyzed by liquid chromatography , and the yield of n - cyclohexyl maleimide was 95 . 58 mol % ( based on maleic anhydride ). the reaction solution and catalyst were separated by filtration directly at 144 ° c . the catalyst was set aside , and the reaction solution was cooled to room temperature . evaporation of the solvent furnished 520 g of crude n - cyclohexyl maleimide as yellow solid . the purity was 98 . 53 %. the crude n - cyclohexyl maleimide was extracted with 1l of 10 ° c . n - hexane and re - crystallized at − 10 ° c . the extraction and crystallization were repeated to afford 503 g of n - cyclohexyl maleimide , which was further crystallized using toluene to obtain transparent n - cyclohexyl maleimide as final product . the purity was 99 . 68 %. accordingly , by the extraction and crystallization techniques of the present invention , maleimide with purity greater than 99 % is obtainable . 40 g of zirconium dioxide was kneaded in a kneading machine . after addition of 20 ml of sulfuric acid , the kneading was continued for a further 30 minutes . thereafter , the catalyst was roasted at 500 ° c . for 4 hours to give the desired solid acidic catalyst . 200 ml of toluene was placed in a three - neck reactor , followed by addition of 10 g of maleic anhydride . the mixture was stirred to dissolve completely , and then 14 ml of n - butyl amine was slowly added into the mixture . after completion of the addition , the mixture was stirred for a further 30 minutes . then 20 g of the solid acidic catalyst was added and the reaction mixture was heated to 144 ° c . for 4 hours . the reaction solution obtained was analyzed by liquid chromatography , and the yield of n - cyclohexyl maleimide was 95 . 75 mol % ( based on maleic anhydride ). the solution and catalyst were separated by filtration directly at 144 ° c . the catalyst was set aside and the solution was cooled to room temperature . 200 ml of toluene was placed in a 500 ml three - neck reactor , followed by addition of 10 g of maleic anhydride . the mixture was stirred to dissolve completely , and then 14 ml of n - butyl amine was slowly added into the mixture . after completion of the addition , the mixture was stirred for a further 30 minutes . then 20 g of the solid acidic catalyst recycled from example 15 was added and the reaction mixture was heated to 112 ° c . for 8 hours . the reaction solution was analyzed by liquid chromatography , and the yield of n - cyclohexyl maleimide was 95 . 60 mol % ( based on maleic anhydride ). examples 15 and 16 illustrate that the result obtained by using zirconium dioxide as neutral carrier of the solid acidic catalyst is as good as other examples . from the results shown above , the production yield according to the present method for making maleimides is higher than 95 %. the catalyst still works well after 10 times of reactions without deterioration . moreover , the catalyst is not as viscous as phosphoric amine salts and , can be easily separated at high temperature or room temperature by filtration . consequently , deterioration of catalyst due to distillation at high temperature can be avoided . according to the method of the present invention , high yield with high purity of maleimides can be obtained with lower production costs . therefore , a much more economical method as compared to prior art methods is accomplished . while the invention has been described by way of example and in terms of the preferred embodiment , it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments . on the contrary , it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements as would be apparent to those skilled in the art . similarly , any process steps described herein may be interchangeable with other steps in order to achieve the same result . therefore , the scope of the appended claims should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar arrangements , which is defined by the following claims and their equivalents .	2
“ sleep ” is defined generally herein as the body &# 39 ; s rest cycle which is triggered by a complex group of hormones that respond to cues from the body itself and the environment . in response to these cues , an individual will begin to fall asleep and , normally , progress through a number of sleep stages ( e . g ., waking , non - rapid eye movement ( e . g ., non - rem or nrem ) stages 1 to 4 , and / or rapid eye movement ( e . g ., rem ) sleep ). for example , sleep can be initiated by entering the “ waking ” sleep stage . the waking stage is referred to as relaxed wakefulness , because this is the stage in which the body prepares for sleep . all people fall asleep with tense muscles , their eyes moving erratically . then , as a person becomes sleepier , the body begins to slow down . muscles begin to relax , and eye roll movement slows . next , an individual can begin “ non - rapid eye movement sleep ” or “ nrem sleep ”. about 80 percent of sleep is dreamless , nrem sleep . during nrem sleep , the breathing and heart rate are slow and regular , the blood pressure is low , and the sleeper is relatively still . nrem sleep is divided into four stages of increasing depth of sleep : stage 1 , stage 2 , and stages 3 and 4 . nrem sleep typically lasts from approximately 90 to 120 minutes , each stage lasting anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes . stages 2 and 3 repeat backwards before rapid eye movement ( rem ) sleep is attained . therefore , a normal sleep cycle has the following pattern : waking , stage 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 3 , 2 , rem . usually , rem sleep occurs approximately 90 minutes after sleep onset . “ latency ” is defined herein as the amount of time required for an individual to enter a sleep stage . “ stage i latency ” is defined herein as the time in minutes from when an individual begins attempting to fall asleep until the onset of the first bout of stage 1 sleep . “ stage 2 latency ” is defined herein as the time in minutes from sleep onset to the onset of the first bout of stage 2 sleep . “ stage 3 / 4 latency ” or “ delta latency ” is defined herein as the time in minutes from sleep onset to the onset of the first bout of stage 3 / 4 sleep . “ rem latency ” is defined herein as the time in minutes from sleep onset to the onset of the first bout of rem sleep . it is also important to note that sleep stages are not necessarily sequential . for instance , if a person is exhausted he or she may skip stages 1 and 2 and move directly into delta or rem . most adults utilize approximately eight hours of sleep on a regular schedule to function well , although some require less , and others more . children , particularly teenagers , often need nine or ten hours for optimal functioning . “ stage 1 ” sleep , or drowsiness , is often described as first in the sequence , especially in models where waking is not included . polysomnography ( psg ) can show a 50 % reduction in activity between wakefulness and stage 1 sleep . the eyes are closed during stage 1 sleep , but if aroused from it , a person may feel as if he or she has not slept . stage 1 may last for approximately 5 to 10 minutes . “ stage 2 ” sleep is a period of light sleep during which psg readings can show intermittent peaks and valleys , or positive and negative waves . these waves indicate spontaneous periods of muscle tone mixed with periods of muscle relaxation . muscle tone of this kind can be seen in other stages of sleep as a reaction to auditory stimuli . the heart rate slows , and body temperature decreases . at this point , the body prepares to enter “ deep sleep ” stages . “ stages 3 and 4 ” or “ delta ” or nrem sleep are deep sleep stages . these stages are known as slow - wave sleep . during slow - wave sleep , the electromyogram records can show waves of high amplitude , indicating a pattern of deep sleep and rhythmic continuity . “ rapid eye movement ” or “ rem ” is a normal stage of sleep characterized by the rapid movement of the eyes . criteria for rem sleep can include , for example , rapid eye movement , low muscle tone and a rapid , low voltage eeg . rem sleep in adult humans typically occupies approximately 20 % to 25 % of total sleep , about 90 to 120 minutes of a night &# 39 ; s sleep . during a normal night of sleep , humans usually experience about four or five periods of rem sleep ; they are quite short at the beginning of the night and longer toward the end . during rem , the activity of the brain &# 39 ; s neurons is quite similar to that during waking hours ; for this reason , the sleep stage may be called paradoxical sleep . this means that there are no dominating brain waves during rem sleep . vividly recalled dreams mostly occur during rem sleep . “ sleep efficiency ” is defined herein as a percentage that reflects the percentage of time asleep versus the total time in bed . e . g ., total sleep time ( tst )= 386 minutes ; sleep period total / time in bed = 424 minutes ; sleep efficiency = 89 . 1 %. “ stage specific % of tst ” is the percentage of tst of any given stage ( accumulated ) e . g ., tst = 386 minutes ; total time in rem = 48 minutes ; rem % tst = 12 . 4 %. the “ percentage of stage i to delta ” or “ percentage of stage 1 to rem ” is defined herein as a percentage of the time spent in stage i sleep relative to the amount of time spent in delta or rem sleep . since delta and rem are restorative sleep stages that are often limited in disordered sleep , a decrease of the amount of stage i sleep relative to delta and / or rem sleep is considered beneficial , by at least those familiar with the field of sleep study . sleep studies are often performed to access an individuals &# 39 ; overall quality of sleep and / or to diagnose any sleep disorders that may be present . the data during a sleep study is analyzed in 30 second windows termed “ epochs ”. the staging of sleep is determined by the predominate features of each epoch . any interruption in staged sleep greater than 60 seconds ( 2 epochs ) is considered an “ awakening ”. “ about ” when used with a stated numeral value is intended to mean a variance of ± 5 % from the stated numerical value . “ arousals ” occur regularly during sleep . each time one shifts from one stage of sleep to another there is a momentary interruption of sleep or an arousal . if an arousal continues for greater than 60 seconds ( 2 epochs ) it is then generally deemed an awakening . the “ arousal index ” is defined herein as the total number of arousals divided by the total number of sleep in hours or total sleep time . e . g ., tst = 6 . 43 ; total number of arousals = 388 arousal index = 54 . 9 or 54 . 9 arousals per hour . sleep studies are often used to diagnose and / or confirm suspected sleep disorders such as , but not limited to , “ sleep apnea ”. “ apnea ” literally means “ without breath .” there are three types of apnea : obstructive , central , and mixed . of the three types of apnea , obstructive is the most common . the root cause of each type of apnea is distinct but , in all three , individuals stop breathing repeatedly during their sleep . this can occur hundreds of times during the night and often for a minute or longer . “ obstructive sleep apnea ” or “ osa ” is caused by a blockage of the airway , usually when the soft tissue in the rear of the throat collapses and closes during sleep . in “ central sleep apnea ”, the airway is not blocked but the brain fails to signal the muscles to breathe . “ mixed apnea ”, as the name implies , is a combination of obstructive and central sleep apnea . with each apnea event , the brain briefly arouses people with sleep apnea in order for them to resume breathing , but consequently sleep is extremely fragmented and of poor quality . the “ apnea index ” is the total number of incidents of sleep apnea divided by the total number of minutes of sleep . sleep apnea may result in lowered oxygen saturation levels in the blood of affected individuals . “ hypoxic time ” is the total time in minutes that the oxygen saturation levels in the blood are below 89 . 0 % e . g ., sao2 of & lt ; 89 : 0 . 0 minutes indicates that the blood oxygen saturation levels did not fall below zero during the duration of sleep analyzed . “ nap ” or “ short duration sleep ” is typically defined as a short sleep especially during the day . “ short duration sleep ” and / or “ nap ” are defined herein , as a period of sleep lasting one hour or less . “ polysomnography ” or “ psg ”, also known as a sleep study , is defined herein as a multi - parametric test used in the study of sleep and as a diagnostic tool in sleep medicine . the test result is called a “ polysomnogram ”, also abbreviated “ psg ”. polysomnography , as defined herein , is a comprehensive recording of the biophysiological changes that occur during sleep . it is usually performed at night , when most people sleep . the psg monitors many body functions including brain ( eeg ), eye movements ( eog ), muscle activity or skeletal muscle activation ( emg ) and heart rhythm ( ecg ) during sleep . after the identification of the sleep disorder sleep apnea in the 1970s , the breathing functions respiratory airflow and respiratory effort indicators were added along with peripheral pulse oximetry . additional details related to performing a psg and the results of such study are contemplated and included herein as being known to practitioner &# 39 ; s having ordinary skill in the sleep study art . “ enhanced sleep quality ” is defined herein as a period of sleep characterized by decreased ratio of stage 1 sleep to delta sleep , decreased ratio of stage 1 sleep to rem sleep , decreased number of awakenings , decreased number of arousals , decreased latencies , increased levels of blood oxygen saturation , decreased number of sleep disorder events such as , but not limited to , apneaic events , and / or any other outcome that would be recognized as enhancing sleep quality by one of ordinary skill in the field of sleep studies . “ ultra - low dose ” is defined herein as being a dose having micro - and / or nano - quantities of active constituents in a carrier . “ micro - quantity ” is defined herein as a quantity of about − 6 or less , but not being a nano - quantity . “ nano - quantity ” is defined as a quantity of about − 9 or less . the use of the terms “ a ” and “ an ” and “ the ” and similar referents in the context of describing the invention are to be construed to cover both the singular and the plural , unless otherwise indicated herein or clearly contradicted by context . it will be further understood that the terms “ comprises ,” “ comprising ,” “ includes ,” and / or “ including ,” when used herein , specify the presence of stated features , integers , steps , operations , elements , and / or components , but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features , integers , steps , operations , elements , components , and / or groups thereof . recitation of ranges of values herein are merely intended to serve as a shorthand method of referring individually to each separate value falling within the range , unless otherwise indicated herein , and each separate value is incorporated into the specification as if it were individually recited herein . the use of any and all examples , or exemplary language (“ e . g .” or “ such as ”) provided herein , is intended merely to better illuminate the invention and does not pose a limitation on the scope of the invention unless otherwise claimed . no language in the specification should be construed as indicating any non - claimed element as essential to the practice of the invention . it has been unexpectedly and surprisingly discovered that the dose of a vitamin , mineral , or other nutritional ingredient when formulated into one or more compositions of the present invention and adapted for delivery via a system that substantially avoids first pass metabolism , may be significantly reduced while still producing a desired beneficial effect / biological response ( e . g ., increased sleep duration , decreased latency , etc .). as a result , the ingredients of one or more nutraceutical compositions and / or formulations of the present invention may be provided at substantially lower levels ( i . e . ultra - low levels ) than conventional amounts ( e . g ., rda , ul , uda , etc .). furthermore , it has been surprisingly discovered that such ultra - low dosage levels and bioactive delivery systems allow the compositions / formulations of the present invention to be repeatedly and flexibly administered to an animal or human for the enhancement and augmentation of those biological functions ( e . g ., stages of sleep ) known to be influenced by any of the individual components . without wanting to be bound by any particular theory , it is believed that administration of the ultra - low dose nutraceuticals of the present invention results in the initiation of signaling pathways ( negative and / or positive feedback regulatory processes ) and / or cascades that induce desired biological responses including , but not limited to , enhanced sleep quality . for example , it is believed that due to the ultra - low dosage levels utilized in the present invention , a specific composition may be taken by an individual multiple times within each dosing period ( e . g ., within each 24 hour , 6 hour , or 1 hour period ). alternatively , an individual may take multiple , different compositions or formulations of the present invention within a dosing period to generate varied biological responses or effects , namely those associated with sleep disorders or the different stages of sleep . thus , the presently described technology may be utilized in a system which allows an individual to biologically configure their dietary supplement intake throughout a dosing period or multiple dosing periods , based on their individual sleep needs or disorder ( s ). accordingly , the presently described technology provides for one or more ultra - low dose nutraceutical compositions or formulations comprising vitamins , minerals , enzymes , amino acids , adjuncts , and additives that can be administered to enhance sleep quality or treat sleep disorders . below is a detailed description of some of the components in the presently described ultra - low dose nutraceutical formulations / compositions of the present invention , their delivery systems for administration , and the sleep - based biological effects elicited thereby . the water can vary from source to source , but preferably contains at least calcium and magnesium in the amounts disclosed herein ( below ). most preferably , the presently described technology utilizes water from an appalachia water source , preferably a water source from the eastern slope of the shenandoah valley . different water sources would require empirical analysis of its constituents to ensure that the dosage amounts are consistent with spirit of the presently described technology . the water is preferably filtered to purify and refine it from the certain , selected water - source . an example of components that the water can include , and tolerances for the amounts of those components , is set forth below : in an additional embodiment , the water may contain from 0 to 0 . 10 milligrams / liter ± 25 % of at least one nitrate and from 0 to 0 . 10 milligrams / liter (+) 25 % of at least one nitrite . any of these preferred components of the water may range from 0 to about ± 25 %. the ph of the water can range from about 5 to about 7 . 5 . preferably , the ph of the water is about 7 . 50 at 25 degrees celsius . in at least one embodiment , a nutraceutical composition of the present invention contains water in the volume of from about 0 . 15 milliliters to about 0 . 4 milliliters . the compositions of the present invention can include any of the water - soluble and / or fat - soluble vitamins , a coenzyme such as q10 , essential and / or non - essential amino acids ( including standard and non - standard amino acids and their precursors ), and minerals including without limitation calcium , phosphorus , magnesium , sodium , potassium , chloride , chromium , copper , fluoride , iodine , iron , manganese , molybdenum , selenium and zinc . the presently described technology can also include other ingredients , for example , nitrate , nitrite , folic acid , nucleic acids and their derivatives , amino acids and their derivatives , neurotransmitters and their precursors , plant extracts , additives , and adjuncts such as , but not limited to , caffeine . in addition , certain embodiments of the presently described ultra - low dose nutraceutical are substantially free of chloride compounds other than magnesium chloride . the one or more components of the ultra - low dose nutraceutical compositions or formulations of the present invention can comprise at least five of the following ingredients or components : magnesium chloride , potassium carbonate , calcium ascorbate , ascorbic acid , caffeine , niacin , potassium benzoate , chromium picolinate , chromium , polynicotinate , coenzyme q10 , l - glutamine , potassium sorbate , calcium ascorbate , sodium nitrite , l - arginine , sodium ascorbate , copper , iron , potassium iodide , calcium carbonate , zinc , ascorbic acid , niacin , vitamin a , vitamin b1 , vitamin b2 , vitamin b3 , vitamin b6 , vitamin b12 , vitamin c , vitamin d3 , vitamin e , vitamin h , folic acid , vitamin k , and combinations and derivatives thereof . illustrative examples of ultra - low dose nutraceutical base mixtures and pre - mixes of the present invention are presented in u . s . pat . no . 7 , 727 , 546 , which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety . other forms of calcium may include , but are not limited to : calcium ions , calcium ascorbate , calcium carbonate , calcium chloride , calcium phosphate . other forms of magnesium include , but are not limited to : magnesium ions , magnesium oxide , magnesium citrate , magnesium chloride , magnesium hydroxide , magnesium sulfate , magnesium aspartate , and magnesium carbonate . other forms of potassium , include , but are not limited to : potassium ions , potassium carbonate , potassium sorbate , potassium chloride , potassium benzoate , and potassium iodide . other forms of sodium include , but are not limited to : sodium ions , sodium ascorbate , and sodium nitrite . other minerals include selenium , iodine , copper , molybdenum , and phosphorus . other antioxidants may include glutathione and its derivatives and precursors . at least one embodiment of the present invention contains magnesium chloride , sodium ascorbate , potassium carbonate , calcium ascorbate , potassium sorbate , sodium nitrite , potassium benzoate , chromium picolinate , chromium polynicotinate , copper , iron , potassium iodide , calcium carbonate , zinc , ascorbic acid , niacin , vitamin a , vitamin b1 , vitamin b2 , vitamin b3 , vitamin b6 , vitamin b12 , vitamin c , vitamin d3 , vitamin e , vitamin h , folic acid , caffeine , l - glutamine , l - arginine , coenzyme q10 , and combinations and derivatives and precursors thereof . in another embodiment , the nutraceutical / supplement composition / formulation of the present invention contains from about 1 . 25 × 10 − 13 grams to about 3 . 5 × 10 − 3 grams of at least one mineral , from about 6 × 10 − 9 grams to about 6 × 10 − 6 grams of at least one enzyme , from about 2 × 10 − 14 grams to about 1 . 8 × 10 − 4 grams of at least one vitamin , from about 3 × 10 − 8 grams to about 3 × 10 − 4 grams of at least one adjunct , and from about 1 . 5 × 10 − 8 grams to about 1 . 5 × 10 − 2 grams of at least one amino acid ; and each compound / component can be , for example , in additional multiplied factors thereof , ( e . g . × 0 . 0001 , × 0 . 001 , × 0 . 01 , × 0 . 01 , × 1 , × 2 , × 2 . 5 , × 5 , × 10 , × 100 , etc .). amino acids and their precursors , analogues , and derivatives and alternative forms ( l -, d - and dl - amino acids ) may be added to the composition , including , but not limited the following : l - glutamine , l - arginine , tyrosine , tryptophan , glycine , l - theanine , lysine , l - aspartate , s - adenosyl - l - homocysteine ( sah ), ornithine , theanine , and carnitine . amino acids precursors are compounds that give amino acids after some reactions ( usually hydrolysis ). the amino acid glutamine is involved in many metabolic processes and it stabilizes the immune system , strengthens the intestinal cells and helps against stress , depression and anxiety . glutamine increases the production of gaba , gamma - amino - butyric acid a neurotransmitter implicated in sleep . l - tryptophan stimulates the synthesis of serotonin , which is required for the neurotransmitter to induce sleep . glycine functions as an inhibitory neurotransmitter in the central nervous system and acts as a co - agonist of glutamate receptors . l - theanine is an amino acid analogue demonstrates pharmacological actions such as promoting calmness and decreasing alertness . the amino acids glutamine , ornithine and arginine promote better sleep in that they decrease ammonia and stimulate liver detoxification . carnitine serves as a mood enhancer , supports many brain functions and ensures better stress resistance . the compositions of the present invention may also include additives such as , but not limited to , the components described herein . film forming agents include , but are not limited to , cellulose polymers , polyethylene oxide , pullulan , hydroxypropylmethyl cellulose , hydroxypropyl cellulose , polyvinyl pyrrolidone , polyvinyl alcohol , sodium alginate , polyethylene glycol , xanthan gum , tragacanth gum , guar gum , acacia gum , arabic gum , polyacrylic acid , amylase , starch , dextrin , pectin , chitin , chitosin , levan , elsinan , collagen , gelatin , zein , gluten , soy protein isolate , whey protein isolate , casein , and mixtures thereof . the polymer may be water soluble , water swellable , water insoluble or a combination of one or more either water soluble , water swellable or water insoluble polymers . the polymer may include cellulose or a cellulose derivative . specific examples of useful water soluble polymers include , but are not limited to , polyethylene oxide ( peo ), pullulan , hydroxypropylmethyl cellulose ( hpmc ), hydroxyethyl cellulose ( hpc ), hydroxypropyl cellulose , polyvinyl pyrrolidone , carboxymethyl cellulose , polyvinyl alcohol , sodium aginate , polyethylene glycol , xanthan gum , tragancanth gum , guar gum , acacia gum , arabic gum , polyacrylic acid , methylmethacrylate copolymer , carboxyvinyl copolymers , starch , gelatin , and combinations thereof . specific examples of useful water insoluble polymers include , but are not limited to , ethyl cellulose , hydroxypropyl ethyl cellulose , cellulose acetate phthalate , hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose phthalate and combinations thereof . as used herein the phrase “ water soluble polymer ” and variants thereof refer to a polymer that is at least partially soluble in water , and desirably fully or predominantly soluble in water , or absorbs water . polymers that absorb water are often referred to as being water swellable polymers . the materials useful with the present invention may be water soluble or water swellable at room temperature and other temperatures , such as temperatures exceeding room temperature . moreover , the materials may be water soluble or water swellable at pressures less than atmospheric pressure . desirably , the water soluble polymers are water soluble or water swellable having at least about 20 percent by weight water uptake . water swellable polymers having about 25 or greater percent by weight water uptake are also useful . films or dosage forms of the present invention formed from such water soluble polymers are desirably sufficiently water soluble to be dissolvable upon contact with bodily fluids . other polymers useful for incorporation into the films of the present invention include biodegradable polymers , copolymers , block polymers and combinations thereof . among the known useful polymers or polymer classes which meet the above criteria are : poly ( glycolic acid ) ( pga ), poly ( lactic acid ) ( pla ), polydioxanoes , polyoxalates , poly ( α - esters ), polyanhydrides , polyacetates , polycaprolactones , poly ( orthoesters ), polyamino acids , polyaminocarbonates , polyurethanes , polycarbonates , polyamides , poly ( alkyl cyanoacrylates ), and mixtures and copolymers thereof . additional useful polymers include , stereopolymers of l - and d - lactic acid , copolymers of bis ( p - carboxyphenoxy ) propane acid and sebacic acid , sebacic acid copolymers , copolymers of caprolactone , poly ( lactic acid )/ poly ( glycolic acid )/ polyethyleneglycol copolymers , copolymers of polyurethane and ( poly ( lactic acid ), copolymers of polyurethane and poly ( lactic acid ), copolymers of α - amino acids , copolymers of α - amino acids and caproic acid , copolymers of α - benzyl glutamate and polyethylene glycol , copolymers of succinate and poly ( glycols ), polyphosphazene , polyhydroxy - alkanoates and mixtures thereof . binary and ternary systems are contemplated . other specific polymers useful include those marketed under the medisorb and biodel trademarks . the medisorb materials are marketed by the dupont company of wilmington , del . and are generically identified as a “ lactide / glycolide co - polymer ” containing “ propanoic acid , 2 - hydroxy - polymer with hydroxy - polymer with hydroxyacetic acid .” four such polymers include lactide / glycolide 100 l , believed to be 100 % lactide having a melting point within the range of about 338 ° to about 347 ° f . ( about 170 ° to about 175 ° c . ); lactide / glycolide 100 l , believed to be 100 % glycolide having a melting point within the range of about 437 ° to about 455 ° f . ( about 225 ° to about 235 ° c . ); lactide / glycolide 85 / 15 , believed to be approximately 85 % lactide and approximately 15 % glycolide with a melting point within the range of about 338 ° to about 347 ° f . ( about 170 ° to about 175 ° c . ); and lactide / glycolide 50 / 50 , believed to be a copolymer of about 50 % lactide and about 50 % glycolide with a melting point within the range of about 338 ° to about 347 ° f . ( about 170 ° to about 175 ° c .). the biodel materials represent a family of various polyanhydrides which differ chemically . although a variety of different polymers may be used , it is desired to select polymers to provide a desired viscosity of the mixture prior to drying . for example , if the active or other components are not soluble in the selected solvent , a polymer that will provide a greater viscosity is desired to assist in maintaining uniformity . on the other hand , if the components are soluble in the solvent , a polymer that provides a lower viscosity may be preferred . the polymer plays an important role in affecting the viscosity of the film . viscosity is one property of a liquid that controls the stability of the active in an emulsion , a colloid or a suspension . generally , the viscosity of the matrix will vary from about 400 cps to about 100 , 000 cps , preferably from about 800 cps to about 60 , 000 cps , and most preferably from about 1 , 000 cps to about 40 , 000 cps . desirably , the viscosity of the film - forming matrix will rapidly increase upon initiation of the drying process . the viscosity may be adjusted based on the selected active depending on the other components within the matrix . for example , if the component is not soluble within the selected solvent , a proper viscosity may be selected to prevent the component from settling which would adversely affect the uniformity of the resulting film . the viscosity may be adjusted in different ways . to increase viscosity of the film matrix , the polymer may be chosen of a higher molecular weight or crosslinkers may be added , such as salts of calcium , sodium and potassium . the viscosity may also be adjusted by adjusting the temperature or by adding a viscosity increasing component . components that will increase the viscosity or stabilize the emulsion / suspension include higher molecular weight polymers and polysaccharides and gums , which include without limitation , alginate , carrageenan , hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose , locust bean gum , guar gum , xanthan gum , dextran , gum arabic , gellan gum and combinations thereof . it has also been observed that certain polymers which when used alone would ordinarily require a plasticizer to achieve a flexible film , can be combined without a plasticizer and yet achieve flexible films . for example , hpmc and hpc when used in combination provide a flexible , strong film with the appropriate plasticity and elasticity for manufacturing and storage . no additional plasticizer or polyalcohol is needed for flexibility . flavors may be chosen from natural and synthetic flavoring liquids . an illustrative list of such agents includes volatile oils , synthetic flavor oils , flavoring aromatics , oils , liquids , oleoresins or extracts derived from plants , leaves , flowers , fruits , stems and combinations thereof . a non - limiting representative list of examples includes mint oils , cocoa , and citrus oils such as lemon , orange , grape , lime and grapefruit and fruit essences including apple , pear , peach , grape , strawberry , raspberry , cherry , plum , pineapple , apricot or other fruit flavors . useful flavors or flavoring agents include natural and artificial flavors . these flavorings may be chosen from synthetic flavor oils and flavoring aromatics , and / or oils , oleo resins and extracts derived from plants , leaves , flowers , fruits and so forth , and combinations thereof . non - limiting flavor oils include : spearmint oil , cinnamon oil , peppermint oil , clove oil , bay oil , thyme oil , cedar leaf oil , oil of nutmeg , oil of sage , and oil of bitter almonds . also useful are artificial , natural or synthetic fruit flavors such as vanilla , chocolate , coffee , cocoa and citrus oil , including lemon , orange , grape , lime and grapefruit , and fruit essences including apple , pear , peach , strawberry , raspberry , cherry , plum , pineapple , apricot and the like . these flavorings can be used individually or in combination . commonly used flavors include mints such as peppermint , artificial vanilla , cinnamon derivatives , and various fruit flavors , whether employed individually or in combination . flavorings such as aldehydes and esters including cinnamylacetate , cinnamaldehyde , citral , diethylacetal , dihydrocarvyl acetate , eugenyl formate , p - methylanisole , and the like may also be used . further examples of aldehyde flavorings include , but are not limited to acetaldehyde ( apple ); benzaldehyde ( cherry , almond ); cinnamicaldehyde ( cinnamon ); citral , i . e ., alpha citral ( lemon , lime ); neral , i . e . beta citral ( lemon , lime ); decanal ( orange , lemon ); ethyl vanillin ( vanilla , cream ); heliotropine , i . e ., piperonal ( vanilla , cream ); vanillin ( vanilla , cream ); alpha - amyl cinnamaldehyde ( spicy fruity flavors ); butyraldehyde ( butter , cheese ); valeraldehyde ( butter , cheese ); citronellal ( modifies , many types ); decanal ( citrus fruits ); aldehyde c - 8 ( citrus fruits ); aldehyde c - 9 ( citrus fruits ); aldehyde c - 12 ( citrus fruits ); 2 - ethyl butyraldehyde ( berry fruits ); hexenal , i . e . trans - 2 ( berry fruits ); tolyl aldehyde ( cherry , almond ); veratraldehyde ( vanilla ); 12 , 6 - dimethyl - 5 - heptenal , i . e . melonal ( melon ); 2 dimethyloctanal ( greenfruit ); and 2 - dodecenal ( citrus , mandarin ); cherry ; grape ; mixtures thereof ; and the like . other useful flavorings include aldehydes and esters such as benzaldehyde ( cherry , almond ), citral i . e ., alphacitral ( lemon , lime ), neral , i . e ., beta - citral ( lemon , lime ), decanal ( orange , lemon ), aldehyde c - 8 ( citrus fruits ), aldehyde c - 9 ( citrus fruits ), aldehyde c - 12 ( citrus fruits ), tolyl aldehyde ( cherry , almond ), 2 , 6 - dimethyloctanol ( green fruit ), and 2 - dodecenal ( citrus , mandarin ), combinations thereof and the like . the amount of flavoring employed is normally a matter of preference , subject to such factors as flavor type , individual flavor , and strength desired . the amount may be varied in order to obtain the result desired in the final product . such variations are within the capabilities of those skilled in the art without the need for undue experimentation . in general , amounts of about 0 . 1 to about 30 weight ( wt ) % are useful with the practice of the present invention . suitable sweeteners include both natural and artificial sweeteners . non - limiting examples of suitable sweeteners include , e . g . water - soluble sweetening agents such as monosaccharides , disaccharides and polysaccharides such as xylose , ribose , glucose ( dextrose ), mannose , galactose , fructose ( levulose ), sucrose ( sugar ), high fructose corn syrup , maltose , invert sugar ( a mixture of fructose and glucose derived from sucrose ), partially hydrolyzed starch , corn syrup solids , and dihydrochalcones ; water - soluble artificial sweeteners such as the soluble saccharin salts , i . e ., sodium or calcium saccharin salts , cyclamate salts , the sodium , ammonium or calcium salt of 3 , 4 - dihydro - 6 - methyl - 1 , 2 , 3 - oxathiazine - 4 - one - 2 , 2 - dioxide , the potassium salt of 3 , 4 - dihydro - 6 - methyl - 1 , 2 , 3 - oxathiazine - 4 - one - 2 , 2 - dioxide ( acesulfame - k ), the free acid form of saccharin and the like ; dipeptide based sweeteners , such as l - aspartic acid derived sweeteners , such as l - aspartyl - l - phenylalanine methyl ester ( aspartame ), l - alpha - aspartyl - n -( 2 , 2 , 4 , 4 - tetramethyl - 3 - thietanyl )- d - alaninamide hydrate , methyl esters of l - aspartyl - l - phenylglycerin and l - aspartyl - l - 2 , 5 , dihydrophenylglycine , l - aspartyl - 2 , 5 - dihydro - l - phenylalanine , l - aspartyl - l -( 1 - cyclohexyen )- alanine , and the like ; water - soluble sweeteners derived from naturally occurring water - soluble sweeteners , such as a chlorinated derivatives of ordinary sugar ( sucrose ), known , for example , as sucralose ; protein based sweeteners such as thaurnatoccous danielli ( thaurnatin i and ii ); and naturally occurring high intensity sweeteners , such as lo han kuo , stevia , steviosides , monellin , and glycyrrhizin . in general , an effective amount of auxiliary sweetener is utilized to provide the level of sweetness desired for a particular composition , and this amount will vary with the sweetener selected . this amount will normally be about 0 . 01 % to about 10 % by weight of the composition . these amounts may be used to achieve a desired level of sweetness independent from the flavor level achieved from any optional flavor oils used . of course , sweeteners need not be added to films intended for non - oral administration . color additives useful in this invention include food , drug and cosmetic colors ( fd & amp ; c ), drug and cosmetic colors ( d & amp ; c ), or external drug and cosmetic colors ( ext . d & amp ; c ). these colors are dyes , their corresponding lakes , and certain natural and derived colorants . lakes are dyes absorbed on aluminum hydroxide . other examples of coloring agents include known azo dyes , organic or inorganic pigments , or coloring agents of natural origin . inorganic pigments are preferred , such as the oxides or iron or titanium , these oxides , being added in concentrations ranging from about 0 . 001 to about 10 %, and preferably about 0 . 5 to about 3 %, based on the weight of all the components . a variety of other additives and fillers may also be added to the films of the present invention . these may include , without limitation , surfactants ; plasticizers which assist in compatibilizing the components within the mixture ; polyalcohols ; anti - foaming agents , such as silicone - containing compounds , which promote a smoother film surface by releasing oxygen from the film ; thermo - setting gels such as pectin , carageenan , and gelatin , which help in maintaining the dispersion of components ; and inclusion compounds , such as cyclodextrins and caged molecules , which improve the solubility and / or stability of certain active components . the variety of additives that can be incorporated into the compositions of the present invention can provide a variety of different functions . examples of classes of additives include excipients , lubricants , buffering agents , stabilizers , blowing agents , pigments , coloring agents , fillers , bulking agents , sweetening agents , flavoring agents , fragrances , release modifiers , adjuvants , plasticizers , flow accelerators , mold release agents , polyols , granulating agents , diluents , binders , buffers , absorbents , glidants , adhesives , anti - adherents , acidulants , softeners , resins , demulcents , solvents , surfactants , emulsifiers , elastomers and mixtures thereof . these additives may be added with the active ingredient ( s ). useful additives include , for example , gelatin , vegetable proteins such as sunflower protein , soybean proteins , cotton seed proteins , peanut proteins , grape seed proteins , whey proteins , whey protein isolates , blood proteins , egg proteins , acrylated proteins , water - soluble polysaccharides such as alginates , carrageenans , guar gum , agar - agar , xanthan gum , gellan gum , gum arabic and related gums ( gum ghatti , gum karaya , gum tragancanth ), pectin , water - soluble derivatives of cellulose : alkylcelluloses hydroxyalkylcelluloses and hydroxyalkylalkylcelluloses , such as methylcelulose , hydroxymethylcellulose , hydroxyethylcellulose , hydroxypropylcellulose , hydroxyethylmethylcellulose , hydroxypropylmethylcellulose , hydroxybutylmethylcellulose , cellulose esters and hydroxyalkylcellulose esters such as cellulose acetate phthalate ( cap ), hydroxypropylmethylcellulose ( hpmc ); carboxyalkylcelluloses , carboxyalkylalkylcelluloses , carboxyalkylcellulose esters such as carboxymethylcellulose and their alkali metal salts ; water - soluble synthetic polymers such as polyacrylic acids and polyacrylic acid esters , polymethacrylic acids and polymethacrylic acid esters , polyvinylacetates , polyvinylalcohols , polyvinylacetatephthalates ( pvap ), polyvinylpyrrolidone ( pvp ), pvy / vinyl acetate copolymer , and polycrotonic acids ; also suitable are phthalated gelatin , gelatin succinate , crosslinked gelatin , shellac , water soluble chemical derivatives of starch , cationically modified acrylates and methacrylates possessing , for example , a tertiary or quaternary amino group , such as the diethylaminoethyl group , which may be quaternized if desired ; and other similar polymers . such extenders may optionally be added in any desired amount desirably within the range of up to about 80 %, desirably about 3 % to 50 % and more desirably within the range of 3 % to 20 % based on the weight of all components . further additives may be inorganic fillers , such as the oxides of magnesium aluminum , silicon , titanium , etc . desirably in a concentration range of about 0 . 02 % to about 3 % by weight and desirably about 0 . 02 % to about 1 % based on the weight of all components . binders may be selected from a wide range of materials such as hydroxypropylmethylcellulose , ethylcellulose , or other suitable cellulose derivatives , povidone , acrylic and methacrylic acid co - polymers , pharmaceutical glaze , gums , milk derivatives , such as whey , starches , and derivatives , as well as other conventional binders known to persons skilled in the art . exemplary non - limiting solvents are water , ethanol , isopropyl alcohol , methylene chloride or mixtures and combinations thereof . exemplary non - limiting bulking substances include sugar , lactose , gelatin , starch , and silicon dioxide . further examples of additives are plasticizers which include polyalkylene oxides , such as polyethylene glycols , polypropylene glycols , polyethylene - propylene glycols , organic plasticizers with low molecular weights , such as glycerol , glycerol monoacetate , diacetate or triacetate , triacetin , polysorbate , cetyl alcohol , propylene glycol , sorbitol , sodium diethylsulfosuccinate , triethyl citrate , tributyl citrate , and the like , added in concentrations ranging from about 0 . 5 % to about 30 %, and desirably ranging from about 0 . 5 % to about 20 % based on the weight of the polymer . preferred plasticizers may be selected from the group consisting of diethyl phthalate , diethyl sebacate , triethyl citrate , cronotic acid , propylene glycol , butyl phthalate , dibutyl sebacate , castor oil and mixtures thereof , without limitation . as is evident , the plasticizers may be hydrophobic as well as hydrophilic in nature . water - insoluble hydrophobic substances , such as diethyl phthalate , diethyl sebacate and castor oil are used to delay the release of water - soluble vitamins , such as vitamin b6 and vitamin c . in contrast , hydrophilic plasticizers are used when water - insoluble vitamins are employed which aid in dissolving the encapsulated film , making channels in the surface , which aid in nutritional composition release . additional compounds can be added to improve the flow properties of the starch material such as animal or vegetable fats , desirably in their hydrogenated form , especially those which are solid at room temperature . these fats desirably have a melting point of 50 ° c . or higher . preferred are tri - glycerides with c12 -, c14 -, c16 -, c18 -, c20 - and c22 - fatty acids . these fats can be added alone without adding extenders or plasticizers and can be advantageously added alone or together with mono - and / or di - glycerides or phosphatides , especially lecithin . the mono - and di - glycerides are desirably derived from the types of fats described above , i . e . with c12 -, c14 -, c16 -, c18 -, c20 - and c22 - fatty acids . the total amounts used of the fats , mono -, di - glycerides and / or lecithins are up to about 5 % and preferably within the range of about 0 . 5 % to about 2 % by weight of the total composition . it should be understood that in addition to the ingredients particularly mentioned above , the formulations of the present invention can include other suitable agents such as preservatives and antioxidants . such antioxidants would be food acceptable and could include , for example , vitamin e , carotene , bht or other antioxidants known to those of skill in the art . anti - foaming and / or de - foaming components may also be used with the films of the present invention . these components aid in the removal of air , such as entrapped air , from the film - forming compositions . as described above , such entrapped air may lead to non - uniform films . simethicone is one particularly useful anti - foaming and / or de - foaming agent . the present invention , however , is not so limited and other anti - foam and / or de - foaming agents may suitable be used . as a related matter , simethicone and related agents may be employed for densification purposes . more specifically , such agents may facilitate the removal of voids , air , moisture , and similar undesired components , thereby providing denser and thus more uniform films . agents or components which perform this function can be referred to as densification or densifying agents . as described above , entrapped air or undesired components may lead to non - uniform films . simethicone is generally used in the medical field as a treatment for gas or colic in babies . simethicone is a mixture of fully methylated linear siloxane polymers containing repeating units of polydimethylsiloxane which is stabilized with trimethylsiloxy end - blocking unites , and silicon dioxide . it usually contains 90 . 5 - 99 % polymethylsiloxane and 4 - 7 % silicon dioxide . the mixture is a gray , translucent , viscous fluid which is insoluble in water . in order to prevent the formation of air bubbles in the films of the present invention , the mixing step can be performed under vacuum . however , as soon as the mixing step is completed , and the film solution is returned to the normal atmosphere condition , air will be re - introduced into or contacted with the mixture . in many cases , tiny air bubbles will be again trapped inside this polymeric viscous solution . the incorporation of simethicone into the film - forming composition either substantially reduces or eliminates the formation of air bubbles . simethicone may be added to the film - forming mixture as an anti - foaming agent in an amount from about 0 . 01 weight percent to about 5 . 0 weight percent , more desirably from about 0 . 05 weight percent to about 2 . 5 weight percent , and most desirably from about 0 . 1 weight percent to about 1 . 0 weight percent . plant extracts may be added , including , but not limited to valerian ( valeriana officinalis ), passionflower ( passiflora incarnata ), california poppy ( eschscholzia californica ), ashwagandha ( withania somnifera ), magnolia bark ( magnolia officinalis ), lavender ( lavandula angustifolia , lavandula officinalis ), cannabis ( cannabis sativa , cannabis sativa forma indica , cannabis ruderalis ), hops ( humulus lupulus ), and chamomile ( matricaria chamomilla and chamaemelum nobile ). neurotransmitters or neuropeptides may be added , including , but not limited to gamma - aminobutyric acid ( γ - aminobutyric acid ( gaba ), 5 - hydroxytryptamine ( serotonin ), hypocretin ( orexin - a and - b ), acetylcholine , norepinerphrine , delta sleep - inducing peptide ( dsip ), histamine and n - acetyl - 5 - methoxy tryptamine ( melatonin ). a whole cocktail of neurotransmitters are involved in driving wakefulness and sleep , including histamine , dopamine , norepinephrine , serotonin , glutamate , orexin and acetylcholine , among others . while none of these neurotransmission processes is individually necessary , they all appear to contribute in some way . histamine in particular is sometimes referred to as the “ master ” wakefulness - promoting neurotransmitter , exhibiting high activity during wakefulness , decreasing activity during non - rem sleep , and its lowest levels during rem sleep ( which is why histamine - blocking antihistamine medications cause drowsiness and increase non - rem sleep ). serotonin activity promotes wakefulness , increases sleep - onset latency ( the length of time it takes to fall asleep ) and decreases rem sleep . acetylcholine activity in the reticular activating system of the brainstem stimulates activity in the forebrain and cerebral cortex , encouraging alertness and wakefulness , although it also appears to be active during rem sleep . another important chemical in the sleep - wake cycle is orexin ( also called hypocretin ), a neurotransmitter that regulates arousal , wakefulness and appetite . orexin is only produced by some 10 , 000 - 20 , 000 neurons in the hypothalamus region of the brain , although axons from those neurons extend throughout the entire brain and spinal cord . activation of orexin triggers wakefulness , while low levels of orexin at night serve to drive sleep . nucleotides and their derivatives may be added , including , but not limited to adenosine 5 ′ monophosphate ( 5 ′ amp ), guanosine 5 ′ monophosphate ( 5 ′ gmp ), and their precursor , inosine 5 ′ monophosphate ( 5 ′ imp )— or a pyrimidine — uridine 5 ′ monophosphate ( 5 ′ ump ), cytidine 5 ′ monophosphate ( 5 ′ cmp ), and thymidine 5 ′ monophosphate ( 5 ′ tmp ), and adenosine . the nucleotides act in cells as secondary messengers through camp ( cyclic 5 ′ amp ) and cgmp ( cyclic 5 ′ gmp ), and also supply the necessary chemical energy . they can also act as components of many enzyme co - factors such as flavin adenine dinucleotide ( fad ) and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide ( nad ), in addition to having a strong influence on sleep . 5 ′ ump , is distributed throughout the body ( including the brain ), and has a depressive effect on the cns . the nightly administration of low doses of this nucleotide produces a moderate increase in the number of rem and non - rem sleep episodes , 4 but has little or no influence on their duration . the plasma concentration of uridine in mice has a marked circadian rhythm , with the time of the maximum concentration ( acrophase ) coinciding with the time of least activity . 5 ′ amp , is the nucleotide which is most referred to in the literature as a sleep inducer . more recent evidence confirming its role in sleep induction is based on several facts : extracellular concentrations ( through the secondary messenger camp ) present circadian variations , its administration induces an hypnotic effect , and its levels decline during the period of wakefulness . 5 ′ gmp , is also a second messenger in its cyclic form ( cgmp ), which mediates most of the neuronal effects of nitric oxide ( no ). many studies have pointed to the role of no in sedation . for instance , the injection of a cgmp inhibitor into rats was found to increase wakefulness at the same time as suppressing rem and non - rem sleep . 12 human studies have shown that cgmp plasma concentrations rise when the subject goes to bed and remain high throughout the night , reflecting its role in stimulating the secretion of the pineal hormone melatonin . for the present invention , any dosage form can be utilized . those dosage forms can include , for example , an oral film , tablet , pill , liquid , sublingual liquid , capsule , lozenge , troche , suppository , transdermal patch , oral spray , nasal sprays , drage , slurry , suspension , or emulsion . for this particular technology , dosage administration routes are preferably those that by - pass first pass metabolism such as sublingual , buccal , nasal , transdermal , intradermal , intramuscular , intravenous and certain rectal routes . again , without being bound by any particular theory this is due to the present invention being believed to have enhanced efficacy by circumventing dosage administration routes which would undergo first pass metabolism ( gastrointestinal , in particular ). compositions of the present invention can be preferably formulated for parenteral absorption . parenteral absorption generally comprises absorption by way other than the gastrointestinal track and without significant first pass metabolism . by way of example and without limitation , parenteral absorption can be pre - gastric , topical , optical , intravenous , and / or by oral or nasal inhalation . pre - gastric absorption as used herein comprises absorption of an ingredient , composition , or formulation of the present invention from that part of the alimentary canal prior to the stomach , and includes without limitation buccal , sublingual , oropharyngeal and esophageal absorption . it is envisaged that such pre - gastric absorption will occur primarily across the mucous membranes in the mouth , pharynx and esophagus . the oral mucosa has a thin epithelium and a rich vascularity that favors absorption . blood capillaries are extremely close to the surface in these areas and readily absorb the ingredients into the blood stream . the flow is from this area of the mouth to the carotid artery and it is envisaged that distribution to the brain and the rest of the body will be rapid , thereby resulting in greatly enhanced efficacy and / or rates of response . the present invention , however , is not limited to any one method of delivery , and envisions delivery via any tissue with an adequate rate of absorption , which avoids first pass metabolism . it is further believed that ingredients absorbed by pre - gastric absorption will pass substantially into the systemic circulatory system and thereby avoid the gastrointestinal track and first pass metabolism in the liver . accordingly , bioavailability of one or more active ingredients , additives , adjuncts and the like of the present invention delivered in this way may also be increased . additionally , the bioavailability of a number of vitamins , minerals , amino acids , co - enzymes , and / or other nutrients in concert can also be increased . it is desired and in some embodiments preferred that the dose of an ingredient / component may be minimized , while still producing the desired beneficial effects , with close to zero order kinetics ( immediate efficacy ) thereby decreasing the required dose . these concentrations may vary and will be selected primarily on the desired biological response and dosage form selected , especially those related directly or indirectly to or for sleep and / or sleep disorders . u . s . pat . nos . 6 , 596 , 298 ; 6 , 569 , 463 ; 5 , 948 , 430 ; 6 , 592 , 887 ; 5 , 629 , 003 ; 6 , 419 , 903 ; and 6 , 316 , 029 disclose various delivery systems which may be utilized in the practice of the present invention . one particularly preferred method of delivery , although the present invention is not limited to any one method , is a sublingual liquid provided in a volume of from about 0 . 15 milliliters to about 0 . 4 milliliters . additional information regarding the dosage forms and levels of the presently described technology are presented in u . s . pat . no . 7 , 727 , 546 , which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety . in one or more embodiments of the present invention , the particular biological response is enhanced sleep quality . “ enhanced sleep quality ” is defined herein as a period of sleep characterized by decreased ratio of stage 1 sleep to delta sleep , decreased ratio of stage 1 sleep to rem sleep , decreased number of awakenings , decreased number of arousals , decreased latencies , decreased number of sleep disorder events such as , but not limited to , apneic events , and / or any other outcomes that would be recognized as enhancing sleep quality by one of ordinary skill in the field of sleep studies . in another embodiment of the present invention , the nutraceutical composition / formulation is used to treat a sleep disorder including , but not limited to , sleep apnea . specifically , sublingual administration of the nutraceutical composition / formulation presented in table 1 produced potentially clinically significant results on a range of sleep dysfunctions including : a shift in percentage time spent in rem and delta sleep vs . stage 1 sleep , a reduction in sleep apnea events for those with clinical sleep apnea , reductions in awakenings and arousals , and reductions in sleep latencies . in an additional embodiment of the present invention , the particular biological response is a short duration sleep , or nap , that is induced by administration of the nutraceutical formulation / composition presented in table 3 . in a further embodiment of the present invention , the short duration sleep , or nap , may be induced by administration of the nutraceutical formulation / composition presented in table 4 . each constituent in the formulation in tables 3 and 4 may be increased or decreased by at least 5 %, 15 %, 25 %, 50 %, 75 %, 100 %, 125 %, 150 %, 175 %, or 200 % to enhance short duration sleep or naps . without wishing to be bound by any particular theory , it is believed , given the components , ingredients , additives , adjuncts and the like present in the nutraceutical formulations / compositions and the extremely small dosages of such components / ingredients , etc ., that the mechanism by which the nutraceutical compositions / formulations of the present invention elicit effects on sleep is not a systemic mechanism , but rather a central mechanism . the following examples describe some of the preferred embodiments of the present invention without limiting the technology thereto . other embodiments include , but are not limited to , those described in the above written description , including additional or alternative components , alternative concentrations , and additional or alternative properties and uses . with respect to a design of experiment of a larger scale study , the data suggests that time in rem sleep , total sleep time , sleep efficiency ( as a percentage of total time in bed ) and rem latency ( the average time between start of sleeping and start of rem sleep ) are likely candidate factors for evaluating the effect of administration of the composition of the invention on sleep . in addition to these factors , as the stage n3 - nrem sleep is known to be implicated in glymphatic system activation , that factor should be studied as well . nutraceutical composition / formulation for enhanced sleep quality and treatment of sleep disorders pilot studies : sleep studies design for each pilot study 12 healthy adults , ( pilot 1 — 1 man & amp ; 11 women ; pilot 2 8 men and 4 women ) were recruited . these studies followed a double - blind placebo control design , each participant acted as their own control . an independent tester only was aware of the contents of the 3 - bracketed doses ( 200 μl , 250 μl , or 300 μl ) of the formulation presented in table 1 . ( 1 of 2 dosages or the placebo ). the independent tester broke the code after the data was collected and analyzed . the subjects were monitored on the first night in order to establish a baseline polysomnography ( psg ). the only difference between the participants recruited for these 2 studies was that individuals recruited for pilot 2 had to report symptoms consistent with moderate to severe sleep disturbances whereas those in pilot 1 anyone with reported “ poor ” sleep was included . all of the individuals recruited did not have a known diagnosed sleep disorder , but reported one or more of the following symptoms : frequent waking , difficulty falling asleep , restlessness , and / or upon waking feeling fatigued . individuals were at least 18 years of age , generally in good health ( no known cardiovascular , pulmonary , neurological , or metabolic disease ), no recent or current use of any sleep aid ( prescription , over - the - counter , herbal ) nonsmoker , available for four consecutive nights , no significant project / assignment / exam due or atypical stressor , body mass index ( bmi )& lt ; 30 , and have not previously participated in a formal sleep study . the study took place in quiet rooms . separated rooms were utilized so that the sleep technician could set up equipment in the common room and conduct the sleep study on two participants at once . in the clinically setting this 1 : 2 ratio is considered standard practice . each participant had his or her own bedroom and bathroom . for both pilot 1 and 2 , on each of the four nights , the participant was asked to arrive approximately 1 hour before he or she would normally go to bed and maintain their normal schedule and routine as much as possible . upon arrival , each participant was given a short survey to determine how he or she felt during their previous night &# 39 ; s sleep and how the previous night &# 39 ; s sleep affected their day &# 39 ; s activities . preparation for the sleep study included : placing eeg ( electroencephalogram ) on the participant &# 39 ; s scalp , emg ( electromyogram ) electrodes on the outer edge of their eyelids , chin and lower legs , and ecg ( electrocardiogram ) in a 3 lead pattern on the participant &# 39 ; s chest . these electrodes remained in place while the participant slept and were used to monitor brain activity , facial muscle activity and heart activity . respiration was measured with a light plastic wire and a thermometer positioned at the base of the nose . elastic webbing around the chest and abdomen were used to record breathing and body movement . pulse oximetry ( finger ) was used to monitor blood oxygen content . the licensed polysomnographic technologist prepared the participant and was on duty throughout the overnight stay . once the participant was properly prepared , they were instructed to go to bed and follow their normal pattern of behavior ( watching tv , reading , etc .) including lights out at their normal bedtime . on the first night , the participants received neither the nutraceutical composition / formulation ( table 1 ) or the placebo . on the subsequent three nights each subject received , in a predetermined randomized order . in pilot 1 each participant received randomly a 200 μl ( a20 ) and 250 μl ( a25 ) dose of the nutraceutical composition / formulation as presented in table 1 , whereas in pilot 2 , a25 and 300 μl ( a30 ) dosages were used . in both pilots a 0 . 250 μl of the placebo ( sterilized distilled water ) was utilized . multiple dosages were tested in order to bracket and identify the potential effective dosage range ( s ). thus , upon completion of the four - night psg study , a baseline ( b ), placebo ( p ), and 2 nutraceutical composition / formulation ( table 1 ) ( a20 / a25 or a25 / a30 ) had been recorded for each participant . the investigator administered the liquid nutraceutical composition / formulation ( table 1 ) and placebo sublingually , via a pipet , and the subject was instructed not to swallow for 60 seconds . the participants were told only that 3 different formulations were being used and were only told about the use of the placebo at the completion of the study . upon waking in the morning , the sleep technician removed all of the electrodes and completed a short survey documenting the subject &# 39 ; s sleep . analysis of pilot 1 results revealed that the nutraceutical composition / formulation ( table 1 ) was most effective when administered to participants with the poorest baseline sleep quality ( a20 and a25 ). therefore , pilot 2 was performed on individuals who suffered from self - reported moderate to severe sleep dysfunction . statistical analysis was performed independently for pilot 1 ( dose bracket a20 and a25 ) and pilot 2 ( dose bracket a25 and a30 ). a statistical analysis was also performed for dose bracket a25 with the 6 subjects from the pilot 1 who exhibited the highest level of sleep dysfunction together with all 12 of the subjects from the pilot 2 ( n = 18 ). as a preliminary finding , dose bracket a20 appears to have to greatest effect with regard to overall sleep quality , the time in rem sleep , total sleep time , sleep efficiency ( as a percentage of total time in bed ) and rem latency ( the average time between start of sleeping and start of rem sleep ) were found to have the greatest significance on overall sleep quality . whereas dose bracket a30 demonstrated the least effectiveness and will not be reported . however , it is noted that dose bracket a30 appeared to affect the clinical appearance of sleep apnea in those ( n = 3 ) with documented severe obstructive apnea . analysis of the results from the data of pilots revealed that when participants received the a20 nutraceutical composition / formulation presented in table 1 , a significant increase in total sleep was observed ( table 5 ). this was not the case for a25 nor a30 ( pilot 2 ) therefore pilot 2 data has not been reported . analysis of the results from the two pilots revealed that when the nutraceutical composition / formulation presented in table 1 was administered , a clear trend towards a lower number of arousals and fewer total arousals / awakenings was observed with a20 ( tables 6 & amp ; 9 ). the data for a25 was combined from pilots 1 and 2 , however the results were not significant ( tables 7 & amp ; 8 ) overall a large amount of inter - subject variability was also observed for these variables . this was not the case for a30 ( pilot 2 ) therefore the data has not been reported . analysis of the second sleep study results revealed some significant inter - subject variability , and a significant trend towards the subjects attaining the first bout of rem sleep in a lesser amount of time ( decreased rem latency ) when the composition / formulation presented in table 1 was administered ( tables 10 ). the data for a25 was combined from pilots 1 and 2 , however the results were not significant ( table 11 ) possibly due to the large amount of inter - subject variability for this variable . this was not the case for a30 ( pilot 2 ) therefore the data has not been reported . further analysis of the sleep study data revealed a trend ( significant for rem and the a20 dose ) towards an increase in the absolute number of minutes in delta and rem when subjects were administered the nutraceutical presented in table 1 . this is important because the longer delta and rem sleep stages indicate better sleep quality and more restorative sleep ( tables 11 & amp ; 12 ). this was not the case for a30 ( pilot 2 ) therefore the data has not been reported . the apnea index shows that all but one of the participants in the pilot 2 demonstrated some level of sleep apnea , while three subjects demonstrated clinical sleep apnea . the data from the three subjects with clinical sleep apnea demonstrated drops in apneic events . analysis of the data also revealed , despite the inter - subject variability , that those subjects with the greatest sleep apnea issues appeared to have a positive effect from the administration of the tested nutraceutical composition / formulation presented in . while statistical analysis is not appropriate for a n = 3 , it is demonstrated that for the majority of the variables assessed for the three individuals with clinically documented apnea showed clinically important improvements with the introduction of the nutraceutical presented in table 1 versus the placebo . in particular , note the decreased number of apneas and change in the apnea index . two of the three subjects experienced a decrease in the number of arousals , and a decrease in the arousal index . it is also important to note the varying dosage related effects . while no variable from this analysis demonstrates a significant difference , the mean differences between the variables illustrate that administration of the nutraceutical composition / formulation presented in table 1 elicits a trend towards clinical effectiveness for enhancing sleep quality and the potential that different dosages may be required for specific sleep disturbance types . the two pilot studies were undertaken to test the relative significance of sleep stages 2 , 3 - nrem , rem , total sleep , number of arousals , sleep efficiency and rem latency . the purpose of the pilot studies was three - fold : first , to assess the relative significance of each factor on sleep quality and second , as a basis for a design of experiment for a larger scale study to test those factors that are likely implicated in assessing central nervous system effect of administration of the composition of the present invention and third look at a dose response relationship . as is reflected in the table 14 , pilot study 1 evaluated twelve patients for each of the enumerated factors . the data from pilot 1 , a20 , was selected to construct the sample size calculations due to the fact that the participants self - report mild to severe sleep dysfunction whereas in pilot 2 we excluded those with mild symptoms . the justification is that pilot 1 better represents the population of those with sleep dysfunction and demonstrated the greatest within participate variability . with the interest in enhancing nrem sleep table 14 demonstrates that a sample size of approximately 65 , would be sufficient to test the hypotheses that the a20 ( the lowest concentration evaluated ) formulation of nutraceutical composition / formulation ( table 1 ), significantly increases the total number of minutes of nrem sleep and the percentage of nrem as a fraction of total sleep . the sample size calculation also predicts that approximately 46 individuals would be required to demonstrate a significant reduction in arousals . having each participant acting as their own control was necessary due to the small sample size in these pilot studies , however in a larger , formal clinical trial subjects would be randomized into experimental groups receiving only the placebo or the product . this methodology would significantly reduce the variability found between and across subjects in the pilot work . a20 = 200 μl dose of the inventive formulation presented in table 1 , n = pilot study sample size ; r 2 = correlation between groups ( baseline & amp ; variable ); effect size = using baseline & amp ; variable ; expected sample size = − minimum sample size required for clinical trial ; expected actual power ( with p = 0 . 05 ) = expected power for study ; the invention has now been described in such full , clear , concise and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains , to practice the same . it is to be understood that the foregoing describes preferred embodiments and examples of the invention and that modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as set forth in the claims .	0
reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the present invention , examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings . it is to be understood by those of ordinary skill in this technological field that other embodiments may be utilized , and structural , electrical , as well as procedural changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention . wherever possible , the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts . the suffixes ‘ module ’ and ‘ unit ’ for the elements used in the following description are given or used in common by considering facilitation in writing this disclosure only but fail to have meanings or roles discriminated from each other . first of all , a mobile terminal described in this disclosure can include such a video and audio outputtable terminal as a mobile phone , a smart phone , a digital broadcast terminal , a pda ( personal digital assistants ), a pmp ( portable multimedia player ), a navigation system , a laptop computer , a personal computer ( pc ) and the like . in the following detailed description of the invention , assume a first terminal and a second terminal are a mobile terminal and a pc , respectively , by which the first and second terminals are non - limited . a first terminal according to the present invention is explained in detail with reference to fig1 as follows . fig1 is a block diagram of a first terminal of a mobile terminal type according to one embodiment of the present invention . referring to fig1 , a first terminal 100 according to the present invention is a mobile terminal and includes a communication unit 110 , an a / v ( audio / video ) input unit 120 , a user input unit 130 , a sensing unit 140 , an output unit 150 , a memory 160 , an interface unit 170 , a controller 180 , a power supply unit 190 and the like . fig1 shows the mobile terminal 100 having various components , but it is understood that implementing all of the illustrated components is not a requirement . greater or fewer components may alternatively be implemented . in the following description , the above elements of the first terminal 100 are explained in sequence . first of all , the communication unit 110 can include at least one module which permits communication between the first terminal 100 and a wireless communication system , between the first terminal 100 and a network within which the first terminal 100 is located , or between the first terminal 100 and a second terminal 200 according to the present invention . for instance , the communication unit 110 can include a broadcast receiving module 111 , a mobile communication module 112 , a wireless internet module 113 , a short - range communication module 114 , a position - location module 115 and the like . the broadcast receiving module 111 receives a broadcast signal and / or broadcast associated information from an external broadcast managing server via a broadcast channel . the mobile communication module 112 transmits / receives wireless signals to / from one or more network entities ( e . g ., a base station , an external terminal , a server , etc .). such wireless signals may represent a speech call signal , a video communication call signal and data according to text / multimedia message transmitted and received . the mobile communication module 112 is communication - connected to the second terminal 200 according to the present invention and is then able to transmit all data of the first terminal 100 to the second terminal 200 under the control of the controller 180 . for example , the mobile communication module 112 is able to transmit all screen information displayed on the display module 151 to the second terminal 200 . and , the mobile communication module 112 is able to transmit audio information outputted from the audio output module 152 to the second terminal 200 . moreover , the mobile communication module 112 is able to transmit a key signal inputted from the user input unit 130 or a touch signal inputted from the display module 151 of a touchscreen type to the second terminal 200 . the wireless internet module 113 supports internet access for the first terminal 100 . this module may be internally or externally coupled to the first terminal 100 . in this case , the wireless internet technology can include wlan ( wireless lan ) ( wi - fi ), wibro ( wireless broadband ), wimax ( world interoperability for microwave access ), hsdpa ( high speed downlink packet access ), etc . the wireless internet module 113 is connected to the second terminal 200 according to the present invention by internet communication and is then able to transmit all data of the first terminal 100 to the second terminal 200 under the control of the controller 180 . for example , the wireless internet module 113 is able to transmit all screen information displayed on the display module 151 to the second terminal 200 . and , the wireless internet module 113 is able to transmit audio information outputted from the audio output module 152 to the second terminal 200 . moreover , the wireless internet module 113 is able to transmit a key signal inputted from the user input unit 130 or a touch signal inputted from the display module 151 of a touchscreen type to the second terminal 200 . the short - range communication module 114 facilitates relatively short - range communications . suitable technologies for implementing this module include bluetooth , infrared data association ( irda ), ultra - wideband ( uwb ), zigbee , wi - fi ( wireless fidelity ), rfb ( remote frame buffer ) and the like . the short - range communication module 114 is communication - connected to the second terminal 200 according to the present invention and is then able to transmit all data of the first terminal 100 to the second terminal 200 under the control of the controller 180 . for example , the short - range communication module 114 is able to transmit all screen information displayed on the display module 151 to the second terminal 200 . and , the short - range communication module 114 is able to transmit audio information outputted from the audio output module 152 to the second terminal 200 . moreover , the short - range communication module 114 is able to transmit a key signal inputted from the user input unit 130 or a touch signal inputted from the display module 151 of a touchscreen type to the second terminal 200 . the position - location module 115 identifies or otherwise obtains the location of the first terminal 100 . if desired , this module may be implemented with a global positioning system ( gps ) module . referring to fig1 , the audio / video ( a / v ) input unit 120 is configured to provide audio or video signal input to the first terminal 100 . as shown , the a / v input unit 120 includes a camera 121 , a microphone 122 and the like . the camera 121 receives and processes image frames of still pictures or video , which are obtained by an image sensor in a video call mode or a photographing mode . and , the processed image frames can be displayed on the display unit 151 . at least two or more cameras can be provided under the circumstance of usage . and , the image frame processed by the camera 121 can be transmitted to the second terminal 200 via the communication unit 110 . the microphone 122 receives an external audio signal while the portable device is in a particular mode , such as phone call mode , recording mode and voice recognition mode . this audio signal is processed and converted into electric audio data . the processed audio data is transformed into a format transmittable to a mobile communication base station via the mobile communication module 112 in case of a call mode . the microphone 122 typically includes assorted noise removing algorithms to remove noise generated in the course of receiving the external audio signal . the user input unit 130 generates input data responsive to user manipulation of an associated input device or devices . examples of such devices include a keypad , a dome switch , a touchpad ( e . g ., static pressure / capacitance ), a jog wheel , a jog switch , etc . in this case , a backlight unit is provided under the user input unit 130 to generate light for identifying the keypad , the dome switch , the jog wheel and the jog switch in a dark environment . the sensing unit 140 provides sensing signals for controlling operations of the first terminal 100 using status measurements of various aspects of the mobile terminal . for instance , the sensing unit 140 may detect an open / close status of the first terminal 100 , relative positioning of components ( e . g ., a display and keypad ) of the mobile terminal 100 , a change of position of the first terminal 100 or a component of the first terminal 100 , a presence or absence of user contact with the first terminal 100 , orientation or acceleration / deceleration of the first terminal 100 . meanwhile , the output unit 150 generates outputs relevant to the senses of sight , hearing , touch and the like . and , the output unit 150 includes the display unit ( or display module ) 151 , an audio output module 152 , an alarm unit 153 , a haptic module 154 and the like . the display module 151 may be implemented using known display technologies including , for example , a liquid crystal display ( lcd ), a thin film transistor - liquid crystal display ( tft - lcd ), an organic light - emitting diode display ( oled ), a flexible display and a three - dimensional display . the mobile terminal 100 may include one or more of such displays . at least two display units 151 can be provided to the first terminal 100 in accordance with the implemented configuration of the first terminal 100 . for instance , a plurality of display modules can be arranged on a single face of the first terminal 100 in a manner of being spaced apart from each other or being built in one body . alternatively , a plurality of display modules can be arranged on different faces of the first terminal 100 . in case that the display unit 151 and a sensor for detecting a touch action ( hereinafter called ‘ touch sensor ’) configures a mutual layer structure ( hereinafter called ‘ touchscreen ’), it is able to use the display unit 151 as an input device as well as an output device . in this case , the touch sensor can be configured as a touch film , a touch sheet , a touchpad or the like . the touch sensor can be configured to convert a pressure applied to a specific portion of the display unit 151 or a variation of a capacitance generated from a specific portion of the display unit 151 to an electric input signal . moreover , it is able to configure the touch sensor to detect a pressure of a touch as well as a touched position or size . the proximity sensor 141 is the sensor that detects a presence or non - presence of an object approaching a prescribed detecting surface or an object existing around the proximity sensor using an electromagnetic field strength or infrared ray without mechanical contact . hence , the proximity sensor has durability longer than that of a contact type sensor and also has utility wider than that of the contact type sensor . the proximity sensor can include one of a transmittive photoelectric sensor , a direct reflective photoelectric sensor , a mirror reflective photoelectric sensor , a radio frequency oscillation proximity sensor , an electrostatic capacity proximity sensor , a magnetic proximity sensor , an infrared proximity sensor and the like . the audio output module 152 functions in various modes including a call signal receiving mode , a call mode , a recording mode , a voice recognition mode , a broadcast reception mode and the like to output audio data which is received from the wireless communication unit 110 or is stored in the memory 160 . during operation , the audio output module 152 outputs an audio signal related to a particular function ( e . g ., call received , message received , etc .). the audio output module 152 is often implemented using one or more speakers , buzzers , other audio producing devices , and combinations thereof . the alarm output unit 153 outputs a signal for announcing the occurrence of a particular event associated with the first terminal 100 . typical events include a call received event , a message received event , a key signal inputted event , and a touch input received event . the haptic module 154 generates various tactile effects that can be sensed by a user . vibration is a representative one of the tactile effects generated by the haptic module 154 . strength and pattern of the vibration generated by the haptic module 154 are controllable . for instance , different vibrations can be outputted in a manner of being synthesized together or can be outputted in sequence . the memory 160 is generally used to store various types of data to support the processing , control , and storage requirements of the controller 180 . examples of such data include program instructions for applications operating on the first terminal 100 , phonebook data , message data , audio data , still pictures data , moving pictures data , etc . moreover , data for various patterns of vibration and / or sound outputted in case of a touch input to the touchscreen can be stored in the memory 160 . and , the memory 160 is provided with an operation system ( os ) program for controlling operations of the elements of the first terminal 100 . moreover , the memory 160 is provided with a plurality of applications for running content information executed in the first terminal 100 . for example , the applications can include a word processor , an image viewer , a video player , an audio player , an internet connector and the like . the above - described os program and applications are drivable and executable under the control of the controller 180 . moreover , the above - described os program and applications can be stored as software in the memory 160 or can be provided as ‘ module ’ types . meanwhile , the interface unit 170 is often implemented to couple the first terminal 100 with external devices . the above - described interface unit 170 may be configured using a wired / wireless headset port , an external charger port , a wired / wireless data port , a memory card port , a port for coupling to a device having an identity module , audio input / output ports , video input / output ports , an earphone port , a usb ( universal serial bus ) port and / or the like . in particular , the interface unit 170 is wire - connected to the second terminal 200 via a data cable or the like and is then able to transmit all data of the first terminal 100 to the second terminal 200 . for example , the interface unit 170 is able to transmit all screen information displayed on the display module 151 to the second terminal 200 . the interface unit 170 is able to transmit audio information outputted from the audio output module 152 to the second terminal 200 . and , the interface unit 170 is able to transmit a key signal inputted from the user input unit 130 or a touch signal inputted from the display module 151 of the touchscreen type to the second terminal 200 . meanwhile , the controller 180 normally controls overall operations of the first terminal 100 . for instance , the controller 180 performs control and processing relevant to a voice call , a data communication , a video call and the like . the control operating process of the controller 180 according to an embodiment of the present invention shall be explained in detail later . a speech text converting unit 181 converts a speech signal inputted from the microphone 122 to a text signal or converts a call speech signal received from the communication unit 110 to a text signal . moreover , the speech text converting unit 181 converts a content of a message received from the communication unit 110 to a speech signal . the speech text converting unit 181 can include a tts ( text to speech ) module . and , the first terminal 100 according to the present invention can be provided with an rfid tag 182 for recording device information of the first terminal 100 , which is used for the communication connection to the second terminal 200 . meanwhile , the power supply unit 190 provides power required by the various components for the mobile terminal 100 . the power may be internal power , external power , or combinations thereof . various embodiments described herein may be implemented in a computer - readable medium using , for example , computer software , hardware , or some combination thereof . for a hardware implementation , the embodiments described herein may be implemented within one or more application specific integrated circuits ( asics ), digital signal processors ( dsps ), digital signal processing devices ( dspds ), programmable logic devices ( plds ), field programmable gate arrays ( fpgas ), processors , controllers , micro - controllers , microprocessors , other electronic units designed to perform the functions described herein , or a selective combination thereof . such embodiments may also be implemented by the controller 180 . for a software implementation , the embodiments described herein may be implemented with separate software modules , such as procedures and functions , each of which perform one or more of the functions and operations described herein . the software codes can be implemented with a software application written in any suitable programming language and may be stored in memory such as the memory 160 , and executed by a controller or processor , such as the controller 180 . in the above description , the configurations of the first terminal 100 according to the present invention have been explained with reference to fig1 . in the following description , the second terminal 200 according to the present invention shall be explained in detail with reference to fig2 . fig2 shows that the second terminal 200 according to the present invention is a personal computer ( hereinafter abbreviated ‘ pc ’). besides , as mentioned in the foregoing description , a stationary terminal 200 can include every device capable of communicating with the first terminal 100 , displaying images and outputting audio as well as the pc . fig2 is a block diagram of a second terminal of a pc type according to one embodiment of the present invention . referring to fig2 , a second terminal 200 according to the present invention includes a communication unit 210 , an input unit 220 , a memory 230 , a speaker 240 , a microphone 250 , a display unit 260 and a controller 270 . and , it is understood that the elements ( e . g ., a camera , an interface unit , etc .) mentioned in the foregoing description of the first terminal 100 can be additionally loaded in the second terminal 200 in addition to the above described elements . the communication unit 210 is communication - connected to the first terminal 100 according to the present invention under the control of the controller 270 . and , the communication unit 210 receives screen information displayed in the first terminal 100 , audio information and key input information from the first terminal 100 . like the former communication unit 110 of the first terminal 100 shown in fig1 , the above - configured communication unit 210 of the second terminal 100 can further include a mobile communication module enabling communication between the mobile terminal 100 and a stationary terminal 200 , a wireless internet module and a short - range communication module . meanwhile , the input unit 220 generates a key signal for an operation control of the second terminal 200 or a key signal for an operation control of the first terminal 100 . occasionally , the input unit 220 can include a keypad , a dome switch , a touch pad ( e . g ., static pressure / capacitance ), a jog wheel , a jog switch , a mouse , etc . the memory 230 is able to store a program for an operation of the second terminal 200 . and , various data are stored in the memory 230 . and , the memory 230 is provided with an operation system ( os ) program for controlling operations of the elements of the second terminal 200 . moreover , the memory 230 is provided with a plurality of applications for running content information executed in the second terminal 200 . for example , the applications can include a word processor , an image viewer , a video player , an audio player , an internet connector and the like . the above - described os program and applications are drivable and executable under the control of the controller 270 . moreover , the above - described os program and applications can be stored as software in the memory 230 or can be provided as ‘ module ’ types . the memory 230 may be implemented using any type or combination of suitable volatile and non - volatile memory or storage devices including hard disk , random access memory ( ram ), static random access memory ( sram ), electrically erasable programmable read - only memory ( eeprom ), erasable programmable read - only memory ( eprom ), programmable read - only memory ( prom ), read - only memory ( rom ), magnetic memory , flash memory , magnetic or optical disk , multimedia card micro type memory , card - type memory ( e . g ., sd memory , xd memory , etc . ), or other similar memory or data storage device . the speaker 240 outputs data containing audio stored in the memory and various audios generated from the second terminal 200 . and , the microphone 250 receives an input of an external audio signal and then processes the input into an electric speech data . the display unit 260 displays information processed by the second terminal 200 . this display unit 260 may be implemented using known display technologies including , for example , a liquid crystal display ( lcd ), a thin film transistor - liquid crystal display ( tft - lcd ), an organic light - emitting diode display ( oled ), a flexible display and a three - dimensional display . and , the second terminal 200 may include one or more of such displays . moreover , the display unit 260 is coupled to a touch sensor to have a touchscreen type . the controller 270 controls overall operations of the second terminal 200 . according to the present invention , the controller 270 displays screen information received from the first terminal 100 and transmits a key signal inputted via the input unit 220 to the first terminal 100 via the communication unit 210 . the speech text converting unit 271 converts a speech signal inputted from the microphone 250 to a text signal or converts a call speech signal received from the communication unit 210 to a text signal . moreover , the speech text converting unit 271 converts a text signal inputted from the touchscreen type display unit 260 or the input unit 220 to a speech signal or converts a content of a message received from the communication unit 210 to a speech signal . the above - configured speech text converting unit 181 can include a tts ( text to speech ) module . besides , the second terminal 200 according to the present invention includes an rfid reader 272 configured to read out the data stored in the former rfid tag 182 provided to the first terminal 100 shown in fig1 . if the first terminal 100 is located in the neighborhood of the second terminal 200 , the rfid reader 272 reads or interprets the device information stored in the rfid tag 182 provided to the first terminal 100 and then outputs the read device information to the controller 270 . once the device information of the first terminal 100 is read via the rfid reader 272 , the controller 270 checks whether the read device information of the first terminal 100 exists on an access authentication device information list stored in the memory 230 . if the read device information on the first terminal 100 exists on the access authentication device information list , the controller 270 connects a communication with the first terminal 100 via the communication unit 210 . in the above description , the configurations of the second terminal 200 according to the present invention are explained . in the following description , embodiments relevant to a process for transmitting and receiving data ( e . g ., screen information , audio information and key input information ) between the above configured first and second terminals 100 and 200 are explained with reference to the accompanying drawings . optionally , the following embodiments are available individually or by being combined together . fig3 is a diagram for explaining a remote control system including a first terminal 100 and a second terminal 200 according to the present invention . referring to fig3 , all data ( screen information , audio information and key input information ) of the first terminal 100 can be transmitted to the second terminal 200 . in this case , the second terminal 200 is able to control an operation of the first terminal 100 by wireless communication . in particular , once the first terminal 100 is wireless - connected to the second terminal 200 , the first terminal 100 transmits screen information displayed on the display unit 151 to the second terminal 200 so that the screen information of the first terminal 100 is reproduced on at least a portion of a screen of the second terminal 200 . in this case , the wireless communication can include at least one of short - range wireless communications including bluetooth , infrared data association ( irda ), ultra - wideband ( uwb ), zigbee , wi - fi ( wireless fidelity ), rfb ( remote frame buffer ), other wired or wireless connection or wired or wireless communication link and the like . meanwhile , the second terminal 200 displays the screen information received from the first terminal 100 on a prescribed portion of its screen and is then able to control all menu functions of the first terminal 100 by wireless ( or wired ) communication via the input unit 220 such as a keypad , a mouse and the like . in this case , a displayed size of the screen information of the first terminal 100 , which is displayed on the second terminal 200 , can be set equal to that of an image actually displayed on the first terminal 100 , or set to be different to that of the image actually displayed on the first terminal 100 . once the screen information is received from the first terminal 100 , the second terminal 200 displays a manipulation unit for enabling a user to manipulate all functions of the first terminal 100 together with the screen information . in this case , the manipulation unit can have the same configuration of a shape of a menu key , a call key , a direction key , a keypad or the like , which is provided to a main body of the first terminal 100 . for example , the manipulation unit displayed on the second terminal 200 may be a depiction of the first terminal 100 , or at least depiction of a screen portion containing the screen information of the first terminal 100 . for instance , referring to fig3 , the first terminal 100 is a mobile terminal provided with a touchscreen type manipulation unit . within the manipulation unit of the first terminal 100 , the screen information of the first terminal 100 and menu execution icons of a phonebook 1 , a message 2 , a camera 3 and an image 4 are included , for example . if so , the second terminal 200 displays the menu execution icons of the phonebook 1 , the message 2 , the camera 3 and the image 4 within the manipulation unit exactly like those of the first terminal 100 . in the following description , a process for the second terminal 200 to control an operation of the first terminal 100 via the manipulation unit by wireless communication is explained with reference to fig4 to 7 . fig4 is a diagram of screen configurations for explaining a process for a second terminal to control a phonebook menu function of a first terminal by a wireless communication . referring to fig4 , if the phonebook menu execution icon 1 is selected from the screen shown in fig3 via the input unit 220 , the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 obtains a location of the selected phonebook menu execution icon 1 and then transmits a signal for notifying the obtained location information to the first terminal 100 . for instance , if a screen resolution of the first terminal 100 , which is displayed on the screen of the second terminal 100 , is 600 × 400 pixels and a location of the phonebook menu execution icon 1 on the 600 × 400 screen is ‘ horizontal 531 - 534 and vertical 96 - 100 ’, the controller 270 transmits a signal for notifying the horizontal 531 - 534 and vertical 96 - 100 corresponding to the location of the phonebook menu execution icon 1 to the first terminal 100 . the controller 180 of the first terminal 100 recognizes the location information contained in the signal received from the second terminal 200 , executes a phonebook menu existing at the recognized location on the screen shown in fig3 , and displays submenus belonging to the phonebook menu . meanwhile , the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 receives the screen information shown in ( a ) of fig4 from the first terminal 100 and then displays the received screen information . if a menu of ‘ 1 . search phonebook ’ ( 1 a ) is selected from the submenus displayed within the screen information shown in ( a ) of fig4 via the input unit 220 , the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 transmits a signal for notifying the location information of the selected menu of ‘ 1 . search phonebook ’ ( 1 a ) to the first terminal 100 . the controller 180 of the first terminal 100 recognizes the location information contained in the signal received from the second terminal 200 , executes the menu of ‘ 1 . search phonebook ’ ( 1 a ) existing at the recognized location on the screen shown in ( a ) of fig4 , and then displays a contact information list registered within the phonebook , as shown in ( b ) of fig4 . and , the controller 180 of the first terminal 100 transmits the screen information shown in ( b ) of fig4 to the second terminal 200 . subsequently , the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 receives the screen information shown in ( b ) of fig4 from the first terminal 100 and then displays the received screen information . if ‘ 1 . kim ’ ( 1 b ) is selected from the contact information list displayed within the screen information shown in ( b ) of fig4 via the input unit 220 and a call connection key of the ‘ 1 . kim ’ ( 1 b ) is then selected , the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 sequentially transmits location information of the selected ‘ 1 . kim ’ ( 1 b ) and location information of the call connection key to the first terminal 100 . once the location information of the selected ‘ 1 . kim ’ 1 b and location information of the call connection key are sequentially received from the second terminal 200 , the controller 180 of the first terminal 100 attempts a call connect to the ‘ 1 . kim ’ 1 b by controlling the communication unit 110 , as shown in ( c ) of fig4 and then transmits the screen information shown in ( c ) of fig4 to the second terminal 200 . fig5 is a diagram of screen configurations for explaining a process for a second terminal to control a message menu function of a first terminal by a wireless communication . referring to fig5 , if a user of the second terminal 200 selects a message menu execution icon 2 within the manipulation unit by manipulating the input unit 220 such as a mouse , a keypad and the like , the controller 270 transmits location information of the selected menu execution icon 2 to the first terminal 100 . the controller 180 of the first terminal 100 executes a message menu existing at the location received from the first terminal 100 , as shown in ( a ) of fig5 , and then displays submenus belonging to the message menu . moreover , the controller 180 of the first terminal transmits the screen information shown in ( a ) of fig5 to the second terminal 200 . subsequently , the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 receives the screen information shown in ( a ) of fig5 from the first terminal 100 and then displays the received screen information . if a menu of ‘ 1 . transmit message ’ 2 a is selected from the submenus displayed within the screen information shown in ( a ) of fig5 via the input unit 220 , the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 transmits a displayed location of the menu of ‘ 1 . transmit message ’ ( or ‘ message send ’) 2 a to the first terminal 100 . the controller 180 of the first terminal 100 , as shown in ( b ) of fig5 , executes the menu of ‘ 1 . transmit message ’ 2 a at the received location and then displays a contact information list registered with the phonebook . moreover , the controller 180 of the first terminal 100 transmits the screen information shown in ( b ) of fig5 to the second terminal 200 . subsequently , the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 receives the screen information shown in ( b ) of fig5 and then displays the received screen information . if ‘ 1 . kim ’ 2 b is selected from the contact information list displayed within the screen information shown in ( b ) of fig5 via the input unit 220 , the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 transmits location information of the contact information ‘ 1 . kim ’ 2 b to the first terminal 100 . if the location information of the contact information ‘ 1 . kim ’ 2 b is received from the second terminal 200 , the controller 180 of the first terminal 100 , as shown ( c ) of fig5 , displays a message writing window and transmits the screen information shown in ( c ) of fig5 to the second terminal 200 . in this case , the message writing window can include a keypad 2 c for inputting a content of a message and a message content window 2 d on which the content of the message inputted via the keypad 2 c is displayed . the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 receives the screen information shown in ( c ) of fig5 from the first terminal 200 and then displays the received screen information . if a plurality of characters is selected from the keypad 2 c via the input unit 220 , the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 sequentially transmits location information of the selected characters to the first terminal 100 . subsequently , the controller 180 of the first terminal 100 displays characters existing at the respective locations , which are being sequentially received , on the message content window 2 d and transmits screen information having the characters reflected on the message content window to the second terminal 200 . the second terminal 200 receives the screen information having the inputted characters reflected on the message content window 2 d from the first terminal 100 and then displays the received screen information . if a key for sending the message written in the message content window 2 d to the ‘ 1 . kim ’ 2 b is selected from the input unit 220 , the second terminal 200 transmits location information of the selected key to the first terminal 100 . subsequently , if the location information of the selected key is received from the second terminal 200 , the controller 180 of the first terminal 100 sends the message written in the message content window 2 d to the ‘ 1 . kim ’ 2 b by controlling the communication unit 110 and also sends the screen information shown in ( d ) of fig5 to the second terminal 200 . fig6 is a diagram of screen configurations for explaining a process for a second terminal to control a camera menu function of a first terminal by a wireless communication . referring to fig6 , if a user of the second terminal 200 selects a camera menu execution icon within the manipulation unit by manipulating the input unit 220 such as a mouse , a keypad and the like , the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 transmits a signal for commanding a cameral menu execution selected by the user to the first terminal 100 . in this case , the command signal is the signal containing the location of the camera menu execution icon 3 , as shown in fig4 and fig5 , and commands an action of the first terminal 100 using the location information . the controller 180 of the first terminal 100 executes the camera menu according to the received command signal , as shown in ( a ) of fig6 , and then displays submenus belonging to the camera menu . moreover , the controller 180 of the first terminal 100 transmits screen information shown in ( a ) of fig6 to the second terminal 200 . the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 receives the screen information shown in ( a ) of fig6 from the first terminal 100 and then displays the received screen information . if a key signal for capturing a preview picture incident from the camera 121 is inputted via the input unit 220 , the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 transmits a signal for commanding to capture a picture to the first terminal 100 . subsequently , the controller 180 of the first terminal 100 captures a current preview picture incident from the camera 121 according to the received command signal , as shown in ( c ) of fig6 , and transmits screen information shown in ( c ) of fig6 to the second terminal 200 . fig7 is a diagram of screen configurations for explaining a process for a second terminal to control an image menu function of a first terminal by a wireless communication . referring to fig7 , if a user of the second terminal 200 selects an image menu execution icon within the manipulation unit by manipulating the input unit 220 such as a mouse , a keypad and the like , the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 transmits a signal for commanding an image menu execution selected by the user to the first terminal 100 . the controller 180 of the first terminal 100 executes the image menu according to the received command signal , as shown in ( a ) of fig7 , and then displays a list of images stored within the image menu . moreover , the controller 180 of the first terminal 100 transmits screen information shown in ( a ) of fig7 to the second terminal 200 . the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 receives the screen information shown in ( a ) of fig7 from the first terminal 100 and then displays the received screen information . if ‘ 1 . a . jpg ’ 4 a to be displayed is selected via the input unit 220 , the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 transmits a signal for commanding a display of ‘ 1 . a . jpg ’ 4 a to the first terminal 100 . subsequently , the controller 180 of the first terminal 100 drives an image display application according to the received command signal and then displays the ‘ 1 . a . jpg ’ on the screen via the driven application , as shown in ( b ) of fig7 . moreover , the controller 180 of the first terminal 100 transmits the screen information shown in ( b ) of fig7 to the second terminal 200 . in the above description , a process for the second terminal 200 to control an operation of the first terminal 100 is explained in detail with reference to fig4 to 7 . although the above description with reference to fig4 to 7 relates to the operation control process for the phonebook menu 1 , the message menu 2 , the camera menu 3 and the image menu 4 of the first terminal 100 , it non - limits various implementations of the present invention . for instance , the second terminal 200 is able to control operations of any and all menu functions , or other icons or buttons of the first terminal 100 . an operation control system according to the present invention can include the first terminal 100 of a mobile terminal type and the second terminal 200 of a pc type , as shown in fig3 to 7 , include the first terminal 100 of a mobile terminal type and a third terminal 300 of a mobile terminal type , as shown in fig8 , or include the second terminal 200 of a pc type and first and third terminals 100 and 300 of a plurality of mobile terminal types , as shown in fig9 . in the following description , a communication access process between the first terminal 100 and the second terminal 200 in an operation control system according to the present invention is explained in detail with reference to fig1 and fig1 . fig1 is a flowchart of a process for a second terminal to access a communication with a first terminal in an operation control system according to the present invention . referring to fig1 , if the controller 180 of the first terminal 100 receives a communication access request signal from the second terminal 200 via the communication unit 110 [ s 11 ], it checks whether the second terminal 200 is an accessible device by being authenticated in advance [ s 12 ]. in particular , the controller 180 checks whether device information on the second terminal 200 exists on an access authentication device information list stored in the memory 160 . if the device information on the second terminal 200 exists on the access authentication device information list [ s 13 ], the controller 180 accesses a communication with the second terminal by sending a signal for permitting a communication access to the second terminal 200 via the communication unit 110 [ s 14 ]. once the communication is connected to the second terminal 200 , the controller 180 sends screen information currently displayed on the display unit 151 to the second terminal 200 . meanwhile , the controller 180 compares the device information received from the second terminal 200 to the device information corresponding to the second terminal 200 on the access authentication device information list . if the former device information and the latter device information differ from each other , the controller 180 updates the device information received from the second terminal 200 on the access authentication device list [ s 15 ]. yet , as a result of the checking step s 12 , if the device information of the second terminal 200 fails to exist on the access authentication device information list , the controller 180 displays a selection window for selecting a presence or non - presence of an access permission of the second terminal 200 on the screen of the display unit 151 . if ‘ access not permitted ’ is selected from the selection window , the controller 180 blocks an access of the second terminal 200 . if ‘ access permitted ’ is selected from the selection window [ s 16 ], the controller 180 provides a user with an authentication process for the access of the second terminal 200 [ s 17 ]. if an authentication for the second terminal 200 is permitted by a user [ s 18 ], the controller 180 performs actions of the steps s 14 and s 15 . fig1 is a flowchart of a process for a first terminal to access a communication with a second terminal in an operation control system according to the present invention . referring to fig1 , if a command for accessing a communication with the first terminal for a remote control of the first terminal is inputted by a user via the input unit 220 , the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 searches in the neighborhood for the first terminal 100 by controlling the communication unit 210 [ s 21 ]. in this case , the controller 270 is able to search in the neighborhood for the first terminal 100 using one of various search methods ( e . g ., device inquiry of bluetooth , service discovery , etc .). alternatively , the controller 270 is able to search for the first terminal 100 using tcp / ip based ssdp . as a result of the searching step s 21 , if the first terminal 100 is found , the controller 270 checks whether the first terminal 100 is an access authenticated device [ s 22 ]. if the first terminal 100 is an accessible device [ s 23 ], the controller 270 transmits a signal for requesting a communication access to the first terminal 100 via the communication unit 210 [ s 24 ]. if a signal for permitting the access is received from the first terminal 100 via the communication unit [ s 25 ], the controller 270 connects the communication with the first terminal 100 [ s 26 ]. yet , if the first terminal 100 is the device failing to be authenticated in the step s 22 , the controller 270 provides a user with a process for authenticating the access to the first terminal 100 [ s 27 ]. if the user permits the authentication for the first terminal 100 [ s 28 ], the controller 270 connects the communication with the first terminal 100 . in the above description , the communication connecting process between the first terminal 100 and the second terminal 200 is explained in detail in the following description , a process for compressing and decompressing screen information in a first terminal according to the present invention is explained in detail with reference to fig1 to 18 . first of all , an apparatus for compressing screen information of a first terminal of a mobile terminal type and an apparatus for decompressing the screen information in an operation control system according to the present invention are explained with reference to fig1 as follows . fig1 is a block diagram of a first terminal for screen information compression in an operation control system according to a first embodiment of the present invention . in the following description , the configuration of a first terminal 400 may have the same elements of the first terminal 100 shown in fig1 or may not . yet , each of the first terminal 400 shown in fig1 and the former first terminal 100 shown in fig1 basically includes the same device of the mobile terminal type and can perform the same operations . namely , in the following description of the first embodiment , a process for compressing screen information using the first terminal 400 shown in fig1 is explained . referring to fig1 , a first terminal 400 for implementing an operation control system includes an exterior configuration 410 , an internal hardware 430 , an application 450 , a virtual server 470 , a controller ( this is the same of the controller 180 shown in fig1 , hereinafter indicated by a reference number 180 ), and the like . the exterior configuration 410 of the first terminal 400 includes an lcd 411 , a speaker 412 , a microphone 413 , a keypad / touchpad 414 , a network device 415 and the like . the internal hardware 430 includes a display module 431 , a video memory 432 , an audio module 433 , an audio output memory 434 , an audio input memory 435 , an input device module 436 , a wire / wireless network module 437 , and the like . in this case , the video memory 432 stores and outputs video information on a screen of the first terminal 400 . the wire / wireless network module 437 is connected to an external network device 415 and then transmits compressed and encoded video information to a second terminal 500 . the application 450 is implemented using software and includes an os / device driver 451 , a video output unit 452 , an audio output unit 453 , an audio input unit 454 , an input processing unit 455 and the like . the virtual server 470 is implemented using software and includes a server video capture and encoding unit 471 , a server audio capture and encoding unit 472 , a sever audio decoding unit 473 , a server input device information unit 474 , a server protocol 475 and the like . the server video capture and encoding unit 471 of the virtual server 470 receives an input of video information on a screen of the first terminal 400 from the video memory 432 and then extracts low frequency information and middle frequency information from the inputted video information . the server video capture and encoding unit 471 determines a variation extent of current screen information by comparing low frequency and middle frequency information of current video information to low frequency and middle frequency information of previous video information , respectively . the server video capture and encoding unit 471 determines the current video information as ‘ total variation ’, ‘ partial variation ’ or ‘ no variation ’ according to the variation extent . if the current video information is determined as ‘ total variation ’, the server video capture and encoding unit 471 respectively quantizes the low frequency information and the middle frequency information of the current video information . if the current video information is determined as ‘ partial variation ’, the server video capture and encoding unit 471 respectively quantizes the low frequency information and the middle frequency information of the current video information and then generates information indicating a difference from the former low frequency information of the previous video information and information indicating a difference from the former middle frequency information of the previous video information . if the current video information is determined as ‘ no variation ’, the server video capture and encoding unit 471 extracts high frequency information from the current video information and then quantizes the extracted high frequency information . the server video capture and encoding unit 471 then performs entropy encoding on the compressed video information . if the current video information is determined as ‘ no variation ’, the server video capture and encoding unit 471 quantizes the middle frequency information of the current video information and then generates difference information indicating a difference between the quantized middle frequency information and the former middle frequency information in ‘ total variation ’ or ‘ partial variation ’. in this case , the quantization of the middle frequency information in ‘ no variation ’ has resolution higher than that of the middle frequency information in ‘ total variation ’ or ‘ partial variation ’. in doing so , in case of determining the variation extent of the current video information , the server video capture and encoding unit 471 calculates the number of pixels , of which variation between corresponding pixels is equal to or greater than a threshold , or a ratio of this number . if the server video capture and encoding unit 471 determines the current screen information as ‘ no variation ’, it is able to further perform a step of sampling a predetermined number of pixels in current video information . in doing so , the pixels sampled by the server video capture and encoding unit 471 are compared to the pixels sampled in the previous video information . in this case , if a difference between the corresponding pixels has the pixel number equal to or greater than a prescribed threshold or the number ratio is equal to or greater than a prescribed ratio , the current video information is re - determined as ‘ partial variation ’. and , a process corresponding to ‘ partial variation ’ is performed . the controller 180 compresses , encodes and outputs the video information of the first terminal 400 by controlling the video output unit 452 of the application and the server video capture and encoding unit 471 of the virtual server 450 . in this case , an identifier corresponding to ‘ total variation ’, ‘ partial variation ’ or ‘ no variation ’ is attached to the outputted compressed video information . for instance , this identifier can be set to 0 , 1 or 2 . in the configuration of the first terminal 400 to implement the operation control system , the exterior configuration 410 is connected to each of correspondent elements of the internal hardware 430 . each of the elements of the internal hardware 430 is controlled by the application 450 . and , the virtual server 470 is connected to the application 450 and the hardware 430 to transceive data or commands . fig1 is a block diagram of a pc type second terminal for decompression of compressed screen information in an operation control system according to a first embodiment of the present invention . referring to fig1 , a virtual client 550 includes elements that display video information received from the first terminal 400 via a wire / wireless network device 515 . in this case , the elements include a client protocol 559 , a client video decoding unit 555 , a client audio decoding unit 556 , a client audio capture and encoding unit 557 , a client input device information unit 558 and the like , which are connected to an os and hardware of a second terminal 500 via a client video output unit 551 , a client audio output unit 552 , a client audio input unit 553 , a client input processing unit 554 and the like , respectively . the virtual client 550 is connected to a video output device 511 , an audio output device 512 , an audio input device 513 , a keyboard / mouse 514 and the like of the second terminal 500 . the client video decoding unit 555 shown in fig1 decodes and decompresses the video information compressed and encoded by the server video capture and encoding unit 471 shown in fig1 . the decompression of the compressed video information follows a process reverse to the former process for compressing the video information . the client video decoding unit 555 performs entropy decoding on the received compressed video information and then determines whether the video information is unique video information , differential video information or image quality recovery video information using an identifier contained in the compressed video information . in case of determining the received video information as the unique video information using the identifier , the client video decoding unit 555 dequantizes low frequency information and middle frequency information of the unique video information and then synthesizes the dequantized low frequency information and the dequantized middle frequency information together . this synthesized video does not contain high frequency information and can be interpolated to output smooth reconstructed video information . in case of determining the received video information as the differential video information using the identifier , the client video decoding unit 555 generates quantized low and middle frequency information from adding different information of the low and middle frequency information and the previous video information together and then dequantizes the low and middle frequency information . the dequantized low and middle frequency information are then synthesized together . in case of the differential video information , high frequency information is not contained in the synthesized video . therefore , interpolation is preferably performed . in case of determining the received video information as the image quality recovery video information using the identifier , the client video decoding unit 555 dequantizes high frequency information and then synthesizes the dequantized high frequency information with the reconstructed low and middle frequency information . since the synthesized video in the process for reconstructing the image quality recovered vide information entirely contains the low frequency information , the middle frequency information and the high frequency information , it is unnecessary to perform the interpolation . the video information decompressed by the client video decoding unit 555 is forwarded to the video output unit 251 and is then displayed on the video output device 511 of the second terminal 500 . the client video decoding unit 555 reconstructs high - resolution intermediate information from high - resolution middle frequency information generated from the compression process . in this case , the reconstruction of the high - resolution middle frequency information can be expressed as q 4 ( m )= q 4 ( q 2 − 1 ( q 2 ( m )))+ x ( m ). in this case , q 2 − 1 ( q 2 ( m )) refers to the result from processing the unique video information or the differential video information that is used . the reconstructed high - resolution intermediate information is synthesized with the reconstructed high frequency information and the like . the operation control system according to the present invention , as shown in fig1 and fig1 , is implemented by the combination of hardware and software . in particular , the operation control system is realized by the virtual server 470 loaded in the first terminal 400 and the virtual client 550 loaded in the second terminal 500 . the virtual server 470 and the virtual client 550 are connected to each other by the network device 415 of the first terminal 400 and the wire / wireless network device 515 of the second terminal 500 by wire / wireless connection . according to this connection , the virtual server 470 compresses the video information on the screen of the first terminal 400 and then transmits the compressed video information to the virtual client 550 of the second terminal 500 . subsequently , the virtual client 550 delivers the video information received from the first terminal 400 to the video output device 511 by real time so that the delivered video information can be displayed on the video output device 511 . fig1 shows one embodiment for video compression of the first terminal 400 , which is performed by the server video capture and encoding unit 471 of the virtual server 470 . referring to fig1 , a video compression of the first terminal 100 according to one embodiment of the present invention includes a step of extracting low frequency information and middle frequency information , a video information variation analyzing step of determining a variation extent of current video information by comparing the current video information to previous video information based on the extracted low and middle frequency information , a step of generating unique video information , differential video information or image quality recovery video information by differentiating a presence of non - presence of information on a difference from a quantization target according to the variation extent of the current video information , and a step of encoding each of the generated video information . the video compression of the first terminal 400 according to one embodiment is explained in detail with reference to fig1 as follows . first of all , a step s 31 is the step of extracting low frequency information and middle frequency information from video information . a video of the first terminal is inputted as consecutive video information ( e . g ., frames ). for this extraction , the inputted video information is resolved into low frequency ( l ) information and intermediate frequency ( m ) information . when the video information is resolved into the low frequency information and the middle frequency information , wavelet transform is used . preferably , for low operation amount , harr wavelet is used . in this step , high frequency ( h ) information does not need to be extracted from the corresponding video information . this is because a user of the first terminal may not attempt to read letters if such a video variation as animation / scroll and the like is severe . in the step s 31 , since the low frequency information and the middle frequency information has relatively low spatial resolution , the unique video information is reduced . since the low frequency information and the middle frequency information are extracted from the video information , a compression ratio is high . the step s 31 performs an integer addition / subtraction operation only or performs an integer addition / subtraction operation and a logical operation only . a step s 32 is the step of analyzing a variation extent of current video information compared to previous video information . in this step , low frequency information and middle frequency information of previous video information are compared to low frequency information and middle frequency information of current video information , respectively . first of all , low frequency information is compared . a threshold for evaluating a variation extent between a pixel corresponding to low frequency information of previous video information and a pixel corresponding to low frequency information of current video information is preferentially determined . this threshold refers to an extent for recognizing that there is a variation . and , the threshold can be various selectable as 10 %, 20 %, 30 %, 50 %, etc . the number of pixels having the variation equal to or greater than the threshold between pixels is then calculated . subsequently , middle frequency information is compared . it is analyzes whether a variation extent between a pixel corresponding to middle frequency information of previous video information and a pixel corresponding to middle frequency information of current video information deviates from the threshold . and , the number of pixels deviating from the threshold is calculated . in this case , a variation threshold of low frequency information is applicable to the threshold . and , a threshold can be differently set by considering a characteristic of the middle frequency information . the number of pixels deviating from the threshold range for the low frequency information and the number of pixels deviating from the threshold range for the middle frequency information are added together . in this case , according to how much a ratio is occupied in the total pixel number by the added number of pixels , the current video information can be determined as ‘ total variation ’, ‘ partial variation ’ or ‘ no variation ’. for instance , if the ratio of the number of pixels recognizable as having variations is equal to or greater than 50 %, it is determined that the current video information has a considerable video variation by being compared to the previous video information . and , the variation extent of the current video information is determined as ‘ total variation ’. if the ratio of the number of pixels recognizable as having variations is 5 %- 50 %, it is determined that the current video information has a partial video variation . and , the variation extent of the current video information is determined as ‘ partial variation ’. if the ratio of the number of pixels recognizable as having variations is smaller than 5 %, it is determined that the current video information has no video variation by being compared to the previous video information . and , the variation extent of the current video information is determined as ‘ no variation ’. in this case , although the determination references of the number ratio are set to 50 % and 5 %, it is able to variously set the number ratio determination references to 70 % and 10 % or 50 % and 0 %, or the like . instead of using the number ratio , it is able to use the numbers of 10 , 20 , 30 and the like as the determination references . a step s 33 is the step of generating unique video information by respectively quantizing low frequency information and middle frequency information if the current video information is determined as ‘ total variation ’. in this case , the unique video information refers to the video information that contains original video information intact . specifically , the unique video information is the video information resulting from eliminating high frequency information from original video information . in this case , since low frequency information contains most important information , quantization for the low frequency information has highest resolution . quantization for the intermediate information has resolution lower than that of the low frequency information . steps s 34 and s 35 are the step of if the current video information is determined as ‘ partial variation ’, quantizing the low frequency information and the middle frequency information of the current video information ( q 1 ( l ), q 2 ( m )), respectively and the step of generating differential video information by comparing the quantized low frequency information and the quantized middle frequency information of the current video information to quantization results of low frequency information and middle frequency information of the previous video information , respectively . in this case , the differential video information refers to the video information generated from difference information between the current video information and the previous video information in the low frequency information and the middle frequency information . as can be observed from the step s 35 , the difference information in the low frequency information and the difference information in the middle frequency information can be expressed as d ( l )= q 1 ( l )− q 1 ( l ′) and d ( m )= q 2 ( m )− q 2 ( m ′), respectively . in this case , the d ( l ) indicates the difference information on the low frequency information and the d ( m ) indicates the difference information on the middle frequency information . the q 1 ( l ) indicates a result from quantizing the low frequency information of the current video information . the q 1 ( m ) indicates a result from quantizing the middle frequency information of the current video information . the q 1 ( l ′) indicates a result from quantizing the low frequency information of the previous video information . and , the q 1 ( m ′) indicates a result from quantizing the middle frequency information of the previous video information . in the step s 35 , quantization resolution of the low and middle frequency information is maintained equal to that of the low and middle frequency information in case of being determined as ‘ total variation ’. by finding the difference information in the steps s 34 and s 35 , a varying part is left as a meaningful value only . as a result , a considerable amount of data ( non - varying part ) is compressed in an encoding process . steps s 36 and s 37 are the step of extracting high frequency information from the current video information if the current video information is determined as ‘ no variation ’ and the step of generating image quality recovery video information by quantizing ( q 3 ( h )) the extracted high frequency information . the image quality recovery video information contains additional information for the image quality recovery only because the low frequency information and the middle frequency information were delivered in the previous step . by the image quality recovery video information , an image quality can be enhanced well enough to identify a small letter . thus , the method of transmitting high frequency information is taken only if there is no video variation . this is because a user of the first terminal is not inconvenient to read letters when a video variation stops . in particular , this is the result in considering a user &# 39 ; s habit in using the first terminal . in this case , although the high frequency information has high spatial resolution , its value is almost 0 . hence , considerable compression occurs in the course of entropy encoding . moreover , since the high frequency information is a region insensitive to the eyes , a quantization process for lowest resolution is performed thereon . the unique video information , the differential video information and the image quality recovery video information generated from the steps s 33 to s 37 are entropy - encoded in a step s 50 . and , such an identifier as 0 , 1 , 2 and the like is given to each of the video information . the identifiers are transmitted to the virtual client of the second terminal by being respectively contained in the unique video information , the differential video information and the image quality recovery video information . if the compressed unique video information , differential video information and image quality recovery video information are decompressed by the virtual client 50 of the second terminal , a type of the transmitted video information can be identified by the corresponding identifier . fig1 shows another embodiment of a first terminal video compression . referring to fig1 , in the first terminal video compression according to another embodiment performed by the server video capture and encoding unit 471 of the virtual server 470 , the steps s 38 and s 39 in case of determining the current video information as ‘ no variation ’ in fig1 are further included . the step s 38 is the step of quantizing ( q 4 ( m ))) middle frequency information with quantization resolution higher than that of the middle frequency information of ‘ total variation ’ or ‘ partial variation ’. in particular , the step s 38 further enhances an image quality of the middle frequency information . the quantization result of the step s 38 is sent to the encoding step after the difference information and the quantization result of the middle frequency information of the ‘ total variation ’ or the ‘ partial variation ’ have been generated . as can be observed from the formula of ‘ x ( m )= q 4 ( m )− q 4 ( q 2 − 1 ( q 2 ( m )))’ in the step s 39 , the high - resolution middle frequency difference information is generated in a manner of dequantizing the result of quantizing the middle frequency information with high resolution and the result of quantization of the middle frequency information of the ‘ total variation ’ or the ‘ partial variation ’ and a difference of a result from quantizing it with high resolution . the step s 39 is the process for further compressing the quantized result in the step s 38 . fig1 shows a first terminal video compression according to a further embodiment of the present invention . referring to fig1 , in the first terminal video compression according to a further embodiment performed by the server video capture and encoding unit 471 of the virtual server 470 , the steps s 40 and s 41 in case of determining the current video information as ‘ no variation ’ in fig1 and fig1 are further included . in fig1 , if current video information is determined as ‘ no variation ’, it is determined again whether the current video information may be determined as ‘ partial information ’. in the step s 40 , a prescribed number of pixels corresponding to each other among pixels of current and previous video information are sampled . in this case , the number of sampled pixels is determined in consideration of operation capability of the first terminal . for instance , 9 , 12 , 15 , 16 or 20 pixels can be variously determined for each video information . in the step s 41 , pixels sampled in the current video information are compared to pixels sampled in the previous video information . in this case , the number of pixels exceeding a threshold between the pixels sampled in the current video information and the pixels sampled in the previous video information is equal to or greater than a prescribed number or a prescribed ratio , the current video information is re - determined as ‘ partial variation ’. in this case , the prescribed number of the comparison reference can be set to 1 . and , the prescribed ratio can be variously set to 3 %, 5 %, 10 % or the like . if it is determined as ‘ partial variation ’ in this step , the step s 34 is performed . if it is still determined as ‘ no variation ’, the step s 36 or s 38 is performed . in the following description , a process for decompressing a compressed video received from the first terminal by the virtual client of the second terminal is explained with reference to fig1 and fig1 . embodiments shown in fig1 and fig1 correspond to a process reverse to that shown in fig1 and fig1 . without detailed explanation , the decompression process shown in fig1 and fig1 is apparent to those skilled in the art , who understand the compression process . fig1 shows one embodiment for decompressing the compressed video shown in fig1 . in particular , the embodiment shown in fig1 is performed by the client video decoding unit 555 of the virtual client 550 of the second terminal . referring to fig1 , compressed data is entropy - decoded in a step s 61 . subsequently , in a step s 62 , whether video information received from the first terminal is unique video information , differential video information or image quality recovery video information is determined using an identifier included in each of the video information . first of all , a case in which the received video information is determined as the unique video information in the step s 62 , quantized low and middle frequency information of the unique video information are dequantized in a step s 63 . subsequently , in a step s 64 , the dequantized low frequency information and the dequantized middle frequency information are synthesized together . since the synthesized video does not contain high frequency information , interpolation can be performed like a step s 65 . as a result of this interpolation , it is able to output smoother reconstructed video information . if the received video information is determined as the differential video information in the step s 62 , quantized low frequency information and quantized middle frequency information are generated from adding differences of the low and middle frequency information to the previous video information in a step s 66 . in a step s 67 , the low frequency information and the middle frequency information are dequantized . subsequently , in a step s 68 , the dequantized low frequency information and the dequantized middle frequency information are synthesized together . since high frequency information is not contained in the synthesized video in case of the differential video information , it is able to perform interpolation like a step s 69 . if the received video information is determined as the image quality recovery video information in the step s 62 , quantized high frequency information is dequantized in a step s 70 . subsequently , in a step s 71 , the dequantized high frequency information and the already - reconstructed low and middle frequency information are synthesized together . thus , as the process for reconstructing the image quality recovery video information includes the low , middle and high frequency information , it is unnecessary to perform the interpolation . finally , the reconstructed video information processed in each of the above - described cases is sent to the video output unit 551 in a step s 80 . fig1 shows another embodiment for decompressing the compressed video shown in fig1 . in fig1 , a process for reconstructing high resolution middle frequency information from the high resolution middle frequency difference information generated from the compressing process shown in fig1 is further included . referring to fig1 , a quantization result of the high - resolution middle frequency is reconstructed by the formula of ‘ q 4 ( m )= q 4 ( q 2 − 1 ( q 2 ( m )))+ x ( m )’ in the step s 72 . in this case , q 2 − 1 ( q 2 ( m )) uses a processing result of the unique video information or the differential video information . subsequently , the high resolution middle frequency quantization result is dequantized in a step s 73 to reconstruct the high resolution middle frequency information . thus , the video compression and decompression process of the first and second terminals according to the first embodiment of the present invention is explained in detail . in the following description , a data transmitting and receiving operation process and a communication connecting operation process between a first terminal and a second terminal in an operation control system according to embodiments of the present invention are explained in details . according to a second embodiment of the present invention , when screen information of a first terminal is displayed on a second terminal , content information contained in the screen information of the first terminal can be easily recognized in the second terminal . and , the content information of the first terminal can be freely used and edited in the second terminal . in the following description of the first to third embodiments of the present invention , assume that the first terminal of a mobile terminal type and the second terminal of a pc type are used . of course , the above assumption is made to clarify the description of the first to third embodiments of the present invention . alternatively , each of the first and second terminals according to the first to third embodiments of the present invention can have a mobile terminal type . alternatively , each of the first and second terminals according to the first to third embodiments of the present invention can include a stationary terminal . therefore , the first and second terminals according to the first to third embodiments of the present invention can include terminals capable of communication by including a screen display device and an input device . a first embodiment of the present invention is explained in detail with reference to fig1 as follows . fig1 is a signal processing diagram for a data transceiving process between a first terminal 100 and a second terminal 200 in an operation control system according to a first embodiment of the present invention . referring to fig1 , the controller 180 of the first terminal 100 checks whether at least one content information exists within screen information to be initially displayed on the display unit 151 [ s 111 ]. in this case , the at least one content information can include a text , an image , a received message , contact information within a phonebook , an audio file , a photo file , a video file , a game file , schedule information , a document file , an electronic dictionary file , a calculator file , webpage address information and the like . in particular , the content information includes all data existing within a menu function of the first terminal 100 . and , the contact information can include a mobile phone number , name , home phone number and email address of a correspondent party , etc . in this case , if the at least one content information exists within the screen information to be displayed [ s 112 ], the controller 180 generates first notification information announcing the content information via the screen information [ s 113 ]. and , the controller 180 transmits the generated first notification information to the second terminal 200 via the communication unit 110 by having the generated first notification information included in the screen information to display [ s 114 ]. in this case , the first notification information may be generated in form of a text indicating the content information , a 2 - or 3 - dimensional image , an icon , an animation , a watermark , a barcode or the like . in this case , the controller 180 transmits the screen information containing the first notification information to the second terminal 200 by compressing the screen information by the processes shown in fig1 to 16 . in particular , the controller 180 is able to compress the screen information containing the first notification information therein using a video or still picture compression scheme . for example , the screen information can be compressed using such a video compression scheme as jpeg , pnp , mpeg , h . 264 , etc . moreover , in case of transmitting audio information outputted from the audio output module 152 to the stationary terminal 200 , the controller 180 is able to compress the audio information using an audio compression scheme . for example , the audio information can be compressed using such an audio compression scheme as mp3 , mp4 , sbc , adpcm , ogg vorbis , etc . in case of transmitting screen information containing first notification information compressed by the above process to the second terminal 200 , the controller 180 is able to transmit the screen information using a vdp standard protocol ( video ) and a2dp standard protocol ( audio ) of bluetooth . a first notification information generating process and a first notification information transmitting process in the controller 180 are explained in detail with reference to fig2 and fig2 as follows . fig2 and fig2 are diagrams for screen configurations to explain a process for a first terminal to generate first notification information according to a second embodiment of the present invention . referring to ( a ) of fig2 , if schedule content information exists within a screen to display , the controller 180 of the mobile terminal 100 generates text type first notification information 10 a notifying the schedule content information 10 , as shown in ( b ) of fig1 . the controller 180 is then able to transmit the text type first notification information 10 a to the second terminal 200 by having the text type first notification information included in the screen information to display . in ( b ) of fig2 , shown is the screen information containing the text type first notification information 10 a received by the second terminal 200 from the first terminal 100 that is displayed . in this case , the controller 180 of the first terminal is able to transmit the first notification information 10 a in a manner of synthesizing or overlapping the first notification information 10 a around a region on which the schedule information 10 is displayed . alternatively , instead of displaying the schedule information 10 , the controller 180 of the first terminal 100 is able to transmit the first notification information 10 a in a manner to synthesize or overlap the first notification information 10 a with a region where the schedule information 10 is located only . alternatively , the controller 180 of the first terminal 100 is able to transmit the first notification information 10 a in a manner to synthesize or overlap the first notification information 10 a within an indicator region of the screen information . alternatively , the controller 180 of the first terminal 100 , as shown in ( c ) of fig2 , generates an icon type first notification information 10 b notifying the schedule information 10 and is then able to transmit the generated icon type first notification information 10 b to the second terminal 200 by having the icon type first notification information 10 b included in the screen information to display . in this case , in ( c ) of fig2 , shown is the screen information , in which the icon type first notification information 10 b received from the first terminal 100 by the second terminal 200 is included , that is displayed . the controller 180 of the first terminal 100 generates first notification information 10 c notifying the schedule information 10 as a barcode type , as shown in ( d ) of fig2 , and is then able to transmit the generated barcode type first notification information 10 c to the second terminal 200 by having it included in the screen information . referring to ( a ) of fig2 , if webpage address content information 20 exists within a screen to display , the controller 180 of the first terminal 100 generates text type first notification information 20 a notifying the webpage address content information 20 , as shown in ( b ) of fig2 , and is then able to transmit the text type second notification information 20 a to the second terminal 200 by having it included in the screen information to display . in ( b ) of fig2 , shown is the screen information containing the text type first notification information 20 a received by the second terminal 200 from the first terminal 100 that is displayed . in this case , the controller 180 of the first terminal is able to transmit the first notification information 20 a in a manner to synthesize or overlap the first notification information 20 a around a region on which the webpage address content information 20 is displayed . alternatively , instead of displaying the webpage address content information 20 , the controller 180 of the first terminal 100 is able to transmit the first notification information 20 a in a manner to synthesize or overlap the first notification information 20 a with a region where the webpage address content information 20 is located only . alternatively , the controller 180 of the first terminal 100 is able to transmit the first notification information 20 a in a manner to synthesize or overlap the first notification information 20 a within an indicator region of the screen to display . alternatively , the controller 180 of the first terminal 100 , as shown in ( c ) of fig2 , generates icon type first notification information 20 b notifying the webpage address content information 20 and is then able to transmit the generated icon type first notification information 20 b to the second terminal 200 by having the icon type first notification information 20 b included in the screen information to display . the controller 180 of the first terminal 100 generates first notification information 20 c notifying the webpage address content information 20 as a barcode type , as shown in ( d ) of fig2 , and is then able to transmit the generated barcode type first notification information 20 c to the second terminal 200 by having it included in the screen information to display . meanwhile , referring back to fig1 , if the screen information containing the first notification information is received from the first terminal 100 via the communication unit 210 , the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 displays the received screen information on the display unit 260 [ s 115 ]. in particular , the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 decodes the screen information containing the first notification information by the above described process shown in fig1 or fig1 , and is then able to display the decoded screen information on the display unit 260 . namely , the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 is able to decompress the compression of the received screen information using a video or still picture decoding scheme . the compression of the screen information can be decompressed using such a video decoding scheme as jpeg , pnp , mpeg , h . 264 and the like . the decompressed screen information can be displayed on the display unit 260 . in case of receiving audio information from the first terminal 100 , the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 is able to decompress the compression of the received audio information using an audio decoding scheme . the compression of the audio information is decompressed using such an audio decompression scheme as mp3 , mp4 , sbc , adpcm , ogg vorbis and the like . the decompressed audio information is outputted to the speaker 240 and the decompressed screen information is displayed on the display unit 260 . in this case , if the first notification information is selected from the screen information via the input unit 220 or the touchscreen type display unit 260 [ s 116 ], the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 executes a function of the content information corresponding to the first notification information [ s 117 ]. in the following description , a process for the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 to execute a function of content information corresponding to first notification information is explained in detail . first of all , if the first notification information is selected from the screen , the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 generates a signal for requesting an execution of a content corresponding to the first notification information and then transmits the generated request signal to the communication unit 11 of the first terminal 100 via the communication unit 210 . in the content execution request signal , information indicating a display location of the first notification information selected on the screen information can be included . in particular , the controller 270 obtains the display location of the selected notification information on the screen information and is then able to transmit the request signal including the obtained display location information of the first notification information to the first terminal 100 . in case of receiving the request signal via the communication unit 110 , the controller 180 of the first terminal 100 executes content information corresponding to the first notification information by driving an application and then transmits execution screen information of the content information to the second terminal 200 via the communication unit 110 . in particular , the controller 180 obtains the location information of the first notification information included in the received request signal . if the first notification information exists at the obtained location on a current screen , the controller 180 executes the content information corresponding to the first notification information and is then able to transmit the execution screen information of the content information to the second terminal 200 . in case of receiving the execution screen information of the content information from the first terminal 100 , the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 displays the received execution screen information on the screen of the display unit 260 . for instance , if the barcode type first notification information 10 c shown in ( d ) of fig2 is selected in the second terminal 200 , the first terminal 100 searches the memory 160 for a schedule corresponding to the first notification information 10 c , executes it on the screen of the display unit 151 , and then transmits the schedule screen to the second terminal 200 . moreover , if the icon type first notification information 20 b shown in ( c ) of fig2 is selected in the second terminal 200 , the first terminal 100 accesses a webpage corresponding to the first notification information 20 b and then transmits the accessed webpage screen to the second terminal 200 . meanwhile , in case of receiving the request signal via the communication unit 110 , the controller 180 of the first terminal 100 does not execute the content information corresponding to the first notification information on the screen of the display unit 151 but is able to directly transmit a content file corresponding to the first notification information to the second terminal 200 . moreover , while screen information containing the first notification information is displayed on the display unit 151 , if the first notification information is selected by a user , the controller 180 of the first terminal 100 is able to transmit a content file corresponding to the first notification information to the second terminal 200 without a request made by the second terminal 200 . in the second embodiment of the present invention , while a user of the second terminal 200 is using screen information containing first notification information , if such an event as a call , a message reception and the like occurs in a first terminal 100 , a screen containing the first notification information may be switched to a screen of the event occurring in the first terminal 100 irrespective of intention of the user of the second terminal 200 . to overcome such an inconvenience of the second embodiment , according to a third embodiment of the present invention , while a user of a second terminal 200 is using the screen information , if an event occurs in a first terminal 100 , the occurrence of the event of the first terminal 100 is indicated on a screen of the second terminal 200 using second notification information notifying the even occurrence . after the user of the second terminal 200 has completed the use of the screen information , an event relevant screen can be displayed . an operation process according to a third embodiment of the present invention is explained in detail with reference to fig2 as follows . fig2 is a signal processing diagram for a data transceiving process between a first terminal and a second terminal according to a third embodiment of the present invention . referring to fig2 , an operation process including steps s 114 to 5117 is identical to that shown in fig1 . if a specific event occurs in the first terminal 100 [ s 118 ], the controller 180 of the first terminal 100 generates second notification information indicating the occurring event via the communication unit 110 , displays the generated second notification information on a current screen , and then transmits the generated second notification information to the second terminal 200 , instead of transmitting screen information corresponding to the occurring event to the second terminal 200 [ s 119 ]. in this case , the event can include one of a call , a message reception , an alarm output and the like . moreover , the second notification information can be generated as one of a text , an image , an icon , an animation , a watermark and a barcode to indicate the occurring event . meanwhile , the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 displays the second notification information received from the first terminal 100 on the screen having the first notification information contained therein [ s 120 ]. in this case , the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 can display the second notification information by having the second notification information synthesized within or overlapped with the screen having the first notification information contained therein . moreover , the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 is able to display the second notification information within an indicator region of the screen containing the first notification information therein . in this case , if a user of the second terminal 200 selects the second notification information by manipulating the input unit 220 [ s 121 ], the controller 270 generates a signal for requesting an event relevant screen corresponding to the selected second notification information and then transmits the generated event relevant screen request signal to the first terminal 100 via the communication unit 210 [ s 122 ]. in this case , location information of the second notification information located on the screen is included in the event relevant screen request signal . in particular , the controller 270 obtains the location of the selected second notification information at the screen and then transmits a request signal containing the obtained location information of the second notification information to the first terminal 100 . subsequently , if the event relevant screen request signal is received from the second terminal 200 , the controller 180 of the first terminal 100 switches a current screen of the display module 151 to the occurring event relevant screen and then transmits the event relevant screen information to the second terminal 200 [ s 123 ]. in particular , the controller 180 obtains location information of the second notification information included in the received request signal . if the second notification information exists at the obtained location on the current screen , the controller 180 switches the current screen to an event screen corresponding to the second notification information and then transmits the switched event screen information to the second terminal 200 . in case of receiving the event relevant screen information from the first terminal 100 , the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 switches the screen containing the first notification information to the received event relevant screen [ s 124 ]. moreover , if the event ends , the controller 180 of the first terminal 100 transmits the screen information prior to the event occurrence to the second terminal 200 via the communication unit 110 . subsequently , the second terminal 200 is able to return to the screen prior to the event occurrence from the event relevant screen . operations of the steps s 118 to s 124 are explained in detail with reference to fig2 and fig2 as follows . fig2 and fig2 are diagrams of screen configurations for explaining a process for generating and displaying second notification information for a first terminal to announce an event occurrence according to a third embodiment of the present invention . first of all , ( a ) of fig2 shows that an event occurring in the step s 118 is a call event 30 . if the call event 30 occurs , the controller 180 of the first terminal 100 generates second notification information of an icon type 30 a to indicate the call event 30 and then transmits the generated second notification information of the icon type 30 a , as shown in ( b ) of fig2 , to the second terminal 200 . while displaying the screen containing the first notification information 10 a , the second terminal 200 displays the received notification information 30 a on the screen if the second notification information 30 a indicating the call event 30 is received from the first terminal 100 . in this case , if the second notification information 30 a is selected via the input unit 220 , the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 generates a signal for requesting a screen relevant to the call event 30 corresponding to the second notification information 30 a and then transmits the generated request signal to the first terminal 100 via the communication unit 210 . if the request signal is received from the second terminal 200 , the controller 180 of the first terminal 100 switches a current screen of the display unit 151 to the screen relevant to the call event 30 and then transmits screen information relevant to the call event 30 to the second terminal 200 . in case of receiving the screen information relevant to the call event 30 via the communication unit 210 , the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 switches the screen containing the first notification information 10 b displayed on the display unit 260 , as shown in ( b ) of fig2 , to the call event relevant screen 30 b , as shown in ( c ) of fig2 . and , ( a ) of fig2 shows that the event occurring in the step s 118 is a message reception event 40 . if the message reception event 40 occurs , the controller 180 of the first terminal 100 generates second notification information of an icon type 40 a to indicate the message reception event 40 and is then able to transmit the generated second notification information of the icon type 40 a , as shown in ( b ) of fig2 , to the second terminal 200 . while displaying the screen containing the first notification information 20 a , if the second notification information 40 a indicating the message reception event 40 is received from the first terminal 100 , the second terminal 200 displays the received notification information 40 a on the screen containing the first notification information 20 a . in this case , if the second notification information 40 a is selected via the input unit 220 , the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 generates a signal for requesting a screen relevant to the message reception event 40 corresponding to the second notification information 40 a and then transmits the generated message reception event relevant request signal to the first terminal 100 via the communication unit 210 . if the message reception event relevant screen request signal is received from the second terminal 200 , the controller 180 of the first terminal 100 switches a current screen of the display unit 151 to the screen relevant to the message reception event 40 and then transmits screen information relevant to the message reception event 40 to the second terminal 200 . in case of receiving the screen information relevant to the message reception event 40 via the communication unit 210 , the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 switches the screen containing the first notification information 20 a displayed on the display unit 260 , as shown in ( b ) of fig2 , to the message reception event relevant screen 40 b , as shown in ( c ) of fig2 . in case that a plurality of homogeneous or heterogeneous content information exist within a screen of a first terminal 100 , the object of a fourth embodiment of the present invention is to provide a function for enabling a second terminal 200 to operate each of the content information . fig2 is a signal processing diagram for a process for a second terminal to access homogeneous content information of a first terminal according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention . and , fig2 is a diagram of a screen configuration of a process for a second terminal to access homogeneous content information of a first terminal according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention . referring to fig2 and fig2 , if a first content information 51 a and a second content information 52 a , which are homogenous , exist within a screen to display , the controller 180 of the first terminal 100 generates a first notification information 51 b indicating the homogenous first content information 51 a and a second notification information 52 b indicating the homogenous second content information 52 a and then transmits the generated first and second notification information 51 b and 52 b to the second terminal 200 by having the generated first and second notification information 51 b and 52 b included in the screen information to display [ s 211 ] [( a ) of fig2 ]. in ( a ) of fig2 , shown is that the homogenous first and second content information 51 a and 52 a are internet accessible webpage addresses . and , the first and second notification information 51 b and 52 b indicating the webpage addresses are shown as icons , respectively . yet , the present invention non - limits the types of the first and second content information 51 a and 52 a and the shapes ( or representation ) of the first and second notification information 51 b and 52 b . the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 displays the screen information containing the first and second notification information 51 b and 52 b received from the first terminal 100 via the communication unit 210 on the display unit 260 [ s 212 ] [( b ) of fig2 ]. if a user of the second terminal 200 selects the first notification information 51 b from the first notification information 51 b and the second notification information 52 b [ s 213 ], the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 displays menus 53 a , 53 b , 53 c and 53 d for executing functions of the first content information 51 a corresponding to the selected first notification information 51 b , as shown in ( c ) of fig2 , on the display unit 260 [ s 214 ]. if the first menu 53 a (‘ e 1 . access ’) is selected from the menus 53 a , 53 b , 53 c and 53 d shown in ( c ) of fig2 [ s 215 ], the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 generates a signal for a function execution screen request of the first content information 51 a corresponding to the first menu 53 a (‘ e 1 access ’) and then transmits the generated request signal to the first terminal 100 via the communication unit 210 [ s 216 ]. subsequently , the controller 180 of the first terminal 100 controls the communication unit 110 to access the first content information 51 a , i . e ., a webpage address corresponding to ‘ http :// www . abc . com ’ and then transmits the screen information 54 of the accessed webpage to the second terminal 200 [ s 217 ]. if so , the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 displays the webpage screen information 54 received from the first terminal 100 on the display unit 260 [ s 218 ]. while the webpage screen information 54 in the step s 218 is being displayed , if the second menu 53 b (‘ e 1 access disconnect ’) is selected from the menus 53 a , 53 b , 53 c and 53 d shown in ( c ) of fig2 , the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 stops displaying the webpage screen information 54 and is then able to switch to a current screen to a screen according to ( b ) of fig2 . while the webpage screen information 54 in the step s 218 is being displayed , if the third menu 53 c (‘ store ’) is selected from the menus 53 a , 53 b , 53 c and 53 d shown in ( c ) of fig2 , the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 is able to control the webpage screen information 54 to be stored as an image in the memory 240 . fig2 is a signal processing diagram for a process for a second terminal to access heterogeneous content information of a first terminal according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention . fig2 is a diagram of a screen configuration of a process for a second terminal to access heterogeneous content information of a first terminal according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention . referring to fig2 and fig2 , if first to third content information 61 a , 62 a and 63 a , which are heterogeneous ( i . e ., different in kind ), exist within a screen to display , the controller 180 of the first terminal 100 generates first to third notification information 61 b , 62 b and 63 b notifying the heterogeneous first to third content information 61 a , 62 a and 63 a and then transmits them to the second terminal 200 by having the generated first to third notification information 61 b , 62 b and 63 b included in the screen information to display [ s 301 ] [( a ) of fig2 ]. in ( a ) of fig2 , shown is that the heterogeneous first content information 61 a is an image file , the second content information 62 a is a document file , and the third content information 62 c is a phonebook . moreover , the first to third notification information 61 b , 62 b and 63 b respectively indicating the first to third content information 61 a , 62 a and 63 a have icon shapes , respectively . yet , the present invention non - limits the types of the first to third content information 61 a , 62 a and 63 a and the shapes ( or representation ) of the first to third notification information 61 b , 62 b and 63 b . the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 displays the screen information containing the first to third notification information 61 b , 62 b and 63 b received from the first terminal 100 via the communication unit 210 on the display unit 260 [ s 302 ] [( b ) of fig2 ]. in this case , the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 displays menus 64 for executing functions of the first to third content information 61 a , 62 a and 63 a corresponding to the first to third notification information 61 b , 62 b and 63 b , as shown in ( b ) of fig2 , on the display unit 260 [ s 303 ]. if a user of the second terminal 200 selects the third menu 64 c (‘ view phonebook ’) from the menus 64 [ s 304 ], the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 generates a signal for requesting a function execution screen of the third menu 64 c (‘ view phonebook ’) and then transmits the generated request signal to the first terminal 100 via the communication unit 210 [ s 305 ]. subsequently , the controller 180 of the first terminal 100 executes the third content information 63 a , i . e ., ‘ phonebook ’ and then transmits the screen information 63 c of the executed phonebook 63 a to the second terminal 200 [ s 306 ]. if so , the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 displays the phonebook screen information 63 c received from the first terminal 100 on the display unit 260 [ s 307 ]. in this case , if the phonebook screen information 63 c in the step s 307 is displayed , the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 is able to display submenus 64 c 1 , 64 c 2 , 64 c 3 and 64 c 4 for the function execution of the ‘ phonebook ’, as shown in ( c ) of fig2 , on one region of the phonebook screen information 63 c . after the user of the second terminal 200 has selected contact information (‘ 1 . tom ’) from the phonebook screen information 63 c , if the user of the second terminal 200 selects the first submenu 64 c 1 (‘ call connect ’) from the submenus 64 c 1 , 64 c 2 , 64 c 3 and 64 c 4 , the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 generates a signal for indicating that the contact information (‘ 1 . tom ’) and the first submenu 64 c 1 (‘ call connect ’) are selected and then transmits the generated signal to the first terminal 100 via the communication unit 210 . if so , the controller 180 of the first terminal 100 connects a call to a phone number of the selected contact information (‘ 1 . tom ’) by controlling the communication unit 110 according to the signal received from the second terminal and then transmits the call connected status screen to the second terminal 200 . moreover , after the user of the second terminal 200 has selected contact information (‘ 1 . tom ’) from the phonebook screen information 63 c , if the user of the second terminal 200 selects the second submenu 64 c 2 (‘ message send ’) from the submenus 64 c 1 , 64 c 2 , 64 c 3 and 64 c 4 , the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 generates a signal for indicating that the contact information (‘ 1 . tom ’) and the second submenu 64 c 2 (‘ message send ’) are selected and then transmits the generated signal to the first terminal 100 via the communication unit 210 . if so , the controller 180 of the first terminal 100 transmits an input window for a message to be sent to the phone number of the selected contact information (‘ 1 . tom ’) to the second terminal 200 by controlling the communication unit 110 according to the signal received from the second terminal 200 . the second terminal 200 displays the message input window received from the first terminal 100 and then transmits a message content written through the message input window to the first terminal 100 . subsequently , the controller 180 of first terminal 100 transmits the message content received from the second terminal 200 to the selected contact information (‘ 1 . tom ’). moreover , the second terminal 200 selects the third submenu 64 c 3 or the fourth submenu 64 c 4 from the submenus 64 c 1 , 64 c 2 , 64 c 3 and 64 c 4 , and is then able to edit or delete phone numbers and the like within the corresponding phonebook . the object of a fifth embodiment of the present invention is to provide a function of automatically connecting a communication without a separate user &# 39 ; s manipulation when the communication is connected between a first terminal and a second terminal . in particular , a fifth embodiment of the present invention relates to a process for automatically connecting a communication in - between using short - range communication or rfid . in the following description of a fifth embodiment of the present invention , assume that a first terminal is a mobile terminal type , assume that a second terminal is a pc type , and assume that the second terminal automatically searches for the first terminal to connect a ( or establish ) communication . a process for automatically connecting a communication using short - range communication according to the present invention is explained with reference to fig2 and fig3 as follows . fig2 is a flowchart of a process for a second terminal to automatically connect a ( or establish ) communication with a first terminal using a short - range communication according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention . and , fig3 is a diagram of a screen configuration of a process for a second terminal to set a time period of searching for a first terminal periodically according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention . referring to fig2 and fig3 , if a user selects a function for automatically searching for the first terminal 100 around the second terminal 200 and connecting a communication , the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 displays an access authentication device information list 71 previously provided to the memory 230 on the display unit 260 [ s 401 ] [( a ) of fig3 ]. in this case , the access authentication device information list 71 refers to a device information list of external devices having been connected to the second terminal 200 for communications through authentication processes . if the first terminal ( tx 0015 ) 100 to automatically access is selected from the access authentication device information list 71 [ s 402 ] [( a ) of fig3 ], the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 displays a window 72 for setting a time period for searching for the selected first terminal ( tx 0015 ) on the display unit [ s 403 ] [( b ) of fig3 ]. if a user sets up the time period ( 5 minutes ) through the time period setting window 72 [ s 404 ] [( b ) of fig3 ], the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 attempts the search and access of the first terminal ( tx 0015 ) 100 by the set time period ( 5 minutes ) by controlling the communication unit 210 [ s 405 ] [( c ) of fig3 ]. if the access to the first terminal ( tx 0015 ) 100 is successful [ s 406 ], the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 connects the communication with the first terminal ( tx 0015 ) 100 . the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 receives the screen information of the aforesaid first to fourth embodiments from the first terminal ( tx 0015 ) 100 and then displays the received screen information [ s 407 ]. on the contrary , if the access to the first terminal ( tx 0015 ) 100 fails , the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 stands by during the set time period and then tries the access again [ s 408 ]. fig3 is a diagram of a screen configuration of a process for a second terminal to reset a time period for searching for a first terminal periodically according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention . referring to fig3 , if the communication with the first terminal ( tx 0015 ) 100 is connected by the process shown in fig2 and fig3 , the second terminal 200 receives the screen information according to the first to third embodiments from the first terminal ( tx 0015 ) 100 and then displays the received screen information . moreover , the second terminal 200 displays notification information 73 indicating the time period set up in fig2 and fig3 on the screen information [( a ) of fig3 ]. if a user selects the notification information 73 , the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 recognizes that it is to change the time period set in fig2 and fig3 and then re - displays the time period setting window 72 shown in ( b ) of fig3 [( b ) of fig3 ]. if the user changes the time period ( 10 minutes ) via the time period setting window 72 , the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 tries the search and access of the first terminal ( tx 0015 ) 100 by the changed time period ( 10 minutes ) by controlling the communication unit 210 [( c ) of fig3 ]. fig3 is a flowchart of a process for a second terminal to automatically connect a ( or establish ) communication with a first terminal using an rfid according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention . and , fig3 is a diagram of a screen configuration of a process for a second terminal to automatically connect a ( or establish ) communication with a first terminal using an rfid according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention . referring to fig3 and fig3 , the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 drives the rfid reader 271 for the communication connection with the first terminal [ s 501 ] and then detects whether the first terminal 100 having the rfid tag 182 attached thereto is located around the second terminal 200 through the rfid reader 271 [ s 502 ]. if the first terminal 100 having the rfid tag 182 attached thereto exists around the second terminal 200 , the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 reads device information of the first terminal 100 stored in the rfid tag 182 through the rfid reader 271 [ s 503 ]. the controller 270 checks whether the device information of the first terminal 100 read through the rfid reader 271 exists within the access authentication device information list stored in the memory 230 [ s 504 ]. if the corresponding information exists in the list [ s 505 ], the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 connects the communication with the first terminal 100 using the read device information of the first terminal 100 [ s 506 ]. the object of a sixth embodiment of the present invention is to provide a function of extending a use time of a terminal by preventing unnecessary power consumption . in particular , while a communication is connected between a first terminal and a second terminal , if an operational status of a screen , audio , key input or the like fails to vary for a preset period of time , the communication between the first terminal and the second terminal is disconnected . in the following description of a sixth embodiment of the present invention , assume that a first terminal is a mobile terminal type , assume that a second terminal is a pc type , and assume that the second terminal automatically searches for the first terminal to connect a ( or establish ) communication . a process for a second terminal to perform a disconnecting / re - connecting operation of a communication with on a first terminal is explained with reference to fig3 to 38 as follows . fig3 is a flowchart of a process for a second terminal to perform disconnection and reconnection operations of communications with a first terminal according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention . fig3 is a diagram of a screen configuration of a process for a second terminal to perform disconnection and reconnection of communications with a first terminal according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention . fig3 is a diagram of a screen configuration of a process for a second terminal to perform disconnection of a communication with a first terminal according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention . and , fig3 and fig3 are diagrams of screen configurations for a process for a second terminal to inform a user of disconnected and reconnected statuses of communications with a first terminal according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention . referring to fig3 to 38 , if a communication is connected to the first terminal 100 according to the aforesaid fourth embodiment [ s 601 ], the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 receives data containing screen information 510 from the first terminal via the communication unit 210 and then displays the received screen information 510 on a screen of the display unit 260 [ s 602 ] [( a ) of fig3 ]. in this case , the data received from the first terminal 100 can contain audio information and a key signal having been inputted to the first terminal 100 as well as the screen information 510 . subsequently , the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 detects whether an operational state of the second terminal 200 is changed during a preset duration [ s 603 ]. in particular , the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 detects whether the operational state of the second terminal 200 maintains an inactive state . in this case , the inactive state refers to a state in which the second terminal 200 fails to receive new screen information or new audio information from the first terminal 100 or a state in which the second terminal 200 does not transmit a key signal for remotely controlling an operation of the first terminal 100 to the first terminal 100 . and , the duration for detecting the operational state change is variously settable by a user . in particular , the controller 270 provides a user with a variously settable menu of the preset duration . the user is then able to change the duration through this menu . meanwhile , if the operational state of the second terminal 200 is not changed for the preset duration [ s 604 ], the controller 270 recognizes that the user does not use the remote control communication with the first terminal 100 according to the present invention and then disconnects the communication with the first terminal 100 by controlling the communication unit 210 [ s 605 ] [( b ) of fig3 ]. in particular , if new screen information or new audio information is not received from the first terminal 100 for the preset duration or a key signal for controlling the operation of the first terminal 100 remotely is not transmitted , the controller 270 disconnects the communication with the first terminal 100 by controlling the communication unit 210 . in this case , if the operational state of the second terminal 200 is not changed for the preset duration , as shown in fig3 , the controller 270 displays a selection window 82 for selecting a disconnection of a communication with the first terminal 100 on the display unit 260 [( a ) of fig3 ]. if the disconnection of communication with the first terminal 100 is selected from the selection window 82 , the controller 270 is able to disconnect the communication with the first terminal [( b ) of fig3 ]. if the communication with the first terminal 100 is disconnected , as shown in ( a ) of fig3 , the controller 270 is able to output audio data 82 for announcing the disconnected communication to the speaker 240 . if the communication with the first terminal 100 is disconnected , as shown in ( a ) of fig3 , the controller 270 is able to display notification information 85 for announcing the disconnected communication on the screen of the display unit 260 . in this case , if a user selects the notification information 85 , as shown in ( a ) of fig3 , the controller 270 is able to reconnect the communication with the first terminal 100 by controlling the communication unit 210 , as shown in ( b ) of fig3 . if the communication with the first terminal 100 is disconnected , the user is unable to remotely control the first terminal 100 . hence , in order to save the power of the second terminal 200 , the controller 270 reduces screen brightness of the display unit 260 into a level lower than a preset brightness level or is able to turn off the display unit 260 . meanwhile , while the communication with the first terminal 100 is disconnected , the controller 270 redetects whether the operational state of the second terminal 200 is changed [ s 606 ]. while the communication with the first terminal 100 is disconnected , if the operational state of the second terminal 200 is changed [ s 607 ], the controller 270 reconnects the communication with the first terminal 100 by making a request for a communication reconnection to the first terminal 100 via the communication unit 210 [ s 608 ] [( c ) of fig3 ]. in particular , while the communication with the first terminal 100 is disconnected , if new screen information or new audio information is received from the first terminal 100 or a key signal for controlling the operation of the first terminal 100 remotely is transmitted , the controller 270 reconnects the communication with the first terminal 100 by controlling the communication unit 210 . in this case , referring to ( b ) of fig3 , if the communication with the first terminal 100 is reconnected , the controller is able to output audio data 84 for announcing the reconnected communication to the speaker 240 . if the communication with the first terminal 100 is reconnected , as shown in ( b ) of fig3 , the controller 270 is able to display notification information 86 for announcing the reconnected communication on the screen of the display unit 260 . if the communication with the first terminal 100 is reconnected , the controller 270 drives the display unit 260 or reconstructs the reduced screen brightness of the display unit 260 into an initial brightness level . fig3 is a flowchart of a process for a first terminal to perform disconnection and reconnection operations of communications with a second terminal according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention . referring to fig3 , if a communication with the second terminal 200 is connected [ s 701 ], the controller 180 of the first terminal 100 transmits data containing screen information to the second terminal 200 via the communication unit 110 [ s 702 ]. if the communication is connected between the first terminal 100 and the second terminal 200 , a display screen of the display unit 100 of the first terminal 100 is identical to that of the display unit 250 of the second terminal 200 . and , a user of the first terminal 100 views the display screen of the first terminal 100 via the screen of the display unit 260 of the second terminal 200 . hence , according to the sixth embodiment of the present invention , in order to prevent the unnecessary consumption of the power of the first terminal 100 , if the communication with the second terminal 200 is connected , the controller 180 of the first terminal 100 reduces a screen brightness of the display unit 151 into a level lower than a preset brightness level or is able to turn off the display unit 151 . moreover , according to the sixth embodiment of the present invention , in order to prevent the unnecessary consumption of the power of the first terminal 100 , if the communication with the second terminal 200 is connected , the controller 180 of the first terminal 100 reduces a brightness of a backlight , which applies light to the user input unit 130 , into a level lower than a preset brightness level or is able to turn off the backlight . meanwhile , the controller 180 detects whether an operational state of the first terminal 100 is changed for ( or during ) a preset duration [ s 703 ]. in particular , the controller 180 of the first terminal 100 detects whether the operational state of the first terminal 100 maintains an inactive state . in this case , the inactive state refers to a state in which the first terminal 100 fails to transmit new screen information or new audio information to the second terminal 200 or a state in which the first terminal 100 does not receive a key signal for remotely controlling a wireless communication operation of the first terminal 100 from the second terminal 200 . and , the duration for detecting the operational state change is variously settable by a user . in particular , the controller 180 provides a user with a variously settable menu of the preset duration . the user is then able to change the duration through this menu . meanwhile , if the operational state of the first terminal 100 is not changed for ( or during ) the preset duration [ s 704 ], the controller 180 recognizes that the user does not use the wireless remote control communication with the second terminal 200 according to the present invention and then disconnects the communication with the second terminal 200 by controlling the communication unit 110 [ s 705 ]. in this case , if the operational state of the first terminal 100 is not changed for the preset duration , as shown in fig3 , the controller 180 displays a selection window for selecting a disconnection of a communication with the second terminal 200 on the display unit 151 . if the disconnection of the communication with the second terminal 200 is selected from the selection window , the controller 180 is able to disconnect the communication with the second terminal . if the communication with the second terminal 200 is disconnected , as shown in ( a ) of fig3 , the controller 180 is able to output audio data for announcing the disconnected communication to the audio output module 152 . if the communication with the second terminal 200 is disconnected , as shown in ( a ) of fig3 , the controller 180 is able to display notification information for announcing the disconnected communication on the screen of the display unit 151 . in this case , if a user selects the notification information for announcing the disconnected communication with the second terminal 200 , as shown in ( b ) of fig3 , the controller 180 is able to reconnect the communication with the second terminal 200 by controlling the communication unit 110 . meanwhile , while the communication with the second terminal 200 is disconnected , the controller 180 redetects whether the operational state of the first terminal 100 is changed [ s 706 ]. in particular , the controller 180 detects whether a key signal for controlling the operation of the first terminal 100 is received form the second terminal 200 or whether to transmit new screen or audio information to the second terminal 200 . while the communication with the second terminal 200 is disconnected , if the operational state of the first terminal 100 is changed [ s 707 ], the controller 180 reconnects the communication with the second terminal 200 by controlling the communication unit 110 [ s 708 ]. in particular , the controller 180 reconnects the communication using the device information corresponding to the second terminal 200 in the access authentication device information list provided to the memory 160 . meanwhile , referring to ( b ) of fig3 , if the communication with the second terminal 200 is reconnected , the controller 180 is able to output audio data for announcing the reconnected communication to the audio output module 152 . if the communication with the second terminal 200 is reconnected , as shown in ( b ) of fig3 , the controller 180 is able to display notification information for announcing the reconnected communication on the screen of the display unit 151 . if the communication with the second terminal 200 is reconnected , the controller 180 drives the display unit 151 or the backlight unit or is able to restore the reduced display brightness of the display unit 260 or the brightness of the backlight unit into the initial brightness level . while a communication is connected between a first terminal and a second terminal , the object of a seventh embodiment of the present invention is to provide a function of transceiving content information contained in each screen of the first and second terminals between the first terminal and the second terminal and a function of storing , executing and editing the received content information . in the following description of a seventh embodiment of the present invention , assume that a first terminal is a mobile terminal type and assume that a second terminal is a pc type . a seventh embodiment of the present invention is explained in detail with reference to fig4 to 55 as follows . first of all , referring to fig4 to 52 , if a communication with the first terminal 100 is connected via the communication unit 210 [ s 801 ], the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 receives screen information containing at least one content information therein from the first terminal 100 and then displays the received screen information of the first terminal on a screen 600 of the display unit 260 [ s 802 ]. in this case , the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 divides the screen 600 of the display unit 260 , as shown in ( a ) of fig4 , into a first region 610 and a second region 620 . subsequently , the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 displays the first screen information containing the content information 611 , 612 and 613 of the first terminal 100 on the first region 610 and also displays the second screen information containing the content information 625 of the second terminal 200 on the second region 620 . referring to ( b ) and ( c ) of fig4 , the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 is able to display the first region 610 to have the same shape of an exterior of the first terminal 100 with a size of the screen of the mobile terminal 100 . in ( b ) of fig4 , shown is that the first terminal 100 is a touchscreen type terminal . in ( c ) of fig4 , shown is that the first terminal 100 is a bar type terminal having a character input key . meanwhile , while the first and second screen information are displayed on the first and second regions 610 and 620 , respectively , if a user selects at least one of the content information within the first region 610 via the input unit 220 or the display unit 260 of a touchscreen type [ s 803 ], the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 generates a signal for making a request for the selected content information to the first terminal 100 and then transmits the generated request signal to the first terminal 100 via the communication unit 210 . in this case , if the first terminal 100 is the touchscreen type shown in ( b ) of fig4 , as proposed in the foregoing descriptions with reference to fig4 and fig5 , the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 is able to transmit the content information request signal to the first terminal 100 in a manner that location information of the selected content information in the screen is contained in the content information request signal . if the first terminal 100 is the bar type shown in ( c ) of fig3 , the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 enables a key value , which was inputted by a user for the selection of the content information , to be contained in the content information request signal . in particular , if the content information within the first region 610 is selected , the controller 270 checks a display location of the content information within the first region 610 and then transmits a request signal containing the checked location information to the first terminal 100 . the controller 180 of the first terminal 100 obtains the location information within the request signal received from the second terminal 200 and then transmits the content information located at the obtained location on a current screen to the second terminal 200 . finally , the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 receives the requested content information from the first terminal 100 via the communication unit 210 [ s 805 ]. a process for selecting the content information in the step s 803 is explained in detail with reference to fig4 to 46 as follows . first of all , referring to fig4 , if content information (‘ a . jpg ’) 612 to be downloaded from the first terminal 100 is dragged and dropped to the second region 620 from the first region 610 via a keypad or mouse of the input unit 220 or the touchscreen 260 [( a ) of fig4 ], the controller 270 makes a request for the content information (‘ a . jpg ’) 612 to the first terminal 100 and then receives the requested content information (‘ a . jpg ’) 612 from the first terminal 100 [( b ) of fig4 ]. in particular , after a user of the second terminal 200 has placed a pointer provided to the screen 600 at the content information (‘ a . jpg ’) 612 within the first region 610 by manipulating the keypad or mouse of the input unit 220 or the like , if the content information (‘ a . jpg ’) 612 is dragged & amp ; dropped into the second region 620 , the controller 270 makes a request for the content information (‘ a . jpg ’) 612 to the first terminal 100 and then receives it from the first terminal 100 . in more particular , if the content information (‘ a . jpg ’) 612 is dragged & amp ; dropped into the second region from the first region 610 , the controller 270 recognizes that the content information (‘ a . jpg ’) 612 has been selected . the controller 270 then transmits the request signal to the first terminal 100 in a manner that the display location information of the content information (‘ a . jpg ’) 612 within the first region 610 is contained in the request signal . if the first terminal 100 receives the request signal containing the display location of the content information (‘ a . jpg ’) 612 from the second terminal 200 , it transmits the content information (‘ a . jpg ’) 612 existing at the received location on the current screen to the second terminal 200 . subsequently , referring to fig4 , if the content information (‘ a . jpg ’) 612 is selected , the controller 270 displays a first window 631 for a transmission request for the content information (‘ a . jpg ’) 612 , a second window 632 for an editing request and a third window 633 for an execution request [( a ) of fig4 ]. in this case , if the first window 631 for the transmission command of the content information (‘ a . jpg ’) 612 is selected by a user , the controller 270 makes a request for the content information (‘ a . jpg ’) 612 to the first terminal 100 and then receives the requested content information (‘ a . jpg ’) 612 from the first terminal 100 [( b ) of fig4 ]. in ( a ) of fig4 , if the user selects the second window 632 , the controller 270 transmits a signal for an editing request for the content information (‘ a . jpg ’) 612 to the first terminal 100 . the controller 180 of the first terminal 100 drives an editing application of the content information (‘ a . jpg ’) 612 , as shown in ( a ) of fig4 , according to the editing request signal received from the second terminal 200 and then transmits the screen information shown in ( a ) of fig4 to the second terminal 200 . the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 displays the screen information shown in ( a ) of fig4 on the first region 610 . if a command for editing the content information (‘ a . jpg ’) 612 is inputted by a user via the input unit 220 , the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 transmits the editing command inputted from the input unit 220 to the first terminal 100 . subsequently , the controller 180 of the first terminal 100 edits the content information (‘ a . jpg ’) 612 according to the editing command received from the second terminal 200 and then transmits the screen information , in which the content information (‘ a . jpg ’) 612 is edited . to the second terminal 200 . meanwhile , the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 receives the screen information , in which the content information (‘ a . jpg ’) 612 has been edited , from the first terminal 100 and then displays the received screen information on the first region 610 . if the content information (‘ a . jpg ’) 612 edited by the user is dragged & amp ; dropped to the second region 620 from the first region 610 , the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 makes a request for the edited content information (‘ a . jpg ’) 612 to the first terminal 100 and is then able to receive the requested content information (‘ a . jpg ’) 612 from the first terminal 100 . in particular , in fig4 , the user of the second terminal 200 directly edits data to download in the first terminal 100 and is then able to download the edited data from the first terminal 100 . the controller 180 of the first terminal 100 drives an editing application of the content information (‘ a . jpg ’) 612 , as shown in ( a ) of fig4 , according to the editing request signal received from the second terminal 200 and then transmits the screen information shown in ( a ) of fig4 to the second terminal 200 . the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 displays the screen information shown in ( a ) of fig4 on the first region 610 . if a command for editing the content information (‘ a . jpg ’) 612 is inputted by the user via the input unit 220 , the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 transmits the editing command inputted from the input unit 220 to the first terminal 100 . the controller 180 of the first terminal 100 edits the content information (‘ a . jpg ’) 612 according to the editing command received from the second terminal 200 and then transmits the screen information , in which the content information (‘ a . jpg ’) 612 has been edited , to the second terminal 200 . the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 receives the screen information , in which the content information (‘ a . jpg ’) 612 has been edited , from the first terminal 100 and then displays the received screen information on the first region 610 . if the content information (‘ a . jpg ’) 612 is dragged & amp ; dropped to the second region 620 from the first region 610 by the user , the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 makes a request for the edited content information (‘ a . jpg ’) 612 to the first terminal 100 and is then able to receive the requested content information (‘ a . jpg ’) 612 , subsequently , referring to fig4 , after the user of the second terminal 200 has made a selection 634 for the content information (‘ a . jpg ’) 612 , which is to be downloaded from the first terminal 100 , by manipulating a keypad or mouse of the input unit 220 , if the user selects a specific point 626 of the second region 620 [( a ) of fig4 ], the controller 270 makes a request for the content information (‘ a . jpg ’) 612 to the first terminal 100 and then receives the requested content information (‘ a . jpg ’) 612 [( b ) of fig4 ]. subsequently , referring to fig4 , if the user of the second terminal 200 specifies text content information 614 , which is to be downloaded , within the first region 610 by manipulating a keypad or mouse of the input unit 220 [( a ) of fig4 ], the controller 270 makes a request for the specified text content information 614 to the first terminal 100 and then receives the requested text content information 614 [( b ) of fig4 ]. meanwhile , the controller 270 is able to further perform a process for storing , editing and executing the content information received from the first terminal , as shown in the following steps s 806 to s 811 or fig4 to 52 . first of all , referring to fig4 , if a storage command for the content information (‘ a . jpg ’) 612 received in ( b ) of fig4 is inputted by a user [ s 806 ], the controller 270 stores the received content information (‘ a . jpg ’) 612 in the memory 240 . in this case , the controller 270 obtains a format of the content information (‘ a . jpg ’) 612 and is then able to store the content information (‘ a . jpg ’) 612 in an ‘ image ’ storage space 623 corresponding to the obtained format of the content information (‘ a . jpg ’) 612 among storage spaces 621 , 622 , 623 and 624 which have been already classified per content information format [ s 807 ]. subsequently , if an editing command for the content information (‘ a . jpg ’) 612 received in ( b ) of fig4 is inputted by a user [ s 808 ], the controller 270 drives an image editing relevant application 650 previously provided to the memory 240 , as shown in fig4 . in this case , the editing application 650 is provided with a plurality of editing tools for editing the image in various ways . the user of the second terminal 200 is able to edit the content information (‘ a . jpg ’) 612 using the editing tools . moreover , the controller 270 is able to store the content information (‘ a . jpg ’) 612 having been edited by the user through the above editing tools [ s 809 ]. subsequently , referring to fig4 , if an execution command for the content information (‘ a . jpg ’) 612 received in ( b ) of fig4 is inputted by a user [ s 810 ], the controller 270 drives an image execution relevant application 660 previously provided to the memory 240 and then executes the content information (‘ a . jpg ’) 612 through the image execution application 660 [ s 811 ]. in this case , the image execution application 660 can include the image viewer software that displays images in various formats and is able to perform the same editing function of the image editing application 650 shown in fig4 . namely , it is able to display the content information (‘ a . jpg ’) 612 through the image execution application . and , it is also able to edit and store the content information (‘ a . jpg ’) 612 . subsequently , referring to fig5 , while an email address list content information 615 is displayed on the first region 610 , if an email address (‘ 2 . kim @ abc . com ’) 615 b is dragged & amp ; dropped to the second region 620 [( a ) of fig5 ], the controller 270 makes a request for the email address (‘ 2 . kim @ abc . com ’) 615 b to the first terminal 100 and then receives the requested email address (‘ 2 . kim @ abc . com ’) 615 b [( b ) of fig5 ]. if the email address (‘ 2 . kim @ abc . com ’) 615 b is selected , the controller 270 drives an email application relevant to the email address (‘ 2 . kim @ abc . com ’) 615 b and is then able to display an email writing window 670 for an email supposed to be sent to the email address (‘ 2 . kim @ abc . com ’) 615 b [( b ) of fig5 ]. in this case , if a user of the second terminal 200 writes an email content through the email writing window 660 , the controller 270 is able to send the written email to the email address (‘ 2 . kim @ abc . com ’) 615 b . subsequently , referring to fig5 , while a phonebook content information 616 is displayed on the first region 610 , if a contact information (‘ 2 . kim 010 - 111 - xxx ’) 616 b is dragged & amp ; dropped to the second region 620 [( a ) of fig5 ], the controller 270 makes a request for the contact information (‘ 2 . kim 010 - 111 - xxx ’) 616 b to the first terminal and then receives the requested contact information (‘ 2 . kim 010 - 111 - xxx ’) 616 b [( b ) of fig5 ]. if the contact information (‘ 2 . kim 010 - 111 - xxx ’) 616 b is selected , the controller 270 drives a call connection application relevant to the contact information (‘ 2 . kim 010 - 111 - xxx ’) 616 b and is then able to connect a call to the contact information (‘ 2 . kim 010 - 111 - xxx ’) 616 b [( c ) of fig5 ]. moreover , although not shown in fig5 , if the contact information (‘ 2 . kim 010 - 111 - xxx ’) 616 b is selected , the controller 270 drives a message transmitting application relevant to the contact information (‘ 2 . kim 010 - 111 - xxx ’) 616 b and is then able to display a message writing window for a message to be sent to the contact information (‘ 2 . kim 010 - 111 - xxx ’) 616 b . in this case , if a user of the second terminal 200 writes a message content through the message writing window , the controller 270 is able to send the written message to the contact information (‘ 2 . kim 010 - 111 - xxx ’) 616 b . subsequently , referring to fig5 , while a webpage address (‘ http :// www . abc . com ’) 617 is displayed on the first region 610 , if the webpage address (‘ http :// www . abc . com ’) 617 is dragged & amp ; dropped to the second region 620 [( a ) of fig5 ], the controller 270 makes a request for the webpage address (‘ http :// www . abc . com ’) 617 to the first terminal 110 and then receives the requested webpage address (‘ http :// www . abc . com ’) 617 [( b ) of fig5 ]. if the webpage address (‘ http :// www . abc . com ’) 617 is selected , the controller 270 drives the internet access application and then accesses the webpage address (‘ http :// www . abc . com ’) 617 [( c ) of fig5 ]. moreover , although not shown in the drawing , if the content information received from the first terminal 100 is ‘ schedule information ’, the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 drives a schedule management application and is then able to update the schedule management application by editing the received ‘ schedule information ’ into the driven schedule management application . and , the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 is able to update the schedule management application without editing the received ‘ schedule information ’ into the driven schedule management application . in particular , all kinds of applications for the execution and editing of content information received from the first terminal 100 can be provided to the memory 230 of the second terminal 200 . the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 obtains a format of the content information received from the first terminal 100 , drives an application corresponding to the obtained format of the content information , and is then able to provide a user with the execution and editing functions . subsequently , referring to fig5 to 55 , if a communication with the first terminal 100 is connected via the communication unit 210 [ s 901 ], the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 receives screen information containing at least one content information from the first terminal 100 and then displays the received screen information 610 of the first terminal 100 on a screen 600 of the display unit 260 [ s 902 ]. in this case , the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 divides the screen 600 of the display unit 260 , as shown in ( a ) of fig5 , into a first region 610 and a second region 620 . subsequently , the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 displays the first screen information containing the content information 611 , 612 and 613 of the first terminal 100 on the first region 610 and also displays the second screen information containing the content information 625 of the second terminal 200 on the second region 620 . while the first and second screen information are displayed on the first and second regions 610 and 620 , respectively , if a user selects content information (‘ work document . xls ’) 625 within the second region 620 via the input unit 220 or the display unit 260 of a touchscreen type [ s 903 ], the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 transmits the content information (‘ work document . xls ’) 625 to the first terminal 100 by controlling the communication unit 210 [ s 904 ]. in particular , referring to ( a ) of fig5 , if the content information (‘ work document . xls ’) 625 , which is to be transmitted to the first terminal 100 , is dragged and dropped from the second region 620 to the first region 610 via a keypad or mouse of the input unit 220 or the touchscreen 260 [( a ) of fig4 ], the controller 270 transmits the content information (‘ work document . xls ’) 625 to the first terminal 100 . in particular , after a user of the first terminal 100 has placed a pointer provided to the screen 600 at the content information (‘ work document . xls ’) 625 within the second region 620 by manipulating the keypad or mouse of the input unit 220 or the like , if the content information (‘ work document . xls ’) 625 is dragged & amp ; dropped into the first region 610 , the controller 270 transmits the content information (‘ work document . xls ’) 625 to the first terminal 100 . moreover , while the content information (‘ work document . xls ’) 625 within the second region 620 of the touchscreen type display unit 260 is touched , if the user of the second terminal 200 drags and drops the content information (‘ work document . xls ’) 625 into the first region 610 , the controller 270 transmits the content information (‘ work document . xls ’) 625 to the first terminal 100 . while the user of the second terminal 200 selects the content information (‘ work document . xls ’) 625 , if the user selects the first region 610 by manipulating the keypad and mouse of the input unit 220 , the controller 270 transmits the content information (‘ work document . xls ’) 625 to the first terminal 100 . if the user of the second terminal multi - touches the content information (‘ work document . xls ’) 625 within the second region 620 of the touchscreen type display unit 260 and the first region 610 , the user of the second terminal 200 transmits the content information (‘ work document . xls ’) 625 to the first terminal 100 . moreover , if the user of the second terminal 200 specifies text information 670 , which is to be transmitted to the first terminal 100 , within the second region 620 by manipulating the keypad and mouse of the input unit 220 , as shown in ( a ) of fig5 , the controller 270 transmits the content information (‘ work document . xls ’) 625 to the first terminal 100 , a shown in ( b ) of fig5 . the first terminal is able to perform the storing , editing and executing processes described with reference to fig4 to 52 on the content information (‘ work document . xls ’) 625 received from the second terminal 200 according to fig5 to 55 . and , the first terminal 100 is able to transmit the storage , editing and execution screen information to the second terminal 200 . according to an eighth embodiment of the present invention , while a second terminal is connected to communicate with a plurality of first and third terminals , when screen information of the first and third terminals are respectively displayed on a screen of the second terminal , if content information within the screen information of the first terminal is shifted into the screen information of the third terminal , the second terminal delivers the content information of the first terminal to the third terminal . such a function is provided by the eighth embodiment of the present invention . in the following description of an eighth embodiment of the present invention , assume that first and third terminals are mobile terminal types and assume that a second terminal is a pc type terminal . referring to fig5 to 58 , if communications with first and third terminals 100 and 300 are connected via the communication unit 210 [ s 1001 ], the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 receives screen information , each of which contains at least one content information , from the first and third terminals 100 and 300 , respectively , and then displays the received screen information 710 and 730 of the first and third terminals 100 and 300 on a screen 700 of the display unit 260 [ s 1002 ]. in this case , referring to fig5 , the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 divides the screen 700 of the display unit 260 into first to third regions 710 , 720 and 730 . the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 displays the first screen information containing the content information 711 and 712 on the first region 710 . the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 displays the second screen information of the second terminal 200 on the second region 720 . and , the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 displays the third screen information containing the content information 731 and 732 on the third region 730 . meanwhile , while the screen information of the first and second terminals 100 and 300 are displayed on the first and third regions 710 and 730 , respectively , if a user selects the content information 712 within the first region 710 and the third region 730 via the input unit 220 or the display unit 260 of a touchscreen type [ s 1003 ], the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 delivers the selected content information 712 of the first terminal 100 to the third terminal 300 by controlling the communication unit 210 [ s 1004 ]. the content information selecting process of the first terminal 100 in the step s 903 is explained in detail with reference to fig5 as follows . first of all , referring to fig5 , if content information (‘ a . jpg ’) 712 of the first terminal 100 , which is to be delivered to the third terminal 300 , is dragged & amp ; dropped to the third region 730 from the first region 710 via the keypad of the input unit 220 , the mouse or the touchscreen 260 [( a ) of fig5 ], the controller 270 delivers the content information (‘ a . jpg ’) 712 to the third terminal 300 [( b ) of fig5 ]. in particular , if a user of the second terminal 200 places a pointer provided to the screen 700 at the content information (‘ a . jpg ’) 712 within the first region 710 by manipulating the keypad of the input unit 220 , the mouse or the like and then drags & amp ; drops the content information (‘ a . jpg ’) 712 into the third region 730 [( a ) of fig5 ], the controller 270 delivers the content information (‘ a . jpg ’) 712 to the third terminal 300 [( b ) of fig5 ]. if the user of the second terminal 200 selects the third region 730 by manipulating the keypad and mouse of the input unit 200 while selecting the content information (‘ a . jpg ’) 712 , the controller 270 delivers the content information (‘ a . jpg ’) 712 to the third terminal 300 . if the user of the second terminal 200 multi - touches the content information (‘ a . jpg ’) 712 within the first region 710 of the touchscreen 260 and the third region 730 , the controller 270 delivers the content information (‘ a . jpg ’) 712 to the third terminal 300 . in case of delivering the content information 712 selected in fig5 to the third terminal 300 , the controller 270 generates a signal for commanding to transmit the content information 712 to the third terminal 300 and then transmits the generated transmission command signal to the first terminal 100 via the communication unit 210 . if so , the first terminal 100 transmits the content information 712 to the third terminal 300 according to the transmission command signal received from the second terminal 200 . in this case , as mentioned in the foregoing description with reference to fig4 and fig5 , if the content information 712 of the first region 710 is selected in ( a ) of fig5 , the controller 270 obtains display location information of the content information 712 on the first region 710 and is then able to transmit the transmission command signal in a manner that the obtained location information of the content information 712 is contained in the transmission command signal . if so , the first terminal 100 is able to transmit the content information 712 existing at the received location within a current screen to the third terminal 300 . moreover , the controller 270 makes a request for the selected content information 712 in fig5 to the first terminal 100 and then receives the requested content information 712 . the controller 270 is able to deliver the content information 712 received from the first terminal 100 by transmitting the content information 712 to the third terminal . subsequently , referring to fig5 and fig6 , if communications with first and third terminals 100 and 300 are connected via the communication unit 210 [ s 1101 ], the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 receives screen information , each of which contains at least one content information , from the first and third terminals 100 and 300 , respectively , and then displays the received screen information 710 and 730 of the first and third terminals 100 and 300 on a screen 700 of the display unit 260 [ s 1102 ]. meanwhile , while the screen information of the first and second terminals 100 and 300 are displayed on the first and third regions 710 and 730 , respectively , if a user selects the content information 731 within the third region 730 and the first region 710 via the input unit 220 or the display unit 260 of a touchscreen type [ s 1103 ], the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 delivers the selected content information 731 of the third terminal 300 to the first terminal 100 by controlling the communication unit 210 [ s 1104 ]. in particular , referring to fig6 , if the content information (‘ d . avi ’) 731 of the third terminal 300 , which is to be delivered to the first terminal 100 , is dragged & amp ; dropped from the third region 730 to the first region 710 via the keypad of the input unit 220 , the mouse or the touchscreen 260 [( a ) of fig6 ], the controller 270 delivers the content information (‘ d . avi ’) 731 to the first terminal 300 [( b ) of fig6 ]. if the user of the second terminal 200 selects the first region 710 by manipulating the keypad and mouse of the input unit 200 while selecting the content information (‘ d . avi ’) 731 , the controller 270 delivers the content information (‘ d . avi ’) 731 to the first terminal 100 . if the user of the second terminal 200 multi - touches the content information (‘ d . avi ’) 731 within the third region 730 of the touchscreen 260 and the first region 710 , the controller 270 delivers the content information (‘ d . avi ’) 731 to the first terminal 100 . according to a ninth embodiment of the present invention , while a short - range communication for a wireless operation control of the present invention is connected between a first terminal and a second terminal , if the first terminal is connected to a mobile communication with an external third terminal , the first terminal converts short - range communication data received from the second terminal to mobile communication data and then transmits this mobile communication data to the third terminal . moreover , the first terminal converts mobile communication data received from the third terminal to short - range communication data and then transmits this short - range communication data to the second terminal . therefore , the object of the ninth embodiment of the present invention is to provide a tripartite heterogeneous communication function . in the following description of a ninth embodiment of the present invention , assume that first and third terminals are mobile terminal types and assume that a second terminal is a pc type terminal . a ninth embodiment of the present invention is explained in detail with reference to fig6 and fig6 as follows . fig6 is a signal processing diagram of a process for performing a voice call among a second terminal , a first terminal and a third terminal using different communication systems according to a ninth embodiment of the present invention . referring to fig6 , if a remote control communication with the second terminal 200 is connected [ s 1201 ], the controller 180 of the first terminal 100 is able to perform the above - mentioned operations of the first to eighth embodiments . and , the controller 180 of the first terminal 100 is able to perform a voice call with the second terminal 200 using the short - range communication . in particular , the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 converts a user audio inputted via the microphone to a short - range communication audio signal and then transmits the converted short - range communication audio signal to the first terminal 100 via the communication unit 210 [ s 1202 ]. moreover , the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 outputs a speech signal of the first terminal 100 , which was received via the communication unit 210 , to the speaker 240 . the controller 180 of the first terminal 100 converts a user audio inputted via the microphone 122 to a short - range communication audio signal and then transmits the converted short - range communication audio signal to the second terminal 200 via the communication unit 110 [ s 1203 ]. moreover , the controller 180 of the first terminal 100 outputs a speech signal of the second terminal 200 , which was received via the communication unit 110 , to the audio output module 152 . thus , in the course of the voice call using the short - range communication with the second terminal 200 , if a mobile communication with an external third terminal 300 is connected [ s 1204 ], the controller 180 of the first terminal 100 generates a signal for querying a presence or non - presence of a communication connection to the third terminal 200 and then transmits the generated query signal to the second terminal 200 [ s 1205 ]. in this case , the mobile communication can adopt one of code division multiple access ( cdma ), universal mobile telecommunications systems ( umts ), global system for mobile communications ( gsm ) and wideband code division multiple access ( wcdma ). if the query signal is received from the first terminal 100 , the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 displays a selection window for selecting a presence or non - presence of a communication connection with the third terminal 200 on the screen of the display unit 260 . if an acceptance of a communication connection with the third terminal 300 is selected from the selection window [ s 1206 ], the controller 27 transmits a signal for announcing the communication connection acceptance to the first terminal 100 and transmits a user &# 39 ; s audio signal inputted via the microphone 250 to the first terminal 100 [ s 1207 ]. moreover , if a communication disconnection from the third terminal 300 is selected from the selection window , the controller 270 of the second terminal 200 transmits a signal for announcing the communication disconnection to the first terminal 100 . if the signal for announcing the communication disconnection is received from the second terminal 200 , the first terminal 100 disconnects the communication between the second terminal 200 and the third terminal 300 [ s 1208 ]. meanwhile , if the short - range communication audio signal is received from the second terminal 200 [ s 1207 ], the controller 180 of the first terminal 100 converts the received short - range communication audio signal to a mobile communication audio signal [ s 1209 ] and then transmits the converted mobile communication audio signal to the third terminal 300 [ s 1210 ]. moreover , if the mobile communication audio signal is received from the third terminal 300 [ s 1211 ], the controller 180 of the first terminal 100 converts the received mobile communication audio signal to a short - range communication audio signal [ s 1212 ] and then transmits the converted short - range communication audio signal to the second terminal 200 [ s 1213 ]. fig6 is a signal processing diagram of a process for performing a voice call among a second terminal , a first terminal and a third terminal using messages and speech according to a ninth embodiment of the present invention . referring to fig6 , the first terminal 100 is connected to the second terminal 200 by a short - range communication system [ s 1301 ] and is also connected to the third terminal 300 by a mobile communication system [ s 1302 ]. in this case , the first terminal 100 performs a text message communication with the second terminal using the short - range communication system and also performs a speech call with the third terminal 300 using the mobile communication system . the first terminal 100 transmits a signal for querying a presence or non - presence of a communication connection with the third terminal to the second terminal 200 [ s 1303 ]. if the query signal is received from the first terminal 100 , the second terminal 200 displays a selection window for selecting a presence or non - presence of a communication connection with the third terminal 300 on the screen of the display unit 260 . if an acceptance of a communication connection with the third terminal 300 is selected from the selection window [ s 1304 ], the second terminal 200 transmits a signal for announcing the acceptance of the communication connection to the first terminal 100 , receives an input of a message content from a user [ s 1305 ], and then sends a message inputted by the user to the first terminal [ s 1306 ]. if a communication disconnection from the third terminal 300 is selected from the selection window , the second terminal 200 transmits a signal for announcing the communication disconnection to the first terminal 100 . if the signal for announcing the communication disconnection is received from the second terminal 200 , the first terminal 100 disconnects the communication between the second terminal 200 and the third terminal 300 [ s 1307 ]. meanwhile , if a short - range communication message is received from the second terminal 200 [ s 1306 ], the first terminal 100 converts the message content to a mobile communication audio signal using the text to speech converting unit 181 [ s 1308 ] and then transmits the converted mobile communication audio signal to the third terminal 300 [ s 1309 ]. in particular , the first terminal 100 converts the message content of the second terminal 200 to a speech call content and then transmits the speech call content to the third terminal 300 . therefore , a user of the third terminal 300 is able to make a speech call to the third terminal 300 through the first terminal 100 . if the mobile communication audio signal is received from the third terminal 300 [ s 310 ], the first terminal 100 converts the received mobile communication audio signal to a short - range communication message using the text to speech converting unit 181 [ s 1311 ] and then sends the converted short - range communication message to the second terminal 200 [ s 1312 ]. in particular , the first terminal 100 converts the speech call content of the third terminal 300 to a text message and then sends the text message to the second terminal 200 . therefore , a user of the second terminal 200 is able to perform a message communication with the third terminal 300 through the first terminal 100 . alternatively , although the first terminal 100 converts the message of the second terminal 200 to the mobile communication audio signal in the step s 1308 , the second terminal 200 converts a message content written by a user to a mobile communication audio signal and is then able to transmit this mobile communication audio signal to the first terminal 100 . first of all , data of a first terminal is executable in a second terminal . and , all functions of the first terminal are usable using the second terminal . secondly , content information contained in a first terminal screen can be freely used by a second terminal . thirdly , a tripartite heterogeneous communication function can be provided to first to third terminals using a short - range communication system and a mobile communication system . in addition , the above - described methods can be implemented in a program recorded medium as computer - readable codes . the computer - readable media include all kinds of recording devices in which data readable by a computer system are stored . the computer - readable media include rom , ram , cd - rom , magnetic tapes , floppy discs , optical data storage devices , and the like for example and also include carrier - wave type implementations ( e . g ., transmission via internet ). it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit or scope of the inventions . thus , it is intended that the present invention covers the modifications and variations of this invention provided they come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents .	7
an improvement to existing watermark encoding techniques is to add an iterative assessment of the robustness of the mark , with a corresponding adjustment in a re - watermarking operation . especially when encoding multiple bit watermarks , the characteristics of the underlying content may result in some bits being more robustly ( e . g . strongly ) encoded than others . in an illustrative technique employing this improvement , a watermark is first embedded in an object . next , a trial decoding operation is performed . a confidence measure ( e . g . signal - to - noise ratio ) associated with each bit detected in the decoding operation is then assessed . the bits that appear weakly encoded are identified , and corresponding changes are made to the watermarking parameters to bring up the relative strengths of these bits . the object is then watermarked anew , with the changed parameters . this process can be repeated , as needed , until all of the bits comprising the encoded data are approximately equally detectable from the encoded object , or meet some predetermined signal - to - noise ratio threshold . while the foregoing analysis evaluated confidence on a per - bit basis , related iterative procedures can evaluate confidence on a per - portion basis . that is , the encoded object is considered in portions , and each portion is analyzed for the robustness of the data encoded thereby . in portions evidencing “ weak ” encoding , the encoding parameters can be adjusted to strengthen the encoding in one or more subsequent re - encoding operations . the portions can take different forms , e . g ., rectangular patches in a still or moving image ; brief temporal excerpts in audio or video ; certain dct / fourier / wavelet coefficients ( or adjoining groups of coefficients ) in coefficient - based representations of the object in a transformed domain , etc . by this technique , even if the encoded object is spatially or temporally excerpted , or filtered ( e . g . spectrally ), there is increased assurance that the watermark energy remaining after such processing will permit accurate decoding . in an illustrative embodiment , the process is highly automated and essentially transparent to a user . the user simply instructs a computer - controlled system to watermark an object , and the system responds by performing the trial watermarking , decoding , making successive adjustments , and repeating as necessary until a final encoded object meeting desired watermark - quality requirements is produced . a more elaborate embodiment is a batch image processing system ( implemented , e . g ., in software run on a pentium iii - based personal computer system ) that successively opens , watermarks , jpeg - compresses , and re - stores each image in a collection of images . such systems are well - suited for use by proprietors of large image collections ( e . g . news agencies , photo stock houses , etc .). in such systems , any of the foregoing iterative - encoding techniques can be employed . or other iterative encoding techniques can be used . one other such other iterative encoding technique tests a trial encoding against one or more various forms of corruption , and makes adjustments based on the results of the attempted decoding after such corruption ( s ). the process repeats as necessary . in the exemplary system , the image is compressed after watermarking . compression commonly weakens a watermark since some of the watermark signal components are typically attenuated . the watermark can be made more durable by increasing the watermark &# 39 ; s energy , but so doing can have the effect of visibly degrading image quality . thus , a trade - off must be struck between watermark durability and image fidelity . a user - interface associated with the system can allow a user to select one of three watermarking modes : low , medium , and high . in the low mode , image quality is more important than watermark durability . ( such encoding is best - suited for applications in which the image is not expected to be corrupted after distribution .) in the medium mode , image quality and watermark durability are about equally important . in the high mode , watermark durability is more important than image quality . generally hidden from the user is a watermark intensity parameter — a parameter used by the watermarking algorithm to determine the intensity ( e . g . amplitude ) of the watermark signal added to the image . in the illustrative system , the parameter has a value between 1 and 16 , with 1 representing the lowest - intensity watermark , and 16 representing the highest - intensity watermark . ( the actual watermark energy is typically not a linear function of the parameter but can be , e . g ., logarithmically related .) the user interface can also allow the user to specify the degree of jpeg compression desired ( e . g . on an arbitrary low / medium / high , or numerically defined scale ), and indicate whether the compression can be adjusted — if necessary — to achieve the desired watermark durability / image quality trade - off . in operation , the system opens the first image file , and sets an initial intensity parameter ( i . e . 1 to 16 ) corresponding to the user &# 39 ; s mode selection ( low , medium , or high ). the resulting watermarked image is then compressed in accordance with the user &# 39 ; s instructions . a copy of the compressed file is next made and decompressed . the watermark is then decoded from the decompressed image to check that the watermarked data can be correctly read , and the strength of the watermark signal in the image is assessed . this strength metric ( which may be , e . g ., signal - to - noise ratio expressed on a 1 - 10 scale ) indicates the observed durability of the watermark . if the correct watermark was read , the strength metric is then compared against a threshold value corresponding to the selected mode of operation . ( i . e . if “ low ” mode is selected , a relatively low threshold is set on detected strength , whereas if “ high ” mode is selected , a relatively high threshold is set .) if the strength of watermark detected in the decompressed image meets or exceeds the corresponding threshold value , the trial watermarking meets the user &# 39 ; s objectives . thus , the compressed / watermarked image is written to a disk or other output storage device . another file from the collection is read , and the process repeats . if the strength of the watermark detected in the decompressed image does not meet the corresponding threshold value ( or if the correct watermark was not read ), the system increases the intensity value and watermarks the original image anew . the watermarked image is again compressed , and a copy made and decompressed . again , the watermark is decoded from the decompressed image to check for accuracy , and the strength of the watermark signal in the image is assessed . if the correct watermark was read , and the strength metric meets or exceeds the corresponding threshold , the watermarked / compressed image is written to the output storage device , and the process continues with a new image file . if the strength of the watermark , or its readability , still don &# 39 ; t meet spec , the intensity can be increased again and the process repeated anew . however , at some point , the intensity parameter may reach a value at which the image quality suffers unacceptably . thus , the different modes of operation ( low , medium , and optionally high ) have corresponding internal intensity threshold values beyond which the system will not increase . if such threshold is reached , the system will not further increase the embedded watermark intensity . instead , it will next adjust the compression ( if the user has permitted the system — through the ui — this flexibility ). by lowering the degree of compression , encoded watermark energy better persists . an iterative watermark / compress / decompress / decode procedure thus begins in which the compression is successively backed - off until decoding yields a watermark that meets the readability requirement and strength threshold . ( in an illustrated embodiment , the intensity remains fixed at the highest level permitted for that mode while this iterative procedure proceeds .) in some systems , a threshold is set beyond which the degree of compression cannot be lowered ( again , for quality concerns ). if this threshold is reached , and the decoded watermark still does not meet the readability and strength tests , then the image is set - aside for later manual consideration by the operator , and the process continues anew with the next image . ( the same type of exception handling occurs if the user has not permitted the system to adjust the compression , and the strength / readability tests cannot be met with watermark intensity within the permitted range .) in these iterative systems , processing speed will depend on the size of the increments by which the parameters ( e . g . encoding intensity , compression ) are successively adjusted . in some embodiments , a fine level of granularity is employed ( e . g . changing the intensity by a unit value on successive iterations ). in others , larger increments are used . in still others , binary search - type algorithms can be used to hone - in on a nearly - optimal value in a relatively short time . the figures show illustrative screen shots for use in an embodiment implementing certain of the foregoing features . fig1 shows an initial screen , allowing the user to select between ( 1 ) starting the batch embedding ; or ( 2 ) reviewing exceptions / errors from a previous batch embedding process and taking remedial actions ( e . g ., per fig9 below ). fig2 shows the ui permitting the user to specify the mode of operation desired ( i . e ., low / medium / high ). fig3 shows a ui for selecting the desired degree of compression , which can be specified either as low , medium , or high , or by setting a numerical compression parameter . the ui of fig3 also allows the user to request a warning if the compressed image file is larger than a specified size , and permits the user to specify progressive scans . fig4 shows a ui permitting the user to specify the watermark payload with which the images are to be encoded . among the fields are digimarc id , distributor id , do not copy flag , restricted use flag , adult content flag , copyright year , image id , and transaction id . the ui also permits the user to specify that certain ids are to be incremented for each successive image in the batch . fig5 shows a ui permitting the user to specify the location of images to be processed . the ui optionally allows the user to preview images as part of the process . fig6 shows a ui permitting the user to specify a destination folder for the watermarked images , and output options ( e . g . file format ). fig7 shows a ui permitting the user to specify error and log file settings ( e . g . specifying maximum number of errors before stopping , and maximum consecutive errors before stopping ). fig8 shows a ui presenting errors and warnings to a user , e . g ., after a batch of image files has been processed . included with the error listings are files that were not processed ( e . g . because they were found to already have a watermark ). included with the warning listings are files whose size , after compression , exceeded the earlier - specified maximum file size ( fig3 ). the ui also permits the user to review all or selected files . fig9 shows a ui that presents an image for review , both after and before encoding / compression , and indicating the size of each image . the screen also includes ui controls permitting the user to adjust the intensity ( on the 1 to 16 scale ) and the jpeg compression level ( either on a low / medium / high scale , or by numerical parameter ). after the user has made any desired changes , the “ next image ” button permits the next image to be displayed and processed . ( although the just - described arrangement adjusted the intensity until a threshold was reached , and only then adjusted compression , in other systems this need not be the case . for example , variations in intensity and compression might be alternated until a suitable result is achieved .) while the just - discussed system checked robustness of the watermark against jpeg - distortion ( i . e . a lossy compression / decompression process ), the same procedure can be adapted to other types of expected distortion . for example , if an image is expected to be printed and then scanned , such distortion might be modeled by down - sampling and blur - filtering . the system can check trial encodings against such distortion , and adjust the intensity ( or other parameter ) as needed to provide a desired degree of durability against such corruption . likewise , while the just - discussed system checked trial encoding for two performance metrics ( e . g ., accurate decoding , and strength of watermark meeting a threshold ), in other embodiments different performance metrics can be employed . other sample metrics include , but are not limited to : speed of watermark decoding being within a threshold ; change ( i . e . increase or decrease ) in bit - rate ( e . g . for mpeg video or mp3 / mp4 audio ) being within a threshold ; change in entropy ( in the encoded vs . un - encoded object ) being within a threshold , etc . ( changes in bit - rate and entropy resulting from watermarking are reviewed , e . g ., in wo 99 / 10837 .) in addition to testing for watermark robustness after image compression / decompression , the just - described embodiment also included image compression as part of the batch processing . of course , this step could be omitted , and / or other processing steps ( e . g . filtering , cropping , format translation , etc .) desired by the user could be included . watermarking can be applied to myriad forms of information . these include imagery ( including video ) and audio — whether represented in digital form ( e . g . an image comprised of pixels , digital or mpeg video , mp3 / mp4 audio , etc . ), or in an analog representation ( e . g . non - sampled music , printed imagery , banknotes , etc .) watermarking can be applied to digital content ( e . g . imagery , audio ) either before or after compression . watermarking can also be used in various “ description ” or “ synthesis ” language representations of content , such as structured audio , csound , netsound , snhc audio and the like ( c . f . http :// sound . media . mit . edu / mpeg4 /) by specifying synthesis commands that generate watermark data as well as the intended audio signal . watermarking can also be applied to ordinary media , whether or not it conveys information . examples include paper , plastics , laminates , paper / film emulsions , etc . a watermark can embed a single bit of information , or any number of bits . the physical manifestation of watermarked information most commonly takes the form of altered signal values , such as slightly changed pixel values , picture luminance , picture colors , dct coefficients , instantaneous audio amplitudes , etc . however , a watermark can also be manifested in other ways , such as changes in the surface micro - topology of a medium , localized chemical changes ( e . g . in photographic emulsions ), localized variations in optical density , localized changes in luminescence , etc . watermarks can also be optically implemented in holograms and conventional paper watermarks . one improvement to existing technology is to employ established web crawler services ( e . g . altavista , excite , or inktomi ) to search for watermarked content ( on the web , in internet news groups , bbs systems , on - line systems , etc .) in addition to their usual data collecting / indexing operations . such crawlers can download files that may have embedded watermarks ( e . g . . jpg , . wav , etc .) for later analysis . these files can be processed , as described below , in real time . more commonly , such files are queued and processed by a computer distinct from the crawler computer . instead of performing watermark - read operations on each such file , a screening technique can be employed to identify those most likely to be conveying watermark data . one such technique is to perform a dct operation on an image , and look for spectral coefficients associated with certain watermarking techniques ( e . g . coefficients associated with an inclined embedded subliminal grid ). to decode spread - spectrum based watermarks , the analyzing computer requires access to the noise signal used to spread the data signal . in one embodiment , interested parties submit their noise / key signals to the crawler service so as to enable their marked content to be located . the crawler service maintains such information in confidence , and uses different noise signals in decoding an image ( image is used herein as a convenient shorthand for imagery , video , and audio ) until watermarked data is found ( if present ). this allows the use of web crawlers to locate content with privately - coded watermarks , instead of just publicly - coded watermarks , as is presently the case . the queuing of content data for analysis provides certain opportunities for computational shortcuts . for example , like - sized images ( e . g . 256 × 256 pixels ) can be tiled into a larger image , and examined as a unit for the presence of watermark data . if the decoding technique ( or the optional pre - screening technique ) employs a dct transform or the like , the block size of the transform can be tailored to correspond to the tile size ( or some integral fraction thereof ). blocks indicated as likely having watermarks can then be subjected to a full read operation . if the queued data is sorted by file name , file size , or checksum , duplicate files can be identified . once such duplicates are identified , the analysis computer need consider only one instance of the file . if watermark data is decoded from such a file , the content provider can be informed of each url at which copies of the file were found . some commentators have observed that web crawler - based searches for watermarked images can be defeated by breaking a watermarked image into sub - blocks ( tiles ). html instructions , or the like , cause the sub - blocks to be presented in tiled fashion , recreating the complete image . however , due to the small size of the component sub - blocks , watermark reading is not reliably accomplished . this attack is overcome by instructing the web - crawler to collect the display instructions ( e . g . html ) by which image files are positioned for display on a web page , in addition to the image files themselves . before files collected from a web page are scrutinized for watermarks , they can be concatenated in the arrangement specified by the display instructions . by this arrangement , the tiles are reassembled , and the watermark data can be reliably recovered . another such postulated attack against web crawler detection of image watermarks is to scramble the image ( and thus the watermark ) in a file , and employ a java applet or the like to unscramble the image prior to viewing . existing web crawlers inspect the file as they find it , so the watermark is not detected . however , just as the java descrambling applet can be invoked when a user wishes access to a file , the same applet can similarly be employed in a web crawler to overcome such attempted circumvention of watermark detection . although “ content ” can be located and indexed by various web crawlers , the contents of the “ content ” are unknown . a *. jpg file , for example , may include pornography , a photo of a sunset , etc . watermarks can be used to indelibly associate meta - data within content ( as opposed to stored in a data structure that forms another part of the object , as is conventionally done with meta - data ). the watermark can include text saying “ sunset ” or the like . more compact information representations can alternatively be employed ( e . g . coded references ). still further , the watermark can include ( or consist entirely of ) a unique id ( uid ) that serves as an index ( key ) into a network - connected remote database containing the meta data descriptors . the remote data may contain meta - data described by an extensible markup language ( xml ) tag set . by such arrangements , web crawlers and the like can extract and index the meta - data descriptor tags , allowing searches to be conducted based on semantic descriptions of the file contents , rather than just by file name . existing watermarks commonly embed information serving to communicate copyright information . some systems embed text identifying the copyright holder . others embed a uid which is used as an index into a database where the name of the copyright owner , and associated information , is stored . looking ahead , watermarks should serve more than as silent copyright notices . one option is to use watermarks to embed “ intelligence ” in content . one form of intelligence is knowing its “ home .” “ home ” can be the url of a site with which the content is associated . a photograph of a car , for example , can be watermarked with data identifying the web site of an auto - dealer that published the image . wherever the image goes , it serves as a link back to the original disseminator . the same technique can be applied to corporate logos . wherever they are copied on the internet , a suitably - equipped browser or the like can decode the data and link back to the corporation &# 39 ; s home page . ( decoding may be effected by positioning the cursor over the logo and pressing the right - mouse button , which opens a window of options — one of which is decode watermark .) to reduce the data load of the watermark , the intelligence need not be wholly encoded in the content &# 39 ; s watermark . instead , the watermark can again provide a uid — this time identifying a remote database record where the url of the car dealer , etc ., can be retrieved . in this manner , images and the like become marketing agents — linking consumers with vendors ( with some visual salesmanship thrown in ). in contrast to the copyright paradigm , in which dissemination of imagery was an evil sought to be tracked and stopped , dissemination of the imagery can now be treated as a selling opportunity . a watermarked image becomes a portal to a commercial transaction . ( using an intermediate database between a watermarked content file and its ultimate home ( i . e . indirect linking ) serves an important advantage : it allows the disseminator to change the “ home ” simply by updating a record in the database . thus , for example , if one company is acquired by another , the former company &# 39 ; s smart images can be made to point to the new company &# 39 ; s home web page by updating a database record . in contrast , if the old company &# 39 ; s home url is hard - coded ( i . e . watermarked ) in the object , it may point to a url that eventually is abandoned . in this sense , the intermediate database serves as a switchboard that couples the file to its current home . the foregoing techniques are not limited to digital content files . the same approach is equally applicable with printed imagery , etc . a printed catalog , for example , can include a picture illustrating a jacket . embedded in the picture is watermarked data . this data can be extracted by a simple hand - scanner / decoder device using straightforward scanning and decoding techniques ( e . g . those known to artisans in those fields ). in watermark - reading applications employing hand - scanners and the like , it is important that the watermark decoder be robust to rotation of the image , since the catalog photo will likely be scanned off - axis . one option is to encode subliminal graticules ( e . g . visualization synchronization codes ) in the catalog photo so that the set of image data can be post - processed to restore it to proper alignment prior to decoding . the scanner / decoder device can be coupled to a modem - equipped computer , a telephone , or any other communications device . in the former instance , the device provides url data to the computer &# 39 ; s web browser , linking the browser to the catalog vendor &# 39 ; s order page . ( the device need not include its own watermark decoder ; this task can be performed by the computer .) the vendor &# 39 ; s order page can detail the size and color options of the jacket , inventory availability , and solicit ordering instructions ( credit card number , delivery options , etc . )— as is conventionally done with on - line merchants . such a device connected to a telephone can dial the catalog vendor &# 39 ; s toll - free automated order - taking telephone number ( known , e . g ., from data encoded in the watermark ), and identify the jacket to the order center . voice prompts can then solicit the customer &# 39 ; s choice of size , color , and delivery options , which are input by touch tone instructions , or by voiced words ( using known voice recognition software at the vendor facility ). in such applications , the watermark may be conceptualized as an invisible bar code employed in a purchase transaction . here , as elsewhere , the watermark can serve as a seamless interface bridging the print and digital worlds another way of providing content with intelligence is to use the watermark to provide java or activex code . the code can be embedded in the content , or can be stored remotely and linked to the content . when the watermarked object is activated , the code can be executed ( either automatically , or at the option of the user ). this code can perform virtually any function . one is to “ phone home ”— initiating a browser and linking to the object &# 39 ; s home the object can then relay any manner of data to its home . this data can specify some attribute of the data , or its use . the code can also prevent accessing the underlying content until permission is received . an example is a digital movie that , when double - clicked , automatically executes a watermark - embedded java applet which links through a browser to the movie &# 39 ; s distributor . the user is then prompted to input a credit card number . after the number has been verified and a charge made , the applet releases the content of the file to the computer &# 39 ; s viewer for viewing of the movie . support for these operations is desirably provided via the computer &# 39 ; s operating system , or plug - in software . similar functionality can be provided with an operating system to trigger special treatment of watermarked content , provided the operating system is aware of the content type ( e . g . in an object - oriented file system , or in a file system that is “ media aware ”). one exemplary application is in the acquisition of content from external audio / image / video devices . such arrangements can also be used to collect user - provided demographic information when smart image content is accessed by the consumer of the content . the demographic information can be written to a remote database and can be used for market research , customization or personalization of information about the content provided to the consumer , sales opportunities , advertising , etc . in audio and video and the like , watermarks can serve to convey related information , such as links to www fan sites , actor biographies , advertising for marketing tie - ins ( t - shirts , cds , concert tickets ). in such applications , it is desirable ( but not necessary ) to display on the user interface ( e . g . screen ) a small logo to signal the presence of additional information . when the consumer selects the logo via some selection device ( mouse , remote control button , etc . ), the information is revealed to the consumer , who can then interact with it . much has been written ( and patented ) on the topic of asset rights management . sample patent documents include u . s . pat . nos . 5 , 715 , 403 , 5 , 638 , 443 , 5 , 634 , 012 , 5 , 629 , 980 . again , much of the technical work is memorialized in journal articles , which can be identified by searching for relevant company names and trademarks such as ibm &# 39 ; s cryptolope system , portland software &# 39 ; s ziplock system , the rights exchange service by softbank net solutions , and the digibox system from intertrust technologies . an exemplary asset management system makes content available ( e . g . from a web server , or on a new computer &# 39 ; s hard disk ) in encrypted form . associated with the encrypted content is data identifying the content ( e . g . a preview ) and data specifying various rights associated with the content . if a user wants to make fuller use of the content , the user provides a charge authorization ( e . g . a credit card ) to the distributor , who then provides a decryption key , allowing access to the content . ( such systems are often realized using object - based technology . in such systems , the content is commonly said to be distributed in a “ secure container .”) other asset management systems deliver content “ in the clear ”— not encrypted or in a secure container . such arrangements are common , e . g ., in enterprise asset management systems ( as opposed , for example , to e - commerce applications where container - based approaches are prevalent ). desirably , the content should be marked ( personalized / serialized ) so that any illicit use of the content can be tracked . this marking can be performed with watermarking , which assures that the mark travels with the content wherever — and in whatever form — it may go . the watermarking can be effected by the distributor — prior to dissemination of the ( encrypted ) object — such as by encoding a uid that is associated in a database with that particular container . when access is provided to the content ( e . g . an access right is granted to a secure container , or non - encrypted content is made available to a user ), the database record can be updated to reflect the purchaser / user , the purchase date , the rights granted , etc . an alternative is to include a watermark encoder in the software tool used to access the content ( e . g . a decryption engine , for secure container - based systems ). such an encoder can embed watermark data in the content before it is provided to the user ( e . g . before it is released from the container , in secure container systems ). the embedded data can include a uid , as described above . this uid can be assigned by the distributor prior to disseminating the content / container . alternatively , the uid can be a data string not known or created until access ( or the right to access ) has been granted . in addition to the uid , the watermark can include other data not known to the distributor , e . g . information specific to the time ( s ) and manner ( s ) of accessing the content . in still other non - container - based systems , access rights can again be implemented realized with watermarks . full resolution images , for example , can be freely available on the web . if a user wishes to incorporate the imagery into a web page or a magazine , the user can interrogate the imagery as to its terms and conditions of use . this may entail linking to a web site specified by the embedded watermark ( directly , or through an intermediate database ), which specifies the desired information . the user can then arrange the necessary payment , and use the image knowing that the necessary rights have been secured . tagging of image / video / audio assets at the time of their end - user distribution ( e . g . from a managed content repository ) need not consist exclusively of a uid . other data can also be watermarked into the content , e . g . a serial number , the identity of the recipient , the date of distribution , etc . additionally , the watermarked data can serve to establish a persistent link to meta - data contained in an associated asset management database . as noted , digital watermarks can also be realized using conventional ( e . g . paper ) watermarking technologies . known techniques for watermarking media ( e . g . paper , plastic , polymer ) are disclosed in u . s . pat . nos . 5 , 536 , 468 , 5 , 275 , 870 , 4 , 760 , 239 , 4 , 256 , 652 , 4 , 370 , 200 , and 3 , 985 , 927 and can be adapted to display of a visual watermark instead of a logo or the like . note that some forms of traditional watermarks which are designed to be viewed with transmissive light can also show up as low level signals in reflective light , as is typically used in scanners . transmissive illumination detection systems can also be employed to detect such watermarks , using optoelectronic traditional - watermark detection technologies known in the art . as also noted , digital watermarks can be realized as part of optical holograms . known techniques for producing and securely mounting holograms are disclosed in u . s . pat . nos . 5 , 319 , 475 , 5 , 694 , 229 , 5 , 492 , 370 , 5 , 483 , 363 , 5 , 658 , 411 and 5 , 310 , 222 . to watermark a hologram , the watermark can be represented in the image or data model from which the holographic diffraction grating is produced . in one embodiment , the hologram is produced as before , and displays an object or symbol . the watermark markings appear in the background of the image so that they can be detected from all viewing angles . in this context , it is not critical that the watermark representation be essentially imperceptible to the viewer . if desired , a fairly visible noise - like pattern can be used without impairing the use to which the hologram is put . digital watermarks can also be employed in conjunction with labels and tags . in addition to conventional label / tag printing processes , other techniques — tailored to security — can also be employed . known techniques useful in producing security labels / tags are disclosed in u . s . pat . nos . 5 , 665 , 194 , 5 , 732 , 979 , 5 , 651 , 615 , and 4 , 268 , 983 . the imperceptibility of watermarked data , and the ease of machine decoding , are some of the benefits associated with watermarked tags / labels . additionally , the cost is far less than many related technologies ( e . g . holograms ). watermarks in this application can be used to authenticate the originality of a product label , either to the merchant or to the consumer of the associated product , using a simple scanner device , thereby reducing the rate of counterfeit product sales . conveniently ignoring for the time being the inevitable social ramifications of the following apparatus , consider a steganographic setup whereby a given computing system which is based on a “ master clock ” driving function can , with a small modification , impress a signal upon its electrical operations that could uniquely identify the computing system when that system communicates digitally with a second computing system . the slight modification referred to would be such that it would not interfere at all with the basic operation of the first computing system , nor interfere with the communications between the two systems . the social ramifications referred to allude to the idea that there still exists the notion of pure anonymity within an internet context and the associated idea of the right to privacy . the “ good ” of this notion seems to be that non - anonymity can be the seed for exploitation , while the “ bad ” of this notion seems to be an illusory escape from responsibility for one &# 39 ; s own actions . be this as it all may , there still seems to be ground for the socially neutral concept of simply identifying a given physical object relative to its neighbors , hence the following approach to impressing a unique signal onto a computing system such that a second system in communication with the first can identify the first . using spread spectrum principles ( e . g . where a “ noise like ” carrier signal is modulated by an information signal to yield a data signal ), the instantaneous phase of a computer &# 39 ; s clock signal is modulated to convey steganographically encoded data . in one embodiment , the phase of the clock frequency is instantaneously varied in accordance with the data signal . ( in some embodiments , the data signal needn &# 39 ; t reflect modulation with a noise - like carrier signal ; the unaltered information signal can be sent .) in an illustrative system , the period of the clock signal is 3 nanoseconds , and the instantaneous phase shifting is on the order of +/− 10 picoseconds . ( these figures will , of course , depend on the particular microprocessor used , and its tolerance for phase noise while still performing within specification .) if a binary “ 1 ” is to be encoded , the phase is advanced 10 picoseconds . if a binary “ 0 ” is to be encoded , the phase is retarded 10 picoseconds . successive clock edges are successively advanced or retarded in accordance with corresponding bits of the data signal until the end of data is reached . then the data signal desirably repeats , so as to provide redundant encoding . such modulation of the computer &# 39 ; s clock system will be manifested throughout its operation , including in its communication with connected devices . thus , for example , a modem or network connection will convey data that is influenced by the phase modulation of the clock signal . in particular , the signal transitions in any such communication ( e . g . rs - 232 , tcp / ip , wireless modem broadcasts , etc .) will not occur on uniformly - spaced clock edges , but instead will occur on clock edges whose exact temporal characteristics vary slightly in accordance with the data signal with which the clock has been modulated . a remote computer that receives information sent by such a computer can examine the timing of the signal ( e . g . its edge transitions ), and discern thereby the encoded data signal . if the channel to the remote computer offers near perfect temporal fidelity ( i . e . it introduces essentially no variable delay into the data &# 39 ; s propagation ), the data can be extracted by simply noting the instantaneous offset of each edge transition from its expected nominal value , and a corresponding element of the data signal is thereby identified . if the data signal was modulated by a noise - like signal , demodulation with the same noise - like signal will provide the original information signal . ( no such demodulation with a noise signal is required if the original information signal served as the basis for the clock phase shifting .) more typically , the channel to the remote computer introduces temporal distortion . an example is the internet , where different packets may follow different routings between the originating computer and the receiving computer . in such environments , a large number of data must be collected and processed to extract the data signal . for example , it may be necessary to average , or otherwise process , thousands of edge transitions corresponding to a given bit in order to determine whether the edge was advanced or retarded , and thereby decode that bit with a high degree of statistical assurance . thus , in environments with highly variable transmission latencies ( e . g . the cited internet example ), a message of 100 bits might require collection and processing of on the order of a million edge transitions to assure reliable message recovery . however , given the acceleration of data rates on the internet , this may require only a few seconds of data . in an illustrative embodiment , the master clock of the computer is controlled by a phase locked loop ( pll ) circuit configured as a phase modulator and driven by the data signal . decoding is performed by another pll circuit , configured as a phase demodulator . ( the two plls needn &# 39 ; t share a common time base , since decoding can proceed by examining deviations of instantaneous edge transitions from the average clock period .) the design of such pll phase modulators and demodulators is within the routine capabilities of an artisan in this field . of course , the artisan will recognize that implementations not employing plls can readily be devised ( e . g . employing other known phase shifting / modulating techniques , delay circuits , etc .) to provide a comprehensive disclosure without unduly lengthening this specification , applicant incorporates by reference the disclosures of the patents , laid - open international applications , and commonly - owned u . s . applications cited herein . having described and illustrated a number of improvements to the field of digital watermarking in particular contexts , it will be recognized that the invention is not so limited . instead , we claim as our invention all such embodiments as come within the scope and spirit of the following claims , and equivalents thereto .	6
in the following detailed description and in the several figures of the drawing , like elements are identified with like reference numerals . referring now to fig1 shown therein is a perspective view of a section of the chip carrier array 10 of the invention which is formed on a ceramic substrate 20 . the chip carrier array 10 includes a plurality of chip carriers 11 which are interconnected to each other and to the substrate waste edge ( shown in fig4 ) by a plurality of support bridges 13 . the chip carriers 11 are separated from each other and from the substrate waste edge by elongated slots 15 which extend from the support bridges 13 beyond each corner of an adjacent chip carrier 11 . each chip carrier 11 includes a centrally located die pad 17 for accepting an integrated circuit chip ( not shown ). as is well kwown , the die pad 17 is a conductive region which may be formed by thick film metallization . each chip carrier 11 further includes a plurality of metallized edge interconnects 19 which wrap around the edges defined by the elongated slots 15 . as particularly shown in fig2 and 3 , each edge interconnect 19 extends slightly on the top and bottom surfaces of its associated chip carrier 11 . by way of example , the edge interconnects 19 are metallized by silk screen printing and vacuum pull through techniques . a metallized wire bond interconnect 21 is conductively attached to each edge interconnect 19 . for ease of reference , only a few wire bond interconnects 21 are shown . as is well known , an integrated circuit chip is mounted to each chip carrier 11 over the die pad 17 . wire bond connections ( not shown ) are then made between the integrated circuit leads and the wire bond interconnects 21 . the structure of the elongated slots 15 are more readily understood with reference to fig4 which schematically shows the substrate 20 on which the chip carrier array 10 is formed . the ceramic substrate 20 includes chip carrier regions 23 which provide the substrates for the individual chip carriers 11 . the chip carrier regions 23 are interconnected by the support bridges 13 . particularly , each side of each chip carrier region 23 is connected to another chip carrier region 23 or to a waste edge 25 by a support bridge 13 which is centrally located on such side . the individual chip carrier regions 23 are separated from each other or from the waste edge 25 by the elongated slots 15 which extend from the support bridges 13 . the elongated slots 15 extend beyond the corners of the chip carrier regions 23 , which facilitates separation of the individual chip carriers 11 . thus , each elongated slot 15 intersects another elongated slot 15 , and each such intersection defines a corner of one or more chip carrier regions 23 . the foregoing described chip carrier array 10 can be fabricated as follows . the planar ceramic substrate 20 is provided in an appropriate size . the chip carrier regions 23 are defined by forming the elongated slots 15 by laser cutting or other suitable process , thereby leaving the support bridges 13 so that the chip carrier regions 23 remain interconnected . the edge interconnects 19 are then metallized . by way of example and with reference to fig3 each edge interconnect 19 is formed by metallizing a top conductor 19a to wrap around from the top surface of a chip carrier 11 to part way down the side of the chip carrier 11 . a bottom conductor 19b is then metallized to wrap around from the bottom surface to overlap the top conductor along the side of the chip carrier 11 . specifically , the top conductor portions 19a for all the chip carriers 11 of the chip carrier array 10 are applied by shared metallization wherein each pair of opposite top conductor portions 19a of adjacent chip carrier regions 23 are silk screen printed as single strips of metallization paste , as shown by the continuous metallization strips 27 in fig5 . application of a vacuum to the bottom of the elongated slots 15 breaks each metallization strip 27 and causes the matallization paste to wrap around the edges of the chip carrier . the top conductor portions 19a so applied are then dried and sintered . the bottom conductor portions 19b can also be formed by the above - described shared metallization process . the amount of overlap between the top conductor portions 19a and 19b is controlled by the shape of the silk screened metallization strips 27 , the constituents of the conductive paste , and the viscosity of the conductive paste . the wire bond interconnects 21 are metallized by silk screen printing , drying and sintering . as mentioned previously , the die pad 17 may be applied by known thick film metallization techniques . after the foregoing metallization procedures , integrated circuit chips are mounted over the die pads 17 , and wire bond connections are made between the intergrated circuit leads and the wire bond interconnects 21 . the chip carriers 11 are then separated from the array 10 by breaking the support bridges 13 . the foregoing described chip carrier array 10 provides significant advantages . as mentioned previously , the use of the elongated slots 15 to define the corners of the chip carriers 11 allows for easy and reliable separation . the edge interconnects 19 can be formed using shared metallization and can be very closely spaced while maintaining electrical isolation between edge interconnects 19 of adjacent chip carriers 11 . by way of example , 20 mil center to center spacing of the edge interconnects 19 has been achieved while maintaing electrical isolation . with known chip carrier arrays , electrical isolation could only be achieved by using larger holes or slits , which prevented close spacing of the edge interconnects . the above described electrical isolation allows for testing of the chip carrier array 10 with mounted integrated circuit chips prior to separation of the array 10 into individual chip carriers 11 . for example , a plurality of probes could be pressed into contact with the wrap around edge interconnects 19 on the bottom side of each chip carrier 11 . in addition to the above - described advantages of easy separation , shared metallization , and closer spacing of conductors , further advantages of the disclosed chip carrier array 10 include lower cost of production and les complexity in production . further , the disclosed chip carrier array 10 is easier to inspect for defects . a further feature of the disclosed invention is the chip carrier array substrate structure of fig4 which may be readily provided as a product for use in making completed chip carriers . although the foregoing has been a description and illustration of specific embodiments of the invention , various modifications and changes thereto can be made by persons skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as defined by the following claims .	8
with reference to an accompanying drawings , the embodiment of the invention as applied to a flash memory will be described . fig1 shows a method of transforming data to be inputted from the outside and stored , and multi - value data to be stored in memory cells , and fig2 shows an inverse transforming method for restoring the original data from the multi - value data . fig1 shows an example of the transformation method in which any of two bits , i . e ., “ 00 ”, “ 01 ” “ 10 ” and “ 11 ” is to be stored in one memory cell , although the invention is not especially limited thereto . there are four kinds of combinations of the first binary data it a ” and the second binary data “ b ” in fig1 ( 1 ), and these individual combinations are transformed into four kinds of quaternary data having 0 , 1 , 2 and three “ 1 ” in the four bits , by executing three kinds of logic operations ( anandb ), ( notb ) and ( anorb ), as shown in fig1 ( 2 ). here , if the memory elements whose number is equal to a that of the number of “ 1s ” as a result of the aforementioned operation are subjected to programming operation , i . e ., the application of program pulses , they will have four types of threshold values , as shown in fig1 ( 3 ), according to the number of programming operations , so that two - bits of data can be programmed in one memory cell . the states of the changes in the threshold value distributions of the individual memory elements are shown in fig3 when the data “ 00 ”, “ 01 ”, “ 01 ” and “ 11 ” are to be stored in the same number in a plurality of memory elements in the memory array . fig2 shows the data reading principle . by changing the read voltages of word lines at three stages ( intermediate values of the individual threshold value distributions of fig3 ), three kinds of data “ c ”, “ d ” and “ f ”, can be sequentially read out from one memory cell . then , one ( a ) of the programmed two - bits data can be restored by executing a logic operation ( d * nand f ) nand c * on the read - out data . of the read - out data , moreover , the data d are identical , as they are , to the program data b . incidentally , symbols d * and c * designate the inverted signals of the data d and c . fig4 shows one specific example of the circuit construction for the transformation of multi - value data and the inverse transformation , as shown in fig1 and 2 . at the data programming time , the data of 2n - bits bit length , fed from the outside to the multi - value flash memory , are serially stored through a switch sw 1 in two binary data registers reg 1 and reg 2 having a data width of n - bits . at this time , the switch sw 1 is changed by the output of a flip - flop ff 1 driven by a clock signal clk 1 fed from the outside , although the invention is not especially limited thereto , and a clock signal clk 1 ′, produced in a frequency divider dvd by dividing the clock signal clk 1 and having a frequency twice as large as the clock signal clk 1 , is fed through a change - over circuit chg . in synchronism with this clock signal clk 1 ′, the binary registers reg 1 and reg 2 are shifted , so that the input data are alternately latched bit by bit in the data registers reg 1 and reg 2 . the data “ a ”, latched in the first binary register reg 1 , and the data “ b ”, latched in the second binary register reg 2 , are shifted in synchronism with the clock signal clk 2 which is fed from an internal clock generator 30 through the change - over circuit chg , fed bit by bit to a data transforming logic circuit 11 for the operations of fig1 ( 2 ), and then sequentially transferred after a predetermined logic operation through a switch sw 2 to a sense latch circuit 13 having an n - bits length and disposed on one side of a memory array 12 , so that they are programmed in the memory cells of the memory array 12 these programming operations will be described later in more detail . the aforementioned change - over circuit chg is switched , by a control signal coming from a sequencer 18 for controlling the memory inside , to feed the clock signal clk 1 ′ to the binary registers reg 1 and reg 2 at 2cj the data input time and the clock signal clk 2 from the clock generator 30 to the binary registers reg 1 and reg 2 at the time of data transfer with the sense latch 13 . the aforementioned data transforming logic circuit ( the data programming operation circuit ) 11 is constructed to include : a nand gate g 1 which is allowed to receive at the individual input terminal the data a and b in the binary data registers reg 1 and reg 2 and to perform the operation ( anandb ) and a nor gate which is also allowed to receive at the input terminal the data a , b and to perform the operation ( anorb ); and an inverter g 3 which is allowed to receive at its input terminal the data b of the binary data register reg 2 and to perform the operation ( notb ). the switch sw 2 selects and feeds any of the output signals of those logic gates g 1 , g 2 and g 3 to the sense latch circuit 13 . at the data reading time , on the other hand , the read data “ c ”, having appeared on a bit line in response to the setting of one word line in the memory array 12 to the read voltage level , are amplified and latched by the sense latch circuit 13 and are serially transferred through a switch sw 3 to the binary data register reg 1 in synchronism with the internal clock signal clk 2 . next , the data “ d ”, read out to the sense latch circuit 13 by changing the read voltage level , are serially transferred to the binary data register reg 2 through the switch sw 3 . moreover , the data “ f ”, read out to the sense latch circuit 13 by changing the read voltage level , are serially transferred to an inverse transforming logic circuit 14 through the switch sw 3 . at this time , the binary registers reg 1 and reg 2 are shifted in synchronism with the clock signal clk 2 . here , the period of the clock signal clk 2 at the data reading time may be shorter than that of the clock signal clk 2 at the data programming time . the clock clk 2 can be generated which has a period determined by the clock generator 30 in accordance with the control signal from the sequencer 18 . the change in the word line reading level is also changed according to the control signal from the sequencer 18 . the inverse transforming logic circuit ( the data reading operation circuit ) 14 is constructed to include : an inverter g 11 for receiving the data outputted from the binary data register reg 2 ; a nand gate g 12 for directly receiving at its input terminals both the output of the inverter g 11 and the data transferred from the sense latch circuit 13 ; a delay circuit dly for delaying the data outputted from the binary data register reg 1 and transmitting the delayed data at a predetermined timing ; an inverter g 13 for inverting the signal coming from the delay circuit dly ; and a nand gate g 14 for receiving the output of the inverter g 13 and the output of the nand gate g 12 . the logic operations ( d * nand p ) nand c , shown in fig2 are executed for the read - out data c and d , latched in the binary data registers reg 1 and reg 2 , and for the read - out data f , transferred directly from the sense latch circuit 13 . these operation results are outputted through the switch sw 1 to a data input / output terminal i / o . at the same time that the one - bit data are thus outputted , the binary data register reg 2 is shifted so that one bit of the data “ d ” (= b ) latched are outputted . at this time , the shift operation of the binary registers reg 1 and reg 2 are synchronized with the clock signal clk 2 . next , the next bits of the data “ c ” and “ d ” are read out again from the binary data registers reg 1 and reg 2 , and the logic operations ( d nand f ) nand c * are executed for the next one bit of the read - out data “ f ” which are directly transferred from the sense latch circuit 13 . by repeating operations similar to the aforementioned ones , the data “ a ” and “ b ”, having been backward transformed and restored to the original two bits , are outputted to the outside from the data input / output terminal i / o . incidentally , the data “ a ”, inversely transformed by the inverse transforming logic circuit 14 , do not necessarily need to be instantly outputted to the input / output terminal i / o , as described above . alternatively , the data “ a ” inversely transformed may be first latched in the binary data register reg 1 and then outputted to the input / output terminal i / o alternately with the data in the binary data register reg 2 after all bits have been inversely transformed . in this alternative case , a one - bit latch circuit may desirably be provided in place of the aforementioned delay circuit dly . as a result , the data “ c ” in the binary register reg 1 can be read out bit by bit and logically operated with the data “ d ” and “ f ”, and the results can be simply programmed in the original bit positions in the binary data register reg 1 . the shift operations of the binary registers reg 1 and reg 2 , when the inversely transformed data are outputted to the outside after they are once latched in the binary registers reg 1 and reg 2 , can be synchronized with the clock signal clk 1 coming from the outside . the flash memory of this embodiment is equipped , although the invention is not especially so limited , with : a command register 16 for latching the command fed - by an external cpu or the like ; a command decoder 17 for decoding the command latched in the command register 16 ; and a sequencer 18 for sequentially producing and outputting the control signals for the individual circuits , such as the aforementioned switches sw 2 and sw 3 , to execute the processings corresponding to those commands on the basis of the decoded results of the command decoder 17 . the flash memory thus constructed decodes the commands , when fed , and executes the corresponding processing automatically . the aforementioned sequencer 18 is constructed to include a rom ( read only memory ) latching a series of micro instruction groups necessary for executing the commands ( or instructions ), like the control unit of a cpu of the micro program type , so that the micro programs are started when the command decoder 17 generates the leading address of the micro instruction groups , which correspond to the commands , and feeds the address to the sequencer 18 . the detailed programming procedure will be described in the following in accordance with the programming flow of fig5 . first of all , prior to the programming , all the memory cells are batch - erased . as a result , all the memory cells are caused to have the highest threshold value ( of about 5 v ) and to be brought into the state ( as shown in fig3 ( 1 )) such that they store “ 11 ” as the program data . the batch erase operation is carried out , as shown in fig1 , by raising the voltage of the word line to apply a voltage of 10 v to the control gate cg of the memory cell , a voltage of 0 v to the drain through the bit line and a voltage of − 5 v to the substrate ( the semiconductor region p - well ) thereby to inject electrons into a floating gate fg . the batch erase process is executed by programming in the command register i 6 the erase command coming from the external cpu to instruct the erase operation . incidentally , in fig1 ( fig1 and fig1 ): reference symbol psub designates a p - type semiconductor substrate ; pwell designates a p - type semiconductor well region for the base of the memory cell ; niso designates an n - type semiconductor isolation region for effecting the isolation from the substrate pseb at the data erasing time ( at the negative voltage applying time ); n + in the surface of the p - type well region pwell designates the source and drain regions of the memory cell ; and p + in the surface of the p - type well region pwell , n + in the surface of the isolation region niso , and p + in the surface of the substrate psub designate the contact regions for reducing the resistences of the contacts with the electrodes for applying the potentials to the individual semiconductor regions . in one p - type well region there is formed memory cells which are connected to word lines , say , one hundred and twenty eight word lines , although the invention is not especially limited thereto , so that all of the memory cells formed over one well can be batch - erased . moreover , the memory cells can be erased a unit of a word line by rendering the word line potential selected ( 10 v )/ unselected ( 0 v ) for — the memory cells over one p - type well region . after the end of the batch erase operation , the flash memory is brought into the program mode by programming in the command register 16 of fig4 the program command coming from the external cpu . in this program mode , the program data are inputted at a predetermined timing . then , the flash memory sends the program data to the binary data registers reg 1 and reg 2 , so that the program data are transferred in units of two bits to the transforming logic circuit 11 and are transformed into quaternary data ( at step 81 ). the transformations are carried out in the order of anandb , notb ( inversion of b ) and anorb . the transformed data ( the first transformation is anandb ) are transferred to the sense latch circuit 13 ( step s 2 ). at the next step s 3 , it is judged whether or not all the data in the binary data registers reg 1 and reg 2 have been transferred . if this judgment is yes , a program pulse having a predetermined pulse width is applied to the memory cell of the bit which corresponds to the value “ 1 ” of the x ( row ) address fed from the external cpu and the y ( column ) address outputted from a built - in y - address counter 33 , as shown in fig1 , ( at step s 4 ), so that the programming is executed . the programming is carried out , as shown in fig1 , by applying a voltage of − 10 v to the control gate cg through the word line , a voltage of 5 v from the sense circuit to the drain through the bit line , and a voltage of 0 v to the substrate . incidentally , at this time , a voltage vcc ( e . g ., 3 . 3 v ) is applied to the unselected word line . as a result , fluctuation of the threshold value due to the disturb influence is suppressed . next , the verify voltage ( about 3 ′. 5 v for the first time ) corresponding to the program level is fed to the word line , which is left in the selected state at the programming time , to read out the data in the memory cell to which the program pulse has been applied . the data “ 0 ” is read out as read - out data from the memory cell which has been sufficiently programmed , whereas the data “ 1 ” is read out from the memory cell which has been insufficiently programmed . it is , therefore , judged according to the programmed data whether the program has been ended or insufficient . here , the data of the sense latch circuit 13 , which have been programmed , are inverted to “ 0 ” ( step s 6 ). moreover , it is judged whether or not all the latch data of the sense latch circuit 13 take the value “ 0 ”. if all take “ 0 ”, the programming in this procedure is ended . if there is any insufficiently programmed memory cell having the latch data “ 1 ”, the routine is returned from step s 7 to step s 4 , so that the program pulse is applied again to the memory cell which is insufficiently programmed to have the value “ 1 ”. by repeating steps s 4 , to s 7 , the program pulse is repeatedly applied so that the threshold values of all the memory cells may become lower than the program verify voltage . as a result , the programmed memory cells have a threshold value of about 3 . 2 v on an average . when the programming of the desired data in all the memory cells is ended by the aforementioned program verifying operation , all the data of the sense latch circuit 13 will take the value “ 0 ”, so that the routine advances to step s 8 , at which it is judged whether or not the programming operations for all the program levels have ended , that is , whether or not the data “ 10 ”, “ 01 ” and “ 00 ” have been programmed . if the judgment is no , the routine is returned to step s 1 , at which quaternary data based on the next operation result ( notb ) are programmed in the memory cells to change the verify voltage of the word line ( 2 . 5 v for the second time ). as a result of this verification , the programmed memory cells have a threshold value of about 2 . 2 v on an average . after this , the programming and verification ( at a verify voltage of 1 . 5 v ) of the third operation result are executed , so that the programmed memory cells have a threshold value of about 1 . 2 v on an average , thus ending the programming . fig6 shows the waveforms of the control clock signal clk 2 , the data to be programmed in the sense latch circuit 13 , and the potential of the selected word line in the aforementioned programming and program verifying operations . in the first programming , the first operation result ( anandb ) is transferred to the sense latch circuit 13 , and the selected memory cell having the latch value “ 1 ” is then programmed by the program pulse . next , a voltage of about 3 . 5 v , for example , is fed as the program verify voltage to the word line , and it is judged whether or not the programmed data have the value “ 0 ”. when the threshold value is higher than 3 . 5 v , the read - out data have the value “ 1 ” and are found to have been insufficiently programmed , so that the programming operations are repeated till the read - out data have the value “ 0 ”. next , the second operation result ( notb ) is transferred to the sense latch circuit 13 , so that the programming operation of the desired memory cell is started by the program pulse . the program verify voltage is set to about 2 . 5 v , and it is judged whether or not the programming is insufficient . if the judgment is yes , the programming is executed again . finally , the third program result ( anorb ) is transferred to the sense latch circuit 13 , and a procedure like the aforementioned one is executed . the program verify voltage in this case is about 1 . 5 v . in the foregoing embodiment , as described above , the setting of the word line voltage at the three program verify stages is so controlled that the voltage value is sequentially changed ( 3 . 5 v - 2 . 5 v 1 . 5 v ) away from the erase level from the starting point of the level ( 3 . 5 v ) which has been set at the closest value to the erase level ( about 5 v ). in the foregoing embodiment , moreover , even the memory cell of which the target threshold value is an intermediate or lowest value ( 2 . 2 v , 1 . 2 v ) is programmed simultaneously with the programming of the memory cell whose target threshold value is the highest value ( 3 . 2 v ), as shown in fig7 ( b ). this is one of the features of the present invention . as a result , the increase in the programming time of the multi - value data can be minimized . specifically , in addition to the aforementioned method , a conceivable method for setting the programming and program verifying word line voltage is one in which the setting is changed so as to execute the first programming of memory cells , as the programming object , having an intermediate threshold voltage ( 2 . 2 v ) out of the three kinds of threshold voltage , and the second programming of memory cells , as the programming object , having a voltage ( 3 . 2 v ) higher than the voltage of the first programming or a voltage ( 1 . 2 v ) lower than that . as shown in fig7 ( a ), alternatively , there can be conceived a method for batch - programming the memory cells having an identical target threshold value . according to these methods , however , it takes a long time for programming , and the time for the charge / discharge to change the word line voltage is increased , so that the time for the program / verify becomes longer than that of the present embodiment . next , the reading operation of the memory cells will be described with reference to fig8 and 9 . the data reading operation is performed , as shown in fig1 , by raising the voltage of the word line to apply a voltage of the selected level , such as 3 . 7 v , 2 . 7 v or 1 . 7 v , to the control gate cg of the memory cell , or a voltage of 1 . 5 v to the drain through the bit line . the reading operation is executed by programming the command for ordering a reading operation in the command register 16 . when the reading operation is started , the read level is set at first to the highest level of 3 . 7 v to energize the word line ( at step s 11 ). then , in the selected memory cell , data will appear on the bit line in accordance with the word line reading voltage level , so that the data are read out by amplifying the bit line level by the sense latch circuit 13 ( step s 12 ). next , the subsequent steps are different depending upon whether the reading is the first , second or third reading ( step s 13 ). specifically , when the reading is the first reading , the read data in the sense latch circuit 13 are transferred to the binary data register reg 1 ( step s 14 ). when the transfer of all the read data in the sense latch circuit 13 has ended , the routine returns from step s 15 to step s 11 , at which the second data reading operation is executed by setting the read level to 2 . 7 v to transfer the read data to the binary data register reg 2 . at the end of the second data read and transfer , the third data reading operation is performed by setting the read level to 1 . 7 v , and the routine moves from step s 13 to step s 16 , at which the read data are transferred directly to the inverse transforming logic circuit 14 . moreover , the data , latched in the binary data registers reg 1 and reg 2 , are individually transferred bit by bit to the inverse transforming logic circuit 14 , in which there is executed a logic operation for transforming the quaternary data into two bit data ( step s 17 ). moreover , the foregoing procedure ( steps 16 to 18 ) is repeated to end the reading operations till the transfer and transformation of all the data in the sense latch circuit 13 are ended . the data transformation is effected by executing the operation of fig2 . fig9 shows the timings of the control clock clk 2 in the reading operation according to the aforementioned procedure , the data to be transferred from the sense latch circuit 13 , and the read level of the word line . when the read command and the address are fed from the outside , the reading operation is started to set the first read level ( 3 . 7 v ) at first thereby to activate the word line , so that the data will appear on the bit line . the data “ c ”, having appeared in response to the first word line level 3 . 7 v , are read out by the sense latch circuit 13 and are transferred to the first binary data register reg 1 having a data width equal to n bits , which represents the data length of the sense latch . next , the data “ d ”, produced by lowering the word line level by a predetermined value to the second read level 2 . 7 v , are transferred to the second binary data register reg 2 . the data “ f ”, produced by lowering the word line to the third read level 1 . 7 v , are transferred to the inverse transforming logic circuit 14 so that the aforementioned quaternary data “ c ”, “ d ” and “ f ” are changed again to two - bit data and outputted to the outside , such as to the cpu . fig1 shows the relation between an example of the entire construction of the multi - value flash memory mdfm having on the common semiconductor chip the aforementioned data transforming / inverse - transforming circuit , and a controller cont connected , with the flash memory mdfm . this controller cont may have only an address generating function and a command generating function for the multi - value flash memory of the present embodiment , so that a general purpose microcomputer can be used . in fig1 , the circuit components designated by same reference symbols of fig4 , have the identical functions . specifically , the symbols reg 1 and reg 2 designate binary data registers for holding the program data of two bits ; the numeral 11 designates a data transforming logic circuit for transforming the held two - bits data into quaternary data ; the numeral 12 designates a memory array provided with nonvolatile memory elements having a floating gate , such as a famos in a matrix form ; the numeral 13 designates a sense latch circuit for latching the read data and the program data ; the numeral 14 designates inverse transforming logic circuit for transforming the quaternary data read out from the memory array into two - bits data ; the numeral 16 designates a command register for latching the command fed from the controller cont ; the numeral 17 designates a command decoder for decoding the command code held in the command register 16 ; and the numeral 18 designates a sequencer for sequentially generating and outputting the control signals for the individual circuits in the memories to execute the processings corresponding to the commands . the multi - value flash memory of this embodiment is equipped with two memory arrays , although the invention is not especially limited thereto , and individual sense latch circuits 13 are provided for the respective memory arrays . these individual sense latch circuits 13 are constructed to simultaneously amplify and latch the data of the memory cells of one line sharing the word line in the memory array , so that the read data latched in the sense latch circuits 13 are selected by a common y - decoder 15 and transferred bit by bit or in units of a byte to an output register 19 . the read data latched in the output register 19 are outputted to the external cpu or the like through a buffer circuit 22 . the sense latch circuit 13 of the embodiment of fig4 performs a shift operation during the data transfer and is required to have a function similar to that of the shift register . however , the sense latch circuits 13 can have no shift function by providing a construction , as in fig1 , in which the data are selected in response to the y - decoder 15 and in which this y - decoder 15 shifts the selected bit by the clock signal . the multi - value flash memory of this embodiment is constructed to include , in addition to the above - specified individual circuits , an all decision circuit 20 for deciding whether or not the data read out from the memory array 12 and fed to the sense latch 13 are all “ 0 ” or all “ 1 ”; a buffer circuit 21 for fetching external control signals , such as a reset signal res , a chip select signal ce , a program control signal we , an output control signal oe , a system clock sc and a command enable signal cde indicating whether the input is a command input or an address input , all signals being fed from the controller cont ; a buffer circuit 22 for fetching an address signal and a command signal ; an internal signal generator 23 for generating a control signal for an internal circuit on the basis of the external control signal ; an address register 24 for latching the address which has been held in the buffer circuit 22 ; a data register 25 for latching the input data ; x - address decoders 26 a and 26 b for decoding the fetched address to generate a signal and for selecting the word line in the memory array 12 ; a word driver 27 ; an internal power source generator 28 for generating voltages required in the chip , such as the substrate potential , the program voltage , the read voltage and the verify voltage ; a switching circuit 29 for selecting a desired voltage from those voltages in accordance with the operating state of the memory and feeding the selected voltage to the main decoder 27 and the like ; a clock generator 30 for generating the internal clock signal ( clk 2 and the like ); a timer circuit 31 for counting the clock pulses to give times , such as a program pulse width ; a status register 32 for indicating the control state of the memory by the sequencer 16 ; a y - address counter 33 for updating the y - address automatically ; a false address register 34 for latching the position ( address ) of a false bit ; a redundancy comparator 35 for comparing the y - address and the false address ; and a relieved address register 36 for storing a relieved address to switch the selected memory column when the address coincides . moreover , the multi - flash memory of this embodiment is constructed to output a ready / busy signal r / b * for indicating whether or not the memory can be accessed from the outside . moreover , the multi - value flash memory of this embodiment is given a function ( hereinafter referred to as the refresh function ) to sharpen the bell - shaped variation distributions of the threshold values when the shapes broaden and lower due to the disturb or the retention influences ( see fig3 ). this refresh function is activated when a command is fed from the outside as in the programming or erasing operation . if the refresh command is fetched by the command register 16 , the sequencer 18 of the micro program control type is started to effect the refreshing operation . this refreshing operation will be described in detail hereinafter . the signal indicating the decision result of the aforementioned all decision circuit 20 is fed to the sequencer 18 . in the refreshing mode , the all decision circuit 20 decides that the read data are all “ 0 ”. when a signal indicating this decision result is fed to the sequencer 18 , the sequencer 18 stops the refreshing operation . at the data erasing time , on the other hand , the sequencer 18 stops the erasing operation if the aforementioned all decision circuit 20 decides that the read data are all “ 1 ”. in this embodiment , moreover , there is adopted predecode system in which the x - address decoder decodes the address signal at the two stages by means of the predecoder 26 a and the main decoder 26 b . the desired word line is selected , for example , by decoding the more significant three bits of the x - address at first using the predecoder 26 a and by controlling the word driver 27 with the predecode signal . by adopting such a predecode system , the unit decoders constituting the main decoder 26 b can be arranged in a high integration state according to the word line pitch of the memory array thereby to reduce the chip size . incidentally , the multi - value flash memory of the aforementioned embodiment is equipped on the common silicon substrate , as shown in fig4 and 10 , with the function circuits 11 and 14 for transforming two - bits data into quaternary data and vice versa . however , a dedicated controller unit having those functions can be separately provided . in this modification , the flash memory chip need not be provided with the functions intrinsic to the multi - value , so that its chip area does not increase . another advantage is that a plurality of flash memories mdfm can be connected to a single controller unit cont and controlled by a bus bus , as shown in fig1 . this controller unit is constructed to have an address generating function and a command generating function in addition to the aforementioned data transforming / inverse - transforming functions . fig1 shows the internal power source generator 28 for generating the word line voltage and a substrate potential vsub and the switching circuit 29 for selectively feeding them to the word driver 27 and the like , and fig1 shows an example of the construction of the word driver 27 . the internal power source generator 28 generates the necessary word line voltages in response to the internal control signals which are generated from the sequencer 18 correspondence to the various operation modes . the construction of the internal power source generator 28 for generating voltages including the word line voltage and the construction of the switching circuit ( the word line voltage switching circuit ) 29 for receiving the generated voltages are similar to those of the prior art except that the kinds of the voltage values of the word line are increased for the multi - value operation . specifically , there are four kinds of word line voltages necessary for the binary flash memory of the prior art : the read voltage ( 2 . 7 v , 0 v ); the program voltage (− 10 v , 0 v ); the program verify voltage ( 1 . 5 v ); the erase voltage (+ 10 v , 0 v ) and the erase verify voltage ( 4 . 3 v , 0 v ). on the contrary , the word line voltages necessary for the multi - value flash memory of the present embodiment are : the read voltage ( 3 . 7 v , 2 . 7 v , 1 . 7 v , 0 v ); the program voltage (− 10 v , 0 v ); the program verify voltage ( 3 . 5 v , 2 . 5 v , 1 . 5 v ); the erase and erase verify voltages ( 10 v , 4 . 3 v , 0 v ); and the refresh voltage (− 10 v , 10 v , 3 . 7 v , 3 . 5 v , 2 . 7 v , 2 . 5 v , 1 . 7 v , 1 . 5 v , 0 v ). the aforementioned switching circuit 29 receives the internal control signals , which are generated by the sequencer 18 and correspond to the various operation modes , and feeds the voltages , generated by the aforementioned internal power source generator 28 , to the power terminals p 1 and p 2 of the word driver 27 which is constructed as shown in fig1 . the word driver used wdrv of fig1 is a driver used when the word line predecoding method is adopted . eight voltage selectors vols 1 to vols 8 have their inputs connected in common to the output node n 1 of a logic selector logs 1 , and eight voltage selectors vols 9 to vols 16 have their inputs connected in common to the output node n 2 of a logic selector logs 2 , so that the individual voltage selectors may be selected by predecode signals xp 1 and xp 1 * to xp 8 and xp 8 . signals xm and xn together with the predecode signals xp 1 and xp 1 to xpb and xp 8 * are fed from an address decoder xdcr ( 26 b ). at this time , the voltage selectors vols 1 to vols 16 have to select and feed the same voltage to the word line as that which is unselected by the other logic selector , unless the operation is selected by the predecode signal even if either logic selector logs 1 or logs 2 corresponding to the voltage selectors outputs the select signal of the select level . for these operations , separating mosfets q 56 and q 57 are switched by the predecode signal . in order that a voltage in the unselected state may be outputted to the word line when the separating mosfets q 56 and q 57 are cut off , there are further provided a pull - up mosfet q 58 and a pull - down mosfet q 59 which can be switched complementarily with the separating mosfets q 56 and q 57 to feed a predetermined voltage to each input of the output circuit inv 2 . in fig1 , the aforementioned signal xm is deemed to be a three - bit signal for indicating which word lines out of the eight word line groups each including eight word lines is to be selected . the predecode signals xp 1 and xp 1 * to xp 8 and xp 8 * are deemed to be complementary signals for indicating which word line contained in each word line group is to be selected . according to the present embodiment , the high level of the select signal sel is the select level , and the high and low levels of each of the predecode signals xp 1 and xp 1 * to xp 8 and xp 8 * are the select level . the voltage to be fed to the terminal p 1 of the aforementioned word driver wdrv is a voltage vpp to be used for the erasing , programming , verifying and reading operations , such as 5 v , 4 . 3 v , 3 . 7 v , 3 . 5 v , 2 . 7 v , 2 . 5 v , 1 . 7 v , 1 . 5 v or 0 v . the voltage to be fed to the terminal p 2 is either a voltage vee to be used for the programming and refreshing operations such as − 10 v or a voltage vss as the ground potential or the reference potential of the circuit , such as 0 5 v . each of the aforementioned logic selectors logs 1 and logs 2 is constructed to include : an inverter invl for inverting the signal of the x - decoder xdcr ; a transfer gate tg 1 for transmitting or blocking the output of the inverter inv 1 ; and a transfer gate tg 2 for transferring or blocking the signal of the x - decoder xdcr . the aforementioned voltage selectors vols 1 to vols 16 are made to have identical constructions , each of which is made , as represented by the voltage selector vols 1 , of : an n - channel type pull - up mosfet q 58 connected between a terminal p 3 and the gate of a mosfet q 52 and switched by the predecode signal xp 1 ; and a p - channel type pull - up mosfet q 59 connected between a terminal p 4 and the gate of a mosfet q 53 and switched by the predecode signal xp 1 . the voltage selector vols 1 switches the separating mosfet q 56 by using the predecode signal xp 1 and the other separating mosfet q 57 by using the predecode signal xp 1 . the aforementioned terminals p 3 and p 4 are fed with the voltage vcc or vss . next , the operations of the word driver wdrv of fig1 will be described . table 1 shows the voltages at the terminals and the word line voltages in the individual operation modes . the description of the manner in which to set the program mode , the erase mode and the read mode will be omitted . when the erase mode is specified by the command , the switching circuit 29 feeds the voltage vpp to the terminal p 1 , the voltage vss to the terminal p 2 , and the voltage vcc to the terminals p 3 and p 4 , and the control signal de is set to the low level . on the other hand , all the bits of the signal xm are set to - the low level , so that any of word lines wi to w 8 can be selected . as a result , when the select signal sel at the select level ( the high level ) is fed , the node n 1 is set to the low level through the inverter invl and the transfer gate tg 1 so that this low level is fed to the inputs of the individual voltage selectors vols 1 to volsb . when the memory cell to be erased is coupled to the word line w 1 , only the signals xp 1 and xp 1 * of the predecode signals xp 1 and xp 1 * to xps and xps * are set to the high level and the low level , respectively . therefore , the separating mosfets q 56 and q 57 of only the voltage selector vols 1 are turned on , so that the signal at the node n 1 is fetched by the voltage selector vols 1 . at this time , both the pull - up mosfet q 58 and the pull - down mosfet q 59 of the voltage selector vols 1 are cut off . as a result , the signal of the node n 1 is fed to the mosfets q 52 and q 53 of the voltage selector vols 1 . then , the mosfet q 52 of the output circuit inv 2 is turned on , and hence the word line w 1 begins to be charged by the voltage vpp at the terminal p 1 . at this time , the low level to be fed to the gate of the other mosfet q 53 is raised to a low level higher than the initial voltage vss by the action of the mosfet q 57 , so that the mosfet q 53 is not completely cut off . however , when the conductance of a feedback mosfet q 55 is increased with the rise of the level of the word line w 1 , the voltage of the gate of the mosfet q 53 is forced to the voltage vss , and it is completely cut off . in the erase mbde , therefore , the word line w 1 , to which is coupled the selected memory cell , is charged to the level vpp . while the select signal sel is at - the high level , as described above , the predecode signals xp 1 and xp 1 * are set to the low level and - the high level , respectively , if the memory cell q 1 of the word line w 1 is not selected for the erasure . as a result , both separating mosfets q 56 and q 57 of the voltage selector vols 1 are turned off to fetch no signal from the node n 1 . at this time , both pull - up mosfet q 58 and pull - down mosfet q 59 of the voltage selector vols 1 are turned on . as a result , the gates of the mosfets q 52 and q 53 of the voltage selector vols 1 are fed with the voltage vcc from the terminals p 3 and p 4 through the mosfets q 58 and q 59 . as a result , the mosfet q 53 of the output circuit inv 2 is turned on , so that the word line w 1 begins to be discharged to the voltage vss through the terminal p 2 . at this time , the high level fed to the gate of the other mosfet q 52 is lower than the voltage vcc by the threshold voltage of the mosfet q 58 , so that the mosfet q 52 is not completely cut off . as the level of the word line w 1 is lowered by the on mosfet q 53 , the conductance of the feedback mosfet q 54 is increased , and the gate of the mosfet q 52 is forced to the voltage vpp , so that it is completely cut off . in the erase mode , therefore , the unselected word line wi is discharged to the voltage vss . the operation of the word driver wdrv when the program mode or the read mode is specified , will not be described in detail because it is similar to the operation of the aforementioned program mode . however , the word lines are so driven by the voltages applied to the terminals p 1 and p 2 from the switching circuit 29 that the voltages , as shown in fig1 and 14 , may be applied to the selected memory cells . next , the refreshing operation , which is a second feature of the multi - value flash memory of the present invention will be described with reference to fig1 . for the multi - value flash memory which is first programmed with the data , the bell - shaped variation distributions of the threshold values are completely separated , as shown in fig1 ( 1 ). however , the threshold value variations are increased as shown in fig1 ( 2 ), as the subsequent programming , reading and standby state operations are repeatedly executed . this is caused by the so - called influence , in which when a memory cell adjacent to a certain memory cell is programmed , this memory cell is also weakly programmed , and by the retention influence which is caused by the natural leakage at the standby time . this phenomenon may occur even in an ordinary flash memory for storing only one bit , but may cause a malfunction in the multi - value flash memory in which the intervals between the individual threshold values are narrow , as in the foregoing embodiment . in the present embodiment , therefore , there is executed a refreshing operation for sharpening the peaks ( see fig3 ) of the variation distributions of the threshold values when the peaks are broadened and lowered . fig1 is a flow chart showing the procedure of the refreshing operation . when the refresh command is inputted from the external cpu or the like , the sequencer 18 is started to begin the refreshing operation according to the flow chart of fig1 . when the refreshing operation is started , a weak erase pulse is applied at first from the word line to all the memory cells which are connected to the selected word line ( step s 21 ). as a result of this application of the weak erase pulse , the threshold values of all the - memory cells are slightly shifted to the higher side , as shown in fig1 ( 3 ). this shift is about 0 . 2 v , although the invention is not especially limited thereto . here , the term , weak erase pulse , refers to a sufficiently short pulse that the memory cell threshold value at “ 10 ”, for example , may not exceed , if added , just the higher read level 3 . 7 v . the pulse width is experimentally determined according to the amount to be shifted . at the second stage , the word line voltage is set to the read level ( 3 . 7 v ) corresponding to the stored data “ 10 ” ( step s 22 ) thereby to effect the reading operation . as a result , data are read out according to the threshold values of the individual memory cells ( step s 23 ) and are amplified and latched by the sense latch circuit 13 . at this time , the data of the sense latch corresponding to the memory cell having a higher threshold value than the word line voltage is set to “ 1 ”, and the data of the sense latch corresponding to the memory cell having a lower threshold value than the word line voltage is set to “ 0 ”. next , the data of the sense latch are inverted ( step s 24 ). this data inversion can be easily carried out ( as will be described hereinafter ) by the sense latch circuit having the construction shown in fig2 . next the word line is set to a lower verify voltage ( 3 . 5 v at first ) which is lower than the aforementioned read level ( step s 22 ) so that the judgment of the threshold value is executed ( step s 25 ). as a result , the data of the sense latch corresponding to the memory cell ( designated by letter a in fig1 ( 4 )) having a lower threshold value than the verify voltage are switched from “ 0 ” to “ 1 ”. on the contrary , the data of the sense latch corresponding to the memory cell ( designated by letter b in fig1 ( 4 )) having a higher threshold value than the verify voltage are left at “ 1 ”. these data are judged to be targets to be re - programmed in the present embodiment . this specifies the memory cells which have excessively approached the read level ( 3 . 7 v ) when the threshold value is shifted to the higher side by the weak erasure at step s 21 . incidentally , the data of the sense latch , which corresponds to the memory cell ( designated by letter c in fig1 ( 4 )) corresponding to the stored data “ 11 ” having the highest threshold value , are left at “ 0 ” set by the aforementioned inverting operation . such an operation can be automatically executed by a sense latch circuit which has the construction shown in fig2 ( as will be described hereinafter ). therefore , the memory cell ( designated by letter b in fig1 ( 4 )) having the data “ 1 ” of the sense latch is re - programmed by setting the program voltage ( step s 27 ). after this , the verification is executed by setting the verify voltage corresponding to the program level ( step s 28 , s 29 ). when the threshold value becomes lower than the verify voltage , the latch data change from “ 1 ” to “ 0 ”. the programming and verifying operations are repeated to end the refresh procedure of the memory cell having the data “ 10 ”, till all the latch data change to “ 0 ”. as a result , the variation distribution ( the half - value width ) of the threshold value of the memory cell of the data “ 10 ” becomes low , as indicated in fig1 ( 5 ). from that point on , similar refreshing operations are executed , too , for the memory cells for storing the data “ 01 ” and “ 00 ” ( step s 31 ). in order to make the width of the distribution shape of the threshold value , the operations of steps 21 to 31 are repeated to complete the refresh operation ( step s 32 ) when a predetermined number of operations are ended . table 2 shows the changes in the latched data of the sense latch which occur sequentially when the memory cells having the threshold values indicated by letters a , b and c of fig1 ( 4 ), are read out , when the refreshing is executed according to the procedure described above . fig1 is a diagram showing the timings at which the refreshing operations are executed . as described above , the causes of enlarging the variations of the threshold values of the memory cells are influenced due to the execution of the weak programming , erasing and reading operations of a memory cell adjacent to a memory cell if this memory cell is programmed or read , and the retention influence due to the natural leakage . the timings at which the refreshing operations against the fluctuation of the threshold values due to the influence are executed are as follows . ( 1 ) the refreshing operations are executed when the flash memory is in a standby state (/ res is at the high level ) and after a predetermined number of programming / erasing and reading operations are completed . ( 2 ) the refreshing operations are executed immediately after the reset signal (/ res ) is activated at the resetting time . ( 3 ) the refreshing operations are executed immediately after the reset state is caused by setting the / res to the low level from the standby state . ( 4 ) the / res is set to the low level immediately before the power supply is turned off , so that the refresh is executed by sensing the off condition . ( 5 ) the refresh is executed after the power supply is turned on to set the / res to the high level . as counter - measures for the reduction of the threshold values due to the retention influence , on the other hand , it is conceivable to execute the refresh operation at predetermined periodic intervals in the course of the dummy cycle or in the standby state when the power supply is turned on . all of these refresh timings may be executed , but any one or only some of them also may be executed . incidentally , the refreshing operations described above should not be limited to the multi - value flash memory . as it is considered that the power supply voltage of the flash memory will change to a lower voltage , however , an increase in the variation of the threshold value cannot be ignored even in an ordinary flash memory , so that the refreshing operation is an effective function as a counter - measure against the lower power supply voltage of the flash memory . fig2 shows an example of the construction of the memory array 12 and the sense latch circuit 13 . the memory array 12 is an and type , in which a plurality of memory cells mc ( e . g ., one hundred and twenty eight for one hundred and twenty eight batch - erasable word lines ) are connected in series between a common drain line dl , provided in parallel with the bit lines bl arranged perpendicularly to the word lines and adapted to output the read signal of the selected memory cell , and a common source line sl . the common drain line dl can be connected to the corresponding bit line bl through the switch mosfet q 1 , and the common source line sl can be connected to the grounding point through the switch mosfet q 2 . the gate control signals for those switch mosfets q 1 and q 2 are generated on the basis of the x - address signal and the read / write control signal . the switch mosfets q 1 and q 2 are turned on to discharge the bit lines through the on memory cells by setting the gate control signals to a potential such as vcc ( 3 . 3 v ) at the data reading time ( including the verifying time ). at the data programming time , on the other hand , the gate control signal for the switch mosfet q 1 is set to a potential such as 7 v and turned on because the program voltage ( 5 v ) of the bit lines is transmitted to the drains of the memory cells . at this time , the switch mosfet q 2 on the common source line sl side is turned off . the sense latch circuit 13 is constructed of a cmos differential type sense amplifier sa disposed for each memory column for amplifying the potential difference between the bit lines of the right and left memory arrays . prior to the reading operation , the bit line of the selected side ( on the lefthand side ) memory array is precharged to a potential such as 1 v by a precharge mos ( sw 21 ), and the bit line on the opposite side memory array is precharged to a potential such as 0 . 5 v by a precharge mos ( sw 22 ). when the word line wl is set to the read level in this precharge state , the bit line retains 1 . 0 v if the selected memory cell has a high threshold value . however , if the selected memory cell has a low threshold value , an electric current flows to draw the charge on the bit line . so that the bit line takes a potential of 0 . 2 v . the potential difference between this potential of 1 . 0 v or 0 . 2 v and the potential of 0 . 5 v of the bit line on the opposite side is detected and amplified by the sense amplifier sa , so that the read data are latched in the sense amplifier sa . in the foregoing embodiment , as described before , the sense latch ( the sense amplifier ) corresponding to the bit line connected to the memory cell to be programmed is set to “ 1 ”, the program pulse (− 10 v ) is applied to the word line , and then the word line is set to the verify voltage ( about 3 . 5 v for the first time ) corresponding to the program level thereby reading the memory cell to which the program pulse is applied . moreover , the read data “ 1 ” are read out from the insufficiently programmed memory cell to the bit line , and a program end or weak program is judged from the data read out , so that the data of the sense latch ( the sense amplifier ) whose bits are programmed are inverted to “ 0 ”. in other words , the data “ 1 ” are left in the sense latch ( the sense amplifier ) corresponding to the insufficiently programmed memory cell , so that the program pulse may be applied again to the insufficiently programmed memory cell corresponding to the bit of “ 1 ”. in the refreshing operations , too , the data read out to the sense latch are inverted , and the verification is executed to apply the program pulse to the memory cell corresponding to the bit of “ 1 ”. the sense latch circuit of fig2 is devised to have a inversion control circuit 30 which is interposed between the sense amplifier and the memory array and composed of four switches sw 11 , sw 12 , sw 13 and sw 14 , so as to easily facilitate the inversion of the latch data of the sense amplifier corresponding to the memory cell , which has been programmed at the aforementioned programming time , and the narrowing of the memory cell to which the program pulse is to be applied . here will be described the operation of this sense latch circuit . incidentally , the switches sw 21 and sw 22 disposed on the individual bit lines bl are switches for precharging the bit lines and are constructed of mosfets , similar to the aforementioned switches sw 11 to sw 14 . at the data reading time , the switch sw 13 is turned off at first . with the bit line bl and the sense amplifier sa disconnected from each other , as shown in fig2 , the switches sw 21 and sw 22 are then turned on to charge the bit line bl on the selected side to a precharge level of 1 . 0 v . at this time , the bit line on the unselected side is charged to the level of 0 . 5 v . moreover , the sense amplifier sa turns on the switch sw 14 to reset it and feed it a potential of 0 . 5 v . at this time , moreover , the switch mosfets q 1 and q 2 are turned on by impressing the voltage vcc to their gates . then , any word line wl in the memory array is set to the select level of 3 . 7 v . then , the memory cells ( e . g ., the cell a and b of fig1 ) having a lower threshold value than the word line select level are turned on , so that the bit line bl connected to them is discharged to the level of 0 . 2 v by the electric current flowing to the common source line sl through the on memory cells . on the other hand , the memory cell ( e . g ., the cell c of fig1 ) having a higher threshold value than the word line select level is turned off , so that the bit line bl connected to it is held at the precharge level of 1 . 0 v . next , the switch sw 14 is turned off to release the sense amplifier sa from the reset state and to activate it , and the switch sw 13 on the bit line bl is turned on to connect the bit line bl to the sense amplifier sa . the power source voltage vcc is fed to the p - mos side of the sense amplifier sa , and the ground potential ( 0 v ) is fed to the n - mos side . then , the sense amplifier sa amplifies the potential difference between the bit lines bl and bl * sufficiently , and the switch sw 13 on the bit line bl is turned off . as a result , the sense amplifier sa comes into the state that it amplifies the level difference between the bit lines on the select and unselect sides and holds the data . when the latch data of the sense amplifier sa are to be inverted , the switch sw 13 is turned off . with the bit line bl and the sense amplifier sa disconnected from each other , as shown in fig2 , the switches sw 21 and sw 22 are turned on to precharge the bit lines bl on the select and unselect sides to the level of vcc − vtn ( e . g ., 3 . 3 v − 0 . 6 v = 2 . 7 v ). after this , the switches sw 21 and sw 22 are turned off , and the switch sw 11 is turned on . in accordance with the data latched in the sense amplifier sa , the switch sw 12 is then turned on if the data are “ 1s ”, so that the bit line bl is discharged to the bit line inverting level ( 0 v ). if the data latched in the sense amplifier sa are “ 0s ”, on the other hand , the switch sw 12 is turned off , so that the bit line bl retains the level vcc . in short , the inverse level of the latched data of the sense amplifier sa appears in the corresponding bit line bl . here , the switch sw 14 is first turned on to reset the sense amplifier sa . after this , the switch sw 14 is turned off , and the switch sw 13 to the bit line bl is turned on to connect the bit line bl to the sense amplifier sa . in the meantime , the supply voltages on the p - mos side and the n - mos side of the sense amplifier sa are set to 0 . 5 v . then , the supply voltage vcc is fed to the p - mos side of the sense amplifier sa whereas the ground potential ( 0 v ) is fed to the n - mos side , and the switch sw 13 on the bit line bl is turned off . as a result , the sense amplifier sa takes the state that it latches the data corresponding to the level of the bit line in the aforementioned data latching state , as shown in fig2 . in other words , the sense amplifiers corresponding to the cells a and b of fig1 latch the high level “ 1 ”, and the sense amplifier corresponding to - the cell c latches the low level “ 0 ”. these operations are similar to the so - called “ program verifying ” operation . hence , the bit line precharge has to be executed only for the portion in which the sense latch is “ h ” by turning on the switch sw 11 to set the bit line precharge voltage ( 1 ) to 1 v , therefore , only bit lines bl 0 and bl 1 take the value of 1 v ( the bit line bl 2 is reset in advance to 0 v ). next , the switches sw 21 and sw 22 are turned on while the switch sw 13 on the bit line bl is left off , to charge the select side bit line bl to the precharge level of 1 . 0 v and the unselected - side bit line to the level of 0 . 5 v . after this , a verify voltage such as 3 . 5 v slightly lower than the preceding read level ( 3 . 7 v ) is applied to the selected word line . then , the memory cell ( e . g ., the cell a of fig1 ) having a lower threshold - value than the word line selection level is turned on , so that the bit line bl connected thereto is discharged to the level such as 0 . 2 v . on the other hand , the memory cell ( e . g ., the cell b of fig1 ) having a higher threshold value than the word line selection level is turned off , so that the bit line bl connected thereto retains the precharge level of 1 v . at this time , moreover , since the bit line , which is connected to the memory cell ( e . g ., the cell c of fig1 ) corresponding the data “ 11 ” having the highest threshold value , intrinsically retains the low level , i . e ., “ 0 ”, it takes the low level even if it is off when the word line is set to the select level ( fig2 ). as a result , after the sense latch is reset in this state , the switch sw 13 on the bit line bl is turned on . then , the sense amplifier corresponding to the bit line , which is connected to the memory cell ( e . g ., the cell c of fig1 ) corresponding to the data “ 11 ”, and the sense amplifier corresponding to the bit line , which is connected to the memory cell ( e . g ., the cell a of fig1 ) having a lower threshold valve than the word line select level , retain the low level “ 0 ”, whereas the sense amplifier corresponding to the bit line , which is connected to - the memory cell ( e . g ., the cell b of fig1 ) having a higher threshold value than the word line select level , retains the high level “ 1 ”. in the present embodiment , this data retained by the sense amplifier are used to make a shift to the programming operation to apply the program pulse (− 10 v ) to the selected word line , thereby lowering the threshold value of the memory cell corresponding to the retained data “ 1 ” of the sense amplifier . after the application of the program pulse , the reading operation is executed by setting the word line again to the selection level . then , the bit line of the memory cell having a lower threshold value than the word line verify level is changed to the low level , i . e ., “ 0 ”, and the bit line connected to the insufficiently programmed memory cell retains the high level “ 1 ”. by latching this state by the sense amplifier to execute the programming operation again , only the threshold value of the memory cell , in which the latched data of the sense latch corresponds to “ 1 ”, is lowered to sharpen the threshold value distribution shape . the data latched by the sense amplifier a are fed to the aforementioned all decision circuit 20 through both so - called column switch turned on / off by the output signal of the y - decoder 15 and the common i / o line , and it is judged whether or not they are all “ 0 ”. if they are all “ 0 ”, the refresh for the memory cells of the data “ 10 ” are ended , and the refresh for the memory cells of the data “ 01 ” and “ 00 ” is executed . incidentally , the re - programming operation of the insufficiently programmed memory cell in the aforementioned program mode is identical to the aforementioned one effected by the sense latch circuit 13 at the refreshing time . in the foregoing embodiment , as has been described hereinbefore , at the data programming time , data of a plurality of bits are transformed by a data transforming logic circuit into data ( multi - value data ) according to the combination of the bits , and the transformed data are sequentially transferred to a latch circuit connected to the bit lines of a memory array . a program pulse is generated according to the data latched in the latch circuit and is applied to a memory element in a selected state , so that a threshold value is made to correspond to the multi - value data . in the data reading operation , the states of the memory elements are read out by changing the read voltage to intermediate values of the individual threshold values and are transferred to and latched in a register for storing the multi - value data , so that the original data may be restored by a data inverse transforming logic circuit on the basis of the multi - value data stored in the register as a result , the following effects can be achieved . the peripheral circuit scale of the memory array can be suppressed to a relatively small size . in the programming operation , the verify voltage value of the word line is sequentially changed by a predetermined value in a direction away from the near side of the erasing word line voltage so that the total number of the program pulses , i . e ., the program time period can be reduced compared to the multi - value flash memory system , in which the verify voltage is set at random , thereby to realize a programming operation performed in a short time . moreover , after a weak erasing operation of the memory elements in the memory array is executed , the memory element , which has a threshold value lower than the read level of the word line and higher than the verify level , is detected , and the program is executed so that the threshold value of the memory element may be lower than the verify voltage , thereby narrowing the width of the variation distribution shape of the threshold voltage of the memory element which is programmed according to the individual input data . as a result , the following effect can be achieved . the variation distribution shape of the threshold voltage of the memory elements , which has been widened due to the disturb or the retention influences , can be returned to the steep shape substantially identical to that just after the end of the programming operation . although our invention has been specifically described in connection with its embodiments , it should not be limited to the embodiments specifically described but can naturally be modified in various manners without departing from the gist thereof . in the foregoing embodiments , for example , the quaternary data are stored by setting the threshold value of one memory cell at four stages , but these threshold values can be set to three stages or five or more stages . in the embodiments , on the other hand , the inversion of the read data at the refreshing time and the narrowing of the memory cells , in which the read data are to be programmed , can be effected by using only the sense latch circuit despite this construction , however , there may be provided a register for latching the read data and a logic circuit for narrowing the memory cell to be programmed , by performing a logic operation , e . g ., by inverting the content of the register . in the embodiments , moreover , the three kinds of operations , as shown in fig1 ( 2 ). are executed as a transformation of the two - bits data into the quaternary data and vice versa . however , the logic operation should not be limited to those of fig1 but may be any logic operation as long as data having different numbers of bits of “ 1 ” can be resultantly obtained . furthermore , the operation for data inverse transformation should not be limited to those of fig2 but may be any operation as long as the original two - bits data can be restored , and the number of operations should not be limited to one but may be two or more . the programming method for each memory cell should not be limited to that of the embodiment in which the threshold value is lowered by the program pulse after it has been first raised for the erasure , but may be the one in which the threshold value is raised by the program pulse . in the embodiment , moreover , the threshold value is changed by programming the memory cell corresponding to the sense latch latching the data “ 1 ”. however , the threshold value may be changed by programming the memory cell which corresponds to the sense latch latching the data “ 0 ”. the description thus far made is directed mainly to a batch - erase type flash memory to which our invention is applied and which is the field of application of its background . however , the present invention should not be limited thereto but can be applied generally to a nonvolatile memory device having famoss as its memory elements and further widely to a semiconductor memory device which is equipped with memory cells having a plurality of threshold values . according to the present invention , as has been described hereinbefore , it is possible to realize a multi - value type nonvolatile memory device which can carry out programming , reading and erasing operations of high accuracy which are performed in a short time period while minimizing the increase in the circuit scale , and a nonvolatile memory device capable of sharpening the shape of the variation distribution of while threshold values of memory elements and stably operating at a low voltage .	6
the same parts illustrated in fig1 to 5 are provided with the same reference symbols . with initial reference to fig5 , which illustrates a conventional automation device 1 , parts of this automation device 1 for controlling a technical process are a programmable logic controller 2 having a cpu module 3 , a master module 4 and three slave units 5 , 6 , 7 . the slave units 5 , 6 , 7 each have an interface module 5 a , 6 a , 7 a which is used by the master module 4 to have read and / or write access to the slave modules of the slave units 5 , 6 , 7 . it should be understood that the programmable logic controller 2 has further modules , such as a plurality of analog and / or digital input / output modules , communication modules and other modules suitable for operating the programmable logic controller 2 and for controlling the process . in addition , it should be understood that the cpu module 3 itself may be designed to undertake the tasks of the master module 4 . in the present exemplary embodiment , only slave modules 5 b , 5 c , 5 d of the slave unit 5 are illustrated for the sake of clarity . in order to parameterize these modules , the master module 4 transmits a parameter message pr 1 to the interface module 5 a of this slave unit 5 via a bus 8 , such as a profibus dp . this message pr 1 comprises a data record number that indicates to the slave units 5 , 6 , 7 that the message pr 1 is a parameter message . the message pr 1 also comprises an address for addressing the slave unit 5 and data areas bb , bc , bd assigned to the slave modules 5 b , 5 c , 5 d . these data areas bb , bc , bd are each provided with a slot number or slot address for addressing the respective slave module 5 b , 5 c , 5 d and also have parameters for parameterizing the respective slave module 5 b , 5 c , 5 d . in the example shown , the size of the data areas bb , bc in the message pr 1 is 8 bytes in each case and , in contrast , the size of the data area bd is 150 bytes , which indicates that , for the slave module 5 d , considerably more parameters are needed to parameterize this slave module 5 d in comparison with the slave modules 5 b , 5 c . on account of the fact that only 79 bytes ( area bx 1 ) of the maximum length of 244 bytes can be occupied in the message pr 1 , a further slave module can be plugged into a free slot 9 of the slave unit 5 only if the data ( i . e ., slot address , parameters ) for this slave module do not exceed these 79 bytes . in order to make it possible for a further slave module , for which more than 79 bytes of data are required , to also be able to be inserted into the free slot 9 in the slave unit 5 in this case , slave modules are provided and are configured such that a default parameter data record is stored in a memory of such slave modules and can be accessed using a data record index . this index is stored in that data area of the message which is provided for this slave module , which message is transmitted by the master module to the interface module of the respective slave unit . such slave modules , for which a multiplicity of parameters are needed for their parameterization , are preferably configured as described . fig1 shows such a slave module 5 e having a memory 10 that stores a default parameter data record 11 having parameters , this data record having a size or length of 150 bytes . based on a data record index 13 supplied to a controller 12 of the slave module 5 e , the default parameter data record 11 is loaded into a parameter memory 14 of the controller 12 , as a result of which the slave module 5 e is parameterized . as described , the data record index is part of a parameter message which is transmitted by the master module to a slave unit . for the purpose of a more detailed explanation , reference is made to fig2 which , for greater clarity , illustrates the automation device 1 described in fig5 without the slave units 6 , 7 . instead of being equipped with the slave module 5 d ( see fig5 ), the slave unit 5 is equipped with the slave module 5 e , where the master module 4 supplies a parameter message pr 2 to the slave unit 5 to parameterize the slave modules 5 b , 5 c , 5 e . in contrast to the parameter message pr 1 ( see fig5 ), this parameter message pr 2 has , instead of the data area bd , a data area be with a length of 2 bytes , in which only the data record index 13 and a slot number 15 or slot address are stored . in the present exemplary embodiment , the numbers “ 2 , 3 , 4 ” are allocated to the slave modules 5 b , 5 c , 5 e as slot numbers 15 . as described , the interface module 5 a uses this slot number 15 to address the slave module 5 e , and the data record index 13 is used to indicate to the slave module 5 e that the default parameter data record 11 comprising 150 bytes should be transmitted from the memory 10 to the parameter memory 14 . as a result of the fact that the size of the area be is only 2 bytes , 227 bytes can be used as a free area bx 2 in the message pr 2 for the purpose of parameterizing further slave modules . it should be understood that the slave modules 5 b , 5 c can be configured in a manner corresponding to the slave module 5 e , only 2 bytes — 1 byte for a slot number and 1 byte for a data record index — likewise being required in this case for the areas bb , bc in the message , and the slave modules 5 b , 5 c each also having a default parameter data record having a length or size of 8 bytes . the situation may occur in which a slave module can be configured in various ways depending on the operating mode and functionality . in order to be able to set different configurations using the parameters , the slave module in this case has a plurality of default parameter data records which are again referenced using a data record index . in the present exemplary embodiment , five default parameter data records d 1 to d 5 of the same data structure or the same format are provided for a slave module 5 f ( see fig3 ) and are stored in a memory 16 of the slave module 5 f . each of these default parameter data records d 1 to d 5 each comprising 150 bytes is again accessed using the data record index 13 . the data record index 13 , for example an index “ 3 ”, causes the controller 12 to enter the default parameter data record d 3 in the parameter memory 14 . the situation may also occur in which some parameters stored in a default parameter data record must frequently be changed , but the intention is to dispense with storing a multiplicity of default parameter data records for the different parameter configurations or settings in a slave module . in order to restrict the number of default parameter data records stored in this slave module , provision is therefore made for parameters which need to be frequently changed to be able to be accessed in a default parameter data record and to be easily changed . it is assumed below that parameters that need to be frequently changed are stored in bytes 1 to 9 in the default parameter data record d 3 ( see fig3 ). these 9 bytes are accessed by reserving a further 9 bytes 1 to 9 , in which the new parameters are stored ( see fig4 ), in an area bf assigned to the slave module 5 f in a parameter message pr 3 . here , the interface module 5 a uses the slot number 15 to address the slave module 5 f and uses the data record index 13 to address the default parameter data record d 3 , based on which this default parameter data record d 3 is loaded into the parameter memory 14 , in which case , on account of the new parameters stored in bytes 1 to 9 , the parameters loaded into the parameter memory 14 are overwritten in the bytes which correspond or are assigned to these bytes 1 to 9 , which is indicated in fig3 via a reference symbol 17 . as described , such measures reduce the number of default parameter data records to be stored in the memory 16 of the slave module 5 f , but also reduce a free area bx 3 in the parameter message pr 3 because additional bytes 1 to 9 need to be reserved or specified in said message to make changes in the referenced default parameter data record d 3 .] thus , while there have shown , described and pointed out fundamental novel features of the invention as applied to a preferred embodiment thereof , it will be understood that various omissions and substitutions and changes in the form and details of the devices illustrated , and in their operation , may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention . for example , it is expressly intended that all combinations of those elements and / or method steps which perform substantially the same function in substantially the same way to achieve the same results are within the scope of the invention . moreover , it should be recognized that structures and / or elements and / or method steps shown and / or described in connection with any disclosed form or embodiment of the invention may be incorporated in any other disclosed or described or suggested form or embodiment as a general matter of design choice . it is the intention , therefore , to be limited only as indicated by the scope of the claims appended hereto .	6
the monolithic ceramic capacitor shown in fig1 has a glass - ceramic body 10 . buried within the body 10 are a set of electrode films 11 that are interleaved with and spaced from another set of electrode films 12 . conductive termination coatings 13 and 14 contact electrode sets 11 and 12 , respectively . lead wires 15 and 16 are attached by solder bonds 17 and 18 to terminations 13 and 14 , respectively . the electrode films 11 and 12 are of a silver - palladium alloy . the capacitor body with buried electrodes is made by screen printing a film of an electroding ink on a surface of each of a plurality of glass - ceramic green layers , making a stack of these layers to form the body and firing the body to mature the glass - ceramic and to transform the ink films into the metallic electrode films . further details pertaining to the method used for making a glass - ceramic monolithic ceramic capacitor are disclosed in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 027 , 209 issued may 31 , 1977 and assigned to the same assignee as the present invention , and this patent is incorporated by reference herein . electroding inks for use in making such capacitors are described below , as well as novel and highly effective criteria for determining the suitability of such electroding inks for this use . a fineness of grind gage ( otherwise known as a drawdown gage ) was used to determine the approximate size of the largest particles remaining in the milled ink of the following examples . such gages consist of a calibrated shallow tapered or ramped trough , the ink being drawn across the trough by a doctor blade ( astm method d1210 - 64 ). however , it has been found that the correlation is generally poor between maximum particle size , as determined by this fineness of grind method and the degree of electrode smoothness as determined by sectioning a completed capacitor and viewing the electrodes under a microscope . this may be explained by the fact that the scarce &# 34 ; largest particles &# 34 ; will statistically very unlikely appear in the very small field of the microscope . what is seen and may be measured in the microscope , represents the electrode surface smoothness determined by the great majority of the metal electrode particles excluding the &# 34 ; largest particles &# 34 ;. it was found that an accurate reliable measure of this texture or smoothness was obtained by depositing a thick film of the milled ink on a glass slide or other flat plate , drying the film for 15 minutes at 100 ° c . and inspecting the surface of the dried film using a standard ( zeiss ) light - section - microscope . this instrument produces a thin sheet of intense light that is projected at a 45 degree angle onto the film surface . a microscope is arranged to view the illuminated surface portion from an opposite 45 degree angle ( so as to be aligned with the reflected light sheet from a target surface that is mirror smooth ). the observer sees a substantially horizontal line that corresponds in profile to the texture of the film surface . in fig2 there are illustrated such lines that were produced in a light - section - microscope of ink films at a magnification of 400 ×. the microscope employs a reticle having a horizontal line that is micrometer adjustable upward or downward . the technique used here to obtain a measure of texture quality includes positioning the reticle line so that it just touches the upper peaks of the illuminated profile , then lowering the reticle line so as to just touch the lowest peaks , and determining the difference in microns ( peak to peak ). it has been found that for capacitor electrodes having an average thickness of about 2 microns or greater , this method for determining texture quality correlates very well with electrode smoothness as seen in a capacitor cross section which in turn correlates well with capacitor life test results . in table i below , three grades of ink texture quality are shown that correspond to poor , fair and good performance criteria in finished capacitors . however , when there exist a few particles or agglomerates that are larger than about 8 microns , as measured by the fineness of grind gage , the life tests and other capacitor performance measures such as breakdown voltage are so poor that the ink texture quality test has no meaning when the ink is to be used in a capacitor having dielectric layers less thick than 0 . 0001 inch . table i______________________________________ ink texture quality ( microns ) capacitor quality______________________________________less than 6 good6 - 10 fairmore than 10 poor______________________________________ the light section microscope profile of a plain glass slide is represented by the straight line 21 of fig2 . the thickness of reference line 21 was 1 . 5 microns as measured by the above described technique . line 22 represents a very smooth conventional noble metal electrode ( pt / au ) having a measured texture quality of about 2 microns . what appears to be negative bumps are holes in the film . the silver - palladium alloy powders employed here are typical of those that are commercially available . they have a characteristic effective surface area of about 30 square meters per milliliter ( m 2 / ml ), but are also highly agglomerated which agglomerates have diameters up to about 40 microns . it is generally preferred to employ silver containing powders having an effective surface area of greater than 1 . 5 m 2 / ml to minimize the necessary milling time . the effective surface area a e of an ideal powder of spherical particles all having the same diameter d in microns is the above noted conventional silver bearing inks , wherein the metal powder is dispersed in the vehicle by passing the slurry through a 3 - roll mill one or more times , typically exhibit a fineness of grind greater than 8 microns and a texture ranging from 6 to 14 . a light - section - microscope profile of such an ink , having been prepared by employing the same slurry composition as for example 1 below , is illustrated in line 23 in fig2 . this ink had a fineness of grind of 9 . 5 microns and a texture quality of 8 . 8 microns . terpineol 318 , supplied by hercules , inc ., wilmington , delaware , in the amount of 15 , 117 gm , and 754 gm of a surfactant were poured into a sand mill containing 54 , 360 grams of 1 . 5 mm al 2 o 3 spheres . the surfactant was a mixture of equal molar quantities of the mono - and di - phosphate esters of tridecyl alcohol ethoxylate . the sand mill was a covered , water jacketed tank 50 cm in diameter with a 40 cm diameter perforated disc rotor suspended 7 cm from the bottom . the vertical axis rotor was driven by a 15 hp motor . with the rotor turning at 350 rpm , 50 , 259 gm of metal powder was added . this powder was a mixture of two powders , one having 20 ag / 80 pd alloy particles and the other having 95 ag / 5 pd alloy particles . the composition of the powder mix is 70 ag / 30 pd by weight . the rotor was stopped and the dry powder clinging to the tank sides , rotor supports and cover was swept into the liquid . the speed was raised to 600 rpm , the maximum speed attainable without splashing or any visible violent action , and run for 20 hours at a slurry temperature of 17 ° c . ( 63 ° f .). after passing the milled mixture through a 200 mesh sieve to remove the spheres , the ink had a fineness of grind of 2 . 8 microns and a texture quality of 3 . 5 microns , and a viscosity of 11 , 000 centipoise . no flaking was apparent . it is convenient to dissolve ethyl cellulose in a quantity of the chosen organic vehicle , and add a sufficient quantity of this thickener - binder solution to bring the viscosity of the ink to within the desired range after milling . ink viscosities of from 20 , 000 to 150 , 000 centipoise are generally suitable for screening . in another experiment , 75 grams of the 70 ag / 30 pd powder , 1 . 13 grams of the mono - and di - phosphate esters of tridecyl alcohol ethoxylate , and 31 grams of an organic vehicle were mixed and milled for 3 hours in a sand mill employing a nautical screw type impeller . five separate runs were made , each employing one of a diverse group of organic vehicles , namely dichlorotoluene , terpineol , cyclohexanol , kerosene , and monobutyl ether of dyethylene glycol . these vehicles are listed above in order of decreasing smoothness of the resulting ink , having texture quality measures of from about 2 to 5 microns . the ink quality as judged from such other factors as substrate wetability and rheology suitable for screen printing was highest for the mono - butyl ether and terpineol and less good for kerosene , cyclohexanol and dichlorotoluene , in that order . all of the resulting inks exhibited a fineness of grind less than 4 microns and there was no flaking . in further experiments following the procedure of example 2 wherein terpineol was chosen for the vehicle , simple alloy powders were used in place of the 70 ag / 30 pd alloy mixture of that example . the three metal powders consisted of the alloys 95 ag / 5 pd , 70 ag / 30 pd and 20 ag / 80 pd , respectively . the three resulting inks were found to be suitably smooth , all having a fineness of grind of about 3 microns . although not tried , it would be expected that pure silver powder would also yield an excellent electroding ink . a 75 kilogram slurry charge , having the same composition as in example 1 , was milled in the same sand mill but at 30 ° c . ( 86 ° f .). even after 30 hours of milling the ink had a fineness of grind of 9 microns and slight flaking . also , it was necessary to reduce the speed of the rotor to about 360 rpm to maintain a smooth non - violent vortex . it appears that 30 ° c . is about the maximum temperature at which the process of this example is capable of providing suitably smooth ink , although it is anticipated that the addition of the thickeners such as the aforementioned binder or an additional quantity of the metal powder will make it possible to increase the milling speed and improve the quality of the ink at higher temperatures . it is most convenient and preferred to maintain the slurry temperature at about 18 ° c . ( 65 ° f .). monolithic capacitors having active dielectric layers of 0 . 00095 inch thickness were made using the inks of examples 1 and a 70 ag / 30 pd ink made by conventional 3 - roll milling in terpineol . these capacitors were otherwise all alike structurally , and exhibited about the same dissipation factor , capacitance and leakage current . the capacitors were designed for maximum rated operation at 50 volts . capacitors of both groups were subjected to accelerated life test conditions of 150 ° c . with 175 vdc applied and leakage current of each was monitored periodically . the capacitors of both groups exhibited less than the required maximum leakage current after 48 hours , following a standard life test criteria . fifty percent of the capacitors employing the 3 - roll - milled electroding ink failed at 500 hours , at which time all the capacitors employing the smooth electroding inks of this invention were still good . fifty percent of the remaining capacitors failed after 900 hours .	7
the microporous polyolefin layers useful in the present invention can be formed by either liquid - liquid thermodynamic , non - equilibrium phase separation or liquid - solid thermodynamic , non - equilibrium phase separation . when liquid - liquid phase separation occurs , the cells comprise void spaces encased by fibrous , lacy , or semi - continuous boundaries . upon orientation , the cells become elongated in the direction of orientation . the cells of the oriented article are generally ellipsoidal in shape with an aspect ratio of major axis to minor axis greater than 1 . 0 and a major axis generally lying in a plane parallel to the surface of the article . when liquid - solid phase separation occurs , the material has an internal structure characterized by a multiplicity of spaced , randomly disposed , non - uniform shaped , equiaxed particles of thermoplastic polymer , adjacent particles throughout said material being separated from one another to provide the material with a network of interconnected micropores and being connected to each other by a plurality of fibrils consisting of the thermoplastic polymer . the fibrils elongate upon orientation providing greater spacing between the thermoplastic polymer particles and increased porosity . liquid - liquid phase separation is described , for example , in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 247 , 498 ( castro ) and liquid - solid phase separation is described , for example , in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 539 , 256 ( shipman ), both of which are incorporated herein by reference . polyolefins useful in the present invention preferably include the polymers of ethylene and propylene but also may include polymers of 1 - octene , 1 - butene , 1 - methyl - 4 - pentene , styrene , and the like , and copolymers and blends of two or more such olefins that may be polymerized to contain crystalline and amorphous segments and mixtures of stereo - specific modification of such polymers , e . g ., mixtures of isotactic polypropylene and atactic polypropylene , isotactic polystyrene and atactic polystyrene . the additive which is melt - blended with the polyolefin is a material which is capable of forming a solution with the thermoplastic polymer when heated above the melt temperature of the polymer and which phase separates from the polymer on cooling . the compatibility of the liquid with the polymer can be determined by heating the polymer and the liquid to form a clear homogeneous solution . if a solution of the polymer and the liquid cannot be formed at any liquid concentration , then the liquid is inappropriate for use with that polymer . in practice , the liquid used may include compounds which are solid at room temperature but liquid at the melt temperature of the polymer . generally , for non - polar polyolefin polymers , non - polar organic liquids with similar room temperature solubility parameters are generally useful at the solution temperatures . blends of two or more liquids can be used as the compatible liquid as long as the selected polymer is soluble in the liquid blend at the polymer melt temperature and the solution formed phase separates on cooling . various types of organic compounds have been found useful as the compatible liquid , including aliphatic and aromatic acids , aliphatic , aromatic and cyclic alcohols , primary and secondary amines , aromatic and ethoxylated amines , diamines , esters and diesters , ethers , ketones and various hydrocarbons and heterocyclics . when the polymer selected is polypropylene , aliphatic hydrocarbons such as mineral oil , esters such as dibutyl phthalate and ethers such as dibenzyl ether are useful as the compatible liquid . when high density polyethylene is the polymer , an aliphatic hydrocarbon such as mineral oil or and aliphatic ketone such as methyl nonyl ketone or an ester such as dioctyl phthalate are useful as the compatible liquid . compatible liquids for use with low density polyethylene include aliphatic acids such as decanoic acid and oleic acid or primary alcohols such as decyl alcohol . the actual polymer concentration selected from within the predetermined concentration range for the liquid - polymer system being used is limited by functional considerations . the polymer concentration and molecular weight should be sufficient to provide the microporous structure which is formed on cooling with adequate strength for handling in further processing steps . the polymer concentration should be such that the viscosity of the liquid - polymer melt solution is suitable for the equipment used to shape the article . generally , the polymer concentration in the compatible liquid is about 10 to 80 weight percent , which corresponds to a compatible liquid concentration of 20 to 90 weight percent . the relative amounts of thermoplastic polymer and compatible liquid vary with each system . the polymer concentration which can be used in a given system can be determined by reference to the temperature - composition graph for a polymer - liquid system as set forth in fig1 such graphs can be readily developed by known techniques such as set forth in smolders , van aartsen and steenbergen , kolloid - z . u . z . polymere , 243 , 14 - 20 ( 1971 ). the portion of the curve from gamma to alpha represents the thermodynamic equilibrium liquid - liquid phase separation . t ucst represents the upper critical solution temperature , i . e ., the maximum temperature of the system at which liquid - liquid phase separation will occur . φ ucst represents the critical composition . to form the microporous polymers of the present invention , the polymer concentration utilized for a particular system must be greater than φ ucst . if the polymer concentration is less than this , the phase separation which occurs as the system is cooled forms a continuous liquid phase with a discontinuous polymer phase , resulting in a structure which lacks sufficient integrity . the portion of the curve from alpha to beta represents equilibrium liquid - solid phase separation . alternatively , the compatible liquid can be chosen such that the thermoplastic polymer and compatible liquid system will exhibit liquid - solid phase separation or liquid - liquid phase separation over the entire composition range . for a given cooling rate in a system , the crystallization temperature - concentration curve of the compatible liquid can be determined and from this curve the concentration ranges for the polymer and the liquid which will yield the desired microporous structure at the given cooling rate can be determined . the determination of the crystallization curve is an alternative to determining the temperature - concentration phase diagram for a system incorporating a semicrystalline polymer . in the process of the present invention , the rate of cooling of the solution may be varied within wide limits as long as the rate is sufficient that the phase separation does not occur under thermodynamic equilibrium conditions . for many liquid - polymer systems , when the rate of cooling of the liquid - polymer solution is slow , but sufficient to result in liquid - liquid phase separation , liquid - liquid phase separation occurs at substantially the same time as the formation of a plurality of liquid droplets of substantially uniform size . when the cooling rate is such that the droplets form , the resultant microporous polymer will have a cellular microstructure . if the rate of cooling of the liquid - polymer solution is rapid , the solution undergoes a spontaneous transformation called spinodal decomposition , the resultant microporous polymer will have a fine open - cellular microstructure . the fine microporous structure is referred to as a lacy structure . for many polymer systems which include a crystalline polymer , when the rate of cooling is sufficient to result in liquid - solid phase separation , the resulting microporous polymer will have spherulitic microstructure . thus , differing microporous structures can be obtained by either liquid - liquid or liquid - solid phase separation techniques by varying the cooling rate and the liquid - polymer system used . the additive is removed from the formed structure by solvent extraction either before or after the layers are brought into contact for bonding , the solvent replacing the additive in the pores of the polyolefin material . replacing the additive with solvent before contacting the sheets has the advantages of easier and faster additive removal because the individual sheets are thinner and allow the more viscous additive to be removed more easily . any solvent capable of extracting the additive from the polyolefin sheet material and swelling the polyolefin polymer can be used as the extraction solvent in the method of the present invention . generally , alkanes , halogenated alkanes , alcohols , ketones , and aromatic solvents are suitable for additive extraction . such extraction solvents include 1 , 1 , 1 - trichloroethane , methylethyl ketone , toluene , and isopropyl alcohol . after the additive has been removed by solvent extraction and the microporous polyolefin sheets to be laminated are brought into contact , the solvent is allowed to evaporate and the sheets bond to each other at the contacting surfaces . the formed sheets should be handled such that the sheets do not dry before being brought into contact with each other . either additive or extraction solvent should remain in the sheets until they are brought into contact with each other . the additives used in making the microporous polyolefin articles tend to swell the polymer by absorbing into the amorphous regions of the polymer . the solvents used for additive removal swell or absorb into the same amorphous portions until the solvent dries . upon drying the polymer shrinks somewhat . it is believed that during the bonding process of this invention the extraction solvent causes the polymer sheets to swell and since the polymer sheets are in intimate contact , upon drying , the swollen polymer shrinks and causes point to point contact of the polymer nodes , where an adsorptive bond develops between the polymer surfaces . adsorptive bonding is the adhesion in an extremely thin layer of molecules to the surfaces of solid bodies with which they are in contact . surprisingly , no additional external physical means are required for the bonding to take place . thus , the interlayer boundaries of the laminate are not distorted and each sheet of the laminate retains its properties to the interface with the next sheet . the advantages of the type of interlayer bonding of the present invention are high interlayer bond strength , retention of individual layer properties without interference from an artificial bond , and to bond layers with dissimilar properties . for example , porosity and void volume of a laminate of similar sheets would be the same as the individual sheets before bonding . also these properties can be tailored to fit various requirements by changing the properties of each sheet of the laminate . after removal of the compatible liquid and , optionally , orientation , the resulting microporous material may be modified by imbibition of various materials , such as , for example , liquids , solvent solutions , solvent dispersions , or solids . such materials may be imbibed by any of a number of known methods which result in the deposition of such materials within the porous structure of the microporous material . the imbibed material may be physically entrapped within the microporous structure or chemically reacted with the polymeric material of the microporous structure . examples of imbibing materials include medicaments , fragrances , antistatic agents , surfactants , and pesticides . the thermoplastic polymer may be imbibed with a urethane monomer which is them polymerized in situ to provide a liquid - impermeable , vapor - permeable material . microporous laminated sheets of the present invention may be useful in a wide variety of applications such as tapes , pinhole - free packaging , battery separators , wound dressings , and filters . controlled porous composites are obtainable by bonding dissimilar materials together , each material having individually controlled porous properties . delicate high porosity sheets can be bonded between stronger lower porosity sheets to produce a handleable filter material . other filter products , using a gradient of pore sizes would allow higher filter capacity and longer filter life . this invention is further illustrated by the following examples . in the examples all parts and percentages are by weight unless otherwise specified . in the examples , the values reported for &# 34 ; gurley seconds &# 34 ; are measurements of the time in seconds needed to pass 50 cc of air through the sheet material according to astm - d - 792 - 58 , method a . the density is measured in grams / cc determined according to the specific gravity measurement of astm - d - 792 - 66 . the void volume is based on the measured density of the porous membrane and the given density of the polymer according to the following formula : ## equ1 ## a 0 . 3 mm thick sheet of material was prepared using the liquid - solid phase separation method described in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 539 , 256 with a composition of about 26 weight percent high density polyethylene having a melt flow index of about 0 . 07 ( available under the trade designation gm 9255 f2 from american hoechst company , leominster , massachusetts ) and about 74 weight percent mineral oil ( available under the trade designation amoco ™ white mineral oil # 31 usp grade from amoco oil company ). the polyethylene / mineral oil blend was melt extruded on a 40 mm twin screw extruder maintained at a 160 ° c melt temperature through a 30 . 5 cm casting die gapped at 0 . 05 cm onto a casting wheel maintained at 32 ° c . five sheets of this material were soaked in 1 , 1 , 1 - trichloroethane to remove and replace the mineral oil . the solvent - wet sheets were stacked on top of each other and mounted on a restraining frame for drying at which time the sheets began to shrink causing them to become taut in the frame where an adsorptive bond developed between the layers . the dried composite was biaxially stretched 3 × 3 at 82 ° c . and heat treated at 95 ° c . for 1 minute . attempts to separate the layers of the porous material by hand before or after biaxial stretching indicated the layers were sufficiently bonded and could not be separated . the 5 - layer microporous polyolefin sheet material had a gurley value of 50 . 4 seconds , a density of 0 . 082 g / cc , a void volume of 91 . 4 %, and a thickness of 0 . 66 mm . a 0 . 1 mm thick sheet of material was prepared using liquid - solid phase separation and incorporating a nucleating agent as described in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 726 , 989 with a composition of about 40 weight percent polypropylene having a melt flow index of 0 . 8 ( available under the trade designation pro - fax ™ 6723 from himont incorporated , wilmington , delaware ) and about 60 weight percent mineral oil . this blend incorporated about 0 . 3 weight percent ( based on polymer weight ) dibenzylidene sorbitol nucleating agent ( available from milliken chemical under the trade designation millad ™ 3905 ) which was dry - dusted on the polypropylene pellets before extrusion . the polypropylene / mineral oil blend was melt extruded on a 40 mm twin screw extruder maintained at a 205 ° c . melt temperature through a 30 . 5 cm casting die gapped at 0 . 05 cm onto a casting wheel maintained at 49 ° c . two sheets of this material were soaked in 1 , 1 , 1 - trichloroethane to remove and replace the mineral oil . the solvent - wet sheets were stacked on each other and mounted on a restraining frame for drying . as the sheets dried , they shrank and became taut in the frame where an adsorptive bond developed between the layers . the dried composite was biaxially stretched 2 . 5 × 2 . 5 at 95 ° c . attempts to separate the layers of the porous material by hand before or after biaxial stretching indicated the layers were sufficiently bonded and could not be separated . the 2 - layer microporous polypropylene sheet material had a gurley value of 13 . 4 seconds , a density of 0 . 193 g / cc , a void volume of 78 . 6 %, and a thickness of 0 . 10 mm . fig2 is a photomicrograph of the cross - sectional interfacial boundary area of two polypropylene microporous sheets made according to example 2 of the present invention . the left half of the photomicrograph is shown at a magnification of 1000 ×, and a portion of the left half ( identified by a small rectangular border within the left half ) is further enlarged to a magnification of 10 , 000 × and is presented as the right half of the photomicrograph in order to show further detail of the cross - sectional interfacial boundary area of the microporous sheets . the bar marker placed in the lower right corner of the right half of the photomicrograph ( solid white line followed by a double dash ) is a scale marker indicating length . the solid white line portion of the bar marker represents 10 microns in the left half and 1 micron in the right half of the photomicrograph . fig3 is a photomicrograph of the surface structure of the microporous laminate of fig2 at the same split screen magnifications , 1000 × left half and 10 , 000 × right half . a 0 . 17 mm thick sheet of material was prepared using liquid - liquid phase separation as described in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 247 , 498 with a composition of about 41 weight percent polypropylene ( pro - fax ™ 6723 ) and about 59 weight percent n , n - bis ( 2 - hydroxyethyl ) tallowamine ( available under the trade designation armostat ™ 310 from armak chemical ). the polypropylene / tallowamine blend was melt extruded on a 1 &# 34 ; killion extruder maintained at a 260 ° c . melt temperature through a casting die gapped at 15 . 2 × 0 . 0178 cm onto a casting wheel maintained at 60 ° c . two sheets of this material were soaked in 1 , 1 , 1 - trichloroethane to remove and replace the tallowamine . the solvent wet sheets were stacked on each other and mounted on a restraining frame for drying . as the sheets dried they shrank and became taut in the frame where an adsorptive bond developed between the layers . the dried composite was biaxially stretched 2 . 0 × 2 . 0 at 121 ° c . attempts to separate the layers of the porous material by hand before or after biaxial stretching indicated the layers were sufficiently bonded and could not be separated . the 2 - layer microporous polypropylene sheet material has a gurley value of 44 . 2 seconds , a density of 0 . 166 g / cc , a void volume of 81 . 6 %, and a thickness of 0 . 21 mm . a single sheet of polypropylene / mineral oil material prepared as in example 2 and a single sheet of polyethylene / mineral oil ) prepared as in example 1 were soaked in 1 , 1 , 1 - trichloroethane to remove and replace the mineral oil . the solvent wet sheets were stacked on each other and mounted on a restraining frame for drying . as the sheets dried , they shrank and became taut in the frame where a bond developed between the layers . the dried composite was biaxially stretched 2 . 5 × 2 . 5 at 85 ° c . attempts to separate the layers of the porous material by hand before or after biaxial stretching indicated the layers were sufficiently bonded . the 2 - layer microporous polypropylene / polyethylene sheet material had a gurley value of 14 . 5 seconds , a density of 0 . 158 g / cc , a void volume of 83 %, and a thickness of 0 . 11 mm . two sheets of polyethylene / mineral oil were prepared according to the liquid - solid phase separation method of example 1 , except that the first sheet contained 49 weight percent polyethylene and 51 weight percent mineral oil and and the second sheet contained 34 weight percent polyethylene and 66 weight percent mineral oil . a sample of each sheet was individually soaked in 1 , 1 , 1 - trichloroethane to remove and replace the mineral oil . each solvent - wet sheet was individually mounted in a restraining frame , dried and biaxially stretched 3 × 3 at 88 ° c . the sheet prepared using 49 weight percent polyethylene and 51 weight percent mineral oil had a gurley value of 42 . 4 seconds , a density of 0 . 253 g / cc , a void volume of 73 . 5 %, and a thickness of 0 . 05 mm . the sheet prepared using 34 weight percent polyethylene and 66 weight percent mineral oil had a gurley value of 20 . 4 seconds , a density of 0 . 103 g / cc , a void volume of 89 . 2 %, and a thickness of 0 . 03 . another sample of each sheet was soaked in 1 , 1 , 1 - trichloroethane to remove and replace the mineral oil . the solvent wet sheets were stacked and mounted on a restraining frame for drying . as the sheets dried , they shrank and became taut in the frame where an adsorptive bond developed between layers . the dried composite was biaxially stretched 3 × 3 at 88 ° c . attempts to separate the layers of the porous material by hand before or after biaxial stretching indicated the layers were sufficiently bonded and could not be separated . the 2 - layer polyethylene microporous sheet material had a gurley value of 71 . 2 seconds , a density of 0 . 176 g / cc , a void volume of 81 . 5 %, and a thickness of 0 . 08 mm . two sheets of dry , unstretched polytetrafluoroethylene ( ptfe ) were imbibed with a processing aid , isopar ™ m ( isoparaffinic petroleum hydrocarbon solvent available from exxon co .) and solvent washed to remove the isopar ™ m . the solvent - wet sheets were stacked , mounted on a restraining frame , and allowed to dry . after drying , the layered ptfe sheets were removed from the frame . the sheets had not bonded and fell apart immediately upon removal from the frame . two sheets of freshly processed ptfe sheet material containing 82 weight percent ptfe and 18 weight percent isopar ™ m were solvent washed with 1 , 1 , 1 - trichloroethane to remove the isopar ™ m . the solvent wet sheets were stacked , mounted on a restraining frame , and allowed to dry . after drying , the layered ptfe sheets were removed from the frame . the sheets had not bonded and fell apart immediately upon removal from the frame . various modifications and alterations of this invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of this invention and this invention should not be restricted to that set forth herein for illustrative purposes .	1
the following detailed description of the exemplary embodiments refers to the accompanying drawings . the same reference numbers in different drawings identify the same or similar elements . also , the following detailed description does not limit the invention . instead , the scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims . the flow lookup in an openflow switch will be described in this document as an exemplary embodiment . it should be noted that the described method is applicable to other technologies using both exact and / or wildcard table lookup techniques . looking first to fig1 , a diagram 100 of a prior art system of providing a lookup operation is illustrated and will provide a context for describing the exemplary embodiments provided herein . the prior art system includes an openflow switch 102 communicating with a controller 104 using the openflow protocol 110 . further , the prior art method depicts a secure channel 106 and a flow table 108 as components of the openflow switch 102 . a detailed description of this prior art is presented in the above described background section . looking now to fig2 and another prior art embodiment , is a software method for providing a lookup operation . the prior art method begins with a packet 202 arrival and a hashing lookup 204 based on the fields included in the packet 202 . if an exact matching flow 206 is found then the lookup is complete . if an exact matching flow 206 is not found , then the lookup method proceeds with a linear lookup 208 . if a wildcard matching flow 210 is found then the lookup is complete . if a wildcard matching flow 210 is not found 212 then the packet is forwarded to the controller for further processing . it should be noted , as described in the background section that the linear lookup 208 step is a non - deterministic step and can therefore take a significant amount of time based on the processing capabilities of the computing environment . looking now to fig3 , a further prior art exemplary method embodiment 300 of the software based linear lookup in an openflow switch is illustrated . as described previously in the background section , the linear lookup 318 begins on the highest priority 316 flows 302 , 304 , 306 , 308 , 310 in the wildcard matching flow table 320 and proceeds until a match is found or the end of the wildcard matching flow table 320 is reached . turning now to fig4 , another prior art exemplary embodiment 400 of a hardware based linear lookup in an openflow switch is illustrated . as described previously in the background section , the header parser 402 will extract fields from the incoming packet and pack them together for simultaneous delivery to the exact match lookup component 404 and the wildcard lookup component 406 . in the prior art embodiment , the exact match lookup component 404 uses a hashing lookup into off - chip static random access memory ( sram ) 412 while the wildcard lookup component 406 performs the wildcard lookup on on - chip ternary content addressable memory ( tcam ). the prior art exemplary embodiment continues with both results provided to the arbiter component 408 where the highest priority result is selected and provided to the packet editor 410 to modify the packet according to the matched flow , as directed by the arbiter 408 . the following exemplary method embodiments describe a mechanism to facilitate exact matching flow lookup and wildcard flow lookup in a manner that is ideal for a parallel processor utilizing single instruction multiple data ( simd ) instructions or a multi - core processor . the exemplary method embodiments provide a constant time lookup for both the exact matching and the wildcard matching without a time consuming and unbounded linear lookup or special and expensive hardware . further , the exemplary embodiments are scalable to the number of simd cores providing for a definable increase in capacity and / or performance . for example , the constant time is reduced linearly with the increasing number of simd execution cores . unlike the prior art illustrated previously , the exemplary embodiments provide a flow exact pattern method and a parallel flow selection method constructed to take advantage of a parallel computing environment utilizing simd instruction set computation . looking now to fig5 , an exemplary embodiment 500 of a mechanism to perform a deterministic lookup utilizing a flow exact pattern 502 and a parallel flow selection 504 is depicted , including a packet 506 for processing , the flows 508 , 510 , 512 , 514 associated with the arriving packet 506 , the hash tables 516 , 518 , 520 , 522 associated with the flow exact patterns 502 , the parallel flow selection 504 mechanism for selecting a lookup result 524 based on the array of flow index with local maximum priority . next in the exact pattern lookup phase of the exemplary embodiment , the lookup is described by the following pseudo code : for each pi concurrently do for each e ∈ ei do f = lf ( e ) if ( f != − 1 & amp ;& amp ; priority ( f ) & gt ; priority ( maxfi )) maxfi = f with p = set of simd cores ; pi = simd core at index i ; lf ( e )= function to lookup a flow index from a flow exact pattern hash table based on a flow exact pattern ( e ) and return a valid flow index for a match or a non - valid flow index if a match is not found ; priority ( f )= function to lookup the priority value based on the flow index ; maxf = array containing flow indexes with local maximum priority shared across the set p ; maxfi = flow index with local maximum priority for each pi ( initialized to a non - valid index value ); and ei = set of flow exact patterns distributed equally to pi . continuing with the exemplary embodiment , as stated in the pseudo code , the flow exact patterns 502 are distributed equally among the simd cores and , the operations inside the loop including lf ( e ), priority ( f ), and comparisons are constant time operations . accordingly , the computation time is calculated as o ( e / p ) where e is the number of flow exact patterns ( maximum number is 4096 for the 12 field exemplary embodiment ) and p is the number of simd cores . the output from this phase , flow exact patterns , is the maxf array containing flow indexes with local maximum priority and the output array &# 39 ; s size is p . it should be noted in the exemplary embodiment that this array is an input to the second phase parallel flow selection . next in the exemplary embodiment , the parallel flow selection 504 second phase , the maxf array is searched by the previously described parallel flow selection 504 . with respect to the exemplary embodiment of fig7 , it can be seen that such a search uses log 2 n computation time where n is the number of input values . as a result for this exemplary embodiment , the computation time for the parallel flow selection 504 phase is o ( log 2 p ). combining the flow exact pattern 502 phase and the parallel flow selection 504 phase , the total computation time is o ( e / p + log 2 p ) where the maximum for e is 4096 in the twelve field example of the exemplary embodiment . the exemplary embodiments provide a constant time lookup and scalability to the number of multi - processor cores using simd instruction sets , without the use of any special hardware . it should be noted in the exemplary embodiments that the number of computation steps is bounded by the maximum number of flow exact patterns . it should also be noted in the exemplary embodiments that the bounded steps provide the constant time lookup for both the exact matching flows and the wildcard matching flows . further , it should be noted , as illustrated previously , that the exemplary embodiments constant time operations are scalable to additional processors and / or multi - core processors with a greater number of cores providing for a scalable solution that reduces the lookup time linearly by adding additional processors or cores . the exemplary embodiments are also portable because no dedicated hardware is required to perform the lookup and the size of the flow tables can be significantly larger than the lookup tables associated with a dedicated hardware solution based on the expense of the dedicated hardware . in another aspect of the exemplary embodiment , an apparatus comprising a plurality of processor cores can be configured to generate a plurality of flow exact patterns , based on an associated plurality of flows and to select a highest priority flow utilizing a parallel flow selection , based on the plurality of flow exact patterns . it should be noted that the processor cores of the apparatus should be configured to execute single instruction multiple data instructions ( simd ). continuing with the exemplary embodiments , an apparatus comprising a plurality of processor cores can be configured to compare a plurality of flows and group indexes of all flows where all the exact fields of the plurality of flows having the same exact value are matched , to generate a table for each group of said indexes and to store a predetermined flow priority with each flow index in the table . it should be further noted that an additional entry is generated in the table with all fields being wildcards for a default matching entry . further , in an exemplary embodiment , an apparatus comprising a plurality of processor cores can be configured to distribute a plurality of flows equally among said plurality of processor cores , to perform a first iteration of each processor core through comparing assigned flows to select a flow with a highest priority as output and to perform a second iteration of comparing said output from each processor core to select a flow with a highest priority as output . turning now to fig6 , an exemplary embodiment 600 of generating flow exact patterns 602 is depicted , including a series of flows 604 , 606 , 608 , 610 , 612 , 614 and an associated series of flow exact pattern 602 hash tables 616 , 618 , 620 , 622 based on the flows 604 , 606 , 608 , 610 , 612 , 614 . in the exemplary embodiment , the flow exact pattern 602 is a pattern for grouping flows 604 , 606 , 608 , 610 , 612 , 614 with similar exact value fields 624 in the flow table . this fact of the exemplary embodiment converts a wild card search operation into an exact match operation . hence , in the exemplary embodiment , the number of flow exact patterns 602 is equal or less than the number of flows . further in the exemplary embodiment , each flow exact pattern has its own hash table 616 , 618 , 620 , 622 for storing the flows within the pattern . continuing with the exemplary embodiment , the number of flow exact patterns depends on the flows in the flow table but the maximum is bounded based on the maximum number of fields . for example , the maximum number of flow exact patterns for a twelve field header is the number of possible twelve - field combinations plus one , with the plus one field being a special pattern wherein every field is a wildcard field for use as a default matching pattern . accordingly , the number for this exemplary embodiment can be calculated as follows : turning now to fig7 , an exemplary embodiment of a parallel flow selection 700 is depicted , including a series of computational steps 702 , 704 , 706 , 708 and a series of priority comparisons 710 , 712 , 714 , 716 , 718 , 720 , 722 . parallel flow selection in the exemplary embodiment is a search for the flow with the highest priority , accomplished by dividing the work among simd cores . the exemplary embodiment search iterates through several rounds 702 , 704 , 706 , 708 until the flow with maximum priority 708 is found . in the exemplary embodiment , set p equal to the number of simd cores active in each round and set n equal to the number of flows to search . the first round starts with p = n / 2 . in each round , both n and p are reduced by half . xi is the flow index in the flow table at location i of the input array . the arrows 710 , 712 , 714 , 716 , 718 , 720 , 722 represent the priority comparison between xi and xj . mij indicates the flow index with maximum priority from location i to j . the search proceeds until n equals 2 and p equals 1 . after this , one comparison by the last core gives the final answer . as depicted in the exemplary embodiment , the search implies o ( log 2 n ) computation times where n is the number of flows to search . turning now to fig8 , an exemplary method embodiment 800 based on enhancing a table lookup for a parallel computing environment is depicted . starting at exemplary method embodiment step 802 , a plurality of flow exact patterns is generated , based on an associated flow table , for grouping flows based on similar exact value fields . it should be noted in the exemplary embodiment that the number of flow exact patterns is less than or equal to the number of flows . further in the exemplary embodiment , it should be noted that each flow exact pattern has its own hash table for storing the flows associated with the flow exact pattern . next , the exemplary embodiment groups flows by comparing a plurality of flows and groups the indexes of all flows wherein all fields of said flows with the same exact value are matched . the exemplary embodiment then generates a table for each group of indexes and stores a predetermined flow priority with each flow index . continuing at step 804 of the exemplary embodiment , the plurality of flow exact pattern hash tables , created by step 802 of the exemplary embodiment , is provided as input to parallel flow selection of step 804 . the exemplary embodiment utilizes a parallel flow selection , based on said plurality of flow exact patterns , for selecting the highest priority flow from said plurality of flow exact patterns by iterating through the plurality of hash tables on parallel processors / cores comparing predefined flow priorities to determine the flow with the highest priority as the output of the lookup . in another aspect , the exemplary embodiment selects a highest priority flow from a plurality of flows by distributing the plurality of flows equally among a plurality of processors and / or processor cores , performing a first iteration of each processor and / or processor core through the assigned flows to determine the flow with the highest priority and then performing a second iteration of comparing the processor and / or processor core output of highest priority to another processor and / or processor core output of highest priority to select the highest priority flow . fig9 illustrates an example of a suitable computing system environment 900 in which the claimed subject matter can be implemented , although as made clear above , the computing system environment 900 is only one example of a suitable computing environment for an exemplary embodiment and is not intended to suggest any limitation as to the scope of use or functionality of the claimed subject matter . further , the computing environment 900 is not intended to suggest any dependency or requirement relating to the claimed subject matter and any one or combination of components illustrated in the example computing environment 900 . looking now to fig9 , an example of a device for implementing the previously described innovation includes a general purpose computing device in the form of a computer 910 . components of computer 910 can include , but are not limited to , a processing unit 920 , a system memory 930 , and a system bus 990 that couples various system components including the system memory to the processing unit 920 . the system bus 990 can be any of several types of bus structures including a memory bus or memory controller , a peripheral bus , and a local bus using any of a variety of bus architectures . computer 910 can include a variety of computer readable media . computer readable media can be any available media that can be accessed by computer 910 . by way of example , and not limitation , computer readable media can comprise computer storage media and communication media . computer storage media includes volatile and nonvolatile as well as removable and non - removable media implemented in any method or technology for storage of information such as computer readable instructions , data structures , program modules or other data . computer storage media includes , but is not limited to , ram , rom , eeprom , flash memory or other memory technology , cdrom , digital versatile disks ( dvd ) or other optical disk storage , magnetic cassettes , magnetic tape , magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices , or any other medium which can be used to store the desired information and which can be accessed by computer 910 . communication media can embody computer readable instructions , data structures , program modules or other data in a modulated data signal such as a carrier wave or other transport mechanism and can include any suitable information delivery media . the system memory 930 can include computer storage media in the form of volatile and / or nonvolatile memory such as read only memory ( rom ) and / or random access memory ( ram ). a basic input / output system ( bios ), containing the basic routines that help to transfer information between elements within computer 910 , such as during start - up , can be stored in memory 930 . memory 930 can also contain data and / or program modules that are immediately accessible to and / or presently being operated on by processing unit 920 . by way of non - limiting example , memory 930 can also include an operating system , application programs , other program modules , and program data . the computer 910 can also include other removable / non - removable and volatile / nonvolatile computer storage media . for example , computer 910 can include a hard disk drive that reads from or writes to non - removable , nonvolatile magnetic media , a magnetic disk drive that reads from or writes to a removable , nonvolatile magnetic disk , and / or an optical disk drive that reads from or writes to a removable , nonvolatile optical disk , such as a cd - rom or other optical media . other removable / non - removable , volatile / nonvolatile computer storage media that can be used in the exemplary operating environment include , but are not limited to , magnetic tape cassettes , flash memory cards , digital versatile disks , digital video tape , solid state ram , solid state rom and the like . a hard disk drive can be connected to the system bus 990 through a non - removable memory interface such as an interface , and a magnetic disk drive or optical disk drive can be connected to the system bus 990 by a removable memory interface , such as an interface . a user can enter commands and information into the computer 910 through input devices such as a keyboard or a pointing device such as a mouse , trackball , touch pad , and / or other pointing device . other input devices can include a microphone , joystick , game pad , satellite dish , scanner , or similar devices . these and / or other input devices can be connected to the processing unit 920 through user input 940 and associated interface ( s ) that are coupled to the system bus 990 , but can be connected by other interface and bus structures , such as a parallel port , game port or a universal serial bus ( usb ). a graphics subsystem can also be connected to the system bus 990 . in addition , a monitor or other type of display device can be connected to the system bus 990 through an interface , such as output interface 950 , which can in turn communicate with video memory . in addition to a monitor , computers can also include other peripheral output devices , such as speakers and / or printing devices , which can also be connected through output interface 950 . the processing unit 920 can comprise a plurality of processing cores providing greater computational power and parallel computing capabilities . further , the computing environment 900 can contain a plurality of processing units providing greater computational power and parallel computing capabilities . it should be noted that the computing environment 900 can also be a combination of multi - processor and multi - core processor capabilities . the computer 910 can operate in a networked or distributed environment using logical connections to one or more other remote computers , such as remote server 970 , which can in turn have media capabilities different from device 910 . the remote server 970 can be a personal computer , a server , a router , a network pc , a peer device or other common network node , and / or any other remote media consumption or transmission device , and can include any or all of the elements described above relative to the computer 910 . the logical connections depicted in fig9 include a network 980 , such as a local area network ( lan ) or a wide area network ( wan ), but can also include other networks / buses . when used in a lan networking environment , the computer 910 is connected to the lan 980 through a network interface 960 or adapter . when used in a wan networking environment , the computer 910 can include a communications component , such as a modem , or other means for establishing communications over a wan , such as the internet . a communications component , such as a modem , which can be internal or external , can be connected to the system bus 990 through the user input interface at input 940 and / or other appropriate mechanism . in a networked environment , program modules depicted relative to the computer 910 , or portions thereof , can be stored in a remote memory storage device . it should be noted that the network connections shown and described are exemplary and other means of establishing a communications link between the computers can be used . additionally , it should be noted that as used in this application , terms such as “ component ,” “ display ,” “ interface ,” and other similar terms are intended to refer to a computing device , either hardware , a combination of hardware and software , software , or software in execution as applied to a computing device implementing a virtual keyboard . for example , a component may be , but is not limited to being , a process running on a processor , a processor , an object , an executable , a thread of execution , a program and a computing device . as an example , both an application running on a computing device and the computing device can be components . one or more components can reside within a process and / or thread of execution and a component can be localized on one computing device and / or distributed between two or more computing devices , and / or communicatively connected modules . further , it should be noted that as used in this application , terms such as “ system user ,” “ user ,” and similar terms are intended to refer to the person operating the computing device referenced above . further , the term to “ infer ” or “ inference ” refer generally to the process of reasoning about or inferring states of the system , environment , user , and / or intent from a set of observations captured from events and / or data . captured events and data can include user data , device data , environment data , behavior data , application data , implicit and explicit data , etc . inference can be employed to identify a specific context or action , or can generate a probability distribution over states , for example . the inference can be probabilistic in that the computation of a probability distribution over states of interest based on a consideration of data and events . inference can also refer to techniques employed for composing higher - level events from a set of events and / or data . such inference results in the construction of new events or actions from a set of observed events and / or stored event data , whether or not the events are correlated in close temporal proximity , and whether the events and data come from one or several event and data sources . the above - described exemplary embodiments are intended to be illustrative in all respects , rather than restrictive , of the present innovation . thus the present innovation is capable of many variations in detailed implementation that can be derived from the description contained herein by a person skilled in the art . all such variations and modifications are considered to be within the scope and spirit of the present innovation as defined by the following claims . no element , act , or instruction used in the description of the present application should be construed as critical or essential to the invention unless explicitly described as such . also , as used herein , the article “ a ” is intended to include one or more items .	7
referring to fig2 a block diagram of a circuit 100 in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown . the circuit 100 may be implemented , in one example , as a pre - decoder circuit ( or block ). the circuit 100 may be implemented , in one example , in the context of a receive path 102 of a video transmission system . the circuit 100 may be configured to transform a first bitstream ( e . g ., bitstream_a ) into a second bitstream ( e . g ., bitstream_b ). the bitstream bitstream_a is generally implemented as an mpeg - 2 intra - only frame picture bitstream . the bitstream bitstream_a generally comprises alternating macroblock - rows ( or slices ) containing video information from a single field . the output bitstream bitstream_b generally comprises an intra - only mpeg - 2 field picture bitstream . the receive path 102 may comprise a transmission medium 104 through which a video bitstream may be transmitted . a receiver 106 may receive the bitstream from a transmission medium 104 . the receiver 106 may transfer the bitstream to a decode transport system 108 . the decode transport system 108 may present the signal bitstream_a to an input of the circuit 100 . an output of the circuit 100 may present the signal bitstream_b to an input of a decoder 110 . the decoder 110 may present a decoded video signal to an end user 112 . in one example , the decoder 110 may be implemented as a standard mpeg - 2 compliant decoder and the end user 112 may be implemented as a standard television monitor . in general , the transmission medium 104 , the receiver 106 , the decoder transport system 108 , the decoder 110 and the end user 112 may be implemented using conventional techniques which are known to those of ordinary skill in the art . referring to fig3 a more detailed block diagram of the circuit 100 is shown . in one example , the circuit 100 may comprise a block ( or circuit ) 120 , a buffer 122 , a buffer 124 and a block ( or circuit ) 126 . the circuit 120 may be implemented as a transformation block . the circuit 122 and 124 may be implemented as field buffers . in one example , the buffers 122 and 124 may be implemented as separate devices . alternatively , the buffers 122 and 124 may be implemented as separate portions ( or sections of a single memory device . the circuit 126 may be implemented as an output circuit . the circuit 120 may have an input 128 that may receive the signal bitstream_a . in one example , the signal bitstream_a may be presented to the circuit 120 via a buffer 130 . the circuit 120 may be configured to transform the signal bitstream_a from an intra - only mpeg - 2 frame picture to individual field data ( e . g ., a first and a second field picture ). the circuit 120 may be further configured to copy sequence related information ( e . g ., sequence_related_info ) from a header of the signal bitstream_a directly to the output signal bitstream_b . the circuit 120 may have an output 132 that may present a signal ( e . g ., field 1 ) to an input 134 of the buffer 122 , an output 133 that may present sequence related information to an input 135 of the output circuit 126 and an output 136 that may present a signal ( e . g ., field 2 ) to an input 138 of the buffer 124 . the signal field 1 may comprise a first field header and a number of slices ( or rows ) containing data of a single field of a video frame . the signal field 2 may comprise a second field header and a number of slices comprising data of a second field of a video frame . an output 140 of the buffer 122 and an output 142 of the buffer 124 may be presented to inputs 144 and 146 , respectively , of the output circuit 126 . the output circuit 126 may be configured to present the sequence related information from the signal bitstream_a , the contents of the buffer 122 and the contents of the buffer 124 consecutively at an output 148 as the signal bitstream_b . referring to fig4 a more detailed block diagram of the circuit 120 is shown illustrating an example implementation . the circuit 120 may comprise , in one example , a circuit 150 , a circuit 152 and a circuit 154 . the circuit 150 may be implemented , in one example , as a header detection and modification circuit . the circuit 152 may be implemented , in one example , as a slice / row demultiplexer circuit ( or block ). the circuit 154 may be implemented , in one example , as a control circuit . the signal bitstream_a may be presented to an input of the circuit 150 and an input of the circuit 152 . the circuit 150 may be configured to detect a frame header portion of the signal bitstream_a . the header detection and modification circuit 150 may be configured to copy all sequence - related information from the signal bitstream_a to the output 133 . the sequence - related information is generally copied without modification . however , in an alternate embodiment , the circuit 150 may be configured to modify one or more portions of any sequence - related headers in the signal bitstream_a prior to presentation at the output 133 . the circuit 150 may be configured to generate a first field header ( e . g ., an even field header ) and a second field header ( e . g ., an odd field header ) in response to the frame header of the signal bitstream_a . the header detection and modification circuit 150 may be configured to present the first field header as part of the signal field 1 and the second field header as part of the signal field 2 . the circuit 152 may be configured to demultiplex respective slices for the first field ( e . g ., field 1 ) and the second field ( e . g ., field 2 ) of the frame contained within signal bitstream_a . for example , the circuit 152 may be configured to direct slices for the first field to the signal field 1 and slices for the second field to the signal field 2 . the circuit 154 may be configured to control the circuits 150 and 152 . for example , the circuit 154 may be configured to generate one or more control signals for coordinating operation of the circuits 150 and 152 with the signals bitstream_a , field 1 and field 2 . referring to fig5 a flow diagram illustrating an example data flow path in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown . in one example , the signal bitstream_a may comprise a frame header 202 , a plurality of slices from a first field 204 a - 204 n and a plurality of slices from a second field 206 a - 206 n . the slices 204 a - 204 n and 206 a - 206 n generally alternate position ( e . g ., are time division multiplexed ) in the signal bitstream_a . the frame header 202 is generally modified to generate a first field header 208 and a second field header 210 . a process 212 may be used to modify the frame header 202 . in one example , the process 212 may involve copying information of the frame header 202 into each of the field headers 208 and 210 and modifying appropriate fields of the frame header 202 to signal the headers 208 and 210 as being field headers . the slices 204 a - 204 n of field 1 are generally directed to a first field buffer 214 . the slices 206 a - 206 n of field 2 are generally directed to a second field buffer 216 . the order of the field slices are maintained in the respective field buffers . for example , a picture coding extension field ( or portion ) of each of the field headers 208 and 210 may be modified from the frame header 202 . the slices in each field buffer are generally modified to signal consecutive slice numbers . the field buffers 214 and 216 are generally presented consecutively as the signal bitstream_b . referring to fig6 a flow diagram of a process 300 is shown illustrating a transformation process in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention . a bitstream header portion of the signal bitstream_a ( e . g ., from the start of the bitstream up to the first slice ) is generally copied from the signal bitstream_a into a first and a second field buffers ( e . g ., the block 302 ). a portion ( or field ) of the bitstream header ( e . g ., a picture_coding_extension field ) is generally modified in each of the first and second field buffers to signal a top field picture and a bottom field picture , respectively . other header parameters may be modified also in accordance with the transformation ( e . g ., the block 304 ). the slice rows from the signal bitstream_a are generally de - multiplexed ( e . g ., alternating copied ) to the appropriate field buffer ( e . g ., the block 306 ). a field indicative of the slice number for each slice in each field buffer is generally adjusted to increment consecutively in the respective field ( e . g ., the block 308 ). when the transformation is complete , the two field buffers are generally written out consecutively to the second signal bitstream_b ( e . g ., the block 310 ). the present invention may be implemented in software , hardware and / or a combination of hardware and software . the function performed by the flow diagrams of fig5 and 6 may be implemented using a conventional general purpose digital computer programmed according to the teachings of the present specification , as will be apparent to those skilled in the relevant art ( s ). appropriate software coding can readily be prepared by skilled programmers based on the teachings of the present disclosure , as will also be apparent to those skilled in the relevant art ( s ). the present invention may also be implemented by the preparation of application specific integrated circuits ( asics ), application specific standard products ( assps ), field programmable gate arrays ( fpgas ), or by interconnecting an appropriate network of conventional component circuits , as is described herein , modifications of which will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art ( s ). the present invention thus may also include a computer product which may be a storage medium including instructions which can be used to program a computer to perform a process in accordance with the present invention . the storage medium can include , but is not limited to , any type of disk including floppy disk , optical disk , cd - rom , and magneto - optical disks , roms , rams , eproms , eeproms , flash memory , magnetic or optical cards , or any type of media suitable for storing electronic instructions . while the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to the preferred embodiments thereof , it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention .	7
video compression systems operate by removing redundant information from the signal at the coder prior to transmission and re - inserting it at the decoder . a coder and decoder pair are referred to as a codec . in video signals , two distinct kinds of redundancy can be identified . spatial and temporal redundancy : pixel values are not independent , but are correlated with their neighbors both within the same frame and across frames . so , to some extent , the value of a pixel is predictable given the values of neighboring pixels . psycho visual redundancy : the human eye has a limited response to fine spatial detail , and is less sensitive to detail near object edges or around scene changes . consequently , some artifacts introduced into the decoded picture by the bit rate reduction process may not be visible to the human eye . two of the main approaches employed in mpeg codecs are intra - frame discrete cosine transform ( dct ) coding and motion - compensated inter - frame prediction . in intra - frame dct coding s two - dimensional dct is performed on small blocks ( 8 × 8 pixels ) of each component of the picture to produce blocks of dct coefficients as shown in fig1 . the magnitude of each dct coefficient indicates the contribution of a particular combination of horizontal and vertical spatial frequencies to the original picture block . the coefficient corresponding to zero horizontal and vertical frequency is called the dc coefficient . in fig1 , the pixel value and dct coefficient magnitude are represented by dot size . the dct doesn &# 39 ; t directly reduce the number of bits required to represent the block . in fact for an 8 × 8 block of 8 bit pixels , the dct produces an 8 × 8 block of 11 bit coefficients ( the range of coefficient values is larger than the range of pixel values .) the reduction in the number of bits follows from the observation that , for typical blocks from natural images , the distribution of coefficients is non - uniform . the transform tends to concentrate the energy into the low - frequency coefficients and many of the other coefficients are near - zero . the bit rate reduction is achieved by not transmitting the near - zero coefficients and by quantizing and coding the remaining coefficients as described below . the non - uniform coefficient distribution is a result of the spatial redundancy present in the original image block . quantization : the function of the coder is to transmit the dct block to the decoder , in a bit rate efficient manner , so that it can perform the inverse transform to reconstruct the image . it has been observed that the numerical precision of the dct coefficients may be reduced while still maintaining good image quality at the decoder . quantization is used to reduce the number of possible values to be transmitted , reducing the required number of bits . the degree of quantization applied to each coefficient is weighted according to the visibility of the resulting quantization noise to a human observer . in practice , this results in the high - frequency coefficients being more coarsely quantized than the low - frequency coefficients . note that the quantization noise introduced by the coder is not reversible in the decoder , making the coding and decoding process lossy . coding : the serialization and coding of the quantized dct coefficients exploits the likely clustering of energy into the low - frequency coefficients and the frequent occurrence of zero - value coefficients . the block is scanned in a diagonal zigzag pattern starting at the dc coefficient to produce a list of quantized coefficient values , ordered according to the scan pattern . the list of values produced by scanning is entropy coded using a variable - length code ( vlc ). each vlc code word denotes a run of zeros followed by a non - zero coefficient of a particular level . vlc coding recognizes that short runs of zeros are more likely than long ones and small coefficients are more likely than large ones . the vlc allocates code words which have different lengths depending upon the probability with which they are expected to occur . to enable the decoder to distinguish where one code ends and the next begins , the vlc has the property that no complete code is a prefix of any other . fig1 shows the zigzag scanning process , using the scan pattern common to both mpeg - 1 and mpeg - 2 . mpeg - 2 has an additional alternate scan pattern intended for scanning the quantized coefficients resulting from interlaced source pictures . motion - compensated inter - frame prediction exploits temporal redundancy by attempting to predict the frame to be coded from a previous reference frame . the prediction cannot be based on a source picture because the prediction has to be repeatable in the decoder , where the source pictures are not available ( the decoded pictures are not identical to the source pictures because the bit rate reduction process introduces small distortions into the decoded picture .) consequently , the coder contains a local decoder which reconstructs pictures exactly as they would be in the decoder , from which predictions can be formed . the simplest inter - frame prediction of the block being coded is that which takes the co - sited ( i . e . the same spatial position ) block from the reference picture . naturally this makes a good prediction for stationary regions of the image , but is poor in moving areas . a more sophisticated method , known as motion - compensated inter - frame prediction , is to offset any motion which has occurred between the block being coded and the reference frame and to use a shifted block from the reference frame as the prediction . one method of determining the motion that has occurred between the block being coded and the reference frame is a block - matching search in which a large number of trial offsets are tested by the coder using the luminance component of the picture . the best offset is selected on the basis of minimum error between the block being coded and the prediction . the bit rate overhead of using motion - compensated prediction is the need to convey the motion vectors required to predict each block to the decoder . for example , using mpeg - 2 to compress standard - definition video to 6 mbit / s , the motion vector overhead could account for about 2 mbit / s during a picture making heavy use of motion - compensated prediction . in an mpeg - 2 system , the dct and motion - compensated interframe prediction may be combined , as shown in fig2 . the coder subtracts the motion - compensated prediction from the source picture to form a prediction error picture . the prediction error is transformed with the dct , the coefficients are quantized and these quantized values coded using a vlc . the coded luminance and chrominance prediction error is combined with side information required by the decoder , such as motion vectors and synchronizing information , and formed into a bit stream for transmission . fig3 shows an outline of the mpeg - 2 video bit stream structure . in the decoder , the quantized dct coefficients are reconstructed and inverse transformed to produce the prediction error . this is added to the motion - compensated prediction generated from previously decoded pictures to produce the decoded output . in an mpeg - 2 codec , the motion - compensated predictor shown in fig2 supports many methods for generating a prediction . for example , the block may be forward predicted from a previous picture , backward predicted from a future picture , or bidirectionally predicted by averaging a forward and backward prediction . the method used to predict the block may change from one block to the next . additionally , the two fields within a block may be predicted separately with their own motion vector , or together using a common motion vector . another option is to make a zero - value prediction , such that the source image block rather than the prediction error block is dct coded . for each block to be coded , the coder chooses between these prediction modes , trying to maximize the decoded picture quality within the constraints of the bit rate . the choice of prediction mode is transmitted to the decoder , with the prediction error , so that it may regenerate the correct prediction . in mpeg - 2 , three picture types are defined . the picture type defines which prediction modes may be used to code each block . intra pictures ( i - pictures ) are coded without reference to other pictures . moderate compression is achieved by reducing spatial redundancy , but not temporal redundancy . they can be used periodically to provide access points in the bit stream where decoding can begin . predictive pictures ( p - pictures ) can use the previous i - or p - picture for motion compensation and may be used as a reference for further prediction . each block in a p - picture can either be predicted or intra - coded . by reducing spatial and temporal redundancy , p - pictures offer increased compression compared to i - pictures . bidirectionally - predictive pictures ( b - pictures ) can use the previous and next i or p pictures for motion - compensation , and offer the highest degree of compression . each block in a b - picture can be forward , backward or bidirectionally predicted or intra - coded . to enable backward prediction from a future frame , the coder reorders the pictures from natural display order to bit stream order so that the b - picture is transmitted after the previous and next pictures it references . this introduces a reordering delay dependent on the number of consecutive b - pictures . the different picture types typically occur in a repeating sequence , termed a group of pictures or gop . a typical gop in display order is : b 1 b 2 i 3 b 4 b 5 p 6 b 7 b 8 p 9 b 10 b 11 p 12 i 3 b 1 b 2 p 6 b 4 b 5 p 9 b 7 b 8 p 12 b 10 b 11 a regular gop structure can be described with two parameters : n , which is the number of pictures in the gop , and m , which is the spacing of p - pictures . the gop given here is described as n = 12 and m = 3 . mpeg - 2 does not insist on a regular gop structure . for example , a p picture following a scene change may be badly predicted since the reference picture for prediction is completely different from the picture being predicted . thus , it may be beneficial to code it as an i picture instead . for a given decoded picture quality , coding using each picture type produces a different number of bits . in a typical example sequence , a coded i picture was three times larger than a coded p picture , which was itself 50 % larger than a coded b picture . by removing much of the redundancy from the source images , the coder outputs a variable bit rate . the bit rate depends on the complexity and predictability of the source picture and the effectiveness of the motion - compensated prediction . for many applications , the bit stream must be carried as a fixed bit rate stream . in these cases , a buffer must be placed between the coder and the output . the buffer is filled at a variable rate by the coder , and emptied at a constant rate by the transmitted stream . to prevent the buffer from under or overflowing , a feedback mechanism must be implemented to adjust the average coded bit rate as a function of the buffer size and fullness . for example , the average coded bit rate may be lowered by increasing the degree of quantization applied to the dct coefficients . this reduces the number of bits generated by the variable - length coding , but increases distortion in the decoded image . the decoder must also have a buffer between the transmission channel and the variable rate input to the decoding process . the size of the buffers in the coder and decoder must be the same . mpeg - 2 defines the maximum decoder ( and hence coder ) buffer size , although the coder may choose to use only part of this . the delay through the coder and decoder buffer is equal to the buffer size divided by the transmission channel bit rate . for example , an mpeg - 2 coder operating at 6 mbit / s with a buffer size of 1 . 8 mbits would have a total delay through the coder and decoder buffers of around 300 ms . reducing the buffer size will reduce the delay , but may affect picture quality if the buffer becomes too small to accommodate the variation in bit rate from the coder vlc . most mpeg implementations contain a pre filter to improve video quality by reducing artifacts caused by noise in the input signal . the amount of filtering is critical , as excessive filtering will degrade the resultant image . most implementations of the pre filter depend on a feedback mechanism to minimize such degradation . fig4 is a block diagram of a system to which this invention is applicable . the preferred embodiment is a dvd recorder or a dvd player / recorder where the pre filter of this invention is employed to improve the recorded video quality . system 400 receives digital video data through input block 402 . the digital video data may originate from a satellite receiver , digital cable interface , digital video camera or other sources . alternately , analog video data from a vcr , analog video camera , analog cable interface or other sources may be supplied to input block 403 . in this case , the analog video is digitized in analog video processor block 404 . in either case , the resultant digital video signal is further processed by mpeg video encoder / decoder block 406 . this processing may optionally comprise of decryption of the data stream , authorization of conditional access to the date , decompression of the mpeg compressed data stream , audio / video synchronization by interaction with stereo audio decoder block 405 , color space conversion to / from yuv , rgb , component and composite video streams , and other functions . the resulting video streams are output through block 408 for display , storage or further processing . optionally separate mono or stereo audio signals may be supplied to stereo audio codec 405 through stereo audio input 401 . the resultant processed audio as well as the audio processed by mpeg video encoder / decoder 606 may be output through block 407 . fig5 demonstrates one implementation known in the prior art . as shown in the block diagram , source video 501 is input to the adjustable pre filter block 502 . the output of the pre filter block is the input to the video encoder block 503 , whose output is the compressed bitstream 505 . the encoder also outputs control information to the pre filter control block 504 . the information provided to the control block may be one or more of the following : global complexity measure ( gcm ) as defined in the mpeg - 2 test model 5 . gcm represents the estimated degree of difficulty of encoding the picture , sum or average of the absolute residual error after motion compensation in the encoder , and spatial activity of the image as determined during the motion compensation step in the encoder . using the supplied information , the pre filter controller - attempts to estimate the quality of the encoded image . the estimate is calculated using a considerably simplified theoretical model of the encoder in order to reduce computational complexity . the information used to control the pre filter is derived from arbitrary estimates from the encoding process only , without taking into effect the quality of the decoded image , resulting in a sub optimal control algorithm . a different embodiment known in the prior art is shown in fig6 . in this approach , the video source 601 is input to the controllable pre filter block 602 , and to the input of frame memory block 606 . the output of block 602 is connected to the input of the video encoder block 603 , whose output is the compressed bit stream 604 . video encoder block 603 also generates a local decoded image in block 605 . the said local decoded image is compared with the output of the frame memory block 606 , using comparator block 607 . the results of the comparison are supplied to pre filter controller block 608 , which block then generates control information supplied to pre filter block 602 . this implementation directly observes picture quality by comparing the image after encoding with the corresponding image before encoding . in typical implementations , the pre filter controller uses the peak signal to noise ratio . ( psnr ) generated by comparator block 607 . since this implementation directly observes picture quality , it is free from estimation errors . it does this at the expense of additional complexity in calculating the psnr or other representations of objective picture quality . there is also a requirement for an additional full frame memory to store the original image . generating the local decoded image does not increase complexity , as this function is incorporated in the mpeg encoding process . fig7 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of this invention . video source 701 is input to the pre - filter block 702 . the output of block 702 is the input to video encoder block 703 , and the output of block 703 is the compressed bit stream 704 . video encoder block 703 also generates a local decoded image in block 705 . this local decoded image is processed by subjective noise detector 706 , further described in fig8 . the output of subjective noise detector block 706 is input to pre filter controller 707 which is further described in fig9 . block 707 generates the control information supplied to pre filter 702 to adjust the filter characteristics . this implementation directly observes picture quality by using the locally decoded image generated by the mpeg encoder . however , instead of comparing the locally decoded image with a reference image , the invention employs a subjective noise detector . it detects the presence of encoding artifacts that have a great influence on subjective video quality . some of these artifacts are blocking noise , ringing noise and / or mosquito noise . artifacts that do not directly decrease the subjective visual quality are ignored . since the subjective noise is derived from the image generated by the local decoder , an additional frame memory to store a reference image is not required . fig8 shows an example implementation of the subjective noise detector . here the local decoded image 801 is input to the filter block 802 . block 802 may contain various filter elements optimized to remove specific artifacts such as blocking noise and ringing noise in the example shown . the output of filter block 802 is then subtracted from the input image 801 in block 804 , and the absolute sum of the resulting error is computed in block 805 . the output of block 805 is the subjective noise level 806 . fig9 shows an implementation of the pre filter controller . the inputs to comparator 903 are the subjective noise level 901 and the noise threshold 902 . the output of comparator block 903 is the delta filter intensity desired . if the subjective noise level is less than the threshold , the filter intensity is decreased to increase the sharpness of the image . if the subjective noise level is greater than the threshold , the filter intensity is increased to remove more high frequency components . the resultant filter intensity signal is clipped to a determined range in block 905 . a negative feedback signal is generated in block 906 and is applied to block 904 in order to introduce a small amount of hysteresis to eliminate hunting near the threshold . the controllable pre - filter may be implemented as a continually adjustable filter , or as a plurality of predefined filters . in the case of multiple filters block 907 is used to map the continuous error signal into discrete steps used to select the appropriate filter element . the output of mapping block 907 is the filter intensity signal 908 used to control pre filter 702 of fig7 . the use of a subjective noise detector as shown in this invention gives excellent results in improving picture quality with a minimum of additional complexity . the subjective noise is calculated from the locally decoded image that is always present as part of the mpeg encoding process , and there is no requirement for an additional frame buffer . most applications such as consumer video recorders already have a noise filter implemented . this filter may be modified to implement this invention without adding significant complexities .	7
now the present invention will be explained in detail by an embodiment thereof shown in the attached drawings . fig1 is a perspective view of a copying apparatus embodying the present invention . in fig1 there are shown an attaching slot 1 for an ic card ; an operation panel 2 provided with plural keys for entering the intention of the operator and a display unit for displaying the mode or state of operation ; an original supporting glass plate 3 for placing an article to be copied thereon ; and a pressure plate 4 for pressing said article . fig2 is a plan view of the operation panel , of which keys will be explained in the following . function keys 100a - 100e are used for storing and recalling various copying modes to be arbitrarily set by other keys of the operation panel , and are capable of storing five different modes at maximum . it is therefore possible to store a mode frequently used by the user , or to store an image magnification or a designated area to be used by the user , and to establish a desired copying mode immediately with a single key operation . in the present copying apparatus , the memory is retained by a back - up power supply . numeral keys 101 - 110 are used for entering the copy number and also for entering , in combination with an asterisk key , data for various asterisk modes . a clear key 111 is used for clearing the preset copy number or other data . a reset key 112 is used for restoring a standard copying mode from a preset mode . there are also provided a preheating key 113 ; an asterisk key 114 for setting various asterisk modes ; a copy stop key 115 ; and a color key 116 for selecting one of plural developing units provided in the copying apparatus . when a color developing unit is selected , an led 150 is turned on to provide a status indication . in a copy start key 117 , an led 151 is lighted green when the copying operation is enabled ( except during a copying operation ), or lighted red otherwise . an ae key 119 selects an ae ( automatic exposure ) mode in which the developing bias is corrected in response to the detection of the original density , thereby providing a copy of appropriate density . an indicator 2 is lighted when the ae mode is selected . manual density adjusting keys 118 , 120 allow to increase or decrease the image density to a desired level . the keys 118 , 120 respectively , elevate or lower the density , and the indicated level of an indicator 153 varies correspondingly . indicators 152 , 153 indicate the density conditions , and a 7 - segment display unit shows the number of copies . a cassette selection key 121 is used for manually selecting a paper cassette . the present apparatus is also provided with an automatic paper selection ( aps ) function , in which an appropriate sheet is selected in response to the detected original size and the selected image magnification . indicators 155 indicate a selected paper cassette , or that the aps mode has been selected . there are further provided a key 122 for selecting predetermined image enlarging rates , a key 123 for selecting predetermined image reducing rates , and a key 124 for selecting an automatic magnification selecting ( ams ) mode , in which the image magnification is automatically selected from the detected original size and the selected cassette size . an indicator 158 is lighted when the ams mode is selected . zoom keys 125 allow one to vary the image magnification with a pitch of 1 %, by means of a &# 34 ;+&# 34 ; key and a &# 34 ;-&# 34 ; key . an equal size key 126 is used for selecting an equal size ( 100 %) mode , and an indicator 157 is lighted when said equal size mode is selected . a dot matrix liquid crystal display unit 156 is usually used for displaying the selected image magnification , selected cassette size , copying mode etc ., but is used also as a message display in case of a failure of the apparatus , an error of the operator and for a complex operation procedure . a one - two side selection key 127 for selecting a mode of copying two one - side originals on both sides of a copying sheet by means of an intermediate tray in the apparatus . a two - one side selection key 128 for selecting a mode of copying a two - side original on a side of two copying sheets , by means of a recycling document feeder ( rdf ). a two two side selection key 129 selects a two two side copying mode for copying two - side original on both sides of a copying sheet , utilizing the intermediate tray and the rdf . a multiple copying key 130 selects a multiple copying mode for superposing two or more images on the same side of a copying sheet , utilizing the intermediate tray . in response to the depression of any of the keys 127 - 130 , there is lighted one of indicators 159 - 162 . a continuous page copying key 131 selects a mode of scanning the left half and the right half of an original in two scanning operations and obtaining two copies a , b . a continuous multiple page copying key 132 for superposing the images of said copies a , b on the same side of a copying sheet . a two - side continuous page copying key 133 for forming the images of said copies a , b , respectively on two sides of a copying sheet , utilizing the intermediate tray . a frame erasing key 134 is used for erasing the shadow appearing at the perimeter or at the center of an opened book original in the foregoing continuous page copying modes . an image shift key 135 shifts the image to right or to left . the amount of shift can be regulated by actuating numeral keys while said image shift key is depressed , and can be stored by the function keys 100a - 100e . an area designation key 136 is also used for cancelling the area designation the area designation can be achieved in an original preferential mode , in which the size of the designated area is variable according to the image magnification , or a cassette preferential mode , in which the size of designated area is constant regardless of the image magnification . an x / y key 137 is used for data entry when the area designation is made with the numeral keys an in / out key 138 is used for selecting the image development inside or outside the designated area . a correction key 139 is used for recalling and correcting the values of designated area . a key 140 is used for inside or outside blanking of an area in the multiple copying mode , and automatic switching of developing color when this key is selected in the multiple copying mode , the inside and outside blanking and the image color are automatically switched between the copies a and b . a key 141 is used for automatic color change in the continuous page copying mode , for automatically changing the image color between the above - mentioned copies a and b . an indicator 170 is lighted when the key 141 is depressed . led &# 39 ; s 157 - 171 are indicators for showing the selected modes . indicators 172 - 174 indicate the number of designated areas . in the present apparatus , there can be designated three areas at maximum . indicators 175 , 176 for indicating the inside / outside blanking , are selectively lighted according to the mode selected by the key 138 . indicators 177 show the designated value corresponds to x min , x max , y min or y max . an area designation key 142 with ccd causes a scanning operation with the optical system , thereby recognizing an area drawn on the original document a sort key 143 and a collate key 144 , respectively , select the sorting mode and the collating mode , which are respectively indicated by indicators 178 , 179 . an ic card key 145 , related to the present invention , cyclically switches the display of the operation unit to the ic card mode and the normal mode when the ic card is mounted . fig3 is a block diagram of the control unit of the copying apparatus shown in fig1 . a cpu 301 controls the copying operation and the operation panel of the apparatus . an lcd driver controller 302 displays a message on the lcd dot display unit 303 , corresponding to the liquid crystal display unit 156 shown in fig2 in response to control signals from the cpu 301 . an ic card interface 304 functions as a buffer for the serial communication between the cpu 301 and the ic card 305 incorporating a cpu , a rom and a ram , when said ic card is mounted . the ic card 305 transmits cg ( character generator ) codes of messages to be displayed in the operation panel . fig4 is a flowchart of the control sequence to be executed by the cpu 301 of the apparatus . when the ic card 305 is mounted , and is identified to contain information relating to the installation manual , the message display unit 156 of the operation panel preferentially displays the information ( character codes ) from the ic card 305 . also the data entered by the numeral keys 101 - 110 are transmitted to the ic card 305 , and the apparatus remains irrelevant to such display or data entry . the ic card key 145 cyclically selects the ic card mode and the non - ic card mode , and , in the latter , the display and the key input are conducted in the normal mode . fig5 is a flowchart of the control sequence of the ic card . when mounted on the apparatus , the ic card transmits that the memory of the ic card is in the installation mode , then sets a counter disp - cnt to &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ;, and transmits an initial message : &# 34 ; release lock and set developing unit &# 34 ;. this message is sent to the cpu 301 of the copying apparatus , character by character in cg codes . the ic card then receives the key data from the copying apparatus , then performs increment of the counter disp - cnt in response to the entry of &# 34 ;+&# 34 ; key , and transmits a next message . thereafter the message data are selected according to the actuation of the &# 34 ;+&# 34 ; or &# 34 ;-&# 34 ; key in the copying apparatus . when the discrimination of the operator is requested , for example a message &# 34 ; 100 % copy on registration ok ?&# 34 ; shown in fig5 a next message is selected also in response to &# 34 ; 0 &# 34 ; ( yes ) or &# 34 ; 1 &# 34 ; ( no ), in addition to the &# 34 ;+&# 34 ; and &# 34 ;-&# 34 ; keys . as will be apparent from the foregoing flow charts , the copying apparatus is not involved in these displays , and the suitable message is selected by the ic card in response to the data entered by the numeral keys . when a serviceman installs the copying apparatus of the above - explained structure , he starts the power supply according to a predetermined procedure , and mounts the ic card 305 into the slot 1 . &# 34 ; release lock and set developer unit &# 34 ; sent from the ic card . after performing the instruction , the serviceman depresses the zoom key &# 34 ;+&# 34 ;. the corresponding key data are sent to the ic card , which , in response , transmits a next message : the installation procedure is thereafter executed by the actuations of the zoom key &# 34 ;+&# 34 ; to display a new message . the message is changed or renewed with each depression of the zoom key &# 34 ;+&# 34 ; which serves as a renewal means . the &# 34 ;-&# 34 ; key is depressed when returning the procedure to the preceding step . in the course of installation procedure , the normal operation mode of the displays and key operations can be restored by depressing the ic card key 145 . a repeated actuation of said key 145 again shift the apparatus to the installation mode with the ic card . thus , when the ic card mode is cancelled with the ic card key 145 , the copying apparatus functions as if the ic card is not mounted . in this manner the serviceman can perform the installation of the apparatus according to a memory medium such as an ic card without mistakes even in case of a complicated installation procedure , and the apparatus can provide advanced functions without additional burden of software . also the messages can be displayed in various languages by simply changing the ic card , without any change in the apparatus itself . also the servicing man handling several different apparatus needs only to carry the ic cards corresponding to these apparatus , instead of several heavy manuals . the memory medium in the present invention is not limited to the ic card shown in the foregoing embodiment but can be another suitable memory medium , for example an optical card . also the stored information is not limited to the information of installation manual but can be other information , for example that for maintenance or inspection .	6
in fig1 the base box comprises a substantially rectangular box 10 which includes a flat top or shelf 12 for supporting a stack of the reference cards and a head room 14 for accommodating a selection means . on the flat top 12 at its opposide sides and near the head room 14 are disposed guide tabs 16 , 16 for having a camming surface 69 at the forward portion thereof which coacts with the lip of a card hanger to be hereinafter described causing the hanger of the covering member to pick up the unselected cards from the stack of the cards as hereinafter fully described . on the flat top 12 and between the guide tabs 16 , 16 , there are provided a series of openings 18 through which a plunger of the selection means is operatively projected to lift the unselected cards . along a wall 20 partitioning the head room 14 from the base box 10 there are provided a series of windows 22 for receiving the lever arm of the selection means . it will be appreciated that these windows 22 may be replaced by a single slot when the selection means is comprised of only one sliding lever arm . the box 10 along its rear end opposite to the front end thereof is provided with a slot 24 for receiving a rear rim of the covering member and in abutment with the slot 24 there is provided a spring 26 mounted around a rod 28 which is bridged between two pairs of support legs 30 , 30 . between individual pair of the support legs 30 , there is provided a recess 32 for receiving the card holder provided in the covering member as hereinafter fully described . under the support legs 30 is provided a stopper 34 for suppressing the turning of the covering member under the influence of the spring 26 within a certain degree . in front of the windows 22 a shaft 36 is bridged between opposite side walls 38 , 38 and to the shaft 36 is resiliently mounted an elongated bar 40 with a pring 42 and pivoted a plurality of selection lever arms 44 having at its one end a push button 46 and at its opposite end a plunger 48 . the bar 40 has at its opposite ends hooks 50 , 50 adapted to engage with a recess provided in a flange extending from the rim of the covering member as hereinafter described . by means of the spring 42 an outer part of the bar 40 is always urged upwardly . the covering member 52 comprises a top cover plate 54 and a surrounding rim 56 which has a flange 58 at its front portion . near the opposite ends of the flange 58 , there are provided recesses 59 , 59 adapted to engage with the hooks 50 , 50 when the covering member 52 is closed . within the covering member 52 and in abutment with the front rim thereof there is pivotably mounted within openings 61 in the forward portions of the side walls of the cover member pin elements 63 which project from opposite sides of a card hanger 60 of substantially l shape in section which is partially opened to form a pair of tongue pieces 62 , 62 adapted to limit the turning motion of the hanger 60 . the hanger 60 , while the cover member is in its closed position , is thus wedged between the inner wall of the flange 58 and the camming surface of the guide tabs so that it cannot rotate . however , the spring force developed by engagement of the tongues with the front wall of the cover urges lip 65 against the camming surface of the guide tabs as the cover is lifted , the card hanger 60 being caused to rotate clockwise in openings 61 until the lip of the card hanger is positioned beneath the cards lifted by plunger 48 . continued upward movement of the cover results in a shifting of the support for the cards from the plunger to the lip 65 and the lifting of such cards together with the cover . opposite to the hanger 60 there are provided a pair of the card holders 64 , 64 having an ear structure with a center pole 66 having a central recess or opening 67 therein . the card holders 64 , 64 are pivoted to the rod 28 and received in the recesses 32 , 32 respectively as hereinbefore described . in fig4 a card 68 intended for use with the indexing device in accordance with the present invention consists of a substantially rectangular card board which is provided at its one side with a pair of recesses 70 of substantially l shape adapted to be engaged with the card holder 64 . the opposite side of the card 68 is recessed to provide an extended length portion 72 . the length of extended portion 72 72 in each card is changed stepwisely for indexing purposes . in the indexing operation of the device in the closed position as shown in fig2 when the push button 46 at the selected position is depressed , the plunger 48 rises through the opening 18 to lift a predetermined group of unselected cards by engagement of plunger 48 with the lower surface of the lowermost of such cards , specifically the extended portion 72 thereof while the hooks 50 , 50 are disengaged from the recesses 59 , 59 as best shown in fig3 . as covering member 52 is pivoted upwardly into its open position the lip 65 of the hanger 60 slides along the inclined surface of the guide tab 16 , which serves as the upper camming surface thereof , to pick up the group of unselected cards while leaving the selected card on the top of the stack of remaining cards for the inspection by the operator . in accordance with the indexing device of the present invention , an accurate indexing result may be obtained by a simple pushing operation . while the invention has been described with reference to a preferred embodiment of the invention , various changes and modifications may be made without , however , departing from the basic concepts as defined in the appended claims .	1
the following description is provided to enable any person skilled in the toy field to make and use the invention and sets forth the best modes contemplated by the inventor for carrying out his invention . various modifications , however , will remain readily apparent to those skilled in the toy field , since the generic principles of the present invention have been defined herein specifically to provide a relatively economical and easily manufactured spring wound prime mover for use as a spring motor for toys . referring to fig1 a partially phantomed perspective view of a toy vehicle incorporating the spring wound prime mover of the present invention is disclosed . the exterior configuration of the housing is preferably made of a plastic material such as polyethylene , nylon , etc ., possessing a slight degree of resiliency . a pair of rear wheels are mounted on an output shaft . the exterior configuration of the housing member can be further provided with fastening ears , recesses , tabs , etc . ( not shown ), to facilitate a snap mounting within the body of the vehicle . when viewing the vehicle from the front with the prime mover appropriately mounted , the housing member comprises a right - hand side shell 15 , an intermediate plate 16 , and a left - hand side shell 14 . the intermediate plate 16 provides gear bearing holes and cam surfaces and physically divides the gear train assembly . shell 14 is molded from plastic material and includes a recessed circuitous cavity within a holding drum 18 . the periphery of the cavity includes a plurality of notches or recessed portions 17 as can be seen in fig2 . a bearing hole ( not shown ) is centered within the cavity and is designed to receive an axle or a shaft 8 of a large dual gear member . an oblong bearing hole 10 provides a camming surface for a movable combination gear , to be subsequently described . an additional bearing hole is also provided to rotatably receive another gear shaft . mounting posts 19 and 20 can be integrally molded with the housing shell 14 and are designed to extend through respective friction fitting holes 21 and 22 in the intermediate plate 16 , and holes 21 &# 39 ; and 22 &# 39 ; in the other shell member 15 . another bearing hole 28 is designed to rotatably receive the output shaft 1 which extends through the corresponding bearing hole 29 in the housing shell 14 . intermediate plate 16 includes an oblong bearing hole 10 &# 39 ; that is complementarily positioned relative to the bearing hole 10 for movably supporting a gear . another oblong bearing hole 4 having a camming surface corresponds to a complementary oblong bearing hole 4 &# 39 ; positioned in housing shell 15 . intermediate plate 16 also has an aperture for supporting the shaft of the large dual gear member . finally , housing shell 15 includes bearing holes 30 and 31 for supporting the shafts of gears . a spring member 7 has an outer peripheral end bent back upon itself to form a configuration that is complementary to the recessed portion 17 of the housing shell 14 . when the spring member 7 expands , it is capable of locking its end in any one of the recessed portions 17 . the inner end of the spring member 7 is also bent back upon itself to form an approximately circular loop . this circular loop is configured to interact with a gear shaft that is concentrically located within an integral collar member as can be best seen in fig2 . a portion of the spring member extends through an opening slot with the inner end thereby locked against any relative movement to provide the second anchor point for the spring member . relative rotation of one anchor point to the other anchor point will permit the storage or release of spring energy . the gear train assembly of fig2 and 3 includes a drive pinion 2 mounted on the output shaft 1 . this drive pinion 2 is fixedly mounted to mesh with a spur gear 3 that is integrally molded with a second pinion gear 12 mounted on the same axle . a movable idle gear 5 is mounted within the oblong cam bearing holes 10 &# 39 ; and 10 of the intermediate plate and the housing shell 14 . when rotating in a counterclockwise direction on the right - hand side of intermediate plate 16 , the idle gear 5 engages pinion gear 6 which is fixedly mounted in housing shell 14 and the bearing hole 30 of housing shell 15 to transmit energy ultimately to the spring member 7 . the pinion gear 6 is integrally molded with large gear 9 . a dual gear assembly including a pinion gear 11 and a spur gear 13 can be integrally molded with appropriately extending shafts for mounting within the oblong bearing holes 10 &# 39 ; and 10 of respectively intermediate plate 16 and housing shell 14 . when the axle 1 is rotated by the rear wheels to store energy in spring 7 , the small drive pinion gear 2 engages and rotates the spur gear 3 . rotation of the spur gear 3 automatically forces the gear 5 to travel along its camming slot 4 &# 39 ; to engage and rotate the pinion gear 6 . the pinion gear 6 is connected by the shaft 8 to the inner end of the spring member 7 and rotates the same to store energy . during this wind - up mode of operation , the large gear 9 rotates in a counterclockwise direction and automatically disengages the spur gear 13 as the pinion gear 11 is driven upward to the furtherest extent of the arcuate oblong bearing holes 10 and 10 &# 39 ;. when the gear train assembly is in a drive configuration , the spring member 7 is releasing stored energy by rotating shaft 8 and correspondingly the large gear 9 . the large gear 9 drives the pinion gear 11 in a clockwise direction to automatically engage spur gear 13 with a second pinion gear 12 . since the second pinion gear 12 is directly connected to the spur gear 3 , it rotates at the same speed to drive the pinion gear 2 on the output shaft 1 . as can be appreciated , the rotation of the spur gear 3 forces the idle gear 5 to the end of the bearing holes 10 and 10 &# 39 ; and thus , automatically out of engagement with the pinion gear 6 . as can be appreciated , gears 5 and 6 are employed in a first gear ratio for the storage of spring energy , and gears 9 , 11 , 12 and 13 are employed in a second gear ratio for the release of energy during translation of the vehicle across a support surface . gears 2 and 3 are common to both power trains . consistent with the necessity to integrally mold dual gear arrangements , it is desirable in the present invention to try and vary the modulus of elasticity of the gear material by adding carbon - filled fibers , e . g . about 15 percent by volume so that the nylon gears involved in storing energy will have a modulus of about 0 . 3 , while the nylon gears involved in driving the rear wheels will have a modulus of about 0 . 25 . this variation of the modulus of elasticity is desirable to ensure high mechanical strength and smooth interfacing of the gear teeth . referring now to fig2 and 4 , the respective housing shells 15 and 14 , along with intermediate plate 16 are disclosed . to facilitate rapid assembly , the housing shell 15 is provided with a pair of flexible cantilevered locking prongs or pawls 23 and 24 that are dimensioned to be complementarily to catch edges or keepers 26 and 27 . the enlarged locking heads of the locking prongs include camming surfaces . a spacing post 25 simply ensures that intermediate plate 16 is firmly seated between the respective housing shells 14 and 15 . as can be seen in the perspective view of fig2 the edges of intermediate plate 16 are appropriately notched to accommodate the passage of locking pawls 23 and 24 . thus , during assembly , housing shell 15 can be simply snap fitted onto housing shell 14 . there is no necessity to use any fasteners or screws . throughout the present specification , the term &# 34 ; vehicle &# 34 ; has been utilized . however , it should be readily understood that the prime mover is capable of use on numerous small toys to provide a propulsion force . to appreciate the relative size of the motor that we are referring to , its dimensions can be less than one inch by one - half inch . as can be readily appreciated , the gear ratios can be subjectively changed by varying the size of the gears . in operation , the child simply grasps the body of the vehicle and moves it backward for three or four inches to tension the spring member 7 . release of the vehicle will then drive it forward for a considerable distance at a relatively rapid velocity . modifications of the present invention could be easily accomplished by a person of ordinary skill once given the generic principles of the present invention , accordingly , the scope and spirit of the present invention should be determined only from the following claims :	8
referring to the figure , a flow diagram is shown of one embodiment of a uf membrane system modified batch process for preparing a pac - enriched fruit or vegetable extract . the process begins with a clarified {& lt ; 5 ntu } pac - containing liquid feedstock { e . g ., 2 brix cranberry juice }. in the embodiment of the figure , the clarified pac - containing liquid feedstock 20 from a clarified pac - containing liquid feedstock supply 10 is fed to a uf feed tank 30 . the clarified pac - containing liquid feedstock in the uf feed tank is then pumped to a uf membrane system 40 { using a koch membrane systems model # 3838k328 - nyt spiral wound uf membrane with a 5000 mol . wt . cutoff }, with the pac - reduced permeate stream 50 transferred to a pac - reduced permeate surge tank 60 , and the pac - enriched retentate stream 70 recycled to the uf feed tank . the pac - reduced permeate is then pumped to a reverse osmosis ( ro ) system 80 { using a koch membrane systems model # tfc3838hrn1 spiral wound ro membrane } for semi - concentration { e . g ., to 18 brix }, an evaporator 90 for final concentration { e . g ., to 50 brix }, and finally to a pac - reduced concentrate storage tank 100 . the continuous processing of the clarified pac - containing liquid feedstock supply thus results in a continuous accumulation of pacs in the liquid contents of uf feed tank and uf membrane system { the aggregate pac - enriched retentate stream }. upon exhaustion of the clarified pac - containing liquid feedstock supply , the aggregate pac - enriched retentate stream can then be diafiltered with water 110 to further increase the pac dry weight content of the liquid extract through the systematic removal of residual lower molecular weight soluble solids { e . g ., sugars , acids , etc .} as permeate . the aggregate pac - enriched liquid retentate 120 { with a pac dry wt . content of at least 5 %, 10 %, 15 %, 20 %, 30 %, 40 %, 50 %, 60 %, 70 %, 80 %, or 90 %} is collected in a pac - enriched retentate holding tank 130 , and sequentially pumped to a concentrator 140 then a dryer 150 . the resultant product constituting a pac - enriched extract powder is finally transferred to a pac - enriched bulk powder storage container 160 . a suitable ultrafilter for use in the methods of the invention can have a molecular weight cutoff of about 2 , 000 - 10 , 000 dalton , about 3 , 000 dalton , about 4000 dalton , about 5000 dalton , about 6000 dalton , about 7000 dalton , about 8000 dalton , or about 9000 dalton on propylene glycol . in some cases it may be desirable to process the material in the pac - enriched retentate holding tank to separate undissolved solids . these undissolved solids can include higher molecular weight pacs and / or aggregates of lower molecule weight pacs . these undissolved solids can be separated from liquid in which they are suspended by centrifugation using , for example , a decanter centrifuge or a disk centrifuge . in some cases it may be desirable to further process the pac - reduced permeate by utilizing resin technology ( e . g ., employing amberlite ® xad7hp or amberlite ® tm fpx66 resin ) to selectively remove and recover anthocyanins and / or phenolic compounds as another phytochemically distinct extract fraction ( s ). in some cases it may be desirable to further process the pac - reduced permeate by utilizing resin technology to selectively remove and recover anthocyanins and / or phenolic compounds as another phytochemically distinct extract fraction ( s ). this fraction can be combined with a fraction that is relatively high in pacs , e . g ., the pac - enriched retentate , to obtain material that is high in pacs , anthocyanins and / or phenolic compounds and relatively low in sugars and acids . the foregoing is a description of one embodiment of the method of the invention . those skilled in the art will be able to modify the process . for example , the system may be operated in batch , modified batch or feed and bleed mode under variable temperature , pressure and flow conditions . furthermore , the system may contain membranes in configurations other than spiral wound ( i . e ., tubular or hollow fiber ), of varying polymer composition ( for example ptfe , pvdf , etc .) or inorganic membrane structures with varied composition ( for example ceramic , carbon , or stainless steel etc .) and support media . additionally , membranes other than ultrafiltration membranes may be employed such as reverse osmosis or nanofiltration membranes or charged membranes or charge - specific membranes may be employed in any manner previously described . moreover , controlled atmosphere ( e . g ., n 2 or co 2 ) techniques can be used to minimize the deleterious effects of oxidative reactions . different diafiltration media ( e . g ., acidified water ) can also be employed to stabilize and / or adjust the color of the final extract . fruit juice produced by countercurrent extraction of cranberries can be used in the methods of the invention as follows . countercurrently extracted fruit juice can be prepared as described in u . s . pat . nos . 5 , 320 , 861 and 5 , 419 , 251 , hereby incorporated by reference . briefly , frozen whole raw cranberries are provided to a cleaning stage to remove debris such as twigs , leaves , etc . and then conveyed to a sorting stage which sorts fruit to a selected size . the size - selected fruit is then conveyed to a slicing stage that slices the berries to expose the inner flesh of the fruit , unprotected by the skin . the whole cranberries are preferably cut to provide slices between 6 to 8 millimeters in width . the cleaned , sized and sliced frozen cranberries are then defrosted using hot water ( e . g ., at about 130 ° f .) to a temperature of less than 75 ° f . ( e . g ., 65 ° f .) and conveyed to the solid input of an extractor stage which employs a countercurrent extractor described in detail in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 320 , 861 . the liquid input to the extractor is typically derived from a fruit - derived water supply . the liquid output of the extractor stage is a high - quality extract mixture of fruit - derived water and fruit juice , which is collected for further treatment and use in the methods of the invention . in addition , the extracted fruit can be used as a fruit feed stock to produce additional juice that can be used in the methods of the invention . a number of embodiments of the invention have been described . nevertheless , it will be understood that various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention .	0
the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings . fig5 shows the configuration of the musical tone control system . this musical tone control system consist of main circuit 1 , brace type detecting device 2r for detecting motion of the player &# 39 ; s right elbow , brace type detecting device 2l for detecting motion of the player &# 39 ; s left elbow , and glove type detecting device 2h for detecting motion of the player &# 39 ; s right hand . main circuit 1 is fitted to the player &# 39 ; s waist by belt 5 and detecting devices 2r , 2l , and 2h are mounted on the player &# 39 ; s right elbow , left elbow , and right hand , respectively . main circuit 1 comprises not only a musical tone control apparatus but also musical tone signal generating circuit 26 controlled by the musical tone control device , and speaker 27 as shown in fig6 . brace type detecting device 2r , as shown in fig1 includes brace 7r fit on the elbow of the player &# 39 ; s right arm and angle detector 8r . brace 7r consists of an elastic material such as enel 8000 trademark ) composed of 84 % of nylon and 16 % of polyurethane . angle detector 8r has first and second elongated elements 31 and 32 rotatably connected to each other at each &# 39 ; s respective end 31a and 32a by pin 33 . elongated elements 31 and 32 consist of elongated plastic plates or the like of about the same size and removably mounted on brace 7r with snaps 34 , 35 , and 36 as shown in fig1 , and 3 . first elongated element 31 is removably mounted on brace 7r with snaps 34 and 35 . male snaps 34a and 35a of snaps 34 and 35 are attached to the back of the elongated element 31 , whereas the female snaps 34b and 35b to which male snaps 34a and 35a are to be fixed are attached to the brace 7r . on the other hand , second elongated element 32 is provided with lengthwise slot 32b into which guide member 37 is slidably fitted . male snap 36a of snap 36 is attached to the back of guide member 37 , and female snap 36b to which male snap 36a is to be fixed is attached to brace 7r . at the jointing ends of elongated elements 31 and 32 , as shown in fig4 there are provided resistance element 38 , fixed contact 39 , and sliding contact 40 functioning as a potentiometer . more specifically , elongated element 31 is provided with hole 31b for inserting and fixing pin 33 ; around hole 31b there is provided fixed contact 39 . semicircular resistance element 38 is formed surrounding fixed contact 39 with hole 31b as its center point . on the other hand , at the end of elongated element 32 , there is provided hole 32c into which pin 33 is inserted loosely ; around hole 32c , there is provided sliding contact 40 . sliding contact 40 comprises ring portion 40a which maintains contact with fixed contact 39 , and projection 40b which slides on resistance element 38 maintaining contact therewith . lead wire 42 is connected to terminal 38a at the end of the resistance element 38 and lead wire 43 is connected to terminal 39a at the end of fixed contact 39 . lead wires 42 and 43 are joined with connector 45r via cable 44r as shown in fig1 . brace type detecting device 2r whose construction is described above is mounted on the player &# 39 ; s right arm as shown in fig1 . more specifically , on the portion of the upper arm covered by brace 7r , second elongated element 32 is mounted by guide member 37 attached to brace 7r by snap 36 ( at one point ) so that elongated element 32 is able to slide longitudinally . on the other hand , on the portion of the forearm covered by brace 7r , elongated element 31 is attached by snaps 34 and 35 ( at two points ). when the player &# 39 ; s right arm bends as shown by broken line a in fig1 or stretches it as shown by broken line b , elongated element 31 rotates about pin 33 . accompanying the rotation , projection 40b of sliding contact 40 slides on resistance element 38 . as a result , resistance between terminal 38a of resistance element 38a and terminal 39a of fixed contact 39 varies in response to the displacement of sliding contact 40 , that is , the bending angle of the right arm . in this case , motion of the player &# 39 ; s arm is unrestricted because guide member 37 slides along slots 32b in response to rotation of elongated element 32 with flexing or extending of the arm . brace type detecting device 2l for the left elbow , as shown in fig5 consists of brace 7l to be fit on the player &# 39 ; s left elbow joint portion and an angle detector 8l removable mounted on brace 7l . in addition , detecting device 2h for the right hand consists of a glove 7h and an angle detector 8h removably mounted on glove 7h . glove 7h is provided with strain transducers 17a - 17d at the palmer aspect of the four finger tips . since angle detectors 8l and 8h are similar to the above mentioned angle detector 8r , description thereof will be omitted . the signal outputted from angle detector 8r of detecting device 2r for the player &# 39 ; s right elbow is first led to cable 44r , and then conveyed to main circuit 1 . similarly , the signals outputted from angle detector 8l and 8h of detecting device 2l and 2h for the player &# 39 ; s left elbow and right hand are first led to cable 44l and 44h , respectively , and then conveyed to the main circuit 1 . the construction of main circuit is shown in fig6 . in fig6 denotes a seven - channel analog multiplexer which can select one of the detection signals ( voltage signals ) delivered from angle detectors 8r , 8l , and 8h and strain transducers 17a - 17d based on the channel - selection signal cs applied to a selection terminal thereof . a / d converter ( analog - to - digital converter ) 21 converts a detection signal from analog multiplexer 20 into digital detection data of predetermined bit pattern . cpu ( central processing unit ) 22 controls the musical tone control system using programs stored in rom ( read only memory ) 23 . ram ( random access memory ) 24 is used as a work area . cpu 22 supplies the sequentially varying channel - selection signal cs to the analog multiplexer 20 so that the outputs of angle detectors 8r , 8l , and 8h and strain transducers 17a - 17d are scanned at a high speed . in addition , cpu 22 determines the bending angles of the player &# 39 ; s right and left elbows by use of four angle steps based on the detection data from a / d converter 21 . on the basis of the angle determination result , cpu 22 generates key code data kc indicating one of the predetermined tone pitches in response to the combination of the bending angles of the player &# 39 ; s right and left elbows . further , cpu 22 determines the bending angle of the right wrist by use of three angle stages based on the detection data which are obtained by converting the signal from angle detector 8h with a / d converter 21 . on the basis of the angle determination result , cpu 22 generates tone volume data vol by selectively designating one of the predetermined three tone volumes ( i . e ., loud , intermediate , and soft tone volumes ) in response to the bending angle of the player &# 39 ; s right wrist . moreover , cpu 22 determines whether any of the four fingers ( i . e ., index finger , middle finger , ring finger , and little finger ) are flexed or not . on the basis of the determination result , cpu 22 generates tone color ( timbre ) data td selectively designating one of the predetermined tone colors ( timbres such as a piano , an organ , a flute , a saxophone , a clarinet , and the like ) in response to the combination of bent fingers . the key code data kc , the tone volume data vol , and the tone color data td which are generated in cpu 22 ( these date are generically called musical tone control data ) are transferred to a musical tone signal generating circuit 26 through bus line 25 . musical tone signal generating circuit 26 generates a musical tone signal having the tone pitch corresponding to the key code data kc , the tone volume corresponding to the tone volume data vol , and the tone color corresponding to the tone color data td . the musical tone signal outputted from the musical tone signal generating circuit 26 is supplied to speaker 27 for producing a musical tone as well to as transmitter circuit 28 for transmitting the musical tone signal by wireless . according to the above described device , the combination of the bending angles of the player &# 39 ; s right and left elbows can change the tone pitch of the musical tone produced by speaker 27 in main circuit 1 . furthermore , the bending angle of the player &# 39 ; s right wrist can change the musical tone volume at the three steps . moreover , the combination of flexed fingers among the player &# 39 ; s four fingers can change the tone color of the musical tone . thus , movements of the player can control the musical tone . while in the description , brace 7r consists of an elastic material such as enel 8000 ( trademark ) composed of 84 % of nylon and 16 % of polyurethane , braces 7r and 7l and the glove 7h can be made of film like polymeric rubber ; a material like artificial skin , for example , such as bion ii ( trade mark ) with high water resistance , high moisture permeability , and high elasticity . this improves movement of elongated elements 31 and 32 constituting angle detectors 8r . fig7 shows another brace type angle - detecting device for the player &# 39 ; s right elbow according to a second preferred embodiment of the present invention . in fig7 brace 7r is made of film like polymeric rubber ; such as bion ii ( trade mark ) with high water resistance , high moisture permeability , and high elasticity . this improves movement of elongated elements 31 and 32 constituting angle detector 8r . in addition , angle detector 8r is inserted in flexible waterproof cover 51 and fastened to cover 51 , and the cover 51 is attached to brace 7r ; the structure thus formed improves resistance to sweat and prevents the player &# 39 ; s sweat from accumulating on metal parts such as the resistance element , fixed contact , or the sliding contact . next , fig8 shows another brace type angle - detecting device for the player &# 39 ; s right elbow according to a third preferred embodiment of the present invention . in fig8 brace 7r has two elastic bands 55 at the opposite ends thereof . elastic bands 55 which may be made of rubber are sewed to brace 7r so as to maintain the position of brace 7r on the player &# 39 ; s arm . fig9 also shows another brace type angle - detecting device for player &# 39 ; s right elbow according to a fourth preferred embodiment of the present invention . in fig9 brace 7r has two elastic straps 56 at the opposite ends thereof . elastic straps 56 are sewed to brace 7r . one end of each elastic strap 56 has hook tape 57 and the other end has loop tape 58 , both made of velcro ( trademark ), which fasten to each other , so as to maintain the position of brace 7r on the player &# 39 ; s arm . in the third and fourth embodiments , because elastic bands 55 or elastic straps 56 maintain the position of brace 7r on the player &# 39 ; s arm , brace 7r slippage can be prevented on the player &# 39 ; s arm . while it is omitted to show angle detector 8r in the third and fourth embodiments in fig8 and 9 , angular detector 8r is same as the above described type .	6
embodiments of the present invention will be described below . although description will hereinafter be given with regard to an instance where an electron is used as a charged particle , a corrector of the present invention may be applied to an instance where an ion is used as the charged particle . fig6 a and 6b and fig7 a and 7b show examples of electric field type correctors having axial electrodes formed of a needle electrode type and a point electrode type , respectively . fig6 a and 6b are views showing an example of the prior - art electric field type corrector having the axial electrode in needle form . fig6 a is a plan view , and fig6 b is a cross - sectional view taken along the line b - b of fig6 a . in the example of the prior - art electric field type corrector , an axial electrode 2 is disposed as suspended by a support 7 along the central axis of an off - axis electrode 3 . the off - axis electrode 3 is externally fixed by the support 7 , and a voltage vout can be applied to the off - axis electrode 3 . since action on a charged particle beam is produced by a line of electric force across the axial electrode 2 and the off - axis electrode 3 , the voltage vout can be applied to the off - axis electrode 3 with the axial electrode 2 at a ground potential . the support 7 that fixes the axial electrode 2 and the off - axis electrode 3 is made of an electrical conductor in order to prevent electrification . the support 7 is formed of an upper section 52 having , at the center , an axial electrode fixing unit 51 that fixes one end of the axial electrode 2 , and a cylindrical section 53 on the side , extending from an outer periphery of the upper section 52 in such a manner as to surround the axial electrode 2 . a ring zone aperture 6 is formed around the axial electrode fixing unit 51 of the upper section 52 , and the axial electrode fixing unit 51 is fixed to the body of the support 7 by a thin beam 54 extending across the ring zone aperture 6 . the off - axis electrode 3 is fixed to the cylindrical section 53 of the support 7 with an insulator 8 in between . fig7 a and 7b show the electric field type corrector having the axial electrode in point form according to the embodiment of the present invention . fig7 a is a plan view , and fig7 b is a cross - sectional view taken along the line b - b of fig7 a . the electric field type corrector according to the embodiment includes the axial electrode 2 in point form , and the off - axis electrode 3 having a cylindrical shape , surrounding the axial electrode 2 . an inner surface of the off - axis electrode 3 forms a part of a conic surface of a cone whose diameter becomes larger in a direction of from the upstream part to the downstream part of the charged particle beam . an angle of the conic surface can be changed to change a converging action as shown in fig5 a and 5b . the support 7 that fixes the axial electrode 2 and the off - axis electrode 3 is formed of a column 55 that holds the axial electrode 2 at the tip , and plural thin beams 56 that fix the tail end of the column 55 to the upstream end of the off - axis electrode 3 . consequently , the ring zone aperture 6 is formed around the column 55 that holds the axial electrode 2 . a power feeder 57 that feeds power to the axial electrode 2 is connected to the axial electrode 2 through the beams 56 and the column 55 of the support 7 . the axial electrode 2 is electrically insulated from the support 7 and the off - axis electrode 3 by the insulator 8 . the support 7 is made of the electrical conductor in order to prevent electrification . a voltage vin is applied to the axial electrode 2 with the support 7 and the off - axis electrode 3 at the ground potential , in order that an electric field converges to the axial electrode 2 in point form located at the tip of the column 55 . to actually make selective use of the axial electrode in needle form and the axial electrode in point form , the voltage vout is exerted on a combination of the off - axis electrode shown in fig6 a and 6b and the axial electrode shown in fig7 a and 7b with the voltage vin at the ground potential to thereby allow selection between the axial electrodes . the ring zone aperture 6 limits the entrance of the beam into the electric field type corrector to a desired correction range . the configurations shown in fig6 a and 6b and fig7 a and 7b may have multilayer interconnection or the like to form a multielectrode arrangement . fig8 is a schematic view showing an example of a magnetic field type corrector . in the illustrated instance , the magnetic field type corrector is formed of a coil 9 wound , in a toroidal fashion , radially about a rotation symmetry axis 4 , and a rotating magnetic field b is produced under a current i . the magnetic field b radially exerts lorentz force f on a charged particle beam 1 entering the corrector from above , and develops a converging or diverging action under the influence of the direction of the force . although shown as simplified in order to make the inside of the corrector visible , an inner cylinder 10 and an outer cylinder 11 are disposed in order to support the coil 9 and to shield the beam as in the case of the correctors shown in fig6 a and 6b and fig7 a and 7b . the charged particle beam 1 enters into a doughnut - shaped region between the inner cylinder 10 and the outer cylinder 11 . although shown as separated , the coil 9 can be continuously wound to reduce the number of power supply units . an electrically conductive film , as needed , is formed on the insulator or the surface of an insulating layer of coil wiring , which can possibly affect the charged particle beam by undergoing electrification . with the above configuration , interconnection technology for a magnetic head device or a semiconductor device can be used for microfabrication of metal interconnection or a distributed - wound coil . for the latter , a power supply circuit may be formed in close proximity to the corrector by use of microfabrication technology . specific examples of orbit corrections according the present invention will be given below . fig9 shows an example of the electric field type corrector of the present invention as applied to an electromagnetic lens . the electric field type corrector has a construction shown in fig6 a and 6b , including the axial electrode 2 and the off - axis electrode 3 . a beam originating from an object point a is focused through an objective lens 14 to an image point b on a sample surface 5 . discussion is herein made , assuming , for the sake of convenience , that the beam is divided into a paraxial trajectory 12 in close proximity to the axis and an off - axis trajectory 13 distant from the axis . with the use of the objective lens 14 alone , under the influence of spherical aberration , the off - axis trajectory 13 undergoes a stronger converging action , as compared to the paraxial trajectory 12 the trajectories 12 and 13 intersect the axis at points bi and bo , respectively , as shown by the dashed lines in fig9 . due to this , the beam has a finite beam radius on the sample surface 5 . as shown in fig9 , the points bi and bo can be shifted to the desired point b by superposing converging actions on beam paths by using the electric field type corrector as an auxiliary under converging conditions where the electric field type corrector is disposed on an orbit including the objective lens 14 , and the axial electrode 2 is set at a positive potential with respect to the off - axis electrode 3 . at this point , an electromagnetic lens action and the amount of converging action of the electric field type corrector are strictly continuous functions of different converging angles α . when the voltage of the electric field type corrector and the shape of the electrode thereof are adjusted to bring the innermost and outermost points within the range limited by the ring zone aperture 6 into convergence , a substantial reduction in aberration can be expected from characteristics of the continuous functions . the ability to achieve the corrector of minute size by means of microfabrication enables the replacement of a limiting aperture by the corrector . generally , the disposition of the electrode within the electromagnetic lens leads to a magnetic field action becoming modulated under acceleration or deceleration . however , size reduction enables the influence of modulation to become negligibly weak . under these conditions , the behavior of the orbit can be estimated to be the added degrees of influences . with a typical electron lens system , energy dispersion of incoming electrons results in chromatic aberration , that is , a difference in converging sensitivity , and hence an increase in beam defocusing . for example , a general electron lens has high energy and a small converging angle , and thus has a chromatic aberration coefficient , or equivalently the sensitivity of the lens , having a negative value . as opposed to this , the electric field type corrector changes the direction of deflection according to diverging or converging conditions . a system including the electric field type corrector thus has a chromatic aberration coefficient that can likewise take on positive and negative values in principle . also in the example shown in fig9 , the electric field type corrector can act as a diverging lens to superpose its action on a magnetic field of the objective lens 14 and thereby correct a change in orbit caused by an energy differential between the lenses . however , it is clear that , in the instance shown in fig9 , when the electric field type corrector is set under the diverging conditions , the paraxial trajectory 12 is focused into an image at a lower point , resulting in an increase in spherical aberration . generally , in the field of optics , correction for aberration including chromatic aberration requires a combination of concave and convex lenses . based on the above discussion , fig1 shows an example of the electric field type corrector as applied to a three - stage combined lens system and used under the diverging conditions in order to simultaneously reduce both the spherical aberration and the chromatic aberration . an entrance lens 15 adjusts an angle of entry of an electron beam originating from the object point a into the ring zone aperture 6 of the electric field type corrector including the axial electrode 2 and the off - axis electrode 3 . in fig1 , the beam is shown as entering substantially parallel to the ring zone aperture 6 , in order that it can be readily seen . the paraxial trajectory 12 and the off - axis trajectory 13 are set in a diverging direction by the axial electrode 2 and the off - axis electrode 3 to thereby form such trajectories as originated from points ai and ao , respectively , as viewed from the objective lens 14 . according to a lens formula , therefore , the paraxial trajectory 12 and the off - axis trajectory 13 are shifted toward the lens and away from the lens , respectively , on the imaging part of the objective lens , and the trajectories 12 and 13 exhibit a tendency opposite to the spherical aberration , so that they can converge to the point b . the diverging action of the corrector and the converging action of the objective lens 14 can be utilized to cancel out the chromatic aberration . as shown in fig2 a and 2b , a plural - stage corrector including the entrance lens 15 and the objective lens 14 may be arranged for use in orbit correction , in place of the above corrector . fig1 is a schematic view showing an example of an electron microscope including the electric field type corrector of the present invention as used in combination with a deflection aberration correction system . known as a method for correcting deflection aberration is mol ( moving objective lens ) method that involves apparently bringing a lens axis into convergence with a deflection position by superposing a transverse magnetic field on a lens magnetic field . ( see j . vac . sci . technol . b20 ( 6 ) november / december 2002 .) in fig1 , the beam 1 originating from the object point a enters the entrance lens 15 , as being limited in ring zone form . the incoming beam 1 is split into a high - energy paraxial trajectory 19 and a low - energy paraxial trajectory 20 according to energy of electric fields under the influence of the electric fields of the axial electrode 2 and the off - axis electrode 3 . in the example shown in fig1 , the trajectories cross each other in a stage preceding a projection lens 16 , as distinct from the example shown in fig1 . when , under this condition , the high - energy paraxial trajectory 19 is shifted through the projection lens 16 inwardly from the low - energy paraxial trajectory 20 and substantially parallel to the rotation symmetry axis 4 , an object point of the objective lens 14 also becomes substantially a point at infinity and provides convergence to a point on the sample surface 5 . correction of chromatic aberration is hence achieved . the paraxial trajectory is focused through the objective lens 14 onto the sample surface 5 at a tilt angle θ . the tilt angle θ is adjusted under control of the axial electrode 2 or the off - axis electrode 3 so as to cancel out spherical aberration of the objective lens 14 and thus provide convergence to the point b , thereby minimizing the overall axial aberration . in fig1 , the beam deflected by a two - stage deflector 17 enters the objective lens 14 perpendicularly , and further , a transverse magnetic field corrector 18 cancels out off - axis transverse magnetic field components of the objective lens 14 to thereby correct off - axis aberration or equivalently deflection aberration . in this case , for deflection chromatic aberration , the projection lens 16 can form parallel beams to thereby bring a high - energy deflected trajectory 21 and a low - energy deflected trajectory 22 into convergence to a point b ′ on the sample surface 5 . the corrector of the present invention has an extremely high degree of general versatility , because of being capable of replacing a conventional aberration corrector or limiting aperture for a scanning electron microscope and a transmission electron microscope , based on the as - is concepts thereof . moreover , the corrector of the present invention is easily mounted to a multi - beam system or the like that has recently drawn attention , because of having the feature of having a simple construction and thus facilitating microfabrication . fig1 is a schematic view showing an example of a scanning electron microscope ( sem ) having the corrector of the present invention built - in . the electron beam 1 emitted from an electron source 23 undergoes orbit formation through the entrance lens 15 , enters the electric field type corrector including the axial electrode 2 and the off - axis electrode 3 , and is focused through the projection lens 16 into an image at the object point of the objective lens . further , the electron beam 1 is focused through the objective lens 14 into an image on the sample surface 5 , and the sample surface 5 is scanned in two dimensions by the scanning deflector 17 . a detector 32 traps signal electrons 31 such as secondary electrons emitted from the sample to thereby obtain scan image information . at this point , the axial electrode 2 and the off - axis electrode 3 of the electric field type corrector have high deflection sensitivity as shown in fig4 a to 4c , and are susceptible to the influence of electrification such as contamination due to being in the vicinity of the beam 1 . although the configuration of the electric field type corrector shown in fig1 is the same as shown in fig1 , there are provided measures against the contamination and the influence of disturbance for purposes of stabilization . specifically , a shield 25 is disposed on or around the corrector . when the shield 25 is made of a magnetic material , the shield 25 can prevent the influence of an external electromagnetic field . when the shield 25 acts as a cold trap by being cooled by a cooling device 26 , the shield 25 is effective in reducing the contamination . contamination encountered in an electron beam apparatus is proportional to the number of incoming electrons including scattered electrons to a correction electrode unit , besides the degree of vacuum . for this reason , in the example shown in fig1 , the corrector is further provided with the ring zone aperture 6 disposed in its upper portion , so that the corrector has a double - aperture construction formed of the ring zone aperture 6 and a limiting aperture 24 that prevents the entry of scattered electrons by the shield 25 or the support . moreover , a driving circuit 27 may be used to apply a negative offset voltage to the corrector or the shield 25 and thereby prevent the entry of electrons . further , the shield 25 may be made of an electrically conductive material to reduce an external leakage electric field produced by the electric field type corrector and thereby prevent the occurrence of unwanted astigmatism or the like . in a sem type semiconductor wafer tester requiring high - speed image pickup , a height sensor 29 and a surface potential electrometer 30 measure the height of the surface of a wafer and electrification information on the surface thereof , respectively , to automatically correct an exciting current for the objective lens 14 . in the sem shown in fig1 , a correction calculation circuit 28 adds an appropriate correction value to an output from the driving circuit 27 , based on the obtained wafer information . in other words , a correction voltage can be applied to the axial electrode 2 or the off - axis electrode 3 capable of high - sensitivity , high - speed operation to achieve a further speedup . for example , if the height of the surface of the wafer is great , an applied voltage to the off - axis electrode 3 is corrected to negative to raise a focal point . if the wafer is positively charged and has the diverging action , the applied voltage to the off - axis electrode 3 is likewise corrected to negative to raise the focal point . fig1 is a schematic view showing an example of a transmission electron microscope having the corrector of the present invention built - in . after having been emitted from the electron source 23 and then applied through the entrance lens 15 to the sample 5 , electrons undergo orbit formation and energy loss by interaction with a substance in the sample and are focused through the objective lens 14 into the electric field type corrector including the axial electrode 2 and the off - axis electrode 3 . at this point , electrons having desired scattering information are selected by the ring zone aperture 6 or an additionally inserted limiting aperture and are focused through a magnifying lens 35 into an image on a projection plane 36 . for normal usage , it is necessary to form a sharp image on the projection plane 36 with the sample 5 acting as an object point , and thus , spherical aberration correction is important . for the transmission electron microscope shown in fig1 , therefore , a negative potential can be placed within the ring zone aperture 6 , and the form of the correction shown in fig9 may be applied to the microscope shown in fig1 . to dispose the corrector in place of the limiting aperture , the approach of disposing the corrector on a lens principal plane having good beam orbit spread controllability or a coma - free plane on which aberration due to axis misalignment is the minimum can possibly be adopted . moreover , a conventional limiting aperture fine - adjustment mechanism and the like may be used as it is . further , to correct also chromatic aberration , the three - stage lens system including one or more correctors is disposed as shown by the example of fig1 , and an orbit is adjusted by the objective lens 14 and an intermediate lens 34 . in the example shown in fig1 , an approach for stabilization is to provide a support for the ring zone aperture 6 , formed of a heater 33 for reducing the occurrence of contamination by moderate heating , and a heating mechanism for the axial electrode 2 or the off - axis electrode 3 . the compact form of the correction as shown in fig1 facilitates heating , enables a reduction in the overall length of an optical system as compared to a conventional multistage multipolar correction system , and resists the influence of disturbance . further , a magnetic field shield or the like is easily disposed around the corrector , and moreover , vibration resistance and noise immunity are excellent . an optical scanning system shown in fig1 may be mounted , as it is , as an irradiation system also to a scanning transmission electron microscope ( stem ). fig1 is a schematic view showing an example of a multi - beam optical system having the corrector of the present invention built - in . the charged particle beam 1 emitted from the electron source 23 is controlled by the entrance lens 15 so that the incoming beam entering the limiting aperture 24 having many apertures forms parallel orbits under normal conditions . a lens array under the limiting aperture 24 is an assembly of the fine axial electrodes 2 and off - axis electrodes 3 , and brings the beam into convergence to allow the beam to pass through a blanking aperture 37 . specifically , at this point , the set voltage of the axial electrode 2 or the off - axis electrode 3 can be individually changed to change converging conditions for individual lenses in the lens array and thereby change a current to be passed through the blanking aperture 37 . only electrons that have passed through the blanking aperture 37 are focused through the projection lens 16 and are focused through the objective lens 14 into an image on the sample surface 5 . at this point , the beam deflector 17 can subject the sample surface 5 to electron beam exposure or irradiation in any given pattern by repeating blanking operation while doing two - dimensional scanning by a pitch bb ′ of multi - beams . at this point , the voltage of the axial electrode 2 or the off - axis electrode 3 is controlled according to the arranged positions of the lenses or an output from the deflector 17 . consequently , this enables chromatic aberration and spherical aberration corrections on the individual multi - beams as shown in fig1 , besides deflection aberration correction on the objective lens 14 . for these practical applications , it is important to correct a disposition error of the axial electrode and the direction of entrance of the beam . as shown in fig1 , an electrical aligner coil 38 and fine - adjustment mechanism can be used to adjust entrance conditions for the beam , but it is difficult to externally correct the axis misalignment of the axial electrode 2 with respect to the off - axis electrode 3 . it is therefore desirable that the corrector have its own correcting function . the electric field type corrector shown in fig1 is an example of the corrector using an octupole 39 as the off - axis electrode in order to achieve the correcting function . an octupole deflecting voltage can be added to a voltage to be originally set , to shift the symmetry axis of the off - axis electrode 3 and thereby bring the axis into convergence with the axial electrode 2 . fig1 is a top view of the electric field type corrector using the multipolar electrode 39 as the off - axis electrode . a voltage application method for axis misalignment correction will be described with reference to fig1 . a circular equipotential surface formed by a voltage vn isotropically applied to the octupole 39 ( vn = vout , where n = 1 , 2 , 3 , . . . , 8 ) is shown by the dashed lines in fig1 . at this point , the voltage vn can be adjusted so that the equipotential surface shown by the dashed lines is shifted to a circular equipotential surface shown by the solid line in fig1 , the axis of which coincides with the axial electrode 2 misaligned in the direction of the x axis . as is apparent from symmetry shown in fig1 , a correction voltage vx that satisfies equation ( 2 ) can be added . v 1 = v 8 = vx , v 2 = v 7 = avx , v 3 = v 6 =− avx , v 4 = v 5 =− vx ( 2 ) with a correction factor a , however , the correction voltage vx depends also on the shape of the electrode . fig1 shows the correction of axis misalignment in the direction of the x axis . in general cases where axis misalignment occurs also in the direction of the y axis , the relationship expressed by equation ( 2 ) in which vy is substituted for vx can be rotated 90 degrees for addition . moreover , voltages vs and vt alternately reversed as expressed by equation ( 3 ) can be added to correct astigmatism occurring under some influence . v 1 = v 5 = vs , v 3 = v 7 =− vs , v 2 = v 6 = vt , v 4 = v 8 =− vt ( 3 ) a magnetic field type coil having an octupole arrangement may be used for correction . in other cases , a further multipolar arrangement can be used to correct higher - order astigmatism . a first advantageous feature of the magnetic field type corrector according to the present invention is the ability to adjust a distribution of lines of magnetic force converging to the central axis of the coil by the number of turns of the coil and a coil winding distribution . for example , distributed - winding shown in fig1 or a fringe configuration shown in fig1 can be used to control a beam converging direction . with the arrangement of the coil shown in fig8 , a magnetic field becomes weaker outwardly farther away from an optical axis under the influence of an angular divergence determined by the number of parts into which the coil is divided . on the other hand , the distributed - winding shown in fig1 is an instance where the number of turns of the coil 9 becomes larger so that the converging action becomes stronger , outwardly farther away from the rotation symmetry axis 4 . fig1 shows an instance where , likewise , an edge fringe configuration becomes longer so that the converging action becomes stronger , outwardly of the beam orbit . as mentioned above , the edge coil configuration or the distributed - winding can be used to achieve a high degree of correction . with the coil 9 shown in fig8 , an increase in the number n of turns of the coil causes a reduction in beam transmittance due to the coil cutting off the beam , although yielding an increase in magnetic field intensity . thus , an example shown in fig1 is a method in which a superconducting coil 40 is used to increase a current and thereby produce an intense magnetic field . the superconducting coil 40 is connected to a cooling / introducing unit 41 to a liquefied helium tank 42 cooled by a heat exchanger 43 , and cryogenic cooling and coil current excitation take place . a second advantageous feature of the magnetic field type corrector according to the present invention is that the lens action changes from one to another of the converging and diverging actions according to the direction of beam transmission and the inside and outside of the coil . fig1 shows an example of the magnetic field type corrector as used to bring the incoming beam 1 and the signal electrons 31 from the sample surface 5 into convergence . specifically , the incoming beam 1 is brought through the center of the doughnut - shaped region of the toroidal coil 40 into convergence , and the signal charged particles 31 emitted from the sample surface 5 at varying angles are likewise brought through the coil 40 into convergence above the coil 40 . consequently , this enables achieving higher signal densities , thus achieving higher signal intensity even if a compact detector is used as the detector disposed above . moreover , the signal charged particles can be passed through the inside of the coil 40 to diverge , and an annular detector having an incoming beam aperture at the center may be employed . at this point , it can be expected that a magnetic field in the vicinity of the rotation symmetry axis 4 of the toroidal coil 40 attenuates sharply toward the center , and the beam converging action in the vicinity of the axis also decreases , if the number of turns of the coil is large . further , a third advantageous feature of the magnetic field type corrector according to the present invention is to eliminate a rotating action of low - energy electrons in particular , which is a problem with a typical electromagnetic lens , and thus facilitate handling such as the dispositions of the deflector and the detector . as is apparent from these examples , the present invention can achieve orbit correction for a charged particle beam , having a high degree of general versatility , such as aberration correction , compactly , at low cost , with a power supply included therein .	7
referring to the drawings in particular , fig1 shows a schematic side view of a machining station for workpieces , which are held and guided by a mechanical manipulator ( 2 ) by means of a gripping device ( 1 ). the workpiece , which is not shown for clarity &# 39 ; s sake , may be of any desired type whatsoever . it is preferably a body part of a body shell , for example , a side panel part or the like . the manipulator ( 2 ) is preferably designed as a multiaxial industrial robot , especially as a six - axis articulated arm robot . the workpieces can be picked up , transported , brought into defined positions and locations and aligned as well as again deposited with the gripping device ( 1 ). these manipulation processes can take place fully automatically by means of a control ( 26 ). this is , e . g ., a process control , which is integrated in the robot control . as an alternative , it may also be arranged externally . it may also be located at the gripping device ( 1 ) according to fig2 . fig2 shows a bottom view of an exemplary embodiment of a gripping device . the gripping device ( 1 ) may be designed corresponding to de 200 04 369 u1 and has a frame ( 4 ), which can be detachably connected to the robot hand ( 3 ) by means of a usually central docking part ( 5 ). the frame ( 4 ) comprises , for example , a plurality of frame tubes ( 7 , 8 ) or other support elements , which may be arranged in parallel as a lightweight supporting frame and cross - connected to one another at a plurality of points . the tubes ( 7 , 8 ) are connected to the docking point ( 5 ) designed as a support plate by means of clamps or the like . clamping elements , gripping elements , component centering means or the like , which assume a gripping or guiding function , are arranged at the frame ( 4 ) and the tubes ( 7 , 8 ) thereof at a plurality of points . these may be , for example , tensioners with contour support elements , vacuum grippers or other similar elements . the frame tubes and the tensioners , grippers and the like will hereinafter be called uniformly device parts ( 6 , 7 , 8 ). the gripping device ( 1 ) is designed , for example , as a so - called geogripper , in which all device parts ( 6 , 7 , 8 ) have an exactly defined position and orientation . the geogripper is exactly adapted to the geometry of the workpiece to be manipulated . the gripping device ( 1 ) has a safety means ( 9 ), which responds in case of a crash and collisions with the external environment . the safety means ( 9 ) has at least one , preferably a plurality of deflectable safety devices ( 10 ), which are arranged at the device parts ( 6 , 7 , 8 ) and permit the deflection thereof in case of a collision . the deflectable safety devices ( 10 ) are arranged at a junction point ( 23 ) between the device parts ( 6 , 7 , 8 ). such junction points ( 23 ) are , for example , the connection points at which the device parts ( 6 ), i . e ., the tensioners , grippers , component centering means or the like are connected to the frame ( 4 ). the deflectable safety device ( 10 ) is arranged here between the device part ( 6 ) and the frame ( 4 ). other junction points ( 23 ) with a deflectable safety device ( 10 ) are located at the points of intersection of the frame tubes ( 7 , 8 ), where these are connected to one another . on the other hand , one or more frame tubes ( 7 , 8 ) may also be divided , in which case two , preferably aligned tube sections ( 7 ′, 7 ″) are arranged at the junction or junction point ( 23 ) at the deflectable safety device ( 10 ). such divisions of the tube may be present at the points of the gripping device ( 1 ) that experience has shown to be subject to higher loads and are located , for example , at the tube sections projecting away from the docking plate ( 5 ). it is possible in another variant to provide the connection points between the frame ( 4 ) or the frame tubes ( 7 , 8 ) with the docking point ( 5 ) with deflectable safety devices ( 10 ). the deflectable safety devices ( 10 ) are rigid and dimensionally stable during normal operation . they withstand all the static and dynamic loads occurring during normal operation . the deflectable safety device responds only when a collision of the gripping device ( 1 ) with an obstacle occurs and collision forces or overload develops , and the deflectable safety device now permits the deflection of the colliding device part ( 6 , 7 , 7 ′, 7 ″, 8 ). the deflectable safety device ( 10 ) comprises at least two safety device parts ( 11 , 12 ), which are mounted at each other such that they can be deflected in case of overload . the safety device parts ( 11 , 12 ) may be connected by positive - locking connection as in the variants according to fig3 through 6 or by frictional connection according to the embodiment shown in fig7 and 8 . an adjusting means ( 33 ) makes possible the reproducible mutual positioning of the safety device parts ( 11 , 12 ) and consequently also of the corresponding device parts ( 6 , 7 , 7 ′, 7 ″, 8 ). the positive - locking deflectable safety devices ( 10 ) according to fig3 through 6 are provided with a locking element ( 13 ), which makes possible the controlled deflection function and also acts as an adjusting means ( 33 ). the locking element ( 13 ) is preferably acted on by an elastic clamping element ( 20 ), which is adjustable . the locking element ( 13 ) is located between the safety device parts ( 11 , 12 ). the safety device parts ( 11 , 12 ) are in turn connected to a device parts [ sic — tr . ed .] ( 6 , 7 , 8 ). this connection is exactly defined geometrically and can be set exactly , for example , by means of positioning pins ( 29 ), shearing pins or the like . the safety device parts ( 11 , 12 ) can likewise be positioned exactly in relation to one other by means of the locking elements ( 13 ) and are secured and held in their positions by the locking element ( 13 ) and / or the clamping element ( 20 ). the force of the clamping element ( 20 ) can be set and is adjusted in the above - mentioned manner to the static and dynamic forces acting during normal operation . the safety device parts ( 11 , 12 ) yield in relation to one another only when a force threshold , which may optionally be set with a safety margin , is exceeded . the deflecting movement may take place along one or more axes depending on the embodiment of the safety device parts ( 11 , 12 ) and of the locking element ( 13 ). fig3 and 4 show two examples of design embodiments for a deflectable , positive - locking deflectable safety device ( 10 ), in which there are possibilities of deflection along four separate axes , which are illustrated in the drawings on the side by arrows . fig3 and 4 show the example of use at a junction point ( 23 ) between two tube sections ( 7 ′, 7 ″). a corresponding design embodiment may also be present at other junction points ( 23 ), for example , between the device parts ( 6 ), i . e ., the tensioners , grippers or the like , and the frame ( 4 ) or at points of intersection of the frame tubes ( 7 , 8 ). in the variant according to fig3 , a safety device part ( 12 ) associated with the tube section ( 7 ″) is designed as a sphere , namely , as a joint ball ( 15 ), which is attached to the tube end . a ring ( 15 ′) with spherical circumference according to the variants of fig5 through 8 described below or another spherical part may also be used instead of a joint ball ( 15 ). the second safety device part ( 11 ) connected to the other tube section ( 7 ′) by means of a metal fitting is designed as a socket ( 14 ), which surrounds and holds the joint ball ( 15 ) on the circumference . the socket ( 14 ) may have a straight tubular shape with a cylindrical or prismatic cross section , so that a linear contact with the circumference of the ball is possible with the joint ball ( 15 ). the socket ( 14 ) and the joint ball ( 15 ) are held in contact with one another by the locking element ( 13 ), which comprises in this case a plurality of locking balls ( 18 ), which are distributed on the circumference in the contact area and are acted on by a pressing spring ( 22 ) each as a clamp , tensioner or clamping element ( 20 ). the locking balls ( 18 ) engage correspondingly shaped , exactly defined mounts ( 19 ) at the socket ( 14 ) and the joint ball ( 15 ) and thus secure the connection . such ball / spring units may be screwed as ready - made machine parts into the socket ( 14 ). at least three , preferably four locking balls ( 18 ) are arranged in a uniformly distributed manner over the circumference of the ball on a line at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the tube section . when , for example , an upsetting or tensile force develops along the central axis of the two , preferably aligned tube sections ( 7 ′, 7 ″), the tube section ( 7 ″) with the joint ball ( 15 ) can be pulled out of or pushed into the socket ( 14 ) when the force acting is greater than the resultant , acting in the same direction , from the holding force of the radially acting springs ( 22 ). the socket ( 14 ) has a sufficient clearance at the bottom against the joint ball ( 15 ) to absorb upsetting forces and upsetting movements . if , on the other hand , lateral forces act on one of the tube sections ( 7 ′, 7 ″), the joint ball ( 15 ) can rotate correspondingly in the socket ( 14 ) about the vertical and / or horizontal axis for deflection . torsional forces can also be absorbed by a deflecting movement and rotation about the longitudinal axis of the tube . the mounts ( 19 ) may be designed with precision such that they permit the ball ( 18 ) to snap in only when it is in the exact position . as a result , a deflecting movement in case of collision is not abolished and returned by itself . the device parts ( 6 , 7 , 8 ) stop in the deflected position in relation to one another . the desired position and the locked position can , however , be restored by an operator by manual engaging . as soon as all locking balls ( 18 ) engage their respective mounts ( 19 ), the desired position is exactly restored . as an alternative , the mounts ( 19 ) may have an expanded shape at one of the safety device parts , for example , the joint ball ( 15 ), and form , for example , recesses or pans ( 28 ) with an enlarged radius of curvature . in case of such a shape or another suitable shape , the deflecting device part ( 6 , 7 , 7 ′, 7 ″, 8 ) can snap back by itself into the desired position after the collision . as is also illustrated in fig3 , the deflectable safety device ( 10 ) may have one or more detectors ( 24 ), which detect a possible deflecting movement and signal it in a suitable manner . they can report it to the control ( 26 ), for example , via the lines ( 25 ) shown in fig1 . the detectors ( 25 ) may be designed , for example , as pressure sensors , which are associated with one or more locking balls ( 18 ) and record the movement behavior of these balls . the detectors ( 24 ) may otherwise be designed in any desired and suitable manner as force , motion or distance sensors or the like . according to fig2 , the control ( 26 ) may have a plurality of displays ( 41 ), whose number corresponds to the number of detectors , e . g ., optical displays , for signaling the detector function and a possible deflection . as an alternative , the displays may be located at another point , e . g ., at the deflectable safety devices ( 10 ). as a result , the operator can immediately locate the deflection point . in the variant according to fig4 , the two safety device parts ( 11 , 12 ) comprise two disk mounts ( 16 , 17 ), between the parallel working surfaces of which , which face each other , the locking element ( 13 ) is arranged in the form of a plurality of locking balls ( 18 ) distributed in a circle . the locking balls ( 18 ) are preferably located in a common plane , in which the central axis of the two , preferably aligned tube sections ( 7 ′, 7 ″) is also located . at least three , preferably four or more locking balls ( 18 ) are arranged , distributed in a ring , in this case as well . the disk mounts ( 16 , 17 ) have corresponding conical mounts ( 19 ) or mounts of another shape on their working surfaces for the centered mounting and guiding of the locking balls ( 18 ). the clamping element ( 20 ) is designed in this variant as a tightening screw ( 21 ) with a spring ( 22 ), which extends centrally and at right angles through the ball ring . it extends in two aligned mounting holes of the disk mounts ( 16 , 17 ). the mounting holes have a larger diameter than the shaft of the screw , which is guided at the ends of the hole by half shell - shaped insert elements , which are in contact with the screw head , on the one hand , and with the spring ( 22 ), on the other hand . the two disk mounts ( 16 , 17 ) are connected to the tube sections ( 7 ′, 7 ″) by corresponding metal fittings ( 27 ) in a geometrically defined position . possibilities of deflection along the four axes explained in the exemplary embodiment according to fig3 are present in the variant according to fig4 as well . to absorb upsetting forces , the tube sections ( 7 ′, 7 ″) have a sufficient distance from the respective other disk mount ( 16 , 17 ) at their ends . moreover , a possibility of deflection along the other two translatory axes in the vertical and horizontal directions ( out of the drawing plane ) is also given in the embodiment according to fig4 . detectors ( 24 ) of the above - described type may likewise be present in the deflectable safety device ( 10 ) according to fig4 . they are not shown in the drawing for clarity &# 39 ; s sake only . fig5 through 11 show three variants of the deflectable safety device ( 10 ), which is especially suitable for the crossed connection of device parts ( 6 , 8 ), especially of tensioners or grippers or component centering means , etc ., with frame tubes . the shaft or post ( 37 ) of the tensioners or grippers ( 6 ) is shown in the drawings . the two safety device parts ( 11 , 12 ) of the deflectable safety device ( 10 ) are of a similar design in the three variants , there being a positive - locking guiding with a spring - loaded locking element ( 13 ) in the exemplary embodiment according to fig5 and 6 and a frictionally engaged guiding in the variants according to fig7 and fig9 through 11 . a frictionally engaged guiding may also be present and act primarily in the variant according to fig5 and 6 as well , especially in case of locking springs set to a weak force . one safety device part ( 12 ) is provided with the sphere as a ring - shaped collar ( 15 ′) with an outer edge rounded in a spherical form in the three variants . the collar ( 15 ′) is connected to the shaft ( 37 ) and is preferably made in one piece with it . the spherical rounding has the shape of a spherical segment , whose center ( 40 ) is the intersection of the central shaft axis ( 38 ) with the central plane of the ring collar ( 15 ′), which said central plane is located at right angles . the second safety device part ( 11 ) is connected to the frame tube ( 8 ) or another device part in a suitable manner , e . g ., by a clamp - like metal fitting ( 27 ) with exact positioning and optionally a positioning pin ( 29 ). the safety device part ( 11 ) has a socket , which is designed as a ring - shaped calotte ( 14 ′) and has an inner side rounded in a complementary and spherical manner . the rounding is designed as a spherical segment surface with the center ( 40 ) in this case as well . due to this design , the safety device parts ( 11 , 12 ) can rotate with their device parts ( 6 , 8 ) about the center ( 40 ) in the manner indicated by arrows in fig5 when the deflectable safety device ( 10 ) responds . axial displacement in the direction of the shaft axis ( 38 ) is not possible due to the connection between the safety device parts ( 11 , 12 ), which is a positive - locking connection due to the spherical section shape . to make it possible to mount the safety device parts ( 11 , 12 ), the calotte ( 14 ′) has a multipart design and comprises , e . g ., two shell parts ( 30 , 31 ), which meet at a transverse plane extending through the center ( 40 ) and can be connected and tightened by means of screws ( 32 ). ground fitting plates are inserted at the contact point for an exact fit . this embodiment is again the same in the three embodiments according to fig5 through 11 . a locking element ( 13 ) is present in the variant according to fig5 and 6 for the positive - locking connection of the safety device parts ( 11 , 12 ). it comprises , e . g ., three locking balls ( 18 ), which are distributed uniformly over the circumference of the calotte , are acted on by a pressing spring ( 22 ) each as a tensioning element and engage correspondingly shaped and exactly defined mounts ( 19 ) on the outer circumference of the ring collar ( 15 ′). the spring force can be set by means of tightening screws ( 21 ). the locking element ( 13 ) also forms the adjusting means ( 33 ) at the same time for exactly positioning the safety device parts ( 11 , 12 ) during the first assembly and each time after the deflection in case of a crash . there is no locking element ( 13 ) in the two variants according to fig7 and 8 as well as according to fig9 through 11 . there is a frictionally engaged guiding here between the calotte ( 14 ′) and the spherical collar ( 15 ′). the frictional force is generated by means of the clamping connection of the shell parts ( 30 , 31 ), which can be set correspondingly . in case of a corresponding setting and tightening of the shell parts ( 30 , 31 ), such a frictionally engaged connection can also be obtained in the first variant according to fig5 and 6 . another adjusting means ( 33 ) is present in the embodiments according to fig7 through 11 . it comprises a plurality of adjusting elements ( 34 ), especially adjusting screws , which cooperate with corresponding mounts ( 35 ). one adjusting screw ( 34 ) is arranged lying at the safety device part ( 11 ) in the area of the calotte ( 14 ′) and cooperates with a corresponding mounting opening ( 35 ) at the ring - shaped collar ( 15 ′) of the other safety device part ( 12 ). the mounting opening ( 35 ) may be a blind hole according to fig7 and 8 . the rotated and pivoted position about the shaft axis ( 38 ) and about the transverse axis through the center ( 40 ) can be set by means of this . in the variant according to fig9 through 11 , the mounting opening ( 35 ) is a slot ( 42 ), which extends along the axis ( 38 ) and is open upwardly and downwardly toward the adjusting element ( 34 ). thanks to the slot ( 42 ), the safety device part ( 12 ) can rotate with its ring - shaped collar ( 15 ′) about the two axes indicated by arrows in fig1 in relation to the above adjusting element ( 34 ) and deflect . a second adjusting screw ( 34 ) is arranged in a projection ( 39 ) of the safety device part ( 11 ) having a c - shaped cross section in the design according to fig7 and 8 . the projection ( 39 ) extends over the shaft ( 37 ) at an axially spaced location . the second adjusting screw ( 34 ) is preferably aligned flush with the shaft axis ( 38 ) and engages a front - side mounting hole ( 35 ) at the upper end of the shaft . the rotated position of the safety device part ( 12 ) and of the shaft ( 37 ) about the longitudinal axis of the first shaft screw ( 34 ) can be set by means of this second adjusting screw ( 34 ). after the position has been found , the adjusting screws ( 34 ) can again be screwed back in their threads at the safety device part ( 11 ) and removed from the mounts ( 35 ). the width of the spherical ring collar ( 15 ′) and of the calotte ( 14 ′) can be set differently as needed and according to the desired deflection behavior . the widths are preferably essentially equal in the exemplary embodiments being shown , the calotte ( 14 ) being able to be somewhat wider on both sides than the collar ( 15 ′). the resistance during deflection is determined by the ratio of the widths . the calotte ( 14 ′) and the ring collar ( 15 ′) may become disengaged in some areas during deflection in case of a small width , as a result of which the section modulus counteracting the deflection is reduced . the consequence of this is a faster and easier deflection , as a result of which deformations or other damage to the device parts ( 6 , 7 , 8 ) due to overload can be prevented from occurring . a detector ( 24 ) is likewise present in the deflectable safety device ( 10 ) according to fig5 through 11 . it comprises a contact switch or button , which is arranged in the projection ( 39 ) of the safety device part ( 11 ) and is positioned eccentrically and preferably in a direction obliquely to the shaft axis ( 38 ) in the variant according to fig5 through 8 . the switch cooperates with a feeler ( 36 ) at the upper end of the shaft ( 37 ). due to this eccentric arrangement , the detector ( 24 ) responds in case of all deflections about the center ( 40 ) and above all also during rotation about the shaft axis ( 38 ). the feeler ( 36 ) loses contact with the detector ( 24 ) during these deflections , and the detector will then send a corresponding signal . fig9 through 11 and especially the enlarged view in fig1 illustrate a design variant of the detector ( 24 ). the feeler ( 36 ) is designed in this case as a pressure piece ( 44 ), which is guided longitudinally movably in an upper tube section ( 43 ) of the shaft ( 37 ). the pressure piece ( 44 ) is acted on now on the rear side by a spring ( 46 ) in the tube section ( 43 ), and the spring force of this spring can be changed and set by an adjusting element ( not shown ). the pressure piece ( 44 ) projects upward from the tube section ( 43 ) with a rounded or conically shaped head part ( 45 ). the head part ( 45 ) comes into positive - locking contact with a complementarily shaped , conical or rounded mount ( 47 ). the mount ( 47 ) may be designed , e . g ., as a ring - shaped socket . the detector ( 24 ) has a microswitch or sensor ( 48 ), which is arranged in the projection ( 39 ) in the central axis ( 38 ) and comes into switching contact with the tip of the head part ( 45 ). in case of collision and deflection , the pressure piece ( 44 ) can yield elastically and become separated from the socket ( 47 ), while the microswitch ( 48 ) is actuated . the microswitch ( 48 ) may be of any desired technical type and design and is also not limited to the typical mechanical microswitches . the microswitch ( 48 ) is guided movably along the axis ( 38 ) in a housing opening ( 51 ) and is acted on from the underside with a spring device ( 49 ), e . g ., a compression spring , especially a plate spring assembly . the spring device ( 49 ) is supported at a laterally projecting collar of the microswitch ( 48 ). the microswitch ( 48 ) is acted on from the top by a clamping cover ( 50 ) in an adjustable manner against the force of the spring device ( 49 ). by actuating the tightening screws , the clamping cover ( 50 ) can be moved up and down along the axis ( 38 ). the detector ( 24 ) and the elastic pressure piece ( 44 ) can thus be set exactly in relation to one another . the microswitch ( 48 ) can then be closed in the determined position and secured against undesired adjustment . in this design , the detector ( 24 ) with its elastic pressure piece ( 44 ) is part of the adjusting means ( 33 ) operating in a positive - locking manner . this design has advantages in terms of manufacturing technology and signal engineering . the sensitivity with which the adjusting means ( 33 ) is triggered and also the sensitivity of switching of the detector ( 24 ) can be set and optimized by selecting the pretension of the spring . in addition , the design effort is reduced compared with the other exemplary embodiments . the deflectable safety device ( 10 ) according to fig5 through 11 can also be used in conjunction with aligned device parts ( 6 , 7 , 8 ) similar to the variants according to fig3 and 4 in case of a corresponding conversion . the safety device part ( 11 ) has a correspondingly different shape in this case . various variants of the embodiments shown are possible . this applies , on the one hand , to the arrangement and the positioning of the deflectable safety devices ( 10 ) at the gripping device ( 1 ). the gripping device ( 1 ) may have , besides , a different geometric design and comprise other device parts ( 6 , 7 , 8 ). the frame ( 4 ) may be , in particular , plate - shaped or have another solid design . furthermore , the design embodiments of the deflectable safety device ( 10 ) and the parts ( 11 , 12 , 13 ) thereof may be modified as well . for example , more than two safety device parts ( 11 , 12 ) may be present in intersections . the locking element ( 13 ) may comprise , as an alternative , one or more geometrically defined , stationary stops at the safety device parts ( 11 , 12 ), against which the respective other safety device part is pressed with a predetermined force . the triggering force may be able to be set in this case as well . in another variant , the locking element ( 13 ) may have shearing pins , which engage corresponding mounts ( 19 ), instead of one or more locking balls ( 18 ). the shearing pins consist of a suitable material , which breaks at a defined overload and thus makes possible a mutual deflection of the safety device parts ( 21 , 22 ) while the positive - locking connection is abolished . the design embodiment of the deflectable safety devices ( 10 ) may , moreover , be selected to be completely different by using , for example , electric buttons or sensors , which detect and report overload forces when collisions occur , but deflection of a device part ( 6 , 7 , 8 ) does not occur . furthermore , it is possible to operate with electric , pneumatic and hydraulic switch - off safety devices , which function with or without deflecting movement .	1
in the following detailed description , reference is made to the accompanying drawing figures which form a part hereof , and which show by way of illustration specific embodiments of the invention . it is to be understood by those of ordinary skill in this technological field that other embodiments may be utilized , and structural , electrical , as well as procedural changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention . wherever possible , the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or similar parts . fig1 is a block diagram of mobile terminal 100 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention . the mobile terminal 100 may be implemented using a variety of different types of mobile terminals . examples of such mobile terminals include mobile phones , user equipment , smart phones , computers , digital broadcast terminals , personal digital assistants , portable multimedia players ( pmp ) and navigators . by way of non - limiting example only , further description will be with regard to a mobile terminal 100 . however , such teachings apply equally to other types of mobile terminals . fig1 shows the mobile terminal 100 having various components , but it is understood that implementing all of the illustrated components is not a requirement . greater or fewer components may alternatively be implemented . fig1 shows a wireless communication unit 110 configured with several commonly implemented components . for example , the wireless communication unit 110 typically includes one or more components which permit wireless communication between the mobile terminal 100 and a wireless communication system or network within which the mobile terminal is located . the broadcast receiving module 111 receives a broadcast signal and / or broadcast associated information from an external broadcast managing entity via a broadcast channel . the broadcast channel may include a satellite channel or a terrestrial channel . the broadcast managing entity refers generally to a system which transmits a broadcast signal and / or broadcast associated information . examples of the broadcast associated information include information associated with a broadcast channel , a broadcast program , and a broadcast service provider . for example , the broadcast associated information may include an electronic program guide ( epg ) of digital multimedia broadcasting ( dmb ) or an electronic service guide ( esg ) of digital video broadcast - handheld ( dvb - h ). the broadcast signal may be implemented , for example , as a tv broadcast signal , a radio broadcast signal , or a data broadcast signal . the broadcast signal may further include a broadcast signal combined with a tv or radio broadcast signal . the broadcast receiving module 111 may be configured to receive broadcast signals transmitted from various types of broadcast systems . by non - limiting example , such broadcasting systems include digital multimedia broadcasting - terrestrial ( dmb - t ), digital multimedia broadcasting - satellite ( dmb - s ), digital video broadcast - handheld ( dvb - h ), the data broadcasting system known as media forward link only ( mediaflo ®) and integrated services digital broadcast - terrestrial ( isdb - t ). receiving multicast signals is also possible . data received by the broadcast receiving module 111 may be stored in a suitable device , such as a memory 160 . the mobile communication module 112 communicates wireless signals with one or more network entities , such as a base station or node - b . such signals may represent , for example , audio , video , multimedia , control signaling , or data . the wireless internet module 113 supports internet access for the mobile terminal 100 . the wireless internet module 113 may be internally or externally coupled to the mobile terminal 100 . suitable technologies for wireless internet may include , but are not limited to , wlan ( wireless lan )( wi - fi ), wibro ( wireless broadband ), wimax ( world interoperability for microwave access ), and hsdpa ( high speed downlink packet access ). the short - range communication module 114 facilitates relatively short - range communications . suitable technologies for short - range communication may include , but are not limited to , radio frequency identification ( rfid ), infrared data association ( irda ), ultra - wideband ( uwb ), as well as the networking technologies commonly referred to as bluetooth ® and zigbee ®. the position - location module 115 identifies or otherwise obtains the location of the mobile terminal 100 . the position - location module 115 may be implemented using global positioning system ( gps ) components which cooperate with associated satellites , network components , and combinations thereof . the audio / video ( a / v ) input unit 120 is configured to provide audio or video signal input to the mobile terminal 100 . as shown , the a / v input unit 120 includes a camera 121 and a microphone 122 . the camera 121 receives and processes image frames of still pictures or video . the microphone 122 receives an external audio signal while the portable device is in a particular mode , such as phone call mode , recording mode or voice recognition mode . this audio signal is processed and converted into digital data . the mobile terminal 100 and specifically the a / v input unit 120 , may include assorted noise removing algorithms to remove noise generated in the course of receiving the external audio signal . data generated by the a / v input unit 120 may be stored in the memory 160 , utilized by the output unit 150 , or transmitted via one or more modules of the communication unit 110 . if desired , two or more microphones 122 and / or cameras 121 may be used . the user input unit 130 generates input data responsive to user manipulation of an associated input device or devices . examples of such devices include a keypad , a dome switch , a touchpad such as a static pressure / capacitance , a jog wheel and a jog switch . a specific example is a user input unit 130 configured as a touchpad in cooperation with a touch screen display , which will be described in more detail below . the sensing unit 140 provides status measurements of various aspects of the mobile terminal 100 . for example , the sensing unit 140 may detect an open / close status of the mobile terminal 100 , the relative positioning of components such as a display and keypad , a change of position of the mobile terminal or a component of the mobile terminal , a presence or absence of user contact with the mobile terminal , or the orientation or acceleration / deceleration of the mobile terminal . the sensing unit 140 may sense whether a sliding portion of the mobile terminal 100 is open or closed if the mobile terminal is configured as a slide - type mobile terminal . the sensing unit 140 may also sense the presence or absence of power provided by the power supply 190 , and the presence or absence of a coupling or other connection between the interface unit 170 and an external device . the interface unit 170 may be implemented to couple the mobile terminal 100 with external devices . typical external devices include wired / wireless headphones , external chargers , power supplies , earphones , microphones and storage devices configured to store data such as audio , video , and pictures ,. the interface unit 170 may be configured using a wired / wireless data port , audio input / output ports , video input / output ports , or a card socket for coupling to a memory card , a subscriber identity module ( sim ) card , a user identity module ( uim ) card , or a removable user identity module ( ruim ) card ). the output unit 150 may include various components that support the output requirements of the mobile terminal 100 . the display 151 may be implemented to visually display information associated with the mobile terminal 100 . the display 151 may provide a user interface or graphical user interface that includes information associated with placing , conducting , and terminating a phone call if the mobile terminal 100 is operating in a phone call mode . as another example , the display 151 may additionally or alternatively display images associated with a video call mode or a photographing mode . one particular implementation of the present invention includes the display 151 configured as a touch screen working in cooperation with an input device , such as a touchpad . this configuration permits the display 151 to function both as an output device and an input device . the display 151 may be implemented using known display technologies including a liquid crystal display ( lcd ), a thin film transistor - liquid crystal display ( tft - lcd ), an organic light - emitting diode display ( oled ), a flexible display and a three - dimensional display . the mobile terminal 100 may include one or more displays 151 . an example of a two - display embodiment is one in which one display 151 is configured as an internal display viewable when the terminal is in an opened position and a second display 151 configured as an external display viewable in both the open and closed positions . fig1 further shows the output unit 150 having an audio output module 152 , which supports the audio output requirements of the mobile terminal 100 . the audio output module 152 may be implemented using one or more speakers , buzzers , other audio producing devices , or combinations thereof . the audio output module 152 functions in various modes such as call - receiving mode , call - placing mode , recording mode , voice recognition mode and broadcast reception mode . the audio output module 152 outputs audio relating to a particular function or status , such as call received , message received , or errors . the output unit 150 is further shown having an alarm 153 , which may signal or otherwise identify the occurrence of a particular event associated with the mobile terminal 100 . typical events include call received , message received and user input received . an example of a signal provided by the output unit 150 is a tactile sensation . for example , the alarm 153 may be configured to vibrate responsive to the mobile terminal 100 receiving a call or message . as another example , vibration may be provided by the alarm 153 responsive to receiving user input at the mobile terminal 100 in order to provide a tactile feedback mechanism . it is understood that the various signals provided by the components of the output unit 150 may be separately performed , or performed using any combination of such components . the memory 160 is generally used to store various types of data to support the processing , control , and storage requirements of the mobile terminal 100 . examples of such data include program instructions for applications operating in the mobile terminal 100 , contact data , phonebook data , messages , pictures , and video . the memory 160 shown in fig1 may be implemented using any type or combination of suitable volatile and non - volatile memory or storage devices . examples of memory types are random access memory ( ram ), static random access memory ( sram ), electrically erasable programmable read - only memory ( eeprom ), erasable programmable read - only memory ( eprom ), programmable read - only memory ( prom ), read - only memory ( rom ), magnetic memory , flash memory , magnetic or optical disk memory , card - type memory , and other similar memory or data storage device . the controller 180 typically controls the overall operations of the mobile terminal 100 . for example , the controller 180 performs the control and processing associated with voice calls , data communications , instant message communication , video calls , camera operations and recording operations . the controller 180 may include a multimedia module 181 that provides multimedia playback . the multimedia module 181 may be configured as part of the controller 180 , or implemented as a separate component . the power supply 190 provides power required by the various components for the mobile terminal 100 . the power may be internal power , external power , or combinations thereof . various embodiments described herein may be implemented in various ways . for example , the embodiments may be implemented in a computer - readable medium using computer software , hardware , or some combination thereof . for a hardware implementation , the embodiments described may be implemented within one or more application specific integrated circuits ( asics ), digital signal processors ( dsps ), digital signal processing devices ( dspds ), programmable logic devices ( plds ), field programmable gate arrays ( fpgas ), processors , controllers , micro - controllers , microprocessors , other electronic units designed to perform the functions described herein , or a selective combination thereof . such embodiments may also be implemented by the controller 180 . for a software implementation , the embodiments described herein may be implemented with separate software modules , such as procedures and functions , each of which perform one or more of the functions and operations described herein . the software codes can be implemented with a software application written in any suitable programming language and may be stored in memory , such as the memory 160 , and executed by a controller or processor , such as the controller 180 . the mobile terminal 100 may be implemented in a variety of different configurations . examples of such configurations include folder - type , slide - type , bar - type , rotational - type , swing - type and combinations thereof . for clarity , further disclosure will primarily relate to a slide - type mobile terminal 100 . however , such teachings apply equally to other types of mobile terminals 100 . fig2 is a perspective view of a front side of a mobile terminal 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention . in fig2 , the mobile terminal 100 is shown having a first body 200 configured to slidably cooperate with a second body 205 . the user input unit 130 ( described in fig1 ) is implemented using function keys 210 and a keypad 215 . the function keys 210 are located on the first body 200 and the keypad 215 is located on the second body 205 . the keypad 215 includes various keys , such as numbers , characters , and symbols to enable a user to place a call , prepare a text or multimedia message , and otherwise operate the mobile terminal 100 . the first body 200 slides relative to the second body 205 between open and closed positions . the first body 200 is positioned over the second body 205 in the closed position such that the keypad 215 is substantially or completely obscured by the first body . user access to the keypad 215 , the display 151 and the function keys 210 is facilitated in the open position . the function keys 210 are conveniently configured for a user to enter commands , such as start , stop and scroll . the mobile terminal 100 is operable in either a standby mode or an active call mode . the mobile terminal 100 is able to receive a call or message and to receive and respond to network control signaling in the standby mode . the mobile terminal 100 typically operates in the standby mode in the closed position and in the active mode in the open position . this mode configuration may be changed as required or desired . the first body 200 is shown formed of a first case 220 and a second case 225 . the second body 205 is shown formed of a first case 230 and a second case 235 . the first cases 220 , 230 and second cases 205 , 235 are usually formed of a suitably rigid material , such as injection molded plastic , or formed using metallic material , such as stainless steel ( sts ) or titanium ( ti ). one or more intermediate cases may be provided between the first case 225 and second case 225 of the first body 200 or between the first case 230 and second case 235 of the second body 205 . the first body 200 and second body 205 are typically sized to receive electronic components necessary to support operation of the mobile terminal 100 . the first body 200 is shown having a camera 121 and audio output module 152 , which is configured as a speaker , positioned relative to the display 151 . the camera 121 may be constructed such that it can be selectively positioned relative to first body 200 , such as by rotation or swiveling . the function keys 210 are positioned adjacent to a lower side of the display 151 , which is shown implemented as an lcd or oled . the display 151 may also be configured as a touch screen having an underlying touchpad which generates signals responsive to user contact with the touch screen , such as with a finger or stylus . the second body 205 is shown having a microphone 122 positioned adjacent to the keypad 215 and having side keys 245 , which are one type of user input unit 130 , positioned along the side of second body . preferably , the side keys 245 are configured as hot keys , such that the side keys are associated with a particular function of the mobile terminal 100 . an interface unit 170 is shown positioned adjacent to the side keys 245 . a power supply 190 in a form of a battery is shown located on a lower portion of the second body 205 . fig3 is a rear view of the mobile terminal shown in fig2 . fig3 shows the second body 205 having a camera 121 with an associated flash 250 and mirror 255 . the flash 250 operates in conjunction with the camera 121 . the mirror 255 is useful for assisting a user to position the camera 121 in a self - portrait mode . the camera 121 of the second body 205 illustrated in fig3 faces a direction opposite to a direction faced by the camera 121 of the first body 200 illustrated in fig2 . each of the cameras 121 of the first body 200 and second body 205 may have the same or different capabilities . the camera 121 of the first body 200 in one embodiment operates with a relatively lower resolution than the camera 121 of the second body 205 . such an arrangement works well during a video conference , for example , in which reverse link bandwidth capabilities may be limited . the relatively higher resolution of the camera 121 of the second body 205 is useful for obtaining higher quality pictures for later use or for communicating with other parties . the second body 205 illustrated in fig3 also includes an audio output module 152 located on an upper side of the second body and configured as a speaker . the audio output modules 152 of the first body 200 and second body 205 may cooperate to provide stereo output . moreover , either or both of these audio output modules 152 may be configured to operate as a speakerphone . a broadcast signal receiving antenna 260 is shown located at an upper end of the second body 205 in fig3 . the antenna 260 functions in cooperation with the broadcast receiving module 111 illustrated in fig1 . the antenna 260 may be fixed or retractable into the second body 205 . the rear side of the first body 200 includes a slide module 265 . the slide module 265 slidably couples with a corresponding slide module located on the front side of the second body 205 . it is understood that the arrangement of the various components of the first body 200 and second body 205 illustrated in fig2 and 3 may be modified as required or desired . for example , some or all of the components of one body may be implemented in the other body . further , the location and relative positioning of the components are not critical and , therefore , the components may be positioned at locations which differ from those shown in fig2 and 3 . the mobile terminal 100 of fig1 - 3 may be configured to operate within a communication system which transmits data via frames or packets , including both wireless and wired communication systems and satellite - based communication systems . such communication systems utilize different air interfaces and / or physical layers . examples of air interfaces utilized by the communication systems include frequency division multiple access ( fdma ), time division multiple access ( tdma ), code division multiple access ( cdma ), the universal mobile telecommunications system ( umts ), the long term evolution ( lte ) of the umts , and the global system for mobile communications ( gsm ). by way of non - limiting example only , further description will relate to a cdma communication system , but such teachings apply equally to other system types . referring to fig4 , a cdma wireless communication system is shown having a plurality of mobile terminals 100 , a plurality of base stations ( bs ) 270 , a plurality of base station controllers ( bsc ) 275 , and a mobile switching center ( msc ) 280 . the msc 280 is configured to interface with a conventional public switch telephone network ( pstn ) 290 . the msc 280 is also configured to interface with the bscs 275 . the bscs 275 are coupled to the base stations 270 via backhaul lines . the backhaul lines may be configured in accordance with any of several known interfaces including e1 / t1 , atm , ip , ppp , frame relay , hdsl , adsl , or xdsl . it is to be understood that the system may include more than two bscs 275 . each bs 270 may include one or more sectors , each sector having an omni - directional antenna or an antenna pointed in a particular direction radially away from the base station . alternatively , each sector may include two antennas for diversity reception . each bs 270 may be configured to support a plurality of frequency assignments each having a particular spectrum , such as 1 . 25 mhz or 5 mhz . the intersection of a sector and frequency assignment may be referred to as a cdma channel . the bss 270 may also be referred to as base station transceiver subsystems ( btss ). the term “ base station ” may be used to refer collectively to a bsc 275 and one or more bss 270 . the bss 270 may also be denoted as “ cell sites .” alternatively , individual sectors of a given bs 270 may be referred to as “ cell sites .” a terrestrial digital multimedia broadcasting ( dmb ) transmitter ( bt ) 295 is shown broadcasting to the mobile terminals 100 operating within the system . the broadcast receiving module 111 illustrated in fig1 may be configured to receive broadcast signals transmitted by the bt 295 . similar arrangements may be implemented for other types of broadcast and multicast signaling as discussed above . fig4 further depicts several global positioning system ( gps ) satellites 300 that facilitate locating the position of some or all of the mobile terminals 100 . two satellites 300 are depicted , but it is understood that useful positioning information may be obtained with greater or fewer satellites . the position - location module 115 illustrated in fig1 may be configured to cooperate with the satellites 300 to obtain desired position information . it is to be appreciated that other types of position detection technology may alternatively be implemented , such as location technology that may be used in addition to or instead of gps location technology . if desired , some or all of the gps satellites 300 may alternatively or additionally be configured to provide satellite dmb transmissions . during typical operation of the wireless communication system , the bss 270 receive sets of reverse - link signals from various mobile terminals 100 . the mobile terminals 100 perform calls , messaging , and other communications . each reverse - link signal received by a given bs 270 is processed within that bs . the resulting data is forwarded to an associated bsc 275 . the bsc 275 provides call resource allocation and mobility management functionality including soft handoffs between the bss 270 . the bscs 275 also route the received data to the msc 280 , which provides additional routing services for interfacing with the pstn 290 . similarly , the pstn 290 interfaces with the msc 280 , which interfaces with the bscs 275 . the bscs 275 control the bss 270 to transmit sets of forward - link signals to the mobile terminals 100 . an instant messaging service related to the present invention includes services such as text communication , voice communication , image communication , and data communication . the data communication may be file transmission and reception in real time based on internet protocol between a plurality of mobile terminals having an instant messaging service function . the instant messaging service may also include a mobile instant messaging service supporting an instant messaging service between mobile terminals . status information of the other party referred to in the present invention includes information regarding the current status of a user ( hereinafter , referred to as ‘ the other party ’) of a mobile terminal that performs an instant messaging service . the status information of the other party may include a status such as on - line , off - line , out of office , meeting , or eating . hereinafter , a method of performing an instant messaging service in a mobile terminal according to the present invention will be described referring to fig5 and 6 . referring to fig5 , a mobile terminal 100 transmits and receives a message or data to or from first and second servers 500 and 600 to implement an instant messaging service . for example , the first server 500 may be a server that monitors status information of a mobile terminal implementing an instant messaging service . the second server 600 may be a server that performs an instant messaging service . depending on system requirements , the first and second servers 500 and 600 may be configured as an integrated structure or separate structures . for example , when the first and second servers 500 and 600 are configured as separate structures , the mobile terminal 100 may perform an operation related to reception of status information of the other party with the first server 500 . in the following description , a server is assumed to be the first server 500 . the mobile terminal 100 starts to perform an instant messaging service with the server 500 . the server 500 may be a server that performs the instant messaging service . alternatively , the server 500 may also include a server that monitors status information of a mobile terminal implementing the instant messaging service . referring to fig6 , a user of the mobile terminal 100 inputs start information or logon information to the mobile terminal through a user input unit 130 ( s 511 ). when the user inputs the start information to the mobile terminal 100 , the mobile terminal transmits a start request message to the server 500 through the wireless communication unit 110 , specifically , the wireless internet module 113 to initiate the instant messaging service ( s 513 ). the start request message includes information for authorizing the user of the mobile terminal 100 to use the instant messaging service . for example , the start request message includes verification information such as identification ( id ), password , authentication information , or mobile terminal identification information which is input at step s 511 . the mobile terminal 100 receives a confirmation message authorizing the mobile terminal for the use of the instant messaging service from the server 500 through the wireless communication unit 110 ( s 515 ). as described above , initiation of the instant messaging service between the mobile terminal 100 and the server 500 includes the input step ( s 511 ), the transmission step ( s 513 ), and the reception step ( s 515 ). when initiating the instant messaging service , the mobile terminal 100 determines whether an application module for the instant messaging service is active ( s 520 ). the determination step ( s 520 ) may be performed by the controller 180 . for example , the controller 180 determines whether at least one or more of data transmission or reception using the instant messaging service are present , whether a user interface for the instant messaging service is active , whether the terminal entered into an area where the instant messaging service is usable , whether the terminal entered a time period in which the instant messaging service is usable , or whether other types of application modules , which are not related to the instant messaging , are being operated . the terminal 100 may also determine how long the other types of application modules have been operated . preferably , the terminal 100 establishes a status of the instant messaging service according to criteria specified by the user of the terminal . referring to fig7 , the terminal 100 transmits and receives data to and from terminals of other parties using the instant messaging service . for example , if data are transmitted and received when an instant messaging service window or a user interface is activated , as shown in fig7 ( a ) or if data is transmitted and received when the instant messaging service window is not activated , as shown in fig7 ( b ), the terminal 100 determines that an application module for the instant messaging service is active . the transmitted and received data preferably include various types of data , such as file type data , text data , voice data , image data , or video data . the mobile terminal 100 determines whether there were any previous data transmission and reception and whether there are any currently ongoing data transmission and reception using the instant messaging service . if there was any previous data transmission or reception performed recently within a predetermined time , even if the data transmission and reception are not currently being performed , the mobile terminal 100 may determine that the application module for the instant messaging service is active . referring to fig8 , if the user interface for the instant messaging service has been activated , the mobile terminal 100 determines that the application module for the instant messaging service is active . for example , when a list of the other parties who agreed to perform data communication with the user of the mobile terminal 100 through the instant messaging service is displayed on the screen , as shown in fig8 ( a ) or when the user of the mobile terminal is communicating with any one of the other parties via the instant messaging service , as shown in fig8 ( b ), the mobile terminal determines that the user interface for the instant messaging service has been activated . consequently , the mobile terminal 100 determines that the application module for the instant messaging service is active . actions for activating the user interface may include displaying the window or screen for the instant messaging service , inputting messages , and performing an operation requiring the screen display for the instant messaging service . the mobile terminal 100 may confirm the active status of the instant messaging service by recognizing that the user interface for the instant messaging service has been activated recently within a predetermined time and the user interface for the instant messaging service is currently active . referring to fig9 ( a ), the mobile terminal 100 determines that an application module for the instant messaging service is active when an instant messaging service usable area is established . for example , when establishing the instant messaging service usable area , the user of the mobile terminal 100 may directly input an address , for example , a city , a county , or a state . the user may also select an address from an address list by selecting a name assigned to a specific address , for example , school , home , and company , selecting a point of interest ( poi ) assigned to the specific address , or selecting an area corresponding to a specific point using a map image . alternatively , the user of the mobile terminal 100 may input information regarding a street within a predetermined radius from a specific area when selecting the specific area . alternatively , the mobile terminal 100 may arbitrarily establish an instant messaging service usable area according to usage frequency and / or duration of the instant messaging service performed in each area as shown in fig9 ( b ). accordingly , if it is determined that the mobile terminal 100 is located at one of the areas established as the instant messaging service usable area by the position - location module 115 , the mobile terminal determines that the application module for the instant messaging service is active . referring to fig1 , the mobile terminal 100 determines whether an application module for the instant messaging service is active based on whether it is a time period in which an instant messaging service may be used . according to the user &# 39 ; s selection , the mobile terminal 100 may establish an instant messaging service usable time period as shown in fig1 ( a ). for example , when establishing the instant messaging service usable time period , the user of the mobile terminal 100 may directly input a time period or select a time period from a time period list . alternatively , the mobile terminal 100 may arbitrarily establish an instant messaging service usable time period according to the usage frequency and / or duration of the instant messaging service for each time period as shown in fig1 ( b ). further , the time period may be arbitrarily established or changed by the user of the mobile terminal 100 or by the mobile terminal . the mobile terminal 100 has a clock installed therein to determine the present time . accordingly , if it is determined that the present time is included in the instant messaging service usable time period by the controller 180 , the mobile terminal 100 determines that an application module for the instant messaging service is active . referring to fig1 , the mobile terminal 100 determines whether an application module for the instant messaging service is active based on whether other types of application modules are being executed and / or how long the other types of application modules have been executed . other types of application modules may include modules supporting other operations or services excluding the instant messaging service . for example , other types of application modules may include a module for messaging , a module for image / voice conversation , and a module for broadcast . in particular , other types of application modules may include modules that perform internet protocol based wireless data transmission and reception functions . for example , other types of application modules may include a module for image conversation , a module for video sharing , a module for broadcast signal sharing , and a module for network game . the mobile terminal 100 determines that an application module for the instant messaging service is inactive when a message writing or input window is displayed by a module for messaging as shown in fig1 ( a ), a voice conversation is performed by a module for voice conversation as shown in fig1 ( b ), an image conversation is performed by a module for image conversation as shown in fig1 ( c ), or a broadcast is output by a module for broadcast as shown in fig1 ( d ). the mobile terminal 100 may confirm duration of other types of application modules performed within a predetermined time and other types of application modules currently being executed . if the duration of the previously performed other types of application modules does not exceed the predetermined time , even if the other types of application modules are currently being executed , the mobile terminal 100 may determine that the application module for the instant messaging service is active . other types of application modules may include modules which are physically different from the module for the instant messaging service . referring back to fig6 , if it is determined that an application module for the instant messaging service is active at step s 520 , the mobile terminal 100 transmits a notification message to the server 500 through the wireless communication unit 110 , specifically , the wireless internet module 113 to request status information of the other party ( s 530 ). this step is referred to as the transmission step ( s 530 ). before the transmission step ( s 530 ), the user of the mobile terminal 100 may designate at least one ‘ designation information ’ from a party to be notified , a status to be notified , or a period to be notified . therefore , at the transmission step ( s 530 ), the mobile terminal 100 may transmit a notification message including the designation information to the server 500 . consequently , when the server 500 receives the notification message from the mobile terminal 100 , the server registers the terminal as a notification target terminal to inform status information of the other party . furthermore , when the server 500 receives a notification message including the designation information , the server also registers the designation information when registering the mobile terminal 100 as the notification target terminal to inform the status information of the other party . a process for establishing the designation information will be described hereinafter in more detail with reference to fig1 a to 12d . as shown in fig1 a , when the user of the mobile terminal 100 selects “ menu ” disposed at a portion of an instant messaging service execution screen , the mobile terminal displays a designation target list . for example , the designation target list includes “ other party designation ,” “ status designation ,” and “ period designation .” when “ other party designation ” is selected from the designation target list shown in fig1 a , the terminal 100 displays an ‘ other party ’ list on the screen as shown in fig1 b . the user may select the other party , from whom the user wishes to be provided with status information , from the other party list . accordingly , the mobile terminal 100 designates one or more of the other party selected by the user as a notification request target party or a party to be notified and receive status information related to only the selected one or more other parties . for example , in fig1 b , three parties are selected and the terminal 100 receives status information related to those three parties , specifically , [ younghee ], [ minkyung ], and [ chulsoo ]. when “ status designation ” is selected from the designation target list shown in fig1 a , the mobile terminal 100 displays a status list on the screen , as shown in fig1 c . the status list may include various statuses such as ‘ eating ,’ ‘ on - line ,’ ‘ off - line ,’ ‘ out of office ,’ and ‘ meeting .’ the user may select to receive status information of the other party according to the designated status in the status list . accordingly , the mobile terminal 100 designates the status information selected by the user as a status to be notified . for example , in fig1 c , three statuses ‘ on - line ,’ ‘ off - line ,’ and ‘ out of office ’ are selected and the mobile terminal 100 receives status information of the party whose status is only one of ‘ on - line ,’ ‘ off - line ,’ and ‘ out of office .’ when “ period designation ” is selected from the designation target list shown in fig1 a , the mobile terminal 100 displays a notification period list on the screen , as shown in fig1 d . the user may select at least one notification period from the notification period list to obtain status information of the other party according to the selected notification period . accordingly , the mobile terminal 100 designates the notification period selected by the user as a period to be notified and the mobile terminal receives status information of the other party only when the conditions of the other party match the selected notification period . for example , if ‘ 30 minutes ’ is selected from the notification period list , as shown in fig1 d , the user of the mobile terminal 100 will be notified of the other parties who have been in on - line status for more than or less than 30 minutes depending on a preference previously set by the user . in addition to individually selecting the other party designation , the status designation , or the period designation according to a user &# 39 ; s specific selection of a single designation , the mobile terminal 100 may select at least two of the ‘ other party designation ,’ the ‘ status designation ,’ and the ‘ period designation ’ at the same time or cumulatively . for example , when the ‘ other party designation ’ and the ‘ status designation ’ are established , specific status information of a specific other party may be regarded as designation information . the designation information may include any other information to narrow the range of the status information of the other party to be notified . referring back to fig6 , the mobile terminal 100 receives the status information of the other party from the server 500 through the wireless communication unit 110 , specifically , the wireless internet module 113 ( s 540 ). this step is referred to as the reception step ( s 540 ). the server 500 registers the mobile terminal 100 as the notification target terminal to transmit the status information of the other party , and therefore , when the status information of the other party is generated or changed , the server may provide the status information of the other party to the mobile terminal . alternatively , the server 500 may periodically provide the status information of the other party to the mobile terminal 100 . furthermore , if the server 500 also registers the designation information when registering the mobile terminal 100 as the notification target terminal to transmit the status information of the other party to the mobile terminal , the status information of the other party is provided to the mobile terminal only when the designation information is also satisfied . the terminal 100 outputs the status information of the other party received at the reception step ( s 540 ) through the output unit 150 , specifically , the display 151 ( s 550 ). the status information of the other party may be output in various forms such as text , icon , emoticon , image , symbol , or voice . the output step ( s 550 ) will be described in more detail with reference to fig1 a to 13c . as shown in fig1 a , the mobile terminal 100 displays status information of each individual party on the other party list . alternatively , when parties to be notified are designated , as shown in fig1 b , the mobile terminal 100 may display status information of only the other parties designated as parties to be notified . for example , in fig1 b , since ‘ younghee ,’ ‘ minkyung ,’ and ‘ chulsoo ’ have been designated as partied to be notified , only [ younghee / on - line ], [ minkyung / out of office ], and [ chulsoo / eating ] are shown with the status information . alternatively , when status to be notified is designated , the mobile terminal 100 may display only status information designated as the status to be notified , for example , on - line , off - line , and out of office , as shown in fig1 c . therefore , only [ younghee / on - line ], [ youngsoo / off - line ], [ minkyung / out of office ], and [ minchul / on - line ] are shown with the designated status to be notified . referring back to fig6 , when it is determined that an application module for the instant messaging service is inactive while the user is logged in , the mobile terminal 100 transmits a cancellation message to the server 500 to cancel the notification message previously registered with the server ( s 560 ). when the server 500 receives the cancellation message from the mobile terminal 100 , the server cancels the previously registered notification message and stops transmitting the status information of the other party to the mobile terminal until the server receives another notification message from the mobile terminal . consequently , the mobile terminal 100 no loner receives the status information of the other party from the server , and therefore , the mobile terminal stops outputting the status information of the other party ( s 570 ). alternatively , the mobile terminal 100 may continue to display the status information of the other party provided at the time of transmitting the cancellation message . in the present invention , the transmission and reception of a message or data between the mobile terminal 100 and the servers 500 and 600 may be performed by a session initiation protocol ( sip ). as apparent from the above description , the mobile terminal and the method of performing the instant messaging service therein according to the present invention have the following effects . first , when an application module for the instant messaging service is active , it is possible to request notification of status information regarding the other party to the server . second , when a notification message is registered with the server to receive status information of the other party , it is possible to cancel receiving the status information from the server if an application module for the instant messaging service is inactive even if the user is logged in . therefore , it is possible to reduce data load on a network caused by the transmission and reception or output of unnecessary status information regarding the other party , to reduce power consumption and burden of the mobile terminal . according to an embodiment of the present invention , the mobile terminal 100 and an instant messaging service method thereof may be implemented as a code readable by a computer on a medium on which a program is recorded . media readable by the computer include all kinds of recording devices that store data readable by a computer system . examples of media readable by the computer include rom , ram , cd - rom , a magnetic tape , a floppy disk , and an optical data storage device . those implemented in the form of carrier wave , for example , transmission through internet , are also included . furthermore , the computer may include the controller 180 of the terminal 100 . it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit or scope of the inventions . thus , it is intended that the present invention covers the modifications and variations of this invention provided they come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents .	8
the following is a detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the invention , reference being made to the drawings in which the same reference numerals identify the same elements of structure in each of the several figures . as discussed above , conventional imaging of elongate objects involves stitching together two or more partial images obtained from separate and respective phosphor plates . however , employing multiple phosphor plates complicates the imaging process . first , the cassette typically includes mechanisms to ensure that the plates are substantially aligned , both in rotation with respect to one another and in preserving a desired overlap region . moreover , because the complete latent image is stored on separate phosphor plates , the act of scanning the individual plates introduces further alignment difficulties that typically require relatively sophisticated imaging algorithms to remedy before the partial images may be stitched together to form a viewable and faithful image of an elongate object . a stitching algorithm may need to identify and compensate for both rotational and angular misalignment between the partial images and a range of translational misalignment in the overlap region . moreover , images that are successfully stitched together may include , to some extent , distortion caused by the image processing employed to correct for the various alignment errors . conventional stitching algorithms often rely on the redundant information provided in the overlap region ( s ) of the multiple phosphor plates . for example , since portions of plates 150 a and 150 b in overlap region 155 are exposed to attenuated radiation from the same parts of the object being imaged , both plates should record , to some extent , the same information in this overlap region . however , the absorption characteristics of the upper phosphor plate results in relatively faint exposure on the lower plate . this reduction in the “ signal ” on the lower plate reduces the correlative properties of this supposed redundant information and makes stitching relatively difficult , reducing the precision of the alignment algorithms . applicant has appreciated that some of the problems associated with scanning elongate objects by employing multiple standardized phosphor plates may be alleviated or reduced by using a single extended length phosphor plate . fig2 illustrates an imaging apparatus for scanning elongate objects , in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention . the imaging apparatus includes a cassette 200 dimensioned to a length capable of accommodating long bone imaging , such as a full - leg or full - spine examination . in particular , cassette 200 is provided with a length y equal to or greater than the elongate object to be imaged . cassette 200 is adapted to hold a single phosphor plate 250 having a length y ′ sufficient to capture image information of the elongate object . as will become more apparent with the description below , cassette 200 includes an elongate rectangular shell having two opposing ends . plate 250 is disposed within cassette 200 such that it can be moved relative to the shell ( for example , by a sliding motion ) so as to be at least partially removed from either end of the cassette . as such , plate 250 can be accessed from cassette 200 through either end of the cassette by extraction of the plate from either cassette end . accordingly , cassette 200 is a double - ended cassette comprising a single plate . when plate 250 is disposed within the shell , the cassette is preferably substantially light - tight . it should be appreciated that the extended length plate may be manufactured to correspond to lengths conventionally achieved using any number and combination of multiple plates . for example , an extended length plate may include dimensions achieving the same coverage as two , three , four or any number of multiple plates of any combination of dimensions positioned together , as the aspects of the invention are not limited in this respect . the introduction of a single extended length plate obviates the need to carefully arrange multiple plates in the cassette to avoid alignment errors . in particular , since no overlap region is required , the cassette need not include structure adapted to properly place and hold multiple cassettes in an overlapping relationship . in addition , because the plate is integral , errors caused by rotational misalignment during exposure are eliminated . as discussed in further detail below , single plate imaging includes further benefits during the scanning process . in conventional long bone imaging , after multiple phosphor plates have been exposed to x - ray radiation , a first plate is extracted from the cassette and loaded into a cr image reader . an example of a cr image reader is described in u . s . pat . no . 6 , 791 , 101 (&# 39 ; 101 ) to inventor koren , which is incorporated herein in its entirety . the cr image reader may be adapted to perform a complete scan of some predetermined maximum length , referred to as the scan length . for example , the cr image reader may be designed with a scan length of approximately 43 cm to accommodate and process standard sized phosphor plates in a single scanning procedure . the term “ scan length ” with reference to a cr image reader , defines the maximum length of an image recording medium that the cr image reader is capable of capturing in a single scan . in general , the scan - length is closely related to the size of the cr image reader . for example , when a phosphor plate is loaded into the cr image reader , the dimensions of the image reader can only accommodate some maximum length of plate . many cr image readers are designed to accommodate the standard large - sized phosphor plate available on the market ( e . g ., a 35 × 45 cm phosphor plate ). such a scan - length is insufficient to acquire a long bone image in a single scanning operation . fig3 a - 3d illustrate snapshots of a conventional scanning process for obtaining a long bone image from a pair of standardized medical imaging plates . fig3 a illustrates a cassette 300 inserted into a cr image reader 360 . the cassette holds a pair of standard sized plates 350 a and 350 b that have been exposed to radiation . first , plate 350 a is extracted from cassette 300 by pinch rollers 366 a and 366 b and guided into cylindrical segment 362 , for example , a cylindrical drum providing conformal support for the phosphor plate as it enters cr image reader 360 . cr image reader also includes scanning components 365 adapted to stimulate the phosphor plate ( e . g ., via a laser beam ) and detect stimulated radiation emitted by the phosphor plate in response to the laser beam ( e . g ., via a photo multiplier tube ( pmt )), such as described in the &# 39 ; 101 patent . cr image reader 360 also includes erasing lamps 364 adapted to erase information from the phosphor plates as described in further detail below . in fig3 b , phosphor plate 350 a has been fully inserted into the image reader and is ready for scanning by scanning components 365 . scanning components 365 may include a laser source capable of providing stimulating radiation to the surface of the cylindrical segment 362 and a detector capable of detecting radiation emitted by phosphor plate 350 a in response to laser energy impinging on its surface . it should be appreciated that the scan length of cr image reader 360 depends , in part , on the circumference of cylindrical segment 362 and / or on mechanical limitations of scanning components 365 . after phosphor plate 350 a has been scanned and a first partial image obtained , rollers 366 a and 366 b reverse direction to guide phosphor plate 350 a back into cassette 300 as illustrated in fig3 c , until the plate is securely back in the cassette as shown in fig3 d . to reduce the overall processing time of acquiring images from phosphor plates and returning the plate ( s ) to the cassette for re - use , the phosphor plates are often erased simultaneously with insertion back into the cassette . erasing a phosphor plate may involve exposing the plate to bright light so that the phosphors in the plate release any energy remaining in the phosphor lattice plate after a scanning cycle has been completed . as shown in fig3 c , erasing lamps 364 are disposed between the pinch rollers . when the rollers are activated in a direction to guide the phosphor plate into the cassette , erasing lamps 364 are turned on to expose the plate to light as it passes underneath . as a result , plate 350 a discharges its remaining stored energy before being inserted into the cassette for a subsequent exposure . the second phosphor plate 350 b may then be loaded into the cr image reader and the process repeated to obtain a second partial image . after both partial images have been obtained , image processing algorithms may process the partial images to , for example , locate the reference marks , determine the extent of misalignment between the images , compensate for the misalignment , and stitch the two partial images together to form a single image of the elongate object . applicant has developed methods and apparatus for scanning and erasing a single extended length phosphor plate ( such as shown in fig2 ) in a cr image reader designed to operate with a scan length less than the length of the extended length phosphor plate . for example , in one embodiment , methods and apparatus for scanning and erasing an extended length phosphor plate in a cr image reader designed for standard large - sized plates are provided to facilitate scanning of elongate objects such as those encountered in various long bone examination procedures . fig4 a and 4b illustrate snapshots during an exemplary scan and erase cycle of an extended length phosphor plate , in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention . fig4 a illustrates a cassette 400 for handling an extended length phosphor plate 450 , inserted into cr image reader 460 . cr image reader 460 may be structurally similar or substantially the same as cr image reader 360 illustrated in fig3 a - 3d . in particular , cr image reader 460 may have the same scan length as cr image reader 360 . fig4 b illustrates phosphor plate 450 fully inserted into cr image reader 460 , such that it is in position for scanning by optical components 465 . cr image reader than performs a scan of a portion of phosphor plate 450 by means of optical components 465 to obtain a first partial image of the elongate object . rollers 466 a and 466 b may then reverse direction to guide phosphor plate back into cassette 400 . cassette 400 is then unloaded from the cr image reader and the other side is inserted into the cr image reader and the process is repeated to obtain a second partial image . as discussed above , stitching of partial images from distinct imaging plates , as is done conventionally , often relies on redundant information available in an overlap region of the plates . according to aspects of the present invention , this redundant information may be obtained by scanning an over - scan region of the single extended phosphor plate multiple times . for example , a region of the plate 450 near the center may be scanned once during a first scan and again during a second scan . however , applicant has appreciated that conventional erasing procedures ( e . g ., scan and erase cycles as described in connection with fig3 a - 3d ) may erase information in the over - scan region before the second scan takes place , resulting in the loss of the information used , at least in part , to align and stitch the two partial images together . applicant has developed an erase timing schedule for extended length plates ( such as shown in fig2 ) that preserves information in the over - scan region without requiring additional erasing steps . this erase timing schedule is more particularly described with reference to fig5 a - 5f . fig5 a - 5f illustrate a scan and erase process for an extended length plate in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention . for example , phosphor plate 550 may be scanned and erased by cr image reader 460 illustrated in fig4 a and 4b . fig5 a illustrates an extended phosphor plate 550 having a length l , for example , equal to or greater than a length of an elongate object to be imaged . length s corresponds to the scan length of a cr image reader . since the scan length of cr image reader 460 may be designed to accommodate and process standard sized plates in a single scan , length s may be significantly less than length l . for the combination of plate 550 and cr image reader 460 , the scan length s is about half the length l plus an additional length o that contributes to the over - scan region , as discussed in farther detail below . due to the width of the pinch rollers in a cr image reader ( or other plate transport mechanisms ) and due to the placement of the erasing lamps , cr image reader 460 is capable of erasing a larger portion of the plate in a scan and erase cycle than it is capable of scanning . for example , cr image reader includes a scan area that runs from approximately an end of cylindrical segment 462 ( labeled as 462 b in fig4 b ) to approximately a beginning of cylindrical segment 462 ( labeled as 462 a in fig4 b ). cr image reader also includes an erase area situated between the rollers , extending approximately between 464 a and 464 b ( shown in fig4 b ). when using an extended length plate ( see fig4 b ), there is a portion of the plate between the beginning of the scan area 462 a and the end of the erase area 464 b that is in a position to be erased if the lamps are turned on before or simultaneously with the reverse activation of the rollers . because this portion of the plate is outside the scan area , it may be erased but not scanned during a first scan and erase cycle . thus , the erase length e ( shown in fig5 a ) is longer than scan length s . fig5 b illustrates plate 550 after it has been exposed to x - ray radiation , such that it stores a latent image of , for example , a long bone of a patient . plate 550 may then be loaded into the cr image reader , with end 550 a inserted first , and scanned to obtain a first partial image . as indicated by shading in fig5 c , portion 552 of phosphor plate 550 has been scanned and a portion of its stored energy released and detected to form the first partial image . portion 554 of plate 550 has not been scanned and thus retains all of its exposure energy . it should be appreciated that scanned portion 552 includes an area over half the length of phosphor plate 550 , allowing for an over - scan region to be scanned on both the first and second scan cycles . to avoid erasing information in the over - scan region , the rollers may be activated to guide the plate out of the scan area in a reverse direction for a predetermined interval of time before the erasing lamps are turned on . the interval of time between the instant the plate begins moving in a direction towards the cassette and the instant the erasing lamps are activated is referred to as the “ wait interval .” the wait interval preserves the information in at least the over - scan region as it passes through the erase zone and into the cassette . once the wait interval has expired , the erasing lamps are activated and the remainder of portion 552 is erased . fig5 d illustrates phosphor plate 550 after the first scan and erase cycle . the wait interval includes the time necessary for portion 565 of phosphor plate 550 to pass through the erase zone of the cr image reader , including portion 552 a of scanned portion 552 . after the wait interval , the erasing lamps are activated to erase the remaining information in portion 552 b . although the exemplary wait interval in the embodiment shown in fig5 a - 5f was chosen to erase substantially half of portion 552 , aspects of the invention are not limited in this respect . any wait interval may be chosen that preserves information in a desired portion of the phosphor plate . after the first scan and erase cycle , phosphor plate 550 may then be loaded into the cr image reader with side 550 b inserted first to obtain a second partial image . that is , the end of the phosphor plate including portion 554 may be loaded into the cr image reader . as before , pinch rollers ( or some other transport mechanism ) guides the phosphor plate into the image reader and a second scan is performed . fig5 e illustrates phosphor plate 550 after a second scan cycle to obtain a second partial image . as with the first scan , more than half of the phosphor plate undergoes scanning from the optical scanning components of the cr image reader . accordingly , all of portion 554 is scanned and an over - scan region 552 ba of preserved scanned portion 552 a undergoes a second scan cycle . the second scan cycle releases some of the energy in over - scan portion 552 a left - over from the first scan to provide redundant information , as discussed in further detail below . after the second scan cycle , the pinch rollers are activated in the reverse direction and the erasing lamps are turned on before or substantially at the same time as the rollers to erase the remaining length of the plate . since the un - erased portions 554 , 552 ba and 552 b are contiguous and of a length less than length e , a full erase cycle is capable of removing all the remaining latent energy stored in the phosphor plate . fig5 f illustrates phosphor plate 550 after the second scan and erase cycle , wherein the entire plate has been erased and is ready for a subsequent exposure to x - ray radiation . it should be appreciated that the various portions illustrated in fig5 a - 5b are merely exemplary . portion lengths and relationships to one another may vary depending on factors that may include any one or combination of the size and configuration of the cr image reader ( e . g ., the length of the erase zone , maximum scan length , maximum erase length , etc . ), the length of the phosphor plate , a desired over - scan region , etc ., and aspects of the invention are not limited for use with the relative dimensions illustrated in the embodiments described herein . in general , when an exposed phosphor plate undergoes scanning , for example , by directing a laser beam to impinge on the surface of the phosphor plate , not all of the energy stored in the phosphor lattice is released . for example , scanned portion 552 b retains an attenuated form of the image information stored during exposure . accordingly , when over - scan region 552 ba undergoes a second scan cycle , cr image reader will obtain an attenuated copy of the image information obtained from this region during the first scan cycle . the image information in the over - scan region obtained during the first and second scan cycle may then be matched up in order to align and stitch the partial images together . as discussed above , in conventional long bone imaging , the “ redundant ” information is obtained by overlapping the two phosphor plates in the cassette . however , due to the absorption characteristics of phosphor plates , relatively little information is available on the phosphor plate situated underneath in the overlap region . accordingly , conventional stitching techniques may rely on reference marks and may need to employ reference patterns outside of the overlap region , resulting in further obstruction to the content of interest ( i . e ., the medical image content ). moreover , in imaging procedures where the extended length plate achieves the same coverage as a conventional procedure using more than two conventional plates , still only a single over - scan region may be necessary . accordingly , multiple overlap regions and stitching operations required in combining partial images from more than two conventionally dimensioned plates may be avoided . in some embodiments , the redundant information in the over - scan region is sufficient to align and stitch the partial images into a single image without the aid of reference marks . that is , the information in the two copies of the over - scan region ( i . e ., the initial and attenuated copies ) may be matched and aligned without having to rely on externally produced reference marks . for example , in the first partial image acquired during the first scan , the ending edge is recorded by the last image pixel line . subsequently , in the second partial image acquired during the second scan , the ending edge of the first partial image is recorded in the second partial image . accordingly , the ending edge of the first partial image can be detected within / from the second partial image . if it is desired to stitch the second partial image to the first partial image , it may be necessary to rotate / position the second partial image so that it can be stitched along the ending edge of the first partial image . detection of the ending edge of the first partial image within the second partial image can be accomplished by detecting the signal discontinuity . that is , since the signal in the over - lap region is read in the first scan , its pixel intensity is reduced . this ending edge determines the relative position and rotation of the second partial image relative to the first partial image . it is possible that the second partial image may need to be rotated based on the detected ending edge of the first partial image from the second partial image . further , the second partial image may need to be rotated by 180 degrees ( prior to stitching it to the first image ) so as to properly match the two images . this is due to the single imaging plate . that is , if each end of the single imaging plate is inserted into the cr reader , then one partial image needs to be rotated by 180 degrees to properly match the two partial images . with regard to stitching the two partial images , commonly assigned u . s . pat . no . 6 , 895 , 106 ( wang ) discloses the use of information in the overlap region and / or scan ending edges for image stitching . it is noted that the stitching can be accomplished manually or automatically . the present invention provides for the use of simpler cassettes that do not require built in patterns or marks to imprint the partial images , or alternatively , may permit the use of simpler reference marks and / or reference marks limited in location to the over scan region . in addition , in the absence of reference marks ( or in the presence of relatively simple reference marks ) more of the content of interest in the image is free from super positional interference of reference information that is not clinically useful and detracts from the medical examination and / or diagnosis . it should be appreciated that while aspects of the invention may facilitate the use of simpler reference marks or their elimination altogether , any type of reference marks or fiducial technique may be used and is not limited in this respect . for example , it may be desirable to employ the same reference marks and alignment algorithms developed for multi - plate procedures in extended plate procedures to reduce further development costs . as discussed above , in conventional elongate object scanning operations , misalignment between partial images obtained from the separate imaging plates may be caused , in part , by rotation of the plates with respect to the direction in which the plate is guided into the image reader . for example , as the pinch rollers in fig3 a - 3d guide the individual standard - sized plates into the cr image reader , the plates may tend to deviate from the intended path by differing amounts . large deviations make stitching more difficult and result in relatively significant distortion in the image due to image processing techniques employed to correct the alignment errors . the extended length of the phosphor plates of the present invention helps to stabilize the plate as it is guided into the cr image reader to reduce the amount of possible rotation . in particular , since a portion of the extended phosphor plate remains in the cassette as the plate is guided into the cr image reader , and during scanning ( see fig4 b ) the cassette constrains the plate and limits its rotation and deviation from its intended scanning position . the reduction in alignment errors results in simpler stitching and less distortion in the resulting images . it should be appreciated that various aspects of the invention may be used in connection with imaging not only of elongate objects in medical or industrial settings , but may be used in any circumstance wherein conventionally dimensioned phosphor plates are insufficient to provide coverage for an elongate object of which image information is sought . the above - described embodiments of the present invention can be implemented in any of numerous ways . for example , the embodiments may be implemented using hardware , software or a combination thereof . when implemented in software , the software code can be executed on any suitable processor or collection of processors , whether provided in a single computer or distributed among multiple computers . it should be appreciated that any component or collection of components that perform the functions described above can be generically considered as one or more controllers that control the above - discussed function . the one or more controller can be implemented in numerous ways , such as with dedicated hardware , or with general purpose hardware ( e . g ., one or more processor ) that is programmed using microcode or software to perform the functions recited above . various aspects of the present invention may be used alone , in combination , or in a variety of arrangements not specifically discussed in the embodiments described in the foregoing and is therefore not limited in its application to the details and arrangement of components set forth in the foregoing description or illustrated in the drawings . the invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or of being carried out in various ways . in particular , single extended phosphor plates may used in connection with a variety of different cassettes and cr image readers and are not limited to the exemplary equipment illustrated herein . in addition , scan and erase cycles may be timed according to size and configuration constraints or any cr image reader . accordingly , the foregoing description and drawings are by way of example only . the phraseology and terminology used herein is for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting . the use of “ including ,” “ comprising ,” or “ having ,” “ containing ”, “ involving ”, and variations thereof herein , is meant to encompass the items listed thereafter and equivalents thereof as well as additional items . the invention has been described in detail with particular reference to a presently preferred embodiment , but it will be understood that variations and modifications can be effected within the spirit and scope of the invention . the presently disclosed embodiments are therefore considered in all respects to be illustrative and not restrictive . the scope of the invention is indicated by the appended claims , and all changes that come within the meaning and range of equivalents thereof are intended to be embraced therein .	6
fig1 shows a representation of a sensor system according to the present invention for detecting accelerations in the low - g range in a direction parallel to the wafer plane , in a top view of the plane of the seismic mass . seismic mass 1 is fashioned as a rectangular frame that is connected , via a pair of s - shaped flexible springs 2 , 2 ′, to a connecting beam 3 , which in turn has a central fastening area 4 in which the connecting beam is structurally connected to a substrate 5 . s - shaped flexible springs 2 , 2 ′ are situated in mirror - symmetrical fashion , thus defining the direction of deflection of seismic mass 1 in the x direction , because s - shaped flexible springs 2 , 2 ′ mutually prevent deformations of each other in the case of transverse accelerations . in this way , a low cross - sensitivity results without having to increase the spring rigidity in the x direction . this is a precondition of the suitability of the sensor according to the present invention for use in measuring small accelerations . alternative spring arrangements , for example multiple u - springs having low overall rigidity , can also be realized , but require more space . fixedly connected to frame - shaped seismic mass 1 are comb - shaped electrodes 6 , 6 ′, each having a transverse web 7 , 7 ′, each of which bears a plurality of lamellae 8 , 8 ′ that run at a right angle to transverse web 7 , 7 ′. lamellae 8 , 8 ′ run parallel to the direction of deflection of seismic mass 1 . comb - shaped electrodes 6 , 6 ′, which are connected fixedly to frame - shaped seismic mass 1 , lead from the frame area , which runs parallel to the direction of deflection of seismic mass 1 , into the interior of the frame . in this way , frame - shaped seismic mass 1 simultaneously forms the outer boundary of the deflectable functional element , which is formed from seismic mass 1 and from comb - shaped electrodes 6 , 6 ′ that are fastened to said mass and that are themselves made up of transverse webs 7 , 7 ′ and lamellae 8 , 8 ′. parallel to connecting beam 3 run bearer beams 9 , 9 ′, each of which also has a central fastening area 10 , 10 ′ in which bearer beams 9 , 9 ′ are structurally connected to substrate 5 . bearer beams 5 , 5 ′ each have , on the side facing away from connecting beam 3 , comb - shaped electrodes 11 , 11 ′ that are likewise each made up of a transverse web 12 , 12 ′ and lamellae 13 , 13 ′. through their connection to bearer beams 9 , 9 ′, which are themselves connected fixedly to the substrate , these comb - shaped electrodes 11 , 11 , represent electrodes connected fixedly to substrate 5 in the sense of the present invention . in the sense of the present invention , a “ fixed connection ” is to be understood as meaning that deformations or deflections of the fastened structures upon the occurrence of a measurement and / or disturbing acceleration are small relative to the deflection of seismic mass 1 that occurs in these cases . the cross - sections and dimensions shown in fig1 and 2 are not to scale , and are not intended to illustrate the static behavior of the depicted structures , but rather are intended only to describe their situation relative to one another . comb - shaped electrodes 11 , 11 ′ on bearer beams 9 , 9 ′, and comb - shaped electrodes 6 , 6 ′ on frame - shaped seismic mass 1 , are situated in such a way that their lamellae 8 , 8 ′, 13 , 13 ′ are oriented towards one another and overlap partially . in this way , pairs of comb - shaped electrodes are formed whose overlap length is a function of the deflection of seismic mass 1 . the distance between the tips of the lamellae of a comb - shaped electrode and a transverse web , situated opposite these tips , of the respective other electrode of a pair of comb - shaped electrodes , is somewhat greater than the maximum deflection of seismic mass 1 . the maximum deflection of seismic mass 1 is determined by stop structures that are formed by rectangular recesses 14 in frame - shaped seismic mass 1 and columns 15 that are fastened to substrate 5 and that protrude into these recesses . the area 16 of maximum deflection of seismic mass 1 is outlined in broken lines in the figure . in the present exemplary embodiment , when this maximum deflection of seismic mass 1 occurs , contact of comb - shaped electrodes 6 , 6 ′ 11 , 11 ′, which form a capacitor , is avoided — by a small margin , but reliably . in this way , a maximum usable overlap of lamellae 8 , 8 ′ 13 , 13 ′ of comb - shaped electrodes 6 , 6 ′ 11 , 11 ′ results that is described by overlap length l 0 in the resting state of the sensor system . because in this case overlap length l 0 is relatively large , when there is a typical error - based zero - point deflection dx 0 there results a significant reduction of offset signal dc / c in comparison with conventional sensor systems . comb - shaped electrodes 6 , 6 ′, 11 , 11 ′ are situated in such a way that to the right of the arrangement of beams made up of connecting beams 3 and bearer beams 9 , 9 ′ there are situated pairs 6 , 11 of comb - shaped electrodes whose overlap lengths increase when there is a deflection of seismic mass 1 in the x direction , and to the left of the beam arrangement made up of connecting beams 3 and bearer beams 9 , 9 ′ there are situated pairs 6 ′, 11 ′ of comb - shaped electrodes whose overlap lengths decreases when there is a deflection of seismic mass 1 in the x direction . in this way , the sensor system according to the present invention is particularly well - suited for differential capacitive evaluation methods , because a measurement signal that is to be generated is influenced very little by disturbing cross - accelerations and torsional accelerations in the wafer plane . for process - technical reasons , frame - shaped seismic mass 1 , as well as transverse webs 7 , 7 ′, 12 , 12 ′ of comb - shaped electrodes 6 , 6 ′, 11 , 11 ′, have a perforation 17 in order to guarantee simple underetching during the exposure of the structures . central fastening areas 4 , 10 , 10 ′ of connecting beam 3 and of bearer beams 9 , 9 ′ are situated in a line that runs transverse to the direction of deflection of seismic mass 1 . the situation of all fastening areas 4 , 10 , 10 ′ in the central area of substrate 5 results in low sensitivity to substrate bendings and similar deformations . due to the situation of all fastening areas 4 , 10 , 10 ′ on a line running transverse to the direction of deflection of the seismic mass , this low sensitivity to substrate bending is further improved in a targeted manner in the measurement direction ( x direction ) of the sensor system , because only deformations that cause a single fastening area to move out of alignment with the situation of all fastening areas 4 , 10 , 10 ′ will also cause a change in the measurement signal or the offset . however , such non - homogenous deformations often occur to a significantly lower extent , and under normal operating conditions are not relevant in terms of measurement in sensor systems according to the present invention . fig2 shows a schematic sectional representation through a sensor system according to the present invention , along the line i - i of fig1 . on a substrate 5 made of silicon , support structures , in the form of rectangular columns 18 , 18 ′, 18 ″, are raised that lead to fastening areas 4 , 10 , 10 ′ of connecting beam 3 and of bearer beams 9 , 9 ′, and that create the fixed connection thereof to substrate 5 . fastening areas 4 , 10 , 10 ′ are situated immediately adjacent to one another on sectional line i - i , transverse to the direction of deflection of seismic mass 1 . via substrate 5 , the lateral extension of the system through frame - shaped seismic mass 1 is determined . in the left area of the drawing , the cross - section of seismic mass 1 in the area of a frame area that runs parallel to the direction of deflection is visible , and in the right area of the drawing the seismic mass is sectioned in the area of connection to a transverse web 7 of a comb - shaped electrode 6 . seismic mass 1 is connected to substrate 5 only by connecting beam 3 . to the right of connecting beam 3 , the cross - section of a bearer beam 9 is shown , and to the left of connecting beam 3 a bearer beam 9 , is sectioned in the area of a transverse web 12 ′, connected to said bearer beam , of a comb - shaped electrode 11 ′.	6
fig1 shows the powder dosing system 1 with the feed hopper 2 , the discharge device 3 located below it , and the conveying container 4 below that which can be connected to a compressed air supply ( not shown ), on the one hand , and a conveying system , on the other hand . the feed hopper 2 may have a round or rectangular cross - section with a corresponding outlet opening 5 located at the lower end that opens into the discharge chamber 6 of the discharge device 3 . the inclined surfaces of the feed hopper as well as the walls are designed so that the not easily flowing adhesive powder is unable to stick to them . in addition , pressure relief may be provided by means of a vibrating plate or a fluid plate . in the discharge device 3 , the floor of the discharge chamber 6 is formed by a vibrating floor 7 that is caused to vibrate by means of conventional drive elements , for example pneumatically or with electric motors and a cam , in order to discharge the powder from the feed hopper 2 when needed . here , it is important that the correct quantity be discharged , without interference by the caked powder , and that the powder does not keep flowing after the correct quantity is dispensed . the vibrating floor 7 is installed at an angle and extends laterally beyond the edge 8 of the discharge opening 5 by a certain distance ‘ c ’. following the vibrating floor 7 , there is a dead zone 9 that has the same inclination and ends at the edge 10 of the discharge opening 11 of the discharge chamber 6 that is extended laterally beyond the end of the vibrating floor 7 . the discharge chamber 6 has a rectangular cross - section and the discharge opening 11 has a round cross - section which causes a wedge of material to form at the outer walls of the discharge chamber 11 , which helps to stabilize the angle of repose . this reduces the amount of powder that keeps flowing after the correct quantity has been discharged . above the discharge opening 11 , a blocking valve 12 is installed for safety reasons that will also prevent the powder from continuing to flow into the receptacle housing 13 of the conveying container 4 located below it . in general , the other engineering steps will already prevent the powder from continuing to flow after the correct quantity has been discharged . the conveying container 4 has a receptacle housing 13 with an essentially round cross - section that has , at its lower end , a tapering discharge nozzle 14 that increases the volume of the receptacle housing 13 in this area . the connecting pipe 15 serves to admit the conveying air , and the tip 16 is used for the discharge . the floor 17 of the receptacle housing 13 is designed as a fluid floor to keep the not easily flowing adhesive powdery material fluid in this area , too . this basic design of the powder dosing system makes it possible to reliably dose smaller charges up to 50 kg with this material . here , the relation between the specific angle of repose of the powdery material in question , the staggering of the edges 8 and 10 , as well as the height of the discharge chamber 6 in this area ( in other words , the distance of the edges 8 and 10 from each other ) need to be taken into consideration for the length of the dead zone 9 in the discharge device 3 . fig2 shows an enlarged view of the individual relevant variables that need to be taken into account for dimensioning the dead zone . along with the dead zone 9 , the vibrating floor 7 is inclined at an angle a relative to the horizontal plane , and ends at the edge 10 of the discharge opening 11 . the height ‘ h ’ indicates the distance from the edge 10 to the extension of the lower edge of the discharge opening 5 , and may also serve as the height of the discharge chamber 6 . the offset of the edge 10 of the discharge opening 11 from the edge 8 of the discharge opening 5 is indicated by ‘ b ’. the vibrating floor 7 consists of a clamping frame holding a rubber floor 19 that is stabilized with two pressure plates . in this form of embodiment , the vibrating floor 7 extends beyond the edge 8 by a distance ‘ c ’. the dotted connecting line between the edges 10 and 8 forms an angle a with the dead zone 9 whose length is shown as ‘ a ’. it was found that this angle α needs to correspond essentially to the specific angle of repose of the powdery material in question in order to achieve optimal dosing . at the same time , the length ‘ a ’ of the dead zone 9 that corresponds to the clamping frame must neither be too large nor too small if a problem - free process is to be ensured . because of the geometrical arrangement , the length of the dead zone ‘ a ’ can be determined by a = b ⁢ h 2 + b 2 ⁢ cos ⁢ ⁢ α b + h 2 + b 2 ⁢ sin ⁢ ⁢ α * sin ⁢ ⁢ β - c this formula also takes into account the case that the length ‘ c ’= 0 , or that the angle β = 0 . as a matter of principle , the angle α and also the distance between the edges 10 of the discharge opening 11 and the edge 8 of the discharge opening 5 , defined by the variables ‘ h ’ and ‘ b ’, are given . in a form of embodiment for iron oxide with a grain of 0 . 06 - 1 . 0 μm and a moisture content of 3 %, the angle of repose α = 54 °. the inclination β is 15 °, so that , given the chosen dimensions of the embodiment of b = 60 mm , h = 175 mm , c = 40 mm , the resulting dead zone 9 is approximately a = 26 mm . fig3 and 4 show that , instead of the conveying container 4 in fig1 , a bucket wheel lock 20 can be located at the discharge opening 11 of the discharge device 3 in order to allow the problem - free conveying of the powder in a continuous operation . this bucket wheel lock 20 has special characteristics that make it suitable for use with not easily flowing cohesive and adhesive powders , and also in combination with other discharge systems . the bucket wheel lock 20 has a housing 24 with an inlet opening 21 , side walls 25 , a circumferential wall 26 , and in its lower section an injection port 32 and a discharge opening 33 with a connecting pipe located opposite the port 32 . the side walls 25 , 34 as well as the circumferential wall 26 with the area identified as floor 31 have a wear component 27 made of pom or pvc on their inside surfaces . the bucket wheel 23 with the buckets 28 separated by the blades 29 sits on a drive shaft that is supported on both sides in the housing 24 by means of compression springs 37 and the pressure plate 38 in radial direction relative to the floor 31 . the blades 29 provide the seal in the area in which the powder is to be conveyed . as fig5 shows , the blades 29 are placed at an angle of approximately 5 ° to 15 ° relative to the axis of the bucket wheel 23 which increases the service life of the wear component 27 . one side wall 34 is designed as a pressure wall that can be moved in the direction of the axis of the drive shaft 22 because of the ( part of german original missing ) via additional compression springs 39 that rest on a lateral pressure plate 40 . thereby , the buckets 28 at the front sides 36 of the blades 27 are sealed reliably by the side walls 25 , 34 . where required , familiar non - stick materials are used for lining the inside of individual parts of the powder dosing system . although the invention has been shown and described with respect to certain preferred embodiments , it is obvious that equivalents and modifications will occur to others skilled in the art upon the reading and understanding of the specification . the present invention includes all such equivalents and modifications , and is limited only by the scope of the following claims .	1
fig1 shows a cigarette making machine of the type known as garant ( trademark ) manufactured by hauni - werk korber & amp ; co . kg ., of hamburg , federal republic germany . the machine of fig1 includes a distributor d having an endless band 60 which transports particles 61 of tobacco along an elongated path extending at right angles to the plane of fig1 . the particles 61 form a wide layer or carpet 1 and the leader of this carpet is showered into a stream building or growing zone or station 62 where the carpet 1 is converted into a continuous narrow tobacco stream 4a which contains tobacco in excess of that required in the filler . the wedge - like growing tobacco stream at the station 62 is shown at 4 . the band 60 can transport the particles 61 at a variable rate . the means for converting the layer 1 into the tobacco stream 4a comprises an elongated narrow channel 2 whose upper side is open so that the particles 61 can descend onto the upper portion or reach of a stream conveying means here shown as a narrow endless belt 3 . the upper portion or reach of the belt 3 travels above the perforated top wall 5a of a stationary suction chamber 5 which attracts the growing stream 4 to the belt 3 and causes such stream to travel in a direction to the right , as viewed in fig1 . the fully grown stream 4a continues to move with the upper reach of the belt 3 and passes through a surplus removing station where a suitable trimming or equalizing device 6 removes the surplus or excess of particles 61 so that the remainder 4b of the stream 4a ( i . e ., the trimmed or equalized stream ) contains only such quantities of particles 61 as are necessary to form a satisfactory rod - like tobacco filler . the trimming device 6 is shiftable up and down , as viewed in the drawing ( i . e ., toward and away from the upper reach of the belt 3 ) by a motor 106 which is actuated in response to changes in density of the tobacco filler . the equalized stream 4b is fed into the circumferential groove 9a of a rotary suction wheel 9 which transports the stream 4b along an arc of approximately 180 degrees to a level above the belt 3 . successive increments of the stream 4b at the apex of the suction wheel 9 are caused to adhere to the underside of the lower reach of an endless foraminous belt 11a forming part of a transfer conveyor 11 . the lower reach of the belt 11a travels below the at least partially open underside of a suction chamber 11b and serves to transfer the stream 4b onto a continuous web 12 of cigarette paper or other suitable flexible wrapping material . the web 12 is withdrawn from a reel 13 and is caused to pass through a conventional imprinting mechanism 14 on its way toward the upper reach of a garniture 21 forming part of a wrapping mechanism 16 wherein the stream 4b is compacted and thereby converted into a continuous rod - like filler which is wrapped into the web 12 to form therewith a continuous cigarette rod 19 . the mechanism 16 further comprises a paster 17 which applies a film of adhesive to one marginal portion of the web 12 . such marginal portion is thereupon folded over the other marginal portion to form therewith a seam which is parallel to the axis of the cigarette rod 19 . the seam is stabilized by a sealer 18 which heats the seam if the adhesive is a wet adhesive and cools the seam if the adhesive is a hot melt . it will be noted that , for all practical purposes , the equalized stream 4b is a rod - like filler ; the mechanism 16 merely converts the stream 4b ( whose cross - sectional area resembles a polygon ) into a substantially rod - like filler . the cigarette rod 19 is severed by a cutoff 22 so that it yields a file of coaxial plain cigarettes 23 . successive cigarettes 23 are accelerated by a rotary cam 24 which propels them into the flutes of a rotary drum - shaped row forming conveyor 26 . the latter delivers one or more rows of cigarettes 23 to a filter tipping machine , to storage or to a packing machine . the purpose of the cam 24 is to separate successive cigarettes 23 from each other and to propel them into the flutes of the conveyor 26 while the latter rotates , preferably at a relatively high speed . the density of the filler which forms part of the rod 19 is monitored by a detector 27 ( preferably a beta ray detector or another device including a source of corpuscular radiation ) which transmits signals to the shifting motor 106 via conductor means 28 . the motor 106 moves the trimming device 6 nearer to the belt 3 when the density of the filler increases , and vice versa . the improved apparatus comprises an opto - electrical level detector 7 which monitors the height of the stream 4a upstream of the trimming device 6 ( i . e ., prior to removal of the surplus ) and a detector 8 which monitors the height of the equalized stream 4b . the detector 7 comprises a light source 29 , an optical system 31 which detects a beam of ( parallel ) rays issuing from the source 29 against a partly light transmitting mirror 32 , a fully reflecting mirror 33 which is located in the path of light rays passing through the mirror 32 , and a mirror 34 which reflects light rays coming from the mirror 33 . the stream 4a is caused to advance in the space between the mirrors 33 and 34 at right angles to the plane of fig2 ; this stream absorbs some light rays and allows the remaining light rays ( indicated by broken lines , as at 36 ) to reach the mirror 34 . the latter reflects the rays 36 toward the mirror 33 which , in turn , reflects the once - reflected rays 36 against the underside of the mirror 32 . the mirror 32 reflects the rays 36 against the corresponding elements of a battery or row of light - sensitive signal generating elements here shown as photoelectric cells 38 forming part of a transducer 37 which serves as a means for transmitting first electric signals to an amplifier 39 connected to the input of a summing circuit 41 . in the embodiment of fig2 the level detector 7 comprises seven cells 38 . the intensity and / or another characteristic of first signals which are transmitted to the amplifier 39 is a function of the height of successive increments of the tobacco stream 4a . the purpose of the circuit 41 is to totalize the signals furnished by cells 38 which receive light rays 36 so that the intensity of signals at its output denotes the height h of the corresponding increments of the stream 4a . the intensity of signals at the output of the circuit 41 respectively increases and decreases proportionally with decreasing and increasing height of the stream 4a . the circuit 41 transmits first signals to the corresponding input of a dividing circuit 42 , e . g ., a circuit of the type sold by analog devices under the designation ad 530 . the height h of successive increments of the stream 4a is measured in a direction from that side 4a which contacts the belt 3 toward the exposed uneven side 4b of the stream . another input of the dividing circuit 42 receives second signals from the detector 8 which is shiftable with the trimming device 6 in response to signals transmitted from detector 27 to motor 106 via conductor means 28 . the detector 8 may constitute an inductive distance measuring device of the type sold by collins corporation under the designation linear motion ss - 104 , s / m 4886 . the detector 8 may serve the dual purpose of indicating the position of the device 6 and of transmitting signals to the circuit 42 . the dividing circuit 42 constitutes a means for deriving from first signals ( furnished by detector 7 ) and from second signals ( furnished by detector 8 ) third signals whose intensity or another characteristic denotes the difference between the characteristics of the first and second signals , and the output of the circuit 42 transmits such third signals to a device which adjusts the distributor d in such a way that the rate of transport of tobacco particles 61 to the station 62 is reduced when the quantity of particles forming the surplus increases and vice versa . more specifically , each third signal is a quotient of the corresponding first and second signals . the intensity of third signals can be determined by observing the scale of an indicating instrument 43 connected to the output of the circuit 42 . this output is further connected to one input of a subtracting circuit 46 in response to closing of a switch 44 . another input of the circuit 46 receives a reference signal from an adjustable potentiometer 47 or another suitable source of reference signals . the reference signal denotes the desired surplus of tobacco particles 61 in the stream 4a . the signal at the output of the circuit 42 denotes the actual surplus of particles 61 in the stream 4a . the output of the subtracting circuit 46 is connected with one input of a multiplexer 48 ( e . g ., a circuit of the type known as ad 530 sold by analog devices ). the signal from 46 to 48 denotes the difference between the actual and desired surplus . another input of the multiplexer 48 is connected with a tachometer generator 49 which monitors the speed of a variable - speed motor 51 constituting the main prime mover of the cigarette making machine . the output of the circuit 48 transmits a signal which is indicative of the surplus removed by the equalizing device 6 . the output of the multiplexer 48 transmits the signal which denotes the surplus to a signal comparing junction 52 which further receives signals from a tachometer generator 53 serving to monitor the rpm of a variable - speed electric motor 54 for the band 60 in the distributor d . the junction 52 transmits a positive or negative signal to an adjustable output amplifier 56 serving to regulate the speed of the motor 54 and hence the rate at which the band 60 delivers tobacco particles 61 to the stream building station 62 . in the embodiment of fig2 the junction 52 would transmit a positive signal which would cause the amplifier 56 to increase the rpm of the motor 54 . the operative connection between the circuit 42 and the band 60 is indicated in fig1 by a phantom line 57 . this line denotes the parts shown in the lower right - hand portion of fig2 . the switch 44 is opened during the initial stage of operation of the machine , i . e ., immediately after starting of the motors 51 and 54 and while the channel 2 is still empty . if desired , the signal at the output of the amplifier 39 can directly influence the motor 106 . thus , such signal can be transmitted to a signal comparing stage 70 for comparison with a reference signal from a source 71 , and the output of the stage 70 can transmit correction signals to the motor 106 . the reference signal which is furnished by the source 71 denotes the desired or optimum height h of the stream 4a . it is preferred to connect a suitable averaging circuit 72 in the conductor means 73 between the stage 70 and the motor 106 in order to prevent continuous shifting of the knife 6 toward or away from the belt 3 . the improved apparatus is susceptible of many modifications without departing from the spirit of the invention . for example , the detector 8 can be replaced with a detector similar to the optical level detector 7 . also , the circuit 42 can be replaced with a subtracting circuit . an important advantage of the improved apparatus is that , by determining the geometric shape of the tobacco stream , and more particularly the configuration of the exposed uneven upper surface 4b of the stream , the regulation of tobacco feed to the stream building zone 62 can be effected in dependency on another parameter which is a function of the mode of operation of the equalizing device 6 . this insures that the quantity of tobacco particles forming the surplus can be caused to more accurately conform to the characteristics of tobacco and that such quantity can be adjusted with a minimum of delay . furthermore , the height of the stream 4a can be ascertained rapidly , accurately and without contacting successive increments of the stream at the monitoring station . if desired , the connection 70 - 73 between the transducer 37 and the motor 106 can be designed in such a way that it influences the removal of surplus only when the measured height is outside of a predetermined range of heights . as a rule , the path of the stream 4a at the monitoring station is horizontal or nearly horizontal , i . e ., the side 4a of the stream 4a rests on the upper portion or reach of the belt 3 or adheres by suction to the underside of the lower reach of the belt . thus , the rays 36 are normally horizontal and are directed ( by mirrors 33 , 34 ) substantially transversely of the path for the stream 4a . as shown in fig2 the level detector 7 can be installed at one side of the path for the stream 4a , with the single exception of the mirror 34 which is installed at the other side of the path . each element 38 is mounted at a different distance from the first side 4a of the moving stream 4a , and each such element registers with a different light ray or group of light rays to generate a signal when its photosensitive surface receives light which is reflected by the mirrors 34 , 33 , 32 . the parallel light rays together constitute a relatively thin but wide light beam which is preferably located in a plane extending at right angles to the direction of transport of the stream 4a and at right angles to the plane of that portion of the belt 3 which contacts the side 4a . the width of the light beam is sufficient to insure that the detector 7 can monitor the height of the highest hill at the uneven exposed or second side 4b of the moving stream 4a . without further analysis , the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others can , by applying current knowledge , readily adapt it for various applications without omitting features that , from the standpoint of prior art , fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic and specific aspects of our contribution to the art and , therefore , such adaptations should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalence of the claims .	0
referring first to fig1 and 2 , the tool shown has an angled head 1 with a sole plate 2 extending substantially horizontally . the head accommodates two cultivating blades 3 , 4 projecting from the end of the head at an acute angle to the sole plate , as shown in fig2 . the upper portion 5 of the head extends upwardly at an angle of approximately 45 ° to the sole plate 2 and receives one end of a shaft in the form of a tubular stem 6 at the other end of which is located the handle 40 of the tool . the length of the stem 6 is such that , when the tool is held by the handle by an operator standing up , the tool blades 3 , 4 can be used to carry out surface cultivation of the soil . the blades 3 , 4 are driven by a motor 26 mounted in the head 2 within a casing 7 which is of clam shell construction and extends upwardly from the head perpendicular to the sole plate 2 . the end portions of the blades 3 , 4 are generally fork - shaped , each having three diverging prongs 8 . the blades are located one on top of the other and pivotally mounted within the housing formed by the casing 7 and sole plate 2 as described below for movement about an axis perpendicular to the plane of the blades 2 : the position of the axis is indicated at 9 in fig2 . the whole of a cultivating blade , removed from the tool , is shown in fig5 . the prongs 8 extend from a main body 11 of the blade in which , proceeding towards the other end of the blade , are formed a dome 43 , an aperture 12 , then a portion 13 of reduced width and finally , at the other end of the blade , an elongated aperture 14 . the aperture 12 which , as shown in fig5 is located on the longitudinal centre line of the blade , is used for the pivotal mounting of the blade within the tool head 1 . each blade has the same shape but one is turned over before being placed on top of the other with the aperture 12 in alignment . referring now also to fig3 and 4 , the motor 26 is attached to a gear housing 24 and has a drive shaft 44 which meshes with a gear 25 rotatably mounted in the housing 24 . fixed to the gear 25 are two cams 30 , 31 which are mounted on opposite sides of the axis of rotation of the gear 25 . each cam 30 , 31 is circular and is located within the elongated aperture 14 of its respective blade . the blades 3 , 4 are pivotally mounted on the gear housing 24 being pivotable about a bushing 45 passing through the aperture 12 in the blades and secured to the gear housing by a screw 46 . as a result , when the motor 26 is operated , the cams 30 , 31 will cause the blades 3 , 4 to reciprocate in antiphase relationship to one another about the bushing 45 ( see fig4 ) as indicated by the arrow 10 in fig3 . the sole plate 2 is secured by screws ( not shown ) to the casing 7 and the blades 3 , 4 are sandwiched between projecting portions of the sole plate 2 and the gear housing 24 . the forked end portions of the blades 3 , 4 project from the casing 7 through a slit 27 in the front end of the casing . the narrowed portion 13 of the blades ensure adequate clearance between the blades and adjacent parts of the tool head during reciprocal movement . in a central position the blades 3 , 4 are aligned with one another while at either end of their reciprocating stroke ( one end being shown in fig3 ) the relative movement of the prongs 8 of the two blades is about half the separation of adjacent prongs of the same blade . the tubular stem 6 of the tool is received in an aperture at the upper end of the tool head casing 7 and secured in any suitable manner . the other end of the stem 6 is similarly received and secured in an aperture in a downward - extending portion 33 of the tool handle 40 which is of clam shell construction . the stem 6 comprises , in the example illustrated , a metal tube 47 with a plastics insulating sleeve 48 . the tool handle resembles that of a garden spade , being generally rectangular with a central aperture , but mounted at right angles to the conventional direction . the power supply cord enters the tool through an aperture in the lower part of the handle , fitted with a cord protector 34 and the supply of power to the motor is controlled by a switch housed within the handle 40 and operated by an actuating member in the form of a switch bar or bar 35 on an upper tubular portion ( i . e . the grip ) of the handle . the longitudinal axis of the tubular portion of the handle 40 lies in the same plane as the longitudinal axis of the stem 6 . fig6 shows further details of the handle and indicates the location of a switch 36 within the handle and a pivotal mounting 37 of the bar 35 such that , by squeezing the handle grip , the bar 35 can be moved further into the tubular portion of the handle to operate the switch and actuate the motor 26 . the bar 35 is resiliently biased downwardly away from the tubular portion of the handle by an integral leaf spring 50 which extends perpendicular to the bar 35 and engages an inclined surface 51 within the handle . outward movement of the bar 35 is limited by engagement of the free end of the bar with a shoulder 52 formed on the handle . when the pressure on the handle grip is released , the switch bar 35 moves back to its original position and the switch 36 operates to disconnect the motor . the handle also incorporates an interlock arrangement to prevent accidental operation of the tool . more particularly , the handle houses a resiliently - biased lock off member 38 which extends across the top of the handle and has a downwardly extending portion 38a which in the neutral position of the member co - operates with the switch bar 35 to prevent operation of the bar . the lock off member 38 is provided with a pair of integral leaf springs 53 which engages bosses 54 inside the handle and bias the member 38 into its central , neutral position . operating buttons 39 are provided at each end of the member 38 and project at each end of the tubular portion of the handle so that the member 38 can be displaced from its central position by an operator pressing inwardly on whichever button is more convenient . when the bar 35 is released , the member 38 returns , under the action of the resilient bias , to its original position . normal operation of the tool is illustrated in fig1 . an operator wishing to cultivate soil 55 containing weeds 56 grips the tubular portion of the handle 40 with one hand and may grip the stem 6 with the other hand . with the tips of the blades 3 , 4 resting on the top of the soil the operator shifts one of the operating buttons 39 with the thumb of the hand gripping the handle and squeezes the handle thereby moving the switch bar 35 into the handle and operating the switch 36 . the motor 26 then reciprocates the blades 3 , 4 and as a result of the force exerted by the tool &# 39 ; s own weight , the blades 3 , 4 penetrate into the soil and thoroughly disturb it . weeds 56 in the vicinity of the blades will be freed from the soil as a result of the disturbances caused by the blades . any small roots in the path of the blades 3 , 4 will be cut by the blades . the operator can manoeuvre the tool with the blades remaining in the soil or can lift the tool away from the soil and set it down in another location to be weeded or otherwise cultivated . if the operator wishes to cut the tops off weeds , or the like above ground level the tool can be operated resting on its sole plate 2 with the blades 3 , 4 just clear of the ground . in this case the blades will cut off the vegetation with a shearing action . the tool can also be used to weed between paving stones or to trim the edge of a lawn . in these applications the tool is held in the orientation shown in fig7 with the blades 3 , 4 in vertical planes . the arrangement of the handle 40 enables the tool to be held comfortably in this orientation also . the blades 3 , 4 described above pivot about apertures 12 provided on the longitudinal centre line of the tool . it is however possible for the apertures 12 to be offset from the centre line as indicated by the dotted line position 12a in fig4 . this would enable the throw of the blades to be increased . the exact shaping of the forked ends of the blades can be varied : for example , fig8 shows an alternative form of blade in which the prongs 8 are less spread out and whereas the prongs of the blade shown in fig5 have rounded points at their ends those shown in fig8 have cut - off ends in which are formed small recesses 41 . the blades may be formed from mild steel and typical dimensions for the blade shown in fig5 are as follows : the dimensions of the blades shown diagrammatically in fig8 are similar except that the prongs are shorter ( typically , 4 . 5 cm ) and the angle between them is smaller ( typically , 10 °).	0
the test device 10 for the determination of the strength of adhesion of a protective lacquering on a tube body 1 comprises a j - shaped yoke stanchion 11 , the column 12 of which is mounted on a base 13 and the approximately horizontal upper arm 14 of which has , on the free end thereof , a vertical bearing bush 15 for guiding a straight rod 20 , which rod 20 serves as a compression means . it has an essentially circular cross - section and , on one side , is provided with a longitudinally - running toothed rod profiling 21 . the toothed rod profiling 21 engages with a toothed driving element which is housed in a second bearing bush 16 of the arm 14 running transversely to the bearing bush 15 . a drive shaft 22 of the driving element protrudes outwardly on one end over the second bearing bush 16 and is looped round on a pulley 17 by an endless toothed belt 23 , the other deflection position of which engages on a pulley 18 on the shaft of an electromotor 19 . the electromotor 19 is , viewed from the front of the test device 10 , firmly screwed behind the column of the yoke stanchion 11 on the base 13 . on the front side of the column 12 is mounted a vertical bar 27 on which are fixed three limit switches 28 with which a contact member 29 projecting from the rod 20 cooperates in order to define the path of compression depending upon the length of the tube body 1 to be tested . rod 20 is also guided by a vertical bearing 58 fixed to casing 65 . for reasons of safety , the test device 10 is housed in a casing 65 which is closed on all sides and preferably consists of a transparent plastic material . the handling region of the test device is accessible through a casing opening which can be opened and closed by a swingable flap 66 mounted on an upper horizontal axis 67 . on one end , the swingable flap 66 is connected with a circular disc 68 with a pitch circular notch 69 which , when the swingable flap 66 is closed , is inwardly directed and engages a roll 70 of a motor safety switch 71 . the roll 70 is present on a tiltable lever which , when the swingable flap 66 is open , is pressed by the circumference of the disc 68 against a switch - off knob of the motor safety switch 71 so that , when the swingable flap 66 is open , the motor does not run . when the swingable flap 66 is closed , the electro - motor 19 is switched on in the desired manner by means of an electrical control means provided outside of the casing 65 . the rod 20 is hollow and contains a straight spindle 24 ( see fig3 ), the upper end of which carries a somewhat protruding polyhedron on which can removably be placed a hand grip 25 . the lower end of the spindle 24 has a threaded section 24a which projects beyond the lower end of the rod 20 . by rotation of the hand grip 25 , the spindle 24 is moved upwardly or downwardly and thereby results in the gripping part being opened or closed . the purpose of this function is explained in more detail in connection with the illustration of a clamping head 30 according to fig3 to 6 connected with the spindle 24 . on the base 13 , vertically under the rod 20 , is fixed a base plate 26 which has a central , funnel - shaped recess 27a in the tip of which is formed an internally threaded bore . against the circular - conically shaped wall of the funnel - shaped recess 27a lies the sloping shoulder of the tube body 1 when the tube thread is screwed into the internally threaded bore . in order to achieve this , the rod 20 is raised and the tube body 1 , which is circular cylindrical in the illustrated example , projects upwardly so that its upper circular opening lies centered opposite the clamping head 30 of the test device 10 . the clamping head 30 consists of several substantially circular cylindrical parts which are assembled coaxially . all the component parts are made from high - quality steel . a circular cylindrical cap 31 is provided in its upper plate with a central opening 32 and its comparatively short mantel has an external thread 33 on the free end . the external thread 33 of the cap 31 is screwed on to a circular cylindrical outer sleeve 35 by means of an internal thread 34 on the free end of this sleeve 35 . the outer circumferences of these two parts run flush . on the lower edge of the outer sleeve 35 is formed a surrounding inner collar 36 with circular cylindrical inner surface , the lower inner edge 37 of which is rounded , whereas its upper flank 38 runs at right - angles . before screwing together the parts 31 and 35 , in the outer sleeve 35 is placed a gripping sleeve 39 which contains a gripping part 40 . the gripping sleeve 39 is to be seen in fig4 and 5 . it also has a circular cylindrical beaker shape and its upper end fits into the cap 31 , whereby it projects outwardly with a hollow pipe 41 formed on its plate through the central opening 32 and an outer ring collar 42 of the hollow pipe 41 is screwed , for example , into the opening 32 . three parallel edged longitudinal slots 43 , each of which starts from a hole 44 in the upper half of the wall of the gripping sleeve 39 , end openly on the lower edge of the gripping sleeve 39 and divide it into three arcuate segments 45 which can be radially deflected so that the gripping collar 39 can be widened in its lower region . the lower edge region of the gripping sleeve 39 forms a tapered ring 48 with circular cylindrical outer surface and downwardly diverging circular inner wedge surface 49 . on one point of the wedge surface 49 is formed a longitudinally running groove 51 which extends over the total height of the tapered ring 48 . the outer edge 50 of the gripping sleeve 39 is rounded counter to the inner edge 37 of the outer sleeve 35 . between the circular cylindrical outer circumference of the tapered ring 48 and the circular cylindrical inner circumference of the inner collar 36 of the outer sleeve 35 , there remains a gripping slot 62 for the reception of the upper open end of the tube body 1 . on the inner end of the gripping slot 62 , the gripping sleeve 39 is provided , at a distance from its lower open edge , with an outer ring bead 46 , the lower flank 47 of which projects next to the upper flank 38 of the inner collar 36 of the outer sleeve 35 at right - angles to the circular cylindrical mantel surface . the main component of the clamping head 30 is the gripping part 40 which consists , in one piece , of a circular cylindrical shaft 52 and a tapered ring 53 formed on one end , the outer wedge surface 54 of which diverges downwardly and the inclination of which and the axial length of the wedge surface 49 are adapted to the gripping sleeve 39 . in the shaft 52 is present a coaxial inner threaded bore 55 which is closed below and open above . it serves for the screw connection of the gripping part 40 with the threaded end 24a of the spindle 24 . the gripping part 40 is axially movable in the gripping sleeve 39 but is made non - rotatable . as a protection against thread stripping , there serves the groove 51 in the tapered ring 48 in which is inserted a fitting piece 56 which is fixed by means of a screw 57 and projects with about half of its thickness region over the wedge surface 54 so that there is obtained a groove - spring fit as protection against thread stripping . for the assembly of the clamping head 30 , the gripping sleeve 39 is placed in the outer sleeve 35 and the gripping part 40 is introduced from below into the gripping sleeve 39 until the tapered rings 48 and 53 engage into one another . the cap 31 is then screwed with the outer sleeve 35 so that there is obtained a cylindrical body closed on all sides which is fixed to the rod 20 by screwing of the gripping part 40 with the spindle 24 . in the case of the fully assembled clamping head 30 , which is centered by two centering pins 60 and 61 in the plate parts of the cap 31 lying next to one another and the gripping sleeve 39 , the gripping slot 62 has a certain breadth which can be altered . for the reception of the edge of the tube body 1 or for the release thereof , by screwing down of the spindle 24 , the tapered ring 53 of the gripping part 40 is somewhat pressed out downwardly from the tapered ring 48 so that this assumes its relaxed basic position in which the gripping slot 62 has its maximum breadth . the leading edge of the edge of the tube 1 is pushed against the lower flank 47 of the ring bead 46 of the gripping sleeve 39 so that no displacement can take place in the case of downward movement of the rod 20 for the compression of the tube body 1 . when , by screwing up of the spindle 24 , the tapered ring 53 is drawn into the tapered ring 48 , the cooperation of the wedge surfaces 49 and 54 radially spreads out somewhat the gripping sleeve 39 , especially in the region of the tapered ring 48 , and the edge of the tube 1 is firmly clamped in the gripping slot 62 . by lowering the rod 20 , the tube body 1 is compressed exactly in a straight line ( see fig2 ). the speed of compression is thereby preferably 157 mm / s . for opening out the compressed tube , the rod 20 is moved upwardly with the same speed so that the tube body 1 , firmly held at both ends , is pulled out ( see fig1 ). subsequently , by release of the gripping action of the clamping head 30 , the upper end of the tube body 1 is freed and the thread neck of the tube can then be screwed out from the base plate 26 . for examination purposes , the tube body 1 is cut up longitudinally and inspected .	6
fig1 illustrates a container set comprising a first container 1 and a second container 2 , where the first container is turned upside down and the second container is in the upright position . the first container is adapted to be re - used by being filled with the contents of the second container , which is a so - called disposable refill container . the second container 2 is of a smaller volume than the first container . the second container 2 comprises a container body 3 formed by a bottom wall 4 , a circumferential side wall 5 , and an upper wall 6 . a mouth part or neck 7 extends outwardly from the upper wall and defines a mouth opening 8 . the second container 2 is preferably a very thin - walled plastic container and can for instance be produced by way of blow or injection moulding of polyethylene . the second container can , however , also be provided with a container body of plastic foil , cardboard , metal etc ., a separate mouth part being arranged thereon . the first container i comprises a container body 9 formed by a bottom wall 10 , a circumferential side wall 11 , and an upper wall 12 . the upper wall 12 comprises a mouth part 13 defining an opening area 14 into the interior of the container . as explained in greater detail below , the mouth part 7 of the second container comprises an outer conical surface adapted to guidingly and sealingly engage an inner conical surface on the mouth portion 13 of the first container 1 . the coupled position of the two containers , in which their mouth portions 7 and 13 engage one another , is shown in fig2 the coupling of the containers here being turned 180 ° relative to the position shown in fig1 . reference is made to fig1 and 2 , where the contents of the second container 2 is poured into the first container 1 by proceeding according to the following procedure : the second container 2 is placed in an upright position , such as by standing on a plane base , the first container is taken to be emptied of its contents and it is placed upside down over the second container , the second container is approached the first container in such a manner that the mouth part 13 of the second container is caused to engage the mouth part 8 of the first container with the result that the containers enter a fixed position in radial direction relative to one another . by this embodiment of the invention the co - operating conical surfaces on the two mouth parts 8 , 13 provide the above radial fixing at the same time as they also define the coupling position in the axial direction , while maintaining the coupled position , the two containers are turned 180 ° so as to enter the position shown in fig2 where the second container 2 is placed atop the first container . in this position , the contents of the second container 2 flow downwards into the first container 1 , when the whole contents of the second container has passed into the first container , said second container is removed and the fist container can then be used for pouring the product contained therein . as clearly illustrated in fig3 the neck 7 of the second container comprises a conical surface preferably of a tapering of 1 / 2 to 2 °. the conical surface comprises an inner cone portion 15 formed by a closed face area and an outer cone portion 16 formed by the apexes of an external thread 17 . the mouth part 13 of the first container is formed by a separate part with a downwardly facing annular groove 18 permanently engaging a neck 19 on the container body 9 . a circumferential wall 20 is positioned inside the neck 19 of the container body 9 and extends into the interior of the container . at a lower end the wall 20 continues into an inwardly extending bottom wall 21 , which in turn continues into an upwardly extending inner wall 22 forming an pouring spout . the inner wall 22 is slotted over its entire length to form an opening extending to the bottom wall 22 . at its upper end the circumferential wall 20 comprises an external thread 23 for screwing down a cap not shown on the first container 1 . the inner surface 24 of the circumferential wall 20 tapers inwardly by a tapering of 1 / 2 to 2 ° and forms a combined guiding and sealing face shown in a sealing and guiding engagement with the combined guiding and sealing face 15 , 16 on the container 2 . in order to obtain a reliable mutual retaining of the two containers , the inner surface 24 of the circumferential wall 20 can be provided with an internal thread not shown , which is adapted to co - operate with the external thread 17 on the neck 7 of the second container . in this manner it is in addition to a locking engagement between the two containers also possible to obtain a high sealing force between said two sealing faces . in fig3 the neck 7 of the second container 2 is provided with a thread with the result that it can be closed by means of a cap . however , the neck may also be provided with a closing snap cap or be sealed by means of a terminal wall being cut off when the container is to be opened , which is known in connection with containers containing liquids for medical use . fig4 illustrates a container set , where the mouth part 13 of the first container 1 corresponds completely to the mouth part 13 described in connection with fig3 and therefore not described in greater detail . the second container 32 corresponds to the second container 2 described in connection with fig3 apart from the shape of its mouth part or neck 7 . the mouth part 37 comprises an annular wall 56 extending outwardly from the upper wall 36 and defining the container opening 38 . adjacent the upper wall 36 , the annular wall 56 comprises three radially outwardly extending projections 55 , only one projection appearing from fig4 . the outer surfaces 57 of the outer walls 54 of the projections 55 form a guide means and are arranged on a cone face tapering like the inner surface 24 on the first container 1 . thus the surfaces 24 and 57 of the walls 20 and 54 serve as guide faces guiding the two containers into their radially locked , coupled position . the circumferential wall 20 comprises an upper edge 58 . the abutment of this edge 58 against the upper surface 59 of the upper wall 36 of the second container 32 defines the coupled position of the two containers in axial direction . the abutment between the two faces can simultaneously have a sealing purpose when the two faces are shaped as sealing faces . the embodiment of fig5 comprises a second container 62 with a mouth part 67 provided with both an internal thread 76 and an external thread 77 , the apexes of the threads of the external thread being arranged like the apexes of the internal thread , and vice versa . the external thread 77 serves to screw down a screw cap not shown , whereas the internal thread 76 is adapted to engage an external thread 83 on a mouth part 73 of the first container 61 . the engagement of the internal thread 76 of the second container 62 and the external thread 63 of the first container provides a reliable interlocking of the two containers . the threads serve simultaneously as guide faces . when the internal thread 76 of the second container 62 is completely screwed down on the external thread 73 of the first container 61 , the edge 88 of the mouth part 67 abuts the upper surface 89 of the upper wall 72 of the first container 61 . the co - operating surfaces 88 and 89 can serve as sealing faces and define the coupled position of the two containers 61 , 62 in the axial direction .	1
to better understand the present invention , fig1 illustrates an example network , e . g ., a packet - switched network such as a voip network related to the present invention . the voip network may comprise various types of customer endpoint devices connected via various types of access networks to a carrier ( a service provider ) voip core infrastructure over an internet protocol / multi - protocol label switching ( ip / mpls ) based core backbone network . broadly defined , a voip network is a network that is capable of carrying voice signals as packetized data over an ip network . an ip network is broadly defined as a network that uses internet protocol to exchange data packets . the customer endpoint devices can be either time division multiplexing ( tdm ) based or ip based . tdm based customer endpoint devices 122 , 123 , 134 , and 135 typically comprise of tdm phones or private branch exchange ( pbx ). ip based customer endpoint devices 144 and 145 typically comprise ip phones or pbx . the terminal adaptors ( ta ) 132 and 133 are used to provide necessary interworking functions between tdm customer endpoint devices , such as analog phones , and packet based access network technologies , such as digital subscriber loop ( dsl ) or cable broadband access networks . tdm based customer endpoint devices access voip services by using either a public switched telephone network ( pstn ) 120 , 121 or a broadband access network via a ta 132 or 133 . ip based customer endpoint devices access voip services by using a local area network ( lan ) 140 and 141 with a voip gateway or router 142 and 143 , respectively . the access networks can be either tdm or packet based . a tdm pstn 120 or 121 is used to support tdm customer endpoint devices connected via traditional phone lines . a packet based access network , such as frame relay , atm , ethernet or ip , is used to support ip based customer endpoint devices via a customer lan , e . g ., 140 with a voip gateway and router 142 . a packet based access network 130 or 131 , such as dsl or cable , when used together with a ta 132 or 133 , is used to support tdm based customer endpoint devices . the core voip infrastructure comprises of several key voip components , such the border element ( be ) 112 and 113 , the call control element ( cce ) 111 , and voip related servers 114 . the be resides at the edge of the voip core infrastructure and interfaces with customers endpoints over various types of access networks . a be is typically implemented as a media gateway and performs signaling , media control , security , and call admission control and related functions . the cce resides within the voip infrastructure and is connected to the bes using the session initiation protocol ( sip ) over the underlying ip / mpls based core backbone network 110 . the cce is typically implemented as a media gateway controller and performs network wide call control related functions as well as interacts with the appropriate voip service related servers when necessary . the cce functions as a sip back - to - back user agent and is a signaling endpoint for all call legs between all bes and the cce . the cce may need to interact with various voip related servers in order to complete a call that require certain service specific features , e . g . translation of an e . 164 voice network address into an ip address . for calls that originate or terminate in a different carrier , they can be handled through the pstn 120 and 121 or the partner ip carrier 160 interconnections . for originating or terminating tdm calls , they can be handled via existing pstn interconnections to the other carrier . for originating or terminating voip calls , they can be handled via the partner ip carrier interface 160 to the other carrier . in order to illustrate how the different components operate to support a voip call , the following call scenario is used to illustrate how a voip call is setup between two customer endpoints . a customer using ip device 144 at location a places a call to another customer at location z using tdm device 135 . during the call setup , a setup signaling message is sent from ip device 144 , through the lan 140 , the voip gateway / router 142 , and the associated packet based access network , to be 112 . be 112 will then send a setup signaling message , such as a sip - invite message if sip is used , to cce 111 . cce 111 looks at the called party information and queries the necessary voip service related server 114 to obtain the information to complete this call . if be 113 needs to be involved in completing the call ; cce 111 sends another call setup message , such as a sip - invite message if sip is used , to be 113 . upon receiving the call setup message , be 113 forwards the call setup message , via broadband network 131 , to ta 133 . ta 133 then identifies the appropriate tdm device 135 and rings that device . once the call is accepted at location z by the called party , a call acknowledgement signaling message , such as a sip - ack message if sip is used , is sent in the reverse direction back to the cce 111 . after the cce 111 receives the call acknowledgement message , it will then send a call acknowledgement signaling message , such as a sip - ack message if sip is used , toward the calling party . in addition , the cce 111 also provides the necessary information of the call to both be 112 and be 113 so that the call data exchange can proceed directly between be 112 and be 113 . the call signaling path 150 and the call data path 151 are illustratively shown in fig1 . note that the call signaling path and the call data path are different because once a call has been setup up between two endpoints , the cce 111 does not need to be in the data path for actual direct data exchange . note that a customer in location a using any endpoint device type with its associated access network type can communicate with another customer in location z using any endpoint device type with its associated network type as well . for instance , a customer at location a using ip customer endpoint device 144 with packet based access network 140 can call another customer at location z using tdm endpoint device 123 with pstn access network 121 . the bes 112 and 113 are responsible for the necessary signaling protocol translation , e . g ., ss7 to and from sip , and media format conversion , such as tdm voice format to and from ip based packet voice format . users may call retailers ( e . g ., the retailers &# 39 ; toll free number ) for information to facilitate shopping . if valued customers &# 39 ; calls can be handled differently , with more focused marketing and enhanced customer care services , from regular customers , more effective sales and higher customer satisfactions and revenue can result from this type of enhanced call handling . fig2 illustrates an example of providing special call handling for valued customers of retailers . registered retailers 230 and registered valued customers 220 information are stored in the application server ( as ) 214 . for retailers , information stored in as 214 includes , but is not limited to , preferred service logic to handle incoming calls from valued customers . for example , a valued customer may be forwarded to a live attendant 231 instead of being forwarded to an interactive voice response ( ivr ) system 232 . for customers , information stored in as 214 includes , but is not limited to , their preferences to be viewed as a valued customer by a list of chosen registered retailers . for example , a customer may only want to be viewed as a valued customer for a preferred subset of registered retailers that they shop with . fig2 shows that when cce 211 receives a call 250 from a valued customer 220 via lan 240 , gateway / router 242 and be 212 that is destined to retailer 230 , the cce finds out that the calling number is a registered valued customer and the called number ( e . g ., a 800 number of a retailer ) is a registered retailer . then cce 211 communicates with as 214 , event 251 , and finds out that customer 220 prefers to be viewed as a valued customer for the retailer 230 ; therefore , cce 211 retrieves the registered service logic set by retailer 230 and processes the call according to the retrieved service logic . for instance , the retailer 230 prefers to answer all valued customer calls using live attendants 231 immediately instead of using an ivr system , as is the case for regular customers . cce 211 then translates the called retailer number ( e . g ., a toll or a toll free number ) into a telephone number destined to live attendants and continues the original call setup along with the valued customer &# 39 ; s caller identification ( id ), such as the name and the phone number , towards the destined translated phone number as shown in event 252 , e . g ., via be 213 , gateway / router 243 and lan 241 . using the transmitted caller id information , retailer 230 can also verify that caller 220 is indeed a valued customer before the call is answered by a live attendant 231 . if the caller is really a valued customer , based on such as billing status or revenue history , then the call will be answered by a live attendant ; otherwise , the call will in turn be forwarded to an ivr system instead . in an alternative embodiment , the retailer 230 can also play pre - recorded messages of special promotions to the verified valued customer caller before a live attendant 231 answers the call . fig2 illustrates an example of providing special call handling for valued customers of retailers . registered retailers 230 and registered valued customers 220 information are stored in the application server ( as ) 214 . for retailers , information stored in as 214 includes , but is not limited to , preferred service logic to handle incoming calls from valued customers . for example , a valued customer may be forwarded to a live attendant 231 instead of being forwarded to an interactive voice response ( ivr ) system 232 . for customers , information stored in as 214 includes , but is not limited to , their preferences to be viewed as a valued customer by a list of chosen registered retailers . for example , a customer may only want to be viewed as a valued customer for a preferred subset of registered retailers that they shop with . fig2 shows that when cce 211 receives a call 250 from a valued customer 220 via lan 240 , gateway / router 242 and be 212 that is destined to retailer 230 , the cce finds out that the calling number is a registered valued customer and the called number ( e . g ., a 800 number of a retailer ) is a registered retailer . then cce 211 communicates with as 214 , event 251 , and finds out that customer 220 prefers to be view as a valued customer for the retailer 230 ; therefore , cce 211 retrieves the registered service logic set by retailer 230 and processes the call according to the retrieved service logic . for instance , the retailer 230 prefers to answer all valued customer calls using live attendants 231 immediately instead of using an ivr system , as is the case for regular customers . cce 211 then translates the called retailer number ( e . g ., a toll or a toll free number ) into a telephone number destined to live attendants and continues the original call setup along with the valued customer &# 39 ; s caller identification ( id ), such as the name and the phone number , towards the destined translated phone number as shown in event 252 , e . g ., via be 213 , gateway / router 243 and lan 241 . using the transmitted caller id information , retailer 230 can also verify that caller 220 is indeed a valued customer before the call is answered by a live attendant 231 . if the caller is really a valued customer , based on such as billing status or revenue history , then the call will be answered by a live attendant ; otherwise , the call will in turn be forwarded to an ivr system instead . in an alternative embodiment , the retailer 230 can also play pre - recorded messages of special promotions to the verified valued customer caller before a live attendant 231 answers the call . in step 310 , the method registers at least one phone number of a retailer that has signed up for the special call handling of valued customers service feature . the at least one number of the registered retailer can be a toll number or a toll free number such as an 800 number . namely , the retailer is subscribing to this unique service with the service provider so that the retailer has the ability to identify and to handle its valued customers in a different manner . in fact , once registered , the registered retailer may be presented on a list of registered retailers that have special handling logics . in turn , users can opt to be treated as a valued customer by one or more of these registered retailers . in step 310 , the method registers at least one phone number of a retailer that has signed up for the special call handling of valued customers service feature . the at least one number of the registered retailer can be a toll number or a toll free number such as an 800 number . namely , the retailer is subscribing this unique service with the service provider so that the retailer has the ability to identify and to handle its valued customers in a different manner . in fact , once registered , the registered retailer may be presented on a list of registered retailers that have special handling logics . in turn , users can opt to be treated as a valued customer by one or more of these registered retailers . in step 320 , the method registers the preferred service logic of the retailers on how a valued customer &# 39 ; s call should be handled by the network . for example , the valued customer &# 39 ; s call can be forwarded to a live attendant . alternatively , the valued customer &# 39 ; s call is forwarded to an ivr with specialized announcements ( e . g ., specials , discounts , discount or coupon codes , or private sales ) that are made available only to value customers . in step 330 , the method registers one or more customers as valued customers of their chosen registered retailers . this registration process may contain two perspectives . in one perspective , each customer can select which registered retailers that should treat him or her as a valued customer . in addition to this perspective , the registered retailers may also have a preference as to who should be treated as their valued customers . for example , customers who want to be valued customers are automatically treated as tier 1 valued customers by a registered retailer . however , if the registered retailer has additional information on a particular customer , e . g ., a customer who frequently shops at the retailer , e . g ., based on credit card or billing information , then the registered retailer may elevate that particular customer to a tier 2 valued customer and so on . the registered retailer has discretion as to how a valued customer should be handled . method 300 then ends in step 340 . fig4 illustrates a flowchart of a method 400 for special call handling for valued customers of retailers by the cce . method 400 starts in step 405 and proceeds to step 410 . in step 410 , the method receives a call setup message from a calling endpoint device , e . g ., from a registered valued customer , to a registered retailer that the customer has signed up to be viewed as a valued customer . the cce communicates with the as to inquire whether the calling endpoint device , i . e ., the calling party is associated with a registered valued customer ( or accorded a valued customer status ) of the called party and whether the called party is a registered retailer . in step 420 , if the calling party is a valued customer and the called party is a registered retailer , then the method retrieves and applies the registered service logic set by the called registered retailer . the service logic may include , but is not limited to , translating the called number to a different destination phone number ( e . g ., a preferred translated destination number ) depending on the customer status . for instance , a valued customer call can be forwarded to a phone number answered by live attendants and whereas a regular customer call can be forwarded to another phone number answered by an ivr system . in step 430 , the method continues the call setup procedures according to the retrieved service logic to the called registered retailer . method 400 ends in step 440 . fig5 illustrates a flowchart of a method for handling valued customer calls by a registered retailer . method 500 starts in step 505 and proceeds to step 510 . in step 510 , the method receives a call from a valued customer . in step 520 , the method in one embodiment , verifies if the caller is indeed a valued customer by checking customer information including , but not limited to , the customer billing status or revenue history , using the caller id data . if the customer is a valued customer , the method proceeds to step 530 ; otherwise , the method proceeds to step 540 . in step 530 , the method provides enhanced handling of the customer call . for instance , enhanced call handling may include answering the valued customer call using live attendants . in step 540 , the method provides normal handling of the customer call . for instance , normal call handling may include answering regular customer calls using an ivr system . the method ends in step 550 . fig6 depicts a high level block diagram of a general purpose computer suitable for use in performing the functions described herein . as depicted in fig6 , the system 600 comprises a processor element 602 ( e . g ., a cpu ), a memory 604 , e . g ., random access memory ( ram ) and / or read only memory ( rom ), a special call handling module 605 , and various input / output devices 606 ( e . g ., storage devices , including but not limited to , a tape drive , a floppy drive , a hard disk drive or a compact disk drive , a receiver , a transmitter , a speaker , a display , a speech synthesizer , an output port , and a user input device ( such as a keyboard , a keypad , a mouse , and the like )). it should be noted that the present invention can be implemented in software and / or in a combination of software and hardware , e . g ., using application specific integrated circuits ( asic ), a general purpose computer or any other hardware equivalents . in one embodiment , the present special call handling module or process 605 can be loaded into memory 604 and executed by processor 602 to implement the functions as discussed above . as such , the present special call handling process 605 ( including associated data structures ) of the present invention can be stored on a computer readable medium or carrier , e . g ., ram memory , magnetic or optical drive or diskette and the like . while various embodiments have been described above , it should be understood that they have been presented by way of example only , and not limitation . thus , the breadth and scope of a preferred embodiment should not be limited by any of the above - described exemplary embodiments , but should be defined only in accordance with the following claims and their equivalents .	7
in fig1 an opaque strip of material 11 has been etched to include a plurality of aperture patterns 12 through which the transmission of light is to be measured . the aperture patterns 12 can be , for example , shadow masks used as the color selection electrode in kinescopes . the aperture patterns 12 preferably are centered between the edges of the strip 11 . however , some variation in the transverse positioning occurs because of imprecision in the photographic processing . the strip 11 moves longitudinally , as indicated by the arrow 13 , and because of the substantial length the strip also moves transversely , as indicated by the arrow 14 . a ccd sensor 16 is accurately centered with respect to the longitudinal center line of the strip 11 when the strip is in an optimum position . accordingly , the ccd is also centered over the aperture pattern 12 , when the pattern is transversely centered in the strip 11 . the ccd sensor 16 can be a linear array of pixels having one pixel accurately centered with respect to the center line of the strip 11 when the strip is in the optimum position . the linear ccd is substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the strip 11 . alternatively , the ccd 16 can be a planar array having one row , or one column , of pixels arranged substantially perpendicular to the center line of the strip 11 . the ccd is arranged in a camera of known type having an optical system whereby the entire width of the strip 11 is imaged onto the ccd . the side of the strip opposite the ccd is transversely scanned , as indicated by the phantom lines 17 , by a light source 21 and a prism 22 ( fig2 ). such scanning systems also are commercially available . the transmission of light through the aperture patterns 12 is measured through a plurality of measuring areas 18 . these areas are defined for selected locations within the aperture patterns 12 and are the same for every shadow mask of a particular type . the number , and positions of the measuring areas can vary for different types of shadow masks . an encoder 19 is arranged to respond to the longitudinal motion of the strip 11 to generate count pulses . the count pulses are used to detect the alignment of the inspection areas 18 with the ccd 16 . the count pulses are generated at a rate related to the motion of the strip 11 . accordingly , the first inspection area is known to begin at some exact count after the leading edge of the aperture pattern is detected . the inspection areas are transversely defined by the longitudinal sides of the patterns and are known to coincide with particular pixels of the ccd when the strip is in the optimum position and when the aperture pattern is centered on the strip 11 . in fig2 the light source 21 provides light to a light splitting prism 22 . accordingly , light passes through the aperture patterns 12 and impinges upon the ccd 16 when an aperture pattern is present between the prism 22 and the ccd 16 . additionally , an equal amount of light directly impinges upon another ccd 23 . the lensing , the light and the scanning systems are standard , commercial items . the use of the two ccds 16 and 23 permits the calibration and normalization of the system to accommodate changes in the light due to the accumulation of dirt or to changes in the brightness of the light emanating from the source 21 . in fig4 the waveform 24 represents the light impinging upon the pixels of the ccd sensor 16 . the waveform 25 represents the charge levels on the ccd pixels . the pixels which receive light beyond the edges of the strip 11 are fully illuminated with high intensity light indicated by the level 26 . thus , those pixels are charged to the high level indicated by the level 27 . the strip 11 is solid material between the aperture patterns 12 and the edges of the strip . therefore , no light is received by the pixels which correspond to the opaque areas , which are indicated by the low levels 28 . these pixels are uncharged , as indicated by the low levels 29 . the curved portion 31 of the waveform 24 represents the transmission of light through the aperture patterns 12 and accordingly the pixels of the ccd 16 which receive energy through the aperture pattern are charged to levels proportioned to the impinging light , as indicated by portion 32 of the waveform 25 . typically , approximately 30 % of the light passes through the aperture patterns . accordingly , the peaks of levels 31 and 32 are approximately 30 % of the 26 and 27 levels . the ccd sensor 16 is accurately centered over the strip 11 when the strip is in an optimum position . also , the transverse edges of the aperture patterns 18 are easily detectable . accordingly , one pixel , such as pixel 33 , is accurately centered over the longitudinal strip 11 . for this reason , for a particular mask size , the number of pixels on each side of the center pixel 33 which are illuminated when the strip 11 is centered is known . accordingly , when different numbers of pixels are illuminated on the two sides of the center pixel 33 either , or both , a transverse movement of the strip 11 , or miscentering of the pattern on the strip 11 is indicated and the displacement can be calculated . this information is used to compensate for the miscentering of the aperture pattern 18 with respect to the ccd sensor 16 in a manner described hereinafter . fig3 shows how the inspection areas 18 of fig1 are defined utilizing the pixels of the ccd 16 and the count pulses from the encoder 19 . in fig3 the x axis is vertical and corresponds to longitudinal motion of the strip 11 , as shown in fig1 . the y axis is parallel to the linear ccd , or to the utilized row of pixels when a planar ccd array is used . in fig1 nine of the inspection areas 18 are shown . in fig3 two of these areas 18a and 18b are shown in more detail and each square represents one ccd pixel . the inspection areas 18 are defined by addressing particular pixels of the ccd for each count pulse received from the encoder 19 . thus , in fig3 the first portion 34 of the area 18a is defined by addressing pixels which are known to be illluminated when the strip is perfectly centered . for example , the first portion 34 of the area 18a is defined as being a selected number of count pulses from the leading edge of an aperture pattern 12 . accordingly , when the first transition from the low level 29 to the higher level 32 ( fig4 ) is detected , the selected number of the count pulses 19 establishes the x - position of the first portion 34 of the inspection area 18a . the same number of count pulses can be utilized to define a first portion 36 of the inspection area 18b . when the aperture pattern 18a is perfectly centered with respect to the ccd 16 , the portion 34 of the inspection area 18a will be composed of known pixels , for example , 5 to 13 . accordingly , the energy levels of those pixels are the first used in measuring light transmission through the area 18a . when inspection area 18b commences on the same count pulse count as the area 18a the pixels 35 to 43 , for example , are utilized to define the first portion 36 of the inspection area 18b . when the center pixel 33 is offset from the center , the pixels which are utilized in measuring the light transmission are also shifted . for example , when the center of the aperture pattern 12 is shifted four pixels to the right of the center pixel 33 the pixels used are shifted four pixels to the right . thus , pixels 9 to 17 would be used in place of 5 to 13 , as used in the example above . the shift is utilized for all the measurement areas in the aperture pattern . the next portion 37 of the inspection area 18a is defined by a higher number of count pulses from the encoder 19 . the portion 37 also spans more pixels of the ccd than the portion 34 . accordingly , for this portion of the inspection area a total of ten pixels , for example , is addressed during the transfer of data from the ccd array . this operation continues until the last portion 38 of the inspection area 18a is completed . the longitudinal , or x , dimension of the inspection area 18a is selected simply by selecting the number of count pulses from the encoder 19 to be used . no data are considered until the first portion of the next set of inspection areas is encountered in accordance with the preselected number of count pulses from the encoder 19 . accordingly , the transverse , or y , dimension of the inspection areas 18 are defined by addressing particular pixels for each portion of the inspection areas . the encoder 19 is responsive to the longitudinal motion of the strip 11 and for this reason any variations in the speed of the strip are automatically compensated because the count pulses are generated as a function of distance rather than a function of velocity . in fig5 a , the calculation of the transmission through one of the inspection areas 18 ( fig1 ) starts at step 41 . at step 42 the type of mask is input to the system . the mask type is needed because the number and locations of the inspection areas can vary for different sizes and types of shadow masks . at step 43 , the inspection area coordinates are initialized . this constitutes selecting the number of inspection areas and also defining the inspection pixels and encoder count pulses . the upper and lower transmission limits are initialized at step 44 . an acceptable shadow mask has a transmission capability which is within predefined limits . the lower limit assures that the apertures are not too small , or nonexistant , and the upper limit assures that the apertures are not too large . the counter which counts the count pulses from the encoder 19 is set to zero at step 45 . at step 46 , the encoder pulses are sensed and when no pulses are present the system simply loops back until pulses are detected . the count pulses are incremented at step 47 and are assigned to the x coordinate at step 48 . the upper ccd is scanned through the aperture pattern at step 49 . in fig5 b , when an aperture pattern exists between light source 21 and the upper ccd 16 the leading edge of the aperture pattern is detected at step 50 . the width of the aperture pattern is checked at step 51 to distinguish the aperture pattern through which the light passed from other apertures , such as completely etched through corners , or flaws and tears in the strip 11 . when the aperture width is not sufficient to suggest the presence of an aperture pattern , step 52 is entered to reset the counter to zero and re - enter step 46 of fig5 a . when the aperture pattern width exceeds the minimum width , the presence of an aperture pattern 12 is suggested and step 53 is entered to increment the counter . the acceptability of the count is then verified at step 54 . the verification of the presence of an aperture pattern requires a minimum number of scans at step 54 . step 54 verifies that the required minimum number of scans has occurred . as shown in fig3 the number of count pulses required for the alignment of an inspection area 18 and the ccd 16 is known . accordingly , a convenient minimum number of count pulses to be received from the encoder 19 subsequent to the detection of the leading edge of the aperture pattern is used at 54 to verify the presence of the aperture pattern . when the needed count has not been met , step 46 is re - entered to increment the counter one count . when an aperture pattern has come into alignment with the ccd 16 , step 55 is entered to calculate the angle of approach . the angle of approach is calculated by noting the difference in the location of the center of the strip 11 for the first and last inspection areas of the preceeding aperture pattern and by dividing this difference by the longitudinal distance between the same two inspection areas for the preceeding aperture pattern . step 56 is then entered to initialize the system for all of the inspection areas 18 . the presence of the encoder pulses is again verified at step 57 . in fig5 c at step 58 , the counter is again incremented and at step 59 the count is incremented to the next longitudinal count x . step 60 verifies that the particular count pulse represents an x , longitudinal , location within one of the inspection areas . when it is not , step 57 is re - entered and the process repeated back to step 60 . when an inspection area is aligned with the ccd 16 , step 61 is entered and both the ccd 16 and ccd 21 are simultaneously scanned . step 62 is then entered to locate the longitudinal edges of the aperture pattern 12 . the location of the center of the aperture pattern 12 with respect to the center pixel 33 of the ccd 16 is calculated at step 63 . when the actual center of the portion 32 of the waveform 25 ( fig4 ) is on a pixel different from pixel 33 , the number of pixels between the actual and optimum positions is used to calculate the offset . this calculation is performed at step 64 . in fig5 d , the offset is used to calculate the transverse , y , location of the aperture pattern at step 65 . in fig3 the pixels which are to be considered for a portion of a particular inspection area have known transverse , y , positions . when the strip 11 is not centered with respect to the ccd 16 , the offset is used to select different pixels to effectively shift the sensor by the offset whereby pixels which are within the inspection area are considered . step 66 is then entered to determine whether or not one of the inspection areas has been completely scanned . when it has not , step 57 , of fig5 b , is reentered to repeat the process for the next portion of the inspection area . when the inspection area is completely scanned , steps 67 and 68 are entered to , respectively , calculate the normalized pixel value npv and the transmission ia for the inspection area in accordance with the expressions : ## equ1 ## npv = normalized pixel value mupv = upper pixel value with mask the nmlpv and nmupv factors set a system ratio to compensate for changes in the light or optical system . the ratio is determined by simultaneously scanning both ccd &# 39 ; s 16 and 23 without a mask . the difference in response then is a normalizing ratio which is set into the system prior to making any measurements . any light or optical changes will have the same affect on both ccd &# 39 ; s 16 and 23 and the ratio remains constant . the transmission of the measured area is then calculated using the expression : ## equ2 ## ia = transmission of the area being measured r - r = the number count pulses along the longitudinal , x , axis of the inspection area yi - ym = the number of pixels along the transverse , y , axis of the inspection area portion after the normalized transmission of the inspection area under consideration is completed , step 69 is entered to determine whether or not a complete aperture pattern has been measured . when a complete pattern has not been measured , step 57 is reentered to repeat the process for the next inspection area . when all inspection areas have been considered step 70 is entered to compare the measured transmission capability to the upper , ut , and lower , lt , transmission capabilities set into the system at step 44 . step 71 is then entered to make a pass / fail decision . the pass / fail decision can be factory determined and thus can vary for each type of aperture pattern . the decision can be based upon a consideration of the transmission capabilities of all of the inspection areas simultaneously . alternatively , the mask can be failed if any one of the inspection areas fails to fall within the transmission limits .	6
fig1 the data retrieval system consists of 10 major elements . user accesses the system through the web based user interface ( fig1 ( 1 ) ). user all tasks through the user interface limited by permissions only . permissions are a set of controls for limiting or expending access to certain features . for a document to be processed , it should be imported into the system first . when the user activates an import feature in the user interface they are asked to locate a document on the local user &# 39 ; s drive and import it into the system . during the import system it either just imports it if the document is in html format , or it converts it to html format if it is in any other supported formats . conversion of the document happens in the converter to html ( fig1 ( 2 ) ). the insertion process places documents into the document repository ( fig1 ( 3 ) ) of the system . the document repository has features for document management , folder creation , and folder content management . behind the document repository there is a storage area ( fig1 ( 3 . 1 ) ) for keeping documents . according to our design , user documents , after the insertion , become containers as well . they store the document content and all retrieved data from the document ( fig1 ( 3 . 1 ) ) based on the retrieval data structure . there are two major engines for document processing . one of them is a data mapper ( fig1 ( 4 ) ), which automatically establishes links between user documents and pre - processed retrieval data structures imported with documents by the user . another engine is a data retriever ( fig1 ( 5 ) ). it retrieves data from user documents to the retrieval data structure &# 39 ; s data points and stores them in the document . there are two types of data retrieval , one is manual and the other is automated . the data retrieval process supported by the set of text mining solutions ( fig1 ( 8 ) ) was invented and developed to support automated data retrieval . the text mining solutions consist of the text mining engine ( fig1 ( 8 . 1 ) ), a set of algorithms required for automating the data retrieval process . self - learning classification models ( fig1 ( 8 . 2 ) ) are required for improving results of data retrieval based of adjustment made by the user . a set of background processes ( fig1 ( 8 . 3 ) ) used to improve the results of automatic data retrieval and add additional limitations or directions for text mining algorithms . collections of prebuilt ontologies ( fig1 ( 8 . 4 ) ) for specific data structure types are made for making the process of automatically retrieving into such ontologies less painful . user received automation , sets of calculations ( fig1 ( 9 ) ) for specific types of documents . calculations ( fig1 ( 9 ) ) are sets of formulas already preset or user generated for checking retrieved data against such formulas . such formulas correspond to particular data points in the retrieval data structures , the actual structure where data is retrieved to , and can be made of other retrieved values . it is assumed that calculated value should be equal to the value retrieved . if not , it will be reflected in the validator ( fig1 ( 11 ) ), a special tool designed for checking formulas in the calculations against the retrieved values . formulas can be preset or they can be built by the user using the calculations builder ( fig1 ( 10 ) ). the retrieval process consists of the manual or automatic location of required data in the user &# 39 ; s documents and posting them to the corresponding cells , the data points . structured representation of retrieved data is called the retrieval data structure ( fig1 ( 7 ) ). such structures exist preset or can be generated by the user in the retrieval data structure builder ( fig1 ( 10 ) ). the retrieval data structure builder is a part of the retrieval data structure viewer ( fig1 ( 9 ) ) used to view such structures or manage them during the retrieval process . to receive results of data retrieval , the user has to use the results exporter ( fig1 ( 13 ) ). it converts the results of data retrieval into an exported xml based document or it can generate a self - contained document . a self - contained document can be in html , pdf or ms office format . it contains an original document , a data structure and validations . all three items are linked , so by clicking on the data point of either one , it will reveal the actual location of the data point in another two . this way , the user has the flexibility of either exporting an xml based document , which is hard to read but easier to reuse with other applications , or exporting a self contained document that easy to read , to review , and to present . fig2 this sketch shows the main screen of the application . the main screen is split into 3 windows : the document repository window ( see fig1 ( 3 ) ), the retrieval data structure viewer ( see fig1 ( 6 ) ) also containing the builder ( see fig1 ( 7 ) ), mapper ( see fig1 ( 4 ) ) and validator windows ( see fig1 ( 11 ) ) and the document viewer window ( see fig1 ( 12 ) ). all 3 windows are linked to each other in following ways : the document repository ( see fig1 ( 3 ) ) stores all documents imported into the system by the user . by selecting a specific document from the document repository , the context of the document will be opened in a separate tab of the document viewer . if there is a retrieval data structure associated with the document , it will be open in a separate a tab of the retrieval document structure viewer . if there is no document structure association set to the document , there will be no document structure open . the results of the data retrieval process are stored in the document opened from the document repository . the retrieval document structure window has links between the document structure &# 39 ; s data points and corresponding data points in the document ( fig7 ) when the user selects one of the data points in the document structure , the document viewer scrolls to the location of the data point in the document and indicates the linked item . data points in the document viewer are linked to data points in the retrieval document structure . when the user clicks on the “ marked as retrieved ” data point in the document , the retrieval document structure will scroll to the corresponding data point and indicate a data point value in the sketch doesn &# 39 ; t show any additional add - ons , but some additional features are available to the user . such features are , but not limited to : the status bar — the panel on the bottom of the application indicating processes , connections to the server , documents in the repository counters and documents state indicators . the main task - bar — the application menu containing administrative tools , user management tools and a set of general controls . user controls — the ability to manage users permissions controls — the ability to control user permissions add - ons management — the ability to control add - ons , and use their additional features available fig3 the document repository indicates and helps to manage all documents imported into the system . before any document can be retrieved using the invention , the document should be imported into the system by the user . there are two ways to initiate the import feature : one is from the repository task - bar on the top of the window or a second option is from the main task bar of the application . after the document is imported into the system it appears in the document repository . the user has the option to associate any template with a document during the import process or at any other time . the user has the ability to associate any document with several data structures . during the import process , the user can choose several data structures to associate with . the result will be a set of identical documents in the repository , each associated with a unique data structure . if the user wants to associate any document in the document repository with a different data structure , they can do it using a clone option that creates a copy of the document . such documents can be associated with a different data structure or left unassociated for later . the user receives all the usual controls over the document repository like creating and deleting folders , moving files from one folder to another , renaming files and folders , copying and pasting documents and deleting . also , it has a recycle bin that allows the restoration of files and folders after deletion . fig4 the retrieval document structure window has multiple purposes . the window is controlled using multiple tabs . the first tab is used to show all available retrieval data structures to the user . by clicking on any data structure from the first tab , its structure is opened in the new tab . after that , the data structure can be edited , updated and mapped to the document . also , templates can be opened from the document repository . if the user selects a document from the document repository that already has a retrieval structure associated with it , the retrieval document structure associated with a document will be opened . terms already retrieved from the document will appear in the structure . when users click on the data point in the document that already has a link to the corresponding data point in the retrieval document structure , the structure will scroll to the corresponding data point and show retrieved data . the use of the document structure window is as a validation process . the user has the ability to describe calculations rules ( see fig1 ( 10 ) ) linked to specific data points . such calculations can link several data points into a single formula . if the number calculated is not equal to the number that was retrieved , it will indicate the difference to the user . fig5 the document view window is used to display the document &# 39 ; s contents . it is a multi - tab window that allows switching between different documents . if the user selects a different document it will switch to the document template linked to this document as well . all the retrieved data in the document is highlighted and is linked to the data point locations in the retrieval document structure . by selecting a marked data point in the structure , the user will be redirected to the location of data in the retrieval document structure . 1 . the user builds a retrieval data structure from the ground up . an automation process is unavailable in the early stages in most cases . the only opportunity for the user to have automation in the early stage is to use already preset automation data points . such data points can be dragged to the data structure from other previously preset structures . after the data structure is created , the user is able to try the automation , but the best result is achieved by using only partial data retrieval . the user will have to perform the manual extraction at least for a single document or in most cases for a set of documents . this set of actions is required to collect all the patterns used to place data points into the document . this set of documents is called the teaching set . the number of documents in the teaching set varies for different data points . it depends on differences in the location of data points from document to document and on the complexity of documents . after the data retrieval for the teaching set is complete , the user has the option to initiate an automation process . if the user doesn &# 39 ; t rely on the quality of retrieved data , they can use a test set , a set of documents with already retrieved data and compare automation results of such documents with data previously retrieved . if the user relies on the results of automation , he can run automation for all selected documents and leave verification for later . after data is retrieved , the system provides a verification process for it . since the document structure used is built from scratch , verification rules have to be set by the user . the user can assign specific formulas that involve the retrieval structure &# 39 ; s data points and are expected to be equal to the data point it is assigned to . if the expected value is different , the validation process will show the difference in red as a warning . at the end of the process , the user has the option of exporting results into several different formats : ms office formats , pdf , html and xml . all formats but xml store both the retrieval data structure and documents with bidirectional links between the corresponding data points . 2 . the user selects one of the previously preset retrieval data structures . if there is a preset data structure , there is also a preset automation for a set of data points . it gives the user the ability to use the automation data retrieval instantly . the next step is the validation and correction of automated retrieval results . the user has a preset validator that comes with a preset template . after finishing validation for a number of documents and restarting an automation process , the user should notice an improvement in results . if results are unsatisfactory , the user can continue retrieving data manually and trying the automator to see if the system understands the corrections made . all results can be exported into different formats like in the first workflow . fig7 user &# 39 ; s documents get converted into an html format when they are imported into the system ( see fig1 ( 2 ) ). the html used in the system is designed in such a way that it duplicates the retrieval results stored in the system &# 39 ; s database ( see fig1 ( 3 . 1 ) ). the system places special tags that link a data point in the document to the corresponding data point in the retrieval data structure . it provides the ability to easily export all data to a document that contains and links both the retrieval data structure and the document . the document and a corresponding data structure all become self contained . there is no need for a database or any external tool for linking them to each other . fig8 the retrieval data structure is a part of a tree - like structure with 3 major branches . these branches are : contexts , calculations and presentations . the whole structure can be opened in the data structure window of the invention . contexts — it allows the creation of groups of data . a set of data points in the retrieval data structure can be joined into groups by similar characteristics . for example , data points can be grouped by year , location , by the type of products they belong to , etc . it helps the user organize , locate and manage the retrieved data . calculations — is a utility for keeping and building all validation formulas . such formulas can be preset , or the user can build them using a validation builder . all data points in the structure can have a validation formula assigned to it . the user will see if there any differences between the results calculated using the validator ( see fig1 ( 11 ) ) and the originally retrieved data . the retrieved value can be fixed before the results are exported . presentation — is a retrieval data structure . it stores all retrieved data from the document . it consists of data points and groups of data points used to organize and store retrieved data . each data point has a type ( date , number , currency , text ). if a data point is numeric , it can be a part of the calculation formula . fig9 the validation window ( see fig1 ( 11 ) ) is a tool that helps a user to track possible retrieval errors . it uses formulas set in the calculations part of the data structure and compares them to retrieved data . if there is a calculation set for a specific data point and the result of the calculation is equal to the retrieved data , it doesn &# 39 ; t indicate anything . if there is a difference , it will be displayed next to the data point in the validation window with a number showing the difference between the retrieved value and the calculated value . fig1 the invention provides several different output formats through the results export feature ( see fig1 ( 12 ) . an xml format is one of them , and it gives the user an xml file with retrieved data attached to its data points . another type of result , and its abstract , is shown in fig9 . it is a document in different formats : pdf , html and ms office , which contain the following : an actual text with marked data points a retrieval data structure with values attached to data points a validator that indicates differences between retrieved data and calculations provided bidirectional links between data points in the retrieval data structure and the document bidirectional links between data points in the validator and the document such a document is self - contained ; it doesn &# 39 ; t require any additional links to the external resources or a database . it is good for : fig1 a bidirectional link between a document and a retrieval data structure saves time searching for retrieved data , and helps track the retrieved data for validations and comparisons with the original document . fig1 indicates that every retrieved item in the retrieval data structure has a link to its original location in the document . the illustration in fig1 shows how the basic xbrl / ifrs taxonomy ( see fig1 ( 8 . 4 ) ) is represented in the xbrl data mapping builder . this approach is hereinafter represented as a document structure . similar to other document structures , it is comprised of branches and data points . the data mapping builder allows the automatic generation of links between data points in the document and in the data structure for partially retrieved documents . branches help separate data points into logically related sets of data , or split data into different versions . branches can &# 39 ; t be linked to the data themselves , but the data points attached to them can . the retrieval data structure is an entity which helps to logically group data points and branches within a statement or disclosure . each version and type of the xbrl / ifrs data structure is represented as a separate branch in the retrieval data structure . for example , industries from the us_gaap xbrl taxonomy are represented as “ re ”, “ ins ”, “ bd ”, “ base ” and “ ci ” branches . each industry branch contains statements and disclosures , which are represented as a list of data structures . with reference to fig1 , an approach to how the xbrl / ifrs statement is presented in the xbrl data mapping builder is shown . xbrl / ifrs statements and disclosures are presented as data structures . just like any retrieval data structure , xbrl and ifrs data structures are comprised of presentations and calculations . a presentation introduces an element &# 39 ; s structure of the xbrl / ifrs statement . a data point &# 39 ; s name is unique within one branch level . calculations introduce a set of formulas for validating data retrieved against the calculated values . this structure can contain combinations of links between the data points from the presentation part of data structure . each link has a sign : plus or minus . calculation structure is used during the validation process . with reference to fig1 , a document &# 39 ; s import process is illustrated . any html file can be imported into the xbrl / ifrs data mapping builder ( see fig1 ( 4 ) ). in case the document is in another format ( pdf , doc , etc ) the specific html - converter can be used . a related retrieval data structure can be associated with a document during the document import process . however , it can be useful only for the manual retrieval process because the xbrl / ifrs data mapping procedure automatically sets up its own data retrieval structure . with reference to fig1 , the start of the xbrl / ifrs data mapping process is illustrated . instance document ( xml file with retrieved data ) schema document ( xsd file with element &# 39 ; s declaration ) presentation extension ( xml file with presentation extension ) calculation extension ( xml file with calculation extension ) the currently opened html document and selected xbrl filing are transmitted to the server for processing . button start starts the process . the progress bar on the top of the window shows the overall progress . the user can stop the process by pressing the stop button . ( the process mentioned is the same for other types of documents ) with reference to fig1 , the process of xbrl / ifrs data mapping connects already retrieved data with the html document . as a result , the user receives a data structure and the document linked at the data points which are already retrieved ( left part at fig1 ). the presentation structure contains retrieved values , and these values are linked to the corresponding values in the document . with reference to fig1 , a detailed document &# 39 ; s structure with results of xbrl / ifrs data mapping is illustrated . the structure is comprised of : the contexts branch contains the list of contexts . context is an entity and a form of report specific information ( reporting period , segment information , etc ) required by xbrl that allows the retrieved data to be understood in relation to other information . context can be set up for the presentation branch or data point — which means this branch or term has the date from selected context . the calculations branch contains the formula definition for this document . this formula is filled with data from the presentations branch during the validation ( see fig1 ( 11 ) ) process , which occurs later . the presentations branch contains retrieved statements segregated by contexts . in this example , contexts are the groups of dates and are presented as a table &# 39 ; s column . in each statement , there are an equal number of sub - branches as there are of columns .	6
now referring to the drawings , wherein like numerals refer to like matter throughout , and more particularly to fig1 , there is shown a camouflaged game call 100 of the present invention , which includes a camouflaged game call reed / hand piece insert 110 , and a camouflaged game call mouthpiece / reed cover 120 . the call is shown in an all white camouflage but other more elaborate patterns of contrasting colors could be substituted as well . camouflaged game call reed / hand piece insert 110 is shown as a double reed duck call insert , however , this is merely an example of many different inserts which could be utilized to make many different types of game calls . the present invention is focused upon the camouflaged game call mouthpiece / reed cover 120 which is adapted and configured to receive whatever insert is utilized for any particular call application . camouflaged game call mouthpiece / reed cover 120 is shown as a camouflage call ; however the image or pattern that is displayed is variable with many different types of camouflage , and many different types of decorative and non - camouflage patterns . the camouflaged game call mouthpiece / reed cover 120 has a mouth contact end 122 and an opposing reed insertion end 129 . camouflaged game call mouthpiece / reed cover 120 is shown with a lathe - turned contoured outer epoxy resin surface 126 which is transparent , and permits the camouflage image to be seen clearly . there is also shown an optional internal information displaying ring 127 , which could be decorative or used to provide information about the call , such as manufacturers &# 39 ; name , model and even a serial number for custom calls . optional internal information displaying ring 127 is disposed outside of the camouflage image , but inside of the lathe - turned contoured outer epoxy resin surface 126 . also shown is an optional exterior decorative ring 128 , which is shown as a ring which matches the camouflaged game call reed / hand piece insert 110 , and is disposed outside of the lathe - turned contoured outer epoxy resin surface 126 . now referring to fig2 , there is shown an end - view of the camouflaged game call mouthpiece / reed cover 120 of fig1 . camouflaged game call mouthpiece / reed cover 120 is shown as having a clear epoxy resin exterior surface 202 , which is similar to the lathe - turned contoured outer epoxy resin surface 126 of fig1 , except that it is not as thick as the thickest portion shown in fig1 . camouflaged game call mouthpiece / reed cover 120 comprises an acrylic inner tube 204 , which has had applied thereto an acrylic inner tube base - coat paint 206 . applied to the acrylic inner tube base - coat paint 206 , is acrylic inner tube patterned image 208 . clear epoxy resin interior surface 212 is shown disposed adjacent to acrylic inner tube patterned image 208 ; however , there may be a very thin layer of voc clear coat applied over the acrylic inner tube patterned image 208 , and therefore between the acrylic inner tube patterned image 208 and the clear epoxy resin interior surface 212 . also shown is optional internal information displaying ring 127 . full length 36 ″ acrylic tubes are cut into 2⅝ inch ( 2 . 625 ) length sections . each cut section is then hand sanded , at both ends , to ensure a smooth and clean finish ( see fig2 # 204 ). each cut tube is then cleaned , with alcohol , to rid the substrate of any contaminates , and installed onto “ jigs ” ( 12 tubes per jig ). each jig is then transferred to the spray booth , where the tubes go through another cleaning using lacquer thinner . this process eliminates any further contaminates and prepares the tubes for their base - coat color . once the acrylic tubes 204 have dried , the base - coat 206 is now applied to the tubes in preparation for the next step , which is the hydrographic printing ( depending upon the style / effect that is to be achieved ; the base - coat 206 can be waterborne , designed specifically for hydrographic printing , or voc style paint ). after the base - coat 206 has been allowed to dry thoroughly , they are removed from the paint booth to the dipping area . once in the dipping area , a printed pattern pva ( poly - vinyl alcohol ) film is cut to size for each jig that is to be hydro - dipped . the cut film is then transferred over to a specially designed dipping tank , where it lays suspended on heated water at 39 degree c . to hydrate the film for approximately 60 seconds . (* note : temperature and time varies depending upon manufacturer / style of printed pattern .) once the hydration period ends , an “ activator ”, specially manufactured to use in hydrographic printing , is applied with a spray gun to the top of the film as it lies on the water . this releases the ink from the pva film and the ink is now floating on the water . the base - coated tubes , which are in sets of 12 per jig , are then strategically dipped through the floating ink at a specific angle . as the tubes are being submerged through the floating ink , the ink / film 208 wraps around the tubes and becomes “ infused ”/ etched onto the base - coat . when fully submerged , the tubes are completely wrapped in the pattern 208 and are then taken to the rinse area , where they remain for three to five minutes to remove any and all residue left behind from the activated film . they are then removed from the rinse area , blown off with air to remove excess water , and then hung on a rack to dry thoroughly . after the tubes have dried completely , they are transferred to the spray booth , where a voc clear coat is applied to preserve the image 208 from any damage ; and remain there until the clear coat has completely dried . once dry , the tubes are ready to be transferred to the molding boxes . molding boxes can be specifically designed and fabricated from aluminum and silicone molding material , which could be aeromarine 128 silicone moldmaking rubber ( available from aeromarine products inc . of 8659 production avenue san diego , calif . 92121 ) to meet the specs in the design of the duck calls . “ dummy ” blanks could be used in making the silicone mold to achieve the specifications and dimensions of the actual duck call “ blanks ”. the box dimensions are approximately 3 ″ w × 4 ″ h × 34 ″ l , and can generate 12 calls per box . the front plate on each box is removable to allow access for extraction of the molded pieces , which are referred to as “ blanks ”. each hydro - dipped tube 204 , 206 and 208 ( also optional internal information displaying ring 127 could be included at this point ) is then transferred to a ⅝ ″ aluminum rod , where each end of the decorated tube is sealed with 401 locktite to prevent air bubbles from forming due to the heat generated by the epoxy curing during the molding process . while the sealant is drying , the silicone mold is being prepared by applying petroleum jelly to all exposed areas of the mold as a releasing agent . the aluminum rods , with the decorated tubes , are then inserted into the box , leaving the tube suspended and centered in each of the 12 areas where the blanks are formed . the box is then assembled and transferred to the pouring area . a mixture of cycloaliphatic clear epoxy resin , which could be aeromarine cycloaliphatic “ non blushing ” clear epoxy # 300 / 21 ( and is available from aeromarine products inc . of 8659 production avenue san diego , calif . 92121 ) is mixed ( 2 : 1 ratio ) and is then poured into each mold of 12 until full , and allowed to cure . this resin is a latex - free food - safe resin . other similar resins could be used as well . cure time varies between 8 - 12 hours , depending upon external room temperature . once the epoxy has cured , each box is then disassembled and the call “ blanks ” are removed from the mold , and inspected for defects / bubbles . fig2 is a cross - sectional picture of the encapsulated tube in the epoxy resin lathe - turned contoured outer epoxy resin surface 126 . the blank , i . e . camouflaged game call mouthpiece / reed cover 120 , is shown after machining to desired shape . it was mounted on an expanding mandrel for the lathe . once the desired shape is established , you can then finish with a final polish and buffing . if desired , a decorative band , i . e . optional exterior decorative ring 128 , can be added at this stage as well by using an arbor press and pressing the band on the base of the machined and polished part . the terms camouflage and camouflaged are intended to mean more than just one particular type or style of camouflage . many commercial and well known designer camouflage patterns exist . the means of the term is intended to be inclusive , and a call which is all white could be considered camouflaged for winter use . now referring to fig3 , there is shown an alternate embodiment of the present invention generally designated 300 , which includes a game call mouthpiece 600 , transparent cover 700 with an inner tube disposed therein , an outlet end cap 900 , and a game call reed insert portion 1000 . now referring to fig4 , there is shown an exploded view of the game call 300 of fig3 where the inner tube 800 is shown outside of the transparent cover 700 . note that portions of the game call reed insert portion 1000 , such as the reed ( s ) and the o ring are not included , but would be in a working embodiment of the present invention . now referring to fig5 , there is shown a cross - sectional view of the game call 300 in a partially assembled state . the reed ( s ) and o ring , which are a part of the present invention , are not shown . now referring to fig6 , there is shown a game call mouthpiece 600 with a game call mouthpiece air inlet end 602 and an opposing game call mouthpiece air outlet end 604 . game call mouthpiece cap section 606 comprises a void for air to enter and a game call mouthpiece to transparent cover sealing section 610 formed at the interface with game call mouthpiece to transparent cover mating section 608 . game call mouthpiece to transparent cover sealing section 610 has a seal section first protuberance 612 and a seal section second protuberance 614 disposed thereon , each of which could be an annular protuberance with adjacent annular grooves . these protuberances and grooves are not as visibly pronounced as in fig5 because that image is of these pieces after the transparent cover 700 and inner tube 800 ( fig7 and 8 , respectively ) have been ultrasonically welded to each other and to game call mouthpiece 600 and outlet end cap 900 ( fig9 ). alternate method of coupling these components could be employed , such as use of adhesives . the preferred embodiment may be ultrasonic welding . now referring to fig7 and 8 , there is shown a cross - section view of a transparent cover 700 having a transparent cover inlet end 702 and an opposing transparent cover outlet end 704 . transparent cover 700 is transparent and made of molded or machined materials which are suitable . it is shown with a transparent cover increasing thickness portion 706 , a transparent cover maximum thickness portion 708 , a transparent cover decreasing thickness portion 710 , and a transparent cover constant thickness portion 712 thereon . also shown is inner tube flange receiving void 714 . the interior surface of transparent cover 700 is sized and configured to receive therein inner tube 800 , which has an inner tube inlet end 802 , an opposing inner tube outlet end 804 with an attached inner tube outlet end annular flange 806 . inner tube 800 may be made of the same material as game call mouthpiece 600 or inner tube 800 , or a suitable substitute . now referring to fig9 , there is shown an outlet end cap 900 having an outlet end cap inlet 902 and an opposing outlet end cap reed insert receiving end 904 . outlet end cap to transparent cover sealing section 910 is shown where the transparent cover outlet end 704 and inner tube outlet end 804 meet with and preferably seal to the outlet end cap 900 . outlet end cap to transparent cover sealing section 910 is shown having an outlet end cap seal section first protuberance 912 and an outlet end cap seal section second protuberance 914 , which could be concentric annular protuberances . like the seal section first protuberance 612 and seal section second protuberance 614 , these protuberance are not shown in fig5 because the process of ultrasonically welding causes these protuberances to melt into the groove therebetween . now referring to fig1 , there is shown a game call reed insert portion 1000 which is similar to numerous prior art reed inserts in overall function and design and it includes a game call reed insert inlet end 1002 , a opposite end 1004 , a game call reed insert air passage void 1006 , a game call reed insert o ring receiving void 1008 , and a game call reed insert to outlet end cap stop portion 1010 . now referring to fig1 and 12 , there is shown an end view of the game call mouthpiece 600 and the outlet end cap 900 with the seal section first protuberance 612 and seal section second protuberance 614 and the outlet end cap seal section first protuberance 912 and outlet end cap seal section second protuberance 914 , respectively , before assembly and before any ultrasonic welding . now referring to fig1 and 14 , one of the beneficial aspects of the present invention is the ability to provide visual inspection of an internal protected surface of the game call . this surface can be photographic camouflage , an advertisement , information relating to the identification of and the regulations in relation to the game animals being sought by the users of the game call . for example , a canada goose call may have an image of a canada goose and may have text explaining the dates of the hunting season , bag limits etc . these differing visual patterns could be a removable sleeve that fit over the inner tube 800 before it is inserted into the transparent cover 700 . in some embodiments , they could be replaced each year to reflect changes in regulations , etc . in such embodiments , there would be no ultrasonic welding used in the assembly and the game call mouthpiece 600 , the transparent cover 700 , the inner tube 800 and the outlet end cap 900 could all be friction fit or could be used with some light adhesive material . this adhesive could be chosen from a group of adhesive which could be overcome by application of sufficient mechanical force which may or may not be reduced by the prior use of solvents . it is thought that the method and apparatus of the present invention will be understood from the foregoing description , and it will be apparent that various changes may be made in the form , construction , steps and arrangement of the parts and steps thereof , without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention , or sacrificing all of the material advantages , the form herein described being merely a preferred or exemplary embodiment thereof .	0
the following discussion is directed to various embodiments of the invention . the embodiments disclosed should not be interpreted , or otherwise used , as limiting the scope of the disclosure , including the claims . in addition , one skilled in the art will understand that the following description has broad application , and the discussion of any embodiment is meant only to be exemplary of that embodiment , and not intended to intimate that the scope of the disclosure , including the claims , is limited to that embodiment . this disclosure may contain subject matter that may be subject matter disclosed in u . s . pat . nos . 6 , 460 , 104 , 6 , 061 , 752 , and 5 , 241 , 630 , all of which are incorporated herein by reference . this application is also related to application ser . no . 10 / 636 , 171 , entitled “ communicating information in a computer system ” which is incorporated herein by reference . referring now to fig1 , a rack or support structure 10 is shown . in general , the support structure 10 may house any structure that is capable of accommodating one or more chassis 12 . an exemplary chassis 12 is shown in fig1 containing one or more configurable components 14 and 16 that are capable of being physically rearranged in the chassis 12 . in addition , the configurable components 14 and 16 may be configured such that they perform a variety of functions . for example , in some embodiments , configurable components 14 and 16 may be configured as storage devices ( e . g ., hard disk , floppy disk , cd - rom ), but in other embodiments , they may be configured as switches , routers , or power supplies . also , the configurable components may comprise entire servers , such as blade - type servers . as shown in fig1 , the storage device 16 may permit easy removal and insertion into a corresponding slot of the chassis 12 . accordingly , as storage devices may be inserted and removed from the chassis 12 , a modular server may be built that is capable of adaptively meeting demand . additionally , the rack 10 may include multiple chassis 12 , which may further allow the overall capability of the system to be scaled to meet demand . fig2 shows a possible implementation of the storage device 16 . as shown , the device may include electrical connector pins 18 . the pins 18 preferably seat into a mating electrical connector 20 on a circuit board backplane 22 , thereby allowing the device to be inserted into and removed from the backplane 22 as indicated by the double headed arrow . backplane 22 may reside in the chassis 12 and the configurable components 14 and 16 may be inserted or removed from the backplane 22 during normal system operation . inserting and / or removing the device during normal system operation is termed “ hot swapping ”. hot swapping may be advantageous in that the entire system does not need to be rebooted in order to recognize when devices are added to and removed from the system . storage device 16 preferably includes status indicators , such as light emitting diodes ( leds ) 24 . although fig2 shows the leds on the face of the storage device 16 , the leds 24 may be integrated at any suitable location on the storage device 16 . using the leds 24 , information is conveyed to a user about the status of an individual storage device , regardless of the physical location of the leds 24 . for example , if the leds 24 indicate device failure , then the user may need to hot swap the device . fig3 a shows the backplane 22 including connectors 20 a - f . devices having dimensions and functions akin to storage device 16 may interface to the backplane 22 using connectors 20 a - f . with multiple storage devices coupled to the backplane 22 , a redundant array of independent disks ( raid ) may be formed . in general , raid techniques provide methods for redundantly accessing the multiple storage devices in the array as if the array were one large drive . using raid techniques , the time for retrieving data from storage devices may be reduced using “ striping ” techniques . striping refers to reading information from or writing information to multiple storage devices concurrently . performance of a storage device may be limited by the time it takes the storage device &# 39 ; s mechanical components ( e . g ., disk head ), to locate data . raid techniques allow the mechanical latency associated with the storage devices to be decreased by operating these storage devices in parallel . for example , large files may be broken up into smaller segments prior to writing them to the redundant array of storage devices . consequently , the smaller segments are preferably written to the redundant storage devices concurrently . similarly , to read stored information , the segments of information may be concurrently read from the redundant storage devices and the larger file may be reconstituted . reading and writing data in this manner may allow for faster performance . additionally , data integrity may be increased using raid techniques . one technique involves duplicating the contents of one storage device on a second storage device . thus , in the event of a failure of one storage device , the other storage device preferably provides a copy of the desired data . a second technique involves parity . parity entails writing data to several storage devices in a sequential manner , where the last storage device stores data that is a function of the first and second storage devices . for example , data may be written to a first storage device coupled to connector 20 c , and data also may be written to a second storage device coupled to connector 20 d . a third storage device coupled to connector 20 e may then store the exclusive or of the contents of the first and second storage devices . in the event of the failure of a storage device , the contents of the failed device may be recreated by exclusive or &# 39 ; ing the contents of the other storage devices . therefore , using raid techniques , data may be spread over the multiple storage devices so that the risks associated with device failure are reduced and the time for accessing data also are also reduced . referring still to fig3 a , devices coupled to backplane 22 may be configured into various arrangements using cable connectors 26 a - c . for example , fig3 a shows a ribbon cable 30 coupled between cable connectors 26 b and 26 c . with ribbon cable 30 configured in this manner , devices coupled to connectors 20 a - f may be interconnected over a common bus 28 as indicated by the dotted line . the common bus 28 preferably provides a communication channel over which the storage devices may communicate and form the redundant array described above . a backplane controller 31 couples to the bus 28 , and a terminator 32 may be used to electrically terminate the bus 28 . the backplane controller 31 preferably receives status and control information via the bus 28 . bus 28 may be any variety , including a small computer system interconnect ( scsi ) bus . a ribbon cable 34 preferably couples cable connector 26 a ( also coupled to bus 28 ) to a cable connector 35 a on an i / o board 36 as shown . i / o board 36 preferably includes cable connector 35 b , which may be used to divide or split bus 28 as described below . ribbon cable 34 preferably couples the bus 28 to a storage controller 40 , which may reside on the i / o board 36 . the storage controller 40 may implement raid techniques on bus 28 . i / o board 36 preferably includes board connectors 37 for expansion boards . for example , board connectors 37 may contain an expansion board with another storage controller to be used in conjunction with storage controller 40 , or instead of storage controller 40 . storage controller 40 may implement raid techniques over bus 28 . in addition , the storage controller 40 preferably couples to an auxiliary bus 42 . bus 42 may be any variety , including a two wire i 2 c bus . a ribbon cable 44 preferably couples the bus 42 to the backplane 22 . on the backplane 22 , the bus 42 couples to a secondary backplane controller 45 . in general , backplane controllers 31 and 45 receive status and control information regarding the storage devices coupled to the backplane . the backplane controllers 31 and 45 may indicate the status of the various storage devices by illuminating the appropriate led 24 . the arrangement of the ribbon cables 30 and 34 on the backplane 22 shown in fig3 a is referred to as a “ single bus ” bus arrangement because bus 28 comprises a single continuous bus . with backplane 22 configured in this manner , the storage devices coupled to connectors 20 a - f may operate as a single storage array , and backplane controller 31 may be used to receive and / or process status and control information for the various storage devices . fig3 b shows cable connectors 26 a - c configured in a “ dual bus ” arrangement , where separate busses 28 a - b may be formed by dividing or splitting bus 28 . busses 28 a - b may be any type of bus , such as a scsi bus . in the dual bus arrangement , cable connector 26 b couples to a terminator 46 , which may electrically terminate bus 28 a . cable connector 26 c couples to the cable connector 35 b on i / o board 36 via ribbon cable 48 . connection between cable connector 26 a and cable connector 35 a preferably remains unchanged from the single bus configuration shown in fig3 a . in this manner , storage controller 40 couples to bus 28 a via ribbon cable 34 and also couples to bus 28 b via ribbon cable 48 . ribbon cable 44 and bus 42 may be configured similar to the configuration shown in fig3 a such that storage controller 40 may couple to backplane controller 45 via bus 42 . note that alternate configurations for cable connectors 35 a - b and cable connectors 26 a - b are possible . for example , cable connector 26 a may couple to cable connector 35 b to form one bus , and likewise cable connector 26 c and 35 a may be coupled together to form another bus . with the backplane 22 configured in a dual bus arrangement , the storage controller 40 preferably implements raid techniques on each bus . for example , the storage devices coupled to the connectors 20 a - b ( i . e ., the devices on bus 28 a ), may form a first array of storage devices . the devices on bus 28 a preferably include an operating system ( os ) where the os may be mirrored onto each storage device on bus 28 a . with the storage devices on bus 28 a configured in this manner , the storage devices coupled to connectors 20 c - f ( i . e ., the devices on bus 28 b ), preferably form a second array of storage devices that contain data . in this arrangement , the data may be spread across the various storage devices on bus 28 b using the parity techniques described above . therefore , using a dual bus arrangement , data redundancy is separately provided for the os and also for the data . the secondary backplane controller 45 preferably receives status and control information , from the storage controller 40 , via bus 42 . backplane controller 45 preferably indicates the status of the storage devices coupled to bus 28 a . the status and control information may be used by the storage devices coupled to bus 28 a to communicate information about each storage device to the user . for example , if the storage device coupled to connector 20 a fails , the storage controller 40 may detect this via bus 28 a . consequently , the storage controller 40 may issue a status update to the backplane controller 45 via bus 42 . backplane controller 45 may then indicate the failure of the storage device coupled to connector 20 a by illuminating the leds 24 . backplane controller 31 preferably receives status and control information , from the storage controller 40 , via bus 28 b . the status and control information preferably is used by the storage devices on bus 28 b to communicate information about each storage device on bus 28 b to the user . for example , if the storage device coupled to connector 20 c fails , the storage controller 40 may detect this via bus 28 b . accordingly , the storage controller 40 may issue a status update to the backplane controller 31 via the bus 28 b . backplane controller 31 may then indicate the failure of the storage device coupled to connector 20 c by illuminating the leds 24 . therefore , under normal operating conditions in the dual bus configuration , backplane controller 45 utilizes two busses ( i . e ., bus 28 a and bus 42 ), and backplane controller 31 utilizes one bus ( i . e ., bus 28 b ). however , under normal operating conditions in the single bus configuration ( shown in fig3 a ), backplane controller 31 utilizes one bus ( bus 28 ). fig4 a and 4b depict block diagrams of an exemplary bus switch in single bus mode and dual bus mode , respectively . mode detect logic 50 determines the bus configuration of backplane 22 ( i . e ., single bus versus dual bus ). for example , if a ribbon cable is connected between connectors 26 b and 26 c ( as shown in fig3 a ), then the mode detect logic 50 determines a single bus configuration . the mode detect logic 50 may accomplish this , for example , by determining the electrical resistance of connectors 26 b and 26 c , where the value of the resistance is related to whether a ribbon cable is present or whether a the bus is terminated using a terminator . the mode detect logic 50 preferably coordinates with a bus switch 51 in order to couple the appropriate backplane controller ( i . e ., backplane controller 45 or backplane controller 31 ) to the appropriate bus depending on the determined bus configuration . fig4 a depicts the single bus arrangement in which the storage controller 40 couples to the storage devices d 0 - d 5 and backplane controller 31 via bus 28 . the storage controller 40 also may couple to the secondary backplane controller 45 via bus 42 . the switch 51 preferably couples to backplane controllers 31 and 45 as well as storage devices d 0 - d 1 . mode detect logic 50 preferably determines the configuration of the various busses in the system and conveys this information to the switch 51 . the switch 51 then may couple different backplane controllers to different storage devices depending on the bus configuration information provided by mode detect logic 50 . in the single bus configuration shown in fig4 a , the mode detect logic 50 may determine the single bus configuration , and in response , the switch 51 will convey status and control information to devices d 0 - d 1 from backplane controller 31 using bus 28 . furthermore , the backplane controller 45 and bus 42 are shown with dashed lines in fig4 a to indicate that they generally are not used in the single bus configuration . in the dual bus configuration of fig4 b , the mode detect logic 50 may determine the single bus configuration , and in response , the switch 51 will convey status and control information to devices d 0 - d 1 from backplane controller 45 using bus 42 . in addition to conveying status and control information to devices d 0 - d 1 , the switch 51 will convey status and control information to devices d 2 - d 5 from backplane controller 31 using bus 28 b . in this manner , the storage devices d 0 - d 1 may form one array of and storage devices d 2 - d 5 may form a separate array , where raid techniques are implemented on each array separately . the above discussion is meant to be illustrative of the principles and various embodiments of the present invention . numerous variations and modifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art once the above disclosure is fully appreciated . for example , other standards may be employed to implement the secondary bus which allow a reduction in the amount of physical space used . it is intended that the following claims be interpreted to embrace all such variations and modifications .	6
referring now to fig1 , a radiation source for an imrt radiation therapy system provides a beam 12 comprised of multiple rays 14 each of which may be independently modulated as to intensity and / or energy according to methods well known in the art . for head and neck radiation therapy , the radiation source 10 may be positioned alternately on left and right lateral sides of a patient &# 39 ; s head and neck 16 at lateral positions 18 a and 18 b opposed about the head and neck 16 to irradiate a tumor volume 20 and the region 22 surrounding the tumor . referring also to fig2 , the radiation beam 12 from the lateral positions 18 a and 18 b may expose a single transverse slice 26 of the patient , and the entire vertical height of the treatment area 24 may be covered by a series of successive vertically repositionings of the source 10 at each of lateral positions 18 a and 18 b . referring now to fig3 , the present invention generally provides a target definition program 30 that may define a dose map providing a desired dose distribution in each of the slices 26 . the target definition program 30 may be stored in the memory 32 of an electronic computer 34 and executed by a processor 36 . the electronic computer 34 includes interfaces 38 and 42 allowing it to communicate with a graphic monitor 40 and cursor control device 44 such as a mouse or track ball , light pen or other device well known in the art . the memory 32 may also hold a series of ct slice images 46 taken of the patient along each of the slices 26 per fig2 as will be understood in the art using a conventional ct machine . optionally , the memory 32 may also include a treatment planning program 35 , also of the type well known in the art , that takes the dose map produced by the target definition program 30 for each of the slices 26 to calculate the necessary intensities and sequences of the rays 14 of the beams 12 for a particular radiation therapy machine . the memory 32 may also include a template library 50 holding subset areas as will be described below . referring now to fig2 and 4 , in a first step of the target definition program 30 as indicated by process block 60 , the tumor volume 20 and a lateral field 28 ( shown in fig2 ) are defined . generally , the tumor volume may be identified by tracing on each ct slice image 46 a boundary surrounding the tumor . the tracings for each slice are then joined into the tumor volume 20 by interpolation between slices . the lateral field 28 describes for each of the slices 26 , a collimated anterior - posterior width of the beam 12 . the beam width is set to amply cover the tumor volume 20 and a margin of tissue around the tumor volume 20 sufficient to cover any elective treatment area . so long as the lateral field 28 is reasonably generous , it need not be precisely set because actual dose within the lateral field 28 will be further controlled by the modulation of the radiation beams . the lateral field 28 is most easily defined by creating a lateral image 48 ( shown in fig3 ) of the orientation of fig2 showing the tumor volume 20 , and using the lateral image 48 as a basis for tracing the lateral field 28 on the lateral image 48 . the lateral image 48 may , for example , be generated from the ct images 46 ( shown in fig3 ) by a simple rebinning of the data . referring now to fig4 and 5 at succeeding process block 62 for each of the ct images 46 , an encompassing field 65 may be defined and displayed superimposed on the ct slice image 46 . the encompassing field 65 may , for example , be defined as the 85 % isodose line from the source 10 positioned at positions 18 a and 18 b collimated to produce the lateral fields 28 but otherwise unmodulated . as will be seen from fig5 , the encompassing field 65 in the case of h & amp ; n treatment will generally be a horizontal band extending laterally across the transverse ct slice image 46 from a point posterior to the back of the mandible 66 to a point anterior to the spinal column 68 . this encompassing field 65 will thus cover the tumor volume 20 as well as nodal areas or at risk areas surrounding the tumor volume 20 which can be extremely difficult to define and outline . other methods of defining the encompassing field 65 may be used including a simple tracing or painting process well known to those in the graphical imaging art or application of a library of pre - defined fields from a library as will be described below . referring now to fig4 and 6 at succeeding process block 64 , subset fields may be subtracted from the encompassing field 65 . these subset fields , in this example , will include subset fields 70 a and 70 b covering the salivary glands 67 , subset field 72 covering the spinal column 68 , and subset fields 74 a and 74 b covering the mandible . as mentioned before , these normal tissue structures covered by the subset fields 70 , 72 , and 74 are relatively easy to identify in the ct slice images 46 and may be quickly outlined through the use of the cursor control device 44 by a physician . alternatively , a standard library subset field may be used and library subset fields fit to the anatomical structures of the ct slice images 46 as will be described below . referring now to fig4 and 7 at process block 78 , the encompassing field 65 is further trimmed , this time manually using the cursor control device 44 to remove the regions outside of the mandibles 66 . at this time , the encompassing field 65 may be partitioned by the drawing of a partition line 73 to create two distinct dose regions 80 a near the tumor volume 20 and 80 b further removed from the tumor volume 20 . each of these regions may be assigned a different dose . the tumor volume 20 may be individually contoured and given a separate dose definition . referring again to fig4 at the final step of process block 82 , the refined encompassing field 65 , now termed a dose map , may be provided to the treatment planning program 35 of fig3 to generate a treatment plan controlling the intensity of the rays 14 of the beam 12 as shown in fig1 for positions 18 a and 18 b . a preliminary analysis of the use of this technique as shown in the following table 1 indicates that the “ subtractive ” approach of the present invention is a substantial improvement over conventional non - imrt treatment and is comparable to “ target definition ” imrt which is substantially more time consuming than the present invention . referring now to fig8 , both the encompassing field 65 and the subset fields 70 , 72 , 74 may be applied by adapting predefined templates 90 to a particular anatomical area 92 . a template 90 may be taken from the template library 50 of fig3 and may represent encompassing areas or subtracting areas that have been predefined for use by physicians , for example , by experienced practitioners looking at particular patients or composites of patients . each template 90 may have a manipulation bar 94 surrounding it allowing it to be expanded or contracted , rotated or warped so as to best fit the anatomical area 92 . this manipulation of the template 90 may be done while the template 90 is superimposed on a ct slice image 46 to greatly simplify this process . it is specifically intended that the present invention not be limited to the embodiments and illustrations contained herein , but include modified forms of those embodiments including portions of the embodiments and combinations of elements of different embodiments as come within the scope of the following claims .	0
the machine tool 10 of fig1 is similar to that described within aforementioned us patent and is mounted on a worktable 11 as depicted in phantom . the tool support assembly 12 includes a steel outer jacket 13 , fixedly supported on the worktable by means of bolts ( not shown ), and openings 15 formed through the flange 14 . another flange , not shown , is formed on the opposite side of the outer jacket . the jacket defines an inner channel or opening 23 sized to slidably receive a hollow tool sleeve 16 , which includes a channeled inner sleeve 16 a for receiving a tool holder 17 removably containing the cutting tool 18 , to be described below in greater detail . the work piece holder 19 is slidably supported on the worktable by means of supports as indicated at 22 for moving the work piece 20 , in and out of contact with the cutting tool 18 . the tool support assembly 12 is now shown in fig2 to define the positional relationship between the tool assembly components shown earlier in fig1 . the tool support 12 is positioned such that the centerline 9 extends in a straight path through the opening 23 that receives the first diameter 24 of the tool sleeve 16 . the edge 25 a of the larger second diameter 25 abuts against the end of the opening 23 such that the threaded openings 26 are accessible for receiving screws 32 to prevent rotation of the inner sleeve 16 a when inserted therein . the lip 16 b at the end of the inner sleeve 16 a abuts against the tool sleeve opening 29 and the centerline 9 is common through the tool support 12 , tool sleeve 16 and the inner sleeve 16 a . the first diameter 17 a of the tool holder 17 is next inserted within the inner sleeve opening 30 of the inner sleeve 16 a such that the perimetric lip 17 b abuts against the inner sleeve opening 30 whereby the centerline 9 is common with the aforementioned components . in accordance with the invention , the opening 27 within the tool holder 17 , for receiving the cutting tool 18 retained therein by means of screws 31 , is positioned off - center from the common centerline 9 by a predetermined distance d to allow the offset cutting blade 28 to be positioned over a wider range of operation without having to remove the tool holder 17 from the tool support assembly 12 as best seen by now referring to fig3 . the tool holder 17 of fig2 is shown in fig3 with a tool opening 27 formed in the front thereof at the predetermined distance d from the geometric center of the perimetric lip 17 b , described earlier . the tool 18 , held within the tool opening 27 by means of screws 31 , is positioned such that the cutting blade 25 is similarly offset by the distance d . the tool holder 17 is shown in fig3 a to show the operational diameter d , depicted in phantom , of the tool 15 and the cutting blade 28 which is achieved by rotation of the tool holder 17 by loosening the screws 32 in the threaded openings 26 formed in the tool sleeve 16 , of fig2 and rotating the tool holder 17 without having to completely remove the tool holder 17 in accordance with the prior art . a simple and inexpensive arrangement of an off - center tool opening within a tool holder for use within high - speed machine tools has herein been described . tool adjustments can be made accordingly , without requiring removal of the tool from the too holder .	1
even power converter 10 in fig1 achieves ovp , it is a costly and bulky solution because of the necessity of the transformer composed of at least primary winding prm and secondary winding sec . a transformer , which has more than one windings coupled to each other , normally costs and occupies more than an inductor with only one winding does . fig2 demonstrates power converter 60 according to embodiments of the invention , which uses an inductor l to replace the transformer in fig1 . power converter 60 could achieve ovp without a costly and bulky transformer . this does not mean a power converter according to the invention must not have a transformer . some embodiments of the invention might use one winding of a transformer to be an inductor . resistors 64 and 66 for voltage dividing are connected in series between dc input voltage v in and a ground line gnd , where the joint therebetween provides a detection voltage v pf which is therefore a scaled version of dc input voltage v in . in the embodiment of fig2 , power controller 62 , which could be in form of an integrated circuit , operates power converter 60 substantially in boundary mode . one operation mode is called discontinuous conduction mode ( dcm ), referring to that an inductor in a power converter is operated to empty completely the energy stored therein every time when a new switching cycle starts . another operation mode is continuous conduction mode ( ccm ), referring to that a power converter is operated to start a new switching cycle while the inductor has not emptied the energy stored . boundary mode operates a power converter in a way between dcm and ccm , generally referring to that a new switching cycle starts right after the inductor just empties the energy stored . inductor l starts to increase its stored energy when the power switch in power controller 62 is turned on , and the voltage v l and the current i l of inductor l shall follow the relationship presented as the following equation ( i ). ( v in − v led )* t on = l l * i cs - peak ( i ), where v l and i l denote the voltage drop across inductor l and the current through inductor l ; l l the inductance of inductor l ; t on the duration or the on time when the power switch in power controller 62 is turned on ; and i cs - peak the peak current flowing through current - sense resistor 20 . it can be derived from equation ( i ) that i cs - peak is about 0 when dc input voltage v in is the same with driving voltage v led , and inductor l cannot be energized . bridge rectifier 12 causes dc input voltage v in to follow the absolute value of ac mains voltage v ac if dc input voltage v in is about less than that absolute value . that absolute value has no influence to dc input voltage v in nevertheless if dc input voltage v in exceeds that absolute value . accordingly , when that absolute value is less than driving voltage v led , dc input voltage v in will have the same voltage as that of driving voltage v led because inductor l stops energizing at the same condition . when that absolute value exceeds driving voltage v led , dc input voltage v in is about the same as that absolute value . it can be concluded that the local minimum of dc input voltage v in should be about the same as driving voltage v led . a local minimum of dc input voltage v in happens in a valley of the waveform of dc input voltage v in . one embodiment of the invention detects a local minimum of dc input voltage v in to decide whether to trigger ovp . power controller 62 in fig2 determines the occurrence of a local minimum of dc input voltage v in by detecting current - sense signal v cs . for example , dc input voltage v in seems to be in a valley and have a local minimum if current - sense signal v cs continues to be about 0 ( or less than a predetermined value v cs - ref ) for a predetermined period of time . when dc input voltage v in is in a valley , it could be used to represent driving voltage v led . power controller 62 compares detection voltage v pf with a reference voltage for ovp ( v ovp - ref ). if dc input voltage v in is having a local minimum and detection voltage v pf exceeds reference voltage v ovp - ref driving voltage v led is deemed to be over high and , in response , power controller 62 provides an ovp signal s protection to stop the power conversion of power converter 60 . fig3 demonstrates power controller 62 and some peripheral devices . power controller 62 has , but is not limited to have , valley detector 79 , ovp comparator 82 , ramp - signal generator 84 , logics 83 and 88 , etc . valley detector 79 includes valley comparator 80 and delay time generator 81 . valley comparator 80 compares current - sense signal v cs with a predetermined reference v cs - ref which is 50 mv in one embodiment . if the input of delay time generator 81 indicates that current - sense signal v cs has been less than predetermined reference v cs - ref for a predetermined period of time t ovp - delay , delay time generator 81 makes its output 1 in logic , meaning the occurrence of a local minimum of dc input voltage v in . if a local minimum of dc input voltage v in occurs and ovp comparator 82 deems detection voltage v pf exceeding reference voltage v ovp - ref , logic 83 sends out ovp signal s protection with logic 1 to stop the power conversion of power converter 60 , thereby driving voltage v led being prevented from going higher . ramp - signal generator 84 generates ramp signal v ramp , whose slope is determined by a peak value of detection voltage v pf . for example , the peak value of detection voltage v pf can be sensed or recorded by power controller 62 , and it represents a swing magnitude of ac mains voltage v ac . in one embodiment , the higher the peak value of detection voltage v pf , the higher the slope of ramp signal v ramp . both ramp signal v ramp and a compensation signal v comp are forwarded to two inputs of comparator 86 . for instance , ramp signal v ramp starts to ramp up at the same time when power switch 18 is turned on . once ramp signal v ramp exceeds compensation signal v comp , comparator 86 makes logic 86 to turn off power switch 18 . ramp - signal generator 84 and comparator 86 together can determine the on time t on of power switch 18 during which it is turned on . fig4 shows some signal waveforms of signals in fig2 and 3 . ac mains voltage v ac has for example a sinusoidal waveform with a swing magnitude of 110v and a frequency of 60 hz . shown in fig4 is also dc input voltage v in , whose local minimums occur in valleys and always even with driving voltage v led . detection voltage v pf is in proportion to dc input voltage v in . in fig4 , it is supposed that led module 14 mistakenly becomes open since time t led - open . accordingly , as an open led module 14 does not consume electric power and the switching of power switch 18 continues the power conversion , driving voltage v led ramps up after time t led - open . a first valley vl 1 occurs in the waveform of dc input voltage v in , shown in fig4 . in the meantime , ovp is not triggered though because detection voltage v pf has not exceeded reference voltage v ovp - ref . following the first valley vl 1 , a second valley vl 2 occurs in the waveform of dc input voltage v in . meanwhile , detection voltage v pf has exceeded reference voltage v ovp - ref . at time t ovp which is the moment when current - sense signal v cs has continued to be about 0 , or less than reference v cs - ref for a predetermined period of time t ovp - delay ovp is triggered . current - sense signal v cs becomes a constant 0v after time t ovp because power switch 18 is constantly turned off . different from fig1 , which needs a bulky and costly transformer , fig2 shows power converter 60 , which needs only an inductor and is capable of achieving ovp . power converter 60 could render a product with more market competitiveness in view of its compact size and low cost . while the invention has been described by way of example and in terms of preferred embodiment , it is to be understood that the invention is not limited thereto . to the contrary , it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements ( as would be apparent to those skilled in the art ). therefore , the scope of the appended claims should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar arrangements .	8
the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings . an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to fig1 to 2c . fig1 shows a dram memory cell manufactured according to an embodiment of the present invention , and fig2 a to 2c show the steps of making the surface of a lower electrode 9 uneven in the embodiment of the present invention . as in the prior art , a field oxide film 2 , a gate oxide film 3 , word lines 4 each consisting of a first polysilicon film including a gate electrode , diffusion layers 5a and 5b prospectively serving as a source and a drain , and a silicon oxide film 6 serving as a first insulating interlayer are formed on a semiconductor substrate 1 , and an opening is formed in the silicon oxide film 6 on a predetermined portion of the n + - type diffusion layer 5a to form a contact hole 7 . subsequently , a second polysilicon film 9 prospectively serving as a storage node ( lower electrode 9 ) of a memory cell is formed by a lpcvd method to have as thickness of 200 to 400 nm . this second polysilicon film9 has a column - like crystal structure as shown in fig2 a . phosphorus is doped in the second polysilicon film 9 at a concentration of about 10 20 cm - 3 by thermal diffusion using pocl 3 as a source . in this embodiment , after the second polysilicon film 9 is formed , phosphorus serving as an impurity is doped by thermal diffusion . however , this impurity may be doped simultaneously with ion implantation or deposition of the second polysilicon film 9 . in addition , arsenic may be used as the impurity to be doped . the second polysilicon film 9 is patterned using a dry etching technique using a resist patterned by a normal photolithographic technique to form alower electrode 9 for a memory cell located on the word lines 4 and betweenthe word lines 4 . a first etching process having an etch rate whose impurity concentration dependency is large ( selectivity ratio : 10 or more ) is performed to the second polysilicon layer 9 . for example , when the second polysilicon film 9 is exposed to or dipped into a solution of phosphoric acid heated to about 140 ° to 170 ° c . for about 60 to 90 minutes , the grain boundaries , i . e ., the crystal grain boundaries of the second polysilicon film 9 are particularly etched , and slit - like deep recessed portions are formed in the surface of the second polysilicon film 9 . at the same time , portions each having a high impurity concentration and segregated at defects in the crystal grains are etched . for this reason , the surface of the polysilicon film is changed to have a porous structure . the second polysilicon film 9 in this state is shown in fig2 b . fig3 a shows the sem photograph of the section and surface shape of the second polysilicon film 9 treated with the heated solution of phosphoric acid . as is apparentfrom fig3 a , a porous silicon layer having a several - nm - level structure isformed on the film surface . note that , in this embodiment , although the heated solution of phosphoric acid is used in the first etching process , any solution which can selectively etch the crystal grain boundaries of polysilicon may be used in the first etching process . for example , the second polysilicon film may be etched such that the second polysilicon film is exposed to a solution mixture of a hydrofluoric acid , a nitric acid , and a glacial acetic acid . in addition , in this embodiment , althoughthe etching process is performed in a liquid phase , the second polysilicon film may be etched such that the second polysilicon film is exposed to a plasma containing ccl 2 f 2 and n 2 . a second etching process having an etch rate whose impurity concentration dependency is small ( selectivity ratio : about 1 to 2 ) is performed . the surface of the second polysilicon film is etched to a depth of several nm by the second etching process to increase the width of each recessed portion , and a porous silicon layer 16 is removed by the second etching process to smooth the uneven surface . in this etching process , for example , an ammonia - hydrogen peroxide solution can be used . however , a solution , such as a diluted solution mixture of a hydrofluoric acid and a nitride acid , having an etch rate which rarely depends on an impurity concentration and can isotropically etch the silicon surface may be used in the second etching process . in this embodiment , although the second etching process is performed in a liquid phase , the second etching processmay be performed such that the second polysilicon layer is exposed to a plasma containing cf 4 and o 2 or a plasma containing sf 6 . fig2 c shows the second polysilicon film 9 treated by exposing it to an ammonia - hydrogen peroxide solution . fig3 b shows the sem photograph of the surface and section of the second polysilicon film 9 treated with the ammonia - hydrogen peroxide solution . as is apparent from fig3 b , the porous silicon layer is removed , and an uneven portion having a size of a several - tens - nm level is formed . fig4 shows the sem photograph of the lower electrode 9 formed as described above . in this embodiment , after the second polysilicon layer 9 is patterned , its surface is made uneven . however , after the surface of the second polysilicon film 9 is made uneven , the second polysilicon film 9 may be patterned . thereafter , the surface of the second polysilicon film 9 is treated with a solution of diluted hydrofluoric acid to remove a spontaneous oxide film formed on the surface of the second polysilicon film 9 . rapid thermal nitriding is performed in an ammonia atmosphere at 800 ° to 1 , 000 ° c . to prevent a spontaneous film from being grown again , thereby preventing a decrease in storage charge capacitance . thereafter , an si 3 n 4 film 10 having a thickness of about 5 to 10nm and prospectively serving as a capacitor insulating film is formed on the entire surface of the second polysilicon film 9 by the lpcvd method using a gas system consisting of nh 3 and sih 2 cl 2 , and the si 3 n 4 film 10 is oxidized in a steam atmosphere at 800 ° to 900 ° c . for about 30 to 60 minutes , thereby forming a 1 - to 2 - nmthick oxide film 11 for increasing the breakdown voltage of the si 3 n 4 film 10 . a third polysilicon film 12 is formed on the oxide film 11 by the lpcvd method to have a thickness of 200 to 300 nm , and phosphorus is doped in the third polysilicon film 12 at a concentration of4 × 10 20 to 6 × 10 20 cm - 3 by thermal diffusion usingpocl 3 as a source . note that , in this embodiment , after the third polysilicon film 12 is formed , phosphorus is doped as an impurity by thermal diffusion . however , the impurity may be doped simultaneously with deposition of the third polysilicon film 12 . in addition , arsenic may be doped as the impurity . thereafter , the third polysilicon film 12 is patterned using a photolithographic technique and a dry etching technique to form an upper electrode 12 covering the lower electrode 9 , thereby forming a capacitor . the capacitor formed as described above exhibits a storage charge capacitance about 2 . 1 times that of a capacitor in which an uneven port onis not formed . as in the prior art in fig1 , a second insulating interlayer 13 , a contact hole 14 , an al film 15 serving as a bit line , anda protective film ( not shown ) are formed , thereby completing a dram memory . fig5 a and 5b show the breakdown - voltage distribution of the capacitor ( fig5 a ) according to this embodiment and the breakdown - voltage distribution of the capacitor ( fig5 b ) according to the prior art , respectively . assuming that a capacitor which is broken at an electric field strength of less than 5 mv / cm is defined as a defective capacitor , capacitors according to this embodiment rarely include defective capacitors which are detected in capacitors of the prior art . therefore , it is found that the yield of the present invention increases . fig6 shows the leakage current density - voltage characteristics of a capacitor according to the above embodiment of the present invention . it is found that data obtained in the embodiment of the present invention andindicated by a sold line has a leakage current smaller than that of data obtained by the capacitor according to the prior art and indicated by a chain triple - dotted line . fig7 shows the relationship between a time taken until 50 % capacitors aredielectrically broken down and a voltage applied to each capacitor . as is apparent from fig7 each of the capacitors indicated by black circles () according to the present invention has a service life longer than each of the capacitors indicated by white triangles ( δ ) according to the prior art . according to another embodiment of the present invention , the second etching process may be performed as a combination of the process of oxidizing a polysilicon surface and the process of removing the oxidized portion with a hydrofluoric acid . for example , as in the above embodiment , a second polysilicon film 9 prospectively serving as the lower electrode of a memory cell is formed bythe lpcvd method to have a thickness of 400 nm , and phosphorus is doped in the second polysilicon film 9 at 850 ° c . for 30 minutes by thermal diffusion using pocl 3 used as a source . as the first etching process , the resultant structure is dipped in a solution of phosphoric acid heated to 160 ° c . for 90 minutes . thereafter , as the second etching process , the resultant structure is oxidized in a dry oxygen atmosphere heated to 850 ° c . for 30 minutes and then treated with a solution of 1 % diluted phosphoric acid . fig8 shows the sem photograph of the lower electrode after the second etching process . since the size of each crystal grain is larger than that of the previous embodiment , the size of the uneven portion is larger than that of the previous embodiment . however , as in the previous embodiment , an uneven portion is formed without a porous silicon layer . as has been described above , according to the present invention , the depth and width of each recessed portion on the uneven surface of a polysilicon film can be independently controlled by the first and second etching processes . for this reason , an uneven surface shape can be easily obtained , and a storage charge capacitance can be effectively increased . in addition , a porous silicon layer which is formed by the first etching process and is left in the prior art can be removed by the second etching process . for this reason , according to the present invention , a leakage current smaller than that of the prior art can be obtained , a breakdown voltage can increase to result in an increase in yield , and the reliability is improved . in the prior art , since an uneven portion is formed by a single etching process , the depth and width of each recessed portion must be simultaneously controlled . for this reason , in order to form recessed portions each having a sufficient width , the etching process must be continuously performed until polysilicon in each recessed portion is entirely etched . therefore , the wsi x film 8 must be formed as an underlying layer not to disconnect crystal grains from each other . however , according to the present invention , since the depth and width of each recessed portion can be independently controlled , the etching processneed not be continuously performed until polysilicon in each recessed portion is entirely etched . therefore , an effect that the wsi x film 8required in the prior art need not be formed in the present invention can be obtained .	7
reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments of the present invention , examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings , wherein like reference numerals refer to the like elements throughout . the embodiments are described below to explain the present invention by referring to the figures . when it comes to encoding moving pictures , pre - treatment filtering is very important because it can increase the efficiency of encoding the moving pictures by removing noise from images . while a conventional pre - treatment filtering technique for removing noise from images is generally carried out in a spatial pixel block , in the present invention , a noise removal technique is carried out in a dct block in an apparatus for encoding moving pictures . in the present invention , an approximated generalized weiner filtering method is used for removing noise from images . in the approximated generalized weiner filtering method , weiner filtering is realized by taking advantage of fast unitary transformation , such as a discrete cosine transform ( dct ). however , a filtering method other than the approximated generalized weiner filtering method may be selectively used for carrying out filtering in a dct block . fig2 is a block diagram of an approximated generalized weiner filter processing image data whose average is not 0 . in fig2 , v represents an image block containing noise , and ŵ represents a row - ordered column vector of a filtered image block . since the average of the image block v is not 0 , an average estimation unit 210 estimates an average { circumflex over ( m )} of the image block v , and a subtraction unit 220 subtracts the estimated average { circumflex over ( m )} from the image block v . a value z , output from the subtraction unit 220 as a result of the subtraction , is filtered by a filtering unit 230 , and the filtering unit 230 outputs filtered data ŷ as a result of the filtering . an addition unit 240 adds the estimated average { circumflex over ( m )} of the image block v to the filtered data and then outputs desirably filtered data ŵ as a result of the addition . hereinafter , an approximated generalized weiner filtering method for processing an image model whose average is 0 will be described in greater detail . the approximated generalized weiner filtering method for processing an image model whose average is 0 can be expressed by equation ( 1 ) below . in equation ( 1 ), { tilde over ( l )}= al a * t , l =[ i + σ n 2 r − 1 ] − 1 , r = e [ y y t ], z = az , and σ n 2 represents a noise variance value . in addition , in equation ( 1 ), a represents unitary transformation . since in the present embodiment , dct is used as unitary transformation , a represents dct here . supposing that c 8 and { circle around ( x )} represent an 8 × 8 dct matrix and a kronecker operator , a = c 8 { circle around ( x )} c 8 . since , in most cases , { tilde over ( l )} is approximately diagonalized in a unitary transformation , equation ( 1 ) can be rearranged into equation ( 2 ) below . therefore , by applying equation ( 2 ) to an 8 × 8 block , equation ( 3 ) below can be obtained . in equation ( 4 ), ψ ( k , l ) represents normalized elements placed along a diagonal line of al a * t , and σ 2 represents a variance value of an original image y . in general , σ 2 cannot be known . therefore , σ 2 is substituted by a result of subtracting the noise variance value σ n 2 from a variance value of z . as shown in equation ( 3 ), approximated generalized weiner filtering is carried out on an image block whose average is 0 by multiplying a two - dimensional dct coefficient z ( k , l ) by { tilde over ( p )}( k , l ). once ŷ ( m , n ) is determined , a final , filtered image is obtained by adding { circumflex over ( m )}( m , n ) to ŷ ( m , n ). hereinafter , an approximated generalized weiner filtering method for processing an image model whose average is not 0 will be described in greater detail . let us assume that an average block is obtained by multiplying an input dct block containing noise by s ( k , l ), i . e ., the average block satisfied in equation ( 5 ) below . then , the approximated generalized weiner filter method of fig3 , which carries out addition and subtraction in the dct block , can be restructured into an approximated generalized weiner filter of fig4 a , 4 b , or 4 c . by using equations ( 3 ) and ( 5 ), an image block filtered in the dct block can be represented by equation ( 6 ) below . f ( k , l ) in equation ( 6 ) can be expressed by equation ( 7 ) below . as shown in equation ( 6 ), the entire filtering process can be simplified into a multiplication of f ( k , l ). equation ( 7 ) shows that f ( k , l ) is determined by a signal - to - noise ratio ( snr ), a covariance matrix , and an average matrix . in order to determine f ( k , l ), it is necessary to obtain an average matrix s ( k , l ). in the present embodiment , among possible candidates for the average matrix s ( k , l ), the one that is satisfied in equation ( 5 ) is selected . the average matrix s ( k , l ) can be represented by equation ( 8 ) below . equation ( 8 ) illustrates one of the simplest forms that the average matrix s ( k , l ) could take in the dct block . hereinafter , a pretreatment process performed in an apparatus for encoding moving pictures will be described in greater detail with reference to fig4 and 5 . as described above , an approximated generalized weiner filtering process can be carried out on an image block whose average is not 0 by multiplying the image block with a dct value . fig4 a through 4c are block diagrams of different types of approximated generalized weiner filters in an apparatus for encoding moving pictures . more specifically , fig4 a through 4c illustrate the structure of an encoding apparatus that processes an intra block . fig4 a and 4b describe that an intra block is encoded by carrying out filtering on the intra block in a dct block and carrying out quantization and variable length coding ( vlc ) on the filtered intra block without performing an inverse dct on the filtered intra block . in other words , fig4 a and 4b describe that filtering is completed by multiplying the dct coefficient by f ( k , l ). in the meantime , quantization is carried out by multiplying or dividing the dct coefficient by a certain value with reference to a quantization table . the filtering carried out by multiplying the dct coefficient by f ( k , l ) and the quantization carried out by multiplying the dct coefficient by a certain value can be integrated into a single operation , as described in fig4 c . as described in fig5 , the concepts of the present invention , described in fig4 a through 4c , can be directly applied to an occasion when an apparatus for encoding moving pictures processes an inter block , as long as the noise has been removed from the motion - compensated block information p ( m , n ). a covariance value ψ ( k , l ) is determined depending on whether an input image block is an inter block or an intra block . therefore , f ( k , l ) of fig5 may be varied depending on whether the input image block is an inter block or an intra block . hereinafter , a method of obtaining an estimated variance value of intra blocks or inter blocks , from each of which their average is subtracted , will be described in detail with reference to equation ( 9 ) below . supposing that s represents an n × n ( where n = 8 ) block from which an average of the corresponding block has already been subtracted , a variance matrix of the n × n block can be obtained using equation ( 9 ). equation ( 9 ) has been disclosed by w . niehsen and m . brunig in “ covariance analysis of motion - compensated frame differences ”, ieee trans . circ . syst . for video technol ., june 1999 . an estimated variance value can be obtained by applying equation ( 9 ) to a variety of experimental images . where an original image block is an intra block , an original image is divided into 8 × 8 blocks , and then a variance value of each of the 8 × 8 blocks is calculated . on the other hand , where the original image block is an inter block , an estimated variance value is calculated by applying equation ( 9 ) above to each image block that is determined as an inter block . by using the estimated covariance value , the following equation is obtained : r = e [ y y t ]. thereafter , by carrying out dct on r , the following equation is obtained : ψ = ara * t . in equation ( 7 ), the noise variance value σ n 2 can be obtained by using a noise estimator . given that noise and original image pixels are independent random variables , an estimated value { circumflex over ( σ )} 2 of the variance σ 2 of an original image can be calculated using equation ( 10 ) below . { circumflex over ( σ )} 2 = max ({ circumflex over ( σ )} z 2 −{ circumflex over ( σ )} n 2 , 0 ) ( 10 ) in equation ( 10 ), σ z 2 represents a variance value of each macroblock ( mb ). in a typical type of apparatus for encoding moving pictures , σ z 2 is calculated on a macroblock - by - macroblock basis . in the present embodiment , 8 × 8 blocks in the same macroblock are supposed to have the same variance value . therefore , there is no need to perform additional calculations to obtain a variance value of each of the 8 × 8 blocks . fig6 is a block diagram of an apparatus for encoding moving pictures according to an embodiment of the present invention that encodes an input image in consideration of the characteristics of the input image . in the present embodiment a level of noise contained in the input image is adaptively reflected in a quantization matrix . hereinafter , the structure and operation of the apparatus for encoding moving pictures according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to fig1 through 6 . the apparatus of fig6 includes a discrete cosine transfer unit 610 , a quantization unit ( q ) 620 , a variable length coding unit ( vlc ) 670 , an inverse quantization unit ( iq ) 630 , an inverse dct unit ( idct ) 640 , a frame memory unit 650 , and a motion estimation and compensation unit 660 , which correspond to the dct unit 122 , the quantization unit 124 , the vlc unit 134 , the inverse quantization unit 126 , the inverse dct unit 128 , the frame memory 130 , and the motion estimation and compensation unit 132 , respectively , of the encoding unit 120 of fig1 . in addition , the apparatus further includes a noise estimation unit 680 , a quantization weight matrix determination unit 692 , and a quantization weight matrix storage unit 694 . since the dct unit 610 , the inverse dct unit 640 , the frame memory unit 650 , and the motion estimation and compensation unit 660 serve the same functions as their respective counterparts of fig1 , their description will not be repeated . the quantization weight matrix determination unit 692 determines a quantization weight matrix corresponding to a predetermined macroblock based on a noise variance value σ n 2 received from the noise estimation unit 680 and the predetermined macroblock &# 39 ; s variance value σ z 2 received from the motion estimation and compensation unit 660 . thereafter , the quantization weight matrix determination unit 692 sends index information corresponding to the determined quantization weight matrix to the quantization weight matrix storage unit 694 and the vlc unit 670 . hereinafter , a method of determining a quantization weight matrix corresponding to the predetermined macroblock based on σ n 2 received from the noise estimation unit 680 and σ z 2 received from the motion estimation and compensation unit 660 , will be described in detail . as described above with reference to equation ( 8 ) and fig4 and 5 , f ( k , l ) is determined by equation ( 7 ). once f ( k , l ) is determined , the dct coefficient v ( k , l ) of an 8 × 8 block is multiplied by f ( k , l ), and the result of the multiplication ŵ ( k , l ) is divided by a predetermined quantization weight matrix during a quantization process . the apparatus of fig6 integrates the process of multiplying f ( k , l ) by the dct coefficient v ( k , l ) and the process of dividing ŵ ( k , l ) by the quantization weight matrix into a single process and performs the single process . in other words , if a location component of ( k , l ) of a quantization weight matrix qt is represented by q ( k , l ), then a location of ( k , l ) in a new quantization weight matrix qt ′ is q ( k , l )/ f ( k , l ). in the present embodiment , by integrating the two separate processes into a single process , a plurality of f matrices obtained using σ n 2 and σ z 2 are computed in advance , and then the new quantization weight matrix qt ′ is then computed using the plurality of f matrices and then is stored in the quantization weight matrix storage unit 694 . in addition , in the present embodiment , five new quantization weight matrices obtained using σ n 2 and σ z 2 are stored in the quantization weight matrix storage unit 694 . once σ n 2 and σ z 2 are determined , as shown in equation ( 7 ), f ( k , l ) is determined by s ( k , l ), ψ ( k , l ), and s ( k , l ) is calculated using equation ( 8 ), and ψ ( k , l ) is variably set depending on whether or not an input image is an inter block or an intra block . therefore , there is only one variable left for determining f ( k , l ), i . e ., and their respective quantization weight matrices qt ′ are provided . the provided quantization weight matrices qt ′ are stored in the quantization weight matrix storage unit 694 . based on σ n 2 received from the noise estimation unit 680 and σ z 2 received from the motion estimation and compensation unit 660 . the result of the quantization is transmitted to the quantization weight matrix storage unit 692 and the vlc unit 670 as index information of a quantization matrix corresponding to the predetermined macroblock . for example , if quantization weight matrices stored in the quantization weight matrix storage unit 694 are classified into five different types according to is carried out in five levels , and the index information of each of the five quantization weight matrices is set to 0 , 1 , 2 , 3 , or 4 . especially for blocks having a small variance value , is very large . when is very large , f ( k , l ) approaches 0 , resulting in a severe blocking phenomenon . in order to prevent the blocking phenomenon , t cutoff is used , as shown in equation ( 11 ) below . in general , t cutoff has a value between 1 and 2 . the quantization weight matrix storage unit 694 transmits a quantization weight matrix corresponding to the index information received from the quantization weight matrix determination unit 692 to the quantization unit 620 and the inverse quantization unit 630 . the quantization unit 620 quantizes the predetermined macroblock using the quantization weight matrix received from the quantization weight matrix storage unit 694 . the inverse quantization unit 630 inversely quantizes the predetermined macroblock using the received quantization weight value . the vlc unit 670 carries out vlc on input image data quantized by the quantization unit 620 and inserts the index information of the quantization weight matrix received from the quantization weight matrix determination unit 692 into a macroblock header . in the present embodiment , the index information of the corresponding quantization weight matrix is inserted into the macroblock header and the macroblock header is transmitted . if there are ten quantization weight matrices stored in the quantization weight matrix storage unit 694 , then 4 - bit data is required for each macroblock . adjacent macroblocks are supposed to have similar image characteristics and there is supposedly a correlation among their index values . therefore , a difference between an index value of one macroblock and an index value of an adjacent macroblock may be used as index information . the amount of index information to be transmitted can be considerably reduced in cases where a single quantization weight matrix is applied to an entire sequence . in the present embodiment , a plurality of quantization weight matrices stored in the quantization weight matrix storage unit 694 should also be stored in a decoding unit . it may also be possible to use a plurality of quantization weight matrices transmitted to the decoding unit on a picture - by - picture basis using a picture extension header or transmitted to the decoding unit on a sequence - by - sequence basis using a sequence extension header . as described above , it is possible to remove noise from an input image and enhance the efficiency of encoding the input image by adaptively applying a quantization matrix to each macroblock in consideration of a level of noise contained in the input image . it is also possible for a user to arbitrarily determine quantization weight matrices . in the present embodiment , noise removal has been described as being performed on a y component of an input image block in a dct block . however , the noise removal can also be applied to a u or v component of the input image block , in which case additional quantization weight matrices are required exclusively for the u and v components of the input image block . fig7 is a block diagram of an apparatus for encoding moving pictures according to another preferred embodiment of the present invention that encodes an input image in consideration of the characteristics of the input image . more specifically , among various characteristics of an input image , the edge characteristics of each macroblock of the input image are taken into consideration in the present embodiment . referring to fig7 , an apparatus for encoding moving pictures according to another preferred embodiment of the present invention includes a dct unit 710 , a quantization unit 720 , a vlc unit 770 , an inverse quantization unit 730 , an inverse dct unit 740 , a frame memory unit 750 , and a motion estimation and compensation unit 760 , which correspond to the dct unit 122 , the quantization unit 124 , the vlc unit 134 , the inverse quantization unit 126 , the inverse dct unit 128 , the frame memory 130 , and the motion estimation and compensation unit 132 , respectively , of the encoding unit 120 of fig1 . in addition , the apparatus further includes a quantization matrix determination unit 780 and a quantization matrix storage unit 790 . since the dct unit 710 , the inverse dct unit 740 , the frame memory unit 750 , the motion estimation and compensation unit 760 , and the vlc unit 770 serve the same functions as their respective counterparts of fig1 , their description will not be repeated . the quantization matrix determination unit 780 selects an optimal quantization matrix for each macroblock in consideration of the characteristics of an input image and then transmits index information of the selected quantization matrix to the quantization matrix storage unit 790 and the vlc unit 770 . the quantization matrix determination unit 780 takes the edge characteristics of each macroblock into consideration as a benchmark for selecting one out of a predetermined number of quantization matrices . hereinafter , a method of selecting a quantization matrix in consideration of the edge characteristics of a macro block will be described in detail . in a case where a predetermined macroblock of an input image is an intra block , the size and direction of an edge in each pixel of the predetermined macroblock are computed using such an edge detector as a sobel operator . the sobel operation can be represented by equation ( 12 ). the quantization matrix determination unit 780 calculates the magnitude of a vertical edge and the magnitude of a horizontal edge using equation ( 12 ) above and calculates the intensity and direction of an edge of the predetermined macroblock using the magnitude of the vertical and horizontal edges . thereafter , the quantization matrix determination unit 780 selects one from among a predetermined number of quantization matrices in consideration of the intensity and direction of the edge of the predetermined macroblock and encoding efficiency . in other words , in a case where the predetermined macro block includes a horizontal or vertical edge , the quantization matrix determination unit 780 selects a quantization matrix that can enable quantization in full consideration of the horizontal or vertical edge of the predetermined macro block . in a case where the predetermined macroblock is an inter block , the intensity and direction of an edge included in the predetermined macroblock can also be obtained using such an edge detector as a sobel operator . in the present embodiment , a sobel detector is used for computing the intensity and direction of an edge included in the predetermined macroblock . however , a spatial filter , such as a differential filter or a robert &# 39 ; s filter , can also be used for computing the intensity and direction of the edge included in the predetermined macroblock . in addition , in the present embodiment , a quantization matrix is selected in consideration of the edge characteristics of the predetermined macroblock . however , other characteristics of the predetermined macroblock that can affect encoding efficiency or the quality of an output image can be taken into consideration in adaptively selecting an optimal quantization matrix for the predetermined macroblock . the quantization matrix storage unit 790 selects a quantization matrix based on the index information received from the quantization matrix determination unit 780 and transmits the selected quantization matrix to the quantization unit 720 and the inverse quantization unit 730 . the quantization unit 720 carries out quantization using the quantization matrix received from the quantization matrix storage unit 790 . the inverse quantization unit 730 carries out inverse quantization using the quantization matrix received from the quantization matrix storage unit 790 . the vlc unit 770 carries out vlc on quantized input image data , received from the quantization unit 720 , and index information of a quantization matrix corresponding to the predetermined macroblock , received from the quantization weight matrix determination unit 780 . the index information is inserted into a macroblock header . in the present embodiment , index information of a quantization weight matrix corresponding to a predetermined macroblock is inserted into a header of the predetermined macroblock and then transmitted . a difference between an index value of one macroblock and an index value of an adjacent macroblock may be used as index information . in the present embodiment , a plurality of quantization weight matrices stored in the quantization matrix storage unit 790 are also stored in a decoding unit . however , it may also be possible to use a plurality of quantization weight matrices transmitted to the decoding unit on a picture - by - picture basis using a picture extension header or transmitted to the decoding unit on a sequence - by - sequence basis using a sequence extension header . fig8 is a block diagram of an apparatus for decoding moving pictures according to an embodiment of the present invention . referring to fig8 , the apparatus includes a variable length decoding unit 810 , an inverse quantization unit 820 , an inverse dct unit 830 , a frame memory unit 840 , and a motion compensation unit 850 , which correspond to the variable length decoding unit 142 , the inverse quantization unit 144 , the inverse dct unit 146 , the frame memory unit 148 , and the motion compensation unit 150 , respectively , of the decoding unit 140 of fig1 . in addition , the apparatus further includes a quantization weight matrix storage unit 860 . the inverse dct unit 830 , the frame memory unit 840 , and the motion compensation unit 850 serve the same functions as their respective counterparts of fig1 , and thus their description will not be repeated here . the variable length decoding unit 810 carries out variable length decoding on an input stream , extracts index information of a quantization weight matrix corresponding to a predetermined macroblock of the input stream from a header of the predetermined macroblock , and outputs the extracted index information to the quantization weight matrix storage unit 860 . the quantization weight matrix storage unit 860 outputs a quantization weight matrix corresponding to the index information received from the variable length decoding unit 810 to the inverse quantization unit 820 . the quantization weight matrix storage unit 860 stores a plurality of quantization weight matrices , which are classified according to the characteristics of an input image processed by an encoding unit , for example , a noise variance value as a ratio between an input image variance value and the edge characteristics of the input image . the plurality of quantization weight matrices stored in the quantization weight matrix storage unit 860 can be transmitted on a picture - by - picture basis using a picture extension header or transmitted to the decoding unit on a sequence - by - sequence basis using a sequence extension header . the plurality of quantization weight matrices are transmitted from the variable length decoding unit 810 to the quantization weight matrix storage unit 860 , as marked by a dotted line in fig8 . the present invention can be applied to different types of methods and apparatuses for encoding and / or decoding moving pictures , such as mpeg - 1 , mpeg - 2 , or mpeg - 4 . in addition , the present invention can be realized as computer - readable codes written on a computer - readable recording medium . the computer - readable recording medium includes any type of recording device on which data can be written in a computer - readable manner . for example , the computer - readable recording medium includes rom , ram , cd - rom , a magnetic tape , a hard disk , a floppy disk , flash memory , an optical data storage , and a carrier wave ( such as data transmission through the internet ). in addition , the computer - readable recording medium can be distributed over a plurality of computer systems which are connected to one another in a network sort of way so that computer - readable codes are stored on the computer - readable recording medium in a decentralized manner . as described above , the methods of encoding and / or decoding moving pictures according to the embodiments of present invention , a quantization matrix is adaptively applied to each macroblock of an input image in consideration of the characteristics of the input image . thus , it is possible to enhance the efficiency and performance of encoding the input image . although a few embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described , it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in this embodiment without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention , the scope of which is defined in the claims and their equivalents .	7
the present invention will be more completely understood by means of the following detailed description , which should be read in conjunction with the attached drawings , fig1 through fig2 , in which similar reference numbers indicate similar structures . this invention and its embodiments may be implemented on a personal computer or general purpose digital computer as shown in fig1 , including , but not limited to , single - or multiple - processor - based windows , linux or macintosh desktop computers such as those found with increasing frequency in contemporary homes and offices . embodiments of this invention may also be implemented on a digital processing circuit , including , but not limited to , those found in cd and dvd consumer audio / video appliance components or systems , stationary or mobile applications . embodiments of this invention are also well suited for implementation on other computing appliance devices such as hard - disk or random access memory based video and audio entertainment appliances which may be digital - processing - circuit based , or may be based on general - purpose digital computing architectures . as can be made clear to one skilled in the art , this invention is applicable to all digital content uses , because all such uses have the same basic elements ; the content 7 is input to the system in some fashion as shown in fig2 , stored for some period of time in the system &# 39 ; s memory 8 ( whether disk , volatile ram of any kind , or non - volatile ram of any kind ), and executed on a processor 9 , whether the main processor of the system , or an auxiliary processor , and whether the content itself is directly executable on the processor or is executed within a helper application ( such as an audio , video , or word processing application , depending on content type ). the systems and methods of the present invention may be embodied and implemented on a general - purpose digital computer or personal computer system 6 as shown in fig1 . such a system commonly includes an input device 1 ( one or more may be connected ; this includes anything which provides external content and data to the computer as input , such as a mouse or keyboard or scanner ). such a computer system 6 also has as a subcomponent a collection of software and hardware components 5 that comprise the processor , all system bus and cache lines , and the running operating system and all of its subcomponents . output is presented to the user via one or more output devices 4 , which include , but are not limited to , the computer &# 39 ; s display ( crt or lcd ) and the hardware that drives it , and can also include printers , speakers and sound cards , and radio frequency , s - video , component , or digital video outputs for consumer / entertainment applications and devices . the computer system 6 may be a general purpose home or office or mobile computer system . such systems allow for the usage / consumption / execution of a variety of forms of digital content ; the invention disclosed herein can be applied to all forms of such digital content and the foregoing will describe some of the forms of this content on this computing platform family . such systems are generally multiple - component level hardware - based systems , comprised of a motherboard or main - board , with various specialized components ( such as i / o cards , video cards , processors , memory ) attached to it by means of connectors . each such card and the motherboard itself and the attached components have some amount of executable firmware located on various non - volatile memory 3 integrated circuit components , but the majority of the system &# 39 ; s operational logic is driven by executable operating system code that is stored on media ( non - removable or removable magnetic and or optical media , or non - volatile random access memory media ). usually on a system of this general type such executable code is created by software developers and is written using program code in modern programming languages such as c and c ++. such languages are programmatically compiled into assembly language or machine instruction code and are later executed directly on the system &# 39 ; s central processing unit . other programming languages and techniques , such as those used in java , javascript , and visual basic , are interpreted at runtime ; they &# 39 ; re stored in their original language , or in a moderately tokenized version of their original language , and are then rendered on the fly at execution time into assembly language or machine instruction code and are later executed directly on the system &# 39 ; s central processing unit . other forms of relevant digital content utilized on such a computer system are audio ( for example . wav or . mp3 file formats ), video ( for example . avi file format ), e - book and documentation ( for example . pdf or variant secure - portable - document - format ), and all such content may be significantly security - enhanced by the application of the invention described in this document . as shown in fig2 , a computing system 10 of any kind , whether a general purpose computer 6 ( see fig1 ) or an appliance device with computing capability and components ( such as a dvd or cd player ) is commonly used to consume , execute , display or otherwise utilize digital content . digital content 7 ( including but not limited to the above examples ) is made available to the system by a variety of means including by network transmission ( internet or intranet ), on hard media , on non - volatile random access memory removable storage ( such as the compact flash standard for removable media storage cards ); and is read from that media 7 into the system &# 39 ; s memory 8 . in the case of such content which is unprotected , the utilization model is straightforward ; it is read from the input media 7 into memory 8 and then executed at some point thereafter . this document will define the word “ executed ” to mean , in the case of binary executable program content ( for example a computer video game , or a game console video game running on a game console computing appliance device , or a word processing program intended to run on a general purpose computing device ), executed on the processor 2 as a program ; in the case of readable document formats ( for example a word . doc file or an acrobat . pdf file ) executed within the appropriate application , which in turn executes on the processor 2 as a program ; in the case of all other digital content types ( for example audio , video ) they too are intended to be input to an appropriate application ( for example on a general purpose computing device , a software application such as windows media player ; in the case of a computing appliance device such as a dvd player or a game console , a firmware executable which runs on a processor 2 within the computing appliance device ) which in turn executes on a processor 2 within the computing platform . also note that within this document the term “ stream ” may be used interchangeably with the term “ file ” to represent a collection of bits that represent some form of digital content , including not limited to standard file types found on operating systems such as windows and archive or container formats used to convey content on the internet such as “ zip ” files or “ tar ” files . in one embodiment of this invention , illustrated in fig3 , an interleaved - multiplexed data hiding process 19 ( optionally , also , an excellent framework for the application of encryption to the interleaved , multiplexed content ) is provided that performs multiple functions detailed in the foregoing paragraphs . the system and process of the present invention create meaningful ( optionally encrypted ) data - identifier tags , sometimes referred to as watermarks , for later insertion into content , of any desired size in number of bytes , each of which have an individual variation even when the identifier data is identical for each . data content is first input as shown in step 11 . watermarks are defined as composed of a variable number of bits 12 . these collections of bits are re - ordered as needed and interleaved at step 13 with other data , that is either randomly generated , or time - stamped , to create a unique numeric value . alternatively , the collections of bits can be interleaved at step 13 with data streamed directly from other portions input data content 11 itself , to be hidden in the watermark . a simple verification value is incorporated into the watermark data or the interleaved - multiplexed data stream such that any instance of a watermark may be examined to determine if it has been tampered with . following this , the resultant stream is output and written to predetermined memory locations at step 18 either at locations as selected in the mapping process outlined elsewhere in this document or any other locations specified by the system . prior to writing the output stream , the watermark may optionally be encrypted by a key to further enhance its security . the encryption key itself can also be optionally encrypted in a similar manner in steps 15 ( subdivide into segments ) 16 ( interleave ) and 17 ( encrypt ), and optionally stored in a known location with the data stream 18 . an example of the resultant effect of the system and method of the invention is provided in the following illustration . assume an identifier 1234 11 that is to be hidden in 100 locations on a game cd ( see description below in connection with fig6 , fig7 , fig8 for details related to where and how the invention elects to hide such data ). assume also a subdivision size of 8 bits , and a total number of streams to be interleaved at 2 streams . the example of this method takes the bytes of the identifier , in this case the bytes “ 1 ”, “ 2 ”, “ 3 ”, and “ 4 ” 12 and interleaves them with a second stream of bytes 13 . these four divided subcomponents are then interleaved 13 with some other data ; in this example the data comes from the text of this sentence beginning with “ these four divided ” 11 . thus the first watermark generated would be “ t1h2e3s4 ” 13 and the second watermark would be “ e1 2f3o4 ” 13 . even in this simple form it is clear that the two watermarks have a different appearance and would not be trivially searchable ; however when optionally encrypted at step 14 they become utterly dissimilar , yielding the values “ ajt6g2 . r ” and “& gt ;* qi1ub $” in this example ; these two values , hidden ( see fig6 ) or stored in the file system ( see fig4 ) would be quite secure , yet each is easily locatable by means of this invention ( the location process is described with reference to fig7 , below ), and once located , each is easily translatable using the invention components described with reference to fig7 back into the identifier “ 1234 ”. the present invention , illustrated in fig3 , also serves as a means of interleaving n streams of data for purposes far more general , and more broadly useful , than simply watermarking content . it can irrevocably intermix 13 multiple streams 11 of content such that they remain interleaved until utilized by an appropriate component of the present invention , as illustrated in fig7 , below . the following code example details an embodiment of this invention which illustrates the concepts discussed in the above paragraphs which reference fig3 . this embodiment is tuned to subdivide a stream of data into 8 bit bytes and then interleave them ; in practice , any number of streams may be subdivided , and any subdivision value may be used . else if (( cbsig & gt ;= 16 ) & amp ;& amp ; ( in_sigtoggle == 1 ) & amp ;& amp ; ( in_cbld == cbld * 2 + 4 )){ a simple example and embodiment of this aspect of the present invention now follows . assume three streams of digital content , in this case three files on disk , each of five megabytes in size . file “ a ” is a text file . file “ b ” is an audio file . file “ c ” is a word document ; thus on a general purpose computing device 6 ( see fig1 ) windows operating system this yields the three hypothetical input streams 11 derived from a . txt , b . wav , c . doc . each such stream is subdivided into segments of m bits in length 12 , and interleaved as in the previous example . the resultant output , even prior to encryption , is clearly incomprehensible to any mechanism other than this invention ( see , for example , the operation disclosed in fig7 ) due to the nature of the mixed text , audio , and document data . even so , the output itself may be encrypted as in fig3 , steps 14 , 15 , 16 to further protect its contents . the aggregate stream is optionally encrypted , and then the keys necessary to decrypt this stream , if encrypted , are themselves encrypted and hidden ; the manner of the hiding process may be as described in fig8 , examples 42 , 43 , 44 or 45 , described in detail below , or the key may be hidden in another location known to the system as needed . this aggregate multiplexed stream , now fifteen megabytes in size may be written 18 at this time . one embodiment of the writing process 18 streams the contents back into the original files a , b and c ( see fig6 and corresponding description ) from where they came , without regard for which contents came from which files , such that the first five megabytes of the fifteen megabyte stream is used to fill a . txt , the second five megabytes is used to fill b . wav , and the third five megabytes is used to fill c . doc . the method used to determine where to write , to keep track of where the data was written , and to record the manner in which it was interleaved , is detailed below with reference to fig6 . after having written the content , the present invention supports multiple techniques for providing that the data may be later read and de - interleaved properly ( see fig7 , below ). note that the concept of a map of locations and interleaved data information as detailed in fig7 is optional for purposes of this aspect of the present invention . the map can be incorporated into the stored , hidden content , or as an alternative embodiment of the invention , algorithmic logic identical to that described below in fig6 , with the order of execution as in steps 27 , 28 ( described below ) is incorporated into the process of the present invention such that the likely map locations can be determined based on the context and content of the media . the retrieval of segments of the stream can then be attempted the simple verification values calculated as shown in the code example above to determine that the correct data has been retrieved . the stream contents can be retrieved , decrypted , de - interleaved , and utilized . the following example cmaplocation :: writefile is a code example of the logic used to create such a map file of locations . note that there are two types of maps created by the cmaplocation :: writefile code example below : raw maps and location maps . raw maps are built upon a linked list structure of locations and lengths and also contain detailed information about the file this mapped area was derived from . location maps are a further abstraction , and are built upon linked lists of raw map lists , where each location map entry contains information to locate a certain number of data bytes . in the example code below , this value is 16 bytes to support the example encryption method , which is optimized for 16 bit units of data . so in the foregoing example , the location map is created from the raw map by partitioning it into 16 byte blocks . these 16 byte blocks need not be contiguous . also note that the following code examples embody another aspect of this invention ; namely , a file locker , a mechanism as described below with reference to fig8 and touched upon in fig3 steps 15 , 16 , 17 . the file locker serves to securely marry the decryption key to an encrypted stream such that the process described in fig7 can successfully unlock the data and decrypt it . the file locker further encrypts the encryption key using a secondary encryption algorithm , with a known key , and hides the key information within the encrypted stream as described below with reference to fig8 . the encrypted key may be hidden whole ( as in steps 42 , 43 , and 44 of fig8 ) or may be further subdivided and hidden in a scattered fashion ( as in steps 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , and 50 of fig8 ). filelocker = new cfilelock ( fileencrypt , key , 16 , filelock , majorversion , minorversion , ( char ) filelocker −& gt ; writebytes ( output , 1 ); // write a null byte out at the end of the file with reference to fig4 , the present invention includes a system and method by which content can be hidden or stored in a variety of locations , both intrafile ( within a file ) and interfile ( between files ) and also outside the file system on devices that support extra - files system access ( such as iso - 9660 cd discs ). the map files in the code example above detail how such locations are represented and communicated . the operation for choosing the actual locations will now be described with reference to fig5 . note that in fig5 the extra - file system locations 26 , 25 are excellent locations to store content securely , because application programs generally cannot access the raw data and are limited to accessing only those data items that are located within the bounds of the file system 24 as known to the table of contents 23 . all application file system accesses through normal interfaces , for example the windows application interfaces to read ( ), open ( ), and close ( ) a file , require a file handle or descriptor , which means that most applications can only access areas of the file system known to the table of contents fig5 . thus , on any supported file system format , for example iso - 9660 , liberal use is made of any extra - file system space that may be available . with reference to fig6 , an aspect of the present invention is disclosed that is used to hide or store information in secure or non - obvious locations . in a first step of this aspect , the file system is scanned all the possible locations appropriate for information hiding are determined 27 . desired locations from among all the possible locations 28 are selected the ordering of insertion into these locations 28 is determined . the stream of interleaved data , described above with reference to fig3 , may optionally be encrypted as desired 29 . next , low - level operating system interfaces are accessed and device level access 30 is initialized at a level far below the normal file system interfaces , such that the device may optionally be addressed in any and all valid raw physical locations , whether inside or outside the standard file system . in step 31 , the aggregate stream is written across the target locations in the order chosen in step 28 . an optional map of these target locations may be produced for later access by other aspects of the present invention that may not contain the algorithmic knowledge to determine those locations without such a map . fig7 is a flow diagram illustrating a method by which the hidden , stored content is retrieved , for example information previously hidden in secure or non - obvious locations as shown in fig6 . in this process , the information is retrieved and reassembled into its original form and provided as needed to other system components . in determining the possible locations where such information could be hidden , there are , for example , two possible initial sets of actions 33 ; either obtain the map information previously hidden according to step 28 of fig6 , or generate a valid retrieval map as an equivalent of the storage map by incorporating the same algorithmic storage logic as retrieval logic , for example the process employed in fig6 : determine all possible locations 27 , select the chosen locations and ordering 28 , and create the retrieval map equivalent of a storage map . low - level operating system interfaces are accessed , and device level access is initialized 34 at a level far below the normal file system interfaces , such that the device may be addressed in any and all valid raw physical locations , whether inside or outside the standard file system . the map or map information obtained above at step 33 is used to determine the ordering or reading and the read locations , and these locations are read in order 35 . the items read are concatenated in the order read to re - create the original multiplexed interleaved stream . if decrypted previously , the decryption key is read , either from the map 33 or from a predetermined location which may be at the beginning of the encrypted stream 43 ( see fig8 ), at the end of the encrypted stream 42 , at a predetermined offset within the stream 44 , or subdivided and hidden at predetermined offsets 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 within the encrypted stream 45 , and is itself decrypted at step 36 of fig7 . the stream itself is decrypted 37 as desired . the stream is de - multiplexed into its component original streams 38 . each component stream is subdivided into a number of segments of a predetermined number of bits in length and each segment is then de - interleaved 39 into its original component input stream . each such stream is then written to the file system 40 or otherwise provided to the system . returning to fig4 the intrafile space 20 , or space within the bounds of a file , is space that is usually specified as “ unused ” or “ reserved for future use ” in the specifications for the file or stream types . the following list of published specifications represent a sampling of those researched to determine space utilization within various types of files : “ peering inside the pe : a tour of the win32 portable executable file format ”, matt pietrek , march 1994 “ bmp format : windows bitmap file format specifications ”, wim wouters , may 2000 appnote . txt from the pkzip website the iso - itu jpeg standard in a file called itu - 1150 . ps cryx &# 39 ; s note about the jpeg decoding algorithm . copyright 1999 cristi cuturicu . inside windows cabinet files by sven b . schreiber using this research data , and proprietary data collected manually by examining many available file types , the present invention embodies a set of programmatic rules that represent techniques for placing data within all the known safe locations ( see fig6 , step 27 ) to store protected ( interleaved and / or multiplexed and / or encrypted ) data in all tested file types , and once hidden , the present invention provides a similar inverse set of capabilities ( see fig7 ) that provide mechanisms to find the hidden information ( see steps 33 34 35 ), extract it ( see steps 36 37 38 39 ) and provide the decrypted , de - interleaved data to the requestor at step 40 of fig7 . the following code example illustrates an embodiment of the invention described above and the programmatic rules illustrated above and with reference to fig6 . each type of file ( for instance text files , jpeg photographs , gif web images , executable “ exe ” or pe files , any and all types of files known to the operating system ), have specific rules within this invention associated with them . the code example below shows the logic used to determine the available free space within a given file . one of the parameters is a call - back process ( writemaplocation ) which creates a list of available locations in the form of a map structure ( sometimes called a “ raw ” map ). the second parameter is the current maprawlist to which the informative list is to be written . the method used to determine the byte locations to pass to writemaplocation varies for each file type ( bmp , exe , etc ). in another embodiment of this invention illustrated in fig9 , content is placed in various locations and then protected using a technique referred to as translocation , a process that is described in further detail below . prior to discussing the concept of translocation , it is necessary to first describe the nature of such locations for the placement of such information . such information may be executable content such as a windows program , for example notepad . exe , or may take the form of other content , for example , a text file , a movie , or an audio file or music . the file system consists of storage space on one or more devices and a table of contents or directory that provides locations and offsets . there are multiple embodiments of this invention with alternate strategies for placement which may be used individually or in combination . note that content may be placed as follows in whole or in part , since hiding even part of complex content may render the remainder useless , such that the first 25 % of a given content type can be hidden and the remainder is made secure by the lack of the hidden part , even though the remainder is accessible . in one such implementation , content may be placed within the file system 65 but hidden between the files 56 in space , for example , that is created by the fragmentation of predetermined storage blocks on the storage media such that the files visible in the file system do not entirely occupy the space allocated for them . such content is placed in unused between - file fragmentation space within the bounds of the file system 56 such that its location is unknown to the table of contents 54 so that no file system access at the file level will be able to locate or access the files . this type of information hiding may require the information be subdivided into small parts and hidden in multiple smaller locations , since the available space between files may be fragmented . in another embodiment 66 such content may be placed outside the file system entirely 59 . in this implementation , the amount of contiguous available space is larger and thus such a file may be placed in contiguous locations , however note that such a file may in fact still be subdivided and placed into multiple disordered discontiguous locations for added security even in the abundant contiguous space in such extra - file system 59 locations . in an alternative embodiment 67 , the content is placed partly between the files within the file system 62 , and partly in space outside the file system , namely the extra - file system 63 . the concept of translocation as implemented in this invention and as illustrated in fig9 is described with reference to examples 65 , 66 and 67 . assuming that the apparent target is a hacker &# 39 ; s tool such as “ procdump . exe ” and the translocation replacement is a stub executable whose sole instruction is to exit , any attempts to execute this hacker &# 39 ; s tool , such as by double - clicking on it with a mouse , would result in the execution instead of the stub , which would immediately exit , such that the execution of procdump would appear to have failed to an outside observer with no apparent reason why . the actual mechanisms by which this process operates are as follows . the protected content is copied from its former location 55 to a new location 56 ; it may be optionally encrypted during the copy process if desired . in the present example this location is actually a series of noncontiguous smaller locations that the content is subdivided into , between files of the file system in the space created when file system blocks are fragmented due to partial usage . these blocks , when used , are marked in the file system &# 39 ; s records so they will not be inadvertently overwritten or re - used , but they do not have a corresponding entry in the directory system so they are not accessible from the standard file system interfaces . the former location 55 is populated with a file whose attributes are identical with the protected content in terms of name , size , external appearance , but whose behavior or contents differ as desired ( in the above example , procdump is replaced with a stub that exits ). attempts to execute “ procdump ” are made but they access the former known location 55 . the translocation system can at any time retrieve the actual contents from the new location 56 and either repopulate them into the former location 55 or provide them as needed to the other components of the present invention . similarly in examples 66 and 67 , the locations that are populated with the translocated content ( in this case the real “ procdump . exe ” we &# 39 ; re hiding ) are either outside the file system entirely 66 , or , in the case of example 67 , partly within the fragmented between - file space and partly outside the file system . note that in an alternate inverse embodiment of this invention , the original file is not moved at all 55 but rather the translocation replacement file is placed into the new location 56 , and the file system &# 39 ; s pointers 57 are temporarily updated to point to the translocated replacement file . note that locations outside the bounds of the file system , for example location 59 , may be on the same media as the file system or on entirely different media , for example , random access memory , rewriteable storage , network storage , or any other viable storage medium accessible to the system . an example process used to create a translocation replacement file is now detailed with reference to fig1 . for continuity the example above is referred to , where the original file is “ procdump . exe ” and the translocation replacement is “ stub . exe ” which does nothing other than exit ( of course any file of any type may be replaced by any other file of the same or different type , as desired ) 75 . the procdump file is first scanned and its attributes recorded ; any icons or other resources are copied and duplicated 68 . the procdump file is copied at step 69 to various predetermined storage locations , for example locations 56 , 69 , 62 , and 63 of fig9 . optionally to ensure added security , the original contents of procdump are zero - filled 70 and deleted in entirety 71 from the media , while bypassing the file system so that the directory entry and pointers remain intact . the original location is used as the location and bounds for the translocation container 72 , and this container is then populated with the icons 73 and other attributes 74 of the original “ procdump . exe ”, and the container is then populated with the logic and contents of “ stub . exe ”. thus any attempt by an unauthorized individual to execute “ procdump . exe ” results instead in the execution of “ stub . exe ”, and this persists even if the file known as “ procdump . exe ” is copied elsewhere , since the content has been replaced at a physical level . with reference to fig1 , in certain embodiments , there may arise circumstances where an authorized entity has a valid need to access content which had previously been translocated as above . operating system interfaces for file access can in this case be monitored , and attempts by an authorized entity to access the translocation container 76 result in retrieval of the original target 77 from storage locations . if encrypted as part of the storage process , decryption is performed on the content 78 . an execution environment appropriate to the content type 79 is invoked on behalf of the requesting entity ( for example , if the protected content were “ readme . txt ”, a text file , the application “ notepad . exe ” might be launched ). the retrieved content “ readme . txt ” is then provided to the execution environment 80 , and the requesting entity &# 39 ; s needs are met ubiquitously . as explained above , translocation is defined as the ability to provide ubiquitous redirection , which may be used for both the hiding of information , and for the purpose of defending against attacks by disabling the opponent &# 39 ; s access to the necessary reverse engineering tools . translocation may be embodied in a system that actually moves content , or in a system that redirects access to content without moving it . for example , in the case of moving content , an individual &# 39 ; s intent on reverse engineering a protected system may wish to run the visual c ++ development tools to attempt to debug the running system . when the protective system is invoked , among the first things it does is translocate all threatening tools it finds , such that visual c ++ is moved from its old location 55 to a new location 56 ( see fig9 ), and the contents of location 55 are replaced with an executable that does nothing but exit when run . thus when an attempt is made to run the executable file for visual c ++, the file that is actually run is this stub executable that does nothing useful . an example of translocation that redirects without moving content is similar . with reference to fig2 , such a mechanism employs a connection to the operating system interfaces 137 for , in this case , file access , and when an attempt is made to run visual c ++ at location 55 ( see fig9 ), the call is monitored and intercepted at steps 138 , 139 , and the executable file that is actually run 140 is the replacement stub file 56 . this replacement stub file can do far more than just exit ; an example is an embodiment of this invention in which the replacement file is a crippled version of the desired target file 55 . in order to further obscure what is happening , care is taken in this example that when the replacement or redirected file is invoked ( for example fig1 ) to touch 141 the desired file 55 so that any file system monitoring tools that may be running will see the expected access 55 . note that as in examples 66 and 67 of fig9 there are embodiments of this invention in which the redirected or moved content resides wholly or partly outside the file system 59 , 62 , 63 , and embodiments in which the redirected or moved file does not reside in contiguous locations but rather in two or more subdivided locations 62 , 63 . in one such embodiment , the translocated content is stored in the fashion that an m - bit watermark 12 is stored 31 , across multiple m - bit locations with no regard for contiguity , and later accessed by means of the methods described above in association with fig7 . note that translocated content leaves no obvious clues ; the process used to create 73 these substitute or redirected files as in the example fig1 insure that the replacements have all the proper attributes , through steps 68 and 74 , including all icons , size and date attributes , and all other properties of the original . also note that the above example was related to an executable program file , but there are other embodiments of this invention . in one such embodiment , the content is audio , and when invoked in the process of fig1 , the act of execution causes the concurrent invocation 76 of an appropriate audio player / helper application 79 . in another embodiment of this invention , the content type is a digital video stream , a popular movie title . in this case , the execution environment 79 , when invoked 76 , is a digital video player helper application . all digital content types are therefore supported by this aspect of the invention . another embodiment of this invention as exemplified in fig1 , 13 , 14 , 15 , and 16 . this embodiment relates to a set of mechanisms that operate to tokenize and obfuscate ( see step 83 of fig1 , reference 88 of fig1 and step 92 of fig1 ) content of all types ( see step 98 of fig1 , below ) in order to eliminate trivial observational analysis , and in the case of executable content , to greatly increase the difficulty of unauthorized debugging . this embodiment also serves to prohibit the modification of all types of content , since the tokenized obfuscated content 89 cannot be modified using standard editing / modification methods due to its proprietary tokenized formatting . in the case of executable content , disassembly is also prohibited by this process since the resultant output 84 , 89 is no longer standard assembly language . for example , with reference to fig1 , digital content 82 may be tokenized according to any of a number of standard tokenization mechanisms 83 , and the resulting tokenized content 84 is stored ( see fig1 , step 89 ). with reference to fig1 , the stored tokenized content 93 can be later be retrieved and subsequently reconstituted and executed 94 , provided an execution output 95 that is the same as that which is originally intended . with reference to fig1 , the stream of digital content to be tokenized and obfuscated 82 ( see fig1 ) is presented . the digital content is read and its type is determined 86 . the system and method of the present invention preferably recognizes all existent digital content / file / stream types ; in the case of this example the file type is determined to be an executable or windows “ pe ” file conformant with the specifications found in “ peering inside the pe : a tour of the win32 portable executable file format ”, matt pietrek , march 1994 . the content is parsed 87 , with a lexical parser similar to those found in many compiler front - end mechanisms . portions of the content are replaced with tokens 88 that bear an appropriate lexical relationship 91 , understood to the mechanisms of this invention , to the content and the context . in one example the token replacement may be fixed ; for example the assembly language mul or multiply operator is replaced with the token ^. to further complicate this example , the token replacement may be variable , for example based on location , such that the mul operator &# 39 ; s token is ^ if it occurs in the first 50 lines of assembly code , otherwise it is #. details related to the substitution of tokens are provided at fig1 . the content is parsed at step 90 , as described above in fig1 , step 87 . lexical boundaries of the parsed content are identified 91 , and the replacement is performed . in other words , using the english language as an example , if one were tokenizing the sentence “ my dog does not understand my dogma .” it might be appropriate to replace the term “ dog ” with the token “”, but it would be wrong if we also made the same replacement within the word “ dogma ” and turned it into “* ma ” because the context and lexical meaning of “ dog ” and “ dogma ” are different despite the fact that the first three characters are identical . a context free search would find them to be the same ; “ dog ” matches “ dog ” and matches the first three characters of “ dogma ” but since the meaning is different , the system must be intelligent enough to do more than match the appearance of an item ; the item &# 39 ; s meaning and contextual relationship must be understood . thus it is not a simple context free blind replacement such as doing a global replace edit using microsoft word ; the location and meaning of each item , and its relationship to items before and after it are all relevant to the substitution logic used to tokenize it . returning to fig1 , the tokenized content is written out 89 , and may then be interleaved , multiplexed , encrypted , and / or hidden as illustrated in the previous examples described above . with reference to fig1 and 16 , at a later time , as needed , when it is time to execute this content , the tokenized content 93 is located and extracted at step 97 ( if it was indeed interleaved , multiplexed , encrypted , and / or hidden as described above ). the content type is determined at step 98 , and the tokens are parsed and converted back into standard executable code 99 . the content may then be re - obfuscated 100 by applying known variations on standard assembly language which serve to confuse debugging and disassembly tools . it may then be executed in an appropriate execution context 101 ; in the case of executable “ pe ” program code , that context is the operating system itself to be executed 102 upon the processor 5 ( see fig1 ). in the example below , this invention replaces standard assembly language elements with permuted assembly language which has attributes that cause disassembly utilities such as , for example , the popular disassembly tool ida pro , sold and distributed by the belgian firm datarescue . such tools depend on assembly language being formed and structured in specific standard ways ; the enhanced assembly language generated by this invention offers the same logical function as the code it replaces but is resistant to disassembly as shown in the example code illustrations below . the first such code example below illustrates this invention &# 39 ; s insertion of jmp statements to instances of the following assembly language instructions : inc , dec , call , jmp , and push for example , this embodiment changes instances of “ jumps ” to ( push and return ) calls : for example , jumping into the middle of an instruction to confuse all disassemblers : another code example of the same class of techniques used by this invention : note that the “ add ah , 03bh ” command is instantiated to insert the value 2503h into location ax . by adding five bytes ( as opposed to simply using ‘ mov ax , 2503h ’) this code will defeat all known disassemblers . even if the instructions are disassembled properly , the value of ax will not be known , so every int call after this point will not be commented properly , as long as the system never moves a value into ax . this embodiment of the invention can conceal the value from the disassembler by using ‘ add ax ’ or ‘ sub ax ’ whenever possible . thus any value can be put into ax . this invention , of course , must make such substitutions in an automated fashion ; the code example below illustrates such programmatic assembly language substitution : in an alternative embodiment of the above aspect of the invention , and a variant example , the inventive system and method , after having tokenized and obfuscated the content and optionally interleaved , multiplexed , encrypted , and / or hidden it , later , as needed , when it is time to execute this content , the content is located and extracted ( if it was indeed interleaved , multiplexed , encrypted , and / or hidden ), parsed , content type determined , the tokens are parsed and execution occurs in lockstep with the conversion to executable content so the reconstituted content is never written to a file or provided to any entity in the system , but is rather executed on the fly within a custom execution context 101 ( see fig1 ) or custom interpreter 101 . note that “ content ” may be any digital content ; executable program code , audio , video , digital documents , and the “ execution content ” is constructed to execute the content . the meaning of “ execute ” varies depending on the content ; for example audio or video would be executed on an appropriate audio or video player , documents presented in an appropriate viewer , application programs and games run . an embodiment of this invention may generate for example instances of the variant assembly language as illustrated in the example above , and thereby be resistant to disassembly , and may also be made more difficult to debug by defeating automatic disassembly tools using obfuscated assembly language programming techniques , for example inappropriate not - used jumps into the middle of instructions . such obfuscation , or similarly effective methods accomplished by other means , enhance the security of the invention . note that this is in addition to the inherent security of running within an interpretive environment . the interpreter operates as a shield from debugging and reverse - engineering tools . the interpreter serves as a layer of abstraction between the protective invention and the real operating system . the values found in system memory and registers will not be directly related to the logical flow of the interpreted program ; they will show the debug state of the interpreter itself instead , and that will make assembly language debugging very difficult . in another embodiment of this invention described with reference to fig1 and fig1 , a protective system for digital content , or any running software application or system of any kind on any platform , is itself protected from being debugged , monitored , logged and understood by an invention mechanism which creates carefully targeted and tuned system activity , or “ saturation ” activity . this activity causes an instrumented or debug - enabled computer system to generate large volumes of debug , log , and / or monitor - tool traffic unrelated to the protective logic . for example such traffic can make a log that would have been 15 kilobytes grow to be 150 megabytes . monitoring / logging / data watching debug techniques are easily overwhelmed by this approach . one example of such a logging monitoring tool and it &# 39 ; s usage is filemon , an excellent freeware tool which logs system file activity . when exposed to the saturation traffic 110 , the filemon event log can grow to be orders of magnitude larger than it would otherwise be . events of interest to one debugging or reverse engineering the system are therefore lost in the process . this targeted saturation embodiment of the present invention operates as follows . the protection by saturation of a system or application first depends on understanding the nature of the normal system traffic generated by that application . therefore , with reference to fig1 , the protected entity must first be analyzed as in step 107 . the protected entity is executed on a system that is running the saturation profiler tool 104 . this tool profiles activity 104 in such ways that classes of activity are monitored ( for example scsi calls or registry calls or file opening ) and statistics are gathered ( for example , scsi calls logged during the execution of program material to be protected ). for example , 400file opens , 3500 reads of 2048 bytes each , 120 query commands . all aspects of system utilization are monitored and logged and categorized by type and frequency . this forms a profile of activity for the program material . this profile is encoded in a fashion readable by a later process of this invention ( fig1 , described later in this document ), and written to a “ saturation list ”, along with a tuning profile 105 with detailed encoded instructions 106 . these instructions specify the desired traffic types and volumes , for example to mask the scsi traffic , in one embodiment , the present invention is directed to generate 4000 file opens in similar drive locations and sizes , 30 , 000 reads , 500 query commands . as described in fig1 , the invention which actually generates the directed saturation traffic may first open the saturation profile 108 , decode the instructions as required , determine which types of traffic are desired ( for example network traffic , or as in the example above scsi traffic ), communicate with the appropriate saturation engine ( as above , the scsi saturation engine would be used in this example ; each such entity may be used individually or in combination , such as for example doing both scsi and network saturation ) 109 . the saturation engine then executes the required commands 110 and fig1 , ( see below for details ) and generates the appropriate levels of traffic . the functioning of an individual instance of a saturation engine 116 is shown in fig1 . the scsi example from above provides an illustration to one skilled in the art ; the scsi interfaces are utilized and an event driven mechanism is created , where the first logical step is to wait on the event of either a command completion or a new external request to issue a command 112 . upon awakening , if a command is pending ( a scsi file open , for example , as the next saturation command in the desired saturation list ), it is executed 113 , and synchronously waited upon if desired 114 with varying next - step results optionally depending on completion status . if normal completion , the process executes a hard sleep for a predefined interval if desired ( to throttle back activity ) 115 , and then sleeps again waiting on the events as in 112 . this is indeed a loop and would be infinite if the queue of commands were infinite , however being event driven , the loop suspends execution after the last command is consumed and is optionally swapped out , eliminating system resource utilization until again needed . the throttle - back sleep allows the saturation system to selectively control its utilization of system resources dynamically , for example to avoid monopolizing system resources when they &# 39 ; re needed for more important activities . the ability to be throttled back is controlled by the process of the invention as needed to reduce saturation traffic in specific ways at specific times , and may be overridden programmatically by other invention embodiments within the protective system if they determine they need more resources for any reason . all individual saturation engines are controlled by a saturation scheduler as shown in fig2 . the scheduler opens , decodes , and reads ( parses ) 117 the saturation profile and system settings directions from the saturation list previously described . the necessary saturation engines are polled , 118 launched if not already present , and the engine specific commands ( for example scsi commands as above ) are queued to the saturation engine &# 39 ; s 123 main scheduling loop . the underlying process driving the command queue mechanism is event driven and clock driven , with saturation engine tasks being fed commands at predetermined rates . the command feeder process is itself event driven , sleeping and waiting 119 upon the event of commands entering the queue , issuing the command 120 with dynamically controllable command frequency and adding additional sleep time commands to the payload so the saturation engine knows how much additional sleep over and above the event queue events is required ( this is the throttling mechanism as described in the paragraphs above ), and monitoring the effect on the system to determine if the throttling amount and the command queue depth and speed are appropriate to the task . this main scheduling loop 123 would be infinite if not event driven , however since it is event driven ( as the individual saturation engine loops are ) when the queue of commands is empty , the system is quiescent , suspended , and optionally swapped out . upon overall completion , the scheduler exits 123 and may optionally kill all the individual saturation engines previously spawned . in another embodiment of this invention as shown in fig2 , a filter , shim , device driver extension , or substitute device driver is inserted into system interfaces , interposing itself 125 between the original driver or interface and all other entities by stealing inputs directed towards those interfaces , reattaching any previously attached entities to the public “ subsumed interfaces ”, optionally passing through or modifying the traffic to those interfaces , optionally logging traffic , thus subsuming the “ public face ” of such interfaces . an example would be to take over the interface to the system “ beep ” function . every time a system “ beep ” ( the annoying noise the pc speaker can make at power up on many personal computer systems ) is requested , the shim steals the command . in this example , if the requesting process is your email program , the beep is passed through , and the system beeps . if the requesting entity is a disallowed entity , like an equally annoying pop - up browser window , the beep may be thrown away and thereby suppressed . note the vulnerability of such an interface shimming techniques in its simplest form is that another such “ imposter ” shim intended to compromise such a “ protection ” shim could be inserted after ( or before , or both before and after it , to allow it to be bypassed entirely at will , depending on the intent ) the protection shim , thus obviating the utility of such a mechanism . in other words , the shim itself can be monitored or subverted if it in turn is shimmed . therefore this invention compensates for that vulnerability by continually reconnecting . the process as shown in fig2 initiates by first finding the system interfaces it intends to subsume and uses the lowest possible level of interface ; interface use is performed based on that low level information rather than using higher level abstractions made available by the operating system . the interface &# 39 ; s external interface functions are subsumed by the shim 125 , any commands received while impersonating the interface are optionally either passed through , modified or discarded ( the system may desire to do any of those things , for example if authorizing by pid , a read access might be thrown away of the requesting pid were believed to be a security threat like a debugger ) 126 . alternatively , the system could transparently pass all requests through 126 and optionally offer an undocumented other interface so a knowing programmer could access system functions through the shim directly 126 , bypassing system interfaces and associated interface monitoring tools . for example as part of a broad throttling process , the process may optionally sleep between subsumed - interface - commands 127 thereby retarding public interface access , thus providing reduced system resource usage as desired to specific entities on the system as needed ( for example to starve a reverse engineering tool and reduce its utility ). once a number of such commands have been processed and time intervals optionally slept by the process , it detaches from the operating system interfaces and immediately reattaches 128 again at the lowest level ; this to ensure that it has not been compromised by another shim inserting itself before or after it . this reattachment loop 129 may be infinite , the shim may be left in place indefinitely to exit upon system shutdown , and optionally not reconnect at next reboot , effectively thereafter disappearing from the system . in the code example below , this dynamic - reconnection mechanism of the present invention manifests itself as a process that attaches to the first location directly at the interface level , and forces all subsequent shims of any other kind to attach themselves after the invention by continually reattaching in the first position : // at the top of the shim list . if an authorized request is received , we use the saved location of the // bottom of the os - interface shimlist to bypass anyone who might be attached in between // if an unauthorized request is received it is passed down the shimlist normally . // the attach and reattach logic keeps the _attach at the top of the shimlist . // install and remove a dummy systeminterface attach in order to get // remove all of the attachs we have found so far // add and remove a dummy attach to get the pointer to // install and remove a dummy systeminterface attach in order to get // if we aren &# 39 ; t the last attach in the shim list , remove our attach and // then reinstall us to get us back at the end of the shim list in another embodiment of this invention , described with reference to fig2 , such an attach and re - attach strategy is implemented for the purposes of feeding spurious or saturation traffic into an opponent reverse - engineering tool . in other words , this invention may be used to isolate and defeat certain reverse engineering tools . for example , if the tool filemon ( an excellent reverse engineering tool distributed by sysinternals . com ) were in use , it would effectively monitor all usage of the filesystem and record all access in detail . if it were desirable to hide access from such monitoring tools , one such invention use for example would be to isolate filemon by attaching one shim before it , and one after it , and having each shim continually reattach itself . if each such shim had a data connection to each other bypassing filemon it would be trivial to shunt all traffic around filemon , effectively causing it to record nothing . in more subtle usage examples , selected traffic could be hidden from filemon in this fashion , while spurious saturation traffic was directed through it . in this embodiment , as above , a filter , shim , device driver extension , or substitute device driver is inserted into system interfaces in this case , interposing itself at step 131 between the reverse engineering monitoring shim and the rest of the system , thus apparently subsuming the role of the operating system interface and providing false and misleading data 132 to the monitoring / reverse - engineering shim / tool . the vulnerability of all such interface shimming techniques in their simplest form is that another such shim intended to compromise such a shim could be inserted after ( or before , or both , depending on the intent ) this process at any time , thus obviating the utility of such a mechanism . thus , this embodiment of the invention includes a re - attachment mechanism 134 which guarantees a specific attachment location , in this case directly before the opponent reverse - engineering / monitoring shim , as specified by the invention &# 39 ; s user . this is accomplished by repeated automated re - insertions 135 into the interface chain . such reinsertions are done in a fashion that does not impede function by waiting a number of time units 133 between issued instructions . thus this embodiment of continual - interface - reattachment can eliminate the threat of device redirection and monitoring tools being used to subvert the system . in another embodiment of the present invention , as illustrated in fig2 , ubiquitous redirection of operating system interface access is employed to prevent the execution of , or access to , content that is disallowed , or to redirect access to other content in a manner that is transparent to the accessing party or process . as above , this embodiment of the invention connects to the appropriate operating system interfaces at step 137 , executing the reconnection logic as needed as in fig2 and the description above . calls to the interface are monitored 138 , and when appropriate , intercepted 139 . for example , if a tool such as filemon were discovered on the system at the time of the invocation of this embodiment , it would be logged as an “ access to monitor ” and when it was accessed 138 , it would be noted , and access would be redirected from the filemon operation to a different executable 140 , in this example an executable that does nothing but exit . at the same time this redirected executable was launched 140 , the originally intended executable is touched 141 , such that any other monitoring tools would show the access . thus the individual intent on reverse engineering would launch filemon and it would exit immediately 142 . the individual might use other tools and discover that filemon did indeed launch ( file system access to the original file will be logged as though it was launched ). the code example below illustrates the invention discussed above in conjunction with fig2 ; a means of redirecting access 140 , for example , from one executable 138 to another 139 ubiquitously : the code example below illustrates the invention discussed above in conjunction with fig2 ; in this case the code example is the do - nothing stub executable that replaces access to the disallowed executable ( s ). in another embodiment of the present invention , a protective entity is created ; such entity operates as an independent protective agent and secures all protected content from unauthorized access . as depicted in fig2 , this entity , referred to as an “ assassin ”, may be programmed to have multiple functions . for example , the assassin upon initialization 144 first determines how many other assassins and other protected entities are present 145 . system authorization functions are utilized 146 as depicted in fig2 , fig2 to establish the correct identity of all processes on the system at all times . the assassin scans the system for the presence and execution of threat - entity - instances , such as debug tools like procdump and filemon and even developer tools like microsoft &# 39 ; s visial c ++ 147 . it also uses the functions detailed below to track the process or thread exit of any other entity including other assassins 148 . upon determining intrusion has occurred ( debugger running , unauthorized exit of any other assassin protective entity , any changes or modifications 149 made to code or system components in any way within the system by any unauthorized entity , presence of ice or other debugger ) an exit condition is set up in which this assassin , and other assassins , and other system components will exit 150 based on either noticing that another has indeed exited or by passing a signal event between components of the system . in some cases an exiting assassin will kill 150 other system entities as a means of accelerating overall system component exit . in the code example below , a first embodiment of the assassin process determines the identity of another assassin process ( this is a two - assassin example ) and instances 146 , and monitors them for exit conditions 148 . upon an exit condition , this embodiment attempts to kill other assassin processes and then kills itself 150 . // open handle to the 1st proc . this will be the 2nd assassin entity // if we can &# 39 ; t open this entity handle , then something is // if no other entity was specified , then the current entity must be one at this point , this embodiment has proven that two assassin process identifiers were specified . this means that the currently executing entity is the first assassin launched . the monitored identifiers will therefore be that of the second assassin entity and the application entity ( target ). this embodiment will wait for either one to exit ; and assumes the target entity will exit when it is finished , in which case the first assassin entity can clean up and itself exit . if , on the other hand , it is the assassin entity that exits , this means that someone or something ( a debug process perhaps ) has killed it , so the first assassin entity will attempt to terminate the target entity and then delete all the instances of other system entities that it can . // if we opened handles to both entities , wait for one to exit // now only the assassin entity is left , so if an additional instance was // wait until either we delete the instance , or the assassin entity is // if the instance open failed at least once , try to delete it // now this invention knows that the target is really done , so clean up and in another embodiment of the present invention , a determination is made by the system as to whether any given process , thread , entity , or access 154 on / of the system is an authorized process or an unauthorized process with respect to access to any of the protected , encrypted , interleaved , or hidden components of the system . as illustrated in fig2 , fig2 establishing such an authorization context and enforcing it involves a series of steps as outlined below . one simple way to illustrate this process is by representing the authorized versus unauthorized entities as “ friend or foe ”, in the form of a list 156 . a snapshot of all entities on the system is taken 153 and such a list is established 155 . any entities created subsequently , such as descendant children / entities of the original list entries , are appropriately added to the list 154 . when an access occurs , the accessing entity is identified 158 and identity information is compared with the list 159 to determine whether the accessing process is a friend or foe . access , or denial of access , is issued accordingly 160 . the code example below illustrates the above aspect of the invention as represented in fig2 , fig2 . in the first such example , the identity of an entity is added to the list , and the list is maintained as entity searches reveal new additions : // if the entity is in the allowed identity list add the descendantidentity // if this identity is already in the identity array do not add // add a identity to the array . . . any 0 entry will do . . . the next code example illustrates the above invention as represented in fig2 , fig2 . in this second such example , the identity of an entity is removed from the list : the code example below illustrates mechanisms utilized to verify the identity of an entity and make a decision as to allowing or disallowing access to the entity . in another embodiment of this invention , any or all of the above aspects of the invention as illustrated and described above are incorporated into an application , or set of applications , and associated documentation , which are engineered to provide the aforementioned capabilities to digital content creation professionals and other such users . in this manner , digital content that a user desires to protect is provided to an appropriate toolkit as input and the techniques detailed above are applied to the content . the user is not necessarily exposed to the inner operation of the above processes , nor of the applied inventive techniques . the output of such a toolkit is a protected digital content entity . all types of content are supported and are equally applicable to the principles on the invention , including ; audio , video , executable , images , text , documents , e - books , and all other digital content of all types on all platforms as described above . the user of this toolkit may choose to include or exclude any of the inventive components mentioned above as part of the configuration of the tool , but at no time is it necessary for the user to understand in any detail how each component works , or how the individual components of the system interact . while this invention has been particularly shown and described with references to preferred embodiments thereof , it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims .	6
the present invention relates to a novel process for the production of abiraterone acetate in which fundamental is the reaction of prasterone acetate ( iii ) with an aromatic bis ( trifluoromethanesulfonimide ) of general formula ar — n ( tf ) 2 and a basis for obtaining the intermediate of formula ( ii ), which is then further reacted to abiraterone acetate ; the bis ( trifluoromethanesulfonimide ) is commonly known in the field by the abbreviations tiflimide or tf . the aromatic radical of tiflimide ar — n ( tf ) 2 can be of any type , mono - or polycyclic , of hydrocarbon type ( for example , a phenyl or naphthalene radical ), heterocyclic , or of mixed type , formed by a heterocyclic ring fused with a hydrocarbon ring , which in this latter case can also be saturated ; the ar radical can also be substituted . the preferred tiflimides for the purposes of the invention are those corresponding to the general formulae ( iv ) or ( v ) set out below the aromatic radical is derived from phenyl or pyridine ; r1 , r2 , r3 , r4 and r5 , independently of each other , can be hydrogen , halogen , — no 2 , a linear or branched alkyl radical , an rconh — amide radical or an ro — alkoxide radical , wherein r is a linear or branched alkyl group ; and one of r6 , r7 , r8 , r9 and r10 is the — n ( tf ) 2 radical , while the remaining radicals between r6 and r10 , independently of each other , have the same meanings as reported above for radicals r1 - r5 . the amount of tiflimide is between 0 . 8 and 2 times by weight with respect to the starting prasterone acetate . the reaction solvent is selected from toluene , xylene , diethyl ether , methyl tertbutyl ether , tetrahydrofuran ( thf ), methyltetrahydrofuran , chloroform , dichloromethane and 1 , 2 - dichloroethane . preferred solvents are ethers , for example tetrahydrofuran . the employable base is selected from potassium hexamethyldisilazane ((( ch 3 ) 3 si ) 2 nk , known by the abbreviation khmds ), lithium hexamethyldisilazane ((( ch 3 ) 3 si ) 2 nli , abbreviated lihmds ), sodium hexamethyldisilazane ((( ch 3 ) 3 si ) 2 nna , abbreviated nahmds ); lithium diisopropylamide ( lda ), lithium tri - sec - butylborohydride ( known as l - selectride ), potassium tri - sec - butylborohydride ( k - selectride ) and sodium or potassium tert - butoxides . the reaction temperature is between − 80 ° c . and 30 ° c ., while the reaction time is between 2 and 24 hours . once the intermediate of formula ( ii ) has been obtained , it can be transformed into abiraterone acetate ( i ) by reacting the mixture resulting from the first step as described above with diethyl borane in the presence of a palladium ( ii ) catalyst such as , for example , bis ( triphenylphosphine ) palladium ( ii ) dichloride , pd ( pph 3 ) 2 cl 2 . the abiraterone acetate thus formed is separated from the reaction mixture by salification with an acid ; the abiraterone acetate is then recovered by treatment with an aqueous base , and the resulting product is purified by known methods such as crystallisation from solvent or silica gel chromatography . the process of the invention is also applicable to the synthesis of abiraterone simply using prasterone as starting reagent instead of prasterone acetate . the invention will be further illustrated by the following examples , which are provided by way of an illustrative and non - limiting example of the present invention . the reagents used in the examples are commonly available commercially and are used without the need for further purifications . this example relates to the characterising step of the invention , i . e . the preparation of the intermediate ( ii ) 3β - acetoxyandrost - 5 , 16 - dien - 17 - yl - trifluoromethanesulfonate from prasterone acetate ( iii ). a solution of prasterone acetate ( 1 g ) and n - phenyl - bis ( trifluoromethanesulfonimide ) ( 1 . 3 g ) in tetrahydrofuran ( 15 ml ) is cooled to − 78 ° c . under agitation . 6 . 05 ml of a 0 . 5 molar solution of potassium hexamethyldisilazane in toluene are slowly added and agitation is maintained for 2 hours at a temperature between − 80 and − 70 ° c . the temperature of the reaction mixture is then brought to 0 ÷ 5 ° c . and maintained for a further 2 hours . 16 ml of isopropyl acetate and 16 ml of saturated aqueous solution of ammonium chloride are added . the phases are separated and the organic phase is washed with 32 ml of 1m aqueous hcl solution and with 32 ml of saturated aqueous solution of nacl . the solvent is removed under reduced pressure thus obtaining a colourless oil , which titrated by hplc analysis against authentic samples proves to principally comprise prasterone acetate ( 214 mg ) and intermediate ( ii ) 970 mg . the colourless oil is crystallised from ethanol thus obtaining , after drying at 45 ° c . and reduced p , 850 mg of intermediate ( ii ). this example illustrates a complete preparation of abiraterone acetate ( i ) starting from prasterone acetate ( iii ). a solution obtained by dissolving 6 . 15 g of prasterone acetate and 8 g of n -( 2 - pyridyl )- bis ( trifluoromethanesulfonimide ) in 92 . 5 ml of tetrahydrofuran is cooled to − 78 ° c . under agitation . 37 . 3 ml of a 0 . 5 molar solution of potassium hexamethyldisilazane in toluene are slowly added and agitation is maintained for 2 hours at a temperature between − 80 and − 70 ° c . the temperature of the reaction mixture is then brought to 0 ÷ 5 ° c . and maintained for a further 2 hours . 100 ml of isopropyl acetate and 100 ml of saturated aqueous solution of ammonium chloride are added . the phases are separated and the organic phase is washed with 100 ml of 1m aqueous hcl solution and with 100 ml of saturated aqueous solution of nacl . the solvent is eliminated under reduced pressure thus obtaining a dark oil ( 10 . 48 g ) which proves to comprise prasterone acetate and intermediate ( ii ) in a 1 : 3 ratio ( areas of hplc chromatogram recorded at 220 nm ). the crude mixture obtained is then dissolved in tetrahydrofuran ( 104 ml ). bis ( triphenylphosphine ) palladium ( ii ) dichloride pd ( pph 3 ) 2 cl 2 ( 375 mg ), diethyl ( pyridyl ) borane ( 2 . 36 g ) and an aqueous solution of sodium carbonate ( 21 ml , 3 . 5 g of sodium carbonate ) are added under agitation at 20 - 25 ° c . the system is refluxed at about 70 ° c . for 20 hours . the system is cooled to 20 - 25 ° c . and isopropyl acetate ( 104 ml ) and water ( 104 ml ) are added . the phases are separated and the organic phase is concentrated under reduced pressure after filtration . a dark oil is obtained ( 10 . 52 g ), which proves to comprise prasterone acetate and abiraterone acetate . the crude mixture obtained is then dissolved in methanol ( 32 ml ) and the solid , which proves to be unreacted diethyl ( pyridyl ) borane , is filtered . the solution is then treated with hydrochloric acid in isopropanol while verifying that the ph remains acid . it is stirred at 0 ÷ 5 ° c . for 2 hours then the precipitated solid ( 5 . 2 g ) is filtered , which checked by hplc analysis against an authentic sample proves to be abiraterone acetate hydrochloride . the obtained abiraterone acetate hydrochloride is placed under agitation with methylene chloride ( 50 ml ) and an aqueous solution of sodium bicarbonate ( 50 ml , 3 g ), obtaining complete dissolution of the solid . the phases are separated and the dried organic phase is concentrated to dryness at reduced p . the solid obtained is crystallised from isopropanol obtaining , after drying , 3 . 8 g of abiraterone acetate ( hplc purity 99 . 04 % recorded at 220 nm ), which further checked by means of hplc - mass analysis proves to be free from impurity	2
fig1 is a sectional view showing of a vibration wave motor according to an embodiment of the present invention , and fig2 is an exploded perspective view of a vibration member and its peripheral members of the motor shown in fig1 . in this embodiment , the same reference numerals denote the same parts as in the prior art , and a detailed description thereof will be omitted . piezo - electric elements la including two groups , i . e ., a and b phases of driving piezo - electric elements are adhered to a bottom surface of an annular elastic member 1 by , e . g ., adhesive . projection groups , each of which includes a plurality of ( five in this embodiment ) projections 1b are formed at a plurality of positions ( three positions in this embodiment ) at angular intervals of pitches p 1 , p 2 , and p 3 in a circumferential direction on a driving side , i . e ., a side contacting a frictional member 2a of the elastic member 1 . note that the plurality of projections 1b in each projection group are present within a corresponding one of circumferential pitches p 1 , p 2 , and p 3 . in this embodiment , a travelling wave formed in the elastic member 1 is assumed to be a τ wave , and the circumferential pitches p 1 , p 2 , and p 3 of the projection groups coincide with a wavelength λ of the travelling wave . fig3 a shows an urging force distribution state obtained when a moving member 2 such as the frictional member 2a is entirely urged against the elastic member 1 with the above - mentioned shape by an urging force w . fig3 a is a circumferentially developed view of the vibration member 1 . an urging force is distributed on the upper surface ( driving side ) of the elastic member 1 , so that an urging force on the projection groups is larger than that on the remaining surface portion , and is a uniform surface pressure ( w ) in each projection group . this state almost remains the same at relative positions in the circumferential direction . this is because the elastic member 1 and the frictional member 2a are in contact with each other at only the projection groups at a plurality of positions ( three positions in this embodiment ) in their circumferential direction . as compared to the prior art , the projections 1b can reliably be in contact with the frictional member 2a . therefore , even if the elastic member 1 and the frictional member 2a have a poor flatness , the frictional member 2a can reliably contact the elastic member 1 as long as a given flatness of the projections 1b constituting the projection groups is maintained . on the other hand , as shown in fig3 b , the circumferential pitches p 1 , p 2 , and p 3 of the projection groups are equal to the wavelength λ of a travelling wave formed in the elastic member 1 . this is because it is optimal to cause the circumferential pitch to coincide with the wavelength λ due to a transition state of a wave . more specifically , as shown in fig3 b , a to d represent waveforms of a travelling wave formed in the surface of the elastic member 1 , and changes in velocity component u as a function of time in a travelling direction . upon repetitions of a → b → c → d → a , phases of waves are shifted by λ / 4 , and the velocity component u is maximized at peaks of the waves . therefore , assuming an ideal form wherein the frictional member 2a and the elastic member 1 contact each other at only peaks of the waves , the projections are brought into contact with the frictional member 2a in the order of projections 1b - 1 ( at an end side in each projection group )→ 1b - 2 → 1b - 3 → 1b - 4 in turn upon transition of waves a → d , thereby attaining a frictional driving operation . in this case and a smooth feed operation cannot be performed during a period of λ / 4 , a driving loss occurs . if the number of projections in each projection group is increased , a smoother driving operation can be assured . for this reason , since the feed operation can become smoother as the number of projections in each projection group is increased , if each projection group is formed by one projection , a smooth feed operation can be continuously attained . therefore , in the circumferential pitches p 1 , p 2 , and p 3 , at least one point can effectively contribute to a driving operation . since a contact state between planes can be stabilized at three points , since a three - position contact state is adopted like in this embodiment , a stable contact state can be assured regardless of the pitches p 1 , p 2 , and p 3 between adjacent projection groups . in this embodiment , the circumferential pitches p 1 , p 2 , and p 3 coincide with the wavelength λ , but may have an approximate value . fig4 is a sectional view showing a vibration wave motor according to another embodiment of the present invention , and fig5 is a circumferentially developed view showing an urging force distribution state of the motor shown in fig4 . in this embodiment , piezo - electric elements 12a as electro - mechanical energy conversion elements are adhered on the bottom surface of an elastic member 12 like in the prior art . a plurality of projections 12b and 12c are formed on the upper surface ( driving side ) of the elastic member 12 along its circumferential direction . in the projections 12b and 12c , several long projections 12b are formed within a circumferential pitch p 1 &# 39 ; ( p 2 &# 39 ; and p 3 &# 39 ;) to form a projection group , and are in contact with a frictional member 2a . a plurality of groups of these projects are arranged at several positions to be separated at long circumferential pitches p 1 &# 39 ; ( p 2 &# 39 ; and p 3 &# 39 ;). as a result , these plurality of projection groups are in contact with the frictional member 2a , thereby driving the frictional member 2a . a plurality of short projections 12c are formed to fill intervals between the projection groups consisting of the plurality of long projections 12b . each projection 12c has a sufficiently short end so as not to contact with the frictional member 2a . therefore , when the entire structure is pressed by an urging force w by a belleville spring 8 , even if the elastic member 12 and the frictional member 2a have a poor flatness , the projections 12b can reliably be in contact with the frictional member 2a since there are only several contact points between the elastic member 12 and the frictional member 2a . the short projections 12c do not contact the frictional member 2a at all . arrows w represent a circumferential distribution of an urging force applied to the elastic member 12 . this distribution state almost remains the same at circumferential opposing positions between the elastic member 12 and the frictional member 2a . in this embodiment , since the plurality of projections 12b and 12c are formed over the entire surface , the elastic member 12 can be smoothly vibrated to have a high continuity in the circumferential direction , as compared to the above - mentioned embodiment . in each of the above embodiments , a ring type motor has been exemplified . the same effect as described above can be obtained when the present invention is applied to a vibration motor having an elliptic vibration member . as described above , according to the present invention , when a contact portion between an elastic member and a contact member contacting the elastic member is limited to several positions in a circumferential direction of a vibration member , in other words , in a travelling direction of a travelling vibration wave , a reliable and stable contact state can be assured . for this reason , if two contact surfaces have a poor flatness , a rotation nonuniformity can be eliminated , and generation of noise can also be suppressed .	7
reference will now be made in detail to the present preferred embodiments of the invention , examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings . wherever possible , the same reference numbers are used in the drawings and the description to refer to the same or like parts . fig1 is a top view of a package structure according to one embodiment of the present invention . fig2 is a bottom view of a package structure according to one embodiment of the present invention . fig3 is a cross - sectional view along line a - a of fig1 . as shown in fig1 and 3 , the packaging substrate 10 has a top surface 12 and a bottom surface 14 . on the top surface 12 of the packaging substrate 10 , two chip - disposing regions 16 are defined , for example . each chip - disposing region 16 can accommodate a chip 18 . the chip 18 is disposed within the chip - disposing region 16 and arranged in an array . a peripheral region 20 that encapsulates each chip - disposing region 16 is also defined on the packaging substrate 10 . furthermore , a stiffening ring 22 is disposed on an area of the bottom surface 14 underneath each peripheral region 20 as shown in fig2 . fig4 is a perspective view showing the method of disposing a stiffening ring on a packaging substrate . as shown in fig4 , the bottom 24 of the stiffening ring 22 has a plurality of positioning pins 26 protruding down . moreover , the positioning pins 26 are uniformly arranged on the bottom surface 24 of the stiffening ring 22 . in addition , the bottom surface 14 of the packaging substrate 10 has a plurality of positioning holes 28 whose locations correspond with the positioning pins 26 . the stiffening ring 22 is firmly attached to the bottom surface 14 of the packaging substrate 10 through the positioning pins 26 and the corresponding positioning holes 28 . preferably , an adhesive is applied to the bottom surface 24 of the stiffening ring 22 so that the stiffening ring 22 is permanently bonded to the bottom surface 14 of the packaging substrate 10 . according to one embodiment of the present invention , the stiffening ring 22 is fabricated using a heat - resistant plastic or a metal . typically , the material of the stiffening ring 22 must be able to withstand a temperature at least as high as the melting point of the heat - resistant molding compound so that the stiffening ring 22 can prevent the packaging substrate from warping . fig5 is a cross - sectional view showing the packaging substrate shown in fig3 disposed inside an encapsulating mold . in the present embodiment , the bottom surface 14 of the packaging substrate 10 faces up while the top surface 12 faces down inside the mold 30 . the encapsulating mold 30 has a bottom mold 32 , a top mold 34 and a gate 36 . the bottom mold 32 faces the top surface 12 of the packaging substrate 10 and has two molding cavities 38 for accommodating the chip 18 within the chip - disposing regions 16 and providing space 40 for injecting molding compound over the chip 18 . the top mold 34 faces the bottom surface 14 of the packaging substrate 10 and has two ring type runners 42 for accommodating two stiffening rings 22 and providing space 44 for injecting molding compound over the stiffening rings 22 . furthermore , the gate 34 is located on the top mold 34 of the encapsulating mold 30 and connected to the mold cavities 38 and the runners 42 through other runners ( not shown ). to mold the packaging substrate 20 , a molding compound 46 is injected into the gate 36 to fill up the space 40 and 44 defined by the mold cavities 38 and the runner 42 . hence , the chip 18 and the stiffening rings 22 are encapsulated by the molding compound 46 as shown in fig6 . it should be noted that the bottom surface 14 of the packaging substrate 10 faces up inside the mold 30 to prevent the stiffening ring 22 from falling off from the bottom surface 14 of the packaging substrate 10 during mold injection . however , if the stiffening ring 22 is engaged to the bottom surface 14 of the packaging substrate 10 through any type of fastening mechanism such as a latch or positioning pins 26 with adhesive , the bottom surface 14 of the packaging substrate 10 may face down during mold injection . when the molding process and a subsequent curing process are complete , the top and bottom view of the packaging substrate is as shown in fig7 and 8 . the cured molding compound 46 encapsulates the chip 18 on the top surface 12 of the packaging substrate 10 to form a chip encapsulant 50 . similarly , the cured molding compound 46 encapsulates the stiffening ring 22 on the bottom surface 14 of the packaging substrate 10 to form a stiffener encapsulant 48 . finally , the packaging substrate 10 is sawed to form individual package units in a singulation process , wherein each package unit encapsulates the chip 18 . the stiffening rings 22 are removed by sawing along the lines c - c , d - d , c 1 - c 1 and d 1 - d 1 in the singulation process . the embodiment of the present invention is best applied to the fabrication of an optical land grid array ( lga ) package . if the present invention is applied to fabricate an optical lga package , the chip 18 in fig7 includes optical devices and the molding compound 46 for encapsulating the chip 18 is a transparent molding resin . it should be noted that the packaging substrate of the present invention has a structure capable of counterbalancing any warping stress on the substrate resulting form a difference in coefficient of thermal expansion between the transparent molding resin and the packaging substrate . fig9 is a top view showing the molded structure of a package having four chip disposing regions . fig1 is a bottom view showing the molded structure of a package having four chip disposing regions . in the present embodiment , the top surface 12 of the packaging substrate 10 has four chip - disposing regions 16 altogether . each chip - disposing region 16 accommodates a chip 18 . furthermore , a stiffening ring 22 is disposed on the bottom surface 14 of the packaging substrate 10 underneath the peripheral areas of the chip - disposing regions 16 to strengthen the packaging substrate 10 . then , an encapsulant is formed to encapsulate the chip on the packaging substrate . in the present embodiment , a molding compound is injected to form a chip encapsulant encapsulating the chip 18 . moreover , a stiffener encapsulant is further formed by the molding process to encapsulate each stiffening ring 22 , for example . finally , the stiffening rings 22 are removed in the singulation process for sawing the packaging substrate into individual package units each encapsulating the chip 18 . according to the aforementioned embodiment , the present invention can be applied to a packaging substrate having a plurality of chip - disposing regions . by disposing a stiffening ring on the bottom surface of a packaging substrate to correspond with each chip - disposing region , the warping stress on the packaging substrate resulting from mold injection is counterbalanced . according to another embodiment of the present invention , the stiffening rings 22 in fig1 can be replaced by a plurality of stiffening bars 22 a as shown in fig1 to prevent the packaging substrate from warping . furthermore , it should be noted that the number of chip - disposing areas encapsulated by the stiffening ring or stiffening bars on the bottom surface 14 of the packaging substrate is not limited to one or two . in general , a plurality of stiffening rings or bars can be used to support a multiple of chip - disposing regions . in summary , one major aspect of the present invention is the set up of a stiffening member such as a stiffening ring or a series of stiffening bars on the bottom surface of a packaging substrate to reinforce the structural strength of the packaging substrate . furthermore , in the process of encapsulating the chip and the stiffening members with a molding compound , the stiffening members can also counterbalance the warping stress resulting from a difference in coefficient of thermal expansion between the top and bottom surface of the packaging substrate . ultimately , the amount of warping in the packaging substrate is substantially minimized . it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the structure of the present invention without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention . in view of the foregoing , it is intended that the present invention cover modifications and variations of this invention provided they fall within the scope of the following claims and their equivalents .	7
the preferred embodiment of the present invention is illustrated by way of example in fig1 - 9 . with reference to fig1 a string assist apparatus 10 includes a support 12 and a resilient extension 14 connected to support 12 . string 16 is shown with one end 18 connected to instrument 20 by means of bridge 22 . one end 18 is connected to the bridge 22 , the string 16 is passed over resilient extension 14 and the other end 24 of string 16 is connected to tuning post 26 . at this point , string 16 is tensioned by string assist apparatus 10 . this tension assists in keeping end 18 of string 16 in place in its attachment to bridge 22 . further the height of string assist apparatus 10 adds the extra length needed for proper winding while still keeping the string 16 under tension . this extra length is the “ slack ” needed in all cases of string attachment , but which causes end 18 to slip from bridge 22 if not kept under tension . fig1 further illustrates the operation of the string assist apparatus 10 of the present invention by showing what happens as string 16 is wound around tuning post 26 . the dotted lines show that as string 16 is wound , string assist apparatus 10 is compressed in the direction of arrows 28 . that is , as the extra length , slack , is taken out of string 16 by winding it around tuning post 26 , resilient extension 14 is collapsed incrementally , all the while continuing to exert upward pressure in the direction opposite to arrows 28 on string 16 , thus keeping tension on string 18 throughout the entire string attachment process . referring now to fig2 and 3 , a preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated . in this embodiment , first extension 30 is connected to second extension 32 . lower base 34 ( not shown ) is connected to second element 32 and upper base 36 lies on top of lower base 32 thereby forming expandable base 38 . connecting substrate 40 is used to connect first extension 30 , second extension 32 and lower base 34 . connection substrate 40 , in a preferred embodiment , includes connector 42 for removably connecting string assist apparatus 10 to instrument 20 . in a preferred embodiment , connector 42 includes a pair of arms 44 with hook material 46 and loop material 48 . fig2 also illustrates stretchable , resilient , locator 50 with two ends , 52 and 54 . end 52 is connected to connecting substrate 40 . end 54 is connected to upper base substrate 56 . upper base substrate 56 has hook material 46 as shown . fig3 shows lower base 34 in dotted lines as attached to , and covered by , connecting substrate 40 . fig3 also shows loop material 48 and hook material 46 on connecting substrate 40 in the proper places to cooperate in the use of the invention as will be disclosed hereafter . fig3 also shows attachment 58 for use in attaching items to the invention as will also be disclosed more fully hereafter . referring now to fig4 and 5 , the operation of the string assist apparatus 10 is more fully described . fig4 shows the invention in the assembled and extended position . in this extended position , the invention has a height 60 which is achieved from the position illustrated in fig2 by lifting first extension 30 up and bending it over to the end 54 of stretchable , resilient locator 50 . there loop material 48 on the back of first extension 30 cooperates , as is known in the art , with hook material 46 on upper base substrate 56 to form height adjuster 62 . height adjuster 62 , in a preferred embodiment , works as shown in the dotted lines in fig4 . that is , upper base substrate 56 having hook material 56 is pulled away from loop material 48 on the back of the connecting substrate where it covers first extension 30 . first extension 30 is then lifted thereby increasing the height of the invention from height 60 to height 64 and the hook material 46 is reattached to the loop material 48 , as shown in the dotted lines . referring to fig5 the string assist apparatus 10 is shown in its fully collapsed position as is the case when string 16 is properly attached to the tuning post 26 . in this collapsed position , expandable base 38 is expanded completely and stretchable , resilient locator 50 is stretched . it is the nature of stretchable resilient locator 50 to resist stretching and to attempt to return upper base 36 to position approximately on top of lower base 34 as shown in fig4 for example . for the purposes of the invention , stretchable , resilient locator 50 may be made of any stretchable , resilient material that tends to return to its previous position after stretching , such as rubber , elastic , and so forth . because of the stretchable , resilient locator 50 in this embodiment of the invention , the downward force in the direction of arrows 28 in fig1 is constantly resisted by upward force , thereby keeping tension on string 16 throughout the stringing process . after stringing , string assist apparatus 10 in the collapsed position is simply slid out from underneath the string 16 and removed . it is not always necessary to physically attach the invention to an instrument 20 . if the instrument 20 is being restrung on a horizontal surface , string assist apparatus 10 is simply placed directly on the instrument 20 , including other strings that have already been attached , and operated as illustrated . should the instrument 20 need to be restrung while in a non - horizontal location , however , connector 42 is used . the pair of arms 44 are opened and wrapped around the instrument 20 . hook material 46 and loop material 48 then cooperate together to hold the invention in place . once restringing is completed , the arms 44 are separated and the invention is removed as described above . obviously , any type of convenient connector other than hook and loop material now known or hereafter developed is included within the scope of the present invention . referring now to fig6 the string assist apparatus 10 as previously illustrated in fig2 - 5 , is shown in the compact folded position . to fold the invention in this embodiment , upper base substrate 56 is detached from first extension 30 . first extension 30 is then folded on to second extension 32 and then the two are folded on top of stretchable locator 50 and upper base 36 . upper base substrate 56 is then pressed into connection with the loop material 48 on the connecting substrate 40 covering second extension 32 so that the invention is firmly held in this folded position . fig6 also demonstrates the use of attachment 58 . attachment 58 in a preferred embodiment is another section of resilient , elastic material such as used for stretchable , resilient locator 50 . with two ends of the attachment 58 secured to connecting substrate 40 , the center of the attachment 58 is free and useful in compressively holding a variety of necessary and useful instrument items . peg winder 66 is shown held in place by attachment 58 , for example . any other useful items , such as picks and so forth , may be kept with the invention as well . referring now to fig7 another preferred embodiment of the present invention is illustrated . in this embodiment the two basic elements of the invention persist : support 12 and resilient extension 14 . here however , support 12 is in the form of a clamp 68 . clamp 68 is removably attachable to instrument 20 and may include a release trigger 70 , for opening the clamp 68 , as is known in the art . connected to clamp 68 is resilient extension 14 . in the embodiment shown in fig7 resilient extension 14 is an l - shaped arm 72 . l - shaped arm 72 is spring loaded in the up position 74 by any means known in the art . the use of the string assist apparatus 10 of this embodiment is identical to that previously described . after connecting end 18 of string 16 to bridge 22 , string 16 is passed over the top of l - shaped arm 72 and connected to the tuning post 26 . winding string 16 around tuning post 26 causes l - shaped arm 72 to be forced downward to intermediate position 76 and finally , once string 16 is properly wound , to collapsed position 78 . from there l - shaped arm 72 is held in position by a retaining detent , not shown , or any other suitable means , the release trigger is operated and the invention removed from the instrument 20 . fig7 also illustrates another common feature , the height adjuster 62 . in this embodiment , l - shaped arm 72 includes an upper arm 80 and a lower arm 82 . upper arm 80 is conformed to just fit within lower arm 82 . knurled connector 84 is used to compressively secure upper arm 80 at the selected height by twisting knurled connector 84 , as is known in the art . referring now to fig8 and 9 , another preferred embodiment of the present invention is illustrated . in this embodiment the two basic elements of the invention persist as well : support 12 and resilient extension 14 . in this embodiment however , support 12 and resilient extension 14 are formed by inverted v - shaped wedge 86 . inverted v - shaped wedge 86 is a spring loaded hinge with an apex 88 and two sides 90 and 92 . sides 90 and 92 are connected at ends 94 to apex 88 and contact instrument 20 at ends 96 . apex 88 is a resilient spring loaded hinge 98 to which both sides 90 and 92 are attached . in use , string 16 passes under one end 96 over apex 88 and under the other end 96 and holds inverted v - shaped wedge 86 in place . as string 16 is wound tight apex 88 is pressed in the direction of arrow 100 and ends 96 are moved away from each other as the inverted v - shaped wedge is flattened . in other preferred embodiments , apex 88 includes a cover 102 on which string 16 would slide and a spring tension adjuster 104 for adjusting the tension in spring loaded hinge 98 . height adjustment for this embodiment is easily accomplished by providing telescoping legs to sides 90 and 92 as described with l - shaped arrow 72 above . fig9 shows this embodiment of the invention in the collapsed position , from which the v - shaped wedge is simply slid out from underneath string 16 and the instrument is ready to play . it should be understood that many variations of the invention are included within the scope of these preferred embodiments . the fundamental requirements are for a support 12 and a resilient extension 14 . as illustrated , the support 12 can take the form of expandable base 38 or clamp 68 . other supports 12 are included as is apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art . further , resilient extension 14 can take the form of first extension 30 and second extension 32 . it can also take the form of l - shaped arm 72 . further the support 12 and resilient extension 14 can take the form of an inverted v - shaped wedge 86 with resilient apex 88 and sides 90 and 92 . while the present invention has been disclosed in connection with the preferred embodiment thereof , it should be understood , again , that there may be other embodiments which fall within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the following claims .	6
referring to the drawings there is shown a rescue descender device 1 in accordance with the invention . as shown in fig6 a to 6d , the rescue descender device 1 is arranged to be worn on the back of a user mounted to a body harness 30 and be connected to a fall arrest lifeline 36 , such as a self retracting lifeline as are known in the art . the rescue descender device 1 comprises , a first length of binding webbing 2 comprising an upper loop 3 , a lower loop 4 and an intermediate webbing length 5 which is stitched together to form a double thickness between the upper and lower loops 3 , 4 . the upper loop 3 of the first length of webbing is arranged to be connected to a fall arrest lifeline such as the self retracting lifeline 36 as are known in the art . the first length of binding webbing 2 is wrapped , serpentine fashion , around a restraint device 6 which comprises a u shaped frame 7 having spaced limbs 8 , at their upper ends joined by a curved crosspiece , and at their lower ends connected to a fixing bracket 9 connected to a descent line store device 10 . a series of movable pinch bars 11 are mounted on the spaced limbs 8 and the first length of binding webbing 2 is wrapped around the movable pinch bars 11 as shown in the figures in serpentine fashion . the movable bars 11 can slide up and own the spaced limbs 8 , upward movement being limited by a load arm mounting component 12 that is fixed relative to the u shaped frame 7 . the movable pinch bars 11 are provided with respective bores to accommodate the limbs 8 . the load arm mounting component 12 carries a pivotally mounted pivoting load arm 13 which has a cross bar 14 and a pair of spaced arms mounting arms 15 a 15 b . the pivoting load arm 13 is connected by a webbing loop harness connector 16 to the safety harness ( not shown ) worn by a user . the webbing loop harness connector 16 is looped around the cross bar 14 of load arm 13 . the pivoting load arm 13 is provided with an abutment piece 17 such that when the pivoting load arm 13 is biased to its normal at rest position ( as shown in fig1 a and 1b ) by the biasing torsion spring 18 , the abutment piece 17 is positioned to lie adjacent the head of a release pin 19 , which is mounted in respective receiving bores 20 of the mounting component 12 . the head of the release pin 19 is connected to an end of a pin release tether 21 . the lower loop 4 of the first length of webbing 2 is connected via a connector clasp 22 to a descent line 23 . the descent line 23 is fixed at its other end and is wound on a descent line drum 24 . the descent line drum 24 is mounted to a support plate 25 . a brake device 26 is also mounted to the support plate 25 . the brake device 26 is coupled to rotation of the descent line drum 24 , by means of a gear arrangement comprising a main gear 27 which rotates with the brake device 26 and is connected to a brake pinion gear 28 by means of an idler gear 29 . as the brake device 26 rotates to deploy the descent line 23 , the brake pinion gear 28 is activated by the main gear 27 in order to brake the rotation of the descent line drum 24 and slow deployment of the descent line 23 . as shown in fig1 a and 1b , when the rescue descender device 1 is ready for use , it is in the configuration shown . the webbing loop harness connector 16 is connected to the users harness and the upper loop 3 is connected via the safety line 36 ( for example a standard self retracting lifeline ) to an anchor point . in this way the user is securely anchored to an anchor point via the rescue descender device 1 . in this configuration , the release pin 19 cannot be removed from the receiving bores 20 of the load arm mounting component 12 . this is because the abutment piece 17 of the pivoting load arm 13 is positioned adjacent the head of the release pin 19 and prevents removal of the release pin 19 . in the embodiment shown the torsion spring 18 biases the pivoting load arm 13 to this ‘ normal ’ position , although the shape of the pivoting load arm 13 is such that the pivoting moment normally biases the pivoting load arm 13 to this position under gravity in any case . in this configuration the user can move about their business unhindered , but the release pin 19 cannot be removed either intentionally or unintentionally . in the event of a fall arrest event , the rescue descender device 1 reconfigures from the position shown in fig1 a and 1b to the position shown in fig4 a and 4b via the intermediate position shown in fig3 a and 3b . as the user becomes suspended from the anchor point via the safety line 36 connected to the upper loop 3 of the first length of the binding webbing 2 , the intermediate webbing length 5 pulls up on the series of movable bars 11 causing the movable bars 11 to slide upwardly and pinch the intermediate webbing length 5 securely . this ensures that the intermediate webbing length 5 and the movable bars 11 are held fast . the main upward force acts via the lowermost of the movable bars 11 and the intermediate binding webbing length 5 which is wrapped around the lowermost of the movable bars 11 . this configuration is shown in fig3 a and 3b . simultaneously , under the weight of the user now suspended from the anchor point , the pivoting load arm 13 pivots downwardly ( arrow a ). in so doing , the abutment piece 17 of the pivoting load arm 13 pivots out of its blocking position adjacent with the head of release pin 19 . therefore once the fall arrest event occurs and the pivoting load arm 13 is loaded by the user &# 39 ; s suspended weight , the abutment piece 17 moves such that the release pin 19 can be pulled out of the receiving bores 20 of the load arm mounting component 12 . in this embodiment the release pin 19 can only be removed from its home position secured in the receiving bores 20 of the load arm mounting component 12 when the pivoting load arm 13 is moved from its normal position . furthermore the arrangement ensures that the pivoting load arm 13 moves from its home position automatically as a result of a fall arrest event . the pin release tether 21 is connected to the release pin 19 and has an end accessible to be pulled by the user to enable the release pin 19 to be removed when ready . as shown in fig6 a to 6c the release tether 21 can be secured within a pack or enclosure mounted on or with the harness 30 ready for use . in the embodiment shown the release tether is secured to a shoulder strap 30 a on the front of the user and a finger grip toggle 31 is connected to the tether line 21 to be pulled by the user in order to release the release pin 19 . the tether line 21 is provided with a velcro type band 32 to secure to the shoulder strap 30 a . an over cover 33 is provided to prevent accidental release . in a preferred embodiment the tether line 21 can be provided with a second pull formation 37 in addition to the finger pull toggle 31 . the second pull formation 37 is a rigid or semi - rigid ring ( such as a ‘ d ’ ring ) secured in position on the tether line 21 . the second pull formation 37 is in use positioned to stand proud of , or project from , the shoulder strap of the harness adjacent the shoulder , torso or back of a user . the second pull formation 37 is shown in fig6 a 6 b 6 d ( but omitted from fig6 c ). in use the second pull formation 37 can be accessed remotely from the user , for example by means of hook rod used from above , in order to pull the release tether line remotely from the user . this enables the user to be lowered using the decent device actuated from a remote position . once the user has fallen and his fall has been arrested , he is suspended by the device 1 which is attached to the harness 30 on the back of the user . as shown in fig6 c and 6d , when the user is ready he opens the over cover 33 , peels back the band 32 and pulls on the pin release tether 21 to remove the release pin 19 from its home position . the resultant operation is shown in fig5 a and 5b . the release pin 19 releases from the lower loop 4 of the first length of the binding webbing 2 . as a result of releasing the lower loop 4 of the first length of webbing , the lower loop 4 can drop down releasing the tension on the intermediate webbing length 5 wound around the lowermost one of the movable pinch bars 11 . as a result the series of movable bars 11 can drop downwardly ( see the arrows in fig5 b ) becoming spaced out on the u shaped frame 7 . the intermediate webbing length 5 is no longer bound fast by the movable pinch bars 11 and as a result the intermediate webbing length 5 can feed through the pinch bars 11 in an upward direction of the u shaped frame 7 . the closed end of the lower loop 4 catches on the connector clasp 22 and pulls the connector clasp 22 through the movable bars 11 along a serpentine path in an upward direction of the u shaped frame 7 . in so doing the descent line 23 is also pulled from the descent line drum 24 along the same path . as a result loop 2 moves away from the u shaped frame 7 , and the u shaped frame 7 and the user attached via the webbing loop harness connector 16 descends relative to the upper loop 2 . fig4 a and 4b show the connector clasp 22 pulled completely through the u shaped frame 7 and bars 11 together with the upper end of the connector clasp 22 . the brake device 26 acts to slow the rate of descent in accordance with a preset desired descent rate . in this embodiment , the release pin 19 is not a primary load supporting member of the rack restraint device 6 . the main vertical load is taken up by the intermediate webbing length 5 folded under the lowermost pinch bar 11 . the length 5 is clamped between the pinch bars 11 , such that the downward pulling force exerted by the loop 4 on the pin 19 is negligible when compared with the impulse weight or force as a result of the suspended user . accordingly the force required to remove the pin 19 ( when the abutment piece 17 is moved clear of the path of the release pin 19 ) is sufficiently low to enable the user to remove the pin 19 manually by pulling on the release pin tether 21 . the pivoting load arm 13 moves automatically as a result of the load applied by the suspended user to clear the abutment piece 17 from obstructing removal of the release pin 19 . the load of the suspended user imparted between the length of webbing 2 ( connected to the safety line 36 ) and the descender device is not transmitted primarily via the release pin 19 . the load on the release pin 19 is substantially independent of the load imparted by the suspended user . the first length of webbing 2 is connected to the descent line 23 by the clasp 22 . these can be considered effectively as a single line as they act as such when deployed . the webbing 2 is connected to the safety line 36 . referring now to fig7 a to 9b , there is shown an alternative embodiment of the invention . in the arrangement shown in fig7 a to 9b the restraint device 6 of the first embodiment having the u shaped frame 7 with the bars 11 movably mounted on the limbs 8 is replaced by a cam action restraint device 56 . the cam action restraint device 56 comprises a cam actuator 57 which is mounted to a support plate 58 by means of a pivot pin 59 mounted between limbs 60 . a length of descent line 61 extends in the channel defined between the limbs 60 past the position of the pivot pin 59 and the cam actuator 57 . the cam actuator 57 has a length of descent line 61 extending radially with respect to an arcuate slot 63 . the length of descent line 61 receives the pivot pin 59 . the arcuate slot 63 receives the release pin 64 . the cam actuator 57 is provided with a serrated grip zone 65 for biting into the length of descent line 61 to clamp the length of descent line 61 fast against the support plate 58 . the cam action restraint device 56 is provided with a pivoting load arm 66 corresponding to the pivoting load arm 13 of the first embodiment , which has projecting abutment pieces 67 corresponding to the abutment piece 17 of the first embodiment . the abutment pieces 67 act to prevent removal of the release pin 64 from the arcuate slot 63 until the load is applied to pivot the pivoting load arm 66 as a result of a fall ( in a similar means to operation of the first embodiment ). the arrangement of this embodiment is set up for use by arranging the cam action restraint device 56 in the configuration shown in fig7 a to 7c . in this position , presence of release pin 64 in the arcuate slot 63 ensures that the cam actuator 57 pivots about the end of the eccentric slot 62 closest to the arcuate slot 63 . in so doing when the length of descent line 61 is pulled upwardly by a load , acting in the direction of arrow z ( as shown in fig8 a to 8c ), the cam actuator 57 tends to pivot to become increasingly engaged with length of descent line 61 , ensuring that the clamping grip against support plate 58 is increased . the arcuate slot 63 permits pivoting of the cam actuator 57 about the pivot pin 59 to a limited arc . in this way increasing load on the length of descent line 61 results on an increasingly secure grip of length of descent line 61 against support plate 58 . in the set up position , the pivoting load arm 66 , which is connected to the users harness , is biased to a position in which one of the abutment pieces 67 are positioned adjacent the end of the release pin 64 , preventing the release pin 64 from being removed from its position within arcuate slot 63 . when the user falls and the fall is arrested , the pivoting load arm 66 pivots to a release position under the load applied by the user suspended from the length of descent line 61 . this is the position shown in fig8 a to 8c . this happens in a similar manner as for the first embodiment . in so doing , the abutment piece 67 moves clear of the release pin 64 and no longer acts as an obstruction to removal of the release pin 64 from the arcuate slot 63 . the user can pull on a release pin tether 68 which is connected to the release pin 64 in order to pull the release pin 64 completely out of the arcuate slot 63 . in so doing , cam actuator 57 is able to move away from the length of descent line 61 and the support plate 58 and the clamping grip of the cam actuator 57 against the support plate 58 is released . the eccentric slot 62 moves with respect to the pivot pin 59 from the clamping position shown in fig7 and 8 to a release position shown in fig9 a and 9b . the cam actuator 57 is free to rotate to the release position as shown in fig9 a and 9b . in this position , the length of descent line 61 can pas through the cam action restraint device 56 . the length of descent line 61 can extend completely through the device and be connected at an upper end to the safety line and wound below the cam action restraint device 56 onto a storage reel ( such as the reel 24 ). up - line and down - line of the cam action restraint device 56 , the descender device can be in accordance with the first described embodiment . accordingly when the cam action restraint device 56 has been released to the configuration of fig9 a and 9b , the length of descent line 61 can be wound from the descent line drum 24 along the path through the cam action restraint device 56 . the brake device 26 acts to slow the rate of descent in accordance with a preset desired descent rate . in this embodiment , the release pin 64 is not a load supporting member of the cam action restraint device 56 and accordingly the force to remove the pin 64 ( when the abutment piece 67 is moved clear of engagement with the release pin 64 ) is sufficiently low to enable the user to remove the pin 64 manually by pulling on the release pin tether 68 . the pivoting load arm 66 moves automatically as a result of the load applied by the suspended user to clear the abutment piece 67 from obstructing removal of the release pin 64 . the load of the suspended user imparted between the length of descent line 61 and the descender device 56 is not transmitted primarily via the release pin 64 . the load on the release pin 64 is independent of the load imparted by the suspended user . referring now to fig1 to 13b , there is shown a further embodiment of a descender device 101 , which is similar in general terms to the device 1 of fig1 to 5 . in this embodiment a restraint rack device 106 has a u shaped frame comprising spaced limbs 108 and two pinch bars 111 which are slidably mounted on the limbs 108 . the main difference of this embodiment over the first described embodiment is in relation to the connection between the binding webbing 102 and the descent line 123 . in the previously described embodiment the lower loop 4 of the binding webbing 2 was secured to the upper end of the descent line 23 by means of the clasp 22 . this requires the clasp 22 to be pulled through the bars 11 when the descent line is being deployed . in practice the clasp can foul or become trapped resulting in non - ideal deployment or even malfunction . in the embodiment of fig1 to 13b , the binding webbing 102 and the release line are connected at a d ring 170 which is positioned downstream of the restraint rack device 106 and which therefore does not need to be pulled through the rack during deployment of the release line 123 . the upper portion of the release line 123 is threaded serpentine fashion through the pinch bars 111 . the binding webbing is likewise threaded serpentine fashion through the pinch bars 111 and the lower loop 104 is secured about a release pin 119 which is secured in a cradle 118 provided on a platform 112 by means of a breakable clip 171 . the platform 112 is provided with mounting apertures to enable mounting on the limbs 108 and is secured in position on the rack frame device limbs 108 by means of a pin 175 passing through bores 181 , and also the mating plugs 185 . the swing arm 113 is pivotally mounted on the plugs 185 and provides for securing to the users harness . as shown most clearly in fig1 b , the release pin 119 is secured by the breakable clip 171 in a specific orientation in the cradle 118 . when the device is loaded as a result of a fall arrest event , the binding webbing 102 is pulled tight resulting in the pinch bars 111 being pulled upwardly towards the top of the rack device 106 . the release line 123 is pinched by the pinch bars preventing the release line 123 from being pulled through the device . in the loaded condition , the loop 104 of the binding webbing 102 is secured over the release pin 119 . the webbing 102 extends downwardly from the pin 119 via an opening 190 in the cradle 118 . therefore in the loaded condition , the tension in the webbing 102 tends to securely hold the release pin 119 in the cradle . the end of the pin 119 rests on a ledge 195 adjacent the opening 190 . when the user is suspended and wishes to deploy the release line 123 , the user tugs sharply on the release pin tether 121 . in doing so the release pin ruptures the clip 171 and pivots from the position shown in fig1 b to the position shown in fig1 b . in the position shown in fig1 the end of the release pin 119 is no longer supported on the ledge 195 and the downward force acting on the pin by means of the loop 104 causes the loop 104 to be pulled downwardly off the end of pin 119 and through the opening 190 . in so doing the binding action exerted by the binding webbing 102 on the pinch bars 111 is released and they are able to move apart on the limbs 108 . this enables the binding webbing 102 and the release line 123 to be drawn simultaneously through the pinch bars 111 . this situation is shown in fig1 a and 13b . a variation on this theme is shown in the embodiment of fig1 a to 14c , in which like items are referred to with the same reference numbers as the previous embodiment of fig1 to 13b . in this embodiment the opening 190 is replaced by a slot 290 downwardly through which the end loop 104 of the binding webbing 102 is pulled when the release pin breaks free from the clip 171 . a guide frame 199 is provided for the release pin tether 121 in order to ensure that the release pin is pulled from the correct direction to effect release .	0
in the circuit of fig5 between a power supply terminal t2 of dc voltage vm and the ground , there is connected a series circuit of the emitter - collector path of a transistor q1 , diodes d1 and d4 , the emitter - collector path of a transistor q4 , and a variable constant current circuit a2 of a current - sink type . also , a series circuit is shown of a transistor q2 , diodes d2 and d5 , and a transistor q5 , and a series circuit of a transistor q3 , diodes d3 and d6 , and a transistor q6 , which are respectively connected in parallel with the series circuit of the transistor q1 , the diodes d1 and d4 , and the transistor q4 . in addition , among respective connection points of the diodes d1 and d4 , d2 and d5 , and d3 and d6 are connected stator windings l1 , l2 and l3 of the motor . the variable constant current circuit a2 is controlled in its current value by a control signal fed from a terminal t3 . according to the above circuit construction , currents i1 to i3 flowing through the windings l1 to l3 are to be sunk into the constant current circuit a2 in sequence , so that these currents can be controlled by the constant current circuit a2 . accordingly , motor torque can be freely and linearly controlled by changing the constant current circuit a2 . in this case , the diodes d1 to d6 are used for protecting the transistors q1 to q6 against respective base - emitter break - down voltages thereof . in the example of fig6 the constant current circuit a2 is of a current - source type and is connected to the hot end of the motor windings . in a circuit of fig7 the transistors q4 to q6 are biased to operate in class a mode , and serve as a switching device as well as a constant current circuit a2 . the control circuit a1 functions to control the on - and - off operation of the transistors q11 to q13 connected as shown . the motor current in is detected by a resistor ro and a detected output therefrom is fed to a comparator a3 where it is compared with the control signal from the terminal 3 . then , a compared output of the comparator a3 is supplied through the transistors q11 to q13 to the transistors q4 to q6 so that the transistors q4 to q6 operate in a manner similar to the constant current circuit a2 of fig5 . thus , according to the above example , since the transistors q4 to q6 have the function of a switching device and as well as the constant current circuit a2 , the cost of the total circuit can be reduced . also , each of the transistors q4 to q6 operates as the constant current circuit for only one - third of the time period , so that each transistor generates less heat which must be dissipated . in an example of fig8 the transistors q1 to q3 are equivalent to the transistors q4 to q6 of fig7 and operate as constant current circuits as well as switching circuits . fig9 shows a practical circuit example corresponding to the circuit of fig5 . in this circuit , the transistors q1 to q6 are each two transistors connected in darlington manner and the constant current circuit a2 is formed of an operational amplifier ao , an output transistor qo and a current detecting resistor ro . accordingly , if the control voltage at the terminal t3 is changed , the collector current of the transistor qo is changed to freely control the motor torque , in accordance with the control voltage . transistors q7 to q9 and q15 to q17 are switching buffer transistors controlled from each emitter side thereof . fig1 shows a practical circuit example corresponding to the circuit of fig7 . in this circuit , the comparator a3 is formed of the operational amplifier ao and the current detecting resistor ro . fig1 shows a more practical circuit example which is actually designed for a reel motor of a vtr . in the example of fig1 , dynamic control of a supply voltage to the motor is also carried out . since the constant current circuit a2 connected in series to the dc motor is arranged to utilize the collector - emitter path of a transistor to generate a constant current , at least a voltage drop of the collector - emitter voltage vce causes a power loss by an amount of the product of the voltage drop vce and motor current . in order to hold the above power loss to a minimum value , the circuit of fig1 uses an additional circuit as shown in fig1 or fig1 . in fig1 , an operational amplifier a7 is provided and a reference voltage vr is fed to this amplifier a7 at its non - inverting input from the voltage source vo . the motor m and the constant current circuit a2 are connected in series between the output end of the amplifier a7 and the ground , and the connection point between the motor m and the constant current circuit a2 is connected to the inverting input end of the amplifier a7 . according to the construction as mentioned above , a current flowing through the motor m is determined by the constant current circuit a2 and hence the torque of the motor m can be freely controlled by the control voltage applied at terminal t1 . in this case , the drop voltage vce across the constant current circuit a2 is compared with the reference voltage vr in the operational amplifier a7 and the compared output vh therefrom is supplied to the motor m so that vce = vr is obtained . accordingly , if the reference voltage vr can be held to the minimum value required for a constant current transistor to operate , the drop voltage vce can be made small with the constant current transistor being kept in a normally operating state . as a result , the addition of the above circuit makes it possible to freely control the torque of the dc motor and also to reduce its power loss . in an example of fig1 , an adder ad is provided between the output end of the operational amplifier a7 and the motor m , and the control voltage from the terminal t1 is applied through a resistor rm to the adder ad . the value of the resistor rm is made equal to the dc resistance of the motor m . accordingly , in this case , the dc resistance of the motor m is compensated for by the resistor rm , so that the control voltage from the terminal t1 can widely control the torque of the motor m . in order to perform the above operation in the circuit of fig1 , the operational amplifier a7 is provided and a control loop is formed through diodes d7 , d8 and d9 which are connected to windings l1 , l2 and l3 , respectively . the operating voltages of the transistors q4 to q6 are fed back to the operational amplifier a7 and the required minimum voltage is applied to the motor circuit . the circuit of fig1 also includes a comparator a6 , an operational amplifier a4 and a switching circuit a5 for bidirectional control . that is to say , the terminal t3 is supplied with a control voltage which is varied in polarity and level according to torque to be required as shown in fig1 a by a solid line and this control voltage is supplied to the operational amplifier a4 to produce a control voltage which is changed in a complementary manner to the original control voltage as shown in fig1 a by a dotted line . these control voltages are supplied to the switch circuit a5 . the control voltage from the terminal t3 is also supplied to the comparator a6 where it is converted into a signal which is varied in level according to the direction of torque , as shown in fig1 b , and this signal is supplied to the switch circuit a5 as its control signal so that a dc voltage having a level corresponding to the absolute value of torque as shown in fig1 c is derived from the switch circuit a5 . this dc voltage is supplied to the operational amplifier a3 for the motor torque control . the output voltage of the comparator a6 is also supplied to the terminal t1 as a signal for controlling the direction of rotation . further , the operational amplifier a7 performs control of the motor drive voltage described in fig1 to obtain a motor torque drive circuit with high efficiency . it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that many modifications and variations may be effected without departing from the spirit and scope of the novel concepts of the present invention .	7
a system in accordance with one embodiment of the invention includes a plurality of computers 20 referred to herein as servers . although only a few server computers 20 are depicted in fig1 , it should be appreciated that a typical system typically will include tens or even hundreds of server computers . each computer 20 includes all of the internal components normally found in a personal computer as , for example , central processing units , memory storage devices such as disk drives and all of the components used for connecting these elements with one another . these internal elements of the server computer may be of any conventional type . also , some or all of these server computers may include optional components such as data communications cards , modems , and the like for connecting the server computers or devices outside of the system . each computer 20 includes a conventional vga video output connection 22 ( fig3 ), keyboard connection 24 and mouse connection 26 . the computer is arranged in the conventional manner to receive keyboard inputs through connection 24 and also to provide some keyboard control signals as , for example , signals which control the status of indicator lights for caps lock , number lock and scroll lock lamps on the keyboard . similarly , the computer is arranged to receive mouse inputs at connection 26 and to send mouse control signals through the same connection . these connections are arranged in the conventional manner , normally used with standard keyboards and mice . the vga output connection 22 is arranged to provide video output in the vga format accepted by conventional monitors . the vga format includes separate analog rgb ( red , green , blue ) color signals , each of 0 . 7 volts peak to peak with separate horizontal and vertical synchronization signals on different signal lines . the synchronization signal polarity differs depending on the screen resolution . in ordinary use of a personal computer , connections 22 , 24 and 26 are connected to a monitor , keyboard , and mouse , respectively , in the immediate vicinity of the computer , typically within about a meter or less . the signals provided at these ports , and particularly the vga video signal are not well suited to long distance transmission . each server computer 20 is connected to a device 28 referred to herein as a transmitter . each transmitter is located in close proximity to the associated computer , typically within a meter of the computer . transmitters 28 may be housed within the computers themselves or else may be housed in a separate chassis holding a few transmitters connected to server computers in the immediate vicinity of such separate chassis . transmitters 28 may be conventional devices used for adapting the vga output from the computer to a format suitable for long - distance transmission . each transmitter is also arranged to adapt the keyboard and mouse connections 24 and 26 to send and receive data in a format which is also suited for long - distance transmission . devices of this nature are well known in the art . one such device is commercial available under the trademark freedesk transmitter from ccc group , plc of farnbrough , hants , united kingdom and from ccc usa , inc . of melville , n . y ., usa . the freedesk transmitter includes a video conditioning circuit 30 and a set of three differential output amplifiers 32 . these elements cooperate to convert each of the red , green and blue color signals in the incoming vga signal into a pair of output signals having opposite polarities . the pair of video signals representing each color is provided at the output of one output amplifier 32 . the video conditioning circuit also serves to impress the horizontal synchronization signal onto the pair of output signals representing the red video signal . a combined horizontal and vertical synchronization signal is applied on the pair of outputs representing the green video signal , whereas a signal representing the polarity of the original vga synchronization signal is combined with the pair of signals representing the blue video component . transmitter 28 also includes a microprocessor 32 connected to the keyboard and mouse connection 24 and 26 of the computer . the microprocessor is connected to an outgoing serial data connection 34 and incoming serial data connection 36 which provide a duplex serial data communication link . the microprocessor combines control signals sent by the computer through the keyboard and mouse connections 24 and 26 into an outgoing serial data stream provided on this duplex link . the microprocessor is arranged to extract keyboard and mouse data from an incoming data stream on the same duplex link and to route the incoming data to the keyboard and mouse ports 24 and 26 . the three pairs of analog color signals from amplifiers 32 and the serial data connections 34 and 36 are connected at eight pin positions in a standard rj45 telephone - type jack , as shown in table i . the system also includes a set of output devices , typically monitors 40 and input devices such as keyboards 42 and mice or other pointing devices 44 . these i / o devices are disposed at numerous user locations 46 . although only a few user locations 46 are depicted in fig1 , it should be appreciated that a typical system may include tens or even hundreds of user locations . typically , user locations 46 are dispersed as , for example , throughout a building . the set of input and output devices disposed at each user location is arranged in groups . each group may be a full group , incorporating a single monitor 40 , a single keyboard 42 and a single mouse or other pointing device 44 , or else may be a partial group omitting one or more of these devices . typically , at least one full group is provided at each user location . for example , user location 46 a has only a single full group , whereas user location 46 b has a full group and three partial groups , each such partial group including only a monitor 40 . each group of input and / or output devices is associated with a protocol converter referred to herein as a receiver ( rx ) 48 . receiver 48 has an rj45 jack 50 with connections corresponding to the connections in the jack of the transmitter . the receiver further includes differential input amplifiers 54 connected to the pairs of inputs on jack 50 . these input amplifiers are connected to a video conditioning circuit 56 . the video conditioning circuit is arranged to reverse the transformation provided by the video conditioning circuit 30 of the transmitter and to provide a standard vga output signal at an output connection 58 . receiver 48 further includes microprocessor 60 connected to a keyboard input jack 62 and a mouse input jack 64 . the microprocessor is also connected to two pins 66 and 68 which serve as the serial input and serial output respectively of the receiver . the microprocessor is arranged to accept keyboard input data from a standard keyboard 42 and mouse input data such as movement and button click data from a standard mouse 44 and to provide such data in a serial format on the duplex communication link provided by connections 66 and 68 . the microprocessor is also arranged to accept keyboard and mouse control data on the duplex communication link and send such control data to keyboard 42 and mouse 44 . the features of the receiver 48 may be identical to those used in the well known and commercially available freedesk ( trademark ) receiver . in the well - known freedesk system , a jack 38 of a particular computer can be connected to the jack 50 of a receiver 48 using wiring having four twisted pairs as , for example , high - grade wiring of the type commonly referred to category 5 568b cable extending over tens or of meters , typically up to about 200 meters . when the transmitter and receiver are connected in this manner , the user can operate the computer using the group of i / o devices connected to the receiver 48 . operation of the freedesk system is transparent to the user ; the user can interact with the computer in substantially the same way as he or she could interact with a computer at his or her location connected directly to the keyboard , mouse and monitor . the same type of connection can be used to provide a part of the interface . for example , where the output of a computer is to be displayed at the users location , but input from the user at that location is not desired , a monitor can be connected to the vga output of the receiver 48 , whereas the keyboard 42 and mouse 44 may be omitted . the system further includes a switch 70 ( fig1 and 2 ) in addition to the freedesk transmitters and receivers . switch 70 includes a set of server interface chassis 72 and a set of user interface chassis 74 . here again , only a few of these components are shown in the drawings for clarity of illustration ; typically , a large number of server interface chassis and a large number of user interface chassis are provided . each server interface chassis 72 includes a backplane 76 with a 64 - channel video bus 76 a providing connections for 64 red , green and blue video signals , i . e ., 192 individual color signals arranged in triplets . each backplane 76 also includes a data bus 76 b with connections for four bi - directional time division multiplexed (“ tdm ”) data channels . these data channels are operated with sixteen time slots per channel in each direction , and hence the data bus can accommodate 64 bi - directional data channels . the backplane further includes a control data serial bus 76 c . the backplane further includes power lines ( not shown ) for powering the various cards held by chassis 72 , as well as slot address pins ( not shown ) which interact with each card in the chassis , to designate a unique card address for each card . each server interface chassis 72 has up to four server interface cards 78 mounted therein . each server interface card is arranged to accept and send control signals and status information on control bus 76 c through a control data connection 90 . each of the server interface cards includes sixteen rj45 type jacks or server input ports 80 , of which only one is shown in fig5 . in use server input ports 80 are connected to the output connectors 38 of transmitters 28 ( fig1 ). each of the server input ports 80 is connected to a server port interface circuit 82 , which includes a microprocessor and video conditioning circuitry . each server port 80 , and the associated circuit 82 have a unique address within the chassis 72 . thus , the ports on the first card 78 are at intra - chassis server port addresses 1 - 16 ; those on the second card are at addresses 17 - 32 , and so on . the video conditioning circuit is adapted to convert each of the differential analog color signal pairs ( red , green and blue ) to a corresponding single signal , and to compensate for line losses and delays in the analog circuitry conveying the signal to the port . the microprocessor included in each server port interface circuit 82 is arranged to convert between serial and tdm data formats . the analog video signals of all sixteen interface circuits 82 are connected through a buffer and selective enabling circuit 83 to a sixteen channel rgb video backplane connector 84 , which in turn is connected to sixteen of the video channels 76 a of the backplane . circuit 83 is also arranged to enable or disable video transmission from each port 80 to the connector 84 in response to control signals addressed to that circuit from a control processor 87 . control processor 87 in turn is connected to the control bus of the backplane through the control data connection 90 of the server interface card . as further discussed below , other components selectively make or break video connections with the video channels 76 a of the backplane so as to connect the video from individual servers to the desired users . the video connection from each port 80 to the connector 84 and hence to the backplane video x channels 76 a could remain enabled at all times . however , the connection to the backplane of those video channels which are not connected to any user is disabled so as to save power and reduce noise on the backplane . the server interface card 78 further includes a multiplex circuit 86 . the multiplex circuit is connected to the processor in each of the interface circuits 82 . the processor in each of the interface circuits 82 captures serial data transmitted into the port 80 and sends the same to multiplex circuit 86 . the multiplex circuit is arranged to send the data captured from the various serial signals passing through the interface circuits in time division multiplex format , in a single bi - directional tdm channel with 16 bi - directional tdm slots , through connection 88 , such that the data from each server port 80 is sent in a particular time slot of the tdm transmission scheme . similarly , the time division multiplex circuit 86 is arranged to accept time division multiplex data on connection 88 and to send data in a particular time slot of the tdm transmission scheme to a particular interface circuit 82 and server port 80 associated with that particular time slot . the server interface card 78 is connected to the backplane 76 of a server interface chassis 72 so that the sixteen channel video connector 84 of each card 78 is connected to sixteen of the sixty - four video channels on the backplane . thus , each port 80 is coupled to the video channel corresponding to the intra - chassis address of that port . also , the tdm data connection 88 of each card 78 is connected into one of the four tdm data channels of the backplane so that the serial data connections of each server port 80 are connected to the corresponding tdm slot on the backplane . for example , the port with intra - chassis address 17 is coupled to that 17th video channel of bus 76 d and to the 17th tdm slot of tdm data channels 76 b . each server interface card 78 further includes an expansion connection 92 . the expansion connection carries buffered replicates of the incoming video signals and also carries a tdm data channel including the 16 bi - directional tdm slots as carried by data connection 88 . as discussed below , the expansion connection can be used to connect additional server interface chassis into the system . the video signals to expansion connection 92 are always enabled . each server interface chassis 72 also includes up to 16 matrix cards 94 . each matrix card 94 includes an analog switching circuit 96 ; a digital switching circuit 98 and a controller 100 . controller 100 may include one or more microprocessors connected through a control port 102 to receive control signals on the control bus 76 c of backplane 76 . each matrix card 94 includes a 32 channel video input connector 104 and a 32 channel video output connector 106 . these connectors are arranged to handle 32 channels of rgb video signals . the matrix card further includes a 64 channel video backplane connector 108 adapted to connect the 64 channel rgb video bus 76 a of the backplane with the analog switching circuit 96 . appropriate buffer amplifiers ( not shown ) are also associated with the input connectors 108 and 104 and with the output connector 106 . the matrix card 94 further includes a four channel tdm backplane connection 110 adapted to mate with the data tdm 76 b of the backplane in the server chassis 72 ; a dual 16 slot tdm input connection 112 providing 32 tdm data slots in all ; and a similar , dual 16 slot output connection 114 . the tdm connections 110 , 112 and 114 are linked to digital crosspoint controller 98 . the analog switching circuit 96 may include a set of crosspoint switching devices such as twenty - four ad8116 16 × 16 crosspoint video switches having inputs connected to backplane connector 108 and having outputs connected to the channels of output connector 106 , together with additional switches for selectively connecting each channel of input connector 104 to the corresponding channel of output connector 106 . as further discussed below , the analog switching circuit 96 can connect any of the 32 output video channels on output connector 106 with any of the 64 video channels from the backplane at connector 108 , or with any of the thirty - two video channels from the video input connector 104 . similarly , the digital switching circuit includes a set of switching devices which may incorporate a pair of i - cube 96 way keyboard and mouse switches connected to tdm backplane connection 110 and to the tdm output connection 116 . circuit 98 can associate any of the 32 bi - directional slots provided by the two outgoing tdm channels at output 114 with any of the sixty - four tdm slots available on the backplane or with any of the thirty - two tdm slots available at the input connection 112 . each server interface chassis 72 also includes a controller card 120 . each controller card includes two identical halves 122 . each half of the controller card incorporates a controller 124 , desirably an 80 × 86 microprocessor such as an 80186 microprocessor of the type available from the intel corporation . the two microprocessors 124 are connected to one another so that each can monitor the status of the other . when power is first applied to the controller card , the two microprocessors compete for control of the system ; the first one of the two microprocessors which completes its power - on sequence wins control . the half 112 of the card having the winning microprocessor 124 remains active , whereas the other half remains inactive but continues to perform a check on the first half . however , upon a failure or fault condition , in the active half of the card , the inactive half takes over , and the other half enters the fault - checking mode . each half of the card includes a clock or timing circuit 126 arranged to produce clock and framing signals as needed for time division multiplex communications . timing circuits 126 are connected to timing ports 127 . each half of the card also includes appropriate communications interfaces ( not shown ) adapted to connect the microprocessor or controller 124 with the control data bus 76 c ( fig2 ) of the backplane through a control data port 125 . each half also includes a keystroke tdm data port 128 and appropriate interface devices ( not shown ) for routing tdm data received at port 128 to the microprocessor 124 . the keystroke tdm data port is not used in those control cards which are installed in server interface chassis . each half of the card also includes an external communications interface or serial interface 130 connected to an rs422 serial data port 132 and an rs232 standard serial data port 134 . as further discussed below , the controller card associated with each server interface chassis 72 is arranged to receive command signals from a switch control computer through the rs422 serial port and is further adapted to interpret these commands and use the interpreted commands to control the server interface cards and matrix cards in the chassis . each user interface chassis 74 includes a backplane 140 having power connectors ( not shown ), a control bus 143 and a 16 - slot tdm channel 145 referred to as the keystroke tdm channel . ( fig2 ). each backplane 140 also provides slot address pins ( not shown ) for providing the various cards inserted in the backplane with hard - coded slot addresses . each user interface chassis is provided with a control card 142 identical to the control cards 120 discussed above with reference to the server interface chassis . the control data port 125 of the control card is connected to the control data bus 143 of the backplane , whereas the keystroke data port 128 of the control card is connected to the keystroke data bus 145 . each user interface chassis also accommodates up to twenty user interface cards 144 . each user interface card 144 incorporates sixteen channel circuits 146 , of which only two are shown in fig8 for clarity of illustration . each channel circuit includes video conditioning circuitry 148 and output amplifiers 150 . the video conditioning circuitry is arranged to accept rgb video in the format provided by matrix cards 94 and to realign the red , green and blue components with one another based upon the synchronization signals in these components . the video conditioning circuit is also arranged to adjust the gains of these various components based upon the size of the sync pulses in the various components . thus , the video conditioning circuit restores the timing and relative intensities of the red , green and blue signals , thereby compensating for any differences in signal propagation times and amplitude gain in other components of the switching system . the video conditioning circuit and amplifiers 150 provide the outgoing video signal as a set of three opposite polarity signal pairs on terminals of a user port 157 having the same pin assignments as indicated in table i , above . each channel 146 also includes a microprocessor connected to buffer amplifiers 154 to a serial send terminal 156 and a serial receive terminal 158 of user port 157 . the microprocessor 152 of each channel desirably is a pic model 16c622 , made by microchip technology , of chandler , ariz . the processors 152 of the various channels 146 are connected to a time division multiplex interface 160 . interface 160 is arranged to receive a sixteen channel time division multiplex data stream from one of the matrix cards 94 and to divert signals in each of the sixteen channels to a particular processor 152 in a particular data channel 146 associated with that slot . interface 160 is also arranged to accept data from the processor 152 of each channel and send that data in the appropriate slot of the time division multiplex transmission scheme . the user interface card includes a further time division multiplex interface 162 having a connection 164 that mates with the control lines 143 of the user interface chassis 74 ( fig2 ). the processor 152 of each channel 146 is arranged to examine data arriving on serial input 158 , and to recognize preselected command codes appearing in that data . preferably , processor 152 is arranged to recognize a predetermined attention sequence such as the key press code for alt - break and to treat a preselected number of characters following the attention sequence as a command data . for example , the processor may be arranged to treat the key press appearing immediately after the attention sequence as the command data . each processor 153 is arranged to strip the command code ( attention sequence and command data ) out of the data before forwarding the data to tdm interface 160 . each processor 152 diverts the command data to interface 162 . as discussed in greater detail below , the data arriving at each processor 152 on the serial input line 158 is raw scan code data encoded by the keyboard itself . keyboard scan codes for standard keyboards are widely known in the art and are available in standard keyboard technical reference manuals . for example , using a ps / 2 keyboard , each key press generates a particular keyboard scan code when the key is pressed down and generates the same scan code preceded by a delimiter byte ( 0xf0 ) when the key is released . thus , the processor 152 of each channel is arranged to recognize the key press sequence corresponding to alt - break as an attention sequence , and to divert a preselected number of key press sequences following the attention sequence to tdm interface 162 . each channel 146 and each port 157 has a unique address within the chassis . the tdm interface is arranged to send the raw keystroke data diverted by each processor 152 as command data in a tdm slot corresponding to the intra - chassis address of the channel 146 where the data was captured , i . e ., the intra - channel address of the processor 152 and user port 157 where the command code was captured . the various server interface chassis 72 and user interface chassis 74 are interconnected with one another as shown in fig1 and 2 . the timing devices of the various control cards on the server interface chassis and user interface chassis are interconnected with one another by timing patch cords 160 . as noted above , the various control cards have two halves with one clock in each half . the interconnections between the various control cards connect one clock on each card in one set of clocks (“ clock a ”) and another clock on each card in a separate set (“ clock b ”). within each set , one clock is set by internal jumpers to be a master and the other clocks are slaved to this master . the cards all use one clock set and ignore the other unless the first set fails . the clock signals are used to provide synchronization of the various time division multiplex signals on the various chassis . stated another way , all of the transmission and reception times associated with the various time slots in the various time division multiplexing schemes are set with reference to a common clock , so that tdm signals sent by a circuit on one chassis can be received and understood by circuits on another chassis . the rs422 serial communication ports of the control cards 120 in the server interface chassis 72 are connected to one another so as to provide a common server interface serial link 172 . the rs422 serial ports of each control card 142 in each user interface chassis 74 are connected as a separate user interface serial line 174 . the control card 120 in each server interface chassis is programmed with a designation indicating that the card is part of a server interface chassis rather than part of a user interface chassis , and with a chassis address designating the particular server interface chassis . likewise , the control card 142 of each user interface chassis 74 is programmed with a designation indicating that the card is incorporated in a user interface chassis and with a user interface chassis address number . the matrix cards 94 in the various server interface chassis are connected to one another patch cords so as to form columns of matrix cards extending across all of the server interface chassis . for example , matrix 94 a and 94 b form one such column whereas cards 94 c and 94 d form another column . within each vertically extensive column , the video input 104 of each matrix card is connected to the video output 106 of the next higher card in the column . likewise , the bi - directional tdm channel inputs 112 of each matrix card in the column is connected to the tdm output 114 of the next higher matrix card in the column . the interconnections between the cards in the column thus provide thirty - two user video channels extending vertically across all of the server interface chassis and 32 user slots of bi - directional tdm communication ( two channels , each 16 slots ) also extending across all of the server interface chassis . each of the matrix cards can configure any particular user video channel or data slot either as a feed through from the input 104 of that matrix card , in which case the channel will connected to the next higher matrix card in the column . alternatively , each matrix card can connect a particular video channel to a video channel on the backplane of that particular chassis . thus , any of the thirty - two user video channels provided by each column of matrix cards can be connected to any of the video channels 76 a on the backplane of any of server interface chassis 72 . in the same manner , any of the user tdm slots can be connected to any of the tdm slots 76 b provided on the backplane of any server interface chassis . the user video channels and user tdm slots defined by the columns of matrix cards are arranged in order . thus , the first column of matrix cards defines user video channels 1 - 32 and user tdm slots 1 - 32 ; the second column defines video channels 33 - 64 and user tdm slots 33 - 64 and so on . at the bottom of each column , the thirty - two user video channels and thirty - two user tdm slots are split into two paths , each including sixteen user video channels and sixteen bi - directional user tdm slots . each path is connected to one user interface card 144 . each of the sixteen user video channels is connected to the video input of one channel 146 on the user interface card and hence is connected to the video output of one user port 157 . also , the sixteen user tdm slots are interfaced through the tdm processor 160 of the user interface card so that each such user tdm slot is connected to the serial inputs and outputs of a particular user interface port . thus , each of the thirty - two user video channels and thirty - two tdm slots defined by a vertically extensive column of matrix cards is connected to a single user port . as discussed above , each of the user ports 157 has an intra - chassis address . each user port also has an overall address thus , a user port 157 having intra - chassis address iua in the i th user chassis has overall user address oua = iua +( q ×( i − 1 )), where q is the number of user ports per user interface chassis , i . e ., the highest intra - chassis address for a fully - configured chassis . in the system depicted in the drawings , which includes up to 20 user interface cards , each with 16 user ports , in each user interface chassis , q = 320 . each of the user video channels and user tdm slots is connected to the output port having an overall address corresponding to the channel number and slot number , i . e ., the n th video channel and n th user tdm slot are connected to the user port having overall address oua = n . similarly , each of the server ports 80 has an overall server port address osa based on the intra - chassis server port address isa . that is , for a server port in the i th server interface chassis , osa = isa +( z ×( i − 1 )) where z is the maximum number of server interface ports per server interface chassis . for example , in the system shown in the drawings , each server interface chassis can accommodate up to 64 server interface ports , and hence z = 64 . a server port 80 having intra - chassis address 10 in the second of the interface chassis has overall address 10 +( 64 ×( 2 − 1 )) or 74 . as discussed in greater detail below , the matrix cards can connect the serial data connections 156 and 158 of any user port 157 to the serial data connections of any server input port 80 on any of the server interface chassis . similarly , the matrix cards can connect the video outputs in any user output port 157 to the video inputs of any server port 80 . such a connection can be specified completely simply by designating whether the connection is to be a video connection or a data connection , and by designating the overall addresses of the server port and user port which are to be connected . the system further includes a supervisory computer system which includes a switch control computer 200 ; one or more helper computers 202 and one or more administration computers 204 . the helper computers 202 and administration computers 204 most preferably are separate computers , distinct from the switch control computer 200 . the helper computers , administration computers and switch control computers are interconnected to one another in a local area network 206 separate from the switch 70 . desirably , the various computers run under an operating system which is readily integrated with a local area network such as microsoft ® windows nt server , version 4 . 0 or higher . all the various computers desirably are part of a single windows nt domain . each helper computer 202 is also connected to a server input port 80 of switch 70 through a transmitter 28 in exactly the same way as server computers 20 . the switch control computer is equipped with a server control serial interface 208 connected to the server interface chassis serial line 172 . the switch control computer 200 is also provided with individual serial interfaces 210 connected to the individual serial communications lines 174 associated with the control cards of user interface chassis 74 . as further discussed below , the switch control computer 200 acts as the server in lan 206 . for that reason , the switch control computer is sometimes referred to as a “ switch server ”. a database 212 is also provided on local area network 206 . because database 212 is utilized by the switch control computer or switch server 200 , the database is depicted in fig1 as physically associated with the switch control computer . however , the database may be maintained either on the switch control computer itself or on another computer connected to lan 206 . the database may be maintained using a standard database administration program such as microsoft ® sql server , version 6 . 5 . the switch control computer or “ switch server ” also runs a main program which performs the various operations discussed below . this program consists of various modules each of which are responsible for their own tasks . for instance , one module listens on the communications ports 210 connected to the user interface cards . the program uses multi - threading ; one thread is maintained for each user location . when an incoming command from a user location is detected , it is handed to the relevant thread which represents each user location . the work area thread then calls the functions corresponding to the required action . each thread can also request resources such as a helper pc or an open database connectivity or “ odbc ” link to the database and these are managed by other modules such as the helper pc manager and odbc manager which will allocate and de - allocate the required resources as necessary . the database includes data defining identities for particular servers 20 and helper computers 202 connected to the system as , for example , names for such servers and helper computers . the database also includes data defining associations between particular servers and helper computers and particular server ports 80 on the server interface chassis . the database further includes information about particular user locations or work areas 46 , such as the number of receivers 48 at each such location ; whether the group of i / o devices associated with each such receiver includes input devices such as keyboard 42 and mouse 44 ; output devices such display monitors 40 ; or both and a user port address for each receiver . the database desirably further includes information about each authorized user of the system such as a user name ; a password and data defining access rights to particular servers 20 for each user . this data may be provided as an individual list of particular servers authorized for each user . alternatively or additionally , each user may be defined as belonging to one or more user groups , whereas each server may be defined as belonging to one or more server groups , and rights may be allocated on a group - wide basis . the database may also include a temporary list defining a running set of servers for each user location . in operation , when the system is started , all of the i / o devices at user locations 46 are initially disconnected from the server computers 20 and from helper computer 202 . a user at a particular location as , for example , at location 46 a may enter a startup helper code ( alt - break followed by enter ). this code is passed through the serial output 68 ( fig4 ) of the receiver 48 associated with the user &# 39 ; s keyboard and is passed into the serial input 158 of the particular user port 157 connected to that receiver 48 . the processor 152 associated with that port 157 ( fig8 ) responds to the attention sequence ( alt break ) by trapping the next key stroke indication ( enter ) and forwarding that keystroke indication to the command tdm module 162 . the tdm module sends the command data indicating depression of the enter key in a particular slot of the tdm transmission from the particular card associated with intra - chassis address of that channel . thus , if the processor which trapped the helper code was the processor for the has an intrachassis address iua , the the signal sent along the keystroke bus 145 to the control card 142 ( fig2 ) of the user interface chassis will appear in a transmission uniquely identified with intra - chassis address iua . the processor 124 of the control card 142 adds the intra - chassis address within the chassis to the starting address of the chassis to compute the overall user port address oua . the controller formulates a message including the overall user port address and the particular key stroke included in the data ( in this case , the enter key ) and transmits that message along the serial communications link 174 to one of the serial interfaces 210 of switch control computer 200 . communications between the control cards and the serial ports of switch control computer use an ansi x3 . 28 compliant packet communications protocol . as is well known in the art , communications of this nature include features such as message acknowledgment and , in some cases , a check sum for error correction , so as to provide a robust communications link with good assurance that errors in communication will be detected . the switch control computer 200 interprets the message conveying the overall user port address together with a enter key stroke value as a request to connect the input devices ( keyboard and mouse ) and output device ( monitor ) associated with that user port to a helper computer in a sign - on mode . the switch control computer checks the database for helper computers , finds a helper computer which is not currently occupied , and finds the server port address for that helper computer . the switch control computer then broadcasts a signal on the server interface chassis serial control line 172 through communications port 208 , again using the ansi x3 . 28 protocol . the command includes a video connect signal including a code predesignated as meaning “ connect video ” together with two integers ( x and y ), so that the overall command has the meaning “ connect video x y ” where x is the overall server port address of the helper computer and y is the overall user port address which sent the helper command . the computer also sends a command of the meaning “ connect key x y ” where x and y have the same meanings . the control cards 120 of the various serial interface chassis 72 all receive these commands . each controller will compare the server port address within each command to the range of overall server port addresses included in that server interface chassis . the controller card in a server interface chassis having a range of overall server port addresses including x will acknowledge the command , whereas the other controller cards will ignore it . the controller card which acknowledges a connect video command converts the overall server port address to an intra - chassis server port address based on the starting port address of the chassis . for example , the second server interface chassis starts with overall server port address 65 . therefore , if the overall server port address “ 70 ” is indicated by the x value in a connect video command , the control card in the second server interface chassis will respond to the command and will select the sixth server port 80 of that chassis . thus , the control card will select the sixth of the 64 video channels on the backplane of the chassis and will actuate the sixth of the 64 video server interface circuits 82 to route video from its port unto the video channel of the backplane . the control card will also select the particular matrix card encompassing the user video channel corresponding to the user port address designated by the value of y in the command . the control card will send a message to the matrix card including that user video channel instructing it to connect the particular user channel or slot to the particular video channel on the backplane . for example , in response to the response to the command “ connect video 70 35 ”, the control card associated with the second server interface chassis will cause the second matrix card to connect the third one of its video outputs ( the video output associated with the 35th user video channel ) onto the sixth video channel of the backplane in the server interface chassis ( the video channel associated with overall server port address “ 70 ”). the matrix cards maintain continuity between video inputs 104 and video outputs 106 in the absence of specific instructions . thus , the video coupled onto any user video channel or slot at a particular server interface chassis is transmitted through the matrix cards disposed beneath it on other server interface chassis . video coupled onto a user video channel is transmitted down the channel to the particular channel 146 of the user interface card and to a particular user port 157 associated with the user video channel . thus , the video from a particular server port x is coupled to the video output of a particular user port y . in a directly analogous manner , the control cards 120 and the matrix cards respond to the command “ connect key x y ” by connecting a particular time division multiplex slot in a backplane data channel 76 b associated with a particular server port 80 designated by the server port address x with the serial input and output connections 156 and 158 of the particular user port designated by the user port address y . as pointed out above , the message sent by the control card of the user interface chassis 74 to switch control computer 200 tells the switch control computer which user port originated the helper command . the switch control computer uses that port as the user port address in the connect video and connect key commands and thus connects the helper computer to the user port which originated the helper command . the switch control computer 200 also sends a message over the lan to the helper computer advising the helper computer of the identity of the user port , and advising the helper computer that the user at such port wishes to connect to the helper computer in the sign - on mode . at this point , the user is connected to the helper pc 202 through a receiver 48 ; through a user port 157 and switch 70 to a server port 80 associated with the helper pc 202 and through the transmitter 28 associated with the helper pc . the monitor 40 at the user &# 39 ; s location shows output from the helper pc , whereas the keyboard and mouse are connected to the keyboard and mouse connections of the helper pc , so that the user can interchange data with the helper pc in exactly the same manner as if the monitor , keyboard and mouse were directly connected to the corresponding connections of the helper pc 202 . in the sign - on mode , the helper computer enters an initial access routine in which it generates a screen display calling for the user to enter his or her user id and password . upon authentication of the user &# 39 ; s identity and password , the helper pc accesses the database to obtain the list of servers authorized for access by that user . the helper pc also and also accesses information in the database setting forth a correlation between user port addresses and user locations to find the configuration of the input and output devices at the user &# 39 ; s particular location , and the user port addresses associated with various groups of devices . the helper pc displays a list of authorized servers and f the input output devices . the helper pc accepts input from the user defining particular servers to be connected to particular i / d devices . one example of a display which may be generated by the helper pc is shown in fig9 . the list of servers is presented under the heading “ server neighborhood ”. this list includes only those servers which are authorized for access by the particular user . note that the servers are identified by names rather than by port number . also , only those servers authorized for access by the particular user are displayed . where the servers are arranged in groups , the display of available servers may also be grouped . also , the available groups of input and output devices at the user location are displayed under the heading “ work area ”. here again , the available i / o devices are designated on the display by names which are intelligible to the user , rather than by user port numbers associated with the devices . each group of input and output devices at the user &# 39 ; s location is shown by a separate designation such as “ screen 1 ”, “ screen 2 ”, etc . each such group has one receiver 48 and is associated with one user port 157 of switch 70 . the user can designate one or more of the available servers for association each such complement of devices . for example , as shown in fig9 , servers hpc 2 and r 2 d 2 have been designated for association with one group of devices (“ screen 1 ”) whereas servers hpc 1 and nostromon have been designated for association with another group of devices (“ screen 2 ”) and so on . the helper pc program thus establishes a running set of servers associated with the user &# 39 ; s location . within such running set , there may be none , one or more than one server associated with a particular group of i / o devices and hence with a particular user port . if there is more than one server associated with a particular group of i / o devices ( e . g ., screen 1 ), the server at the top of list for that group ( hpc 2 in fig9 ) is active , whereas all other servers are inactive . also , the connection to any port may be designated either as view - only , where only the video output is connected to the user location , or as bi - directional , with connections for video output and user input ( keyboard and mouse ). a choice between view - only and bi - directional connection may be made by the user . also , the table of rights stored in the database may give the particular user only the right to establish a view - only connection to a particular server and not the right to establish a bi - directional connection . once the user has input a running list of servers , the user inputs a command to the helper pc to implement the connection . helper pc 202 communicates this command through lan 206 to switch control computer 200 and enters the appropriate information representing the new running list into database 202 . switch control computer 200 issues disconnect commands similar to the connect video and connect key commands discussed above which cause the switch 70 to disconnect helper pc 202 from the particular user port which was connected to the helper pc . the switch control computer then issues the connect video commands and connect key commands as appropriate to connect the active devices specified in the running list for a particular user to input and output devices at the user &# 39 ; s location . for example , where the running list input through the helper pc specifies a video - only link between computer 20 a and screen 40 b ( user port 157 b ) and also specifies a bi - directional link between server 206 , the group of devices ( monitor 40 c , keyboard 42 c and mouse 44 c ) associated with receiver 48 c and user port 157 c , the switch control computer will issue a connect video command to connect server 20 a with user port 157 b and will issue both connect video and connect key commands to connect server 20 c with user port 157 c . at this juncture , the user is in communication with one or more server computers . while the user is interacting with server computers , the user can send a further helper command , referred to herein as an intra - session helper command , by entering alt - break followed by a tab key . the helper command is handled in the same manner as the startup helper command discussed above . the intra - session helper command includes the attention sequence ( alt - break ) followed by depression of the tab key . once again , the user interface processor associated with the user port receiving the command responds to the attention sequence by trapping the following keystroke signals associated with the tab key press and forwarding a the command to the control card , which sends the intrasession helper command signal to the switch control computer . in response to the intra - session helper command , the switch control computer 200 disconnects the group of i / o devices at the user &# 39 ; s location which originated the command from a server and connects the user port associated with that group of devices to the helper pc in the substantially same way as discussed above . however , the switch control computer signals the helper computer that the connection is an intra - session request rather than a startup request . therefore , the helper computer does not enter the user identification routine discussed above . instead , the helper computer retrieves the identity of the user who is currently signed on at the user location associated with the user port where the command originated . also , while the user is interacting with the servers , the user can enter action codes different from the helper codes . the action codes include the alt - break attention sequence followed by one or more keystrokes other than the tab key or enter key . these action codes are captured by the processor 152 associated with the user port 157 in exactly the same manner as discussed above with reference to the helper codes . here again , the processor passes the keystroke following the attention ( alt - break ) sequence to the command tdm module of the user interface card which forwards the keystroke signal to the control card 142 of the user interface chassis . the control card passes a signal along the serial connection 174 giving the overall user port address . the action codes are as follows : alt - break plus up arrow or alt - break plus down arrow : shift among servers associated with the particular user port . this causes the switch control computer to disconnect the currently active server from the particular user port where the action code was entered and to connect an inactive server designated in the running list for the same user port . in this regard , where more than one server is designated for a particular port in the running set of servers , the database treats these servers as an ordered but circular stack , so that the first server in the stack follows after the last server in the stack . for example , if servers designated as a , b , c and d are in the stack in that order , and server b is currently active , alt - break with up - arrow will make server a active , whereas alt - break with down - arrow will make server c active . if server d is active , alt - break with down arrow will make server a active , whereas alt - break with up arrow will make server c active . alt - break plus left arrow or right arrow — this causes the switch control computer to shift the keyboard and mouse connection to a different server port among the currently active server ports associated with the same user location . for example , assume that server 20 a is connected to the keyboard and video display of user port 157 c , whereas server 20 b has a video - only connection to user port 157 b , both user ports being associated with user location 46 b . if an alt - break left arrow sequence is received on user port 157 c , the keyboard and mouse of port 157 c would be disconnected from server 20 a and reconnected to server 20 b . the alt - break right arrow sequence would be processed in the same manner , to connect the keyboard to a different server . these command effectively shifts the effects of the control input to a server associated with a different screen . because these commands are analogous to the change - focus command in a windowed programming environment , they are referred to herein as change - focus commands . stated another way , for each user location having more than one user port , and hence more than one output device , the running set of servers is maintained as a two - dimensional matrix , with a number of columns equal to the number of user ports and with the stack of servers for each user port constituting one column . this matrix is established by the helper computer when the users selects the set of servers during operation of the helper computer . the particular column where the keyboard is connected is the current column . the up arrow or down arrow sequence moves both the keyboard and video connections up or down the current column , so that the user can pick a new active server for interaction with the keyboard and video . the left arrow and right arrow sequences moves the keyboard and mouse connection to a different column , and thus select a new current column and shifts the effects or focus of control inputs applied through the keyboard and mouse into the active server in the new column . the server computer also takes account of the user &# 39 ; s authorized level of access to particular servers , to preclude a user from gaining unauthorized access by use of action commands . the switch control computer may access the database to determine the identity of the user connected to a particular port , and retrieve that user &# 39 ; s access level for a particular server denoted by an action command , and grant or deny access based on such comparison . preferably , however , when the helper computer establishes the matrix of servers for a particular user location and hence for the particular user at that location , the helper computer may denote each server as either full - access or video - only access . the server computer can use these indications in the matrix defining the running set , and hence need not refer to the data defining the individual user or to the privileges tables for individual users in the larger database . these action codes allow the user to switch among the various servers and to move the outputs of the various servers to convenient locations at his work location without invoking the helper pc . the system thus provides simple commands for performing simple , intuitive operations such as shifting among a few servers on the active list or shifting servers around among different display monitors . however , the user always the option of accessing the helper pc . the user need not rely on his own memory to find appropriate servers . because all of the helper codes and action codes are captured at the user interface chassis , the same cabling which carries the data input by the user can carry the action codes and helper codes . there is no need to provide separate command wiring between the various the user locations and the central location of the switch . additional users can connect to the system in the same manner . the program running on switch control computer switch server 200 maintains separate threads associated with each user location . the helper pcs are treated as shared resources by the program running on the switch control computer or switch server 200 . if a user seeks access to a helper pc while all helper pcs currently occupied , the switch control computer will block such access and will display a message to the user indicating that the helper pc is currently unavailable . a separate device for generating an apology message and providing the appropriate video output with the apology message may be connected to a server port 80 to provide this message . this output can be connected to all user locations which have requested access to the helper but which have not yet been connected to the helper . the switch control computer may act as the apology server . alternatively , the apology server may be a computer programmed to display educational messages to the users while they are waiting to connect with a helper computer . the program on the switch control computer will allow numerous users to have video or output only access to any one server 20 , but will only allow one user at a time to have keyboard or input access to a particular server . the administration pc 204 can be used to perform tasks such as updating the database when the servers 20 or helper computers 202 are installed and updating user profiles . the administration computer may also be connected into a server port 80 of switch 70 so that a user having appropriate privileges can gain access to the administration pc through switch 70 . the rs 232 data communications ports provided on the control cards can be used for service and maintenance procedures . for example , a terminal or computer connected to these ports can be used to send commands to an individual control card to make or break a connection to a particular server port . the various elements of switch 70 can be provided with status and fault reporting features . for example , each of the matrix cards is arranged to report its status and to report successful or unsuccessful operations , such as successful or unsuccessful connection and disconnection , to the microprocessor in the control card of the chassis . the various microprocessors are arranged to send error reporting signals to the switch control computer . the switch control computer may handle mew reports according to a variety of rules depending upon factors such as the nature of the new error report and previous error reports . these rules may be explicitly coded rules set by a program , or may incorporate learned behaviors using techniques commonly referred to as “ artificial intelligence ”. for example , if a particular matrix card reports a failure to disconnect a particular user &# 39 ; s data channel from the data bus of the backplane , the switch control computer may repeat the disconnect command . if the repeated disconnect command fails after a selected number of retries , or if a certain percentage of disconnect or connect commands fail , the switch control computer may treat the matrix card as defective and may issue a command to the control card to disable that matrix card , as by disconnecting the entire card from the power supply . the rules for deciding which action to take in response to which error reports will vary with the application and the goals of the system administrator . for example , in an environment where security is paramount , and where entry of garbled data due to connection of two keyboards to one server could pose a substantial risk to the overall mission , the rules may call for disabling a matrix card , or even the entire system , in response to only a few error reports . in an educational environment where the system is being used to train operators in the use of publicly available software , the inconvenience caused by tolerating a few erroneous connections may be less significant than the inconvenience caused by shutting down part or all of the system . thus , there is no particular set of error - handling rules which is best for all applications . desirably , the switch control program utilizes an event - reporting and event - logging capability , such as those included in the windows nt ® operating system . the event handler in the operating system may be arranged to take appropriate actions , such as establishing a connection to a service facility and sending the appropriate report . the system discussed above can be configured for an unlimited number of servers . thus , any desired number of server chassis 72 can be added to the system . however , each server interface chassis can only accommodate 512 user channels , i . e ., 32 user channels per matrix card , and up to 16 matrix cards per server interface chassis . as discussed above with reference to fig5 , the server interface cards 78 are provided with expansion connectors 92 . these expansion connectors can be used to connect additional server interface chassis as illustrated in fig1 . a second stack of server interface chassis 72 ′ is connected alongside of the first stack of chassis 72 . the additional server interface chassis are provided with server interface cards 78 ′ similar to the server interface cards 78 discussed above . the server video and data channels coupled to each server interface card 78 in a chassis 72 is coupled through the expansion port 92 of that card to the inputs 93 of a server interface card 78 ′ in the corresponding chassis 72 ′ in the second stack . the video and data channels are coupled to the backplanes of the chassis 72 ′ in substantially the same manner as discussed above . the second stack of chassis 72 ′ can accommodate an additional 512 user channels , using matrix cards as discussed above . the server interface cards 78 ′ of the second stack may have additional expansion ports 92 ′, so that the server video and data channels can be coupled to still further chassis . thus , the system can accommodate an essentially unlimited number of users . numerous variations and combinations of the features discussed above can be utilized without departing from the invention as defined by the claims . for example , the particular keystroke sequences selected to designate command codes in the embodiment discussed above are arbitrary ; other keystroke sequences can be employed . desirably , the keystroke sequences used to designate command codes are those which do not occur during normal interaction between the user and a server . also , the particular formats for video and data transmission used in the preferred embodiments discussed above are not essential to the invention . also , the computers may have video output formats other than the vga format discussed above , and may have different keyboard and mouse output and input formats . any of these different formats can be utilized . further , input and output devices at some or all of the user locations named include devices other than video monitors , keyboards and mice . for example , some or all of the user locations may incorporate printers , audio speakers , tactile feedback devices or other computer - controllable devices such as computer controlled numerical machine tools , “ solid modeling ” devices and the like . in each case , the communication links routed through the switch would be configured to carry the information normally sent by the computer to such devices . also , the input devices may include more complex input devices such as joy sticks or controls which simulate the control inputs to a vehicle as , for example , simulated pilots yokes and rudder pedals for flight simulation . these devices may include features such as force feedback , vibration and the like controlled by output sent from the computer . here again , the communications channels routed through the switch would be configured to carry the necessary information . in the embodiments discussed above , the switch acts on electrical signals . however , where the output and input are routed along optical communications such as fiber optic communication channels , the switching device may include appropriate components for switching optical signals . further , the communication links between the computers and the switch and between the user location devices and the switch need not be hard - wired connections . for example , these links can be replaced by appropriate rf or optical communications links . also , the particular schemes for connection between the switch control computer and the elements of the switch can be varied . for example , the rs 422 serial ports of the control cards on the server interface chassis can be connected to individual communications ports on the switch control computer , instead of being connected together in a common channel as described above . data communication schemes other than serial communication channels can be employed . as these and other variations and combinations of the features discussed above can be utilized without departing from the invention as defined by the claims , the foregoing description of the preferred embodiment should be taken by way of illustration rather than by way of limitation of the invention as defined by the claims .	6
[ 0017 ] fig1 shows a computer network 100 in which an enterprise - wide data - warehousing system 110 supports the activities of the various departments in a business enterprise . the data - warehousing system 110 stores vast amounts of business - critical information , which agents of the enterprise use in making strategic and tactical business decisions . these agents access the information in the data - warehouse through one or more computer systems 120 , 130 , 140 scattered throughout the various departments of the enterprise . for example , employees in the enterprise &# 39 ; s customer service , finance , marketing , and strategic planning departments might all require access to some portion of the data stored in the data warehouse 110 . in many cases , the various departments of the enterprise have different requirements for the freshness of data stored in the data warehouse . for example , the customer - service department might require data that is updated in near - real - time ( e . g ., every few minutes or seconds ) in dealing with customers for whom decisions must be made using up - to - date data . the finance department might require data that is updated only weekly or monthly and that remains consistent ( i . e ., does not change ) during each weekly or monthly period . the data warehouse 105 shown here allows each of these departments to view data at the required level of freshness , and it does so without requiring duplication of data in multiple databases or tables . [ 0019 ] fig2 shows one example of a detailed architecture for the data - warehousing system 200 . in this example , the data warehouse 200 includes a relational database management system ( rdbms ) built upon a massively parallel processing ( mpp ) platform . other types of database systems , such as object - relational database management systems ( ordbms ) or those built on symmetric multi - processing ( smp ) platforms , are also suited for use here . as shown here , the data warehouse 200 includes one or more processing modules 205 1 . . . y that manage the storage and retrieval of data in data - storage facilities 210 1 . . . y . each of the processing modules 205 1 . . . y manages a portion of a database that is stored in a corresponding one of the data - storage facilities 210 1 . . . y . each of the data - storage facilities 210 1 . . . y includes one or more disk drives . the system stores transaction data and other business - critical data in one or more tables in the data - storage facilities 210 1 . . . y . the rows 215 1 . . . z of the tables are stored across multiple data - storage facilities 210 1 . . . y to ensure that the system workload is distributed evenly across the processing modules 205 1 . . . y . a parsing engine 220 organizes the storage of data and the distribution of table rows 215 1 . . . z among the processing modules 205 1 . . . y . the parsing engine 220 also coordinates the retrieval of data from the data - storage facilities 210 1 . . . y in response to queries received from a user at a mainframe 230 or a client computer 235 . the data warehouse usually receives queries in a standard format , such as the structured query language ( sql ) put forth by the american national standards institute ( ansi ). [ 0022 ] fig3 shows a database table 300 that might appear in a traditional data - warehousing system . each column of the table 300 stores information about events that occur in the life of a business enterprise . for example , a company that manages an employee health - insurance plan might store information identifying each covered employee ( ee_id , column 310 ), the type of coverage selected by the employee ( plan , column 320 ), and the number of covered dependents claimed by the employee ( dep , column 330 ). the table also includes a date - time stamp ( eff_dts , column 340 ) showing when the employee &# 39 ; s coverage began . data warehouses that consist of tables like this one are useful in analyzing and understanding business - critical data but are not as well equipped for supporting organizations that have varying requirements for data freshness . because of the latency inherent in loading data into a data warehouse and , in many cases , delivering data to the enterprise , a database query that selects data according to a traditional effective - date stamp often produces a different result when submitted again at a later time . for example , an employee health plan that covers 200 employees on january 31 might cover an additional person as soon as that person begins work on february 1 . because of the inherent delay in delivering the employee &# 39 ; s paper work from the employer to the insurer , the employee might not appear in the insurer &# 39 ; s data warehouse until several weeks after the employee &# 39 ; s start date . if the insurer were to create a report of covered employees as of february 1 on february 1 and again on february 28 using a traditional data warehouse , the reports would differ — the february 1 report showing 200 employees and the february 28 report showing 201 employees . [ 0024 ] fig4 shows a database table 400 that includes , in addition to the traditional column 410 showing the effective - date stamp , another column 420 that shows when the data was loaded into the data warehouse and was made available for viewing , or its observation date - time stamp ( ob_dts ). the observation stamp allows the enterprise to see what data was available at any given time or during any given time period , and ensures that a query run at two different times will give the same result each time . for the example given above , the record for the new employee includes the effective - date stamp showing when the employee &# 39 ; s coverage began , as well as an observation stamp showing when the record was added to the database and made available for observation . viewing data based upon on the observation stamp allows the insurer to generate , if so desired , identical reports on february 1 and again on february 28 . the observation stamp allows the insurer to view , quickly and easily , the data that was available to it on february 1 , even after the insurer has updated the data to reflect the employee &# 39 ; s eligibility as of february 1 . in accessing transaction data — i . e ., data which records transactional events that are routine in the life of the business , such as retail purchases by customers , call - detail records , bank deposits and withdrawals , and insurance claims — the data warehouse need only create views of the data it stores for each data - freshness service level , and it need only store the data once . these views filter the data according to the observation stamps that are stored with the data . below is a selection of sample sql code that creates a view of transaction data that was current as of 6 : 00 a . m . on feb . 20 , 2001 . in this example , “ tx_dts ” represents a transaction date - time stamp ( i . e ., a stamp indicating when a particular transaction took place ), and “ observation_dts ” represents the observation stamp for the corresponding transaction data . create view edw . daily_tx . . . as locking table edw . tx for access select tx . tx_id , tx . tx_dts , tx . observation_dts , tx . tx_amt . . . from edw . tx where tx . observation_dts & lt ;= ‘ 2001 - 02 - 20 06 : 00 : 00 ’ ; in accessing snapshot data — i . e ., data that records the current or past state of the business or one of its relationships , such as customer status , the status of a customer &# 39 ; s account , and the membership or address of a customer household — the data warehouse extracts all relevant data into a history table . as shown in fig5 the database - management system uses observation date - time stamps to select data from various tables 500 , 510 , 520 throughout the data warehouse and to place that data into a history table 530 . the history table 530 creates a point - in - time view of the business as it stood at the selected point - in - time . one example of a history table for snapshot data is one that captures the average account balance of banking customers on a particular day , such as the first day of every month . below is a selection of sample sql code that creates such a table . create table account_history ( account_id decimal ( 12 , 0 ) not null , observation_dt date format ‘ yyyy - mm - dd ’ not null , account_balance_amt decimal ( 15 , 2 ) default 0 . 0 not null , account_status_cd char ( 1 ) default ‘ 0 ’ not null . . . ) primary index ( account_id ) ; this technique is particularly useful for taking historical snapshots of data that an enterprise wishes to view with fixed periodicity . the account balance of a banking customer at the end of the customer &# 39 ; s statement period is one example of the type of data that a business commonly wishes to view with fixed periodicity . the typical business enterprise also often wishes to view snapshot data on an ad - hoc basis , with no regularity or periodicity in its viewing patterns . for example , businesses often view data when some event occurs that changes the view of that data , such as the acquisition of new data or the modification of old data , realignment or reorganization of the enterprise , and changes in a customer &# 39 ; s status or life situation . [ 0031 ] fig6 shows such a table 600 . the first of the observation stamps , the “ observation - start stamp ” ( ob_start_dts ) ( column 610 ), indicates when the corresponding data has been loaded into the data warehouse and made available for viewing . the second of these stamps , the “ observation - end stamp ” ( ob_end_dts ) ( column 620 ), indicates when the row of data has become stale as a result of some event , such as an update to the database records or the expiration of a time period for which the data is accurate . for the most current observation of any particular row of data , the value of the observation - end stamp is set to “ null ,” or , alternatively , is set to a very distant future date . below is a selection of sample sql code for use in querying a history table to calculate the average income of customers as of the date jan . 1 , 2001 . select avg ( customer_history . income_amt ) from edw . customer_history where customer_history . acccunt_status_cd = ‘ a ’ and customer_history . observation_dt = ( select max ( i_customer_history . observation_dt ) from edw . customer_history i_customer_history where i_customer_history . observation_dt & lt ;= ‘ 2000 - 01 - 01 ’ and i_customer_history . customer_id = customer_history . customer_id ) ; this example shows a code segment for use with a table that stores a single observation stamp . this code is relatively complex and is somewhat inefficient , because it includes a correlated sub - query to select all of the desired point - in - time data for the period of interest . storing one or more additional observation date - time stamps , as described above , eliminates any need for a correlated sub - query and thus allows for more efficient queries with much simpler code . below is a selection of sample sql code for the same query as above , run against a table that stores two observation date - time stamps — an observation - start dts and an observation - end dts . select avg ( customer_history . income_amt ) from edw . customer_history where customer_history . account_status_cd = ‘ a ’ and customer_history . observation_start_dt & lt ;= ‘ 2000 - 01 - 01 ’ and ( customer_history . ohservation_end_dt & gt ; ‘ 2000 - 01 - 01 ’ or customer_histcry . observation_end_dt is null ) ; storing observation date - time stamps in the tables of an enterprise data warehouse allows the enterprise to view data as of any point - in - time needed for decision - making purposes , and it does so without requiring duplication of data . point - in - time views that an enterprise often needs are : ( 1 ) “ as is ” view — allows the enterprise to view the most current (“ freshest ”) data in the data - warehousing system . ( 2 ) “ as - was ” view — allows the enterprise to view the data as it stood at a selected point - in - time before the most recent update . for the example given above , an “ as - was ” view allows the insurer to view a report on february 28 that shows only the 200 employees who , according to the insurer &# 39 ; s data as it stood on february 1 , were covered on february 1 . ( 3 ) “ mixed point - in - time ” view — allows the enterprise to combine data stored at different points - in - time according to query specifications . for the example given above , a “ mixed point - in - time ” view allows the insurer to see a list of the 200 employees who appeared in its records on february 1 listed according to their names as they appear in the most current data . this allows the insurer to see employee records as they stood on february 1 while taking into account any name changes that might have occurred since then . [ 0037 ] fig7 shows a sample code fragment that a database administrator might choose to run when setting up a database system . this code fragment creates a table , known here as a “ calendar table ,” that simplifies end - user access to point - in - time information in the database . creating a calendar table and defining views to that table insulates the end - user from the database - query code needed to extract point - in - time information from the database . such a table is useful , for example , when the end - user wants to access information for a time period of selected length ( i . e ., one week or one month ) on an ad - hoc basis . ( e . g ., with no particular regularity , beginning with a date or time chosen by the user ). the user simply enters the point - in - time for which data is needed , and the database retrieves the appropriate data using the calendar table . the data pulled in response to the user &# 39 ; s query remains consistent over time , so that the same query run at a later date produces the same result . the user enters the point - in - time query through a simple user - interface program , such as a windows - compatible graphical user - interface ( gui ) program , running in the client system , the likes of which are well - known and are not described here . below are sample database queries , shown in sql code , for use in creating views to the data in the calendar table . the first query provides data for a period of one week ; the second query provides data for a period of one month . create view edw . weekly_customer_history ( . . . ) as locking table edw . customer_history for access locking table edw . calendar for access select customer_history . customer_id , calendar . day_dt . . . , customer_history . birth_dt , customer_history . income_amt , customer_history . customer_status_cd . . . from edw . customer_history edw . calendar where customer_history . observation_start_dt & lt ;= calendar . fiscal_week_start_dt and ( customer_history . observation_end_dt & gt ; calendar . fiscal_week_start_dt or customer_history . observatlon_end_dt is null ) ; create view edw . monthly_customer_history ( . . . ) as locking table edw . customer_history for access locking table edw . calendar for access select customer_history . customer_id , calendar . day_dt . . . , customer_history . birth_dt , customer_history . income_amt , customer_history . customer_status_cd . . . from edw . customer_history edw . calendar where customer_history . observation_start_dt & lt ;= calendar . fiscal_month_start_dt and ( customer_history . observation_end_dt & gt ; calendar . fiscal_month_start_dt or customer_history . observation_end_dt is null ) ; the techniques described here are typically implemented in electronic hardware , computer software , or combinations of these technologies . most implementations include one or more computer programs executed by one or more programmable computers in a data warehousing system . in general , each computer includes one or more processors , one or more data - storage components ( e . g ., volatile and nonvolatile memory modules and persistent optical and magnetic storage devices , such as hard and floppy disk drives , cd - rom drives , and magnetic tape drives ), one or more input devices ( e . g ., mice and keyboards ), and one or more output devices ( e . g ., display consoles and printers ). the computer programs include executable code that is usually stored in a persistent storage medium and then copied into memory at run - time . the processor executes the code by retrieving program instructions from memory in a prescribed order . when executing the program code , the computer receives data from the input and / or storage devices , performs operations on the data , and then delivers the resulting data to the output and / or storage devices . the text above describes one or more specific embodiments of a broader invention . the invention also is carried out in a variety of alternative embodiments and thus is not limited to those described here . for example , while much of the description above explains a health insurer &# 39 ; s use of observation information in eligibility records , the techniques described here apply to other industries and business areas as well , including those in which transactions with customers are more prevalent , such the banking , retail and communications industries . many other embodiments are also within the scope of the following claims .	6
reference is now made to fig2 , which illustrates a random access memory array 20 ( such as but not limited to , sram ). in the illustrated embodiment , memory array 20 has 8 rows and 8 columns and has a capacity of 64 bits or 8 bytes , but the invention is not limited to these values . every row may have a dedicated row decoder 22 , whereas access to the columns may be controlled by a column decoder 24 . the dedicated row decoders 22 may provide a separate access to every byte within the whole data word . in other words , for every column , each and every row can be selected separately . in the structure of memory array 20 , for example , a whole 8 - byte word may be accessed in a single data transaction . referring to fig3 , memory array 20 may be constructed wherein all the columns are permanently selected , thereby eliminating the need for the column decoder 24 . the structure of fig3 may serve as a building block (“ byte bank ”) to organize larger arrays . one non - limiting example is an array of 512 bits , organized with 8 × 64 memory partitioning . another example is an array with a memory partition size of 4 kb , which may be organized with the building block arrays of fig3 , that is , an array of 512 × 64 bits . such an example is shown in fig4 , which illustrates a 2 kb 512 × 64 - bit memory partition address distribution , in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention . the sram memory partition of fig4 is built from 8 byte - banks 30 . each byte - bank 30 has its own 8 - bit data bus and row decoder 32 , similar to the building block array of fig3 . in fig4 , the byte banks 30 and 8 - bit data bus and row decoders 32 are numbered from 0 to 7 from the right to the left . a common 9 - bit address bus 34 ( 9 bits , because 2 9 = 512 ) may provide an aligned access to a 64 - bit data word in every memory partition row . thus , in general , the random access memory array of the present invention includes byte - banks organized in n rows and 8 columns , wherein each byte bank has capacity of log 2 ( n ) bytes and is addressed by a log 2 ( n ) bit address bus . in the above example , n = 512 and each byte bank has capacity of 9 bytes and is addressed by a 9 - bit address bus ( log 2 ( 512 )= 9 ). if the memory partition distribution of fig4 is used in an aligned data access , the least significant byte - bank ( addresses 0 , 8 , etc .) may provide the least significant byte and the most significant byte - bank ( addresses 7 , f , etc .) may provide the most significant byte . in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention , the memory partition distribution of fig4 can also be used in an unaligned data access . in such a case , the least significant byte may be taken starting from the second byte - bank ( 1 , 9 , etc .) or the third byte - bank ( 2 , a , etc .) and so on , whereas the most significant byte may be taken from the first byte - bank ( 0 , 8 , etc .) or the second byte - bank ( 1 , 9 , etc .) and so on , respectively . projecting the nonaligned data format on the data bus results in the bytes within the data word being rotated ( shifted ) depending on the nonaligned address . this shift must be corrected when writing to or reading from memory . for correction of the data word contents rotation ( shift ), two data conversion operators may be introduced . reference is now made to fig5 , which illustrates a data conversion operator for writing to memory , in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention . the first row of the operator function is provided for aligned addressing ; hence no conversion is done . the second to eight rows of the operator function relates to the nonaligned addressing on a byte resolution . for example , in the second row , the data words for the d ( n ) bus of the data bus and row decoder 32 are shifted to the d ( n + 1 ) bus ( for n = 0 , 1 , 2 , . . . 6 ) and the data word for the d 7 bus is shifted to the d 0 bus . similarly , in the third row , the data words for the d ( n ) bus are shifted to the d ( n + 2 ) bus ( for n = 1 , 2 , . . . 6 ), and the data words for the d 6 and d 7 buses are shifted to the d 0 and d 1 buses , respectively . the data words , rotated in accordance with the appropriate row of the operator function of fig5 , may then be written to the memory . reference is now made to fig6 , which illustrates a data conversion operator for reading from memory , in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention . the first row of the operator function is provided for aligned addressing ; hence no conversion is done . the second to eight rows of the operator function relates to the nonaligned addressing on a byte resolution . for example , in the second row , the data words for the d ( n ) bus are shifted to the d ( n − 1 ) bus ( for n = 7 , 6 , 5 , . . . 1 ) and the data word for the d 0 bus is shifted to the d 7 bus . the data word read from the memory may thus be rotated ( shifted ) in accordance with the appropriate row of the operator function of fig6 . from the foregoing description of the data word rotation , it may be seen that if the least significant byte of the 64 - bit data word is located in the byte - bank 1 , 2 , 3 , etc ., the most significant byte is then located in the bank 0 , 1 , 2 , etc ., respectively . that is , the most significant byte is shifted from the least significant byte by a distance of 8 bytes in the byte address resolution . in a nonaligned data access , this row offset may be manipulated by the structure of the memory array 20 , as shown in fig3 . specifically , the fact that every row has its own dedicated row decoder 22 may be used to manipulate the row addresses of each byte - bank of the memory array and complete the nonaligned data access , as is now explained . reference is now made to fig7 , which illustrates address conversion operator functionality for the 4 kb memory partition , in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention . in general , for addressing 4 kb , 12 address bits are needed ( 2 12 = 4096 ). among 12 bits of the non - aligned address , the 9 - bit component for the aligned access may be extracted from the most significant bits of this address . this component can be used for simultaneous addressing of all byte - banks . when an unaligned memory access takes place , the 64 - bit data word location can be started anywhere in the byte - banks 1 to 7 . the 64 - bit data word location is defined by the location of its least significant byte and depends on the contents of the three least significant bits of the original 12 - bit address . as mentioned hereinabove , a distance of 8 bytes separates the least significant byte of the 64 - bit data word from the most significant byte in the byte address resolution . thus , for the most significant byte or bytes of the unaligned 64 - bit data word , the selected memory row is shifted downwards by one row with respect to the memory rows for the least significant byte or bytes in the byte - banks . therefore , each byte - bank needs a one - bit row offset depending on the starting location of the unaligned 64 - bit data word . such one - bit row offsets may be generated by the address conversion operator shown in fig7 for each byte - bank numbered from 0 to 6 in accordance with all 8 combinations of three least significant buts of the memory partition 12 - bit address . no row address offset is required for the byte - bank 7 , because it contains the most significant byte of the 64 - bit data word only in the case of an aligned access . reference is now made to fig8 , which illustrates the internal structure of a 4 kb memory partition with unaligned 64 - bit access ( based on the non - limiting example of fig4 ), in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention . fig8 adds to the architecture shown in fig4 the addition of an adder 36 and a one - bit offset address bus 38 . all 64 bits from all the byte - banks 30 may be addressed in a single memory transaction . each byte - bank 30 may have its own one - bit offset address bus 38 . in an unaligned memory access , the data words may be rotated ( shifted ) in accordance with the appropriate row of the operator functions of fig5 ( write ) or fig6 ( read ) for each byte - bank 30 , resulting in a one - bit shift , as described above . the adder 36 adds the 9 - bit word address and the one - bit offset and outputs a 9 - bit result to the common 9 - bit address bus 34 . the common 9 - bit address bus 34 may then be used to correctly address each byte - bank 30 . ( the cascade output of fig8 is generated by the appropriate adder 36 when the byte - bank address wraps the boundary of 0x1ff .) thus the architecture of fig8 provides correct organization of the random access memories 20 for nonaligned access , such as with a byte resolution . it will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited by what has been particularly shown and described hereinabove . rather the scope of the present invention includes both combinations and subcombinations of the features described hereinabove as well as modifications and variations thereof which would occur to a person of skill in the art upon reading the foregoing description and which are not in the prior art .	6
detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosed herein . however , it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention that may be embodied in various and alternative forms . the figures are not necessarily to scale , and some features may be exaggerated or minimized to show details of particular components . therefore , specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting , but merely as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to employ the present invention . the key component of the system is an integrated sensing module 100 , a preferred configuration of which comprises five electric potential sensors ( electrodes ) 105 - 109 , as shown in fig1 . each electrode 105 - 109 measures the electric potential at its measurement location , and four sensors 105 - 108 in the same plane can determine the bearing angle ( also called angle of arrival ) of a passing projectile . the elevated electrode 109 in the middle can be used to calculate the vertical electric field and the elevation angle of the projectile . it is not necessary to implement all five electrodes 105 - 109 — for example , if only the azimuth angle information is desired , four sensors are adequate . a bearing calculation can be produced with three electrodes . the numbers and configurations of the electrodes may vary . sensing electrodes can also be distributed at the measurement location , such as at corners of a vehicle or an objective gun protection kit ( ogpk ) on a military vehicle . optional acoustic sensors such as microphones can be added to the system to enhance the detection performance or build an e - field / acoustic bi - modal detection system . a non - conductive universal hollow armature 115 is designed to enable the capability to reconfigure the measurement baseline . proper separation of electrodes 105 - 109 is important for achieving the desired angle - of - arrival accuracy . an enclosure 120 integrated at the base of sensor module 100 provides the battery power , filtering , and cable drivers for sensors 105 - 109 . enclosure 120 can also be moved away from the base of sensor module 100 . a data acquisition and processing module ( i . e ., a controller ) is added to digitize the outputs from electrodes 105 - 109 and process the data . the number of channels can vary depending on how many sensors are implemented and whether one or more acoustic sensors are added . the module can be integrated within enclosure 120 . the sampling rate of the digitizer for data acquisition is also important for achieving the desired angle - of - arrival accuracy . a 16 - bit or 24 - bit digitizer with sampling rate above 20 kilosamples / second ( ks / s ) for each channel is preferred . the invention includes purpose designed software , implemented by the controller , to perform the following functions . a typical flowchart for the software is shown in fig2 . noise cancellation : cancel power line interference ( 50 or 60 hz and its harmonics ) or atmospheric noise ( sferics ) and reject low frequency noise induced events . reject 60 hz : cancel 60 hz and its harmonics from power sources . reference sensor ( optional function ): use a reference electric potential sensor to cancel the motion noise and / or a compact magnetic field ( b - field ) sensor to cancel the 60 hz and harmonics . low - pass ( lp ) filter : an lp filter with a corner frequency about 1 khz . the majority of the projectile &# 39 ; s signal energy is often below 2 khz . this will remove noise above the corner frequency , especially rejection of sferic noise produced by lightning events . reject sferic events : if the time differences for the event peaks between all electrodes are zero , the event is due to sferics and is rejected . reject noise - induced events : if the time difference between channels is longer than 15 milliseconds ( ms ) for an event , then it is rejected as it is too slow to be a moving bullet . these events can be induced by passing charged particles , charged human , etc . reject motion induced noise : the algorithm to reject 60 hz noise can also reject slow motion - induced noise . event detection ( marked by a box 200 in fig2 ): identify a trigger ( charged projectile passing event ) based on the measured electric potential from four electrodes on the same horizontal plane . some or all of the following can be implemented : differential : the ( x , y ) axis differential voltages are determined . ex (= vxp − vxm ) and ey (= vyp − vym ) are calculated directly from two potential sensors along that direction . ex and ey are proportional to electric - fields along their axes . magnitude horizontal eh : the magnitude of the horizontal axis differential voltage is calculated . \| eh \|=( ex 2 + ey 2 ) 1 / 2 threshold detection : an eh peak - detect search is done to identify valid events . peak : if a valid event is detected , the routine proceeds with the angle detection . a small window of data is then extracted around the peak event from the raw data . acoustic peak confirmation : a supersonic projectile generates a shockwave from the nearest passing point , and the shockwave travels to the sensor node at the speed of sound at a delayed time given by the equation passing distance / speed of sound . this unique feature can be used to reject any detected event that does not have a shockwave signature within a defined time window . this function block is optional ( and is only valid for supersonic projectiles ) and can be very effective to reject false alarms induced by local charges , motions and other causes when detecting supersonic projectiles . fig3 shows acoustic and e - field eh signals for a bullet passing the sensor node at 3 meters . the shockwave is about 7 . 8 ms behind the e - field response peak in fig3 . in principle , the delay should be 3 / 340 = 8 . 8 ms ; the 1 ms discrepancy is due to instrumentation delays in the acoustic measurement that can be calibrated out . angle and distance determination : based on the time of the induced electric potential peak on each sensor ( marked by a box 205 in fig2 ). find peak times : the peak time is determined by methods including but not limited to a simple max / min detection or a gaussian fit . reject false events : based on the peak times of some number of the electrodes , it is possible to reject false events due to sferics ( same peak times for all electrodes ), low frequency noise induced by human motion around the sensor , charged particles , and other noise sources . calculate angle and distance : a preferable method of performing this function is using the peak times from different electrodes and determining the angle of projectile arrival as discussed below in connection with fig4 . the distance to the point of projectile initiation can be calculated by using the time difference between the vz peak ( traveling at the projectile &# 39 ; s speed ) and the muzzle blast ( travelling at the speed of sound ) measured by the microphone . the projectile speed can be determined by the time differences between different electrodes when the projectile passes the node . in fig4 , a bullet , traveling at speed v , along a trajectory 400 , is detected by four potential sensors p 1 , p 2 , p 3 , p 4 on the same plane . the bearing α of the bullet is determined , using equation 1 , by the time of arrival ( t 1 , t 2 , t 3 , t 4 ) of the waveforms measured by each sensor . δt 1 is the waveform peak time difference measured by electrode p 1 ( vy +) and p 2 ( vy −), while δt 3 is the waveform peak time difference measured by electrode p 3 ( vx −) and p 4 ( vx +). sin α = δ t 3 /( δ t 1 2 + δt 3 2 ) 0 . 5 [ 1 ] fig5 shows sample sensor output waveforms collected for α = 0 , with the bullet &# 39 ; s path labeled 500 . the angle of arrival is calculated using a waveform peak time based algorithm . if the projectile travels on the same plane as the four electrodes ( p 1 , p 2 , p 3 , p 4 ) when it passes the sensor , the projectile bearing α ( the angle between the bullet trajectory and the vy − to vy + axis ) can be calculated using equation 1 with the peak times of electric potential measured by four sensors in the cross configuration . to be more specific , a is calculated using the time delay δt 1 and δt 3 . equation 1 is derived using the time delay δt 1 and δt 3 , as shown by equations 2 and 3 where d is the distance between electrodes p 1 and p 2 and between electrodes p 3 and p 4 , and k is a scaling factor that is due to the metallic object around the electrode . as can be seen from the equation to determine the projectile &# 39 ; s angle of arrival ( a ), that angle depends on the peak time differences δt 1 and δt 3 . the angle accuracy is therefore determined by the time accuracy ( the sampling rate of data collection , 50 μs for 20 ks / s ) and the physical spacing between a pair of electrodes . an advantage of the method is the result does not rely on the response amplitudes of the sensor , which could be distorted by nearby conductive objects . in another method , without limitation , an algorithm was developed that works with only three electrodes in a half cross configuration . as shown in fig6 , the projectile &# 39 ; s arrival angle can be determined by using three sensors — p 1 , p 2 , p 3 — that are close to its trajectory 600 . the time differences δt 1 and δt 2 between the measured voltage peaks of these electrodes determine the angle of arrival α uniquely using equation 4 . equation 4 can also be used to calculate the elevation of the projectile if its trajectory is on the same vertical plane as the sensor p 1 , p 2 , p 3 , where p 3 is the vertical electrode ( vz ) and p 1 and p 2 are two electrodes below vz ( such as vy + and vy −). the invention can also determine the speed of a projectile passing the node . as shown in fig4 , the projectile speed v can be calculated using the time delay δt 1 and δt 3 , as shown by equation 5 . v = kd /( δ t 1 2 + δt 3 2 ) 0 . 5 [ 5 ] if we know the angle - of - arrival α , we can also use the time difference ( δt 1 ) to determine the projectile &# 39 ; s speed v using equation 6 . the capability to determine the projectile &# 39 ; s speed can be used to characterize the detected projectile , to discriminate between supersonic and subsonic projectiles and as a discriminator to reject false events such as responses due to a charged particle flying nearby the sensor . during system operation , power line interference at 60 hz ( or 50 hz ) and its harmonics can be as high as a few volts while the projectile signal for some embodiments is on the order of 20 - 100 mv . to detect the projectile and track its direction , it is important to cancel the powerline interference . the invention includes an effective noise cancellation algorithm that removes the 60 hz noise and its harmonics from the collected data effectively . assuming the collected raw signal is v ( t ) by a sensing electrode , since the background noise is repeatable at a period of 1 / 60 seconds , equation 7 can be used to cancel the 60 hz and its harmonics effectively without impacting the projectile signatures . the v ′ is the signal after the noise cancellation , where n is an integral number ( positive or negative ). since the second term in equation 7 is a copy of the signal with time shifted n / 60 seconds ( for n = 1 , that corresponds to 1 period of 60 hz ), this cancellation method is called the “ shift cancellation ” approach . there are several observations during the implementation : 1 ) the method works well for periodic noise . however , if the copy of the signal has drifted from the original signal after a time period of n / 60 due to the phase of the signal being unstable over time , the single shift cancellation may not work very well . to overcome this issue , a small n ( as small as 1 ) can be selected or a number n = m + f , where m is an integer and f is a fractal number , can be found . 2 ) using the double shifts to perform the single period shifts twice . with double shifts , equation 7 is applied twice to the raw data , achieving 100 db interference reduction , while a single shift can only reduce the interference by over 50 db . fig7 shows the signal cancellation over a range of offset values , in this case scaled by ω . the dashed vertical line indicates the offset value for an interference centered at 60 hz with an error in the estimated period of the interference δ = 6 . 67 μs ( i . e ., ωδ = 2 . 513 e - 3 ). as the offset increase , the residual signal increases significantly . 3 ) using an averaging shifted copy as the reference to achieve effective noise cancellation in one step without searching the n factor , as shown in equation 8 . it achieves the same interference reduction as the double shift , but the calculation is two times more efficient . it can also address the phase stability issue of the interference automatically . fig7 shows signal cancellation following single and double shift and subtraction as a function of the offset term ωδ , where ω is the angular frequency and δ is the error in the estimated period . the signal amplitude is now reduced by ω 2 δ 2 as opposed to ωδ for the single shift and subtract . the interference algorithm can be used for detecting impulse signals such as sferic signals under high power line interference background . when a supersonic projectile passes a sensor node , a shockwave travels to the node at the speed of sound from the nearest passing point , while the projectile charge can be detected by the e - field sensor in real time . for e - field and acoustic sensors integrated on the same node , the acoustic shockwave is delayed by dt (= passing distance / sound speed ) from the e - field response peak , since the speed of the em wave is much faster than the speed of the sound . for a distance of 4 meters , the delay is about 12 ms . by combining e - field detection of the projectile charge and acoustic detection of the shock wave generated by a supersonic projectile passing the sensor node , the performance ( especially the false alarm rate ) of an e - field based projectile detector and / or an acoustic sensor based projectile detector can be greatly improved . three possible systems can be developed . a ) e - field based projectile detector : an array of e - field sensors can be integrated with an acoustic sensor such as a microphone . the acoustic sensor can detect the shockwave ( with filtering and threshold ) and identify the projectile event instead of using the eh , so levels below the defined threshold for eh ( such as 10 mv ) can still be detected . the e - field peaks 12 ms before the shockwave will be searched ( for any projectile passing the sensor within a distance of approximately 4 meters , corresponding to about 3 ms for every meter passing distance ). if e - field peaks are found , the data will be processed ; if no e - field peaks are found , the shockwave event is designated a false event . false events will be rejected further based on the e - field event waveforms , and finally bearing angles will be calculated for “ good ” events . b ) acoustic based projectile detector : this approach applies to a standard projectile detector using an array of acoustic sensors ( such as a boomerang ® bullet detection system developed by bbn ®). however , false alarms are a concern for the system because sound waves tend to be “ multi - path ” or reflected . the system can also lose operational capability in the battlefield because of the high levels of background acoustical noise from tanks , planes , and munition explosions . by adding one or more e - field electrodes to the node , the detection of a supersonic projectile can be confirmed if it passes the sensor node within 4 - 5 meters : after the sensor node detects the shockwave , the system checks whether the e - field sensor has detected any potential peak around 12 ms ( for 4 m offset distance ) before the acoustic shockwave . if the e - field peak is found within the time window and the waveform can fit to a typical passing projectile , the detection is confirmed and angle - of - arrival will be calculated . this process is able to dramatically reduce false alarm rates . c ) fused e - field and acoustic projectile detector : an array of e - field sensors can be combined with an array of acoustic sensors to develop a fused bi - modal detector . the fused detector can mitigate the shortcomings of each individual mode alone : 1 ) detect subsonic projectiles , multiple rapid fires , cross fires , and shots with suppressors using e - field mode ; and 2 ) detect supersonic projectiles at much farther distance of closest approach to the sensors ( up to 30 meters ) in the acoustic mode . based on the above , it should be readily apparent that the present invention provides an e - field sensor configuration and noise cancellation algorithm through which the system can determine the direction and speed of a projectile passing the sensors . the e - field based system can detect both supersonic and subsonic projectiles . the unique e - field signature from a projectile makes it feasible to detect multiple consecutive shots within a short time period ( a few milliseconds ). the e - field system can be combined with one or more acoustic sensors to improve the detection rate and provide a much lower false - alarm rate for supersonic projectiles than a detector based on e - field alone . although described with reference to preferred embodiments , it should be readily understood that various changes or modifications could be made to the invention without departing from the spirit thereof . in general , the invention is only intended to be limited by the scope of the following claims .	6
the present application provides generally novel methods and systems for producing ornamented composite materials . composite materials in accordance with at least one embodiment of the materials disclosed herein are generally one or more mats or sheets of fibers , such as glass , carbon , boron , graphite , kevlar , etc . or any other material in a matrix or binder . the mat or sheet may be a woven mat of continuous fibers or a mat of short fiber strands . any matrix may be used to bind the fibers . several broad categories of resins may be used , such as polyester , vinyl ester , epoxy , phenolic , polyimide , polyamide , polypropylene , peek , and others . preferably , a transparent resin is used , which allows the ornamentation applied to the composite as discussed below to be visible . generally , the composite is formed by placing a plurality of layers of mat over each other until a desired thickness is achieved . the resin may be introduced in a variety of ways . for example , the resin may be applied by wetting each layer of mat as the layers are built up to the desired thickness . alternatively , the mat may be pre - impregnated with the desired resin . the shape of the final product may be achieved with any molding technique , such as vacuum bag molding , pressure bag molding , autoclave molding , resin transfer molding , etc . referring to fig1 , in at least one embodiment , the composite material includes a plurality of layers of a fibrous mat . at least one of the layers , i . e ., an upper or outer most layer 100 includes an ornamental feature 102 disposed thereon . importantly , the ornamental feature 102 is disposed on the outer most layer 100 prior to the addition of any resin to the outer most layer 100 . the resin is preferably applied subsequent to one affixing the ornamental feature 102 to the outer most layer 100 . this way , the ornamental feature 102 becomes visibly encapsulated within the composite material . the ornamental feature 102 may be any predefined design . for example , the may be a geometric shape , such as a circle , square , pentagon , hexagon , etc . the ornamental feature 102 may be a nonstructural addition to the composite material . in this instance , the ornamental feature may be made from any material , such as paper , cotton , wool , nylon , etc ., in the form of a sheet or otherwise . the ornamental feature 102 may also be structural . in this instance the ornamental feature may be a fibrous mat the same as the outer most layer 100 or different that the outer most layer 100 . for example , the outer most layer 100 may be a carbon fiber mat whereas the ornamental feature 102 may be a kevlar mat . the mats themselves may be oriented so that the weave is in the same direction or that is in a direction other than in the same direction . this allows designers to create a composite part with non - omnidirectional weaves . the ornamental feature 102 is preferably affixed to the outer most layer 100 by stitching the ornamental feature 102 to the outer most layer 100 with a thread 102 or otherwise adhering the ornamental feature 102 to the outer most layer 100 , e . g ., as an overlay . the thread is generally passed through the layers of the ornamental feature 102 and at least the outer most layer 100 . this may be accomplished by hand or preferably with a sewing machine . the thread itself may be non - structural or structural . in the non - structural use , the thread may be made of any material , including cotton , wool , nylon , etc . in structural uses , the thread may be a fiber thread similar to that of the mat , such as carbon fiber , graphite fiber , kevlar , etc . the thread selected may also be a color that is different or that contrasts the color of the ornamental feature 102 , the outer most layer 100 , or both . for example , the outer mat may be carbon mat oriented in a first direction , the ornamental feature may be carbon mat in a desired shape oriented in a second direction , and the thread may be a red nylon . when encapsulated in the resin , the composite will appear to have an appliqué or overlay affixed to the part with red thread . referring to fig2 , the ornamental feature 102 may be an icon 200 embroidered directly into the outer most layer 100 . for example , the outer most layer 100 may be embroidered with an image of a soccer ball , as shown , or any other image . the embroidered ornamental feature may also be letters , as shown in fig3 , numbers , or a combination thereof . for example , the composite material may be personalized with a monogram or the name of an individual or the name of the company producing the part . referring to fig4 , the threading may be used to structurally reinforce the composite materials , particularly around holes in the material . for example , the thread 400 may be a carbon thread that is sewn in a desired direction or pattern , preferably in a plurality of passes until the desired build up is achieved . for example , a thread may be stitched into one or more of the layers of the mat in a circular pattern around a hole in the part , as shown . as noted above , the thread may be the same or a different material than the outer most layer . for example , a carbon mat outer layer may be used with a kevlar thread for its flexibility . the appearance of the thread in the composite material may be tailored by , e . g ., maintaining the thread in a certain tension , prior to encapsulating the thread into the composite material . in addition to overlays , a plurality of ornamental layers may be stitched together continuously , e . g ., side by side , similar to that of a quilt . in this instance , the fabrics may be joined together in a particular pattern to form a three dimensional fabric similar to that of a tailored suit . this allows parts to be formed with a seam appearing therein . for example , a motorcycle gas tank may be formed from three or more fabric sections stitched together to form the general shape of the gas tank . the final part will appear as having been stitched together rather than the continuous appearance normally seen with composite parts . unlimited types of parts may be produced using the composite material in accordance with at least one embodiment of the methods disclosed herein . for example , automotive parts , such as hoods , fenders , mirrors , spoilers , etc ., may be produced with logos and / or wording visibly embedded into the composite material . motorcycle parts , such as gas tanks , fenders , tins , helmets , etc ., may be uniquely fashioned . similarly , composite jewelry may be produced with greater visual appeal . for example , a carbon fiber bracelet may be produced with stitching and / or embroidery in a desired pattern or wording embedded into the composite material &# 39 ; s top layer . for example , a tribal pattern may be embroidered into a carbon fiber bracelet as shown in fig5 . composites may also be used to produce musical instruments or parts thereof . for example , a guitar sound board may be produced with carbon fiber and a contrasting thread stitched therein . similarly , the inlays on the soundboard may be produced by attaching ornamental geometric shapes around the hole in the soundboard . the sound board may be structurally reinforced with an appliqué in desired areas , such as at the bridge plate . coverings may be ornamented in accordance with this application , such as notebook computer and cell phone cases . while the foregoing invention has been described in some detail for purposes of clarity and understanding , it will be appreciated by one skilled in the art , from a reading of the disclosure , that various changes in form and detail can be made without departing from the true scope of the invention .	1
a pneumatic tire according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be explained with reference to the accompanying drawings . in particular , an explanation will be given of sections : ( 1 ) general configuration of a pneumatic tire , ( 2 ) configuration of a part ranging from a bead portion to a sidewall portion , ( 3 ) functions and effects , and ( 4 ) other embodiments . in the following drawings , the same or like reference signs are given to the same or like parts . it is to be noted that the drawings are schematic and the dimensions or ratios are different from real values . therefore , actual dimensions should be determined according to the following explanations . the drawings include parts of different dimensions or ratios . hereinafter , a general configuration of a pneumatic tire will be explained with reference to the drawings . fig1 is a diagram explaining a configuration of a pneumatic tire 1 . the pneumatic tire 1 comprises a pair of bead portions 12 having a bead core 11 , a pair of sidewall portions 13 , and a tread portion 14 contiguous to a pair of sidewall portions . fig1 shows a bead core 11 , a bead portion 12 , and a sidewall portion 13 of only one side with respect to an equator line cl in the pneumatic tire 1 . the pneumatic tire 1 is provided with a carcass 20 toroidally extending between a pair of bead cores 11 . a plurality of belt layers 15 is provided between a tread portion 14 and a carcass 20 . a pneumatic tire 1 is installed in a standard rim 100 . the standard rim 100 means a rim defined by standards . the standards are determined by industrial standards valid in districts where a tire is manufactured or used . for example , “ year book of the tire and rim association inc ” in u . s . a , “ standards manual of the european tire and rim technical organization ” in europe , and “ jatma year book of japan automobile and tire association ” in japan . the carcass 20 has a carcass body 21 and a carcass turn - up portion 22 . the carcass turn - up portion 22 is rewound around the bead core 11 from inside toward outside of the tire , and is extended outside in the radial direction of the tire . between the toroidally carcass body 21 and the carcass turn - up portion 22 turned up from the bead core 11 , a bead filler 31 and a rubber sheet 32 are arranged . the bead filler 31 is located more outside than the bead core 11 in the tire radial direction . the rubber sheet 32 is located more outside than the bead filler 31 in the tire radial direction . in the embodiment , the bead filler 31 forms a first filling material , and the rubber sheet 32 forms a second filling material . an end 32 a of the rubber sheet 32 is located more inside in the tire radial direction than the end 22 a of the carcass turn - up portion 22 in the tire radial direction . between an end 31 a of the bead filler 31 outside in the tire radial direction and an end 32 b of the rubber sheet 32 inside in the tire radial direction , a space d is provided . in the embodiment , the carcass body 21 and carcass turn - up portion 22 contact each other more outside than the end 32 a of the rubber sheet 32 in the tire radial direction . ( 2 ) configuration of a part ranging from a bead portion to a side wall portion fig2 is a magnified view explaining in detail a part ranging from a bead portion 12 to a side wall portion 13 of the pneumatic tire 1 according to the embodiment . in the pneumatic tire 1 , the length from the innermost position of the carcass body 21 in the tire radial direction to the outermost position of the carcass body 21 in the tire radial direction ( called a carcass section height ) is expressed as csh . a flange line along the tire axial direction passing through an end 110 a of a rim flange portion 110 of the standard rim 100 outside in the tire radial direction is defined as fl . a carcass baseline along the tire axial direction passing through an end of the carcass body 21 inside in the tire radial direction is defined as bl . at this time , as shown in fig2 , the end 31 a of the bead filler 31 outside in the tire radial direction is formed to be interposed between a point p 1 at a length of 0 . 05 csh more outside than the flange line fl in the tire radial direction , and a point p 2 at a length of 0 . 10 csh more inside than the flange line fl in the tire radial direction . in other words , l 1 = 0 . 05 csh and l 2 = 0 . 10 csh in fig2 . the end 32 a of the rubber sheet 32 outside in the tire radial direction is formed to be located at a point p 3 at a length of 0 . 70 csh more outside than the carcass baseline bl along the tire axis direction passing through the end of the carcass body 21 inside in the tire radial direction , or at a position more inside than the point p 3 in the tire radial direction . the end 32 b of the rubber sheet 32 inside in the dire radial direction is formed to be located at a point p 4 identical to the flange line fl , or between the point p 4 and a point p 5 at a length of 0 . 15 csh more outside than the flange line fl in the tire radial direction . in other words , l 3 = 0 . 15 csh in fig2 . the length l 4 of the rubber sheet 32 along the carcass body 21 satisfies the relation 0 . 15 csh ≦ l ≦ 0 . 55 csh . the distance d 1 between the end 31 a of the bead filler 31 outside in the tire radial direction and the end 32 b of the rubber sheet 32 inside in the tire radial direction ( i . e ., the length of the space d along the carcass body 21 ) is over 5 mm and below 15 mm . the thickness d 2 of the rubber sheet 32 in the normal direction of the carcass body 21 is over 0 . 5 mm and below 5 . 0 mm . more preferably , the thickness d 2 is over 1 . 0 mm and below 2 . 0 mm . the distance between the end 31 a of the bead filler 31 outside in the tire radial direction and the end 32 b of the rubber sheet 32 along the tire radial direction inside in the tire radial direction satisfies the relation 0 . 04 csh ≦ d 3 ≦ 0 . 15 csh . an elastic modulus of the rubber sheet 32 is over 20 % and below 50 % of the elastic modulus of the bead filler 31 . the elastic modulus mentioned here indicates the value measured by measuring the reaction force when a sine wave is applied to a rubber sample at a temperature of 50 ° c ., a frequency of 15 hz , and a distortion of 5 %. specifically , for example , the elastic modulus can be measured by using a viscoelasticity measuring apparatus manufactured by rheometrics inc . a loss tangent ( tan δ ) of the rubber sheet 32 is over 10 % and below 30 % of the loss tangent of the bead filler 31 . in a conventional pneumatic tire , when a sidewall portion deforms like falling outside in the tier width direction in an area where a pneumatic tire contacts a rim flange portion , the tire suffers a compressive deformation pressed to a rim flange portion in the vicinity of the origin of the deformation , and is compressed in the direction along a carcass body . in other words , in the vicinity of the origin of the deformation , a hysteresis loss that becomes a factor to decrease a rolling resistance occurs . further , as the stiffness of the bead filler is higher than the stiffness of rubber material forming a bead portion and a sidewall portion , an end of a bead filler outside in the tire width direction becomes a stiffness step , and deformation is likely to occur at this position . as described above , when deformation that becomes a factor to cause a hysteresis loss occurs at several positions in a sidewall portion and a bead portion , the deformed rubber volume increases , and a hysteresis loss increases . on the other hand , in the pneumatic tire 1 according to the embodiment , the bead filler 31 is located more outside than the bead core 11 in the tire radial direction , the rubber sheet 32 is located more outside than the bead filler 31 in the tire radial direction , and the space d is provided between the end 31 a of the bead filler 31 outside in the tire radial direction and the end 32 b of the rubber sheet 32 inside in the tire radial direction . the space d is filled with a rubber with a stiffness lower than that of the first and second filling materials , such as a rubber coating the carcass 20 . therefore , the stiffness of the bead portion 12 of the pneumatic tire 1 is lower than the stiffness of a bead portion of a conventional pneumatic tire that the space d is filled with a filling material such as a rubber with a high stiffness . thus , the pneumatic tire 1 is easy to locally deform in the space d of the bead portion 12 . in other words , in the pneumatic tire 1 , the parts easy to deform are intentionally concentrated to decrease the volume of deformed rubber , thereby decreasing a hysteresis loss . while decreasing the volume of deformed rubber , in the pneumatic tire 1 , the rubber sheet 32 is located in being held by the carcass body 21 and carcass turn - up portion 22 with an appropriate interval taken from the space d contributing to deformation . by making such a sandwich structure as to hold a rubber between structures with high hardness ( the carcass body 21 and the carcass turn - up portion 22 ), a part with a high stiffness is formed more outside than the space d in the pneumatic tire 1 . as described above , as the pneumatic tire 1 is so configured that the sidewall portion 13 is prevented from the influence of decreasing the stiffness in a local part of the bead portion 12 , it is possible to prevent deterioration of the driving stability due to setting a stiffness low in the radial direction of the part ranging from the bead portion 12 to the sidewall portion 13 . by making a structure that the carcass body 21 and the carcass turn - up portion 22 contact each other more outside than the end 32 a of the rubber sheet 32 in the tire radial direction , a stronger sandwich structure can be made , and the stiffness of the pneumatic tire 1 more outside than the space d in the tire radial direction can be enhanced . in the pneumatic tire 1 , the end 31 a of the bead filler 31 is formed to be interposed between the point p 1 and point p 2 , and the end 32 b of the rubber sheet 32 is formed at the point p 4 , or between the point p 4 and the point p 5 more outside than the point p 4 in the tire radial direction . by configuring the pneumatic tire 1 as described above , the local deformation part corresponding to the space d formed in the bead portion 12 can be aligned with the area where the pneumatic tire 1 contacts the standard rim 100 . in this configuration , the part ranging from the bead portion 12 to the sidewall portion 13 becomes easy to deform in the part contacting the standard rim 100 that function as a fulcrum . the end 32 a of the rubber sheet 32 is formed to be located at the point p 3 or more inside than the point p 3 in the tire radial direction . in the pneumatic tire 1 , the length l of the rubber sheet 32 along the carcass body 21 satisfies the relation 0 . 15 csh ≦ l ≦ 0 . 4 csh . thus , it is possible to increase the stiffness of the area contributing to the effect of increasing the lateral stiffness in the sidewall portion 13 . the interval d 1 between the end 31 a of the bead filler 31 and the end 32 b of the rubber sheet 32 is preferably over 5 mm and below 10 mm . the distance d 3 along the tire radial direction between the end 31 a of the bead filler 31 outside in the tire radial direction and the end 32 b of the rubber sheet 32 inside in the tire radial direction preferably satisfies the relation 0 . 04 csh ≦ d 3 ≦ 0 . 15 csh . by setting such an interval , the local deformation can be aligned with the portion where the part ranging from the bead portion 12 to the sidewall portion 13 contacts with the standard rim 100 , and the effect to absorb some of the deformation of the whole pneumatic tire 1 can be increased . the thickness d 2 of the rubber sheet 32 in the normal direction of the carcass body 21 is over 0 . 5 mm and below 5 . 0 mm . preferably , the thickness d 2 is over 1 . 0 mm and below 2 . 0 mm . when the thickness of the sidewall portion 13 increases , the lateral stiffness can be increased , but a hysteresis loss is likely to occur . thus , the thickness d 2 of the rubber sheet 32 in the normal direction of the carcass body 21 forming the sidewall portion 13 is preferably set within the above range . an elastic modulus of the rubber sheet 32 is over 20 % and below 50 % of the elastic modulus of the bead filler 31 . a higher elastic modulus of the rubber sheet 32 is preferable . a loss tangent ( tan δ ) of the rubber sheet 32 is over 10 % and below 30 % of the loss tangent of the bead filler 31 . a hysteresis loss increases when the tan δ is large , and decreases when the tan δ is small . thus , a smaller tan δ is preferable to prevent an extra rolling resistance . although the present invention has been described in terms of preferred embodiments , the foregoing discussion and drawings are not to be understood as restrictive of the invention . it will be appreciated that various alternative embodiments , examples might by those skilled in the art . as described above , many embodiments not disclosed herein are to be understood as included in the present invention . the scope of the invention should , therefore , be defined by the appended claims . we manufactured a conventional tire and a tire according to the embodiment , and compared the rolling resistance and driving stability . a tire was provided with one carcass ply , two belt layers crossing at an angle of 66 ° with respect to a tread width direction along the width of a tread , and a circumferential reinforcing layer made of nylon disposed outside in the tire radial direction of the belt layer . the tire size was 195 / 65r15 . we manufactured the tires of comparative example 2 to 20 and embodiment 1 to 22 by changing the position of the end of a first filling material outside in the tire radial direction , the position of the end of a second filling material outside a tire radial direction , and the position of the end of a second filling material inside in the tire radial direction . a tire not having a second filling material was considered to be a comparative example tire . we installed the tires of comparative example and embodiment in a rated rim defined by jatma ( 6 j in the embodiment ), and obtained a rolling resistance by using a drum test machine having an iron plate surface with a diameter of 1 . 7 m . the measuring conditions were 80 km / h , 4 . 5 kn , 210 kpa at speed , load , internal pressure , respectively . table 1 shows the results expressed by the indexes assuming the results of the tire of comparative example 1 to be 100 . we measured a lateral spring constant at a load as an index of driving stability . specifically , a load of 4 . 5 kn was applied , the axle was pulled in the tire lateral direction , and a lateral spring constant was measured . table 1 shows the results expressed by the indexes assuming the results of the tire of comparative example 1 to be 100 . in table 1 , the position of the end of the first filling material outside in the tire radial direction ※ 1 is represented by “+” when it is more outside than the flange line fl shown in fig2 in the tire radial direction , and is expressed by “−” when it is more inside than the flange line fl in the tire radial direction . the numeric value is a ratio to csh (%). the position of the end of the second filling material outside in the tire radial direction ※ 2 is the distance from the carcass baseline bl toward outside in the tire radial direction . the numeric value is a ratio to csh (%). the position of the end of the second filling material inside in the tire radial direction ※ 3 is the distance from the flange line fl toward outside in the tire radial direction . the numeric value is a ratio to csh (%). the length of the second filling material ※ 4 is expressed by a ratio to csh (%). according to the results shown in table 1 , the rolling resistance value is preferable when it is lower than 100 . in consideration of an error and from the viewpoint of market supremacy , it is acceptable when a difference is 2 % or more ( i . e ., an index value of 98 or less ). when improvement of 5 % or more is observed , it can be said especially great effect . the driving stability test shows a good reproducibility , and it can be acceptable when a difference is 1 % or more ( i . e ., an index value of 101 % or more ). a pneumatic tire according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be explained with reference to the accompanying drawings . in particular , an explanation will be given of sections : ( 1 ) general configuration of a pneumatic tire , ( 2 ) configuration of a part ranging from a bead portion to a sidewall portion , ( 3 ) functions and effects , and ( 4 ) other embodiments . in the following drawings , the same or like reference signs are given to the same or like parts . it is to be noted that the drawings are schematic and the dimensions or ratios are different from real values . therefore , actual dimensions should be determined according to the following explanations . the drawings include parts of different dimensions or ratios . hereinafter , a general configuration of a pneumatic tire will be explained with reference to the drawings . fig3 is a sectional view in the tire width direction showing a configuration of a pneumatic tire 1 a . the pneumatic tire 1 a according to the embodiment has a rim guard , and assumes a tire with a small tire profile . a configuration of the pneumatic tire 1 a will be described in detail . the pneumatic tire 1 a according to the present embodiment comprises a pair of bead portions 112 having a bead core 111 , a pair of sidewall portions 113 , and a tread portion 114 contiguous to the sidewall portion . fig3 shows a bead core 111 , a bead portion 112 , and a sidewall portion 113 of only one side with respect to an equator line cl in the pneumatic tire 1 a . the pneumatic tire 1 a is provided with a carcass 120 toroidally extending between a pair of bead cores 111 . a plurality of belt layers 115 is provided between a tread portion 114 a carcass 120 . the pneumatic tire 1 a is installed in a standard rim 100 a . the standard rim 100 a means a rim defined by standards . the standards are determined by industrial standards valid in districts where a tire is manufactured or used . for example , “ year book of the tire and rim association inc ” in u . s . a , “ standards manual of the european tire and rim technical organization ” in europe , and “ jatma year book of japan automobile and tire association ” in japan . the carcass 120 has a carcass body 121 and a carcass turn - up portion 122 . the carcass turn - up portion 122 is rewound around the bead core 111 from inside toward outside of the tire , and is extended outside in the tire radial direction . between the toroidally carcass body 121 and the carcass turn - up portion 122 turned up at the bead core 111 , a bead filler 131 and a rubber sheet 132 are disposed . the bead filler 131 is located more outside than the bead core 111 in the tire radial direction . the rubber sheet 132 is located more outside than the bead filler 131 in the tire radial direction . in the embodiment , the bead filler 131 forms a first filling material , and the rubber sheet 132 forms a second filling material . an end 132 a of the rubber sheet 132 outside in the tire radial direction is disposed at a position substantially the same level as the end 122 a of the carcass turn - up portion 122 outside in the tire radial direction . the end 132 a of the rubber sheet 132 outside in the tire radial direction may be disposed more inside than the end 122 a of the carcass turn - up portion 122 in the tire radial direction , or may be disposed outside in the tire radial direction . a space da is provided between the end 131 a of the bead filler 131 outside in the tire radial direction and the end 132 b of the rubber sheet 132 inside in the tire radial direction . the example of fig3 shows a case where the carcass body 121 and carcass turn - up portion 122 do not contact each other more outside than the end 132 a of the rubber sheet 132 in the tire radial direction . however , the carcass body 121 may contact the carcass turn - up portion 122 . in the embodiment , the sidewall portion 113 is provided with a rim guard 150 projecting toward outside in the tire width direction . the rim guard 150 is disposed more outside than the standard rim 100 in the tire radial direction . the rim guard 150 is formed so that a rim guard top 151 located most outside in the tire width direction is located more outside than the standard rim 100 a in the tire width direction . ( 2 ) configuration of a part ranging from a bead portion to a side wall portion fig4 is a magnified view explaining in detail a part ranging from a bead portion 112 to a side wall portion 113 of the pneumatic tire 1 a according to the embodiment . in the pneumatic tire 1 a , the length from the innermost position of the carcass body 121 in the tire radial direction to the outermost position of the carcass body 121 in the tire radial direction ( called a carcass section height ) is expressed as csh . a carcass baseline along the tire axial direction passing through an end of the carcass body 121 inside in the tire radial direction is defined as bl . a top line along the tire axial direction passing through the rim guard top 151 of the rim guard 150 located most outside in the tire width direction is defined as pl . the end 131 a of the bead filler 131 outside in the tire radial direction is formed to be interposed between a point p 13 at a length of 0 . 15 csh more inside than the top line pl in the tire radial direction , and a point p 14 at a length of 0 . 05 csh more inside than the top line pl in the tire radial direction . in other words , l 13 = 0 . 15 csh and l 14 = 0 . 05 csh in fig4 . the end 132 b of the rubber sheet 132 inside in the dire radial direction is formed to be located at a point p 14 at a length of 0 . 05 and a point p 15 at a length of 0 . 2 more outside than the top line pl in the tire radial direction . in other words , l 15 = 0 . 2 csh in fig4 . a space da ( predetermined space ) is provided between the end 131 a of the bead filler 131 outside in the tire radial direction and the end 132 b of the rubber sheet 132 inside in the tire radial direction . when the end 132 a of the rubber sheet 132 and the end 132 b of the rubber sheet 132 are shaped in tapered form , both the end 132 a and end 132 b can be disposed on the line ( the line including the point p 14 ) at a length of 0 . 05 csh more outside than the top line pl in the tire radial direction . in this case , the space da is provided between the end 131 a of the bead filler 131 and the end 132 b of the rubber sheet 132 . the space da provided as described above is filled with a rubber such as a coating rubber or the like that coating the carcass 120 with a stiffness lower than that of the bead filler 131 and rubber sheet 132 . in other words , the stiffness of material disposed in the space da is lower than that of the bead filler 131 and rubber sheet 132 . when expressed as an elastic modulus , the elastic modulus of the material disposed in the space da provided between the bead filler 131 and the rubber sheet 132 is lower than the elastic modulus of the rubber sheet 132 . the elastic modulus of the material disposed in the space da provided between the bead filler 131 and the rubber sheet 132 is over 3 % and below 20 % of the elastic modulus of the bead filler 131 . an elastic modulus is a value measured by measuring a reaction force when a sine wave is applied to a rubber sample at a temperature of 50 ° c ., a frequency of 15 hz , and a distortion of 5 %. specifically , for example , an elastic modulus can be measured by using a viscoelasticity measuring apparatus manufactured by rheometrics inc . a loss tangent ( tan δ ) of the material disposed in the space da provided between the bead filler 131 and the rubber sheet 132 is over 10 % and below 50 % of the loss tangent ( tan δ ) of the bead filler 131 . the end 132 a of the rubber sheet 132 outside in the tire radial direction is formed to be located at a point p 16 at a length of 0 . 70 csh more outside than the carcass baseline in the tire radial direction , or at a position more inside than the point p . 16 in the tire radial direction . the length l 21 of the rubber sheet 132 along the carcass body 121 satisfies the relation 0 . 15 csh ≦ l ≦ 0 . 4 csh . the distance l 22 between the end 131 a of the bead filler 311 outside in the tire radial direction and the end 132 b of the rubber sheet 132 inside in the tire radial direction ( i . e ., the length of the space da along the carcass body 121 ) is over 3 mm and below 15 mm . the thickness d 11 of the rubber sheet 132 in the normal direction of the carcass body 121 is over 0 . 5 mm and below 5 . 0 mm . preferably , the thickness d 11 is over 1 . 0 mm and below 2 . 0 mm . the elastic modulus of the rubber sheet 132 is over 10 % and below 50 % of the elastic modulus of the bead feeler 131 . a loss tangent ( tan δ ) of the rubber sheet 132 is over 10 % and below 50 % of the loss tangent of the bead filler 131 . in a conventional pneumatic tire , when a sidewall portion deforms like falling outside in the tier width direction in an area where a pneumatic tire contacts a rim flange portion , the tire suffers a compressive deformation pressed to a rim flange portion in the vicinity of the origin of the deformation , and is compressed in the direction along a carcass body . in other words , in the vicinity of the origin of the deformation , a hysteresis loss that becomes a factor to decrease a rolling resistance occurs . further , as the bead filler stiffness is higher than the stiffness of rubber material forming a bead portion and a sidewall portion , an end of the bead filler outside in the tire width direction becomes a stiffness step , and deformation is likely to occur at this position . in a pneumatic tire having a rim guard in a sidewall portion , an origin of deformation is likely to occur in the vicinity of a rim guard top . as the volume of a rim guard projecting outside in the tire width direction is large , a pneumatic tire having a rim guard is likely to cause a hysteresis loss that becomes a factor to decrease a rolling resistance . as described above , when deformation causing a hysteresis loss occurs at several locations in a part ranging from a sidewall portion to a bead portion , the volume of the deformed rubber increases , and a hysteresis loss increases . on the other hand , in the pneumatic tire 1 a according to the embodiment , the bead filler 131 is located more outside than the bead core 111 in the tire radial direction , the rubber sheet 132 is located more outside than the bead filler 131 in the tire radial direction , and the space da is provided between the end 131 a of the bead filler 131 outside in the tire radial direction and the end 132 b of the rubber sheet 132 b inside in the tire radial direction . the space da is filled with a rubber with stiffness lower than that of the bead filler 131 and rubber sheet 132 , such as a rubber for coating the carcass 20 . the elastic modulus of the material disposed in the space da is lower than the elastic modulus of the rubber sheet 132 . the elastic modulus of the material disposed in the space da is over 3 % and below 20 % of the elastic modulus of the bead filler 131 . thus , in the pneumatic tire 1 a according to the embodiment , the elastic modulus of the material disposed in the space da is lower than the elastic modulus of a conventional pneumatic tire that the space da is filled with a filling material with a high elastic modulus such as a rubber . therefore , the pneumatic tire 1 a is easy to locally deform in the space da . in other words , in the pneumatic tire 1 a , the parts easy to deform are intentionally concentrated to decrease the volume of deformed rubber , thereby decreasing a hysteresis loss . a loss tangent ( tan δ ) of the material disposed in the space da is over 10 % and below 50 % of the loss tangent ( tan δ ) of the bead filler 131 . a hysteresis loss increases when the tan δ is large , and decreases when the tan δ is small . therefore , a rolling resistance can be prevented by setting the tan δ of the material disposed in the locally deforming space da within the above range . while decreasing the deformed rubber volume , in the pneumatic tire 1 a , the rubber sheet 132 is located in being held by the carcass body 121 and carcass turn - up portion 122 with an appropriate interval taken from the space da contributing to deformation . by making such a sandwich structure as to hold the rubber sheet 132 between structures with a high hardness ( the carcass body 121 and the carcass turn - up portion 122 ), a part with a high stiffness is formed more outside than the space da of the pneumatic tire 1 a in the tire radial direction . as described above , as the pneumatic tire 1 a is so configured that the sidewall portion 113 is prevented from the influence of decreasing the stiffness of the space da , it is possible to prevent deterioration of the driving stability due to setting a stiffness low in the radial direction of the part ranging from the bead portion 112 to the sidewall portion 113 . in the pneumatic tire 1 a , the end 131 a of the bead filler 131 is formed to be interposed between the point p 13 and the point p 14 , and the end 132 b of the rubber sheet 132 is formed to be interposed between the point p 14 and the point p 15 . by configuring the pneumatic tire 1 a as described above , the local deformation area corresponding to the space da can be aligned with the part in the vicinity of the top line pl along the tire axial direction passing through the rim guard top 151 . in this configuration , the part ranging from the bead portion 112 to the sidewall portion 113 becomes easy to deform in the part in the vicinity of the top line pl of the rim guard top 151 that functions as a fulcrum . in other words , in the pneumatic tire 1 a , consider the rim guard 150 , the parts easy to deform are intentionally concentrated to decrease the volume of deformed rubber , thereby decreasing a hysteresis loss . the end 132 a of the rubber sheet 132 is formed to be located at the point p 16 at a distance of 0 . 7 csh from the carcass baseline , or more inside than the point p 16 in the tire radial direction . in the pneumatic tire 1 a , the length l of the rubber sheet 132 along the carcass body 121 satisfies the relation 0 . 15 csh ≦ l 21 ≦ 0 . 4 csh . thus , it is possible to increase the stiffness of the area contributing to the effect of increasing the lateral stiffness in the sidewall portion 113 . in the pneumatic tire 1 a , the interval l 22 between the end 131 a of the bead filler 311 and the end 132 b of the rubber sheet 132 ( that is , the length of the space da along the carcass body 121 ) is preferably over 3 mm and below 15 mm . by setting such an interval , the local deformation part can be aligned with the top line pl along the tire axial direction passing through the rim guard top 151 , and the effect to absorb some of the deformation of the whole pneumatic tire 1 a can be increased . the thickness d 11 of the rubber sheet 132 in the normal direction of the carcass body 121 is over 0 . 5 mm and below 5 . 0 mm . preferably , the thickness d 11 of the rubber sheet 132 is over 1 . 0 mm and below 2 . 0 mm . when the thickness of the sidewall portion 113 increases , the lateral stiffness can be increased , but a hysteresis loss is likely to occur . thus , the thickness d 11 of the rubber sheet 132 in the normal direction of the carcass body 121 forming the sidewall portion 113 is preferably set within the above range . an elastic modulus of the rubber sheet 132 is over 10 % and below 50 % of the elastic modulus of the bead filler 131 . an elastic modulus of the rubber sheet 132 is preferably as high as possible within the above range . a loss tangent ( tan δ ) of the rubber sheet 132 is over 10 % and below 50 % of the loss tangent of the bead filler 131 . to prevent an extra rolling resistance , the tan δ of the rubber sheet 132 is preferably as small as possible within the above range . although the present invention has been described in terms of preferred embodiments , the foregoing discussion and drawings are not to be understood as restrictive of the invention . it will be appreciated that various alternative embodiments , examples might by those skilled in the art . for example , the first embodiment and second embodiment can be combined . as described above , many embodiments not disclosed herein are to be understood as included in the present invention . the scope of the invention should , therefore , be defined by the appended claims . we manufactured a conventional pneumatic tire and a pneumatic tire according to the present embodiment , and compared the rolling resistance and driving stability . a pneumatic tire was provided with one carcass ply , two belt layers crossing at an angle of 66 ° with respect to a tread width direction along the width of a tread , and a circumferential reinforcing layer made of nylon disposed outside in the tire radial direction of the belt layer . a pneumatic tire having a rim guard in a sidewall portion was prepared . the tire size was 225 / 45r17 . a rim guard top was outside in the tire radial direction at a distance of 0 . 245 csh from a carcass baseline . one not including a second filling material ( a rubber sheet 132 ) was considered to be a pneumatic tire of comparative example 1 . we manufactured the tires of comparative example 2 to 20 and embodiment 1 to 20 by changing the position of an end of a first filling material ( a bead filler 131 ) outside in the tire radial direction , the position of an end of a second filling material outside in the tire radial direction , the position of an end of a second filling material ( a rubber sheet 132 ) inside in the tire radial direction , the elastic modulus of first filling material and second filling material , and the loss tangents of first filling material and second filling material . table 2 shows the concrete specifications of the comparative examples and embodiments . we installed the tires of comparative example and embodiment in a rated rim defined by jatma ( 7 . 5 j in the embodiment ), and obtained a rolling resistance by using a drum test machine having an iron plate surface with a diameter of 1 . 7 m . the measuring conditions were at speed of 80 km / h , load of 4 . 41 kn , internal pressure of 230 kpa , respectively . table 2 shows the results expressed by the indexes assuming the results of the tire of comparative example 1 to be 100 . we measured a lateral spring constant at a load as an index of driving stability . specifically , a load of 4 . 41 kn was applied , the axle was pulled in the tire lateral direction , and a lateral spring constant was measured . table 2 shows the results expressed by the indexes assuming the results of the tire of comparative example 1 to be 100 . in table 2 , the position of the end of the first filling material outside in the tire radial direction ※ 1 is represented by “+” when it is more outside than the top line pl shown in fig4 in the tire radial direction , and is expressed by “−” when it is more inside than the flange line pl in the tire radial direction . the numeric value is a ratio to csh (%). the position of the end of the second filling material outside in the tire radial direction ※ 2 is the distance from the carcass baseline bl toward outside in the tire radial direction . the numeric value is a ratio to csh (%). the position of the end of the second filling material inside in the tire radial direction ※ 3 is the distance from the flange line pl toward outside in the tire radial direction . the numeric value is a ratio to csh (%). the length of the second filling material ※ 4 is expressed by a ratio to csh (%). according to the results shown in table 2 , the rolling resistance value is preferable when it is lower than 100 . the driving resistance is preferable when it is higher than 100 . in consideration of an error and from the viewpoint of market supremacy , the rolling resistance test is acceptable when a difference is 2 % or more ( i . e ., an index value of 98 or less ). when an improvement of 5 % or more is observed , it can be said an especially large effect . the driving stability test shows a good reproducibility , and it can be acceptable when a difference is 1 % or more ( i . e ., an index value of 101 % or more ). as shown in table 2 , it is proved that the embodiment 1 to 16 realizes both decreased rolling resistance and improved driving stability , compared with the comparative example 1 to 8 . all the contents of japanese patent application no . 2010 - 234658 ( filed oct . 19 , 2010 ), and japanese patent application no . 2011 - 143088 ( filed jun . 28 , 2011 ) are incorporated in a present specification by reference . as described hereinbefore , the pneumatic tire according to the present invention realizes both decreased rolling resistance and improved driving stability at a high level , and is useful in the field of tire manufacturing .	1
fig1 shows an airfoil precursor block 20 after initial machining stages . the exemplary block 20 may initially be formed as a single - piece right parallelepiped of a metallic material . exemplary metallic materials are refractory metals and refractory metal - based alloys and combinations of such metals and alloys with refractory metal intermetallics . exemplary alloys are molybdenum alloys and niobium alloys preferably with intermetallics of molybdenum and niobium , respectively . exemplary intermetallic contents are greater than 5 % by volume ( more narrowly , 10 - 80 %, or 20 - 50 %). exemplary intermetallics are suicides . an exemplary essentially pure molybdenum with molybdenum silicide has a molybdenum silicide content of 10 - 45 %. an exemplary essentially pure niobium with niobium silicide has a molybdenum silicide content of 20 - 80 %. the parallelepiped has axes 500 , 502 , and 504 which may , for reference , be assigned as x , y , and z directions . a central portion 22 of the block is located generally between constant - z planes 508 and 510 and , ultimately , substantially forms the airfoil of a turbine element such as a blade or vane . an exemplary first of the initial machining stages involves forming registration features to subsequently facilitate the alignment of subpieces cut from the block 20 . in the exemplary embodiment , this machining takes the form of drilling holes into the block . in the exemplary embodiment , the holes are through - holes or bores between opposed faces of the block . exemplary holes 24 and 26 extend between the constant - x faces of the block and have axes 512 and 514 parallel to the axis 500 . holes 28 and 30 extend between the constant - y faces and have axes 516 and 518 parallel to the axis 502 . in the exemplary embodiment , the holes 24 , 26 , 28 , and 30 are in portions 32 and 34 outboard of the central portion 22 . during such drilling , the block may be registered in a fixture ( not shown ) by means of one or more of its faces . a second of the initial machining stages involves cutting the block into the subpieces . this exemplary cutting is performed via wire electro - discharge machining ( edm ) process . to facilitate the cutting , the block may be registered in a cutting fixture via the drilled holes . the cutting fixture may securely hold each of the portions of the block that will become the subpieces . in the exemplary embodiment , a first cut 40 extends between the two constant - y faces and the two constant - z faces and is a planar cut in a plane 520 parallel to the z - direction 504 . this exemplary first cut 40 separates a leading subpiece 42 from a remainder of the block ( namely from portions 44 , 46 , and 48 that will become identified as a suction side subpiece ; a core subpiece ; and a pressure side subpiece , respectively , after second and third cuts ). the second cut 54 is arcuate but , in the exemplary embodiment , parallel to the z - direction 504 . this second cut 54 separates the pressure side subpiece 44 from the remainder of the block 20 . the third cut 56 separates the suction side subpiece 48 from the core subpiece 46 . the exemplary third cut 56 is also arcuate and parallel to the z - direction 504 . it is noted that the cuts need not be parallel to the z - direction . non - parallel cuts could be particularly useful to preform a blade having twist , taper , or other spanwise variance in the shape , size , or orientation of its cross - section . fig2 shows the leading subpiece 42 having a planar cut surface 60 resulting from the first cut 40 . the suction side subpiece 44 has a planar first cut surface 62 resulting from the first cut 40 and a continuously curving concave second cut surface 64 resulting from the second cut 54 . the core subpiece 46 has a planar first cut surface 66 resulting from the first cut 40 , a continuously curving convex second cut surface 68 resulting from the second cut 54 and a continuously curving concave third cut surface 70 resulting from the third cut 56 . the surfaces 68 and 70 meet at junction defining a core subpiece trailing edge 72 . the suction side subpiece 48 has a planar first cut surface 74 resulting from the first cut 40 , a continuously curving convex second cut surface 76 resulting from the second cut 54 , and a continuously curving convex third cut surface 78 resulting from the third cut 56 . with the subpieces disassembled from each other , various features may be machined into their cut surfaces . prior to the machining , each individual subpiece may be registered in a fixture ( not shown ) such as via the portions of the registration holes / bores 24 , 26 , 28 , and / or 30 located in such subpiece . a drill or milling bit or like machine tool element may be registered off such hole / bores for precise positioning of the features to be machined into the cut surfaces . fig3 shows the suction side cut surface 68 of the core subpiece 46 . in the exemplary embodiment , a streamwise and spanwise array of individual non - intersecting shallow circuits 100 are machined in the surface 68 to a generally constant shallow depth d 1 ( fig2 ). each exemplary circuit 100 is formed as a series of three interconnected elongate obround channels 102 ( downstream , upstream and intermediate relative to the airfoil section and not to ultimate cooling flow through the circuits ). each channel 102 surrounds a central island 104 . adjacent channels 102 are interconnected by central gaps 106 in intact portions of the core subpiece defining dividing walls 108 between the channels 102 . thus , the circuits 100 extend from a downstream leg 110 of the downstream channel , to an upstream leg 112 of the upstream channel . centrally intersecting each leg 110 , a deeper hole or blind bore 114 ( fig2 ) is drilled . similar circuits 120 and blind bores 122 may be formed on the suction side cut surface 70 . other circuit configurations and degrees of interconnectedness are possible as are other numbers and configurations of bores 114 and 122 . as is described in further detail below , ultimately the circuits 100 and 120 will form suction and pressure side wall cooling circuits . fig3 further shows a spanwise series of streamwise elongate slots 130 milled in the suction side cut surface 68 . in the exemplary embodiment , these slots are aligned downstream of associated streamwise groups of the circuits . these slots each have a flat bottom / base with an exemplary shallow depth d 2 and extend from a leading end at a relatively deeper blind bore 132 to a trailing end at the intersection 72 and thus cut through trailing portions of the suction side cut surface 70 . as is described in further detail below , ultimately these slots 130 will help form trailing edge outlet slots . additional features may be machined into the cut surfaces of the other subpieces 42 , 44 , and 48 . in the exemplary embodiment , the second cut surface 64 of the suction side subpiece 44 is machined via the drilling of blind bores 140 . exemplary bores 140 are positioned to align with associated upstream legs 112 of the core subpiece circuits 100 . similarly , the third cut surface 78 of the suction side subpiece 48 is machined via the drilling of blind bores 150 positioned to align with the upstream legs of associated circuits 120 . slots 152 are machined in the second cut surface 76 extending through the junction with the third cut surface 78 to align with the slots 130 and form therewith continuous slots upon reassembly . a spanwise series of blind bores 160 are drilled in the cut surface 60 of the leading subpiece 42 . upon reassembly , these bores 160 align with the first cut surface 66 of the core subpiece 46 . after the machining of features through the cut surfaces , the block may be reassembled . during reassembly , pins 200 may be positioned in the holes 24 and 26 and pins 202 in the holes 28 and 30 . exemplary pins are short enough so that their ends may become subflush to the associated block faces . the pins are advantageously formed of an alloy or other material suitable for the bonding environment so as to remain intact and constrain ( e . g ., eliminate or minimize ) the relative movement between subpieces . advantageous material 1 ) has a melting point and / or strength at the bonding temperature as great as or higher than those of the material being bonded and 2 ) has a coefficient of thermal expansion close to that of the material . at high bonding temperatures , tungsten may be advantageous because of its high melting point and lack of thermal creep to keep the subpieces from sliding in the bond surface plane . depending on the subpiece material , the temperature required for bonding , and other bonding environment conditions ( oxidation , etc .) other suitable pin alloys could be selected . the reassembled block is placed within a press having opposed pairs of jaws 206 and 208 engaging the block x - and y - faces to compress the block . the compression is advantageously performed under heating . the compression and heating will initially slightly deform the pieces to permit full remating of the adjacent cut surfaces . if the cuts are constant thickness , the local radii of curvature of two adjacent cut surfaces are mismatched by this thickness . thus , the deformation may be required to accommodate the mismatch . where the radii of curvature are large , the mismatch is proportionally insignificant . as the radii decrease , the mismatch may be more significant . it may thus be impractical for the second and third cuts 54 and 56 to parallel the ultimate airfoil suction and pressure side surfaces in low radius of curvature areas such as a leading edge region of the airfoil . accordingly , the first cut 40 leaves the core subpiece as including only the higher radii of curvature portions of the airfoil contour and thus the core subpiece does not include an airfoil leading edge contour . the heating and compression are advantageously sufficient to diffusion bond the subpieces to each other to reintegrate the assembly . alternative integrations ( e . g ., transient liquid phase ( tlp ) bonding , welding , or brazing ) are also possible . for extremely high temperature bonding ( e . g ., & gt ; 3000 ° f ., & gt ; 5 hr , & gt ; 10 psi ), there are few fixture metals that remain stiff and capable of exerting a force to the subpiece assembly to insure bonding . fixture elements 206 and 208 may be biased by gravity . for example , one may be a large dead - weight applied to the top of the subpiece stack while the other is a support surface . such a system may be associated with subpiece bond surfaces close to the horizontal . in the exemplary airfoil , using this method may preclude simultaneous bonding of the leading edge subpiece . this may be done in a second bond after an initial first bond of the pressure side , suction side , and center subpieces . after reintegration , an external airfoil contour may be machined and additional internal features may be machined , using the same registration features to maintain location . an exemplary process involves rough machining a suction side surface 250 and a pressure side surface 252 extending between a leading edge 254 and a trailing edge 256 . a major portion of the suction side surface 250 extends parallel to the now - integrated cut surface 64 by a relatively small thickness . a leading portion of the surface 250 is formed along the leading subpiece 42 . the machining of the suction side surface 250 exposes the bores 140 to define outlets on the suction side surface . similarly , the pressure side surface 252 is spaced apart from the cut surface 78 and exposes the bores 150 and the slots 152 . internal features may be machined such as feed passageways 260 and 262 and a leading edge cavity 264 . these may be machined through one or both of the z - faces of the block . in the exemplary embodiment , the feed passageways 260 and 262 are separated by a web 266 and the leading edge cavity 264 is separated from the feed passageway 260 via a web 268 . the cavity 264 and passageway 260 intersect the bore 160 to permit communication therebetween . additionally , the passageways 260 and 262 intersect various of the bores 114 and 122 and the bore 132 to define inlets to the cooling circuits and trailing edge slots . additionally , a spanwise and streamwise array of leading edge holes 270 are drilled into the cavity 264 . in ultimate operation of the exemplary airfoil , air may be introduced to one or both of the passageways 260 and 262 ( potentially with one feeding the other via impingement through the wall 266 or a turn at one end of the airfoil ). from the exemplary feed passageway 260 , air passes through the bores 160 into the cavity 264 and out the holes 270 to cool a leading edge wall portion 272 of the airfoil . additionally , from the passageways 260 and 262 air enters the cooling circuits through inlets 274 and 275 of the bores 114 and 122 and passes along the circuitous routes of the cooling circuits 100 and 120 exiting the outlets 276 and 277 of the bores 140 and 150 to cool the suction and pressure side airfoil walls 280 and 282 . the circuits are advantageously sufficiently circuitous so that there is no line - of - sight path between each inlet and outlet . additionally , air entering the trailing edge slots through inlets 285 of the bores 132 cools a trailing portion 286 of the airfoil before exiting outlets 287 . an infinite number of additional variations are possible for airfoil cooling . cooling circuits may be formed in the suction and pressure side subpieces 44 and 48 instead of in the core subpiece 46 . the circuits may be formed spanning junctions between the core subpiece and the suction and pressure side subpieces ( e . g ., by having mating halves of patterns on each adjacent cut surface or by having non - mirror - image patterns wherein cooling air passes fully through the circuit defined on one subpiece and then enters the circuit of the mating subpiece ). in an exemplary implementation , after the rough machining of the pressure and suction side surfaces and internal features , the central portion 22 may be cut from the outboard portions 32 and 34 . after such cutting , the central portion may be integrated with one or more end pieces for forming end features of the associated turbine element . for example , fig6 shows end pieces as an inboard platform 290 and an outboard platform 292 at either end of an airfoil 294 manufactured as above to form a vane . this assembly may be integrated via diffusion bonding , welding , brazing , and the like . the end pieces 290 and 292 may be largely pre - formed in final or near final shape or may be near blocks requiring even the rough shaping of features such as mounting features and passageways for communicating with the airfoil passageways 260 and 262 . fig7 shows an airfoil 300 manufactured as above integrated with an inboard root end piece 302 to form a blade . fig8 shows a blade outer air seal ( boas ) precursor block 350 , having a convex outboard surface 352 and a concave inboard surface 354 . a first exemplary cut 356 divides the block into outboard and inboard subpieces 358 and 360 . pinning holes 362 may span the cut 356 in similar fashion to those described above . the cut 356 forms a concave cut surface 364 in the outboard subpiece and a convex cut surface 366 in the inboard subpiece . fig9 shows the concave surface 364 after the machining of a plurality of elongate rows 368 of circuit channels 370 . mirror image , out - of - phase , or other complementary features ( not shown ) may optionally be machined in the convex cut surface 366 . fig1 shows the outline of the boas in the precursor . this includes drilled or otherwise machined inlets 380 to the channels and outlets 382 from the channels . fig1 and 12 show the boas with a thermal barrier coating 390 ( fig1 ), feather seal slots 392 ( fig1 ), and mounting hooks 394 ( fig1 ). one or more embodiments of the present invention have been described . nevertheless , it will be understood that various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention . for example , when implemented in creating a replacement for an existing part , details of the existing part may influence details of the particular implementation . the methods may be used to make other components ( e . g ., integrally bladed or other rotors , case components , combustor components , exhaust components , and the like ). in large scale production , individual subpieces from a given block need not be reintegrated with the other subpieces of that block but may be integrated with subpieces from one or more like blocks . the integration may be of pieces not cut from common or like blocks . accordingly , other embodiments are within the scope of the following claims .	8
the pigment can be any type of organic or inorganic pigments used in this field . typical examples of the inorganic pigments are titanium oxide , zinc oxide , carbon black , silicate , basic lead silicate , kaolin , calcined kaolin , cadmium yellow , cadmium red , iron oxide red , cobalt blue , aluminum powder , bronze powder and the like . typical examples of the organic pigments are phthalocyanine green , phthalocyanine blue and the like . the crosslinked resin particles employed in the present invention are those having ionic groups on the surface . the resin particles can be prepared by various methods , such as emulsion polymerization , suspension polymerization , a method wherein crosslinking is conducted after forming resin emulsion , a method wherein polymerized resin is ground , and the like . an average particle size of the resin particles is preferably within the range of 10 to 1 , 000 nm , more preferably within the range of 50 to 200 nm , which are measured by a light scattering method . preferred resin particles are prepared by emulsifying in an aqueous medium a resin composition comprising ( a ) 100 parts by weight of a cationic or anionic film - forming aqueous resin , and ( b ) 10 to 250 parts by weight of a thermosetting crosslinking agent which is self - crosslinked or crosslinked with said aqueous resin ( a ) in terms of condensation or addition reaction , parts by weight being based on the solid content of the resin composition , and then heating the resultant emulsion to above a crosslinkable temperature of the crosslinking agent ( b ). the anionic aqueous resin includes maleic natural drying oil , maleic synthetic drying oil , maleic polybutadiene , a half ester or half amide thereof , an anionic acryl resin and the like . maleic oil can be prepared by reacting 30 to 300 mmol of maleic anhydride with 100 g of natural drying or semi - drying oil , or synthetic drying or semi - drying oil having an iodine value of more than 100 . maleic polybutadiene can be prepared by reacting 30 to 300 mmol of maleic anhydride with 100 g of liquid polybutadiene . maleic drying oil or maleic polybutadiene may be modified with water , an alcohol , a primary or secondary amine to form a half ester or a half amide which can be used in the present invention . the anionic acryl resin may be prepared by polymerizing a ( meth ) acrylic ester with an ethylenic unsaturated monomer having an acid group , and if desired the other ethylenic unsaturated monomer . typical examples of the ( meth ) acrylic esters are methyl ( meth ) acrylate , ethyl ( meth ) acrylate , butyl ( meth ) acrylate , hexyl ( meth ) acrylate , 2 - ethylhexyl ( meth ) acrylate , lauryl ( meth ) acrylate , 2 - hydroxyethyl ( meth ) acrylate and glycidyl ( meth ) acrylate . ( meth ) acrylate herein means both methacrylate and acrylate . the ethylenic unsaturated monomer having an acid group includes ( meth ) acrylic acid , crotonic acid , itaconic acid , maleic anhydride , sulfoacrylate and mono ( 2 - hydroxyethylacrylate ) acid phosphate . typical examples of the other ethylenic unsaturated monomers are styrene , vinyltoluene , acrylonitrile , acrylamide , vinyl acetate and the like . a commercially available water - soluble acryl resin , such as coatax we - 804 and we - 832 from toray co ., ltd . may be employed . typical example of the cationic film - forming aqueous resin ( a ) is a polybutadiene having amine groups ( aminated polybutadiene ). the resin may be prepared by treating liquid polybutadiene with peracetate to form oxirane oxygen , and then reacting with a primary or secondary amine . the crosslinking agent ( b ) of the present invention can be self - crosslinked or crosslinked with the aqueous resin ( a ). the agent ( b ) for anionic type includes a melamine resin , a methylol phenol , an etherified methylol phenol and the like . the agent ( b ) for cationic type includes a methylol phenol , etherified methylol phenol and the like . if the cationic resin ( a ) is the aminated polybutadiene , tetrabromobisphenol a can be employed . the melamine resin can be a methylol melamine prepared by reacting a mixture of melamine , benzoguanamine , acetoguanamine and the like with formaldehyde . it can also be one wherein a portion of methylol groups was etherified with c 1 to c 4 alkanol . the methylolphenol is one obtained by reacting a phenol , such as phenol , p - cresol , p - t - butylphenol , amylalcohol , p - phenylphenol and bisphenol a , with formaldehyde in the presence of an alkali catalyst . the etherified methylolphenol is generally prepared by partially or completely etherifying the phenolic oh group of the methylolphenol with a suitable etherifying agent . examples of the etherifying agents are a monoepoxy compound , and a compound having the following formula : wherein r represents methyl , allyl , benzyl , oxirane and the like , and x represents a halogen atom . in case where the etherifying agent is the monoepoxy compound , the product reacted is beta - hydroxyphenol ether which is highly reactive and this is preferred . the resin particles may be prepared by dispersing or emulsifying an ionic resin ( c ) and a resin ( d ) having at least two polymerizable vinyl groups in one molecule in an aqueous medium and then radically polymerizing . a resin ( e ) having both ionic groups and at least two vinyl groups may be used and treated as the resins ( c ) and ( d ) to form the crosslinked resin particles of the present invention . the ionic resin ( c ) may be selected from the resin ( a ) mentioned above . the resin ( d ) has at least two vinyl groups in one molecule and preferably has a molecular weight of 400 to 200 , 000 , more preferably 1 , 000 to 10 , 000 . a principal backbone of the resin ( d ) is not limited , but preferred epoxy resin , polyester resin , alkyd resin , polyurethane resin , amino resin and the like . vinyl groups can be introduced into the principal backbone by known methods . for example , the epoxy groups of an epoxy resin may be esterified by acrylic acid or methacrylic acid . a resin having less than two vinyl groups may be mixed with the resin ( b ) in an amount not to adversely affect on the reactivity . the resin ( e ) should have both ionic groups and at least two vinyl groups . it can be prepared by reacting a primary or secondary amine with a polyglycidyl compound , followed by reacting with an acid having a polymerizable vinyl group , such as ( meth ) acrylic acid . examples of the polyglycidyl compounds are epi - bis type epoxy resin , novolak type epoxy resin , epoxy group - containing polybutadiene and the like . the crosslinking agent ( b ) and the resins ( d ) and ( e ) is crosslinked at a temperature of less than 100 ° c . at normal pressures , because they are crosslinked in an aqueous medium . however , if the crosslinking reaction is carried out in an autoclave , the compounds which are reactive more than 100 ° c . can be employed . according to the present invention , the crosslinking reaction is carried out in an aqueous medium . by the term &# 34 ; aqueous medium &# 34 ; herein is meant water or a mixture of water and another water - miscible solvent ( e . g . a lower alcohol , an ether etc .). for lowering the viscosity of the resin composition and emulsifying with ease , the aqueous medium may further contain an organic solvent . typical examples of the organic solvents are xylene , toluene , methyl isobutyl ketone , hexane , carbon tetrachlordie , 2 - ethylhexanol , isophorone , cyclohexane , benzene and the like . it is preferred that the organic solvent is azeotropically removed after forming an emulsion and before crosslinking . the aqueous medium may further contain a surfactant to promote emulsification . typical examples of the surfactants are a nonionic surfactant , such as polyethyleneglycol alkylphenyl ether , polyethyleneglycol alkyl ether , polyoxyalkylene alkyl ether , polyethyleneglycol sorbitan monostearate and polypropyleneglycol polyethyleneglycol ether : an anionic surfactant , such as polyoxyethylene alkylphenyl ether sulfate ammonium salt and polyoxyethylene alkyl ether sulfate ammonium salt ; a cationic surfactant , such as lauryltrimethylammonium chloride , distearyldimethylammonium chloride and alkylpicolinium chloride . when the aqueous resin has anionic groups , the nonionic or anionic surfactant is preferred in view of stability . when the aqueous resin has cationic groups , the nonionic or cationic surfactant is preferred . the crosslinking reaction can be assisted by a catalyst or a polymerization initiator . examples of the catalysts of a melamin resin are dinonylnaphthalenesulfonic acid , dinonylnaphthalenedisulfonic acid and the like . examples of the initiators are an azo compound , a peroxide and the like . if desired , a curing agent for the coating composition may be added in the resin emulsion obtained above . in this case , a dispersing process of the curing agent can be simultaneously done with the grinding process of the pigment . typical examples of the curing agents are a metal salt , such as manganese acetate , cobalt acetate , lead acetate , manganese naphthenate , cobalt naphthenate , manganese octanate , cobalt octanate , dibutyltin dilaurate and dibutyltin dioctoate ; a metal oxide , such as manganese dioxide and dibutyltin oxide ; an organic acid , such as dinonylnaphthalenesulfonic acid and dinonylnaphthalenedisulfonic acid ; and the like . the resin emulsion can be prepared by neutralizing at least 20 mol % of the ionic groups of the ionic resin and then adding the aqueous medium and the other components thereto . the neutralization is carried out with an acid for the anionic groups and a base for the cationic groups . the acid includes acetic acid , propionic acid , lactic acid and the like . the base includes ammonia , diethanolamine , triethanolamine , methylethanolamine , n , n - dimethylethanolamine , n , n - diethylethanolamine , diethylamine , triethylamine , morphorine , potassium hydroxide and the like . the obtained resin emulsion is heated to above a crosslinkable temperature under normal pressures or increased pressures to form an aqueous dispersion of micro particles . the polymers in the emulsion have electric charges on the surface and stably dispersed in water due to their repulsion forces . the emulsion containing the polymers is very stable to heat and therefore can proceed the crosslinking reaction of the crosslinking agent ( b ) or the resins ( d ) and ( e ). the termination of the crosslinking reaction can be identified by adding a solvent capable of dissolving a resin , such as tetrahydrofuran . when a crosslinking reaction does not occur , the emulsion turns to transparent , and if a crosslinking reaction is proceeded , the solution turns to turbid white . where a catalyst which is not soluble in a solvent is contained , the obtained particles are rinsed with a large amount of tetrahydrofuran and dried by air and then at a reduced pressure . the resin particles can be identified using a microscope . grinding process of the pigment can be any methods used in this field . for example , the pigment and the crosslinked resin particles are ground with glass beads to form a pigment paste . the water - borne coating composition of the present invention contains the above mentioned pigment paste and the water dispersible or water soluble resin . the water dispersible or water soluble resin can be the cationic or anionic film - forming resin ( a ) mentioned above . another water dispersible or water soluble resin may also be employed . examples of such resins are aminated epoxy resin , aminated acryl resin , aminated polyester , aminated polyurethane resin , carboxylated polyester resin , carboxylated epoxy resin and the like . the resin is neutralized with a suitable neutralizing agent before formulating into the composition . the pigment content of the coating composition is usually expressed as pigment - to - resin ratio . in the practice of the present invention , pigment - to - resin ratios within the range of 1 : 2 to 1 : 20 are usually used . the water - borne coating composition can be coated by known methods , such as electrocoating , dipping , flow coating and the like . electrocoating is very preferred . in case where electrocoating is adopted , the composition adjusts a solid content of 10 to 20 % by weight and then is coated to form a dried film thickness of 15 to 30 micron . the electrocoated film is baked to cure at a temperature of 120 to 200 ° c . for 10 to 60 minutes . in the water - borne coating composition , a pigment is ground with particular resin particles and therefore is coated with the resin particles . the pigment is stably present in the composition without agglomeration . if a curing agent is incorporated into the resin emulsion , the obtained pigment paste can have additional function , e . g . catalytic function . the present invention is illustrated by the following examples which are not construed as limiting the invention to their details . polybutadiene having an average molecular weight of 2 , 000 and 1 . 2 bond of 65 % ( available from nippon oil company ltd . as nisseki polybutadiene b - 2 , 000 ) was treated with peracetate to obtain epoxidized polybutadiene having an oxirane oxygen content of 6 . 4 %. a 2 liter autoclave was charged with 1 , 000 g of the epoxidized polybutadiene and 354 g of ethyleneglycol monoethyl ether , to which 62 . 1 g of dimethylamine was added and reacted at 150 ° c . for 5 hours . after distilling unreacted amine away , it was cooled to 120 ° c . and a mixture of 79 . 3 g of acrylic acid , 7 . 6 g of hydroquinone and 26 . 4 g of ethyleneglycol monoethyl ether was added and reacted at 120 ° c . for 33 / 4hours . the obtained resin had an amine value of 85 . 2 mmol / 100 g , an acid value of 10 . 0 mmol / 100 g and a solid content of 75 . 4 %. one thousand parts by weight of a bisphenol type epoxy resin having an epoxy equivalent of 950 ( available from yuka shell epoxy co ., ltd . as epicoat 1 , 004 ) was dissolved in 343 parts by weight of ethyleneglycol monoethyl ether , to which 76 . 3 parts by weight of acrylic acid , 10 parts by weight of hydroquinone and 5 parts by weight of n , n - dimethylamino ethanol were added and reacted at 100 ° c . for 5 hours to obtain a resin solution . the resin had an acid value of 2 mmol / 100 g and a solid content of 75 %. 400 g of the aminated polybutadiene of reference example 1 was mixed with 240 g of the epoxyacrylate resin of reference example 2 and neutralized with 8 . 0 g of acetic acid . then , a solution of 8 . 0 g of manganese acetate and deionized water was added slowly thereto to form a cationic emulsion having a solid content of 33 % by weight . 1 , 900 parts by weight of epicoat 1004 ( bisphenol type epoxy resin having an epoxy equivalent of 950 available from yuka shell epoxy co ., ltd .) was dissolved in 685 . 3 parts by weight of xylene , to which 112 . 7 parts by weight of n - methylethanolamine was added and reacted at 130 ° c . for three hours . thereafter , 2 . 1 parts by weight of hydroquinone and 0 . 6 parts by weight of quinone were added and mixed and , after an addition of 43 . 1 parts by weight of methacrylic acid , reacted at 110 ° c . for three hours . then , 216 parts by weight of methyl isobutyl ketone was added to obtain an aminated epoxy resin . the resin had an amine value of 73 mmol / 100 g solid and a solid content of 70 %. one hundred parts by weight of the aminated polybutadiene of reference example i was mixed with 33 . 3 parts by weight of a resol type phenol resin ( available from arakawa chemical industries , co ., ltd . as tamanol 722 ), and then mixed with 2 . 8 parts by weight of glacial acetic acid . next , 0 . 20 parts by weight of cobalt acetate tetrahydrate and 0 . 45 parts by weight of manganese acetate tetrahydrate were added and mixed . deionized water of 363 parts by weight was added thereto and emulsified to form a resin emulsion . the resin emulsion was transparently dissolved in tetrahydrofuran . the solvent was removed under a reduced pressure while adding deionized water . the emulsion was then kept at 55 ° c . for 7 days and cooled to form a cationic resin particle dispersion . this dispersion was not dissolved in tetrahydrofuran to form a white semiopaque solution . the obtained dispersion of 400 parts by weight was mixed using a disper with 3 . 0 parts by weight of carbon black ( available from mitsubishi kasei corp . as carbon no . 5b ), 11 . 0 parts by weight of basic lead silicate , 68 parts by weight of calcined kaolin and 18 . 0 parts by weight of titanium dioxide . glass beads were added and ground for one hour by an sg mill to form a pigment paste having a solid content of 35 . 7 % and a maximum particle of 10 micrometer . an electrocoating paint was prepared by mixing 347 . 3 parts by weight of the pigment paste obtained above , 835 . 9 parts by weight of the cationic emulsion of reference example 3 and 816 . 8 parts by weight of deionized water . in the paint , a degreased steel panel was cationically electrocoated . the coated article was baked at 185 ° c . for 25 minutes to form a coating of 20 micrometer . the electrocoating paint was subjected to a test for resistance to agglomeration and the result is shown in table 1 . the coated film was subjected to an impact resistance test and the result is shown in table 1 . an experiment was conducted as generally described in example 1 , with the exception that the resin emulsion was not heated . the results of the same tests are shown in table 1 . an experiment was conducted as generally described in example 1 , with the exception that the resin emulsion was prepared without tamanol 722 . the results of the same tests are shown in table 1 . ______________________________________ingredients parts by weight______________________________________tamanol 722 . sup . 1 60butyl glycidyl ether 23n - butanol 10methoxybutanol 10dimethylbenzylamine 0 . 4______________________________________ . sup . 1 a resol type phenol resin available from arakawa kagaku k . k . tamanol 722 was charged in a reaction vessel to which methoxybutanol and n - butanol were added and then butyl glycidyl ether was added . the content was mixed uniformly and a temperature rises to 100 ° c ., at which temperature dimethylbenzylamine was added to the content . mixing was continued at 100 ° c . for 3 hour with paying attention to a rapid elevation of temperature , after which an amount of glycidyl group of the reaction product was measured to find less than 5 % of the charged amount . the content was cooled to conduct an analysis . the analysis showed that phenolic oh group disappears and beta - hydroxyphenol ether compound having a methylol group and a secondary alcohol group was obtained . an experiment was conducted as generally described in example 1 , with the exception that the methylol phenol of reference example 5 of 60 parts by weight was employed instead of tamanol 22 of 33 . 3 parts by weight . the results of the resistance to agglomeration test are shown in table 1 . an experiment was conducted as generally described in example 2 , with the exception that the resin emulsion was not heated . the results of the same test are shown in table 1 . an experiment was conducted as generally described in example 1 , with the exception that 50 parts by weight of tetrabromobisphenol a was employed instead of tamanol 722 of 33 . 3 parts by weight . the results of the resistance to agglomeration test are shown in table 1 . an experiment was conducted as generally described in example 3 , with the exception that the resin emulsion was not heated . the results of the same test are shown in table 1 . ______________________________________ingredients parts by weight solid content______________________________________the aminated polybutadiene 80 60resin of reference example 1the epoxyacrylate resin of 53 . 3 40reference example 2glacial acetic acid 2 . 0azobisisobutylonitrile 3 . 0deionized water 361 . 7______________________________________ the aminated polybutadiene of reference example 1 was mixed with the epoxyacrylate resin of reference example 2 , and then mixed with glacial acetic acid . next , azobisisobutylonitrile was added and mixed . deionized water was added thereto and emulsified to form a resin emulsion . the resin emulsion was transparently dissolved in tetrahydrofuran . the emulsion was then kept at 55 ° c . for 7 days and cooled to form a cationic resin particle dispersion . this dispersion was not dissolved in tetrahydrofuran to form a white semiopaque solution . a tin plate was dipped in the resin particle dispersion having a solid content of 10 % and taken out . the plate was dried in the air and dried at room temperature under a reduced pressure . it was then observed by a microscope to find resin particles having less than 100 nm on the surface . the obtained dispersion of 400 parts by weight was mixed using a disper with 3 . 0 parts by weight of carbon black ( available from mitsubishi kasei corp . as carbon no . 5b ), 11 . 0 parts by weight of basic lead silicate , 68 parts by weight of calcined kaolin and 18 . 0 parts by weight of titanium dioxide . glass beads were added and ground for one hour by an sg mill to form a pigment paste having a solid content of 36 . 7 % and a maximum particle of 10 micrometer . an electrocoating paint was prepared by mixing 347 . 3 parts by weight of the pigment paste obtained above , 835 . 9 parts by weight of the cationic emulsion of reference example 3 and 816 . 8 parts by weight of deionized water . in the paint , a degreased steel panel was cationically electrocoated . the coated article was baked at 185 ° c . for 5 minutes to form a coating of 20 micrometer . the electrocoating paint was subjected to a test for resistance to agglomeration and the result is shown in table 1 . ______________________________________ingredients parts by weight solid content______________________________________the aminated polybutadiene 143 100resin of reference example 4the epoxyacrylate resin of 107 80reference example 2glacial acetic acid 3 . 0azobisisobutylonitrile 2 . 0deionized water 645______________________________________ the aminated polybutadiene of reference example 4 was mixed with the epoxyacrylate resin of reference example 2 , and then mixed with glacial acetic acid . next , azobisisobutylonitrile was added and mixed . deionized water was added thereto and emulsified to form a resin emulsion . the resin emulsion was transparently dissolved in tetrahydrofuran . the emulsion was then kept at 55 ° c . for 3 days and cooled to form a cationic resin particle dispersion . this dispersion was not dissolved in tetrahydrofuran to form a white semiopaque solution . an electrocoating paint was prepared using the above obtained dispersion as generally described in example 4 and the same test was done . the result is shown in table 1 . ______________________________________ingredients parts by weight solid content______________________________________the aminated polybutadiene 80 60resin of reference example 1glacial acetic acid 2 . 0azobisisobutylonitrile 3 . 0deionized water 215______________________________________ the aminated polybutadiene of reference example 1 was mixed with glacial acetic acid while keeping at 55 ° c . next , azobisisobutylonitrile was added and mixed . deionized water was added thereto and emulsified to form a resin emulsion . the resin emulsion was transparently dissolved in tetrahydrofuran . the emulsion was then kept at 55 ° c . for 3 days and cooled to form a cationic resin particle dispersion . this dispersion was not dissolved in tetrahydrofuran to form a white semiopaque solution . an electrocoating paint was prepared using the above obtained dispersion as generally described in example 4 and the same test was done . the result is shown in table 1 . an electrocoating paint was prepared as generally described in example 4 , with the exception that the resin emulsion was prepared without azobisisobutylonitrile . the result is shown in table 1 . an electrocoating paint was prepared as generally described in example 5 , with the exception that the resin emulsion was prepared without azobisisobutylonitrile . the result is shown in table 1 . ______________________________________ingredients weight ( g ) ______________________________________nisseki polybutadiene b - 1500 . sup . 1 1000antigen 6c . sup . 2 10maleic anhydride 250deionized water 20diethylamine 0 . 5propylene glycol 100ethylene glycol monoethyl ether 340______________________________________ . sup . 1 polybutadiene having mn 1500 , vinyl 65 %, trans 14 % and cis 16 , available from nippon petrochemicals co ., ltd . . sup . 2 n - methyl - n &# 39 ;-( 1 , 3 - dimethylbutyl )- p - phenylenediamine available from sumitomo chemical industries , inc . nisseki polybutadiene b - 1500 was charged in a 2 liter flask having a condenser to which antigen 6c and maleic anhydride were added . the content was kept at 190 ° to 200 ° c . with stirring to conduct an addition reaction of maleic acid to polybutadiene . after about 5 hours from the beginning of the heating , it was identified by a color reaction of dimethylaniline to finish the addition reaction . the reaction mixture was cooled to 100 ° c ., and a mixture of deionized water and diethylamine was added dropwise over about 30 minutes . after finishing the addition , mixing continued for about one hour to obtain an acid value of 140 . then , propylene glycol was added to the reaction mixture and the reaction was conducted at 110 ° c . for 3 hours to obtain an acid value of 125 . next , ethylene glycol monoethyl ether was added and mixed at 80 ° c . for about one hour to finish a synthesis . the obtained vanish had a nonvolatile content of 80 %. ______________________________________ingredients parts by weight______________________________________the maleic polybutadiene resin 100 . 0triethylamine 7 . 9deionized water 157 . 0______________________________________ the maleic polybutadiene resin was mixed with triethylamine and deionized water was mixed to emulsify . the obtained emulsion had a solid content of 30 . 2 %. ______________________________________ingredients parts by weight______________________________________the maleic polybutadiene 80resin of reference example 6the etherified methylolphenol of 117 . 6reference example 5triethylamine 9 . 8deionized water 361 . 7______________________________________ the maleic polybutadiene of reference example 6 was mixed with the etherified methylolphenol of reference example 5 and triethylamine . deionized water was added thereto and emulsified to form a resin emulsion . the resin emulsion was transparently dissolved in tetrahydrofuran . the solvent was azeotropically distilled under a reduced pressure with adding deionized water . the emulsion was then kept at 55 ° c . for 7 days and cooled to form an anionic resin particle dispersion . this dispersion was not dissolved in tetrahydrofuran to form a white semiopaque solution . the obtained dispersion of 400 parts by weight was mixed using a disper with 6 . 3 parts by weight of triethylamine , 6 . 9 parts by weight of carbon black , 59 parts by weight of titanium dioxide , 20 parts by weight of lead silicate , 12 parts by weight of strontium chromate and 3 parts by weight of electrolytic manganese dioxide . glass beads were added and ground for one hour by an sg mill to form a pigment paste having a solid content of 35 . 2 % and a maximum particle of 10 micrometer . an electrocoating paint was prepared by mixing 51 . 1 parts by weight of the pigment paste obtained above , 271 . 5 parts by weight of the anionic emulsion of reference example 7 and 177 . 4 parts by weight of deionized water . in the paint , a degreased steel panel was anionically electrocoated . the coated article was baked at 185 ° c . for 25 minutes to form a coating of 20 micrometer . the electrocoating paint was subjected to a test for resistance to agglomeration and the result is shown in table 1 . an experiment was conducted as generally described in example 7 , with the exception that the resin emulsion was not heated . the result of the same test is shown in table 1 . an experiment was conducted as generally described in example 7 , with the exception that 100 parts by weight of a melamine resin ( available from mitsui toatsu chemical co ., ltd . as uban 22 r ) was employed instead of 117 . 7 parts by weight of the etherified methylolphenol of reference example 5 . the result of the same test is shown in table 1 . an experiment was conducted as generally described in example 8 , with the exception that the resin emulsion was not heated . the result of the same test is shown in table 1 . an experiment was conducted as generally described in example 7 , with the exception that 200 parts by weight of an anionic acryl resin ( available from toray co ., ltd . as coatax we - 804 ) was employed instead of the maleic polybutadiene resin , an amount of triethylamine was changed from 9 . 8 to 3 . 1 parts by weight and an amount of deionized water was changed from 584 to 646 . 9 parts by weight . the result of the same test is shown in table 1 . an experiment was conducted as generally described in example 9 , with the exception that the resin emulsion was not heated . the results of the same tests are shown in table 1 . table 1______________________________________ resistance to impact agglomeration . sup . a resistance . sup . b______________________________________examples1 good good2 good3 good4 good5 good6 good7 good8 good9 goodcomparativeexample1 extremely extremely bad bad2 bad bad3 extremely bad4 extremely bad5 extremely bad6 extremely bad7 extremely bad8 extremely bad9 extremely bad______________________________________ . sup . a a paint was kept at 40 ° c . for 7 days with stirring and the filtered with a 300 mesh wire gauze . good shows substantially no filtered residue , extremely bad shows much filtered residue and bad shows an intermediate therebetween . . sup . b a coated panel was subjected to an impact resistant test under the conditions of 1 / 2 inches , 500 g and 5 cm and a degree of peeling was observed by eyes . good shows no peeling , bad shows little peeling and extremely bad shows much peeling .	2

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